Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Welcome to the Shabbat, Saturday meeting of the Holy Scriptures in Israel, where we open the Word of God together, and we are continuing on with the study of the book of Yonah Han-Navi, Jonah the prophet, and it is fascinating, very interesting. a book, a prophecy that's teaching us many lessons, beloved friends, dear brothers and sisters. Hopefully, you have the Word of God in your hands, and please follow us as we're continuing together with the study of the book of Jonah. Let's just ask the Lord to bless us as we begin with the reading of Jonah chapter 2. Our Father, thank you so much for this prophecy, the prophet Yonah, and the lessons that you are teaching us through the life of Yonah Han-Navi.

Bless your Word to us all, we pray, for we ask it in Yeshua's name. Amen and Amen. So, beloved friends, dear brothers and sisters, turn with me to the book of Yonah, the prophet Jonah, and turn to the second chapter. We have already finished the first chapter. Now, let me remind you that in the Hebrew Masoetic text, the actual first verse of chapter 2 is the last verse of chapter 1. It is verse 17 of Jonah chapter 1. So, we will read Jonah 1, verse 17, and we'll continue into Jonah chapter 2 and verse 1 to the end of the chapter. And so, I'm reading Jonah chapter 1, verse 17. 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.

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord, his God, out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hast cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods come past me about, all thy billows, and thy ways passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again towards thy holy temple. The waters come past me about, even to the soul, the depths close me round about, the weeds were wrapped around my head.

I went down to the bottom of the mountains, the earth with her bars were about me forever. Yet, yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed, salvation is of the Lord. And then verse 10, and the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And I will stop here, beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends, with the reading of the second chapter of Jonah.

And I have also read verse 17 of chapter 1, simply because in the Hebrew Masoretic text, it really belongs to the second chapter. In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, this second chapter is an immense, important chapter for us to study. Why? Because in this chapter, we really learn about the ways in which God had to deal with Jonah, Jonah the prophet. But at the same time, we learn that here from this second chapter, Jonah, the prophet, in what took place in his life, in the fish's belly, in his life, and really in his death, he became a picture and a type of our Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

He became a sign that was given to our people of Israel, the Jewish people, of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. Now, let me remind you that thus far we have finished all the first chapter. You remember in the first chapter, God has called Jonah, Jonah, in chapter 1 and verse 1 and 2, We read that the word of the Lord came unto Yonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry again, said, For their wickedness is come up before me. And so Jonah, in disobedience, instead of going to that mission that God has sent him to the city of Nineveh, He disobeyed God, and as we have read, but Jonah rose up to flee from Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord.

Instead of going east, he went down to the city of Yafo, he went into a boat, into a ship, and he was ready to depart to the place that is in Spain, that it is called Tarshish. Well, God had to discipline Jonah, and to his erring servant, his erring prophet, and he sent that a supernatural storm that came on the Mediterranean Sea, and we know what happened. Jonah that came, went down all the way to the bottom of the ship, he fell asleep, and then the chief captain had to call him. He said, What are you doing? Why are you sleeping? Pray to your God.

Maybe your God will be the one that will deliver us out of this terrible storm. And then they asked him, Who are you? Where are you coming from? What is your occupation? And you remember what Jonah told them when he answered them, and he told them that he is, I said to them, I am a Hebrew. I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, the God of heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land. And then the sailors, they asked him, Why has you done this? What have you done? Why do you disobey your God? And ultimately, beloved brothers and sisters, Jonah was cast into the sea, and there, beloved brothers and sisters, it shows us that the first chapter ended with the calmness of the sea, and the sailors worshipping the God of Yonah, the God of Israel.

And Yonah was swallowed by the fish, according to verse 17 of chapter 1. Now Jonah, the Lord, prepared that unique fish for Jonah, and the fish swallowed up Jonah, and Yonah, Jonah, was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. And here we are moving now into the second chapter. Now, there are a few things that I want to say. There's so much that I really want to say about this amazing second chapter, because it is a very important chapter to understand. In this second chapter, we have a summary verses in verses 1 and 2 of the rescue of Jonah, giving us a summary. Then, in the remaining portion of this second chapter, we have Jonah experience in the sea.

And then, finally, of course, in verses 8 and 9, Jonah commitment or recommitment to the Lord. And at the end of that chapter, Jonah eventually is God commanding the fish, and the fish vomiting Yonah Hanavi unto upon a dry land. Now, I would like for a moment, before we go into some of the details, maybe we'll not be able to finish it today with all the details that I would like to share with everyone about this second chapter. But I want to point to these four stages in Jonah's experience with the Lord that we have here in this very, very interesting chapter. You will notice, beloved brothers and sisters, that in this second chapter, we learn of four stages in Jonah's experiences with the Lord.

And this is very interesting because in the same manner, beloved brothers and sisters, Jonah is also teaching us lessons concerning our life. Before we go to the five learning points about Jonah's prayer, I would like, first of all, to point to the four stages in Jonah's experience, in experiences with God in his life. The first thing is, of course, we learn in chapter 2 of the first stage is Jonah's disobedience to God. I don't know about you, beloved brothers and sisters, are you always obeying God? Is there a time in your life when you are disobeying God and running away from God, as we have said before us in chapter 1?

Disobedience to God in the life of Jonah brought about the disciplinary action of God. And when anyone is running away from God, as he did in chapter 1, it will ultimately bring the disciplinary action of God upon his servants. Whether it is Jonah Hanavi in days of all, or whether it is you and I today, the first stage in what we learn in here from chapter 1, but now in chapter 2, it is Jonah's disobedience. And we learn, if you read chapter 2, notice this, and I'm going back to chapter 2, Jonah, notice verse 1, said that Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and he cried, and he said, Now, the first thing I want to point is the stage in Jonah's life of disobedience, which brought about the disciplinary action of God.

You notice that in this second chapter, Jonah's disobedience meant that earlier, before he was disciplined by God, before he went astray from God, perhaps there was a period of time in his life that he didn't pray, he didn't communicate with God. We don't know how and what was the exact reason as to why he disobeyed God, but apparently, only here we find him now, a little bit later on in our chapter, that Jonah actually began to remember the Lord. Notice what it says, and I'm kind of, you might say, bringing all the picture together here, the next meeting perhaps we will go into various other details, but notice in verse 7, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord.

Jonah began now to remember the Lord later on, he should have remembered the Lord earlier. A privileged person, he was part of our nation of Israel, a chosen people of God, he was a servant of the Lord, the God of Israel. He should have remembered the Lord, not forget the Lord. Like you and I, a time in our life, we neglect to remember the Lord in our lives. And now, when God has disciplined him, notice this, Jonah is praying after his disobedience to God, and he remembered now the Lord. According to verse 7a, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord. Secondly, you notice what we read concerning Jonah's disobedience.

He did not only forget the Lord, which brought about the disobedience of Jonah, but Jonah also neglected to pray because we do read in verse 7 once again in the second half of this verse, You remember, we read in chapter 1 that he fled from the presence of the Lord. That was from the immediate presence of the Lord in the Shekinah glory that was dwelling in the midst of the cherubim in the city of Yerushalayim. And Jonah, now he's praying to the Lord, beloved brothers and sisters, and he's praying towards the temple in the city of Jerusalem. He said, You see, disobedience to the Lord produces in the life of God's people, God's servants, lack of remembering the Lord in our life, what he had done for us.

Secondly, neglecting to pray, to communicate with the Lord, and even more, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 8, we do read that Jonah was observing and believing a lie. Notice what we read in verse 8. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. You see, he now realized that he disobeyed the Lord, and the cause of disobedience to the Lord is simply because Jonah forgot the Lord in that period of time in his life. Jonah neglected to pray to the Lord. And thirdly, Jonah observed and believed lies. That's what he's saying later on about others who do not believe in the true and living God, perhaps the people of Nineveh.

But Jonah, in the first two verses, he's a stage in his life in which he disobeyed the Lord. Now, this is an amazing lesson because you and I oftentimes can be very much the same. Disobedience came out of neglecting to remember how much God has done for us. Secondly, disobedience comes out of neglecting to pray and to have fellowship with God. And disobedience comes out of believing all sorts of things, lies, and all sorts of being influenced by others instead of having fellowship with the Lord. We see here the first stage that we learn from the second chapter, but it's really connecting us with the whole book of Jonah Hanavi, Jonah the prophet.

The second stage in his life, in his experiences with the Lord, we learn here in verses 3 to 6 in this prayer, which we go into detail a little bit later on in this meeting or in our next meeting. We find out that here we have the second stage in Jonah's experience with the Lord, and that's the stage of Jonah, disciplinary action of God. God disciplined his own children. God always disciplined his own sons and daughters. God disciplined Israel in Israel's history. God disciplined the believers in the Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach, today, in our life today. God loves us and he disciplined his own children, his own people.

Whom the Lord loves us, he chastens us. And he scourges every son whom he received. And you notice what we read here in this second chapter in verses 3 to 6, that the Lord disciplined Jonah by casting him into the sea. If you turn back to chapter 1, at the end of the chapter, it says in verse 15, So they took up Jonah and they cast him forth into the sea. But you notice in our chapter, Jonah doesn't say in verse 3, the mariners cast me into the sea. Jonah in chapter 2 and verse 3 says, notice this, While in reality, it was the mariners that cast him into the sea. But Jonah understood that it was the Lord who cast him into the sea.

And that the Lord was involved here in this act of discipline. And it is the Lord is the one that brought about this, we might say calamity upon the life of his servant, Jonah. It is the Lord himself that was the one that cast Jonah into the sea, although it was actually the mariners who cast him into the sea. But Jonah understood that it is the Lord, according to chapter 1, according to chapter 2 and verse 3, that cast him into the deep. And it is the Lord is the one that have prepared the fish. And that the Lord is the one that caused Jonah to be in the fish's belly for three days and three nights.

God disciplined his own people. This is a principle that we learn from the life of Yonah Hanavi. God is always going to discipline his people. If you turn for a moment with me to the book of Proverbs, and in Proverbs chapter 3, Solomon wrote in chapter 3 and verses 11 and 12, Solomon said, listen to what Solomon said, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his a correction. For whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. God delighteth in Yonah Hanavi, Jonah the prophet. He loves him. He called him to be his servant. But he was in a stage of disobedience, which brought about the stage of God's discipline in his own life.

And that's why Shlomo said in the Proverbs to remind Israel, to remind you and I, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. Why? Because not as that whom the Lord loves, he correcteth. And even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. The Lord is dealing with his own people, beloved brothers and sisters. Just go also with me, please, to the book of Hebrews. And you remember these verses in Hebrews, chapter 12, where we read in verse 3, all the way to verse 10, the author wrote it as well, to remind the believers, the early believers, to remind you and I of the fact that God does love his own, and he will correct his own who disobey him.

And so we read in Hebrews, chapter 12 and verse 3, for consider him, notice that Hebrews, chapter 12 and verse 3, for consider him that endures a such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your own minds. ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. And then he tells them, and ye have forgotten the exhortation, looking back to Proverbs, chapter 3, which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou rebuke of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourges every son whom he receiveth. You see, Yonah Hanavi, Jonah the prophet was disciplined by God because of his disobedience, but this disciplinary action of God was out of love for Yonah, who disobeyed his God.

The Hebrew author continuing, he said in verse 7 of chapter 12 of the book of Hebrews, if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye busters or illegitimate children and not sons. He continued in verse 9 and 10 to say, Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? And he continued in verse 10, For they verily for a few days chasteneth us after their own pleasure.

But he, this is our Abba, our father, he for a prophet that we might be partakers of his holiness. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, Yonah Hanavi, Jonah the prophet was in a stage of disobedience. He did not go to Nineveh where God called him to go and because of his disobedience, the second stage in his experience, according to this whole book of Jonah, but being seen and evident in his second chapter, God had to discipline his servant, Yonah. The Lord disciplined Jonah by casting him into the sea. God disciplined all of us in any time of our life. Whenever we disobey the Lord and whenever we go astray from the Lord, what do you want the Lord to do?

Out of his love for us, he disciplined us because he loves us. He doesn't want to see his own people are away from him. He wants to see us near to him. How wonderful to know that. Whom the Lord loves, he chasteneth. And he scourges every son, every daughter whom he receives. And sometimes, beloved brothers and sisters, when we are going through difficult times in our life, a time it is because, not only because Satan attack us, not only because the world is against us, but sometimes it's because of our own self-will in disobedience to the Lord, which bring about the necessity of our loving God, our loving Abba, to discipline his own people.

Just like a father in a family, out of love for his daughters and sons, he would seek to do everything that they will be corrected and disciplined. We fail, but the Lord never fails. He's correcting a ministry towards his own people. He's firm and out of love. He does it for the benefit of his people. And so from verses 3 to 6, we can see the disciplinary action of God where we read, for thou hast cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the flowers compass me about, all thy billows, and notice that thy waves passed over me. Notice the word, you are the one that cast me into the deep, and it is your billows, and it is your waves that pass over me.

He doesn't say, it is the willows, the billows and the waves of the sea. No. It is God's billows. It is God's waves that passed over me, oh yes, of course we know that in actuality, it was there when he was in the Mediterranean Sea, in the midst of the storm, and the billows and the waves, the wind, and the waves came upon him. Yes, physically, but he understood in this stage, very short stage there, that it actually was the Lord himself who did so and disciplined him. We read in verse 4, then I said, I am cast out of thy sight. Notice he was praying to God, and he's looking, and he's saying, I am cast out of your sight, out of thy sight, yet I will look again towards thy holy temple.

the waters compassed me about even to the soul, the depths closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the bottom of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about me forever, yet thou has brought up my life from corruption. It is God, the Jonah Sea, that is the one that is disciplining him and bringing about the condition that he finds himself in now that the Lord cast him into the sea. That is the second stage in Jonah's life. And again, brothers and sisters, to remind us all, that God is intervening in our lives. We belong to him.

And because we belong to him, God will discipline his people. You remember what God said to our people of all through the prophet? He said to Israel, only you have I known among all other nations. Of course he knew all the nations of the world, but only Israel had a relationship as a nation with God. And therefore God says, I will discipline you. I will judge you. I will discipline you when you are violating my word and going and doing your own thing. That's the kind of God we have. And it's the same with the assembly, with the ecclesia. Judgment must begin at the house of God.

First Peter chapter 4. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and he scourges every son whom he receives, son or daughter. Thirdly, in the third stage in the life of Jonah, as we look at it here in these verses of chapter 2, we will look at it perhaps, we will see in the next meeting, we will go in detail and we'll learn here some other areas of the life of Jonah that I would like to emphasize. But for today, for this ministry meeting, I would like to just point to these four stages in connection with Jonah's prayer here in the second chapter. And in the will of the Lord, we'll continue in our next meeting to deal with the very same section, but there we will get some details concerning what actually happened in the time that Jonah was cast into the sea and were three days and three nights in the fish's belly.

And then at the end of the chapter, ultimately the Lord have commanded the fish and the fish vomited Jonah on a dry land. But you notice that the third stage in Jonah's experience with the Lord is found in verses 7, 8, and 9. And in this stage, beloved brothers and sisters, Jonah now dedicated himself to God. First of all, he disobeyed God. Secondly, God disciplined Jonah. But now after God has disciplined Jonah, then we find out that Jonah is dedicating himself to God. And that is so wonderful. God is the God of the second chance. God is a God that is seeking to draw his people back to himself.

And although his people, a time have gone astray, he's always working in the life of his people and he's seeking to restore them so they will re-dedicate their life to the Lord. In actuality, this happened to us many times in our lives. We stumble and we go astray. The Lord speaks and correct us. And then he aligns us with himself and we're dedicating our life to him to continue on. It's not only one time that we do so because our life is full of ups and downs and ins and outs. There are many challenges in the life of God's people, many problems, many, many conflicts, many decisions to make in our lives.

And sometimes we are obedient and we are faithful. In a time when we don't and we turn to the Lord, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness as we read it in 1 John 1 and verse 9. And our relationship and our fellowship with the Lord is being restored. It's not a matter of salvation. It's a matter of sanctification. So what happened here now that God disciplined Yonah Hanavi, Jonah the prophet, what we learn here from these verses 7, 8, and 9, that he now dedicated himself back to the service of God. So Jonah dedicated himself to the Lord.

Listen to verses 7, 8, and 9 where we read, When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, but I, listen to this, I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving, he is saying. I will pay that I have vowed salvation is of the Lord. The Hebrew word says here, yeshuata or salvation is le'adonai, to Jehovah. Salvation is to and from the Lord. And so what we really learn here, beloved brothers and sisters, Jonah now rededicated himself to the Lord. And now he's looking, you remember in chapter 1, he fled from the presence of the Lord, according to chapter 1 and verse 3, but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

And again, to remind you that when we read there in verse 3, the presence of the Lord, it is in relationship to the, to the local presence of the Lord in the city of Yerushalayim, in the land of Israel, when the Shekhinah, the Shekinah glory, was there between the cherubim in the Holy of Holies, in the temple, in the city of Yerushalayim. So what does he say now that he's rededicating himself to the Lord, being restored after God disciplined Yonah? We read that he's now looking towards God's temple. Now he knew very well that God is dwelling in heaven, but yet God has asked Israel to build a temple for him.

He wanted to dwell in between the cherubim among his own people. Already in Exodus chapter 25, God says, make me a tabernacle because I want to dwell in the midst of the people of Israel. The tabernacle was built. The hechal ha-kodesh. Then later on, when Israel entered into the land, the tabernacle ceased from being a place after 300 and something years, ceased to be a place of service, and the temple was built by King Shlomo in the city of Yerushalayim. And there God dwelt in the midst of his people between the cherubim is the shechina. The word shechina means the dwelling of God in the midst of the cherubim in the holy of holies among his people.

So now that God have disciplined Jonah, now Jonah is re-dedicating himself to the Lord. And you notice twice in this second chapter of Jonah, he is using this expression, I will look towards your temple. Towards your temple. Notice it says in verse 4, notice that, he says in verse 4, Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet, notice that, yet, I will look again toward thy holy temple. I will look again, this is at the end of verse 4, towards thy holy temple. In the Hebrew, it says, beloved brothers and sisters, as he is speaking about the holy temple, he is saying here in verse, in the Hebrew, it actually is verse 5, where he says, Ossif lehabit el heichal kodshecha.

Heichal kodshecha, it has to do with the temple in the city of Jerusalem. I will continue on in looking toward, looking again towards thy holy temple. And the next time that it is mentioned, it is mentioned again in verse 7, when my soul fainted within me, I remember the Lord. And my prayer, notice that, my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. The temple, Beit HaMikdash, it was a place where the prayer of the nation of Israel was accepted by God when they came in the right way. The sacrifices were offered and the worship rose up to God in glory in heaven. And Yonah is rededicating himself to God here, beloved brothers and sisters, in these portions, verses 7, 8, and 9, towards the temple he is now praying.

And you know why he did so? Why he said so? Go with me back, first of all, to 1 Kings chapter 8. 1 Kings chapter 8. The temple was built by King Solomon and King Shlomo HaMelech, Shlomo HaMelech, when he finished the building of the temple in Jerusalem, in Yerushalayim, Shlomo asked the Lord in prayer concerning anyone from Israel who will violate God's word, will disobey the Lord. And you notice what he said, beloved brothers and sisters, notice that what we read here, in verses 31 to 34, the prayer of Shlomo. Shlomo is saying to the Lord, if any man trespass against his neighbor and an oath be laid upon him and cause him to swear and so on, he's giving kind of a list of things that anyone will do among the nation of Israel.

and he's saying to the Lord, if anyone will disobey you and everyone will go away from me, everyone will sin against you, he wanted, from these verses, he wanted the Lord to remember Israel, to remember his people who will repent and turn and turn to the Lord. And notice what he says and I'll just go jump a little bit further in verse 46 and onward. He said, if they sinned, verse 46, against thee, for there is no man that sinnest not and thou be angry with them and deliver them to the enemy so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy far or near.

Yet, he said, if they shall bething themselves in the land whither they were carried captive and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carry them captive, saying, we have sinned and have done perversely. We have committed wickedness. Shlomo is saying, and so return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul, verse 48, in the land of their enemies which led them away captive, which you have led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hath chosen and the house which I have built for thy name. Then, Shlomo is saying, hear thou their prayer, verse 49, and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place and maintain their cause, and verse 50, and forgive thy people.

You see, Jonah, Yonah Hanavi knew that. He knew exactly what Shlomo was praying years earlier when the temple in the city of Jerusalem was built by Solomon. And Solomon knew that when God will have to discipline his people who have gone astray, whether it is individually or nationally, when they are away from the land, in the case of Jonah, Yonah Hanavi was away because he began his journey toward instead of going to Nineveh, he's joining to Tarshish and now that he was cast into the sea, the Mediterranean sea, he is now rededicating himself to God. What does he do? as we read, he prayed towards the holy temple.

Notice again I'm reading verse 4, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. Verse 7 at the end, into thine holy temple my prayer came. And so Jonah was now rededicating himself to the Lord, remembering what Shlomo said years earlier, that he knew very well that God's people are disobeying the Lord and God had to discipline them. That in order for them to be dedicated again to God, they need to repent. to confess their sins and be restored to the Lord. And you know, this is very moving beloved brothers and sisters and I tell you why. Because often time we even as believers don't forgive one another.

We as believers have a somehow we remember what he or she or they have done to the one or to the other. Instead of having a sense of forgiveness. Yet God does. Yet God is not like man, not like you, not like me. He's always ready to forgive. He's always ready to restore. In fact, when we will get to the final chapter, chapter four, verse verse two, Jonah said, I knew that you are gracious God. I know that you are merciful, you are slow to anger and of a great kindness. I know that you will change instead of judging you. When someone will repent, you will repent of the evil.

I know you. Jonah knew he's God very well. And instead, in the early stage, the first stage, instead of obeying God, in this part, in this portion of time in his life, he disobeyed. And disobedience brings discipline. And discipline is coming out of a loving God, a loving Father, praise God, we have such a God who is always ready to forgive those that repent and turn to him. While we, in our human sinful nature, many times inclined to remember, and often time we fail in forgiving while we are exhorted so many times, forgive one another, forgive one another. You remember Peter asked the Lord, how many times should I forgive?

Seven times? And the Lord had to teach him seven times seven. In other words, a full number complete, and this is the ways of the Lord. God forgave you now, and you now, now rededicate himself to the Lord. He will look towards the temple in the city of Yerushalayim. He remembered what Shlomo prayed to the Lord when the temple was built years earlier, that if anyone in Israel will sin against the Lord, that they will look towards the temple in Jerusalem in prayer. And by the way, until today, until today, our Jewish people, people like my grandfather who immigrated back to Yerushalayim was always praying towards the city of Yerushalayim.

The Jewish people who have scattered around the world, who long for God's restoration, always praying towards the city of Yerushalayim. Why? Because this is exactly what God instructed them to do in 1st King chapter 8 because Yerushalayim is where the temple stood. Yerushalayim is where the Lord dwelt in the midst of the cherubim there among His own people. Yerushalayim is the city of God. Yerushalayim is the city where God placed His name there. Yerushalayim is the city where the Messiah Yeshua came and He paid for the sin of this world. Yerushalayim is the city where the Messiah will come again in the future day and will establish the messianic temple.

Yerushalayim is where the word of the Lord will go to all the nations of the world.

As we read in the prophet Isaiah in chapter 2 where we do read such a wonderful passage beloved brothers and sisters we read in a chapter 2 where people will say 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 and we will talk we will walk in His path for out out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem that's what the future day will be when the nation will say 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 today you and I as part of the assembly the ecclesia the called out ones we don't look to Jerusalem but we're looking to heaven where our Messiah is in the presence of God at God's right hand but for Yonah for our Jewish people who are still not part of the assembly the ecclesia waiting for the restoration of the nation it always will be a city of Jerusalem to where there will be praying because in a future day the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah will come and will restore them as a nation at the end of the tribulation and will establish the blessed period of time and of blessing and

Jonah now in the third stage is rededicating himself unto the Lord now listen to stage number four in stage number four as we learn here from the second chapter and really from the whole book of Fiona we learn the final state is Jonah's deliverance by God after his disobedience then God's discipline then thirdly his dedication to God finally you see that once he dedicated himself to God now God delivers him and he sent him now to continue to do his bidding and so verse 10 the conclusion of this second chapter we find out listen to wonderful truth we read and the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited Jonah and Jonah upon the dry

land notice that it vomited out Jonah upon a dry land Jonah did not even get wet straight to a dry land vomited by the fish straight to a dry land God have delivered him out of his condition because he was ready now to do the Lord's bidding and you notice beloved brothers and sisters the everything everyone listened to the word of the Lord except his servant the sea listened to the word of the Lord the fish listened to the word of the Lord later on in the fourth chapter you'll find out that the gourd is listening to the word of the Lord but it was his servant who didn't listen to the word of the

Lord and so once he recommitted himself rededicated himself to the Lord God now giving you now what is called a second chance how wonderful it is brothers and sisters when we fail the Lord in our lives when we stumble and go astray how God finds so much delight when we turn to him back and don't think for a moment that when you will repent once and everything is going to be okay because now from there on all your life you will live a life that will be without failure we know it from experience how often time we fail the Lord and we stumble we need to rise up again we confess our sins he is

faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness God is in the business of restoring his people it's not an issue of salvation now it's an issue of restoration into fellowship with God that's what the delight of God is and so what does he do he is speaking to the fish notice that he is speaking to the fish the fish is vomiting Jonah out of his mouth and Jonah is landing on a dry ground God is always ready to forgive and restore his erring people and we need to learn to have the heart of God in our life towards one another it's so wonderful to receive forgiveness from one

another to receive forgiveness from to provide forgiveness for one another it set one at liberty you know one has said that we people oftentimes because we don't forgive we remember we even take a picture of it and we put it somewhere to remind ourselves of someone who wronged us that's the human nature but God is not so because God is a loving God who is always ready to restore his people and we will continue we will do another specific meeting on this second chapter once again in order to show us what actually happened to Jonah when he was three days and three nights in the fish's belly we will learn a little bit more about

it in more detail but I would like to suggest to you beloved brothers and sisters that Jonah actually died and he rose again resurrected by the Lord Jonah became a sign to our people of Israel of the coming of the Messiah who will die will be buried and resurrected in fact I want to read to you this verse in the gospel of Matthew if you turn with me to Matthew chapter 12 and there just read with me please verse 38 to verse 41 Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38 to 41 listen to what we read by the word of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah himself said in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38 he said

in verse I'll read verse 38 then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered and said master we would see a sign from thee but he this is Yeshua Jesus he answered and he said unto them an evil and an adulterous generation seek us after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign listen to this but the sign of the prophet Jonah 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 beloved brothers and sisters Jonah the experience that Jonah have gone through in his life and death and

resurrection became a sign to the people of Israel the sign of the coming Messiah who will come to this world and will pay for the sin of this world who will die a shameful death and he will be buried and he will rise again for our justification amazing to see this beloved brothers and sisters but there is a difference between what happened to Yonah and what happened to the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah Jonah died unwillingly because he disobeyed the Lord but our Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah died willingly he came down to this world in order to do the will of God the Father I came down from heaven not to do my own

will but to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work he said in John 10 and verse 17 we do read beloved brothers and sisters the Lord Yeshua the Messiah said in verse 17 therefore does my father love me why because I lay down my life that I might take it again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again this commandment have I received of my father John 10 verses 17 and 18 Jonah Yonah died not willingly but Yeshua Jesus the Messiah died willingly therefore he said does my father love

me because I lay down my life think about that he laid down his life for you and I this is the Mashiach of Yisrael the promise Messiah of Israel and the savior of the world he was willing to become a sacrifice for you and for me all the sacrifices of all that God have commended our forefathers to offer on the altar pointed to the Mashiach who came down to this world and unlike Jonah who died unwillingly Jesus the Messiah died willingly what a precious truth to see another thing that we learn here is that Jonah died for his own sins but Yeshua died for your sins and for mine there was no sin in Christ

in Mashiach you and I have sinned we just studied in Romans chapter 3 verse 23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Jonah died because he was wrong he was disobedient he had gone astray from God for his own sins he died and you and I and mankind unless we have forgiveness we will die because of our own sins the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus the Messiah this is amazing lesson that we learn here from the life of Yonah Hanavi you remember when the Lord Jesus the Messiah was on the tree on the cross in chapter 19 when

he died there on the shameful cross he said notice in chapter 19 verse 30 he said notice that and when Yeshua therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he bowed his head and he gave up the spirit he could call 10,000 angels to deliver himself from death death but no he died for you and he died for me he said it is finished that's it the work of redemption was done while Jonah died for his own sins Yeshua died for the sins of the world behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of this world and then just thirdly we are going to close with it Jonah died in

disobedience yet our Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah died in full obedience even unto death he was the obedient one of whom the prophet Yeshayahu Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter 53 you can read the whole chapter of Isaiah chapter 53 who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground he has no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces

from him and we esteemed him not the prophet Isaiah said 700 750 years before the Messiah came surely he has borne our griefs he said and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken and smitten of God and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgression he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripe one single stripe of the cross of the tree of the judgment of God with his stripe we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way but the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all who is that man that man is

none else but our Lord Yeshua the Messiah who came to this world to die for our sins and it was the apostle Paul who said concerning him and I will close with these beloved brothers and sisters for this meeting today in Philippians chapter 2 let me just read it in order to show how it is pointed to our Messiah Yeshua we read in Philippians chapter 2 Christ Jesus Mashiach Yeshua in verse 5 at the end who being in a form of God thought that not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in a likeness of man and being

found in a fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross therefore God has highly exalted him and giving him a name which is above every name that the name of Yeshua Jesus in Hebrew Yeshua every knee should bow of things in heaven of things in earth things under the earth that every tongue should confess that Yeshua HaMashiach is Lord to the glory of God the Father so beloved brothers and sisters there are many many lessons to learn from the life of Jonah but specifically these four stages in Jonah's life stage number one Jonah's disobedience to God stage number two Jonah's discipline by God stage number

three Jonah's dedication to God stage number four Jonah's deliverance by God and no wonder he said salvation is of the Lord in Jonah chapter 2 in verse 9 well beloved friends and dear brothers and sisters may the Lord help us to understand this second chapter of the book of Jonah in the will of the Lord in our next meeting together we will go over these very same verses but we will learn of the truth of the death and resurrection and so until the next time we want to say Shabbat Shalom to you all God bless you may the Lord encourage your heart and lead you on lead us all on as we follow our Lord

Yeshua the Messiah Father bless your word we give you thanks for your word for we ask it in Jesus in Yeshua's name Amen Shabbat Shalom God God bless God bless you Shabbat Shabbat