Jonah, “the Preaching Prophet” -chapter 3 Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
Evangelism is a program originated by God. In the light of human depravity and inability to lift ourselves from our sinful condition, God takes the initiative, opening our blind eyes and drawing us to the Cross. If God didn’t intervene, we’d all be lost. In order to make known the remedy for sin, God has chosen us, to share our faith by telling others about the grace and forgiveness we’ve experienced. None of us can ignore this responsibility.
Quick story: In 1860, Dwight L. Moody surrendered to God in downtown Boston, not in a church but in a shoestore near the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans on Court Street (next time you’re there look for the historical marker on the wall). Moody committed his life to fulfilling the Great Commission. One day Moody asked a passerby if he was a Christian, and the man snapped, “That’s none of your business”, to which Moody replied, “That is my business.” The man stared and said, “Then you must be Mr. Moody.” Spreading the Gospel is every Christian’s business. We all have a Ninevah to go to.
As chapter 3 opens, God again calls Jonah to go to Ninevah. If we were in God’s place, I imagine at this point we’d have had enough of Jonah! “Let’s find someone else!” But God is patient with His prophet. He re-commissions Jonah, giving him another chance, and uses him in spite of his faults. If God didn’t, none of us could serve. Nearly everyone God chooses to use have committed sins that would justify dismissal from God’s service. God is telling Jonah to “Cowboy up”, to be in the game, to take an active role. In the same way, God wants us to play the game, to serve Him with all our heart.
Ninevah is described in vs 3 as an “important” city, or literally, “a great city to God”. But God wasn’t impressed with Ninevah’s architecture, culture or military might; He was impressed with the number of people who needed Him. And it was a vast city, with three surrounding suburban towns. When an OT scholar asked about visiting Lebanon he was advised to make time to see all the points of interests, and was told, “Beirut is a city of three days,” just like Ninevah.
Imagine Jonah approaching Ninevah and preparing to deliver his message. What kind of reception would he get? Would the people ridicule him? Would they harm him? Or even worse (in Jonah’s mind), they might believe and repent! For Jonah, Ninevah was the place accepted, not chosen.
We can see that Jonah’s attitude was completely wrong from verse 4--judgment’s coming, period. He wasn’t preaching for conversions; he was simply announcing condemnation. I think he enjoyed delivering his message of doom. Jonah was vengeful and eager to see Ninevah toasted as a burnt offering. As he walked the streets of the city, it was like he was telling them “where to go”, shaking his fist at the people, hoping they’d do nothing and burn. The word “overthrown” indicates complete destruction, and is used elsewhere to describe what happened to Sodom & Gomorrah.
Any church that lacks compassion for unbelievers; any church that creates arrogant, self-satisfied people has lost its purpose. Churches that do not reach out, will die out. If we only baptize our children, we’ve lost sight of our discipling mission, given us by Jesus. When Jesus preached, He critiqued Israel for losing sight of its purpose to be light to the world.
Jonah wasn’t alone in his exclusiveness and bigotry. His countrymen hated Gentiles with a passion. By becoming God’s instrument of bringing blessing upon the Ninevites, Jonah not only would be hurting Israel (so he thought), but would really lose his popularity among his countrymen. What would people think of him now? He might be regarded as a traitor or spy, like someone passing sensitive defense secrets to an enemy. “Jonah, you did WHAT?” Jonah might be treated like a Yankees fan at Fenway Park! In II Kings 14 Jonah delivered a message of prosperity for Israel that came true. But being “prophetic” often means telling people things they don’t care to hear. As an Army Chaplain I had to at times tell my Commander that there were problems in the Brigade. Obeying God can be challenging if we have a need to be liked.
Any warning of judgment suggests the possibility of mercy. Why preach to Ninevah if they’re not going to be given a chance to repent? And why give them 40 days to decide? Why did Jonah dread preaching to Ninevah? Because he knew God all too well! The king of Ninevah also understood the implication; he dares to hope in verse 9: “Who knows? God may yet relent, and with compassion turn from His burning anger so that we shall not perish.”
An unchanging God does not change His mind. You don’t put up warning signs if you want people to drive over a cliff. In the message God gave Jonah is an implied condition, repent and be forgiven. Puritan writer Hugh Martin observes, “It was wicked, violent, unrighteous, atheistical, and proud Ninevah which God threatened to destroy; a city humbly sitting in sackcloth and ashes, He had never threatened."
Does the time limit sound familiar? 40 days is a recurring period of time in Bible history:
>The 40 days of rain for Noah’s ark was a time of washing away the moral pollution of generations;
>The 40 years wandering in the wilderness was Israel being trained to live by the promises and guidance of God;
>Elijah’s 40 days on the run from Jezebel prepared him for God’s reassurance;
>Jesus’ 40 days of temptation and 40 days of resurrection appearances verified both the Messenger and His message.
We learn the response of the city in verses 5-10. It wasn’t what we might have expected, nor hardly what Jonah desired. The people accept Jonah’s message, believing that its Author had the power to carry out this threat. Ninevah worshipped a fish-god, and learning that Jonah was rescued by a great fish had to make a big impact on them. They were ready to believe his message, and like it or not, Jonah helped bring about one of the largest mass conversions in history.
The king (Ninevah was the capitol city of the Assyrian empire) proclaims a period of prayer and fasting in sackcloth and ashes. Even the livestock are included. It was a Persian custom for animals to participate in mourning ceremonies. In our western culture before the advent of automobiles horses draped in black would pull the caisson carrying the casket in a funeral procession. Sackcloth was a coarse, rough cloth made of goat or camel hair, used to store grain. When worn as a garment it became an outward sign of grief or repentance.
But the king isn’t satisfied with merely a mere superficial show of remorse. He demands a change of behavior, a turning from wickedness. It’s too easy to confess and forget; true repentance means inward renewal, a spiritual/moral transformation. According to historians, Ninevah’s chief sin was its war atrocities, treating defeated enemies with sadistic cruelty. They were going to have to clean up their act.
The message of doom Jonah delivered is that people are sinful and headed for hell--God’s justice. But God’s love, which was unavoidably implied in the warning, holds out forgiveness to those who will trust in God and turn from their wickedness.
Jonathan Edwards preached in his Northampton Congregational church a famous fire-and-brimstone sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Edwards warned that divine justice calls for an infinite punishment. Unbelievers are walking over the pit of hell on rotted boards that are liable to give way at any moment. And while God is under no obligation to keep sinners from the flames of His wrath, the threat of hell is to persuade people to repent. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “If Hell must be filled, let it not possess one soul which was unprayed for, unimplored, or unwarned.” To flee God’s wrath, we must cling to His mercy! Ninevah only needed to hear this once, which is why Jesus said that those who have repeatedly rejected Him will be rebuked by the citizens of Ninevah (Mt 12). If God can use Jonah, He can use us to deliver His message of warning and mercy.
