JONAH: UPCHUCK BUT NOT UPBEAT
I’ll do it but my heart is not in it!
Jonah Chapter 3 & 4
It’s the fish that attracts the most attention in Jonah. But there are several other miracles too.
First, the storm—unlike any other storm;
After the fish… and Jonah’s survival… we find the shade tree… then comes a worm… followed by a hot, dry, east wind.
In the past couple of weeks… we too have encountered unusual storms.
Even today… another threatens us.
God is still in command.
Every thing—plant… animal… and mineral… yields to the voice of God.
Only man resists… rebels… ignores… and despises the voice of God.
As we begin our look into Jonah today, the question is: Are we looking into Jonah as though he were a mirror… and seeing our own reflection?
Can we see, at least, a glimpse of ourselves in him?
Jesus and Jonah have their parallels with 3 days in the place of the dead... and then a resurrection.
But there is a great contrast too: Jesus was faithful—let this cup pass from me…but not my will but thine!
Jonah, on the other hand, spoke with his feet… and ran the wrong way—not thy will… but mine be done.
Our question: Where do we stand?
In Chapters 3 & 4… we see just how gracious our great God really is—not willing that any should perish… neither the blood-thirsty heathens of Nineveh… nor his reluctant… arrogant… self-serving servant.
3:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you."
No one knows exactly where the fish deposited Jonah on the beach… or how long it was before God called him the second time.
But the language suggests that Jonah was, once again, settled into a routine when God spoke again.
One thing for sure: Jonah had learned his lesson: Being reborn out of sure death will do that to you.
Or as Jesus says: A tree is known by its fruit.
Our life-style… our priorities… what we do and why… openly testifies to the nature of our real birth… whether it is only of the flesh… or truly of the Spirit.
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
Nineveh was a city of perhaps a million people—the capitol of Assyria.
From the front gate to the back gate was a 3-day journey.
A great wall with 1500 towers surrounded it.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
These 8 words are all that God left us of what Jonah proclaimed. It could have been the entire message or just a summary.
Can’t you just imagine the story Jonah had to tell when he got to Nineveh?
Their primary god was Dagon—half-man, half-fish—actually a fish head on a human body.
I can imagine that Jonah used the fish story to illustrate that Dagon was no match to the true and living God.
He told the sailors aboard ship the Lord is God of both heaven and earth and master of both land and sea.
But all we have are the 8 words:
Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed (literally, there was absolutely no doubt. Nineveh was totally convinced) Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Nineveh’s faith and repentance can be explained by several factors:
(1) The power of God and His prophetic word;
(2) The physical presence of Jonah—a man
• Filled with the Spirit of God…
• Full of the power of God… and
• Enriched with an experience with God.
And then… his visit followed…
(3) Shortly before Jonah’s visit… Assyria had suffered:
• 765 B.C., a plague;
• 763 B.C., a total eclipse of the sun;
• 759 B.C., a second plague;
(4) They were the world power… but they were politically insecure… new enemies were rattling swords to the south… and east;
(5) The repentance of the nation’s leaders… both locally and nationally… trickled down to the people.
Paul’s strategy was to win the leaders and the others would follow.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
This was a universal symbol of sorrow and repentance.
It was coarse, dark cloth unfit for normal wear.
Sitting in ashes was a sign of helplessness.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works (that is their conscious, physical expression of their Spiritual faith in the true and Living God… the fruit of their new relationship—proof) that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
God’s "relenting" or repentance is not the "changing of the will," but the "willing of a change."
When we change, God changes his approach—he does not change. He is incapable of change—immutable.
When we repent—accept his way; his Son—God turns
• From being a Judge… to being our Savior…
• From condemnation to acceptance…
• From separation to embrace…
• From wrath to blessing.
God is still the same God… only we see… and relate to… a difference aspect of his all-encompassing and unchanging character.
Jonah, the prodigal prophet, preached the greatest revival the world has ever known—before of since.
He didn’t want to… but he did!
His heart wasn’t in… but God’s was!
God did all of this with a reluctant and rebelling prophet before Jesus created the church.
Perhaps, this, too, is symbolic of the revival that will break out after the church is removed.
When 144 thousand Hebrew missionaries fan out across the globe to preach—not reluctant like Jonah… but committed like Paul—it will become the greatest revival of all times.
4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
Let Jonah tell the story… from the Living translation…
2 So he complained to the LORD about it: "Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people.
3 Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen."
Just how does God react to this outburst?
4 The LORD replied, "Is it right for you to be angry about this?"
In other words: Is their a moral basis for your anger?
God is simply asking does Jonah—or anyone—have a right to be angry about anything that God does?
We have a God who loves us infinitely just as we are… a God who loves us so much he wants the best for us… now and always.
We have a God who sacrificed his own Son—surrendered his righteousness to us… and took our sin upon himself—just so we could be blessed beyond belief.
We have a God who wants us to:
Deut 6:5…love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. AND,
Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Jesus said in Mark 12:31…There is none other commandment greater than these.
…love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
WHY?
Matt 5:45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
This is the will of our heavenly Father.
This is what God wants.
He created all of humankind to respond to his love… to be blessed by him…
• So that his love would be returned…
• So that we could all reach our design potential…
• So that… Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven, (Matt. 6:10).
Jonah… in his religious arrogance… had lost sight of the fact that God loves everyone—even our enemies.
Jonah had no right to be angry just because God is not willing that any should perish.
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
Here comes the hand of Grace again…
Jonah built a shack… but God has a better idea:
6 And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Jonah is still bent on the destruction of his enemies in Nineveh… but he accepts… and enjoys… the cool shade of God’s tree… BUT?
With Grace comes the lesson…
7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
This is the repeating refrain of Jonah on this trip.
First he was willing to go down with the ship.
Then he was willing to be tossed into the deep.
He even welcomed the prospect of death in the belly of the fish… to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with his enemies.
"It is better for me to die than to live."
9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?" "Yes," Jonah replied, "even angry enough to die!"
10 Then the LORD said, "You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived.
Jonah appreciated the Grace of God when it was for his own benefit—the cool shade of the tree—even though it is but a temporary blessing for the flesh.
But he was still dead set against his God sharing his love… his mercy… his grace… with his enemies.
11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?"
The book ends here! With a question mark—a question that still echoes down the halls of humanity until this very day!
It’s a question for us!
Are not the millions the world over…
• Those trapped in the ignorance of false religions…
• Those imprisoned by chemical addictions…
• Those blinded by over-inflated egos…
• Those with insatiable appetites in the flesh…
• Those—like Jonah—who cannot see beyond their own arrogance… and ignorance of God’s determination that none should perish.
Are they not worthy of our faithfulness to a loving Savior who gave his all… to give us his all?
Our question is the same: Do we love our neighbors as ourselves… or are we just hoarding our faith—like Jonah?
Will our lives end like this book… with a question mark… or with the blessed assurance from a loving God to a good and faithful servant?
