Shabbat Shalom Well, we want to say Shabbat Shalom and welcome to everyone. God bless you. We are so thankful to the Lord that you can join us to be with us in our Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures in Israel, where we study the Word of God from a first-century Hebrew-Messianic perspective. Our desire is to share the Word of God with both our Jewish people and the nations of the world, and we are so thankful to be able to have this privilege to do so on a regular basis, book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. So today, beloved friends, we are going to introduce the book of Yonah, the book of Jonah, Yonah Hanavi.

We will pray together. Hopefully, you have your Bible with you. Open your Bible to Jonah, chapter 1. We will read the first chapter. Let's pray together. Let's ask the Lord to bless His Word. Our God and our Father, thank you for your love and care for us. Thank you for your goodness towards us. Thank you that we can open your Word and learn from the Word of God. Bless your Word, we pray, if we ask it, in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah. Amen. Amen. So please allow me, beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends, to read the whole first chapter of the book of Yonah, and I think it will be appropriate to read this first chapter, although we will not cover this first chapter in this first meeting together.

But it is good for us to have the Word of God before us, so we can glean and have this portion of Scripture before our hearts and our minds. And so we read in Jonah, in Hebrew, Yonah, Dav, Jonah, chapter 1, verse 1: Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for the wickedness is come up before me. But Yonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Yafo and found the sheep going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them, but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay there and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

They said to his fellow come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Yonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation, and whence came thou, what is thy country, and of what people are thou? And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew, and I feel the Lord, the God of heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this?

For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may become unto us? For the sea wrought and was tempestuous, And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm unto you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea was rot, the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it please thee.

So they took up Jonah, and they cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from her roaring. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. And I will stop here with the reading of this first chapter, beloved brothers and sisters. You know, I remember as a little boy, many many years ago, when these stories were told by our family, and you know, these amazing events that took place in the history of our people, the people of Israel, the people of God.

And there are great lessons that we are learning as we are studying together from the word of God, especially one of these, a very interesting prophecy that is called the prophecy of this man by the name of Yonah. I would like to suggest that oftentimes we hear of some who reject the word of the word of God. And some of the books that they are attacking, or critics are attacking, are books such as Genesis, creation. They are attacking creation. They believe in evolution. They believe in that God really didn't create the heavens and the earth because they do not believe in the creator God. They believe in the big bomb and in evolution that it was not God who created Adam and Eve, and it was not God who created the heavens and the earth.

And that's why the critics do not accept the book of Bereshit, the book of Genesis. Also, the book of Daniel, because Daniel was one of the prophets of Israel that was away from the land and he received a revelation from the living God that gave him an information concerning the plan and the program of God for the nation of Israel and for the whole world. And another book that is really the critics reject is the book of Yonah, of Jonah the prophet. How is it possible that someone will be in the fish's belly and will survive out of the fish after three days and three nights as we have just read in Jonah chapter 1 and verse 17.

Now the Lord had prepared the great of the fish to swallow Yonah to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. How can you believe such a thing the critics would say? But we believe because God says it and that's settled it. It is the word of the Lord. It is settled because God says it and that is settled once and for all because it is indeed the word of God. And just to verify this or to make sure that we understand we believe it because the Lord Jesus the Messiah proclaimed concerning the person of the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

Look at the Gospel of Matthew. We read in the Gospel of Matthew, beloved brothers and sisters, this effect concerning the book of Jonah, concerning the prophet of Yonah Hanavi because the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah himself provided for us the answer concerning the fact that Jonah was a prophet that really existed in Israel's history. And we read in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 40, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." We believe that Jonah was a prophet in days of all because Yeshua believed it.

Yeshua proclaimed it. Yeshua, the Messiah proclaimed the fact that he will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart or in the belly of the fish. So just by way, beloved brothers and sisters, by way of introduction I would like just to mention a few things that are important for us as we are introducing the book of Yonah, Yonah Hanavi. The first thing of course is the meaning of his name, the name itself, the word Yonah we call in English is Jonah, in Hebrew is Yonah, and Yonah simply means "dav".

The word Yonah is first found in the earlier word of God in Exodus chapter 8. In fact, if you turn with me back to Genesis 8, you will notice what happened. You remember when the flood came and God judged the world with the flood. He delivered a family, of course, Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Yefet, their three sons and their wives. And notice what we read once the ship, once the ark had been landed. We read in Genesis chapter 8 and verse 8, we read this, listen to this, that Yonah, notice that verse 8, also he, this is Noah, he sent forth a dove, that's the word Yonah, a dove, from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground.

But the dove, the Yonah, found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark. And you notice if you read the whole book of Genesis chapter 8, the whole chapter here, you will notice how many times the word Yonah, the word dove, is mentioned here in verse 8 and verse 9 and verse 10 and 11 and 12. The dove is a symbol, is a symbol, is a bird that represents a symbol of peace, a symbol of rest, a symbol of shalom. And the first time that the name Yonah is mentioned in the word of God is in Genesis 8 verse 8 and all the way to verse 11 and it become to be known in biblical days as a bird that representing a gentleness and meekness.

You remember what the Lord Jesus the Messiah, when he sent the disciples to go out, he said that you should be harmless as the dove. You remember when the Lord sent the disciples to go out and that's why it became known in the word of God to characterize the harmlessness, the gentleness. And while Yonah himself did not necessarily behave as a gentle person and a meek person because of his willfulness and pride and even arrogance because he didn't obey the law, the Lord. But nevertheless, the meaning of the name Yonah representing before us in the word of God, a gentleness. In fact, in the Song of Songs, Shir Hashirim, we often find the expression "my love, my dove" as you read in the Songs of Solomon.

Turn with me to chapter 2 of the Song of Solomon and there we read in the Shir Hashirim, in the Song of Songs, in chapter 2 and verse 14: "My, O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stares, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." This is where the one that were desiring, of course speaking about Solomon, but one who is greater than Solomon as the type of Messiah, the one that is called in the book of Shir Hashirim, Song of Solomon, my beloved, my beloved. I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.

Chapter 5 of the Song of Solomon, we do read, notice that in chapter 5 and verse 2: "I sleep, but my heart walketh, it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, open to me my sister, my love," notice that, "my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." And so the beloved one is oftentimes called my love and my dove. And the Hebrew word is Yonah, Yonati, as it is mentioned in the Song of Solomon. Chapter 2 verse 14, chapter 5 and verse 2, chapter 6 and verse 9, it is a representation of gentleness and meekness, though Yonah himself was not necessarily as meek as his name is supposed to represent.

It's just like oftentimes we gave names to people, to one another, and sometimes we do not live up to our names. And thank God that he is so gracious with us, and he seeks to a desire to conform us to the image of his Son. The second thing that I would like to mention as we are introducing the book of Yonah is that what do we know about this man by the name of Yonah? It is very important to realize that he was a prophet, and I would like you to turn with me, please, to the book of 2 Kings. This is important verse to be read in 2 Kings, chapter 14.

We read the name of Yonah that is mentioned there in this chapter, in 2 Kings, chapter 14, verse 23, 24 and 25. We learn a little bit more about this prophet. Notice what we read in verse 23 in the 15th year of Amaziah, the son of Yoash, king of Yehudah. Jeroboam, the son of Yoash, king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned for 41 years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nevat, who made Israel to sin. You notice you have two names, Yeroboam, Yeroboam the second and Yeroboam the first. Yeroboam the first is Yeroboam the son of Nevat, but Yeroboam the second is Yeroboam the son of Yoash.

Yeroboam the second is Yeroboam the king that have reigned and ruled over the northern kingdom of Israel in the Galilee, in Galil, in the Galil. And he was the one that was reigning during the days when Jonah the prophet was called to serve God as the prophet of Israel. We read in verse 25 about the name Yonah, but Yonah the prophet. We read he, this is Jeroboam, he restored the coast of Israel from the entering into Hamat, unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel which, listen to this, which he spake by the hand of his servant Yonah, Jonah, the son of Amittai, Ben Amittai, Yonah Ben Amittai, the prophet which was of Gat Hefer.

Now you notice beloved brothers and sisters, Gat Hefer is a little bit north of Natseret where our Lord Yeshua the messiah lived where he ministered in the Galil around the sea of Galilee, the Kinneret, around Tveria, around Kfar Nachum and so on. And Gat Hefer was in the north of Israel and Jonah ministered as a prophet among the people of Israel during the time where Yeroboam the son of Yoash was the king over Israel.

So when you think about his the where he come from, he come from Gat Hefer and Gat Hefer has a very interesting meaning because the name Gat means an olive press and the name Hefer means a digged or dugged a olive press and apparently in Gat Hefer they dug on the ground and they created or established a place where there would be a Gat there would be an olive press when they would press olive and you can just imagine because there are so many olive trees in the north of Israel around the city of Natseret and around all the area of the north of Israel very interesting so what we really learn that there was

a prophet in Israel in the northern kingdom of Israel in a place that is called Gat Hefer very very interesting to take note so we've just read that there was a king by the name of Jeroboam the son of Yoash who was the second Jeroboam the second he was the king of Israel and he continued on to do evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord raised a man by the name of Yonah to become a prophet and Yonah apparently served as a prophet among his people the people of Israel until the Lord called him now for this special mission that we have here in the book of Jonah to go away from

the land and to preach a message into a wicked nation now just also I want you to notice beloved brothers and sisters that as we read concerning Jonah here that it says that he was a son of Amittai the word Amittai or Amittai in Hebrew means real and truthful he was a Yonah ben Amittai Jonah the son of a man that is called Amittai and and he was from Gat Hefer and the area of Gat Hefer belonged to the tribe of Zebulun so if we know anything a little bit about Jonah very little that we hear about the history of Jonah one thing we know he lived in the north of Israel a few miles

north than the city of Nazareth he came from a city or a town that is called Gat Hefer he was a prophet in hebrew navi ministered to the people of Israel to the northern kingdom his father's name was Amiti or Amittai truth and his tribe was the tribe of Zebulun that's the only thing that we learned about Yonah in the Hebrew scripture and what we do learn beloved brothers and sisters concerning him because all the prophets of Israel always prophesy to the people of Israel themselves it was rather unusual I think it is only a portion in Jeremiah that there was a message to the outside of the nations of the world but in general

most of the prophets if not all the prophets when they prophesy they always ministered and prophesy among the nation of Israel all the 12 tribes of Israel but here we learn of something fresh and new that Yonah was called for another mission another ministry mission that was outside of the land of Israel so the meaning of his name is dove though he did not behave in meekness as a dove the little bit that we know about him from from second kings 14 that he was from the Gat Hefer north of Nazareth his father was Amiti Amittai a real truth and that he belonged to the tribe of Zebulun and that he was the prophet of

the Lord this is the only thing that we know about Jonah the prophet sometimes when you read of the prophets of Israel God give us a clear indication he was the son of this he was of the tribe of that and his family were there and he ministered there and so on but this is the only thing that we learn from the word of God here concerning this person by the name of Yonah he was the son of Amittai son of truth he came from the town of Gat Hefer and he's belonging to the tribe of Zebulun according to Joshua 19 verses 3 13 or 10 to 13 you will notice that Gat Hefer belonged

to the tribe of Zebulun now the next thing that we want to learn as we are introducing this interesting book beloved brothers and sisters the book of Yonah the prophets of Yonah the prophet Yonah is we want to know when did he preach when did he serve God to remind you beloved brothers and sisters that by that time that Yonah was living in the north of Israel the nation of Israel was already divided into two kingdoms sadly God who wanted his people to be united together into one a nation that will be a testimony to the whole world sadly in a practical way there was a division of the nation of Israel to remind you

that Shlomo because of his disobedience to God and he God was saying that he will rent the kingdom away from the king Solomon and he will give it to somebody else but he will leave for him the tribe of Yehuda because of his father David and so remember that Shlomo had a son by the name of Rehov'am Rehov'am did not want to listen to the council of the elders of Israel because the 10 tribes of the north came to him came to him and said to him Rehov'am lighten for us all the burdens that you place upon us make our life a little bit easy so we will we will serve you we will serve

the the house of David we will serve you Rehov'am but Rehov'am instead of listening to the council of the elders who told him why don't you make their life easy easy and don't give them too many taxes make it light upon them but Rehov'am was listening to the younger generation who told him don't do so make it even heavier upon them and so he made it heavier upon them and the 10 tribes divided from the other two tribes of Judah and Binyamin that was a very sad period of time in Israel's history and when they were divided these two kingdoms Israel in the north Israel Yehuda Judah in the south there were friction between the

north and the south and and they were constantly a problem and the northern kingdom became worse and worse and worse in fact they established in the north there was the first king of the north of Israel was a man by the name of Yeruv'am and this man by the name of Yeruv'am have done wickedly he was Yeruv'am the son of Nebat he made golden calf in Dan and Betel and instead of sending the people of Israel to worship the God of Israel in Jerusalem he made them and he caused them and influenced them to worship idols the golden calves in Betel and in Dan and the nation of Israel have departed away from the God

of Israel and because of this beloved brothers and sisters God was getting ready to bring upon them the judgment of 721 BC when the Assyrians will come to judge them and take them to become captive and ultimately will scatter them all over the then known world and so Jonah he prophesied during a time when the 10 northern tribes of Israel were in a sad spiritual state in fact what we do read that when he prophesied to the northern kingdom the northern kingdom were outwardly prosperous but inwardly they were in a poor spiritual condition something very similar to what the Lord Jesus the Messiah when he wrote to the seven churches of Asia Minor something very

similar to the condition that prevailing in the present day age of the Laodicean condition where the Laodicean church saying I am rich and I have need of nothing and the Lord had to tell them if you remember unto the angel of the church of the Laodicean write these things say as the amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of God I know your works that thou art neither hot nor neither cold nor hot I would that thou were cold or hot so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew you out of my mouth because you say I am rich and increase with good and have

need of nothing but you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked the condition that prevailed in Israel's history in those days this is the northern tribe later on it will be sadly in the southern tribe is a very sad condition outward prosperity but inward decline a departure from the Lord and Jonah that was from the time from the town of Gat-chefer prophesied during the days when Jeroboam II was ruling over the nation of Israel the northern kingdom of Israel and as we just read in 2nd king chapter 14 and verse 24 that he this is Jeroboam did evil in the sight of the Lord and in a

time such as this Jonah was prophesying speaking to the nation and he was calling the nation we don't read it anywhere but all the prophets were saying shuvu shuvu return return to the Lord turn back to the Lord while we don't read this here but that was the ministry of the prophet to speak to the nation to restore them back to himself he was preaching in a time he was ministering in a time where there was much decline and departure from God among the people of Israel the next thing I would like to mention beloved brothers and sisters is the thing that we want to read here that Jonah is prophesying during a time of

decline among the people of Israel but also beloved brothers and sisters there's another thing that it is important to notice that if you for a moment just turn with me to the prophet Amos for a moment turn with me to the prophet Amos and I would like you to notice what we read about the prophecy of Amos to the nation of Israel listen to these couple of verses there in the prophecy of Amos Amos was already promising that God will judge the northern kingdom of Israel and he will ultimately bring the Assyrian to come against his own people just some verses that I have marked for myself in Amos chapter one we read in verse

one the words of Amos who was among the herdmen of the koa which he saw concerning Israel in the days of and you have the list Amos have seen a message you receive a message concerning the nation the northern kingdom of Israel in the day of Eziah who was the king of Judah and you have a list of the judgment that Amos was proclaiming against other nations as well including the nation of Israel listen to what we read in Amos chapter two and verses six and seven and eight thus saith the Lord for three transgression of Israel and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver

and the poor for a pair of shoes they a plant after the dust of the earth on the head of the pool and turn aside the way of the meek and a man of his father's will go in unto the same maid to profane my holy name and they lay themselves down upon upon a clothes laid to pledge by every altar they drink wine the wine of the wine of condemned in the house of their god in other words what he's really saying look at the behavior of Israel God is listing through Amos what they have done three transgressions of Israel the four I will not turn away and I will punish them because and

in verse seven and eight we have the list of the reason why God was going to to punish the nation the northern kingdom of Israel the way they treated the poor they turn aside away from of the meek and a man and his father will go into into a damsel there was immorality there was a worship of idols they were they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar they were worshiping other gods and other altars they were laying there and they were drinking and they they have turned away from God and God was ready to judge them in fact as you just read a little bit further in Amos chapter 6

just turn a little bit further in Amos chapter 6 and you notice what we read in verse 14 behold but behold I will raise up against you a nation O house of Israel says the Lord the God of hosts and they shall afflict you from the entering into again notice Hamat that's the place where Jonah came from from the entrance of Hamat unto the rivers of the wilderness all all the way to the south of the land of Israel in other words Yonah knew very well in the time that he was presenting the word of God to the northern kingdom of Israel that God is ready to punish the people of Israel by raising a

nation that will come and will enter in from the north and ultimately will destroy and cause havoc among the people of Israel this is important beloved brothers and sisters to know as we are studying together the book of Jonah now notice that I just want to mention one more two more things because Israel as a nation were called to be a lie to the gentiles Israel were called to be a nation that will be be a lie to the nations of the world but Israel failed in that and because of disobedience they were not where they should be they will be in the future after the church age will come to an end and the

heavenly company will go to glory but God will restore Israel and Israel will be exactly what he has a plan for them to be but Israel didn't didn't fulfill the call that God called the nation of Israel to be in chapter 43 in verse 10 we read of the prophet Isaiah ye are my witnesses say as the lord and my servant whom I have chosen that ye plural may may know and believe me and understand that I am he in other words Israel as a nation is called to be a lie to the nation of the world and to be witnesses the true Jehovah witnesses are the people of Israel they were called to be

a witnesses to Jehovah notice in chapter 44 of Isaiah and in verse 8 we read fear ye not neither be afraid have I not told thee from that time and and have declared it ye are even my witnesses chapter 43 of Isaiah is there a God beside me yet there is no God I know not any Isaiah proclaiming it before the nation of Israel and God called the people of Israel to be his witnesses so beloved brothers and sisters Israel did not fulfill as a nation that which God have intended for them they will in the future but the true Israel of God the Lord Jesus the Messiah he himself became the one that says

I am the light of the world he became the one that gave light to the world he in a sense beloved brothers and sisters became the true Israel the way God have intended the nation to be he is the one who became that one that that is the light to the nation and he will use his people Israel in the future day to be that which God have called the nation to be so now as we are moving to the first few verses of this a a chapter one of the book of Jonah from this book we will learn many many lessons the first lesson that we will learn that God is the God of

all creation you will notice beloved brothers and sisters as we study at this book of Jonah that God have created things and God is the God of creation he created the storm he created the fish to swallow Jonah he he is the one who is creating everything here in this world he is the God of creation he is the God of creation we will also learn that God is willing to save all he is not willing that any should perish he is the God of all creation that he is the one that's that he is the one that's seeking to lead others many nations to come to know him as the Messiah as God and

Lord and Savior you more you remember what Timothy was told by the apostle Paul that God is not willing that any should perish but that gum that they all will come to the knowledge of the truth and just one more thing beloved brothers and sisters in this book of Yonah we will learn of the faithfulness of God although Yonah we will see here he was not faithful he did not obey he was not in a in a right spiritual condition to obey the Lord but we will learn from here and I think this is so precious for all of us to learn that God is a God of the second chance when we stumble and

when we fail and when we at times disobey him you see he will never cast us off he's always ready to restore his people to himself and he will surely do so if we just turn to him repent even as believers repent and recognize that we have failed him he will restore us and he will restore his servants to continue to serve him like the Lord Jesus did to Simon Peter Shimon Petros when Peter deny the Lord in the presence there when he was there in Jerusalem when the Lord Jesus the Messiah was taken when he was asked you are one of them and he said I know not this man three times Shimon Petros

has denied his Lord and yet the Lord restored him publicly and Peter Shimon Petros became a servant of the Lord and became the apostle to the circumcision who ministered to the Jewish believers in first century and was used by the Lord to open the door to the nations of the world well so now let's go back to the chapter that is before us and I would like to just mention a few make a few remarks concerning the first a few verses of this a first chapter in chapter 1 Jonah 1 verses 1 and 2 God is commending Jonah Yonah his servant giving him a command while Yonah was all along prophesying and ministering to the

people of Israel within the land now God is asking Yonah to do something that is very unusual he commanded him to do something that is beyond the borders of Israel I would like to remind you that the difference between Israel the nation and the church today is that the Lord Jesus the Messiah said to the to the disciples you should go out to all the world to make disciples preach the message of the gospel but when it's come to the nation of Israel it was really the opposite instead of going out to the world the world would come to the nation like the queen of Sheba and like many other people would come to the

city of Jerusalem to worship the Lord in the land in the city of Jerusalem in the temple Isaiah said in chapter 2 come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways he will teach us of his way the nation were called to come into the land in the present day age in which you and I live in as part of the church the assembly the ecclesia we are called to go out to the world to preach the message of the gospel and lead many in their locality to lead them to come to know the savior and that's

the difference and that's why we can see that there is something unusual that is happening here as the Lord commanding Jonah Yonah his servant so we read in verse 1 not a word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai saying the word of the Lord came to him as it was before the word of the Lord came to Yonah because we we did read that he's called Jonah the prophet and the Lord Jesus the Messiah in Matthew chapter 12 declared that he was a prophet he acknowledged that he was a prophet in days of old so they say the word of the Lord is now calling came unto Yonah the son of

Amittai saying and listen to the the strange remark the strange you might say call that God have required from Jonah he's saying to him in verse 2 Jonah at this time really I would like you I'm commanding you to go away from the land away from your people so he said to him arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for the wickedness is come before me notice the the call of the call for Yonah the Lord is saying the Lord is saying to him arise and now he's sending him away from the land where does he send him arise and go to Nineveh where is Nineveh?

Nineveh is a it's an area that is on the east of Israel and Nineveh belong to the Assyrian it is an ancient Assyrian city in upper Mesopotamia in the modern day city of Mosul in the northern of Iraq situated on the banks on the east bank of the a Tigris river and it was the capital and the largest city of the neo-Assyrian empire the largest city in the world for several decades in other words God is calling Yonah to leave the land of Israel and go into a city of Nineveh which was the capital city of the kingdom of Assyria the empire of Assyria and the message was that here this great city cry against

it notice then why because the wickedness is come up before me God is saying to Yonah so Yonah was called to go to that place this city of the of the Assyrian they were known to be a wicked people that according to history treated their enemy in a vicious way some have even suggested the because apparently they already came in certain period of time into the land of Israel and caused already havoc and Jonah did not want to go there because he knew very well that these people will become the enemies of Israel who will ultimately will cause havoc among the people of Israel and so this is the command that God had given to

to Jonah and we already read this in Amos chapter 6 that this nation that God will raise I will raise the nation says the Lord God of all and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamat unto the river of the wilderness and now God is telling Yonah Yonah I want you to rise up and I want you to go into that city because their wickedness have come up before me so you might say Yonah should as an obedient prophet he should have rise up and go east and go to Nineveh the capital city of Assyria obeying the Lord his God as he was called to do and so apparently notice that and

I would like just with this verse the next verse so we can just have this before us what does Jonah do what does Yonah do he does exactly the opposite instead of going to Nineveh the great city instead of going east from Yafo in the English it is called Joppa but it's really in Hebrew it is Yafo and Yafo instead of going east to Nineveh he's going west to altogether another place by the name of Tarshish notice that we read in the next verse we do read that but notice that but Yonah rose up to flee listen to these beloved brothers and sisters to flee and to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord he

rose up and instead of submitting to the call of the Lord to cry to go to Nineveh and to cry against it because of the wickedness that came up before God what does he do he began to flee from the presence of the Lord and how does he do it notice that he's going he went down to Yafo and you notice that it says down because to come down from the north of Israel to Yafo it's a downward a path it's always down from the north to the center of Israel and down to the south it is a downward walking or or taking a an animal sitting on a donkey on a camel and you're

going down from from Gat Hefer all the way down to Yafo but it's not only down in a sense of going down from one area to another but it is a down course of a disobedience it is a he disobeying he's gone down down down down seeking to flee from the presence of the Lord he does say listen to this he went down to Yafo and then he found a sheep going to Tarshish here's the name Tarshish is mentioned to us and Tarshish is apparently is located located somewhere in a place that is really Spain area it is a city in the west of the Mediterranean Mediterranean region and it's really somewhere by it's a

it's a port by Spain and the name is called Tarshish now he just happened to go down to Yafo he found the sheep that is happened to go to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and he went notice again the word down he went down into the sheep to go with them and to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord very interesting that somehow of course disobeying God he didn't want to go apparently to Nineveh and it just happened to work well for him so he sought to flee from the presence of the Lord and then he went down to Yafo he found the sheep he had the money sufficient enough money to pay

for the ride to Tarshish and then he went down into the ship and then he eventually as this verse says seeking to flee from the presence of the Lord now beloved brothers and sisters because Yonah was a prophet he knew very well what the psalmist of Israel said in the psalm concerning even the possibility to flee from the presence of the Lord no one could flee from the presence of the Lord because God knows all things about his people about everything he is the God of all creation no one can flee from the presence of the Lord and yet beloved brothers and sisters what we really learn here that Jonah was fleeing not so much

from the universal presence of the Lord but he was fleeing from the land of Israel where the Shekinah glory rested in the city of Jerusalem where God's presence was in the land of Israel so what does he do according to verse 3 he is going down into the Yafo going down to the ship going entering into the ship and going all the way down and seeking to flee from the presence of the Lord if you just turn with me from a moment to psalm 139 there we read in verse 7 these words listen to this psalm 139 and verse 7 and Yonah knew that that he cannot flee from God he knew that psalm 139

and verse 7 whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence if I ascend unto the heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell or in Sheol behold thou art there the psalmist of Israel David said israel David said if I take the winds of the mount of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me if I say surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shall be light unto me yeah notice what David says yeah the darkness hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day

and the darkness and the light are both alike I cannot flee from you I cannot flee from your present God because you are God of the universe you are the creator God you know all things you are sovereign and your providence is over all the the the earth this is yours God Jonah knew that but Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord the land of Israel where the Shekhinah was where God's presence was in the temple in the land of Israel and he went in disobedience seeking to flee from the presence of the Lord now that is an amazing beloved brothers and sisters you know there are somebody and because of time I just

want to mention some asked the question how could Jonah flee from the Lord how is it possible that Jonah was such a disobedient servant that he sought to flee from the presence of the Lord in fact it's mentioned here twice in verse three but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and he continued it's the second half he found a ship going to Tarshish he paid the feather of and he went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord the question is often asked why Jonah was going west instead of east instead of going about 550 miles or so from Yaffo to

Nineveh going 2500 miles all the way to Tarshish at least he aimed to go this way because that was where how far Tarshish is from the city of Yaffo from the land of Israel well there are some suggestions and I would like just to mention this for us to consider because he knew very well that no one can flee from the presence of the Lord who is the the universal God who is everywhere he is omnipotent he is omnipotent he is omnipresence and omniscient he is all-powerful he is all-knowing and he is everywhere that's Psalm 139 but there was a reason as to why Yonah fled or sought to flee from the presence of the

Lord one suggestion is because the city of Nineveh was as I mentioned earlier was a capital city of this wicked nation the Assyrian and because they were so brutal and they and they were so they were torching and and harming anyone that they have captured I heard that the other day in my preparation for the message that history teaches us that when the Assyrian captured any person from among the nation they will bury them alive leaving only the head out and allowing them to suffer and to die while they are in the torching heat of the sun wickedness the way the the Assyrian treated the northern kingdom of Israel when they have captured them and

took them captive a few years later in in in 721 BC they treated the northern kingdom wickedly and the Jonah didn't want to go there because knowing what kind of people they were and what kind of nation they were secondly there is another reason that one might consider as to why Jonah did not want to obey God because he knew that God that God is a gracious God and we will see it as we will look at the end of the book and that he's always willing to restore any person any nation who will confess their sins and turn to him and repent and know and and he knew it and you will read it

later on at the end of the of the book of Jonah he says I knew thee that thou art the gracious God always ready to forgive and because he knew very well he knew very well what did the people of Nineveh will do to his people he didn't want them to turn to God and to repent and God will forgive their sins thirdly it had been suggested that because of the condition that existed in the northern kingdom of Israel Jonah himself his personal condition was not the way he should be just like a time the personal condition of believers today in our life in in in your life is not always where we should be

and our hearts our time are cold and not living for the Lord and many many times we find ourselves disobeying the word of the Lord where we know as believers just as in the days of old simply are called hard toward the Lord and not simply being submissive to the God of who called us and and of course another reason that was must have been a difficult for Jonah to go is because he knew that generally speaking the nation are coming to the land of Israel coming to the temple of Israel it was unusual for a servant to go outside of the land we hardly read it in the hebrew prophets yet Jonah did not

want to go to go to preach the message of God to the Ninevites and notice what the message would have been in according to be in according to a chapter one and verse two cry against it for the wickedness is come up before me and it had been suggested because Jonah did not care of those that are without of the nation that are without he had did not want to go to share the message knowing that God is gracious and he will ultimately repent if those that have confessed will turn to him and so what we really learn here beloved and we will learn as we will continue in the study of the book of

Jonah that disobedience of the servants of the Lord disobedience of the power of the people of God will ultimately have a price to pay as we remember in Numbers chapter 32 be sure your sins will find you out and you will see how Jonah will ultimately will be found out and that's happened in the life of all God's people in every generation God will discipline his people and when they go astray they will ultimately be disciplined by God and we will see this here in this a book of Jonah but ultimately beloved brothers and sisters we will learn from the book of Jonah that God is a gracious God ready to forgive ready to restore

anyone who have gone astray whether it is the people of the world he's the God of all nations he's the God of all the people he's the God of the universe he's always ready to restore people to himself but his servants when they are going astray he will teach them he will discipline them but he's always he's ready to receive them back to himself and so as we will continue in the study of the book of Jonah we will learn these lessons one lesson at a time that will help us to appreciate the prophecy of the book of Jonah the lesson that we learn from the book of Jonah so I think I'm going to

stop with this there are other things that I had in mind to say but because of time we will have to stop now and in the will of the Lord we will continue with the study of the prophecy of Jonah now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai saying verse 1 of chapter 1 arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for the wickedness is come up before me but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and he went down to Yafo and he found a ship going to Tarshish he paid the fare thereof he went down into it to go

with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord he disobeyed the Lord and have gone west instead of east fleeing from the presence of the Lord and we will see what the Lord will do for Jonah as he will train him and he will teach him to learn the lessons of obedience in the life of the people of God well my dear friend dear brothers and sisters and dear friend we just presented an introduction today and in the will of the Lord we will continue in our next meeting together to study this short prophet Jonah and we trust that the Lord will help us to learn lessons from this prophecy God bless you my

dear friend we will pray together and close the meeting for today I gather now father thank you for your word thank you for the prophecy of Jonah bless us and help us to learn lessons in our lives we ask it in Yeshua's name amen and amen God bless you my dear friend Shabbat Shalom take care you Thank you.