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Week 14

Week 14. Getting Angry. How did you see your mom and dad handle their anger as a child growing up? What things makes you angry? Why? What do you do when you are angry? Describe an incident where you were wounded by someone else’s anger

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Week 14

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  1. Week 14

  2. Getting Angry • How did you see your mom and dad handle their anger as a child growing up? • What things makes you angry? Why? • What do you do when you are angry? • Describe an incident where you were wounded by someone else’s anger • How can reflecting on angry feelings be a healthy way of dealing with anger?

  3. Jonah’s Preaching to Nineveh(Jonah 3:3b-9) Quick Review of Week 13 ….

  4. Jonah 3:3b-5 3:3bNow Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. • Jonah’s message to the Ninevites as recorded in verse 4 is very short―only five words in the original Hebrew! Do you think this was the prophet’s actual “sermon” or are these words meant to serve as a summary of his message? Explain • Which part of this proclamation is Law? • Which part of this proclamation is Gospel? • What happens when only the Law is preached? • What happens when only the Gospel is preached?

  5. “…and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (haphak)Changed or Destroyed? • Jonah says in verse 4 Nineveh shall be “overthrown” (haphak in Hebrew) • Words that derive from haphakfrequently mean destruction • In some contexts though, haphakindicates a radical transformationfrom one extreme to another Genesis 19:24-25 – “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew (haphak) those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.” Hosea 11:8 – “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils (haphak) within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.” • How did the Ninevites understand the word haphakin Jonah’s message? • How do you think Jonah intended the word haphakto be understood? • Based on the range of meaning possible, what might the LORD have intended by the word haphakin Jonah’s message? • Explain how the word haphakshows the way God works in our lives as Christians through the application of Law and Gospel

  6. Prepping the Battlefield • At the time of Jonah's visit (c. 780-760 BC), the Neo-Assyrian Empire as a whole was unusually troubled • Political Instability: Once Adad-Nirari III was succeeded by Shalmaneser IV (782-773), the Assyrian king no longer had direct control over the totality of the empire, parts of which had come under the control of several different regional officials • This state of affairs continued during the nominal reigns of Assur-Dan III (772-755) and Assur-Nirari V (754-745) • In addition, there were a number of famines, revolts and plagues recorded in Assyrian records, events whose evil portent was believed to be clearly indicated by accompanying solar eclipses

  7. Evil Portents? • Official government documents record a plague in 765, revolts in 763-759, a solar eclipse in 763 and famine from 765 to 759 • Reports of eclipses in Neo-Assyrian documents were typically followed by such statements as: • "the king will be deposed and killed and a worthless fellow seize the throne“ • "the king will die, rain from heaven will flood the land“ • "there will be famine” • ''a deity will strike the king and fire will consume the land“ • This state of affairs would have made both rulers and subjects unusually attuned to the message of a visiting prophet, as the book of Jonah bears out

  8. Assyrian Beliefs and Practices • Once an evil omen was witnessed, a king would try to avoid his anticipated death or the hardship announced in the omen by putting a substitute king on the throne for a certain time (sarpuhiritual) • The (real) ruler took the status of a farmer or commoner but remained within the palace • The substitute himself was typically a person of low standing (examples include a prisoner of war, a death-row inmate, a political enemy of the king, a gardener, and even a simpleton) • For a while (maximum duration of the replacement period was 100 days) this individual lived a life of luxury, since he had really to look the part of the king whose death the eclipse or ominous event portended

  9. SarPuhiRitual • Robes, food, a significant entourage, residing in the palace with a queen and other royal privileges were his to enjoy (but only for a while) • Once the proscribed period was over, the substitute king would then be killed with the hope that the omen's force would thus be exhausted • Interestingly, to make sure that the omens would irrevocably remain affecting the substitute, the document where they were written was physically attachedto his garments • It’s possible that the king of Nineveh removed his royal robes not simply as part of his mourning, but also in order to leave them to the substitute

  10. Jonah 3:3b-5 3:3bNow Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. • How did the people of Nineveh respond to the preaching of Jonah? • “The greatest to the least of them” is a merism for the entire population • They believed “God” (Elohim) – saving faith or acknowledgment of the truth of the prophet’s words? • They produced fruits of repentance (called for a fast and put on sackcloth)?

  11. What was the king of Nineveh’s personal response to Jonah’s preaching? What is the meaning of each action? • The King takes four immediate steps: • He rises from his throne (abdicates his authority) • Removes his robe (symbol of his glory and power) • Covers himself with sackcloth (sign of grief and humility) • Sat in ash heap (new dwelling and self-negation) • The king is “overthrown” from his throne and dignified clothing • After the “overthrow” of the king’s life before God, what further step does he take to reinforce the people’s response? • He and his nobles issue a royal proclamation that: • Intensifies the general fast • Expands the sackcloth of repentance • Commands all to cry out to the God of Israel • Commands all to repent from their evil ways and violence • Offers the possibility of hope and God’s compassion

  12. Nineveh during time of Jonah … Now Week 14

  13. Herman Melville, Moby Dick “Towards thee I roll, thou all-consuming but unconquering whale: to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.”

  14. Jonah 3:6-9 6The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” If all Jonah had said was “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” why would the king have any reason to hope in the mercy and compassion of God? Where/how did he get these ideas? • The king’s knowledge of the character of God is surprising here. What did he know about God and His nature? • The King believed: • in the existence of Israel’s God (v. 8) • that this God could hear his prayers (v. 8) • God expected true repentance from individuals for specific sins (v.8) • God may relent and not bring about judgment as a result of the people’s repentance (v. 9) • God had fierce anger as a result of the sins that the people had committed (v. 9) • Matthew 12:39-40 says: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” • In what way was Jonah a sign to the Ninevites? How does Jesus explain the meaning of this sign?

  15. Jonah as Sign • He came to Nineveh as a man raised from the dead; his miraculous deliverance clothed his whole ministry with divine approval … Jonah was a man sent from God • This God had demonstrated both his justice and his mercy in all that he had done with Jonah; therefore, before he ever uttered a word, Jonah was a sign and wonder among these people • He was a sign of the certain wrath of God against sin but also a sign that a sinner can be spared, as Jonah had been

  16. Evidence that Ninevites Truly Repented Biblical repentance includes at least three vital elements, each of which appears to be present in the case of Nineveh • Repentance requires a sorrowful mourning over sin • False repentance grieves only over the consequences of sin; true repentance grieves over the sin itself • We see the Ninevites' sorrow for sin in three ways: • They fasted – fasting has several biblical purposes, one of which is a public expression of penitence • Wore sackclothas expression lament, grief, and humiliation • Public display of self-humiliationwhen king took off his robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes • Repentance also requires an actual turning from sin • Repentance is a change of mind issuing in a change of life • Nineveh was notorious for violence, so its king acknowledges the evil of their ways and calls the people to repudiate their chief and characteristic sin (“Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands”) • Repentance culminates in a turning to God in renewed faith • The king summoned the people to pray to the God of Jonah for mercy (“let them call out mightily to God”) • How do the Ninevites turn from their sin? • How do the Ninevites express their grief? • Do the Ninevites turn to God?

  17. Ninevites as True Believers • The Ninevites “believed God” • They did not presume upon God … they did not know the outcome of their situation, yet believed that there was still hope that God would be gracious to them • Matthew 12:41: “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” • This statement by our Lord suggests that at least some Ninevites became true believers with the result that they will be present at the final judgment condemning those who rejected Jesus’ preaching

  18. In the light of what’s been said so far about Nineveh's repentance, it might seem difficult to deny that they came to believe in Israel's God and showed by their actions that their belief was genuine • While such an understanding is possible, we must be cautious in drawing conclusions about the extent of Nineveh's repentance • While the vast majority of Biblical scholars view the Ninevites’ conversion as true and valid, there are some (including Reformed writers) who are more circumspect

  19. Evidence that Ninevites’ Repentance Incomplete • The message preached by Jonah did not contain the information necessary for such a change of heart … the Ninevites never hear the name Yahweh, Torah or monotheism • No language of forgiveness or pardon appears in the story; no hope or avenue of escape is offered – God relents, but the Ninevites' prior sins remain unpunished • The city believed God's word through Jonah, and abandoned their violence and wickedness in the hope that God would spare them; this is a striking moral reform, but there is nothing that requires us to say it was more than that • While fasting, mourning, putting aside violence, and belief in God's word are evident, the Ninevites’ reform makes no mention of putting away their other gods • There is no mention of any fearing, honoring, worshiping or even recognizing Yahweh (in contrast to statements of converting pagans such as Ruth or Namaan)

  20. Ninevite Response: Partial Repentance • Further, it is clearly stated in 3:10 not that God saw their faith, nor that God saw that they sought Him with their whole heart, but rather, that God saw their works • While one cannot deny the importance of proper works as a major step in repentance, this does not indicate a full conversion to Yahweh • Their repentance is similar to that of Ahab in 1 Kings 21:27 (“he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly”) … his actions were sufficient to gain only a postponement of judgment • Jonah came to Nineveh in the decades before the fall of Israel; however, the Nineveh that repented under Jonah was very soon involved once again in the exercise of imperialistic violence, and that against Jonah’s very nation! • Thus, Nineveh believed God, turned from her sin in some degree, but did not fully turn to God … her repentance was partial and incomplete

  21. Matthew 12:41-42: “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” • Does this passage require that Ninevah’s repentance is unto salvation? • Note that the Queen of Sheba doesn’t need to be a true believer in the Savior for her to condemn God's covenant people for rejecting his wisdom • Jonah did not proclaim Yahweh to those who did not know him, but that the supreme God Elohim was about to show his power and judgment; there is no indication that Jonah mentioned the God of Israel to the Ninevites

  22. Numbers 20:12: “And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” • This verse has the same Hebrew conjunction [“believed God”] stated about the Ninevites in Jonah 3:5 • In Numbers 20, this phrase implies no more than that Moses and Aaron believed of the message … that is, they accepted it as true • By analogy, the Ninevites may have just believed that what Jonah said was a true statement • The Ninevites“remained, by all accounts, the same polytheistic, syncretistic pantheists they had been all along” (Douglas Stuart, Word Bible Commentary of Jonah)

  23. Repentance • How does our view of God affect our willingness to turn away from our sins and turn toward God? • What should we look for in ourselves and others as evidence of genuine repentance? •   An awareness that God Himself is convicting us (v. 5) and a real turning from our sin, in heart and in action (v. 8) • Visible signs (here, fasting and changing clothing) are not necessarily bad, and may actually be very good, but they are not crucial to real repentance. Repentance is internal before it is external; but internal repentance will show itself externally. • It's important to notice that the Ninevites don't earn God's compassion by their actions. God's mercy is still undeserved: it is because of His awesome nature, not because of our repentance that sinners are forgiven when they turn back to Him.

  24. Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. • How does the narrator summarize the Ninevites' response to Jonah's message? •   God saw their acts of repentance and that they had turned from their evil ways • What did God do and why?

  25. Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. • The Hebrew word ra’ahoccurs twice in this verse • In the first occurrence, the ESV translates it as “evil”; in the second, the ESV translates it as “disaster” • What is the connection between the Ninevites’ ra’ah(evil) and God’s ra’ah(disaster)? • In what sense is it incorrect to understand God’s ra’ahas “evil?” •  In what sense is it correct to understand God’s ra’ahas “evil?”

  26. Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. • The Hebrew root verb nacham can mean “to relent,” “to pity,” “to feel grief,” or “to have compassion” • Forms of nachamare often used in Old Testament texts that depict God threatening punishment but later relenting

  27. Nacham: Relent, Have Compassion Joel 2:12-14– “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?” • What from the narrative of the Ninevites’ repentance in Jonah 3 are echoed in this text from Joel? • Nachamoften implies an action (relent) motivated by an emotion (pity). How does this text from Joel show us that it is characteristic of God to relent because of the pity He feels for those who turn to Him in repentance? • According to Joel, what does God often do when He relents of disaster? • What does this passage teach us about Christ and His work?

  28. Nacham: Relent, Have Compassion Numbers 23:19 – “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” • What do we learn about God’s nature from this verse? • Does this verse contradict what Joel taught about the God who relents? Explain your answer. • If God had destroyed Nineveh after all, would that decision have been a just one? Explain your answer.

  29. Case Study: Repressive Government Imagine: • It was one of the most repressive governments on earth, forbidding even the foreign aid that came with no strings attached • Any kind of speech was strictly forbidden, and economic activity was highly regulated • While the rest of the world was advancing and growing more independent in trade and technology, the citizens of this country seemed to have been stuck in a pre-industrial, agrarian world

  30. Subsequent Results • But global headlines one morning reported perhaps the most stunning policy reversal in history • Prompted by no protests, strikes, military action, assassination, or any other form of political unrest, the nation’s leaders decided to abandon authoritarianism and begin establishing a free society • Pundits immediately assumed an economic motive, but local sources reported rumors of a religious movement sweeping the country How likely or unlikely does this fictitious example seem to you? Why? Why do you think the media would likely focus more on natural economic and political explanations than spiritual explanations? Which reasons would you tend to focus on? Do you think God wants or plans to initiate national revivals in the future as He did in Nineveh? To what extent do you pray for Him to do so?

  31. The Structure of the Book of Jonah • Scene 1:Jonah’s First Call (1:1-3) • Scene 2: The Storm at Sea (1:4-16) • Scene 3:Jonah’s Deliverance & Prayer(1:17 – 2:10) • Scene 4:Jonah’s Second Call(3:1-3a) • Scene 5:Jonah’s Preaching Converts (3:3b-10) Nineveh & Yahweh Changes His Verdict • Scene 6:Jonah’s Response to Yahweh’s (4:1-4)Change of Verdict to Save Nineveh • Scene 7:Yahweh’s Provisions and (4:5-11)Jonah’s Response

  32. Introduction to Jonah 4 • In contrast to the first three chapters, Jonah 4 features a large amount of dialogue • This is intended to reveal climactically the character of both Jonah and Yahweh through their words • Jonah’s words and Yahweh’s words are split with mathematical precision • They each get absolutely equal “air time” since each utters a total of 47 Hebrew words

  33. Jonah 4 Dialogue A Jonah speaks 39 Hebrew words to Yahweh in 4:2-3 B Yahweh speaks 3 Hebrew words in 4:4 B’ Jonah speaks 3 Hebrew words in 4:8 C God speaks 5 Hebrew words in 4:9a C’ Jonah speaks 5 Hebrew words in 4:9b A’ Yahweh speaks 39 Hebrews words in 4:10-11

  34. Resenting God • How is it possible to serve God and end up resenting Him? • There is a particular darkness that sometimes comes to those who work hardest in the Lord’s service • Resentment towards God is the special temptation of mature believers who serve Him well • The more you do for God, the easier it is to feel that God owes you • So if you stretch yourself in serving God, don’t be surprised when this strange darkness sneaks up on you • You will encounter this trial, and you need to know how to deal with it

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