Amos 5 (NASB)

1 Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a song of mourning, house of Israel:
2
She has fallen, she will not rise again—
The virgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.

3 For this is what the Lord God says:

“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”

4 For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:

“Seek Me so that you may live.
5
But do not resort to Bethel
And do not come to Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will come to nothing.
6
Seek the Lord so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a fire, house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
7
For those who turn justice into wormwood,
And throw righteousness to the earth.”

8
He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
And changes deep darkness into morning,
Who also darkens day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The Lord is His name.
9
It is He who makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10
They hate him who rebukes in the gate,
And they despise him who speaks with integrity.
11
Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
12
For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And turn away the poor from justice at the gate.
13
Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.

14
Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies be with you,
Just as you have said!
15
Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of armies
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:

“There is mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the farmer to mourning
And professional mourners to mourning rites.
17
And in all the vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.

18
Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord,
For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
19
As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20
Will the day of the Lord not be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21
“I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I delight in your festive assemblies.
22
Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened oxen.
23
Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24
But let justice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? 26 You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.

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Amos 4:1-13 (NASB)

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria,
Who exploit the poor, who oppress the needy,
And say to their husbands, “Bring now, that we may drink!”
2 The Lord God has sworn by His holiness,
“For behold, the days are coming upon you
When they will take you away with meat hooks,
And the last of you with fish hooks.
3 You will go out through holes in the walls,
One in front of the other,
And you will be hurled to Harmon,” declares the Lord.

4 “Enter Bethel and do wrong;
In Gilgal multiply wrongdoing!
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days.
5 Offer a thanksgiving offering also from that which is leavened,
And proclaim voluntary offerings, make them known.
For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord God.

6 “But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
7 “Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
But on another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
8 So the people of two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water,
But would not be satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
9 “I struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
The caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
10 “I sent a plague among you as in Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses,
And I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a log snatched from a fire;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore so I will do to you, Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God, Israel.”
13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind,
And declares to a person what are His thoughts,
He who makes dawn into darkness
And treads on the high places of the earth,
The Lord God of armies is His name.

Theme: The God who cares loves His people enough to call out their sins and warn them of impending judgment.

1) God’s current call-outs & warning (4:1-5)

2) God’s past warnings ignored (4:6-11)

3) Results of disregarding God’s warnings (4:12-13)

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Amos 3:1-15 (NASB)

1 Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt:

2 “You only have I known among all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you for all your wrongdoing.”
3 Do two people walk together unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no device in it?
Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?
6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble?
If a disaster occurs in a city, has the Lord not brought it about?
7 Certainly the Lord God does nothing
Unless He reveals His secret plan
To His servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken! Who can do anything but prophesy?

9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic within her and the oppressions in her midst. 10 But they do not know how to do what is right,” declares the Lord, “these who store up violence and devastation in their citadels.”

11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

“An enemy, one surrounding the land,
Will take down your fortifications from you,
And your citadels will be looted.”

12 This is what the Lord says:

“Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear,
So will the sons of Israel living in Samaria be snatched away—
With the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch!
13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”
Declares the Lord God, the God of armies.
14 “For on the day that I punish Israel’s offenses,
I will also punish the altars of Bethel;
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
And will fall to the ground.
15 I will also strike the winter house together with the summer house;
The houses of ivory will also perish,
And the great houses will come to an end,”
Declares the Lord.

Theme: God’s people must be and do what God has called them to, lest they face disastrous consequences.

Two Privileges & Two Consequences for God’s People

2 Privileges

1) God’s Calling of His People (3:1-2a)

2) God Calls His Prophets to Warn (3:3-8)

2 Consequences

1) God’s Calling of Witnesses (3:9-10)

2) God’s Call for Judgment (3:2b, 11-15)

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Amos 2:4-16 (NASB)

4 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Judah, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they rejected the Law of the Lord
And have not kept His statutes;
Their lies also have led them astray,
Those which their fathers followed.
5 So I will send fire upon Judah,
And it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”

6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Israel, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they sell the righteous for money,
And the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 These who trample the head of the helpless to the dust of the earth
Also divert the way of the humble;
And a man and his father resort to the same girl
So as to profane My holy name.
8 And on garments seized as pledges they stretch out beside every altar,
And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.

9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
Though his height was like the height of cedars
And he was as strong as the oaks;
I also destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.
10 And it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
And led you in the wilderness for forty years
So that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.
11 Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets,
And some of your young men to be Nazirites.
Is this not so, you sons of Israel?” declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
And you commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy!’
13 Behold, I am making a rut in the ground beneath you,
Just as a wagon makes a rut when filled with sheaves.
14 Refuge will be lost from the swift,
And the strong will not strengthen his power,
Nor the warrior save his life.
15 The one who grasps the bow will not stand his ground,
The swift of foot will not escape,
Nor will the one who rides the horse save his [h]life.
16 Even the bravest among the warriors will flee naked on that day,” declares the Lord.

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Amos 1:1-2:3 (NASB)

1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he saw in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

2 And he said,
“The Lord roars from Zion,
And from Jerusalem He utters His voice;
And the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn,
And the summit of Carmel dries up.”

3 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Damascus, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.
4 So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael,
And it will consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.
5 I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,
And eliminate every inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
As well as him who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden;
So the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”
Says the Lord.

6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Gaza, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they led into exile an entire population
To turn them over to Edom.
7 So I will send fire on the wall of Gaza
And it will consume her citadels.
8 I will also eliminate every inhabitant from Ashdod,
As well as him who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;
And I will direct My power against Ekron,
And the remnant of the Philistines will perish,”
Says the Lord God.

9 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Tyre, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they turned an entire population over to Edom
And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 So I will send fire on the wall of Tyre,
And it will consume her citadels.”

11 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Edom, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because he pursued his brother with the sword
And stifled his compassion;
His anger also tore continually,
And he maintained his fury forever.
12 So I will send fire upon Teman
And it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.”

13 This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of the sons of Ammon, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
In order to enlarge their borders.
14 So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah,
And it will consume her citadels
Amid war cries on the day of battle,
And amid a storm on the day of tempest.
15 Their king will go into exile,
He and his princes together,” says the Lord.

Chapter 2

1 This is what the Lord says:

“For three offenses of Moab, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
2 So I will send fire upon Moab
And it will consume the citadels of Kerioth;
And Moab will die amid the panic of battle,
Amid war cries and the sound of a trumpet.
3 I will also eliminate the judge from her midst
And slay all her leaders with him,” says the Lord.

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Joel 2:18-3:21 (NASB)

18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land,
And will have compassion for His people.
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you a disgrace among the nations.
20 But I will remove the northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land,
Its advance guard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up,
Because it has done great things.”

21 Do not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice,
For the Lord has done great things.
22 Do not fear, animals of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has produced its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23 So shout for joy, you sons of Zion,
And rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.
And He has brought down for you the rain,
The early and latter rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will compensate you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—
My great army which I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied,
And you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.
27 So you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is no other;
And My people will never be put to shame.

28 “It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 And even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will be saved;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

Chapter 3
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
And they have divided up My land.
3 They have also cast lots for My people,
Traded a boy for a prostitute,
And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.

4 Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will return your retribution on your head! 5 Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. 8 I will also sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.

9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors!
Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, Lord, Your warriors.
12 Let the nations be awakened
And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread the grapes, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge for His people,
And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be holy,
And strangers will no longer pass through it.

18 And on that day
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
And the hills will flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the Lord dwells in Zion.

Looking forward to the blessings of True Repentance

1) Material Replenishment (2:18-27)

2) Spiritual Renewal (2:28-32)

3) National Restoration (3:1-21)

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Joel 1:1-2:17 (NASB)

Chapter One

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, you elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or in your fathers’ days?
3 Tell your sons about it,
And have your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.

4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you heavy drinkers, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
Because of the sweet wine,
For it has been eliminated from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the jaws of a lioness.
7 It has made my vine a waste
And my fig tree a stump.
It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
Their branches have become white.

8 Wail like a virgin clothed with sackcloth
For the groom of her youth.
9 The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
From the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn,
The ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is ruined,
The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine has dried up,
Fresh oil has failed.
11 Be ashamed, you farm workers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The vine has dried up
And the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,
All the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, joy has dried up
From the sons of mankind.

13 Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.

14 Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
15 Woe for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have suffered.
19 To You, Lord, I cry out;
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field pant for You;
For the stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Chapter Two

1 Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming;
Indeed, it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them,
And behind them a flame devours.
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
5 With a noise as of chariots
They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
6 Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces turn pale.
7 They run like warriors,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And each of them marches in line,
Nor do they lose their way.
8 They do not crowd each other,
Every warrior of them marches in his path;
When they burst through the defenses,
They do not break ranks.
9 They storm the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon become dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The Lord utters His voice before His army;
His camp is indeed very great,
For mighty is one who carries out His word.
The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;
13 And tear your heart and not merely your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And relenting of catastrophe.
14 Who knows, He might turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
15 Blow a trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the groom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Spare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a disgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘Where is their God?’”

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Jonah 1:17-2:10 (NASB)

17 And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah’s Prayer
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said,

“I called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me.
I called for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.
3 For You threw me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current flowed around me.
All Your breakers and waves passed over me.
4 So I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
5 Water encompassed me to the point of death.
The deep flowed around me,
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 I descended to the base of the mountains.
The earth with its bars was around me forever,
But You have brought up my life from the pit, Lord my God.
7 While I was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.
8 Those who are followers of worthless idols
Abandon their faithfulness,
9 But I will sacrifice to You
With a voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation is from the Lord.”

10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

1) God’s Rescue (1:17)
2) Jonah’s Prayer to God (2:1-9)
3) God’s Answer (2:10)

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Jonah 1:1-16 (NASB)

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.

4 However, 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. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried out to his god, and they hurled the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the stern of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

7 And each man said to his mate, “Come, let’s cast lots so that we may find out on whose account this catastrophe has struck us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this catastrophe struck us? What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and from what people are you?” 9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then the men became extremely afraid, and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land, but they could not, because the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, Lord, have done as You pleased.”

15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men became extremely afraid of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Pt. 1 – “The Merciful Hound of Heaven”

1) The Divine Command = GO! (1:1-2)

2) The Disobedient Prophet = Run! (1:3)

3) The Deity’s Pursuit (1:4-16)

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Hebrew 2:5-9 (NASB)

5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, saying,

“What is man, that You think of him?
Or a son of man, that You are concerned about him?
7 You have made him for a little while lower than angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor;
8 You have put everything in subjection under his feet.”

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

I. Man’s Insignificance (5-6)
II. Man’s greatness (7-8)
III. Man’s hope (9)

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