Jonah and the Day of Atonement

Good afternoon, everyone, and happy Sabbath to all of you. And g'day to those online as well, watching maybe from home or later. Good to have you joining us, too. And thank you, Teresa. A very nice piece, beautiful self-composition, very meaningful this time of year. And so thank you very much for that. And so happy Sabbath to all. Of course, we're in the middle of the Holy Day season now, having already observed the Day of Trumpets, the Feast of Trumpets, the words of Teresa's piece very relevant for this time of year, too. We're exactly one week away today from the Day of Atonement, and my message is designed to help prepare us for that day. Like the weekly Sabbath, the Day of Atonement is ultimately a joyous one.

Although it is a day of fasting, it's a time we're told to afflict our souls, but it's also a hope-filled festival because of the very powerful lessons it contains. So our subject today is about Jonah and the Day of Atonement. You're asking, what's he talking about, Jonah? What's that got to do with fasting? What about Leviticus 16 and the two goats? I need to hear about the two goats. Shouldn't we be talking about the Azazal goat or something? Well, actually, the prophet Jonah has a lot of lessons that directly relate to the Day of Atonement. The meaning of the day is very deep. There's a lot to understand about it, and yes, it does picture the time when Satan is put away. He is bound and banished to the abyss with the demons. His power and their power is nullified for a thousand years. Which is a joyful occasion in itself. But the prophet Jonah has a lot to say related to this upcoming fast day. I've titled the sermon simply Jonah and the Day of Atonement. And as we go through the message today, I believe you'll see the connection. Let's first go to the book of James. The Day of Atonement does picture the putting away of Satan and his demons, the nullification of any kind of power or influence during the millennium. But there's a very important truth in James. In James chapter 4 verses 7 and 8, something we must never forget, James 4 verse 7, Therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, verse 8, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. And this is what we will do next Sabbath on the holy day, on the fast day. We will, in effect, cleanse ourselves and purify our hearts, putting aside the normal work we do, even the normal eating that we do. We will draw nearer to God, as James says. And going without food helps us focus on the fact that ultimately what's more important is the spiritual than the physical. I sometimes think about the time when I won't have to eat, unless I want to. The saints will be resurrected to immortal life upon Jesus' return, and we will not be dependent anymore on physical factors in order to live. We won't even have to breathe.

We won't have to eat, of course. We won't have to sleep. We won't have to do the regular things we do now in order to stay alive, especially the mundane things like brushing our teeth and bathing. No more cavities. I'd like to go next to Luke chapter 11.

Luke talks about a time when the world will be able to come together before God, be reconciled to Him. This is the purging of evil. Jesus Christ is in effect ransomed for us. Otherwise, we would have faced a death penalty. He took all the punishment on Himself ultimately for our sin so that we can come before God, repent and be forgiven. There are some parallels between the day of a term and a passover, actually. But there is coming a day of expiation, the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing. There is coming that day of atonement. In English, the word atonement is interesting because it does break down to at-one-ment. It's actually a made-up word in the translation, but it's actually a very good translation of what atonement or what the day means, at-one-ment. And that's what the purging of sin and the paying of the ransom does.

Ultimately, all of the ancient rituals pointed to what Jesus Christ does.

He put Satan away and He offers Himself as our Savior so that can therefore be atonement and at-one-ment with humanity. The English wording does capture the spirit of the day very well. Luke 11 verse 29. While the crowds were thickly gathered together, Jesus began to say, quote, This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became assigned to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man, that's Jesus, will be to this generation.

The queen of the South, verse 31, will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon, that's Jesus, is here. Verse 32, the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. So when the men of Nineveh rise up in judgment, they're going to say, when the rest of the world didn't repent, what were you thinking?

Because you know, at the end, when Christ returns, the world does not want to repent like Nineveh did. So Luke is talking about a time when the world will be able to come together before God and be reconciled to him, be at one, meant with him in the final judgment. Ancient civilizations we read here, like Nineveh, will be offered salvation. Of course, we look at that in more depth on the eighth day of the feast, coming up here in a couple of weeks, which does picture the Great White Throne Judgment period.

But during Jesus' life on earth, men and women were with the Word of God, in the flesh, but they weren't listening. This passage in Luke does foreshadow the ultimate atonement, the ultimate reconciliation of human beings with God when they will listen. The Ninevite Gentile people repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that was a foreshadowing of what is going to ultimately occur with the return of Jesus Christ, the reconciliation of all of humankind with God.

Let's go to Matthew 12 to a parallel account, because once again Jonah is mentioned. Matthew 12 verses 38 through 42. Matthew 12, 38 here. Some of the scribes and Pharisees are answered, saying, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But Jesus answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. In verse 41, the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

The men and women that were with Jesus, with the Word of God at that time, did not listen, did not repent as a whole. The point here is the importance of Jonah as a type of Jesus Christ. Jonah, in effect, symbolically died and was resurrected after three days in the belly of the great fish, and then converted in a sense.

Jesus Christ died and was resurrected and will convert the world, not just Nineveh. There are a lot of parallels between Jonah and Christ. Go to Matthew 16 and look at verse 17. Matthew 16 verse 17. Jesus is talking to Peter. Here in Matthew 16 verse 17, Jesus answered Peter and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Simon bar Jonah here is interesting.

Yes, Peter's dad's name was Jonah, but Peter is in a sense a son of Jonah in a spiritual analogy too. Peter had a similar role. He was one who was also uncomfortable, like Jonah, maybe for different reasons in Jonah, but Peter was somewhat uncomfortable dealing spiritually with gentiles, thinking of gentiles as being able to be saved without becoming Israelites. Jonah too was not happy to see gentiles repent.

And as we see in script, it was a revolutionary concept to Peter, but eventually he was the one God used to begin the conversion of the gentiles, like Jonah did in Warning Nineveh. Later on, of course, Paul did become the apostle to the gentiles, but in the beginning, the beginning of the conversion of all humankind outside of Israel started with Peter.

You may recall that Italians came to him to learn the truth. It's actually in Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10, the very first verse says, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment. That was who Peter was dealing with, was the Italian Cornelius. Cornelius and others came to Peter.

And in the story here in Acts chapter 10, where was Peter? Where was Cornelius and the Italian band? If you look at Acts chapter 10, Peter was in Jaffa, as he was beginning to talk to the gentiles about the truth. Jaffa was also from where Jonah took off to supposedly warn and save the Ninevite gentiles. So that's actually an interesting correlation as well between Peter and Jonah. So there's an interesting interaction between Jonah and Peter's story as well. I might mention that even today in the synagogues on the afternoon of the Day of Atonement, the Book of Jonah is read. So next Sabbath, that will be the one of the main texts in the Jewish community. It all fits together with the Day of Atonement. So in a moment we'll look at some lessons from Jonah that relate to this particular fast day we'll observe next Sabbath, because it does tie in very much with the Holy Day. But I want to first begin in 2 Kings chapter 14 to get some background on this man, Jonah, get some background on the prophet, the one who went through this experience that everybody's heard about. Jesus Christ referred to it as an event, an actual historical event, not just a parable.

We'll see here that Jonah comes from the area of the tribe of Zebulun. At the time of Jonah, we have the reign of Jeroboam II over Judah. We have a revival of Israelite power because of God's mercy. 2 Kings 14 verse 23.

In the 15th year of Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam, this is actually Jeroboam II, Jeroboam II, the son of Joash, king of Israel, he was king of Israel, I meant Judah, but Israel, became king in Samaria and he reigned 41 years. But he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that's the earlier Jeroboam, Jeroboam I, he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam I who had made Israel's sin. So you've got two bad Jeroboams here. Verse 25. But God did restore the territory of Israel from the entrance of Amath to the sea of Araba, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he had spoken through his servant Jonah. The son of Amatai, the prophet who was from Gathhephah, that's the area of Zebulun. So Jonah was an established prophet who prophesied in one case about a revival of Israelite power, a restoration of its territory, here in 2 Kings 14. But as a prophet, he was now about to be sent to a Gentile city, not Israel, to Nineveh, and he didn't want to go there.

I'd say very likely he didn't want to go there because he didn't want Nineveh to have its power enhanced and be a threat to Israel. The Ninevites were actually Israel's enemy. He didn't want the Assyrians to get right with God and be blessed. Perhaps they'll then be used to conquer Israel or something, which is actually what happened later, as you know from the story. The Assyrians were eventually used by God to punish Israel, and they were not a positive force for good either. But the Assyrians in Nineveh did have this one period of repentance, which is the example that we're looking at here today, and congratulations to them! A Gentile city for listening to God and repenting. No other Gentile nation is recorded in the Bibles having done that.

But even so, they did eventually revert back to their base nature. It wasn't long afterwards before they became very aggressive, very imperialistic, and once again very evil. But they did have this one period of repentance. In a way, it kind of reminds me a little bit about what has happened in part of our world today. It's not an exact parallel. But something happened to Japan after World War II. Japan of recent decades is very different from what it was like before World War II. Japanese are very much Japanese with their culture, their traditions, but they've made significant changes from what they were like before Nineveh. The same can be said of Germany. Germany of 1945 until the present day has made very significant changes. So even later, if they revert to bad behavior, they can still be commended for many decades of positive change in our time. Well, ancient Assyria did the same in a very dramatic way. But probably not for very long. You know what happens to people? You know what happens to people? They get all repentant. They want to change. They want to do better. But unfortunately, it doesn't last. It's like New Year's resolutions that people make. They make them sincerely and even keep them for a while. But then they tend to finally evaporate. But we do have to have respect for what the Ninevites did. Jesus Christ said they're a good example. They repented. Let's look at Jonah chapter 1. Right at the beginning in verse 1. Jonah 1 verse 1. Let's take a closer look at the story here now.

Jonah 1 verse 1, The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, which we just read that, son of Amittai the prophet from Gathhephir, saying, verse 2, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great seed, and cry out against it, for the wickedness has come up before me. Verse 3, But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and Joppa is Jaffa, right? The place where Peter met with the Gentile Cornelius. So he went down to Joppa, or Jaffa, it's near Tel Aviv today, and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare, went down into it to go with him to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. So, as we know, Jonah decided to run the opposite way from Nineveh. I don't think it wasn't that he didn't think I could find him in Tarsus, but Jonah's dramatic way of showing, I don't want to have anything to do with this and the Ninevites. I want to get as far away from it as I can.

I presume this is the Tarsus, or the Tarshish, that today is in Turkey. Up the coast from Israel. There's a farther Tarsus all the way in Spain, but I doubt Jonah would have afforded the fare all the way to Spain for this. There probably were ships that could have gone that far in those days, but whether Jonah was prosperous enough to go all the way to the Iberian Peninsula, I don't know. But he could have gone as far as Turkey, and that still would be pretty far in those days, actually. Verse 4, The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. And as we read through the story here, you have to admire the quality of these sailors. They had a certain feeling of camaraderie, a certain sense of responsibility for their passengers and their crew, and they did all they could to save Jonah's life. It was a good quality crew. These were solid people. Verse 5, Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried out to his God. So everybody's crying out to their own pagan gods. And through the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said, What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God. Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish. Though somehow the storm didn't wake Jonah up. Or maybe he was just so depressed he fell into a very deep sleep. Maybe this was just his way of withdrawing from the whole situation, and just depressed, decides to sleep.

He understood what was going on, and was hoping that all that would happen would be a storm. He was hoping God would show his anger, but not actually stop the trip, and send him back. He probably tried to ride out the storm. Look at verse 7. And so the crew said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know whose cause this trouble has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. The casting of the lots here showed that Jonah was the problem. You'll recall other times when lots are cast in the Bible. One is on the Day of Atonement, where lots are cast for which sacrifice pictures Jesus Christ, and which goat pictures the adversary. Why cast lots on the Day of Atonement for those two goats? It actually shows that we need God's intervention to really discern, to really understand good and evil, to discern the truth. We must know the true Jesus Christ, and discern from Satan and his influence. We have a conscience, and a conscience gets pricked. We think about things, but beyond that, we have to depend on God to guide us. And that's what's done on the Day of Atonement with the two goats. Lots are also cast by Haman at the festival of Purim. Purim simply means lots. You may also remember the Romans cast lots over the garment of Jesus Christ. So now in verse 8, the cast lots fell on Jonah, and they said to him, Please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you? What kind of a guy are you that can bring all this trouble on us? So he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea in the dry land.

So Jonah was a divine prophet, yet he didn't necessarily look any different than anybody else. Didn't go around in some strange cloak or robe or some strange hat or giant long... No, he just looked like everybody else, even though he was a prophet of God. And they didn't know who he was. So they said, who are you? And he's honest. He said, I'm a prophet of the one God. And the gods, the crew were praying to, who were not the gods who made the heaven, who made the sea, who made the waves. Their gods were not the creator God, is what Jonah told them. His was the true God. So we'll skip over verse 10 here since we know the story. They really tried not to have to throw Jonah overboard. They didn't want his blood on their hands, but they finally had to. Verse 14, therefore they cried out to the Lord. So the crew didn't cry out to their pagan gods. They cried out to the Lord now and said, we pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life and do not charge us with innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.

We see here that Jonah was already accomplishing a lot. These Gentiles are now calling upon the God of Israel, not their pagan gods, realizing their own gods were now useless.

No doubt they would have gone home to their families and told the story. In fact, it got written down as being canonized for us all to read now. It was a witness of the power of the eternal God of the creator himself. Verse 15, so they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the man feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

This had a huge impact on the crew.

I would imagine these men from that point forward would have had a certain feeling about the God of Israel now. Something they would now remember for the rest of their lives. And they would have told this story, this very dramatic story, to their families and to their neighbors, and it would have spread the story of Jonah and his creator God, the Lord of the sea and dry land.

And then verse 16, now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. So here's the sign that Christ said would be that he was a Messiah also. He'd be three days and three nights in the grave. And next in chapter 2, we see Jonah actually prayed his heart out for three days in the belly of that great fish. He became very repentant, very sorrowful, and no doubt quite dark and smelly down there. What's going to happen to me? In verse 10, chapter 2, so the Lord spoke to the fish who commanded the fish and had vomited Jonah onto dry land. And so now we get into chapter 3.

The ancient Assyrians worshipped fish gods as well. Fish gods were very important in ancient times. So imagine if you were a Ninevite, if you saw a great fish spit somebody out onto the beach and he walks out onto the dry land. You're going to be very impressed. You'd rush off to Ninevite and exclaim how this great fish came up out of the sea and belched out this man onto the beach. And they would have been all excited about Jonah before he even got to Ninevite. This story would have started to spread. Maybe that's why he became so effective when he did finally get there, because this was the man who was thrown up onto the beach by a great fish. It's quite a public relations development here. Quite a piazztant, actually. So Jonah, with this story behind him, no doubt the story of the raging seas being calmed as well, went to Ninevite this time. And he did say what God told him to say. In the belly of the great fish, he came to his senses. Now look at chapter 3 verse 4. Chapter 3 verse 4. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk, and he cried out and said, yet forty days in Ninevite shall be overthrown. You've got forty days, guys. This is actually a secondary sign from the three days and three nights sign that Jesus Christ gave to the Pharisees. It would have been forty years, using the day for a year principle, from the statement Jesus made in chapter 12 verse 40, until the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem and the Jews were scattered again. The sign of Jonah was twofold. In effect, Jesus was saying, yet forty days in Jerusalem will be destroyed. The sign that Jonah gave as well, meaning forty years from thirty AD to seventy AD, from the day for a year principle found in Numbers and Ezekiel. But for Ninevite, it would have been a literal forty days, not forty years. Bible scholars believe historically Ninevite at this time was being threatened by the Medes. So they would have sensed there was a danger, they would have known there was a danger, and probably knew a war with the Medes could go either way, is what scholars believe. But Jonah then tells them it's not going to go your way, just so you know. And they believed him. So verse 5, so the people of Ninevite believed God, proclaimed a fast, put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. And of course, another parallel here is we'll be fasting next Sabbath as well, right? Verse 6, and the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything, do not let them eat or drink even water. So obviously, the king is going a bit overboard here, including the animals, having to fast.

Balance is something we need, of course, when we follow God. We do need balance, but their motivation here was positive and honorable. Don't even let the animals eat or drink. And verse 8, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God. So they weren't crying out to their pagan gods. They're crying out to the god that that ship's crew finally came to see was the true God as well. They cried out to God. Yet, yes, let everyone turn from his evil way, from the violence that is in his hands. And the Syrians were a violent people. So there's a repentance going on here. Who can tell if God will turn and relent and turn away from his fierce anger so that we may not perish? As I mentioned, verse 8 acknowledges they were a violent people. Read about the Assyrians sometime. And these now are Gentiles that are repenting before the true God. Like I said, the only example in the Bible of an entire Gentile nation or city repenting. While the Israelites at the same time are not repenting, and they're living under Jeroboam II, doing just as much evil as they did under Jeroboam I. These Gentiles, though, repented.

The Israelites did have it coming to them eventually, though, for not repenting, and they were eventually punished by the Assyrians. Verse 10, and God saw their works, the Ninevites worked, that they turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that he said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. And so, great end to the story, right?

Well, look at Jonah chapter 4 verse 1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.

There might have been a good reason for Jonah being upset. Maybe he felt the Assyrians really did need to get what was coming to them, because they were an evil, nasty, violent people. And the Assyrians were a direct threat to Jonah's people. Verse 2, so he prayed to the Lord and said, Our Lord was not this what I said when I was still in my country. Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish. I didn't want you to do this, for I know that you are gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, one who relents from doing harm. I knew, God, that if they repented, you'd let them off.

But this is actually also a very important message on the Day of Atonement. There, in fact, is a way out for us, a way to freedom, and is a way to freedom for the entire planet. We do have an opportunity to live eternally, even though we've blown it personally. We do have a chance to be redeemed from our sins, just like Nineveh was temporarily redeemed. We still have the opportunity for eternal life through Christ's sacrifice, even though we are sinners. God has spared us like He spared Nineveh. He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger. If He was quick to anger, none of us would be here today. None of us would be here today. We would have been already toasted. God is gracious and merciful, abundant in loving kindness, who doesn't want to do harm. It says at the end of verse 2, He doesn't want to harm, but we bring it upon ourselves. He's gracious and merciful. Verse 3, Jonah says, Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Jonah does sound somewhat melodramatic here, doesn't he?

It sounds in some ways similar to how Peter responded to Jesus Christ in the New Testament, too. There's some more parallels that we can go into sometime. So then verse 4, then the Lord said, Is it right for you to be angry? It's an interesting question He asked Jonah. God questions Jonah and lets him think about it for a minute. Are you right to be angry? Should you really be upset like this? Verse 5, so Jonah's thinking about this. He went out of the city, sat on the east side of the city, there he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. So he stops, gets under the shelter, and is looking at Nineveh to see if anything happens to it. Of course, it didn't. God spared Nineveh. This area is actually in a rack today. It gets very hot, especially if this was in the summer. Very hot. 120 degrees in the shade. Verse 6, and the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Thank you. Some shade. To God had prepared a great fish for Jonah and now a plant, for a small tree, that it might give shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. Verse 7, but as morning dawned the next day, God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. God's testing Jonah here, and his bad attitude. So first God used a great fish, and now he uses a little worm, from large to small. So God will do various things to reach us, to get to us, whether a great fish, a worm, or with a plant. Or for that matter, whatever it takes to get our attention and bring us to our senses to bring us to repentance. Verse 8, and it happened when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. Same as what he said in verse 3, right? Getting melodramatic here again. Negative thinking, a poor attitude. God wants us to live, not die. God tells us to choose life, not death. Not death. And verse 9, then God said to Jonah, Is it right for you to be angry about the plant? And Jonah said, You bet it is. It is right for me to be angry, even to death. Quite a conversation going on here between God and Jonah. You bet I should be angry, says Jonah. He's very uncomfortable. It's hot. He's faint. He's thirsty. And he's got quite a temper. Of course, looking back on it, we'd say, Jonah, keep a perspective here, wouldn't we? You know, if you're not the one there, it's easy to be the Monday morning quarterback, right? Keep a perspective here, Jonah. You're a prophet of God. You've been prophesied about... You've been used by God to prophesy about the revival of your country under Jeroboam II, the restoration of the land of Israel. You've been used by God to go to the Gentiles to impact the crew on your ship and get them somewhat converted. And now to impact the whole city of Nineveh, even getting them to repent. Wow! Look at the powerful ministry you've had, Jonah. But now look at how negative you are.

It's actually a great study of human nature that all of us can think about. There are times when we focus too much on the negative. And don't see what God is doing for us and what He's accomplishing and what He wants us to do. Verse 10 and 11, the Lord said, You've had pity on the plant. You had pity on the plant, of which you've not even labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 people who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? God says, Jonah, these are people who haven't been given the revelation and the prophecies that your people have been given. They've never been given the Ten Commandments. They don't know the truth. They can't discern right from wrong, left from right. Shouldn't I at least have some concern for these innocent animals?

And what was Jonah's answer to this? I turned the page. There was nothing there.

We don't have it, which is interesting. It's a question left for all of us to consider and to ponder, when things aren't going right for us. What's our attitude?

We're just left with a very dramatic question, and the whole book ends. And we don't know exactly what Jonah said after that. We would hope his answer was a positive one. Perhaps it was, because Jonah did finally... We would hope that Jonah came around and finally changed his attitude, because Christ did use this example as a positive story in the New Testament for us to focus on, and it has been recorded for us to learn from. So I would pray and hope that Jonah, yes, did come to his senses after that, and that we too, when we get in a negative attitude, would realize all that God has done for us, no matter the situation we find ourselves. So as we conclude now, what is a big takeaway from this story?

The big takeaway for us is to understand that indeed, God does have concern for all of us. Not just those of us in this room, but for all of humankind. He wants evil cities like Nineveh to repent, and for people like Jonah to be happy about it, not wish to die, and the whole world, not just one city, not just Nineveh, will be able to repent and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what we read in Luke and in Matthew. These evil nations will come up in the judgment, and will actually fare better than people around us today in the end time. It's what Christ said. Nineveh will be able to repent, as will the whole world when Christ returns. That's the day of atonement between God and His creation. We afflict ourselves next Sabbath on the day of atonement, and we'll be reminded of the awesome future that is coming when the greatest force for evil is removed, when people will have a clear mind and will be able to discern left from right, will be able to discern right from wrong, and are able to fully understand God's plan and their part in it. Notice Revelation chapter 20. Let's read Revelation 20, the first three verses. Revelation 20 verse 1.

We can also remember on that day of atonement, the high priest of Leviticus 16 foreshadowed Jesus Christ as our high priest. We can come now into the very holy of holies in the heavenly realm through Jesus Christ. That wasn't always possible in ancient times before Christ was crucified and resurrected, but now we can come before our high priest in heaven whenever we want to.

So make sure you take time to read Leviticus 16 before next Sabbath and our day of fasting. Leviticus 16. The book of Jonah shows fasting, repentance, and God's mercy and forgiveness. It's very much a message of the day of atonement, which is probably why in the Jewish community they read it every year on that day. We pray for the day when it will be magnified on a grand scale. It's a good reminder when we keep the day of atonement. I do want to conclude in John chapter 3. I conclude by talking about our high priest Jesus Christ. Let's go to John chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. It's very similar to the message we saw at the end of the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to Nineveh. Jesus Christ was sent to the world. And he's coming back. John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That's eternal life. Verse 17. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

God did not send Jonah into Nineveh to condemn Nineveh, but that through Jonah Nineveh might be saved. God intends the world to have access to salvation, to be saved. And that is something to consider and be really grateful for on the Day of Atonement, because it will picture the time when all of humanity becomes at one with God and evil. Influence is removed. So next Sabbath, when the fast concludes, that holy day of holy time, we will then have one week to look forward to the seven days of the Festival of Tabernacles and the eighth day of Sacred Assembly. Have a wonderful day of Atonement next Sabbath. While you're afflicting yourselves, fasting, rejoice in the meaning of the day. Rejoice in the truth of this amazing annual holy day of fasting.