We have been going through the book of Jonah as a church together. We’ve read about miraculous events. A storm sent by God. A fish sent by God to swallow Jonah and save him. But last week we discovered together from Chapters 2 and 3 that the real miracle of Jonah is the changed lives. Nineveh, one of the most violent cities on the planet, legendary among historians even today almost 3000 years later for its violence and evil repents and turns to God as a whole city in less than 40 days. What could have brought on such a change? Equally as baffling is what is it about God’s character that would let Him spare an entire city filled with some of the most heinous sinners on the face of the planet? Let’s look at the final chapter of Jonah together this morning.

We are going through the book of Jonah together as a church before Easter. Today’s chapter is everyone’s favorite part, or at least the most familiar. The part about the whale. But more than just a tale of a whale, Jonah is a tale of the miracle of undeserved grace. And of how God works in our world and in our lives and in the lives of those around us. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Chapter 1 ends with Jonah thrown overboard and sinking down beneath the waves of the storm, seemingly abandoned by God in judgement of Jonah for running away. But we join Jonah in the deep waters about to not be swallowed by judgement, but rather swallowed by grace.

Have you ever ran away from home? Maybe you wanted to but never did. The truth is, we have all wanted to run away from something at some point. And there is a part of us deep down that wants to be pursued even when we run. We are in our second week going through the book of Jonah together. Jonah is the only time recorded in the Bible where a prophet simply just runs away from God. It tells us a lot about who we are as runaways and about who God is as our Father who pursues us back.

Chances are, if you have been a kid in the last two THOUSAND years you have heard parts of the book of Jonah read to you as a child. Jonah is God’s story of a runaway prophet who He pursues with all the passion of a mother wanting to save her child. In modern times, Jonah has become just a children’s fable about a whale. Because who doesn’t love whales? We don’t like murderous empires, unpredictable deities or prodigal prophets, but kids love whales. Adults love whales. The Christian bath toy industry loves whales. There is even a Children’s book entitled: “The Whale Tells His Side of the Story.” But more than just a whale tale Jonah is a book about us. But more than that even it’s a book about God. In fact it may be one of the most important books in the Bible for understanding God. If you are struggling to understand why God is allowing things to happen in your life, you need to understand Jonah. If you are struggling to believe that God is good or that He cares, you need to understand Jonah. Or maybe you think you have God sort of all figured out. You need to understand Jonah. Or maybe you just love whales…so let’s dive in as we start our new sermon series on the book of Jonah.