Missionary God and the Prodigal Prophet: Overview of the Message of Jonah

God calls His people to the missionary task.

Jonah 1:1-2

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

God’s people can rebel against God. 3

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

God disciplines those He loves and calls.

4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.

God recalls His people to the missionary task.

Jonah 3:1-2

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you. ” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. . . 

God calls people to salvation.

Jonah 3:3-10

God continues to call and correct flawed prophets to His mission.

Jonah 4:1-11

1 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

God is a missionary God who seeks and saves the lost.

God calls His people to join Him in calling the lost to repentance and faith.

God’s people can be rebellious in disobeying God’s call to reach the lost.

God is faithful to His mission even when His people are not.

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