We read in Jonah 3:1-3, “Then the LORD spoke his word to Jonah a second time. He said, "Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people the message I have given you." Jonah immediately went to Nineveh as the LORD told him. Nineveh was a very large city. It took three days to walk through it.” (GW)
The word of the Lord came again to Jonah the second time. This time Jonah arose, and decided to obey God’s command, and to do as He bid. When Jonah disobeyed God the first time, he had to face so many hardships, that he realized that it was time he came in alignment to God’s plan, for his own good.
Often when we do not obey God’s word, the Lord does not shun us, but rather gives us another chance, simply because He is a loving and compassionate God. Each one of us receives so many opportunities from the Lord, and we should be wise to make best use of them. Just because God is gracious, we should not think that we can speak and act any way we like. If we have deliberately chosen the path of disobedience, and done things that are contrary to the word of God, we should repent of them, and set them right before God. The Lord will surely give us another chance if we are willing to set things in order in our lives as God desires. Every time we go against God, and decide to speak or act in defiance to His word, we can be sure that we will encounter adverse consequences, just as Jonah did.
Let me give you some examples from the bible of those who walked in rebellion to God.
The Israelites grumbled against God
We read in Numbers 11:1, “And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled,” (ESV)
The people of Israel had lived in bondage to the Egyptians, for more than four hundred years. In their misery they cried out to the Lord, who heard them, and delivered them from their cruel bondage with a mighty arm, performing astounding wonders and signs on their behalf. The kingdom of Egypt under Pharaoh was powerful and unyielding. It was impossible for anyone to prevail over Egypt, and set free those who were held captive by the Egyptians. However, God sent Moses, and used him mightily to confront Pharaoh with the ten plagues that caused intense damage to the land of Egypt. Having seen the powerful hand of God at work, Pharaoh finally gave up, and decided to let the people of Israel go free.
It was these Israelites whom Moses led through the wilderness, and God graciously provided food and water for this great multitude, all through this arduous journey. There was a special food that God provided for these Israelites every day on that wilderness journey which was called manna. This manna was the bread that God rained down from heaven, which the Israelites gathered, and ground to flour, in order to make food for themselves for forty long years. Nonetheless, the people of Israel were an unthankful lot, and it was their habit to grumble against God and against Moses, when something didn’t happen the way they wanted it to.
David’s heart of gratitude
How often we too forget the manifold blessings and goodness of God in our lives, and begin to grumble. Think about David as he stood before the giant Goliath. David never grumbled in that situation, but rather spoke words of faith. He recalled to King Saul of how he had saved his sheep from the attacks of a bear and a lion, and that God helped him to triumph over those situations. He therefore surmised that God would do the same, and deliver the huge Goliath too into his hands. This attitude of gratitude that David had, prompted him to say in
Psalm 103:1-2, Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, (ESV).
This is the kind of attitude we need to possess, when we encounter various challenges. It is truly not helpful for us to grumble or complain, when faced with any kind of hardships. We too should constantly remember, and thank God for all the good things He has bestowed upon us. Often these verses in Psalm 103:1-2 are said at the close of a prayer, and many don’t even stop to think what the words truly mean. We are reminded to not forget the good things that God has done for us, and the numerous benefits that we have received from His hands, and this should be done every day. Surely, if we have entered into the year, most of us know that it is only because of the grace, mercy and protection of God upon us.
The things the Israelites complained about
This was their lament as recorded in Numbers 11:5-6, “In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat--nothing but this manna day after day!" (GNB)
The Israelites forgot the mighty hand of God that plagued Egypt in order to deliver them from their cruel slavery in Egypt. They failed to remember the way God parted the Red Sea to make a way for them to safety, and the way God turned the bitter waters of Mara to be sweet and drinkable. Instead they remembered the fish, cucumbers, watermelon, leeks, onions and garlic that they had eaten while in Egypt.
The provision of manna to the lakhs of people every single day seemed so trivial to them, that they complained that their strength was gone from having to eat manna every day. Those who have been in the wilderness know that these are wide spaces, where there is no sense of direction, and these areas are prone to sand storms, poisonous snakes, insects and robbers. However, it was in this wilderness that God provided the Israelites with food, water and protection every single day for forty years. They only recalled the food that they ate in Egypt, and forgot the fact that they were enslaved, with no income, treated cruelly, and had to put to death their own children under Pharaoh’s cruelty.
This is the condition of mankind in general, who tend to easily forget all the good things they received from God, and complain about the little difficulties that come their way. May we never ever forget to recall all the blessings that we have received from the gracious hands of the Almighty God.
The Israelites groaned under slavery
These same Israelites who were grumbling in the wilderness, had been groaning in Egypt for a different reason.
We read in Exodus 2:23, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.” (ESV)
When the people of Israel were in slavery to the Egyptians, they groaned, and cried out to God to help them out of their calamity. However, when the Lord rescued them, and gave them their freedom, they still seemed to find reasons to complain and murmur. It seemed that this grumbling had become the habit of these people who simply forgot to look back, and thank God for His goodness.
Good for us to take a check to see if we are grateful to the Lord, or are like the Israelites always finding fault, and grumbling about everything. Isn’t it sad that ever so often we fail to remember the good that we received both from God and men? It is one thing to forget the good things that others have done for us, but it is really painful when some people turn against those who have done loads of good for them. This has become commonplace, where those who were once beneficiaries, speak ill, and do evil to those who had been kind to them.
This happens in families too. There are many children who frequently forget all the sacrifices that their parents made to raise them up. Sadly, there are those who when they attain a certain status in society, disrespect their parents, speak ill of them, and even dump them in old aged homes. We must be cautious because these are signs that we are living in the last days. For the bible clearly exhorts us that in the last days men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, and without any thankfulness whatsoever.
There are some who will be so desperate to get a good job in some government service. Once they secure the job, they will become negligent and irresponsible in their work. They will quickly forget the fact that God had graciously given them the job, which many others did not get, and will become lackadaisical. As God’s children we must be different, and decide to live the way God admonishes us to live. When we forget to be thankful, we will forfeit many of the blessings that God has graciously showered upon us.
The consequence of grumbling
As the people of Israelites continued with these grumblings, the Lord was grieved. This was the consequence of their constant complaining.
We read in Numbers 32:13, “The LORD was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the LORD’s sight had died.” (NLT)
The reason the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty long years, was because they failed to do what they ought to do, and kept doing the thing that God did not approve of. The Lord decided to destroy all of that generation in the wilderness, so that none of them could step into the Promised Land. Historians claim that the distance between Egypt and the Promised Land was probably only eleven days in all. Nonetheless, God made them wander in the wilderness for forty long years. The Lord had promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey, but God also knew that they were not ready for it. Their constant bickering and grumbling would only defile the beautiful land that God intended to have them inherit. God therefore decided to destroy an entire generation, so that the ones who entered the Promised Land were those who were a generation of faith, thankfulness, and ones who would please God.
Just imagine if God were to be angry with us? Today we often hear the sound of grumbling both against God, and against His leaders. Many are using the social media to express their dissatisfaction, and hatred towards other Christian leaders. By doing so they feel they have achieved something. However, the caution that we receive from God’s word is that for such who are rebellious and grumblers, the outcome will be a life of unrest and wanderings.
The caution we need to exercise
You may be wondering why the word of God has recorded all of these details about the Israelites, and their wanderings in the wilderness.
We read in 1 Corinthians 10:6, “These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,” (NLT)
The word of God has recorded these incidents for us as warnings that we need to take heed to. At one time we did not know God, but God redeemed us, and we have come to partake of His salvation. We have understood the price Jesus paid for us by His death on the cross of Calvary, that He was buried, rose again and is ascended into heaven, and is coming again for His own. God has graciously made us part of His body the church.
The purpose for which God made us part of the church, is that we should share this wonderful good news of salvation to those around us who do not know, so they too can be set free from the bondage of sin, and be liberated to lead the abundant life that Jesus offers. If we get involved in this great task of sharing the good news of the gospel with others, there will be no room for murmuring and complaining in our lives. Only when we are filled with thankfulness for the redemptive work that God has accomplished in us, will we see the need to share this wonderful news with others. This will prompt us to share of the transformation that Jesus brought into our lives when we decided to follow Him, and walk in obedience to His word. We will be motivated to encourage others to put their faith in Jesus, so that they too can experience this marvelous change that Jesus brought into our lives.
If we forget our past, and how God made changed us into a new creation, and that we are now called to be those who will make disciples of others, we will surely fall into this trap of grumbling and complaining. In many places there is so much of competition for position, power and popularity that there is constant friction, and discord among God’s children. These things should not be so, and we should decide to always be thankful, and never murmur against God, or those whom God has used to bless us along the way. If you do so we will reach the destination that God has set for us, and we will definitely avoid all the unnecessary loitering in our lives.
A blessing that the Israelites could have inherited in a few days, took forty long years to be fulfilled. When the blessings of God are delayed in our lives, it is time to check to see if we too have failed to give thanks to God, and have taken for granted all the ones whom God used to bless our lives.
Jonah realized the consequence of disobedience
If we observe the life of Jonah, we realize that after all his harsh experiences, he understood the consequences of a life of disobedience. Jonah did not have the heart to obey God at the first instance, and go to Nineveh. Jonah thought he could flee to Tarshish. The result was a severe storm that led to fear of death for all aboard that ship. They also lost much of the cargo hoping to get the ship to shore. Jonah knew that his rebellion has caused much damage to the ship, and everyone who voyaged with him on that ship.
Jonah had to be thrown into the sea, was swallowed by a fish, and spent three dreary days and nights in the belly of the fish. All these delays were because of Jonah’s disobedience. There were so many people in the days of Jonah, but God had chosen Jonah to go and preach to the city of Nineveh. Jonah did not comprehend the honor that God has bestowed on him, he was unthankful, and chose to rebel against the word of God. Not only did Jonah have to face adverse consequences, the ministry that was entrusted to Jonah was unduly delayed. Praise God that there was a second chance for Jonah, and this time he took it up without hesitation, and did as God bid him to do.
We read in Jonah 3:3, “This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.” (NLT)
Not sure how many days Jonah spent on the ship, which was followed by three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. We don’t know when Jonah got the second call of God, but all in all Jonah delayed what could have been done in just three days, for that was how long it took for him to cover the whole of Nineveh. Once Jonah began to do God’s will, there was a great transformation in that city.
There are millions of people in this world, but God has chosen us to be His own. This is such a great privilege, and we should never forget this. If we procrastinate the things that God has assigned to us, and disregard the opportunities that God gives to us, others will miss out on the blessings that they should have received through us. Let us search our hearts, and be those who will remember with gratitude the manifold blessings that we have received from God.
Thank God that we have known Him as our Saviour and Lord, and this is the greatest privilege. John 1:12 says it this ways, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” (ESV) This is the honor that is ours that we are God’s children, which means that we obey Him, and do His will in our lives.
May we repent if we have grumbled and murmured against God, and forgotten to thank Him as we should. We need to set things right in our lives, for if we don’t, we will miss out on the blessings that should be ours, and also we will hinder the blessings that are due to those around us. Let us be those who will share the good news of all God’s goodness in our lives, put aside all grumblings, and share the love of Jesus to everyone we meet.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
