The Second Rebellion
Jonah 4:5: “Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the city.”
“Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city…”
No sooner than Jonah has this second conversation with God and is asked by God, “Is it right for you to be angry?” does he hit the road again. We’ve heard the axiom, It’s either my way or the highway.” This seems like the policy of Jonah in this particular story – when things don’t go his way, he hits the highway literally. He leaves Nineveh – the city he preaches against - the city that whole-heartedly repented of their sin. He leaves this city and finds a place to sit down.
Jonah was a man just like us, with rebellion imbibed in his bones. The last time he ran was when the Lord first commissioned Him to go and preach against Nineveh. Here we see him running once again.
Just as running needs a break, so also running away needs a break. That’s exactly what Jonah did – he took a break on the east of the city. We don’t know why he chose to go east of the city and not west. One probability is that he was expecting a Sodom and Gomorrah-like wrath to be poured out on Nineveh and in that case, there would be fire and if there was fire, there would be smoke and perhaps the wind was blowing west. So if he went west, then the smoke would come his way, and no one likes breathing smoke – especially that of a burning city. (That’s just an imaginative probability).
“There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade…”
Jonah seems to be both an adventurous and an industrious man. The first time he rebelled against God, he bought himself a ticket on a ship to Tarshish. Here we see him doing another thing for himself – building a shelter. It seems like Jonah knew how to take care of himself, even if he was on a rebellious journey – much like us The Church as well.
How similar to Jonah we The Church-at-large are. We’ve decided to rebel against God’s call on our lives to take the Gospel to the world and make disciples of all nations and instead, we’ve become so obsessed with our own lives. Nothing matters more to us than our own lives – even though we’re on a dangerous rebellious journey trying to run away from God, despite several ‘second-chances.’ We’ve not only rebelled once and gone on journeys far away from where we were supposed to be serving, but we’ve also built ourselves great shelters where we can relax and enjoy life, just like the rest of the world around.
We’ve forgotten that we were not saved to serve ourselves, but rather to serve the world around us. We’re here as the Body of Christ, to do what He the Head of The Church began to do when He walked the earth. He has given us this amazing mandate – to finish what He started. But we’ve deliberately chosen to rebel against God and become caught up with ourselves and our pleasures.
Jonah built the shelter to shield himself from the sun as he was nowhere near buildings. He had left them all behind to burn with the wrath of God and he was sitting in his self-built shelter. We don’t know what his shelter comprised of, but it was enough for him to relax in its shade. The question that arises in our minds must certainly be, “Why would he stop, build a shelter and sit in its shade?” Let’s read on.
“And waited to see what would happen to the city.”
Now we get to understand the purpose behind the break in his rebellious journey, just outside the city, and the reason behind him building a shelter and sitting in its shade. It wasn’t that he needed a break from his journey. It wasn’t that he was tired or exhausted from the heat of the sun. He had another rather evil desire – one that Abraham and Moses would chide him for had they been around. Jonah wanted to see what would happen to the city.
How similar Jonah was to who we are today. Let there be a tragedy, not only does it get national news coverage but it also gets national viewing, listening, and reading. There’s something sadistic in all of us that seems to want to witness tragedy – not our own tragedy, but that of another person. Let’s not be like Jonah, waiting for the destruction of unbelievers, but rather, let’s get about doing all we can to see them come to Christ – just like we ourselves did one day. We’re here to see their Salvation, not their destruction.
Jonah wanted to see what Lot’s wife also wanted to see – the city burning. We know what happened to her. Abraham pleaded with the Lord to spare Sodom and Gomorrah and Moses pleaded with the Lord to spare the rebellious people of Israel in the desert, but here we see Jonah finding a cosy, vantage point from there to witness divine wrath on people who’ve just repented of their sin – and at his preaching at that.
One would imagine Jonah celebrating with the people of Nineveh at their repentance, much like the angels would have been celebrating at the repenting of an entire city. Jesus said, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10). Once again, that was just imagination – Jonah was far from rejoicing – he was rebelling, ranting, and raving at their repenting and God’s relenting.
What’s our response as The Church to those outside? Are we concerned for them or totally oblivious to the fact that they are headed for a lost eternity if we don’t share Christ with them? Are we making ourselves comfortable, instead of getting busy with winning them to the Lord? Here’s the terrifying news that none of us in The Church should ever forget – if we fail to reach those the Lord has chosen us to help save, and choose to live as we like, in total rebellion of the Lord, we will sealing our own doom.
Jesus taught a lot about the consequences that would follow those who didn’t use what was entrusted to them. Those consequences are eternal. I’m sure this goes against the grain of many who believe that once you’re saved, you’re saved forever and it doesn’t matter how one lives after that, but that’s not biblically accurate. There’s enough evidence to prove that if we fail to fulfill God’s expectations of us, we will face eternal consequences. This isn’t to scare one into service. Service must come out of a willing and thankful, obedient heart and mind, but and if we choose to rebel against God and become self-centered, not only will we be jeopardising the lives of others, but we will also be risking our own lives in the process.
Below are just a few passages that talk about the fact that we cannot afford to be lackadaisical in our attitude to our relationship with God, with one another, and with those outside the Body of Christ, whom we were called to help save.
• The Parable of the Minas - Luke 19:11-27
• Hebrews 2:1-3 – “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation…”
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 – “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.”
• Psalm 95:7-11 – “Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 ‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
• The writer of Hebrews quotes the above verses in Hebrews 3:7-11. He goes on to say, in Hebrews 3:12-19: “12Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
Today, when we, The Church, preach the Gospel and people turn to the Lord, how much do we rejoice with them and for them? Do we welcome these new people into our homes and churches? When we see the Lord using these new believers in ways that He never used us, do we rejoice about it or do we secretly envy them? Does our initial, visible joy of seeing their conversion turn to subtle, invisible anger against God? Let’s welcome them, invite them to work along with us in the mission that God has given us, let’s train them and release them into the ministry that the Lord has for them. Secure people release people, insecure people control them. We are called to be the former, knowing that the Lord who called them ‘today,’ called us ‘yesterday,’ and if not for others welcoming us, inviting us into their homes and churches, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Let’s decide to be the welcoming church we were called to be when the Lord first welcomed us (through people) into His family.
God bless you and have a great day or night.
