Jonah the Unwilling Prophet : Sunday School Stories part 8
The Book of Jonah
Jonah refuses : Jonah 1
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah is told to head to Nineveh in order to warn them of impending judgement. However, Jonah has no desire to head to Nineveh and flees going the opposite direction. Why did Jonah flee from Ninevah? The city is one of the largest in the Assyrian empire, however at the time of Jonah, the empire had dwindled to divided cities. Nineveh was known as “the city of Nimrod” who was the first great king named in the Bible, and he also was known for his violent rule. Subsequent kings, and the city as a whole, became known as a violent place. Ashurbanipal was known to remove the lips and hands of his victims, and Tiglath-Pileser would flay victims alive and create piles of skulls to celebrate his victories. And, if you’ve watched the Veggie Tales rendition of Jonah, you’ll know the people were accustomed to slapping each other with fish!
The worst cities are the ones who need the Gospel the most.
Jesus said, “It is not for the healthy that I’ve come, but for the sick.” Nineveh had brought itself under the wrath of God, because of their violence, but God was ready to demonstrate His love, if they would only repent.
Before we move a bit further, look closely at verse 3. The phrasing, it appears, implies Jonah believed that if he could get far enough away, then the LORD would not be able to catch him. One particularly popular possible location for Tarshish is in southern Spain, on the opposite side of the Mediterranean, which for the Hebrews might as well be the other side of the globe. Jonah is certainly running from his duties, but he may also be hoping to run from God’s presence to avoid hearing from God again. But,
There is nowhere that is too far for God to find you.
Now, that not only means the Christian cannot run from God, but it also means as we share the Gospel with those around us, there is no one who is too lost for God to save. Regardless of our life choices and circumstances, if we are willing to repent, God can and will save us. In fact, as we will see in chapter 2, God can even restore the heart of someone caught in the belly of a giant fish. This brings us to the last note for chapter 1:
Each of us have a God-given task, and it is better to avoid the “fish” by getting after it rather than running away.
Last, as we close chapter 1, there is the perennial question of “Is it a fish or whale?” and “Is that possible?”
To answer these questions is actually quite simple. First, whether it’s a fish or whale has more to do with modern categorizations than anything else. For the ancients, if it lived in the water and had fins, it might as well be a fish. Categorizing a whale as ‘mammal’ is a relatively new phenomenon, so it could be either. Also, there is a certain fish called a ‘whale-shark’ that is a fish by modern standards, but it is also still large enough to swallow a person whole. So, which is it? It doesn’t matter! The point of the story is not whether Jonah could have really been swallowed, it’s that Jonah has run from his duty, and God has supernaturally intervened to bring Jonah back to where he belongs. And, if you wonder if such an event is even possible, just look up stories of people being swallowed by whales and whale sharks. It happens.
But more importantly, consider that if God is able to create the Universe out of nothing, bring catastrophic floods, squash city walls, speak to Moses through a burning bush, and the countless number of other miracles, then He can certainly raise up a fish big enough to swallow Jonah and tell the fish where to send the wayward prophet.
Jonah repents : Jonah 2
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah’s prayer points us to a few truths concerning Scripture. First,
The Lord will hear our prayers even in our darkest moments in life.
Jonah is in the belly of the fish for three days. He is three days without food, stuck in a stinky, dark place. Though it appears all hope is lost, the Lord hears Jonah’s prayer and sustains him. Second,
The Lord will sustain us in those darkest moments, even if it seems impossible.
The most miraculous part of this story is not that Jonah is swallowed by a fish, but that he is able to survive the three days journey inside that fish. By all accounts Jonah should have died at sea, but God had more important matters for Jonah. Jonah had an appointed task, and this fish was going to be Jonah’s means to renewing that task. This brings us to third,
The Lord will use those dark moments to remind us of our life purpose.
While Jonah was comfortable sleeping on the boat, he was also comfortable running from God. The Lord had to make Jonah very uncomfortable for Jonah to remember his appointed task. In verse 9, we see Jonah has come full circle. He remembers the vows he made to the Lord to be the prophet he is called to be. He remembers those who have forsaken hope for devotion to false idols. And so, the fish brings Jonah to dry land and spits him out.
Jonah proclaims : Jonah 3
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Here we have the shortest Revival message in the history of sermons. A single sentence is enough to cut to the heart of Nineveh. History tells us they have already experienced a massive upheaval in their geo-political prowess, but now, they are about to experience Divine judgment. They were ready for the message, and they responded in repentance.
The Lord works in the hearts of people long before we enter the scene with the message of hope.
Whenever we are called to proclaim the Good News of salvation, we must always remember God has already began the work. Nineveh was ready for salvation, because God had orchestrated a series of events that would make them open to the message. Even the king and nobility joined in putting on the garments of repentance and issued a call for fasting and repentance. And because of their repentance, the Lord does not bring the destruction planned.
Judgement and Destruction can be avoided if we will only repent from our evil and call on the Lord for salvation.
Consider Jeremiah’s visit to the potter in Jeremiah 18. In this visit, the Lord tells Jeremiah that the nations are like clay in God’s hand. If He intends destruction for a sinful nation, and that nation repents, then He will relent of the destruction. Nineveh is a practical example of this truth.
Now, the ironic part of Jonah’s story is that Nineveh is a part of the Assyrian Empire which is the same empire that takes Northern Israel into Exile, because Israel refuses to repent. Had Nineveh not repented, Assyria would not have been in the position to conquer the Northern Kingdom. Had Israel repented, they would have been protected from Assyrian conquest. The most devastating implication for Jonah’s story is that God’s own people have demonstrated an unwillingness to repent and be God’s people, while pagan Gentiles demonstrate repentance through fasting and sackcloth.
Jonah whines : Jonah 4
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Look close at verse 1: “It displeased Jonah exceedingly” is literally “It was exceedingly evil to Jonah”. Nineveh’s repentance and God’s relenting was evil to Jonah. What was so evil in Jonah’s eyes? Jonah wanted destruction on Nineveh. Jonah knew God would relent the destruction if the people repented, and that is what happened.
Jonah’s sin was preferring Nineveh’s destruction over Nineveh’s salvation.
We can point fingers at Jonah all day, but consider the number of people who claim allegiance to Jesus who came to seek and save the lost, but at the same time call out for destruction against their enemies. There is a long list of people groups who are antagonistic to the Gospel of Christ. However, we must avoid the temptation to generalize every individual who adheres to one of these philosophies as unwilling to listen. Nineveh was one among many cities that was counted as an enemy of God and enemy of Israel. But, they were willing to listen to God’s message.
As we witness to our co-workers, neighbors, and family, we have to remember that even though these people may adhere to a philosophy that is counter the Gospel, it does not necessarily mean they are not willing to listen to the Gospel.
Jonah’s sin and ignorance is pointed out by God through a little plant.
This plant miraculously grows in a day tall enough to shade Jonah. Then, the next day, it shrivels up. As Jonah is pitching his little hissy fit over this plant, look closely at verses 10 and 11. The Lord asks Jonah whether He should pity Nineveh who has 120,000 people in it. Which is more important—the plant or the 120,000 people?
The root of Jonah’s sin was preferring his comfort over Nineveh’s need.
Comfort is not evil in itself. In fact, many places in Scripture God promises to bless His people and grow them. This inevitably will lead to a certain measure of comfort when we live wisely as God calls us to live. However, the moment that comfort becomes more important to us than God’s mission and people’s salvation, then we have made it an idol.
It is in our discomfort that we are willing to listen to the Lord and repent. And it is in our comfort that we may find ourselves slacking in our duties to God. Thus, we must always maintain a godly balance between enjoying the blessings of God and maintaining a godly vision for the task at hand.
Our message today is primarily for those who call themselves Christian, however it is also for those who have not yet called on Jesus as Lord. Jonah is the primary character, and of course the message is centered on his unwillingness to live out the mission God gave him. However, also consider Nineveh. It is a city filled with violent inhabitants who have forsaken the One True God for false idols and violent living. They are far from God, and soon their sin will culminate in their destruction. But God sends a message of hope. Because they repent, because they turn to the One True God who brings salvation, they are given another chance, and their empire is restored. Today,
There is no sin too great for God to wash clean if we will only repent and turn to Him.
So, whether it is the first time you call on Jesus for forgiveness and life, or if you have served Him for decades, today is the day to rediscover God’s call on your life and renew the task He has given you.