JONAH
Jonah 1:17
Introduction: Of the Books of the Bible that the critics like to criticize, this is one of their favorites. One such critic asked a Bible believer if he really believed this part of the Bible too. The man answered “why, of course!” “Do you understand all that went on in the whale’s belly?” “No,” answered the Bible believer, “but when I die and go to heaven, I’ll ask old Jonah about it.” “Suppose he is not in heaven?” ask the critic. “Then you ask him when you die.”
This book has been their happy hunting ground in their efforts to discredit God. This reminds me of the illustration I read some time back. This group of scientists decided they did not need the Lord and more since they had created life in the laboratory. They went before the Lord and told Him so. They challenged the Lord to a test. They told Him that they could make man out of dirt also. So they got ready to do so. They picked up some dirt when the Lord told them to get their own dirt.
Men have preached from the pulpit fiction in regards to this book of the Bible. They have taught it from the lecture circuit in the classrooms and wrote about in their “scientific journals”. They think we are stupid for believing that a great fish or a whale could swallow up a man. But some try to say it is possible that a whale could swallow a man but Jonah could not survived the length of time that the Bible says. They point to the fact of the oxygen supply that is necessary for human life would have been long exhausted by the time the three days were up. If by some miracle that the oxygen supply did hold out, then they point to the fact that the gastric juices in the whale’s belly would started to digest Jonah long time before the three days and three nights were done.
The chief chemist of the Erie Railroad, W. B. Landon wrote a series of articles in a Christian magazine on the subject of “Chemistry and the Bible”. One of his articles tackled this passage. The following is an excerpt from that article.
“The earth is composed of about sixty-nine elements, such as aluminum, arsenic, bromine, calcium, carbon, chlorine, copper, gold, hydrogen, iron, lead, magnesium, mercury, nickel, oxygen, silicon, sodium, sulfur, tin, etc., etc.”
“Now, a God, who prepared an earth containing such an array of elements for man to make up into thousands of things to supply every need and whim, would not be greatly handicapped in using some of the carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium, to make a great fish to swallow Jonah; especially so, when he needed to be swallowed.”
“What is this terrible juice called gastric juice, which has probably kept a good many from believing the Jonah fish story?…Let’s suppose the gastric juice in the large fish prepared by God could have digested Jonah, would it have been any harder for God to change his juice to a harmless fluid for a man to change water that can be taken by the cupfuls to a harmful fluid, hydrogen peroxide, than can only be taken by the spoonful? The only difference between water and hydrogen peroxide is that the latter has only one more molecule of oxygen; consequently, if the gastric juice was liable to digest Jonah, God could certainly do as well as well as man in adding or taking away a few molecules of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, etc., to have the solution as harmless as water…”
“We should be careful that we do not accept some of the trash taught and preached, as we are liable to be swallowed up by something worse than a large fish, which God has prepared for those who do not believe His Word.”
When you read the Book of Jonah, which has only four short chapters, you can find some running in it. Chapter one I see Jonah running from God. In chapter two I see Jonah running to God. In Chapter three I see Jonah running for God. Chapter four I see Jonah running ahead of God.
There is a great miracle in this book than the miracle of Jonah itself. It is found in this: Jonah, the disobedient prophet, is a type of the disobedient nation of Israel. As we look at this book, bear in mind some of the lessons seen in this book and how they affect us.
I. JONAH WAS COMMISIONED TO GO TO A GENTILE CITY. THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS COMMISSIONED TO GO TO THE GENTILE WORLD.
Before the flood in Noah’s day, the sin of denial of divine authority produced the dissolving of all moral and social bonds. Genesis 6:5
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
The only remedy was race destruction.
Genesis 6:6-7
“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
But the first time grace is mentioned in the Bible is found in Genesis 6:8 where we found these words “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” There are two great words found in that verse. They are the words “but” and “grace”. Thank God for Grace. It is the grace of God that we are even here. Without the grace of God, all of mankind would have been lost and gone.
After the flood, idolatry and the worship of self as the captain of his own destiny. Out of this idolatry God called Abram from the Ur of Chaldees. This is somewhere near Persia, which is in the area of Iran and Iraq.
Joshua 24:2-3
“And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.”
God placed him at the crossroads of the world for a three-fold purpose.
A. A storehouse for His truth to keep alive the knowledge of His Name and His purposes.
Romans 3:1-2
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”
B. The channel through which the “Promised Seed” should come. Galatians 3:16
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
C. It was to be the lamp stand by which God might be made known to the nations. This was true when the queen of Sheba came to King Solomon. In essence, she wanted to know about the God of Israel that had prospered the land under Solomon’s rule.
II. JONAH REFUSED TO GO ON HIS GOD-GIVEN MISSION. ISRAEL REFUSED TO PERFORM HER GOD-GIVEN TASK.
Israel wrapped about her the robes of exclusiveness, called the Gentiles “dogs” and refused to carry out her mission. You can see this in both the Old and the New Testament. John 4:9
“Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”
This racial prejudice kept the Jews from doing the greatest possible good for the world. Instead she was exclusive in that she wanted nothing to do with those around them to try to lead them to the true and living God.
The Lord had to deal with this in the life of Peter in both chapters ten and eleven of the Book of Acts. If Peter would have be allowed to continue his course of life, he would have never went to the Gentiles at all. Thank God for His grace and mercy that He showed to us, the Gentiles of the world.
What bothers me is the racial prejudice of many churches today! The church is made up of folks that accepted Christ as their personal Saviour. It is not skin that is the problem; it is sin. God commanded us to go into the world. He did not command us to become part of the world but to go into the world.
III. JONAH WAS PUNISHED BY BEING CAST INTO THE SEA. ISRAEL WAS PUNISHED BY BEING CAST INTO THE SEA OF NATIONS.
Deuteronomy 28 holds the key to many of problems that the Jews people faced for years. The key to blessings for the Jewish people is found in verse 9. It says “The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.”
The blessings that you find in Deuteronomy 28 all hinged on one little word. That word is the word “if”. Many things are possible or fall with that little word. You and I can have the blessings of God if we are obedient.
The history of the Jewish people in recent years can be seen in verses 65-67. They had no home for years because of their disobedience.
“And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.”
Any skeptic or critic of the Bible needs to take a second look when they can see the accuracy of God’s word in reference to the plight of the Jewish people through history. This Bible is true in every way and proclaims itself to be so. John 17:17
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
IV. JONAH WAS SUPERNATURALLY PRESERVED. ISRAEL HAS BEEN SUPERNATURALLY PRESERVED.
Jonah was kept alive in the whale’s belly that God had prepared for him. God made sure that Jonah was alive to complete what God had him to do.
The preservation of Israel in her graves among the nations has been one of the greatest miracles of all time. A Jewish man who came to the United States wondered why Englishmen, French men, Swede and others come to our country how they seem to lose their racial identity yet a Jew never does. It is because no nation including the great melting pot of the world, the United States, can ever assimilate the Jews. He still retains his identity. This is a miracle that is greater than the preservation than Jonah.
V. JONAH WAS CALLED THE SECOND TIME TO GO ON HIS MISSION. GOD WILL CALL ISRAEL THE SECOND TIME TO FULFILL HER MISSION.
When Ezekiel saw the bones arise in the valley of the bones, that was a type of the nation of Israel coming up from the graveyard as a nation. On May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation once again.
Just as Jonah dereliction of duty did not cancel God’s design for him, neither will Israel’s dissolve God’s decrees concerning her duties and destiny. I understand from friends who are Jewish or are missionaries to the Jews that many of the Jewish people are Jewish in name only. They are in many ways atheists in many ways. But God is going to use Israel in the last days.
VI. JONAH WAS WILLING TO GO AT THE SECOND CALL. ISRAEL WILL BE WILLING TO CARRY OUT HER COMISSION.
Jonah hit the ground running. He managed to make a three-day journey in one day. He had only the one message from the Lord. It was a message that we do not hear much these days. It is found in the word “repent”. It was the message of Jonah. It was echoed by our Saviour. Luke 13:3, 5
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Recently I read the following by a preacher in Maryland. It relates to our message. He said, “Repent…
I hardly hear this word mentioned from the pulpit anymore. In fact, I haven’t seen this word in most of the tracts I’ve read. What is it about this word that so many preachers and Christian workers are afraid of? Is it because it sounds too harsh, or maybe too pointed and unkind to say to people that are lost? Is it because it is much easier to tell a sinner that they must “believe”, rather than to tell them they must “repent” as well?
I believe that repentance is a Bible doctrine that has become excluded from our preaching and personal witnessing. I suppose there is a multitude that think it not important to mention repentance as an integral part of man’s salvation. And yet, the Apostle Paul testified “both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). In fact, I find it interesting that the Lord Jesus Christ preached “Repent” way before He ever said “Believe”! If repentance is not important, why did our Savior command it?”
When Jonah preached his message of repentance, this was the response of the people.
Jonah 3:4
“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”
Will this be seen in Israel? Yes.
Revelation 7:9-10
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”
Thus we see that there is a close resemblance Jonah and Israel. In fact, it is too close to be accidental or a coincidence. While every word of Jonah is true, God was painting a still greater picture of Israel thus it is the greater miracle.
Conclusion: Jonah, the disobedient prophet, had one of the greatest evangelical meetings of the world history. He gave the message even though he did it with malice in his heart. God blessed His word rather than the messenger.
There is much of the Bible prophecy coming true in our lifetime. There is only one word that can sum up this message:
MARANTHA our Lord is coming.
