Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
January 2026
This morning, we want to take a week off our Acts series to look at one of the greatest stories ever told. It is one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It is the story of Jonah.
Everyone knows this story. Even non-Christians know it. Children know it. It has become one of my favorite books of the Bible.
It is a powerful story. It is a short story. It is the greatest short story in the Bible. It is only four chapters long. If you have not read it, you need to.
How well do you know this story? There are some things about this story you might not know. There are some things about this story that might shock you.
Jonah was a prophet who lived in the 8th century BC. His real name was not Jonah but Yonah. That is name in Hebrew. He was a contemporary of Hosea and Amos. The theme of Amos is JUSTICE. The theme of Hosea is LOVE. The theme of Jonah is MERCY.
It is a book about mercy. The main point of the book of Jonah is that God is merciful. It is a book that deals with divine compassion and human prejudice. God repents in this book.
Of course, what it means for God to repent is different from what it means for us to repent. It has nothing to do with God doing anything wrong. Today, we are going to look at seven amazing lessons from this book. First, let’s summarize the four chapters of the book.
Summary of Jonah
God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach. Jonah says. “I am not doing that.” He gets on a boat and goes in the opposite direction.
God gives Jonah a mission and he runs away from it, so God sent a violent storm which threatens to destroy the entire ship.
The poor sailors are panicking and praying. They finally cast lots to see who is to blame and the lots go to Jonah. They interrogate him.
He finally confesses. He says if they throw him in the sea, the storm will stop, so they throw him overboard and offer a sacrifice to God.
God sent Jonah to a big city. He did not go, so he ended up in a big fish. He escaped death three times. First, he expected to die on the ship but survived. Then, he was thrown into the water and expected to drown but survived.
While he was in the water, a big fish swallowed him, and he expected to be eaten but none of these things happen. The fish ends up saving his life.
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17 NIV)
That is one of the most amazing verses in the book. It raises all kinds of questions. Is that even possible? Some fish do not have necks big enough for a person to fit through, but other fish do.
What kind of fish was this? Was it a whale? Was it a shark? Jonah doesn’t tell us. How big was the fish? We don’t know.
How do you survive inside the stomach of a fish for three days? The stomach acids alone could kill you. Obviously, it involved a miracle.
What was it like being inside this fish for three days? If that happened to us, we would give all of the details. It would be part of our amazing testimony about what it was like to be neck deep in fish guts. Jonah does not embellish or sensationalize what happened. He just tells us the story.
In Jonah 2, he does not FROM God but TO God. He prays but there are some things that Jonah does NOT do in Jonah 2. He does not confess his sins. He does not repent for trying to run from the presence of the Lord.
He does not even pray to get out of the fish. That is what we would pray if we were in this situation. “Get me out of here. I am trapped. I am going to die.” Jonah doesn’t pray to get out of the fish. He gives a prayer of thanksgiving, not petition.
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. (Jonah 2:1-2 NIV)
Jonah not say, “Hear my cry inside this fish. Help me. No one even knows I am here.” He says, “I called to you and you already answered me.”
Jonah thanks God that he didn’t drown. He was saved by the fish. As he does this, God speaks to the fish. The fish vomits him on dry land. When he gets out, he does NOT immediately go to Nineveh.
Jonah has to get another word from God. He gets another commission before he goes. He is told to go to Nineveh and preach. Even though it is a long journey, this time he goes. He learned his lesson. He does not want any more fish to swallow him.
He goes and preaches and the people respond. A revival breaks out and the whole city is converted, even the king. In response to the revival in Nineveh, God changes His plans. He doesn’t destroy the city.
Jonah has an amazing evangelistic campaign but, instead of celebrating, he gets angry. Most people would be happy with success, but Jonah was angry. He was angry about revival.
He argued with God. He criticized God. What was his criticism? God was too loving. He is abounding in love. He did not just have love for the Jews. He had love for the Ninevites.
Jonah did not like that. It is not because Jonah was a racist. Many teach that (Swindoll, MacArthur). Racists think certain people are inferior to them because of the color of their skin.
The Ninevites and Israelites were the same color. They were both Semites. They both had a Middle Eastern complexion with olive brown skin. Jonah didn’t like the Assyrians, not because of their skin color.
It was because of their actions. They were notoriously wicked. God said they were wicked (Jonah 1:1).
They were what we call today terrorists. They did not just kill you; they tortured you. He wanted the city destroyed. God did not do that. Jonah got depressed and wanted to die.
In the last chapter of the book, the patient God confronts the pouting prophet. God deals with Jonah’s bad attitude. He gets the last word. The book ends with God talking.
God taught Jonah a lesson and He used a plant to do it. Jonah learned the lesson of the plant. God provided a plant that grew over and shaded Jonah’s head.
The next day, a worm ate the plant, and it died, and Jonah was in the scorching Sun, and he pouted about the loss of his precious plant. God rebuked Jonah. He said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
He also said that Jonah cared more about a plant than he did about people. He cared more about one plant than he did for over one hundred thousand people in Nineveh.
Outline of the Book
Let’s begin with outline of the book. There are many outlines of Jonah. Here are a few examples.
One pastor Ray Pritchard outlined it as: 1) Jonah and the ship 2) Jonah and the fish 3) Jonah and the city 4) Jonah and the Lord.
Chuck Swindoll outlined it: 1) Running from God 2) Running to God 3) Running for God 4) Running against God.
Warren Wiersbe outlined it: 1) The prodigal prophet 2) The praying prophet 3) The preaching prophet 4) The prideful prophet.
Charles Ryrie outlined it: 1) The fleeing prophet 2) The praying prophet 3) The preaching prophet 4) The learning prophet.
We want to look at this book practically. What does this book say to us today? Let’s look at seven powerful lessons from this book.
Seven Powerful Lessons
1) God can use anybody to do His work
God uses imperfect people to do his work. He uses ordinary people. He uses normal people. He does not just use spiritual giants. We see that clearly in this book. Who was Jonah?
He seems special. He was a Jewish prophet. He received special words from God. God did not speak to everyone. He not only delivered special messages from God.
He wrote a book of the Bible. He was a successful preacher. Some preach and see no response. Jonah led a revival in Nineveh and the whole city comes to faith.
When you look a little closer, you see that Jonah does not act like a great man of God. He acts normally. He acts a little relatable. He ran from God. He disobeyed God. He argued with God.
He was prejudiced. He was selfish and self-centered. He was moody. He was angry. He was bitter. He was depressed. He was suicidal.
This shows us how God can use anybody to do His work. He can use anybody. He can use anything (a fish, a wind, a plant, a worm).
2) God can use people who make big mistakes
Have you made some big mistakes in your life? Don’t give up. You can completely blow it and still be used by God. God is a God of second chances.
Peter denied Jesus publicly, not once or twice but three times and God still used him. He was the only one of the Twelve who preached a sermon on the day of Pentecost, and three thousand people responded in faith and were baptized. The first church began.
John Mark made a big mistake. He went with Saul and Barnabas on the First Missionary Journey in Acts 13 but quit the mission trip rather early. That could have been the end of it, but he decided to give it another shot.
He went on the second missionary trip with Barnabas. He was later used by God to write a book of the Bible. He wrote the Gospel of Mark. We see in the Book of Jonah how God is a God of second chances.
The sailors got a second chance. They could have died on the ship. God preserved their life and those heathen sailors got converted.
The city of Nineveh got a second chance. Jonah said in forty days the city will be destroyed. They fully repented. Their lives were completely changed, and God gave them a second chance
Jonah got a second chance. He failed. He ran from it. He ran from God. God could have chosen someone else for the job. If one servant fails, there are plenty more to choose from.
Instead, God gave Jonah a second chance. He was not permanently disqualified from ministry by what he did. He got a second chance. We are told that “the Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time” (Jonah 3:1 NIV).
3) Do what God calls you to do
Jonah was not open to what God called him to do. He did not mind preaching to Jews, but he did not want to go to Nineveh. God gave Jonah two clear commands in the beginning of the book.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:1-2 NIV)
What are the two commands? GO and PREACH. Go and preach where? Nineveh, which is over five hundred miles from Jerusalem. This was a special job. It was a special assignment for Jonah. It was a unique commission. No other OT prophet was given a commission exactly like this.
Jonah said, “I am not going and not only am I not going, but I am also going to travel in the exact oppositive direction of Nineveh. You want me to go east. I am going west.”
It was an act of defiance. It was an act of rebellion. Jonah was a rebel. He was a prodigal. There is a prodigal son story in the NT. Jonah is the prodigal son story in the OT. He ran away from his Father.
The world is full of prodigals. There are prodigal sons and prodigal daughters. There are prodigal mothers and prodigal fathers. There are even prodigal preachers and prodigal pastors. Jonah was a prodigal prophet.[1]
Jonah is a man very much like us. We can all relate to Jonah. Jonah’s story is our story. It is the story of the human race. We are all Jonah. We run from God in certain areas of our life. We do the exact opposite of what He says.
Now, we are not all prophets, but God calls us all to do something. We all have a job to do. We are all called to do different things. What he calls me to do is different from what he calls you to do.
That leads to two questions. Do you know what you are called by God to do? Some don’t know. If you know what God wants you to do, are you doing it or are you resisting that call, like Jonah did? Are you running from it or embracing it?
Jonah was given a commission, and we are given a commission as well, the Great Commission. It is a greater commission than Jonah was given.
We are not just supposed to go to one city with a message, but everywhere. We are commanded to go and make disciples of all nations, although we are not all called to travel overseas. We are all called to witness.
Jerry Vines said, “The message of the story of Jonah is not about a whale. It’s about witnessing. It is not about a storm. It is about soul winning.”[2]
Jonah is the greatest missionary book of the OT. Jonah was called to preach to Gentiles. He was called by God to be a missionary to his enemies.
Are we going to Nineveh or are we going to Tarshish? A lot of us are on boats sailing for Tarshish, while God is saying “Go to Nineveh.”
Where are you headed? There are really just two cities or two roads in the Christian life.
One leads to Nineveh and the other to Tarshish. Nineveh is the road that leads to obedience. It represents God’s will. It is the place that God calls you to go to.
Tarshish is the road that leads to disobedience. It represents man’s will. It is doing something different than what God has told you to do. Everyone has a different Tarshish.
4) If we run from God, He will run after us
In Jonah, we learn that when we run from God, He runs after us and pursues us. Jonah ran and God went after him. He didn’t have to do that.
He could have said, “If Jonah doesn’t want the job, that is fine. I can call another prophet to do the job.” He didn’t do that. He used a disobedient prophet and He ran after Jonah.
The rest of the book shows us God’s relentless pursuit of Jonah. God is a God who loves his children and when they rebel, he goes after them and pursues them.
5) If we choose to sin, we choose to suffer
If we deliberately rebel against God, we will pay a price. Disobedience is costly. There are consequences to sin. The wages of sin is DEATH. We often do not think of the consequences of our actions. They affect not only us but others.
Just look at Adam and Eve. They sinner and lost their innocence, became sinners, got kicked out of their garden, and lost their intimate relationship with God. Their children faced consequences because of their decision to sin. The whole planet suffered consequences of their actions.
Jonah also learned that there are consequences to sin. God gave Jonah a mission. He disobeyed but it cost him. It almost cost him his life. Think of all the things that happened to Jonah because he disobeyed.
The weather changed because of his decision. A storm started. This was not a normal storm. It was a supernatural storm. It was judgment on sin.
Jonah’s finances were affected. It cost him financially. Jonah had to pay for a ticket at Joppa to go to Tarshish. Sailors had to throw cargo into the ocean to save the ship. He might have lost his suitcase.
Jonah’s actions affected his safety. He was thrown overboard and sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean. He almost drowned. It affected his comfort. He was swallowed by an enormous fish and spent three days inside the digestive tract of a smelly fish.
Jonah’s actions affected the safety of others. He put the lives of other people at risk. The sailors on the boat almost died.
Jonah’s actions affected his reputation. How would you like to have a whole book of the Bible written describing your sins and mistakes for everyone to read for all time?
6) Revival can take place in surprising places
There is a chapter in this book that is all about revival (Jonah 3). A revival takes place when there is a move of God on a large group of people at the same time and there is a spiritual awakening. It was the greatest revival in history.
The last place you expect to see revival was Nineveh. It was a large city. It was a large, pagan city and it was an extremely wicked city. They didn’t know who the God of the Bible was. They worshipped other gods.
They had never heard a Jewish prophet preach to them. Jonah comes and preaches. They did not speak Hebrew. He did not speak Akkadian, their native tongue, but they both probably spoke Aramaic. It was common language across the Near East.
The last preacher you would expect to produce a revival there was Jonah. He was not the most spiritual of men. He was a rebel prophet. He was a failed prophet. He did not want to be there. He did not look too presentable. He just came out of a fish.
He was preaching to people that he hated. He had no love for the Ninevites and wasn’t praying for them to get saved. He preached. He proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. (Jonah 3:4-5 NIV).
They did not reject Jonah. They did not argue with him. They did not mock him. They believed him. They believed God and Jonah didn’t come and perform miracles. He just preached and they still believed.
That is why Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah” (Matthew 12:41 NIV).
They believed and a revival took place. The revival did not come from Jonah. It came from God. As Jonah says, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:10 NIV)
What caused it was the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Jonah’s preached the Word of God. He was not creative. He did not use slides and PowerPoints.
He preached a simple message. He delivered the message that God told him to deliver. He did not change it or modify it. That was the job of a prophet.
7) Repentance is demonstrated by actions
Repentance is not just an emotional response. It is a behavioral response. It is not just a change of mind. It is a change of actions. If there is no change of behavior, there is no repentance. We saw this from John the Baptist.
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ….10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3:7-8, 10-14 NIV)
The Ninevites don’t merely feel sorry. They changed their behavior. We see this in Jonah 3.
“By the decree of the king and his nobles…Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. (Jonah 3:8-10 NIV)
Another clear sign of real repentance from this chapter is genuine humility. If there is no humility, there is no repentance.
The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. (Jonah 3:5-8 NIV)
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0F3YzZuqGM&list=PLwBgbhMdL80CWfuZEjPvP-KuH_alfvgiA
[2] Jerry Vines, “Jonah on the Run” (Running from God Sermon Series).
