Fish, Part 8: I Don’t Want to Go… Fishing!

Grant Fishbook, Lead Teaching Pastor

Jonah Chapter 1
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.”

Why didn’t Jonah want to go to Nineveh?
Nineveh was known as the City of .

God’s word in the story:

Jonah’s word in the story:

Back to the storm…
⁴ Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
        But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶ The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
        ⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
        ⁹ He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
        ¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

Jonah didn’t lose his , he lost his !

¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
        ¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

what is yours to —clean your side of the street.

¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
        ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
        ¹⁷ Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The fish was not ; the fish was God’s .

Psalm 139:7–12
Where can I go from your Spirit?
        Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
        if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
        if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
        your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
        and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
        the night will shine like the day,
        for darkness is as light to you.

When you finally hit bottom,
you discover that —up to something great.

Small Group Questions

1. Do you have a favorite Old Testament story? If so, share the nutshell version and why it means so much to you.
2. Did you learn anything new about the story of Jonah from this week’s message that you didn’t know before? Did it change your understanding?
3. If you are willing to share, have you experienced a rock-bottom moment in your life? How did God meet you in that moment?
4. Read Jonah 1. Where do you see the grace of God in this chapter?
5. What have you learned from running away from God? What have you learned in turning back to him?
6. How can we pray for you right now and throughout the week?