Jonah's Journey: The World's Worst Missionary
Today we are going to begin a new study. We are going to make our way through the book of Jonah.
As we begin our journey with Jonah, let’s clarify one point. Jonah is not the hero of the story. God is! At the beginning Jonah is running from God; at the end of the story Jonah is arguing with God. In between Jonah is praying to God and Jonah is preaching for God. But through it all - keep in mind - Jonah is not the hero of the story. God is!
This book is about God and how great His heart is toward people. God is concerned about the people in the city of Nineveh. God always wants to save people. He is in the saving business. That is why God sends Jonah to Nineveh. He wants to see them saved. The story also tells us that God shows compassion for prodigal sons and daughters who run away from Him. God never gives up on Jonah, not even when Jonah runs away from God and not even when Jonah sits under a vine and pouts because he's mad at God.
As we begin this study - let me give you three facts about the book of Jonah:
1. The book of Jonah is a SHORT story
There are only four chapters in the book of Jonah. It contains 48 verses - just over 1300 words. You can read it in about 15 minutes. Yet it is a powerful story about the heart of God.
2. The book of Jonah is a TRUE story
Contrary to the critics and skeptics, I believe this story is recorded historical truth. That is - there really was a man named Jonah who spoke with God. Jonah really did flee to Tarshish. Jonah really was swallowed whole by a great sea creature. Jonah really did survive three days in the creature's belly. Jonah actually went to Nineveh and preached to the people there. It’s all true, just the way it was written. It’s not a myth. It is not a legend. It is not a fable or a parable. Jonah
is a true historical story.
Some may say, "Pastor Tom, how can you believe that this story is true?" Well let me tell you - in the Bible we find that Jesus believed that Jonah was a real person. In Matthew chapter twelve the Bible says:
"Jesus answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Matthew 12:39-40 (NASB)
From what I read - Jesus considered the story of Jonah to be historical fact. I approach the story of Jonah as a historical event.
Another aspect of Jonah is that:
3. The book of Jonah is a REVEALING story
I’m sure most of us have taken a ship to Tarshish at one time or another. We all have run away for God. We all know what it means to run away from God. And we know how creative the Lord can be when he wants to bring us back to where we ought to be.
In chapter 1 Jonah is running from God.
In chapter 2 Jonah is praying to God.
In chapter 3 Jonah is speaking for God.
In chapter 4 Jonah is learning about God.
Here’s a simple outline to help us understand the flow of the story:
Chapter 1: Jonah FLEES
Chapter 2: Jonah PRAYS
Chapter 3: Jonah PREACHES
Chapter 4: Jonah POUTS
Truly this is a very revealing story.
The Story Of Jonah
The story begins this way:
The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:1-3 (NASB)
Go ahead and circle the words, “Arise, go to Nineveh.” The meaning of this phrase is, “Jonah, get up and go to Nineveh NOW.” He is not to wait around. He is not to second guess God's command. He is to get on the road - right now.
Let's go ahead and jump right in - point one:
1. God's Call Is UNPREDICTABLE
Folks - I don't think that Jonah woke up that morning expecting to hear God's voice telling him to head to Nineveh - do you? In all likelihood it probably started out as an ordinary day for Jonah. He got up - he got dressed - he got a cup of coffee - checked his Facebook page - or read the paper and got ready to head to office - (or whatever they did back in those days.) For Jonah it was an ordinary day. Then it happened - he hears God's voice: "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me."
It’s amazing, isn’t it, how just one sentence can change your life. You can be driving down the highway and get one phone call that changes your life forever. If it’s good news, your life changes one way. If it’s bad news, it changes in another way. Either way, your life can be turned upside down with just one phone call.
Folks here is a fact:
Life can change in a moment
That’s what happened to Jonah when God when God spoke four little words: “Arise, go to Nineveh.”
Whatever Jonah's plans had been up to that point - they now were changed.
God's call can come at any time - it is unpredictable.
Point two:
2. God's Call Is UNCOMFORTABLE
Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh - that is obvious from the story.
Look at what verse three says:
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:3 (NASB)
Why did the world's worst missionary run from God? Because:
1. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh.
2. He didn’t care about Nineveh.
3. He didn’t think God should care about Nineveh.
4. He didn’t want Nineveh to repent.
5. He didn’t want God to forgive Nineveh.
But let's just pause for a moment. Did you see in verse one what the message was that God wanted Jonah to preach? Was it a message like: “Listen Nineveh - God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you.”
No! No way! God told Jonah:
"Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." Jonah 1:2
Jonah knew the reputation of Nineveh - it was the capital of Assyria. He knew what the people were like. You see the Assyrians had a reputation for cruelty that is hard for us to fathom. Their specialty was brutality of a gross and disgusting kind. When their armies captured a city or a country, unspeakable atrocities would occur. Things like skinning people alive, decapitation, mutilation, ripping out the tongues, poking out eyes, making pyramids of human heads and forcing prisoners to live in kennels like dogs. Ancient records show that the Assyrians boasted of this kind of cruelty as a badge of courage and power.
The Assyrians had no use for the Jews, and the Jews had no use for the Assyrians. Yet God asked Jonah to go to the capital city - Nineveh. Jonah hated them for their bloodthirsty cruelty. Jonah hated them for their idolatry. Jonah hated them for their arrogance. Jonah had no desire to Nineveh - and for good reason. As far as Jonah was concerned, Nineveh should go straight to hell. He wants to see them punished. He wanted justice to prevail.
But remember what God called Jonah to do: "Go to Nineveh and preach against it. Go to Nineveh tell them of their evil. Go to Nineveh and tell them how they are displeasing to Me. Go to Nineveh and tell them of their sin. Go to Nineveh and tell them how dirty and filthy they have been. Go to Nineveh and tell them I have seen everything they have done. God to Nineveh and tell them the time for judgment has come. Jonah - Go and give them my message."
But Jonah turns and heads the other direction. That is because:
3. God's Grace Is INCOMPREHENSIBLE
Why in the world would God want to send a message to Nineveh? Why would God even want to talk to them? You know what God should do? He should just zap them. He should just let them have it. He should just go ahead and wipe them off the face of the earth. That's what God should do. That's what Jonah thought. "Go get'em God!"
But Jonah knew what could happen. Jonah knew what would happen. He knew that if he brought God's message to Nineveh and if they repented - God would forgive them. God would pardon them. God would let them off the hook. And that is not what Jonah wanted.
Did you know that people are saved by the grace of God? Have I ever told you that before?
Did you know that the story about Nineveh is a story about grace? What they deserved and what they got were two different things. They deserved judgment. But they received forgiveness. They deserved punishment. But they received mercy. They deserved the wrath of God. But they received the grace of God.
Folks when people sin around us or against us - we want to see God's justice. When we sin we hope for God's mercy. You see - for most of us God's grace is hard to accept, hard to believe, and hard to comprehend.
Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We may extend ourselves to save the "not-so-bad". But we would never save the "really bad" - but God does.
Folks here are some facts:
God is more gracious than Jonah was.
God is more gracious than I am.
God saves people I would never save.
The Bible says that God is “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness," (Exodus 34:6) and that’s good news for sinners everywhere.
I am thankful that God is a forgiving God - aren't you? There is a simple phrase found in Jonah chapter two that summarized the true meaning of grace. It simply says:
"Salvation is from the LORD." Jonah 2:9b (NASB)
That brings us to point four:
4. How We respond to God's call MATTERS
When God said, “Arise, Jonah. Go to Nineveh and preach against it,” we might expect the next verse to read, “And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh - just as God had told him to do." But that’s not what happened. Let's look at the verse one more time:
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:3 (NASB)
If you know a little bit of Biblical geography, you would know that God says, "Jonah - go east." Jonah responds by saying, "I'm going west."
But what I really want you to see is that Jonah main mission was not about running to Tarshish - it was about running away from God. Look at verse three closely. Two times in verse three you find the phrase - "from the presence of the LORD". Go ahead and circle that. For Jonah it's more important WHO he's running from than WHERE he is going. He wanted to get away from God.
Notice also in the verse that the word "down" is used two times. Jonah went "down" to Joppa - then he went "down" into the ship. Here is fact folks:
Every step out of the will of God - is a downward step.
Any time you run from God, you never go “up" - you always go “down." Jonah’s problem was never ultimately about Nineveh. Jonah’s problem was always with God.
Have you ever heard anyone complain: "God is too loving? God is too kind. God is too forgiving. God shows too much mercy." No - I have never heard anyone say that either. But that is what Jonah thought. He wanted Nineveh punished - but God wasn't going to do it. God was going to forgive them and so Jonah turned his back on God. But the great truth of this story is:
Even though Jonah seems to give up on God - God never gives up on Jonah.
As I stand back and look at this story, questions arise in my mind:
How far will God allow Jonah to go in his rebellion?
How far will God allow Jonah to go in his sin?
How far will God allow us to turn our backs on Him?
You see God doesn't always stop us quickly. Sometimes He allows us to take dead-end roads. But He never stops being concerned about us. He never stops pursuing us either. And do you know what that is called. It is called patience. It is called grace. It is called mercy. It is called the love of God.
How far will God let us go in sin? I don’t think anyone knows the full answer. As we consider the beginning of Jonah’s sad story - let us remember that God let him run - but he could never out-run God. God was with Jonah every step of the way.
As we come to the end of this message, it looks like Jonah has gotten away with it. He’s run from God, bought a ticket, and now he’s on a ship heading for Tarshish. He’s a happy camper. So far his plan has worked to perfection. He’s so happy that as our story ends, he’s going to take a nap (Jonah 1:5).
Stay tuned - next week we'll pick up the story at this point.
