Sermon transcripts of pastor Tom Nagy

The Book of Jonah

    Once upon a time........in a forest not too far away.......a rabbit was bragging to some other animals about how fast he was. "I could beat any animal in a race!" he said.

    "Hey.......I'll race you," the tortoise said.

    The rabbit laughed. "This is a good joke!" he said. "I would dance around you all the way!"

    "Keep your boasting until you've won", said the tortoise. "Shall we race?"

    Now......I'm not going to finish this story.......because you all know how it ends. You've probably all heard the story of the Tortoise and the Hare a dozen times before.......and from the very beginning of hearing it you knew where the story was headed and how it was going to end.

    I have a feeling that the same thing happens with the story of Jonah because it's so well-known. It's one of the first Bible stories taught to kids in Sunday School........and even folks who don't attend church regularly can probably tell you that some whale swallowed this guy and then spit him back up on the dry land.  You who have been down the road with church a little longer have probably heard the story told and retold so often that it's become commonplace. 

    And there might even be some of you here today that heard we were going to look into the Book of Jonah and said to yourselves, "Not again! I've heard this story so many times I'm ready to throw-up..........just like the fish puked up Jonah."  And then for the rest of our time here this morning your mind will wander to where you're gonna go eat after we get done.......or who's gonna win the PGA this afternoon.  Unfortunately.......when it comes to the story of Jonah........the old proverb is true........."Familiarity breeds contempt".

    And yet.......I'd venture to say that the average Christian doesn't have any idea what the story of Jonah is actually about.  Though it's one of the most well-known stories in Scripture.......it's also one of the most misunderstood.  

    I'd also venture a guess that most of us have heard pastors or teachers explain the story of Jonah as being about world missions.  "God wanted to reach the people of Nineveh......and so God sent Jonah to preach to them. Jonah did not want to go at first.......but when he finally went.........there was a great revival.  And now today.......God wants to reach the people of Zimbabwe and He wants you to go. Are you going to refuse like Jonah.......or are you going to let God use you to bring revival to that foreign country?" 

    I believe that's how Jonah is usually taught.  So......I guess it's not surprising......that if this is the message that we get from the book of Jonah.......that when pastors and missionaries are trying to get more people to financially support missions.......or are trying to get more people to sign up for the mission field.......this is the big gun they're going to pull out to leverage people to do their agenda.......then it's no wonder we shy away from it.

    But is that what Jonah is really all about?  Well......I won't ruin the rest of the story by telling that right up front.  What we're going to do is take a verse by verse approach to this book and come to a conclusion as to why God saw fit to include it in His revelation to us.......and what we're supposed to do with it.  It's only four chapters long.......so this won't be a very long study.......but I think it will be valuable.

    First off.......I'm always amazed.......when I start out studying any particular book of Scripture.......just how many, so-called, "biblical scholars" are available out there who are quoted as saying this or that particular book of Scripture is untrue.......or is not written by the person credited with its writing........or was written way after the time of the events recorded and is therefore not accurate.  Well......the book of Jonah probably has more nay-sayers than any other book you could name.  And I think it's important to be able to intelligently understand and discuss the common attacks on what we believe.

    With the book of Jonah......there are three main viewpoints on the style of literature we see here...........it's either an allegory........a parable.......or an accurate historical narrative. So which is it?

    Well......there's a lot of people who would claim that this entire book is one huge ALLEGORY........or a metaphor. In an allegory.......symbolic figures represent a truth which is being hidden. The symbols are not genuine..........but the truth they point to is.

    So......by definition.......if the book of Jonah is allegorical.........then Jonah himself never existed in history. He would represent Israel........which has turned its back on the Lord.......and his being swallowed by a fish.........could be the Babylonian captivity and exile.......while the preaching at Nineveh might mean Israel finally gets on board with God’s plan and does what He's told them to do.

    Allegories are not “un-Biblical”.........but there are no hard and fast rules governing their interpretation........so the teacher gets free reign to make anything of it he likes......he can just make stuff up!

    For instance.......not long ago I was reading a teaching on 1 Samuel 17........recounting the story of David going to face Goliath.  And you remember that David goes to the battleground.......approaches Saul and offers to fight the Philistine. After a brief exchange between the two Saul agrees.  Go ahead and read 1 Samuel 17:38-40........38 Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. 39 David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them off. 40 He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

     The guy teaching this particular passage says that Saul’s armor represented our modern day Bible colleges who continually restrict theological students with regulations and teachings which are quenching the Holy Spirit!  That is an allegory.........the problem is that the guy teaching believed that David & Goliath actually lived......it really doesn't work that way.  There's nothing in the text to suggest the story of Jonah is an allegory. Somewhere along the line we would need an explanation of the meaning and none is given.

    OK then......a second possibility is that it could be a parable.......a very long parable......but this is a more common view. Again........that leaves us with the problem that Jonah probably didn’t exist.......and admittedly......not everyone is bothered by that.  Parables are very biblical........Jesus told lots of parables 34 or 35 of them.......and no one suggests the people spoken of in those were real. Maybe Jonah is just an Old Testament version of the same thing.  And........when Jesus told a parable it was pretty obvious......but He didn’t use real names to indicate where the characters stood in history. He always spoke of “a certain man”......he didn't name him.  

    The other problem is that the big difference between parables and allegories is that parables present one main point and one primary application........while allegories are multi-dimensional........with a lot of thoughts embedded in them. Parables are easier to understand since they talk about real-life situations.......a farmer.......a son.......a vineyard.  In an allegory.........each character has a symbolic meaning.........and the narrative is often mystical or supernatural.  Again.......if this was a parable, then no meaning is given........and Jonah.....being  the central character in one long Old Testament parable.......could not be a "type of Christ" because he represents rebellion........not devotion and certainly not obedience to the Father’s will.  But Jesus specifically uses 'the sign of the prophet Jonah' in relation to Himself. It just doesn't work as a parable.  

    So......I guess that leaves us with just one choice........we have to accept the historicity of Jonah and all that's said about him.......including the big storm.......the big fish......and the big plant.......all miracles that really happened at a point in time in history.  I don't have any problem with any of it.  I believe in a miraculous God........and I’m happy to accept He did a lot of miracles in Jonah's life to accomplish what He wanted accomplished. I can’t ‘prove’ any of it empirically........but the last argument in this debate really seals the deal.  Go ahead and read Matthew 12:38-41.........38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

     Certainly the fact that Jesus acknowledges Jonah existed is important...... but what else does this passage tell us?  Look at that final verse....... “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah.”....... Jesus says that the real city of Nineveh actually heard the real Jonah and repented in response to his message. Now ask yourself.........is Jesus acting like this never happened......like it’s just a parable? No........Jesus clearly believes it did happen. 

    So here we have Jesus pretty well encapsulating the past......talking about a historic Nineveh.........the present......when He talks about "this generation"........and the futurewhen He talks about the judgment........all in one sentence. So tell me.........which parts aren't true?

    Allegories and parables are legitimate literary devices used by the Bible’s authors.......but Jesus didn't believe the book of Jonah was anything but a historical account of real people and real events.  That's good enough for me.

.    Alright.......Jonah really was........but before we get into the events recorded.......we probably ought to understand who Jonah was.  The text doesn't tell us a lot.  Verse one just says that he was "the son of Amittai".......so we need to go back to the historical Scriptures to figure out a little more.  Go ahead and read II Kings 14:23-25........ 23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.

    So.....historically.......in about 797 BC......Elisha had prophesied future victories for Israel......and then a few years later Jonah prophesied the restoration that Jeroboam II accomplished in this passage in 2 Kings that we just read. So......what happens is that Israel starts thinking that it doesn't need God......it's got success.......its borders are expanding.......what do they need with God?  

    Enter Amos and Hosea......sent by God to warn Israel that she would be "spared no longer" (Amos 7:8 8:2) but God would instead send them into exile "beyond Damascus" (Amos 5:27) and into Assyria (Hosea 9:3; 10:6; 11:5) It was here that the Lord sent Jonah to Nineveh to warn them of the impending danger of divine Judgment.  Think about it.......God sent Jonah to be a prophet to Nineveh.......the capital of Assyria.......Israel's sworn enemies.  Wonder why he's got a problem with that?

    Alright.......so we know Jonah was a prophet......to both Israel and to Nineveh.  So.....what makes a good prophet?  I read somewhere that prophets usually demonstrated four main characteristics with their ministries.......insight, foresight, compassion, and courage.     They would need INSIGHT in order to see what underlies those things that they observe and then make an understanding of just exactly what's happening.  The INSIGHT that they have gives them the second characteristic........FORESIGHT........the ability to predict what's going to happen because of what's going on.  

    The third characteristic is COMPASSION.  The prophet has to care enough about what happens to want to intervene. And then the prophet has to have COURAGE........let's face it.......a prophet usually doesn't have that pleasant a message for the people he's speaking to.  He's got to be able to powerfully speak the truth......as unwelcome as it might be.

    So......if this is the standard by which a prophet is judged........then Jonah's a pretty strange prophet.  He possesses none of the above........he's without insight........without foresight........without compassion........and without courage. He also seems to lack both energy and initiative.......an overall bad employee!  What was God thinking?  But with all of his failings.......God uses Jonah to send out an incredible message of love.  

    Alright.......I think that gives us enough background......let's get into the passage.  Go ahead and read the first 3 verses.  1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

    Though a lot of modern translations don't include the first word of the Hebrew text.....the word "Now" is actually there.......which literally translates "It came to pass".......or "So it happened".......which indicates that this is just part of a bigger story........the whole story of Israel.  Other books like 1 Samuel, Ruth, Judges, Esther, Nehemiah, Ezekiel all start the same way and we can see by their accounts that they're just part of the narrative of a long and complex story.  I think this further adds to the veracity of the book being a historical work.

    And what came to pass?  The word of Yahweh came to Jonah.  The word of Godcoming to prophets is a pretty common theme in the Bible........over 100 times we're told this takes place..........But we're rarely told how it happens......as in this case.  We may assume God spoke to prophets through dreams and visions.......or possibly even through an audible or inner voice.  But nevertheless......Jonah received and understood what it was that God was calling him to do.  

    So......God calls him to go to Nineveh which was situated along the Tigris River about 500 miles from Gath-Hepher.....where Jonah's from......and God calls it great city......which eventually became the capital of Assyria.  Now the word used here for great isn't defined very well......we don't really get a feel for what it was that made it great.  Great in population.......great in size.......great in evil?  We'll get a little better insight later in the book......but for now it's a "great city" that is very wicked.  

    God's instructions to Jonah were extremely rare for prophets. Usually.......when God commanded prophets to speak against other nations.......it was a message from God for the encouragement and instruction of His own people. Rarely does God send a prophet to another nation to speak a message to them. 

    So Jonah's answer to God.......he heads the other way.  He goes to Joppa......a seaport city about thirty five miles southwest of where he lived. There he buys passage on a ship headed for Tarshish..........which was on the southern coast of Spain. In fact....... Tarshish was located about as far from Nineveh as one could go in Jonah's day. It was literally at the end of the known world.  @This map gives some indication of the extent of Jonah's rebellion.

    And the text twice says he did it to "flee from the presence of the Lord."  This translation has led some commentators and Bible teachers to believe that Jonah was trying to escape God’s presence.......to get to a place where God had no influence........could not see him.......could not find him.   Does that make any sense at all?  

    Now it is true that a lot of the gods of Jonah's time were considered “local” deities.......sorta tied to the land they presided over and couldn't move.  But this was never  true of the God of Israel.......no Hebrew believed this about God.  In fact........from the very beginning of their history as a nation.....God told Abram, while he was living in Ur, to pack up and go to a different land.........and when Abram did this God didn't stay behind in Ur wondering where Abram went.  No......God was with Abram wherever he went.  No one could escape his presence. Jonah knew this.  This is a prophet of God......a guy who has known the God of Israel and spoken on His behalf.......and he's fleeing from the presence of the Lord?

    This didn't make sense to me......but after looking at it deeper......a lot more meaning of just exactly what Jonah did comes to light.  The term "FLEE FROM THE LORD"........the Hebrew literally translates "from before the face of Yahweh".  

    If we look at Jonah's actions from the point of view of the "HONOR AND SHAME" culture that he lived in......it starts to make a little more sense.  In the culture of the time......the highest goal and priority of every single person was to defend the honor of your name........your family.......your kin........your king........your God. To fail in any of these areas was to fail at your most basic human responsibility. To fail to defend the honor of any of these groups was the same as adding to their shame. If you failed to defend your family’s honor.......they would disown you. If you failed to defend your king’s honor.......he would kill you. If you failed to defend the honor of your god......Wow.......who knows what might happen to you? In this light.......what Jonah did was unthinkable.  

    So when Jonah made a decision to go to Tarshish after God had commanded him to stand up for God's name in Nineveh......it makes more sense what Jonah was doing.  He wasn't trying to flee so God couldn't see him anymore.  He was in full rebellion........he was telling God that there wasn't any way he was going to do that.  He was refusing to defend God’s honor.  And that's really a part of this story.......what Jonah did was such an affront to God.......and yet, God extends His grace to this rebellious man.  

    I guess what Jonah did was to basically resign from the ministry. All of a sudden......things were going to get tough and he bags it.   As long as things were going good........Jonah did great. It wasn't too hard to prophesy what everyone wanted to hear......remember in 2 Kings......Jonah's telling the King that his borders are gong to be expanded.  That's pretty "heady" stuff.  But go to the most important city in the heart of your enemy's territory......NO......I don't think so.

    There are a lot more lessons in the book of Jonah than I realized before I started this study.  I thought it was pretty clear-cut before.  Obey God or you could wind up in the belly of a fish!  But it's deeper than that.  

    I mean......look at today......right now the visible church is full of Jonah's.......those who would preach only a positive message of peace and prosperity......those who avoid things like repentance and justice and judgment.  We don't want to talk about the blood and the sacrifice.  We'd rather focus on the fluffy feel-good stuff.  We have lot of preachers and pastors that take the easy road.........catering to the well to do......the affluent of our society.  They avoid people who might not be their color........or the down trodden......the socially discarded.  That's what Jonah wanted to do.  "No Lord......just send me to my people and let me tell them all the good things You're about to do for them.  Don't need the hard stuff......I just wanna do what makes me feel good."  There's a lesson for all of us there.

    But so far.......the biggest revelation that the book of Jonah gives us is this.......God's grace is extended to all nations........even in the Old Testament.  Now, this isn't a brand new concept in Scripture.  The inclusion of the Gentiles in the grace of God is a teaching we see in other places in the Old Testament (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 2:2; Joel 2:28-32) but the book of Jonah really deals only with this topic.........that God's grace is for all.........even the Gentiles. 

    It's interesting to consider that fact that God called Jonah.......I mean......He already had Amos or Hosea out there He could have called.  They were boldly declaring God's warning against Israel.  He could have had them go and they would have done it gladly.  But He chose Jonah........and it's one of the things that moves me to believe the Scriptures as they're written.  If I was going to make up a religion.......and want people to believe it.  I wouldn't include stories like this.  Rebellious prophets.......selfish, whiny babies who refuse to do what God wants them to.......and just complain the whole time they do.  No......I'd just include the good stuff.  But God puts it all out there for us to see.......the good, the bad and the ugly......and He says, "Follow Me."  

    As we get further into this study I think we'll be able to learn some really valuable principles concerning our response and attitude towards doing the work of God. 

JONAH 1:4-17

    We started the book of Jonah the last time I was up here and we got through with something of an introduction to the book.......and the first three verses.  And in that discussion I think there were probably three things that we needed to take with us for an understanding of the rest of the book.  

    The first thing of importance is that the book of Jonah is not an allegory or a parable.......but is an historic account about a real person......the prophet Jonah......and real events that God manipulated through miraculous measures.  This is the God of creation directly intervening in the life of a man in order to bring about God's purposes.  You can only come to one conclusion........God is awesome!

    The second item that we'll need to take with us in this study comes from the culture of the times.......and it's important to interpret the events of the book in light of the time that it took place.  Jonah's actions.......fleeing to Tarshish when God told him to go to Ninevah......was an act of complete rebellion against God.  Remember that Jonah lived in an "HONOR AND SHAME" culture......the highest goal and priority of every single person was to defend the honor of your name........your family.......your kin........your king........your God. To fail in any of these areas was to fail at your most basic human responsibility. To fail to defend the honor of any of these groups was the same as adding to their shame. If you failed to defend your family’s honor.......they would disown you. If you failed to defend your king’s honor.......he would kill you. If you failed to defend the honor of your god......Wow.......who knows what might happen to you? So.....in this light.......what Jonah did was unthinkable.  He was not just disobeying God by his actions.......he was in such complete rebellion that he was refusing to defend God’s honor.  And that's really a part of this story.......what Jonah did was such an affront to God.......and yet, God extends His grace to this rebellious man.  You can only come to one conclusion........God is awesome!

    And the third thing.........and probably the biggest revelation that the book of Jonah gives us is this.......God's grace is extended to all nations........even in the Old Testament.  God did choose a people to be His people.......but He included the Gentiles in His grace that He would bestow upon mankind.  A lot of times we view the Old Testament as strictly God's dealings with the Jews........but the book of Jonah really deals with only ONE topic.........that God's grace is for all.........even the Gentiles.  You can only come to one conclusion........God is awesome!

    @ So when we broke last time.......Jonah boards a ship to Tarshish......in complete rebellion to what God wants him to do........and in case you weren't here last time......this map shows you just how far Jonah was going out of his way to NOT do what God wanted him to.......and that's where we take up our text..... starting in verses 4-9......... 4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

    7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

OK.......and verses 10-17.........10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”

    15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

    17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

    So......here we are......onboard ship with this man who has refused to defend Yahweh’s honor when called upon.........and in fleeing westward to Tarshish has done the opposite of what God called him to do.......inflicting more shame upon God.  Now we find out the cost of Jonah's defiance.  

    Verse 3 starts out "But Jonah......".  God told him to do something......“But Jonah”  did his own thing.  Makes you wonder......if someone was writing about your life......how many times would a paragraph begin....."But Tom......"......"But Steve......" .......But Vaughn......."?   Now God is going to deal with his disobedience.  Jonah took his shot.......now God takes His.  So what does God do?  Well.......I guess what you'd expect God to do......He takes appropriate action.  The text says that the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea.  God is shown here to be in control of the sea and the storm. He's the God of all creation.......and to the reader......it appears that He's out to destroy Jonah for his blatant rebellion and shameful behavior.

    The great wind that was hurled upon the sea did what it was supposed to do.......it caused a great storm. Not a minor storm......but something that was violent......something that was incredibly scary.......something that these seasoned sailors had probably never seen.  Back in these times........storms were seen as one of the primary ways that the gods exacted discipline upon people who sinned.  Superstition back then was that if a person’s sin was so great.......the gods would wait until that person boarded a ship, and then sink the ship in a storm........along with all the other unfortunates who happened to be on board.  It was sorta like an arcade game for the gods!  This isn't particularly how our God disciplines people for sin.......but God is using this belief of the sailors to help them discover Jonah's sin.

    The text tells us that the storm is so great that the sailors become afraid.  Now I'm guessing that these are veteran sailors who had experienced any number of BIG storms in their lives. For them to become afraid in this storm indicates how bad it was.......because this was a GREAT storm........so severe that it causes them to do two things.............First, each man cried unto his god. They were so afraid for their lives that they cried out to their gods for deliverance. This again is a culture that is not monotheistic.......they probably had their own personal gods and then likely paid special attention to the storm god.........Baal Hadad.......and also to the god of the sea and chaos.........Yamm.   I'd have trouble praying to a god named Yamm.....it just wouldn't seem right.

    The second thing these sailors do is they start throwing all of their cargo overboard.......probably a normal thing to do when you're in a bad storm.......you try to make the ship lighter so it doesn't ride so low in the water.  But it would seem that this would be a very last resort measure.  Let's face it.......these guys make this long trip to bring back goods and supplies from this foreign land.......and then you throw it all overboard.......you aren't going to make much money for your trip.  But making no money is better than losing your life........so everything goes into the sea.

    So......in the midst of all of this chaos........the wind, the waves, the groaning boat, the sailors crying out to their gods for deliverance........throwing their cargo overboard........you might wonder just how poor ol' Jonah is faring in this storm. Is he praying? Is he helping hurl cargo into the sea? Is he also fearful for his life?

    No..........Jonah's sound asleep down below deck.  Jonah......the premier prophet of the time isn't praying to God.......isn't helping everyone survive.......he's sound asleep.  How could this happen?  How can a guy sleep through this kind of a storm?  Well......the captain of the ship certainly isn't happy about it.  He's the one who goes and wakes Jonah up and tells him he should at least get to praying.   

    Why and how was Jonah sleeping in such a storm? Some suggest that Jonah was sleeping from exhaustion........some say he had been knocked unconscious by the storm.........or maybe he was in some kind of spiritual trance........or was suffering from severe depression. The text isn't clear as to why Jonah's asleep......but it's pretty obvious he doesn't care about himself or the men he's put in harm's way.  My best guess is that he was really depressed.  He knows that he's offended God.......that he's guilty.......and he doesn't want to do anything about it.  I've certainly known people who've reacted to depression in much the same way.  They don't care what's happening around them......they only want to sleep.  

    So the captain tells Jonah to get his butt up and start praying to his own God and maybe they would be spared.....but the reader of this account knows that Jonah is disobeying God........and that the reason they are all about to die is because of Jonah’s God. Jonah’s God sent the storm........and in this situation, praying to Him probably won't help. 

    So does Jonah pray? It appears he doesn't. Even though the captain woke Jonah up and pled with him to pray........the text says nothing about Jonah crying out to God. Why?  Because Jonah knows what anyone reading this account knows.......God doesn't just want prayer.......God wants obedience........God wants Jonah to go to Nineveh.

    God always lets man have his way to a certain point.  God......in His infinite grace and mercy didn't allow Jonah to remain in his rebellion......He didn't allow him to go his way without dealing with him.  

    And I think that's another big lesson in this little book........God loves His children too much not to discipline them and restore them to fellowship. God’s discipline is an act of His grace.  God never loses sight of those He loves.  He kept His eye on Jonah the whole time.  Throughout my life I've seen that God has two ways of dealing with us.  He blesses our obedience.......and He chastises our rebellion.  Some of us only learn "the hard way".......sorta like Jonah here.  And if that describes us......then God has His own way of getting our attention.  God has a way of allowing storms to come into our lives if we step out of His will for very long.  And this is a thread that goes throughout Scripture.......Old and New Testament alike........God loves us too much not to discipline us and restore us to fellowship. 

    So we get to verse 7.........and the sailors have prayed to their gods and nothing's happened.  They've thrown all their valuable cargo overboard and the storm's getting worse........so the next order of business is to try to figure out whose fault this is......whose bringing this judgment upon them? So they cast lots..........an ancient system of superstition.  Not something we're very familiar with in our culture and time......but was apparently a common practice in the Ancient Near East to help people determine the will of the gods in various situations because we see it done in Joshua.......First Samuel and Proverbs.  We had a friend once that would use something like this in his life when he would come to a problem that he couldn't decide the answer to.  He'd pray......he'd think.......he'd mediate........he'd seek God's will in Scripture.  But when it came to making the decision he was still baffled.  You know what he'd do to decide it?  He'd flip a coin.  Heads he'd do it this way.......tails he'd do it the other way.  Then he'd wrap the coin in a piece of paper that had the decision written on it and he'd put it in his desk drawer.....never to think of it again.  God's way of doing things?  I don't know.......but it worked for him.

    Is it an unbiblical approach to making a decision?  Well......the casting of lots seems to be sanctioned by God sometimes in Scripture and other times it seems that God condemns the practice.   In looking at it.......it appears the only context where God sanctioned the casting of lots was in the pursuit of His will.  The casting of lots isn't a New Testament methodology for determining God’s will.  There's only one situation in the New Testament where people of God used the casting of lots to determine God’s will........anybody remember it?  WHEN MATHIAS WAS CHOSEN TO REPLACE JUDAS.  Scripture really isn't that clear as to whether this was in the will of God......because if you look at it.......God told them to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit..........but it almost appears Peter jumped the gun.  Whose got Acts 1:26........“And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

    OK......and what's the very next verse in Acts?  Chapter 2 verse 1.......THE DAY OF PENTECOST.  Matthias is never again mentioned in the Bible.........but God did raise up the apostle Paul several years later.  Which was God's choice?  Gives you something to think about when it comes to waiting upon the Lord.

    So.....what did they do exactly when they "cast lots"?  The word 'lot' can mean a whole number of things........such as bones, stones, arrows, dice, and little chunks of colored wood.  Some believe that colored stones or some sort of identifiable markers were actually provided by each person........and after praying for direction from the gods.........the pieces were put into a pouch or container and then shaken vigorously up and down until one of them came out. In this way, it was thought that the god pulled out or “lifted up” the lot.  Well......in this case the lot fell upon Jonah. He's singled out as the one responsible for this great storm and all the evil that's come upon them.

    Now that they know this is Jonah's fault......I think it's interesting the questions they ask him.  "“Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”  Again.......looking at the culture of the times......there's a rationale behind what they ask.

    So......what's Jonah going to tell them in answer to the first question?  "On whose account has this calamity struck?"  He knows it's his refusal to defend the honor of the God of creation that's brought about their problems.......so does he defend God's honor now?  

    The next question the sailors ask is "What's your business?"  or "What's your occupation?"  Craftsman and laborers would often join guilds or associations.......and part of the responsibilities of being in a guild was to pay honor to the god of that guild. Also......certain occupations were more honorable than others.  Some jobs.....like making tents or tending sheep........were seen as shameful or lowly positions. The sailors figured that if they could learn Jonah’s occupation it might help explain the reason the storm has come upon them.

    The third question they ask is, “Where do you come from?” As with the other questions.........the sailors are trying to figure out which god Jonah offended. Since most people believed that the gods were connected to a particular location........when the sailors ask Jonah where he comes from.......they're also trying to figure out which deity Jonah had torqued off.

    And the fourth question they ask, “What is your nationality?” This question is closely associated with the final question, “Who are your people?” If the men on the ship can learn where Jonah is from........and who his people are.......then they can know which god those people serve and hopefully figure out which god is angry at Jonah.

    So every question asked is to give them insight into which god Jonah has offended. They believe that if they can learn the identity of this god, then they might better know how to appease this god so that they might live.  So what does Jonah tell them about the God he serves?

    In verse 9 Jonah begins by answering their last question first.......the question about his nationality......his people. “I am a Hebrew,” he answered.  I think it's kind of telling that Jonah answered their last question first because.......his national identity as a Hebrew.......a member of God's chosen people.......seems to be what mattered the most to Jonah.  And it almost seems to be an all-inclusive answer......because he doesn't bother to answer the other questions.......or at least the text doesn't indicate that he does.

    This almost tells us that the sailors knew something about the Hebrews.......or at least something about their God.  Because as Jonah further describes this God, Yahweh, the reaction of the sailors seems to indicate that they had a great deal to fear.  If any of them didn't know anything about Jonah's God.......in one brief sentence Jonah tells them all they need to know.  Not only am I a Hebrew......but I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”  What did he just tell them?  "Make no mistake about it boys......my God rules the heavens......the sea and the earth.......my God trumps your gods."

    I'm not certain that everything Jonah told the sailors is recorded here in Scripture......in fact.....I'm assuming it's not.  But whatever Jonah relayed about his God really got the attention of the sailors.......because they became extremely fearful. And They said to him, “How could you do this?”  They knew he was running away from God.....because this verse says he told them......their question is one of shock.....of horror........“How could you do this? What have you done?  What kind of a moron are you anyway?” 

    So the sailors.......recognizing that Jonah is the problem here......ask him what they should do so that they can survive.  They know that Jonah's the one that God wants to punish so they figure he should have some kind of answers.  And in verse 12 Jonah tells them what to do.......go ahead and "hurl me into the sea."  Do you think there's anything weird about his answer?  

    Since God sent the storm in response to Jonah fleeing east toward Tarshish rather than going west toward Nineveh........doesn't it seem like the simple solution to calming the storm would be for the sailors to turn the boat around and head west. God wants Jonah’s obedience.  Why doesn't he just say......"Turn the boat around boys.......I'm gonna do what God wants me to."?   

    And it's here that I think we get a better look at just how whiney and rebellious and selfish Jonah really was......and if we understand the character of Jonah at this point in time......then we are able to see the extent of God's love and forgiveness and grace.

    I've read a lot of commentaries that at this point want to equate Jonah with Jesus and the sailors are supposed to "lift up" Jonah and cast him into the sea in the same manner that the Son of Man was lifted up on the cross.  And that Jonah is sacrificing himself for the lives of the sailors in the same manner that Jesus sacrificed Himself to save the world.  I personally think that's a bunch of garbage.  Jonah isn't nobly offering himself over to death for the sake of the sailors. Jonah's still trying to escape God’s instructions to go to Nineveh.  I think it would be much more accurate to equate Jonah with a self-absorbed baby than anything connected to being a type of Christ.

    There's two things that stick out here......number one is that Jonah would rather die than do what God has told him to do.  The second thing is that Jonah is so selfish that he's going to make the sailors commit human sacrifice rather than just jumping overboard himself.  He's saying, "You want me off......then throw me off."  If Jonah simply wanted to die........he would have just jumped overboard himself.  

    Self-sacrifice may be somewhat noble.........but human sacrifice......that's sort of a dirty business.  And from the next verse it almost appears that the sailors want nothing to do with it.  They start rowing even harder towards land.  But the situation only gets worse......which leads them to do something that is rather surprising.......they cried out to Yahweh in verse 14.  They bagged praying to Baal Hadad and Yamm.....and went right to the real God.  Certainly makes you think they believed Jonah......at least to some degree.  

    And even though Jonah told them this is what they needed to do......they don't feel right about it.  They know what they are about to do is wrong......but they want to make sure that God does not charge them with innocent blood.  The wording on the translation may seem like they think Jonah is innocent.......but the fact is they know that he's committed the worst of all possible sins.........refusing to defend God’s honor. So......when they ask God to not charge them with innocent blood........the sailors are reminding God that Jonah is not innocent. 

    So the sailors chuck Jonah into the sea after they pray......and what happens?   ".......the sea stopped raging"........just like Jonah said it would. Since that's what happened......you'd have to believe that the sailors knew what Jonah said about his God was true.  In fact verse 16 shows us that they greatly feared God......and started making sacrifices and vows to Him.  Now there's nothing that would indicate that the sailors came to a belief in the one single true God......but I'll bet Yahweh went right to the top of their "Who's Who" in the god-world list.

    Which brings us to the final verse of the chapter........And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah.  It's interesting.......if a dog bites a man........that is not news; but when a man bites a dog.........that has a tendency to make headlines.  Same thing applies here.......when a man catches a fish........that is not news.........but when a fish catches a man........that is news!  Most of us take fish stories with a grain of salt because fishermen tend to exaggerate their exploits.  There's a tendency to discount their stories.  But just remember.......the One who tells this story is God Himself.  That automatically excludes exaggeration.........for God cannot lie. 

    But it is sorta funny to me that in some of the commentaries and teachings that I've heard about Jonah.....there's all kinds of argument about the fish.  In the children's stories the fish is always depicted as a whale.   Some think the fish was a giant shark......because some of them are big enough to swallow a man whole.  Some talk about the biggest fish ever caught being 38 feet long.......18 feet around......and weighed about 26,000 pounds.......plenty big enough to swallow a man.  There have been scientific studies attempting to figure out not only what kind of fish it was......but whether this was even possible.  Seriously?  That's what's bothering you about the story? 

    Does that really matter for the story?  We're talking about God.......He couldn't just make a fish......create one out of nothing.......that could accommodate what He desired?  He could have made one that had three bedrooms and two baths inside if He had wanted to.  

    There's a lot of big time miracles in Scripture.......and you're trying to figure out this one?  The real question I've got......and the text isn't really clear about it......is how do we look at what it is God is doing here?  Is God using the fish to deliver Jonah........or discipline him? Is God preparing Jonah for the next step.......or punishing Jonah for his disobedience?  My best guess is that it's a little bit of both......because that's really how God sometimes works in our situations too.  God's discipline sometimes comes through deliverance.

    And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.  Some say that Jonah died.......and that another great miracle of this story is God bringing him back to life.  But the text doesn't indicate that.  As we'll see next time.......the whole second chapter is Jonah praying to God.  Some of his verbiage seems to indicate that Jonah took those three days and nights as equivalent to going to "sheol" and back.......but the overriding thought here is probably that Jonah was alive the whole time and was able to do a great deal of thinking and meditating on what he was really all about.  In the midst of being there.......it's not like he was thinking......."Oh yah......now the fish spits me out and I go to Ninevah."  He pretty much thought things were over.  He doesn't have a clue that he's going to survive his ordeal.......and it's probably his uncertainty about his future that helps explain some of what he prays to God in chapter 2.......which we'll get to the next time around.

ANY QUESTIONS?????

CHAPTER 2

Jonah 2:1-10

    The last time we were in the book of Jonah.......we left him in the belly of a great fish that God had prepared for him.......which is where we'll find him when we start chapter 2 this morning.  But first......in order to understand this book there are a few key elements that need to be remembered......and we'll probably review them every time we visit this book simply because without understanding them we don't come anywhere close to an understanding of why this book is even included in the Bible.

    The first thing of importance is that the book of Jonah is not an allegory or a parable.......but is an historic account about a real person......the prophet Jonah......and real events that God manipulated through miraculous measures.  This is the God of creation directly intervening in the life of a man in order to bring about God's purposes.  

    The second item that we'll need to take with us in this study comes from the culture of the times.......and it's important to interpret the events of the book in light of the time that it took place.  Jonah's actions.......fleeing to Tarshish when God told him to go to Ninevah......was an act of complete rebellion against God.  Remember that Jonah lived in an "HONOR AND SHAME" culture......the highest goal and priority of every single person was to defend the honor of your name........your family.......your kin........your king........your God. To fail in any of these areas was to fail at your most basic human responsibility. To fail to defend the honor of any of these groups was the same as adding to their shame. If you failed to defend your family’s honor.......they would disown you. If you failed to defend your king’s honor.......he would kill you. If you failed to defend the honor of your god......Wow.......who knows what might happen to you? So.....in this light.......what Jonah did was unthinkable.  He was not just disobeying God by his actions.......he was in such complete rebellion that he was refusing to defend God’s honor.  And that's really a part of this story.......what Jonah did was such an affront to God.......and yet, God extends His grace to this rebellious man.  

    And the third thing.........and probably the biggest revelation that the book of Jonah gives us is this.......God's grace is extended to all nations........even in the Old Testament.  God did choose a people to be His people.......but He included the Gentiles in His grace that He would bestow upon mankind.  A lot of times we view the Old Testament as strictly God's dealings with the Jews........but the book of Jonah really deals with only ONE topic.........that God's grace is for all.........even the Gentiles.  We mistakenly think that Jonah is the main character in this story.......he isn't......God is.  This is a story about God.....about God's mercy and grace and His dealings with mankind.

    The last time we looked at it we also saw that everything that Jonah did was about him.  Jonah is a self-centered......self-seeking......self-interested prophet who turns out to be a big baby in the manner that he deals with life.  I'd always thought before......before I really took a good hard look at it......that the book of Jonah was a story about a prophet who didn't want to do what God wanted him to and then God intervenes and Jonah changes his mind and everybody lives happily ever after.  It's not.  Jonah did something much more than "not want to do what God wanted".........and his responses......his reactions......were always about him.

    So.......we find Jonah......in the belly of a great fish as we begin to look at chapter two......and except for verses 1 and 10.....the entire chapter is Jonah's prayer to God.  Go ahead and read chapter 2...........Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me.  I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.  3 “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me.  All Your breakers and billows passed over me.  4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.  Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death.  The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head.  6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains.  The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.  7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.  8 “Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving.  That which I have vowed I will pay.  Salvation is from the Lord.”  10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

    So we find Jonah marinating in the stomach acid of a great fish.......and from his perspective......he doesn't know the end of the story.  He doesn't know at this time that God has granted him deliverance.......he's just sittin' there in a fish.  

    And how does the chapter start out?  "Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,.....".  If you look at chapter one.....how do the pagans react when things go badly?  They CRIED OUT to their gods.  The ship's captain wants Jonah to CALL OUT to his God.  What does Jonah do?  He doesn't CRY OUT.......he PRAYS to his God.  Jonah's had a personal relationship with God for a long time......he knows God......he knows that God knows him.......and this one word gives some indication of a softening.......a recognition.  Jonah doesn't CRY OUT in distress........he prays as he's accustom to doing.......and I may be just making stuff up here.....but it's interesting that Jonah prays to ".....the Lord HIS God.....".  The possessive pronoun there, HIS, seemed to stand out......it's Jonah's God......the God that he didn't want to share with the pagans.....and I don't think I'm reading anything in here that isn't intended as we'll see very shortly.  Jonah's selfishness hasn't gone away at this point.......it's still all about him.

    OK......we need to understand that Jonah isn't keeping a running account of his prayer while he's in the fish.  Obviously Jonah records this prayer after the fact.....he isn't writing it down while he's floating in stomach acid......but the prayer is very consistent with the format, style and even duplication of several of the Psalms that he would have been familiar with.......so he prayed, "...... and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me.  I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice."  

    Let's compare the manner that Jonah starts his prayer to two of the Psalms that are almost identical to what Jonah says.......@  Jonah 2:2........“I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me.  

    Psalms 118:5.......... From my distress I called upon the Lord;  The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.

    Psalms 120:1........In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me.

    Jonah restructures the psalms and puts himself up front......it's pretty much all about him.  Couple that with the fact that in the eight verses that comprise his prayer in this chapter......if you count the number of first person pronouns......I, ME, MY, MINE........there's 24 time in 8 verses that he uses them......it does seem that Jonah hasn't lost his self-centeredness.  Verses 2, 4, 6, 7,& 9 all start out with the great "I".

    When I looked at this prayer.......I tried to compare it to our prayers today.  How do our prayers stack up against this one?  What does God hear when we talk to Him?  Is it all about US when we pray?

    Another thing that struck me that may have a more contemporary impact on us today......Jonah says that he cried out of his distress......or by reason of his affliction......as some translations put it.  And I think that sometimes......when things are really good in our lives......we have a tendency to ignore God......put Him on the back burner.  But give us some affliction.......some distress and there we are crying out to God.  Maybe that's why some affliction comes into our lives.  Maybe God wants to hear from us.....and apparently, that's the only way He does!  I don't know.......something to think about.

    He goes on in verse 2 to say......"I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice."    It is here that many commentators separate paths when it comes to the book of Jonah.  "Clearly Jonah was dead.......he cried from the depth of Hell!".....some of them say.  "'Sheol' means a lot of different things.......he wasn't saying he was dead......but almost dead."  Those are pretty varied opinions.

    And we've talked before about the contradictions that we have in our interpretation of Scripture.  And I think we all understand that when we disagree with some interpretation of Scripture it's no reflection on the Bible.........the problem is not with the Bible........but with man's ability to understand what he's reading. So what is the best rendition here?  

    There are two views as to whether Jonah was alive or dead during the three days and nights he was in the great fish. Some hold the view that Jonah died and was raised on the third day by God. Others contend he remained alive.......protected from death. The question that we have is not whether God could have done either thing.......but what did God actually do?

    If you read what Charles Ryrie has to say......well, he maintains that Jonah remained alive.  He says that "sheol" refers to the place of the dead........but that in this case the expressions means......`from death's door', and does not necessarily indicate that Jonah actually died." 

    The Bible Knowledge Commentary holds that the verse translates......"out of the depths of the grave".......and concludes that the phrase means Jonah was not expressing the fact of his death, but of his being "gripped in the fear of death". 

    J. Vernon McGee holds the view that Jonah actually died while in the belly of the great fish. The Hebrew word "sheol" is translated "hell" by the translators of the KJV Bible.  McGee says........"Sheol is sometimes translated in scripture by the word "grave" and in other places as "the unseen world", meaning where the dead go. This word any way you look at it has to do with death. It is a word that always goes to the cemetery, and you cannot take it anywhere else."  I think he's rather adamant about his view!

    My understanding would be that Jonah remained alive......he's praying here from the belly of the fish......he's recalling what has happened to him.......and the big thing for me is that he's crying out to the Lord and the Lord hears him.  It's pretty easy to think of the belly of this great fish as a grave.......or hell.......let's face it......it was a prison for Jonah.  But my understanding of hell is that it is a place where all the petitions......all the crying out in the world is not going to carry any hope of being heard by God.  That's not the case here.  Jonah cried out and God answered his petitions.  In this case......the "sheol"......the hell......the grave that he was in......it was not of the next life......it was of this world........and it was the belly of a fish.  

    In verse 3 Jonah ascribes what has happened to him as being from God when he says.......“For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me.  All Your breakers and billows passed over me.

    Jonah knows that this is of God.......that it is the result of his own sin......and again he uses his knowledge of the Psalms to basically pray them back to the Lord.  Psalm 42:7 sounds very similar to what Jonah says here........."All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me."  

    Jonah knows the Scriptures.......He's a prophet of the Most High God.......and yet look at where his life has fallen to.  When I started thinking about it I really was brought to a place of  unrest.......a place that didn't feel very good.  Here's a man who was given prophecies to speak to kings.......a man who knew God.......and yet look at him now.

    None of us can be too complacent about our relationship with the Lord.  Not one of us is immune from falling........nobody can claim that their superior knowledge of Scripture......they're incredible prayer life or their busy-ness with church programs is going to keep them from stumbling.   Jonah obviously knew Scripture.......he quotes it time after time in the belly of a fish.  And yet he was self-centered and rebellious to the point of God's chastening.  

    It made me think of the countless times during marriage counseling sessions that we'd tell folks to turn to a particular passage of Scripture that dealt very pointedly to their problem and they'd very proudly quote the verse before they even opened their Bible.  Their lives don't reflect their knowledge.  Jonah knew God's Word.......the people in marriage counseling know God's Word.......but there seems to be a disconnect in putting it into action.......in living it out.  Jim's message last week addressed this very thing when he talked about the guy who was very anti-Christian.  He said the first thing he'd say to a person when he found out he was a Christian.....he'd say, "Then be one!"  That same message is here in the book of Jonah.  He knew Scripture........he failed to live it out.

    Verse 4 goes on.........“So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.  Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’  In contrast to the last verse...... at least verse 4 is not total despair.......it has a little bit of hope in it.  I was curious about what Jonah thought happened to him.  Did God DO this to him?  Did Jonah do it to himself?  So I looked up the various translations of this verse........ @

‘I have been expelled from Your sight. (NASB)

‘I have been banished from your sight; (NIV)

'I am cast out of thy sight;'  (KJV)

‘I am driven away from your sight; (ESV)

    So what happened to Jonah?  Did God do it.......did Jonah do it?  What drove him from God?  The same thing that casts us away.......expels us......drives us away.......SIN.  Sin has put Jonah in the position he's in.  God didn't move......Jonah did.  Sin is a horrible thing.......it separates us from God......and Jonah felt the full impact of that separation.  When I was studying for this teaching......I asked Tish where it is in Scripture that it says that God cannot look upon sin?  I use Tish as my concordance because it's a lot easier than looking things up.  Her answer was the same as mine......"It says it lots of places.......but I can't think of one now." 

    And after looking at it for a while......Goggled it......looked it up in several concordances and topical indexes......the most popular answer for God not being able to look upon sin is Jesus hanging on the cross.  When our Lord says, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  The commentators take a relatively equal assessment of this statement to mean that God could not look upon Jesus after He had taken on the sins of the world.  Really?  I just can't imagine that God's plan for man's redemption included God not looking upon Jesus.......his only Son.  God hates sin......and Jesus took it all upon Himself......past, present and future......that's a lot of sin.  Sin separated Jesus from God.......but God never separated Himself from His Son.

    I look at the Book of Job......and Satan himself came into the presence of the Lord.  The absolute embodiment of sin and rebellion.  It doesn't say that God had His back to Satan.  

    What about the Prodigal Son of Luke chapter 15?  The son's sin and greed and evil living separated him from his father.  The father never rejected him......never gave up.  In fact Scripture says that he was waiting.....looking for him......ran to meet him.     Scripture is quite plain about what sin does to our relationship with God.  Look at Isaiah 59:1-2.......Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save;  Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.  2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

    Sin separated Jonah just as sin separates us from God........so it appears that Jonah is coming around......knowing it was he himself that drove the wedge between him and God.

    Verse 5 tells us.......“Water encompassed me to the point of death.  The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head."  Jonah seems pretty cognizant of what's going on around him......he knows he's in trouble.......he knows that death is right around the corner.  

    Again it seems that Jonah is falling back on his knowledge of the Psalms with the verbiage that he uses here......it's almost like he's personalizing the Psalms.......

Psalm 18:4, "The cords of death encompassed ME."

    Psalm 69:1, "Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life.."

    Verse 6 sorta goes back to what we were talking about in verse 2......was he alive or dead......and I think we adequately covered that.  Jonah is chronicling his stay at "Motel Fish"........ “I descended to the roots of the mountains.  The earth with its bars wasaround me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.  

    The earth with its bars was around me forever.......he was in prison......there was nothing he could do......without God he would have died.  He's been brought back from the brink of death.  Again......he's taking from the Psalms......but this time it's a Psalm of David.  Psalm 30:3........O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;  You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.  This single verse seems adequate proof that Jonah didn't die.  David didn't die and God brought him back to life.......he was in great despair and near death......just as Jonah.

    Now Jonah certainly didn't seem to want to pray much back in chapter one......but it's amazing what a few trials will do to a person.....in fact......he admits it in verse seven.........and actually......verses 7 and 8 are tied so closely that we'll look at them both............“While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.  8 “Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness,........"  When did he remember his God?  When did he decide to pray?  WHEN HIS LIFE WAS FAINTING AWAY!  A lot of times it's trials that make us aware of the fact that we need God.......we need to acknowledge Him.....we need to commune with Him.  We were created "for His glory".......and if we aren't doing what we're supposed to we shouldn't be surprised that things are going badly.  

    And the end of verse 7 tells us that God heard Jonah's prayers......the prayers made it to God.  What Jonah doesn't yet understand......and I'm not sure he ever does.....is that this whole story isn't about Jonah........it's about God......so of course He heard Jonah's prayers......He's right there with him.

    And then in verse 8......I almost sense that Jonah is trying to put some distance......some contrast between himself and those pagans......those Ninehvites......those that he refused to speak to in the first place.  He's just mentioned the Lord in His holy temple.......as opposed to those cruddy people who worship vain idols......you remember them Lord......don't you?

    But I'm not like them Lord......remember me.......remember, I'm one of the good guys.  Jonah is definitely trying to make a distinction between himself and those other people......the ones who aren't God's chosen people.  

    And then Jonah ends his prayer in an interesting way.......here's what he says.......9 But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving.  That which I have vowed I will pay.  Salvation is from the Lord.”  Does anything strike you as odd about this?  It certainly appears at this point that Jonah knows that he's going to be freed from his gastric prison, doesn't it?  He's talking about future sacrifices.......about future vows that he's going to pay to the Lord.  He certainly isn't going to be able to do it from the belly of a fish.  He's thankful......he's confident that God is going to deliver him from his current lot in life.

    Why it is that Jonah shows this confidence in the Lord's mercy isn't shown to us in the text.  But it makes me think that God had a very special relationship with this man.  Jonah was dishonorable in his role as a prophet.......he was rebellious......he was disobedient.......everything a prophet shouldn't be.......and yet God is merciful and allows his prophet the peace that comes from knowing God is in charge......knowing that God is forgiving. 

    Another interesting thing about this verse is Jonah's immediate reaction......which would lead you to believe that the entire culture of the times responded this way.....whether you were a pagan or one of God's chosen people.  Remember just a few verses back.......how did the sailors respond when God calmed the great storm?  Go ahead and read Jonah 1:16.......Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.  What does Jonah do?  Promises to make sacrifices and keep his vows.  In both cases.....the sailors and Jonah......we're kept in the dark as to what the vows were......but with God's power being so fully on display......I would think that both parties probably kept their vows.

    Now......as a reader of this story for the first time.......I'm not going to get all excited and walk away at this point and think Jonah is a changed man......that he's different and totally sold out to the Lord.  What he's shown of his character thus far would not indicate that he's all of a sudden everything God wants him to be.  But there is certainly some indication that Jonah has had a change of heart.......and it appears by the next verse that he's going to get the opportunity to show us.

    Verse 10 says.......Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.  So......God shows His power......His authority over all of His creation by commanding the fish to expel Jonah onto the dry land.  Now at this point I'm sure that Tish expects me to insert some lame joke about projectile vomiting......but I'm not going to.  

    We aren't told where the fish placed Jonah......but my guess is that it was probably somewhere near Joppa..... where this whole thing started......so that Jonah wouldn't have any lame excuses for not doing what God had commanded him.

    So.....that's it.....that's Jonah chapter 2.......what did we learn?  That God is in command.......that God's will is not going to be thwarted........that you can go easy or you can go hard......that sin separates us from God........that God is merciful......and that without Him we are hopelessly lost.

    Next time we'll discuss what Jonah does with his new-found freedom.

Jonah Chapter 3

    Alright.......we've assigned the verses.......let's go ahead and read chapter 3 and see where it takes us...........

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. 9 Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

    Here we are into our 4th journey in the book of Jonah......and when we left God's prophet he had just been "vomited" out of the great fish onto dry land.  He was vomited.......that's not a pretty picture.......a prophet of God being vomited........but that is exactly what happened.......and the very next verse says, "Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,......".

    From that first word.......I don't believe we can come to the conclusion that the word of the Lord came at that exact moment.........some versions say, "Then the word of the Lord came to him......".  Some say, "And the word of the Lord came to him.......".  The only thing we can rightfully deduce from the text is that the Lord spoke to Jonah after he was out of the fish's belly.  But I can't help but think it was right away simply because that would seem an awfully opportune moment to tell Jonah what to do.  He's laying there on the shore.......dripping in seaweed and gastric juices.......and the Lord says, "What do ya think Jonah?  Ya think you wanna go to Nineveh this time?  I've got nothing but time........we can keep playing this game a long time."

    So the word of the Lord came to Jonah and that word was....... “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.”  A little bit different than the first go around in verse 1:2.....because this time the Lord doesn't give Jonah a reason for his going to Nineveh.......because he already knew.  He told him back in chapter 1.

    But before we get into what the message was that God was going to give Jonah to proclaim.......let's take a look at this idea of "great city".  What made Nineveh a great city?  Well.......if you look at what the commentaries say.......a lot of them say that it was great because it was so large.  In fact.......here's what one commentator said about it.  "Nineveh is described as a "great" city. It is estimated to have been sixty miles in diameter. It was large enough that it took Jonah three days to journey through it."  A different commentator says this, "What he meant by the statement, "a three days' walk," is this: when someone arrived at the city, it would take them three days to briskly walk from one side of the place to the other.  Nineveh was, just as this verse says, "an exceedingly great city" for the time."    

    The standard thought on the idea of "a day's walk" is that a person averages about 20 miles a day walking.  That makes Nineveh a city about 60 miles in diameter.  So......actually........it would make Nineveh an exceedingly great city for OUR time!  To give you a perspective.......it's 54 miles from Albuquerque to Santa Fe........so Nineveh would be that distance.......plus 6 miles.......from one end to the other.  

    With those pieces of information as your reference.......without a doubt, Nineveh was a really big city!  But is that accurate information?  When I was talking to Tish about these commentators.......her reply was along the lines of, "What difference does it make?"  How important is it that we know this information?  I think the only value of knowing how big Nineveh might have been is in maintaining the integrity of Scripture.  When a non-believer hears these kind of explanations.......does it cause them to dismiss the Bible as an historically inaccurate piece of literature......therefore.......you can't trust anything it says?   Because, needless to say, archaeology doesn't find any city that that comes close to being that size.

    So.....what exactly is the text saying?  Well......it makes sense to me that if we had to go back to the cultural times to fully understand how bad Jonah's sin against God was.......you know.......the "honor and shame culture" that we've talked about from the beginning.  Then why wouldn't we do the same thing regarding elements of the scriptural text that don't appear to make sense?

    So let me give you the best that I can come up with.......that is absolutely logical......and is supported by the rest of Scripture.   Let's look at the Hebrew word used here for "journey".........mahalak. It's used only four times in the OT.......twice here in Jonah 3......once in Nehemiah.......and once in Ezekiel.  That information in itself should give us a clue that we need to look deeper at the word.......because just about everyone in the Old Testament went on journeys.......and they're recorded for us in Scripture.  Abraham, Lot, Uriah, Solomon, Jacob, Joseph.......the list goes on and on......but this isn't the word that was used for their journeys.......because the journey spoken of here in Jonah is much different than just walking around.

    MA-HAL-AK has a much deeper meaning when looked at culturally.......because it relates to the ancient practice of hospitality......and the protocols associated with making a visit to a city........especially a diplomatic center like Nineveh.......and remember that Jonah was a prophet.......an emissary of God's........His diplomat to Nineveh.

    The picture of Jonah showing up in Nineveh and just preaching isn't a realistic one when looked at through the lens of the cultural times.  Verse 3:6 tells us that Jonah's message reached the ears of the king of Nineveh.  It's not like Jonah just walked into the throne room.  What actually happened is hinted at when we read that Jonah "began to go through the city one day's walk" and then began preaching. 

    Jonah didn't spend that first day just walking into Nineveh trying to get to the center..........he spent that day on his mahalak.........which, according to one Old Testament scholar, "........comprises a structured diplomatic mission in accordance with the rules and customs of ancient oriental hospitality." 

    In other words.......day one wasn't spent preaching.......it was for being received as an emissary.........and as was customary, presenting gifts to the folks in charge. A mahalakisn't just a walk in the park.........it's a political and diplomatic itinerary. 

    The city of Nineveh was a "great city"........but the word "great" here wasn't exclusively used in reference to size........but also in the sense of might, nobility, or pride.........which would have required a formal itinerary of three days.........a day to arrive and make introductions.........a day to do the business, in this case preaching.........and a day to bid farewells and be on one's way.........in accordance with ancient oriental rules of hospitality. 

    Abraham Rihbany......an American theologian and cultural historian.......notes how extensive these farewells can be........as the host and guest play a sort of game to see who can out-do the other with kind words and eloquence.   The host would beg the guest to stay for just one more meal.......emphasizing the dangers of the trip.......while the guest would say something like......."I who have been so immersed in the sea of your hospitality beg you to permit me to depart."  And this can go on for an extended period.......even days.......as we see an example of this in Judges 19.  We won't bother to look at it.....but nearly the entire chapter is exactly this type of setting.  

    So......with the cultural setting in mind it certainly makes sense that Nineveh was not a city that was 60 miles in diameter......which would take three days to walk across.  It was instead a great city that took 3 days to visit in the manner that Jonah was sent to do.  

    So.......how big was Nineveh?  @Well.......as close as I can come.....with quite a bit of research and my limited math skills.......Nineveh was a walled city of about 1,800 acres or 2.8 square miles..........Which would be from the Lota Burger to George Sichler's house on 314 on the west boundary......and from the Lota Burger to just past Enterprise Car Rental on Main St. for the south boundary........an area that big as a square piece of land.

    @And just as a reminder that Nineveh was a real city in a real country......let me just show you again where it was........the city of Mosul......about 220 miles north of Baghdad is where the ruins of the ancient city are located.......and the archeological excavations give credence to the walled city being approximately 1,800 acres in size.

    So......Jonah preached the message that God had given him......“Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  That's a fairly simple message.......and yet.....with all its simplicity.......they believed him!  And though I'm pretty certain this is not the main message of the Book of Jonah.......there's another lesson here for us today.  We don't have to get complicated with the Gospel message.  It's simple.  Our presentation of it can be simple.  We don't need to use words like "propitiation"......"sanctification".......or any of the other complicated concepts that may have a tendency to muddle the basic facts of who Jesus Christ is and what He's done. "Unless you come to Me as a child.......".  That's a pretty clear indication that our message to others should be simple........as it was here with Jonah.  

    But I think we need to be realistic regarding what exactly Jonah said to the people of Nineveh.  Did he only say those 8 words?  Probably not......and I think we can easily draw this conclusion by looking at their reaction.  They repented.  There's nothing in those 8 words that would give the people of Nineveh the idea that there was hope to avoid this destruction.......nothing in those 8 words that would tell them they were sinners and God wasn't pleased.  Nothing in those 8 words that would even identify Jonah as a prophet of God who really needed to be listened to.

    I realize we don't always have to be "realistic" in interpreting God's Word.  In this case could God have instilled in the hearts of all of the people of this land that they were sinners.......that they needed to repent........to turn from their evil and maybe God would spare them?  Certainly He could have.  Those could have been the only 8 words that Jonah used the entire time he was in Nineveh.......and I wouldn't have any problem with it.  God is a God of miracles and that could have been exactly how He did it.  

    But I would probably lean towards believing the Jonah did introduce himself as an emissary of the one, true God.  Through oral traditions the Assyrians probably would have knowledge that the God of Israel had displayed Himself mightily in the past.  The Assyrians had plenty of gods.......and they certainly didn't believe in the God of Israel prior to Jonah's appearance.  But Jonah pointing out that they were sinners.......they were evil and had done evil deeds and needed to turn from those ways was probably a part of his whole message to them.  If his only message were punishment......calamity....... destruction........they would never have gotten the concept of repentance or forgiveness.  They would not have been moved to call out to God.  Jonah had to have shown them the reality of God's justice.......God's absolute power and God's reality.  He might have even thrown in a "fish story" as part of his documentation of who this mighty God was.

    Let's face it........in verse 8 where the king says, ".......let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands."......the king has knowledge that their wicked ways and their violence is the cause of God's anger toward them.  Logic would lean toward that being part of Jonah's message.

    I think another thing that we just need to take notice of is that verses 5 & 6 are not necessarily a sequence of events.  I don't think we can assume that the king heard Jonah's message after the fact.  Verse 5 tells us that the message was heard "from the greatest to the least of them".  The king would have been the greatest........so he heard about Jonah's message in verse 5.  Verse 6 merely clarifies what the king did in response to hearing the words of Jonah in verse 5.

    We've said all along in this study that the book of Jonah is not about Jonah.......it's about God.......and God has shown us miracle after miracle thus far in this narrative.  But I'm not sure any of the miracles done so far is equal in scope to the miracle we see in these verses.  NINEVEH REPENTED!  History tells us that Nineveh was an evil and violent city.  They were incredibly harsh in the manner that they dealt with people.  Their history shows that they were one of the most violent people of the time when it came to warring with others.......and on the battlefield they were ruthless.  But here we see that they took stock of how evil they were and repented.

    Try to put that in some perspective of today's times......bring this message up to 2013 in America.  And Jim's message from last week was brought to mind........so I inserted this illustration in here as a result of his preaching regarding abortion.  The whole abortion debate has been made into a political and legal argument......when in fact......it is a moral issue of our society.  Murder is against God's will.......and yet......50 million babies in the United States have met that fate.

    Imagine tomorrow........someone comes to the United States.......has audience with the President and tells him that God's not pleased with America because of this issue with abortion.  And the President hears this call to repent of this evil and all of the people...... along with the President turn from this evil.  The people running the clinics......the doctors......Planned Parenthood.......all of them turn from their wicked ways and never do it again!  Can you imagine that happening?  Neither can I.  But that's the kind of miracle that Nineveh's repentance was.  

    And the king puts out a declaration that the entire population is to fast......both food and drink......they're to put on sackcloth including all of their animals.....which had to have been an incredible job to accomplish.........and they're to repent from their evil and violence.......and they did.  The king makes it pretty clear to the people that if they do these things then God may relent.......He may give them another chance.  

    So......why would he do it?  Why would the king issue such a decree?  Well.....humanly speaking it's pretty unlikely that he would.  But I think sometimes in our attempts to understand how events came to be we forget something.......God's in charge.  Who's got Proverbs 21:1.......The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.

    Something that gives this account historical credibility is the fact that the Fast of Nineveh is a ritual that is still held today.  It's a three day fast commemorating the repentance of the Ninevites.  The fast is observed for three days starting on the Monday three weeks before Ash Wednesday.......and it's strictly observed by the Syrian, Coptic and Armenian Churches. 

    Which brings us to verse 10.....When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

    I couldn't help but sit for a long time and wonder why God did any of this.  Why did God send Jonah?  Why did Nineveh repent?  Why did God change His mind?  Why did Tim Tebow get cut?  And I think we can be assured that all of this was done for us to get some insight into who God is.......His character.......His love.  And we can't discount that most of it was done as lessons.  

    Israel was in rebellion to God at this period.  The kingdom was divided......Israel was worshipping other gods.  And yet they thought.......as the chosen people of God.....they had eternal life as a birth right. I think God was showing them something.......He was going to save the most wicked nation on the face of the earth....... Israel's arch enemy. Israel........in their own self righteousness.......rejected God's righteousness.......and God showed them that He could go to the Gentiles and save them just as easily.

    So......was their repentance real?  Well.......I don't think you can fool God.  Of course it was real.  God SAW their deeds.......SAW that they turned from their wicked ways!  How?  Because God saw their hearts.  They truly repented at the preaching of Jonah.......and they showed God their changed hearts.  True repentance has a life changing effect on a person.  To repent means to turn from sin........to stop doing it.   Repentance is an action.

            Feeling sorrow is not repentance. We've all seen it before.  A person gets caught doing something wrong.......they may be very emotional......embarrassed........sorry.  They even seek sympathy to avoid the consequences of their actions.  But is God fooled?  Did we trick Him?  

    That's not where the Ninevites were.  They were truly repentant for sin and God forgave them and saved them from destruction.  How do we know?  Who's got Matthew 12:41....... "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."   Jesus uses the repentance of Nineveh to condemn the people of His generation for failing to understand who was in their midst.  

            Jesus came to Israel and presented Himself as their Messiah. His message was one of salvation. He also warned them of the end result of their rejection. They had the Son of God preaching to them and were rejecting the message when the Ninevites had responded to Jonah's preaching and repented. He seems to be saying their judgment would be greater and the Ninevites would be called to testify against them. 

            I think we can also glean something else from this passage.  The intent of God's judgment of sin is not just to punish us because He's mad.  What it shows us is His incredible compassion.......and the reason He judges sin is to bring men to salvation......not destruction.

    So.......one other thing probably needs addressed here.......and it's another criticism that "the learned" have with Jonah......and with Scripture in general.  Jonah's proclamation was, "Forty days and you guys are history."  And then God didn't destroy them.  Does this make Jonah out to be a false prophet?  Does it make God out to be a liar?  I think two things come into play here.......First......and foremost......God acted in total consistency with His Word.  Who's got Jeremiah 18:7-10........7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.

    Jonah’s preaching was like all warnings of judgment........it was an invitation to repent and avert the promised judgment. Remember that we weren't told the sum total of Jonah’s preaching.  And secondly..........God did judge Nineveh.....nearly a hundred and fifty years later the city was destroyed.  The whole thing's recorded in the book of Nahum.  They repented......but it didn't last forever.  The next generations didn't follow the lead of the generation that Jonah preached to.  It's not hard to understand.  How many decent folks do you know who's own children aren't following the Lord in the manner that their parents did?  

    So.......another chapter of Jonah filled with lessons.  On its face it seems like just another Bible story.  But there's a lot more to it as we've seen.  Next time we'll finish the book going through chapter 4......but for now we should all be thankful at just how merciful the God of Creation is to us all.  

Jonah Chapter 4

OK.......here we are at the end of the Book of Jonah.......a short book that has taken us 5 Sundays to get through.  And I have to admit that I was fairly surprised at just how much this little book contained.  It has shown us a lot more than the historical account that I honestly thought it was before studying it.  

I can almost see the book of Jonah being done on Broadway as a drama. Usually a drama has several acts to it that fill in one detail after another......building to a conclusion that the audience anticipates.....with a twist or turn at the end that makes everything turn out fine and everybody lives happily ever after.  

But this play about Jonah seems to be an exception. Instead of everything coming together in Jonah’s life......you know.......he makes his way back to his homeland......a conquering hero......a huge sense of accomplishment and being used mightily by God.......instead......things seem to come unraveled.......undone.......not tidy and neat and a feel good sense at the end.  In fact......the account ends very abruptly without telling us how Jonah responded to God’s discipline in his life. And I think that the abrupt ending is intentional. Maybe the story is only completed if we put ourselves in Jonah's place and see how we would respond to God's correction of us.......maybe that's how the story ends for each one of us.  

We've learned a considerable amount regarding God's character......His compassion........long suffering.......endless love and the fact that He is the one true God of not only His people.......but the entire world.  We've learned that His plans cannot be thwarted........what He wants done will be accomplished.

I think it's interesting that here we have a prophet who receives a call from God to do something.........and he runs away.  God finds him........like he was really lost........and has him cast into the sea.  Jonah gets rescued by a great fish and he spends three days and three nights in its belly and is spewed out onto dry land.  God says, "You wanna try this again?"........and Jonah does exactly as God requested him to do the first time. And low-and-behold........the most wicked city imaginable experiences a revival of incredible proportion.........just exactly what every preacher longs to see happen.......and Jonah's mad about it!!!

So......let's see where things end up for our Pouting Prophet........go ahead and read verses 1-5.........But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.” 4 The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”

5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.     And verses 6 thru 11..............6 So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

One thing we've seen throughout this book regarding Jonah's personality......he's a really self-centered guy.......and that hasn't gotten any better.  Just look at verses 2 and 3.  In those two verses he uses the first person......or first person possessive 8 different times........two verses filled with "I", "me", "my", "mine".  It's still all about him.  You'd think after what he's been through.......how powerfully God has dealt with him......that he'd be on board with God's program by now.  He'd be merciful and kind and compassionate.......and all of the things God wants all of us to be.  But he's not.  Wow...... he's kinda like........us!  But the fact is that Jonah hasn't really changed much at all......and you'd think God would be tiring of it.....but God's grace still abounds.  

So as we finish this book up.....let's begin with application......because throughout the entire story of God dealing with Jonah we've seen him rebel and reject and moan and cry......as he's doing here at the end.  Just what is this guy's problem?  I think it's the same problem a lot of people face when it comes to their daily lives.  You see......Jonah had plenty of THEOLOGY.  Let's face it......the guy's a prophet.....probably went to "prophet school".......but his theology never penetrated his heart.  It never changed who he was at his core.

Jonah sees that the Ninevites have repented and he's angry verse one tells us.  Who's he mad at?  Himself?  The Ninevites?  No.....he's mad at God......and he tells Him why in the following verses.  "Didn't I tell You this was going to happen?  That's why I was headed to Tarshish.......to protect You.......but You wouldn't listen.....and now look what's happened!"

In his prayer Jonah shows a real knowledge of God.......You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.  This isn't lightweight theology.......Jonah has a knowledge of God brought about by reading......sitting under others......meditation.......revelation from God Himself........pretty much the same way we get our knowledge of God.

And I think this is another one of those hidden lessons of this book......because all of us can fall into the same trap.  Any one of us can have all the knowledge of God that there is to obtain......but if that knowledge only fills our brain without capturing our hearts then the best we're going to have is a depleted and deficient spiritual life.  And I do believe that's what we're seeing here with the prophet Jonah.

Jonah knew God.......his theology was pretty accurate......he just didn't let it change his actions.  The second thing we see in his prayer here is that he has an arrogant, "I told You so" attitude when he addresses God.  "I told You but You just wouldn't listen to me."  Jonah's trying to justify his previous act of rebellion by claiming that he was only thinking of God's reputation here.  

Jonah thought that for this wicked, pagan people called the Ninevites to repent........it would tarnish God's glory. So in defending his actions he tries to pass himself off as the protector of God! One commentary I read put it this way.......“This was substantially Jonah’s sin;--the sin of pretending to be more careful of God’s glory, and more qualified to advance it, than God himself”.   Jonah intentionally lowered his view of God’s sovereignty in order to accommodate his own prejudices.

I wonder how often we do this sort of thing.  Do we ever think, "If God's going to get the job done right then He needs to consult my plans......He needs to stay on schedule." It reminds me of Job......remember God had to take him out to the woodshed a bit for this same type of thought.  In fact He spends nearly four chapters of asking Job where he was when God created everything.  Go ahead and read Job 40:6-8....... 6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, 7 “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me.  8 “Will you really annul My judgment?  Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?

It is exactly what Jonah was doing here.  In anger he's lashing out at God because God didn't do things the way Jonah wanted them done.  His complaint against God shows that his theology.......the things he knows about God........never penetrated his heart.  Jonah made some faulty conclusions even though he had a fairly good theological understanding of the Lord.  He was wrong to think that the Lord could go against His very nature. The Lord doesn't change who He is to accommodate man’s desires.  He wouldn't be God if He did.  Who's got Psalm 102:25-27....... 25 “Of old You founded the earth And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.  Even though he had pretty good theology.......Jonah came to a wrong conclusion.

You've got to ask yourself......."How often does my sin affect my theology?"   It happens all the time in the church.......you've seen it.......or heard about it.......or maybe even done it yourself.  I may be able to theologically determine that cheating on my taxes is a fine thing to do.......I mean, the government spends money on things that I don't like......In fact, on things that God doesn't like.  Besides.......if I don't pay what the government says I should I'll have more money to give to the poor.....just like Robin Hood!!!  But what I know about God is that He would think it wrong of me to cheat..... the government or anyone else.......but I don't let that penetrate my heart.  Instead......I change my theology to accommodate my sin.

Or how about........"I know I'm married......but I'm not happy.......and Scripture tells me that God wants me to be happy.......all I have to do is ask for something and He promised to give it to me........in fact He wants to give me the desires of my heart.......and right now I desire that woman over there."  And as an upstanding member of the church I divorce my wife and marry "that woman over there".......and I tell everyone how happy I am and it was definitely the right thing to do because.......see how much God has blessed me in it!!!!  A little twist of scripture here.......a little tweaking of a verse there and suddenly my theology accommodates my sin.  What a country!

Jonah knew so much about the Lord that was theologically correct........but his hatred of the Ninevites caused him to twist his thinking in order to justify his sin.   He was so wrapped up in his efforts at self-justification that he wanted to die instead of changing his heart.   3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”  He was glad God showed compassion on him........but he sure didn't want the Lord to show compassion on Nineveh.

Twice in this chapter we find the Lord asking Jonah a simple question: “Do you have good reason to be angry?”  First He asks Jonah if he has the right to be angry about the Lord not casting judgment upon Nineveh. Jonah thought he had every right to be angry.......since he was the one who had announced that judgment was coming.  Jonah wanted to sit back and watch the Ninehvites be destroyed......and God ruined all his fun.

Then the Lord asks him if he has a reason to be angry that his shade had withered in verse 9.......and we'll get to that in a minute.  But the point is that Jonah felt he had a right to be angry with God......so angry that he wanted to die!  And what was he angry about?  Jonah was angry with God for being God.  That's the essence of his anger.

He already said he fully understood the compassionate nature of God. And though he himself was the recipient of God's compassion........he didn't think the Lord should have treated others with that kind of mercy.......even though he knew it was God's nature.   So he was angry with God for being God.

OK......answer me this.  Who here this morning would even think about being angry with God because He's a loving God?  No one?  Are you sure?  It's difficult to get an accurate illustration here for what I'm trying to get at.......simply because our idea of justice or fairness probably is not in line with how God views those things.  But let me try.  How many of us feel superior to the people in prison?  Now we wouldn't admit it......and we certainly wouldn't admit it in our Christian circles.  But I'll bet if I asked Jim how many churches are involved in prison ministry.......how many churches give money to see that the gospel is preached to those lost souls in our correctional institutions......he might be able to provide a clearer picture of the underlying attitudes of the Christian community regarding our real view of them.  "That guy's a murder......a rapist.....yah, sure.......and now all of a sudden he's found Jesus?"  That man abused children.......that woman killed all of her kids......and now they want forgiven?  Let 'em rot in hell!"  We may not have said those things ourselves......but we've heard them.......we may have even thought them.  Maybe Jonah's thought pattern isn't quite as perverted as we thought.

There's another lesson here in Jonah that may not be obvious in the first reading......but when you think about it the lesson becomes clear.  Let's face it.....God’s purposes were pretty much accomplished in Nineveh. Tens of thousands of people repented from their evil ways.......judgment had been averted.........God’s glory was revealed to the wicked Ninevites.  What more could possibly be done?  Jonah had done his duty.  But it wasn't the end.......God wasn't done with the lessons here.  Jonah did his duty.......but God isn't satisfied with us merely performing our duty.  God has always been concerned with our heart.....our character......our behavior.  He wants us to be a mirror image of Himself.  God's purpose was accomplished with the people of Nineveh......but Jonah still had some work that needed done on him.  God wanted Jonah to come around also.

Think about it along the lines of disciplining your own kids.  If you've raised kids you know that they don't come with an instruction manual.  As parents we need to figure out the best way of discipline that we can.......from example......from Scripture......from our own twisted way of doing things......whatever it might be.  But the idea of discipline is to change the behavior of the child.  Certainly, punishment for wrong actions is part of it......but the main thought is to change the kid's thinking so that they don't do whatever they did again.

There's no doubt that we can make changes in their behavior strictly out of fear.  If a dog does something wrong and you smack 'em on the nose with a newspaper every time he does it......eventually that dog is going to quit doing it because they don't want to get smacked on the nose again.  Every time you do this......I'm gonna do this.

Ideally.......that's not what we want to do with our kids.  The best type of discipline is when we're able to change their hearts.......change their attitude toward the behavior that caused you to become involved.  And that's exactly what God desires.  When He disciplines His children He wants a heart change.  He wants us to behave a certain way because we desire to glorify Him.......not because we're afraid we're gonna get smacked on the nose with a newspaper.

That's what we see here.  Jonah did what was required of him......but he had a rotten attitude.  He still hated the Ninevites......he still was mad at God.......he was still pouting.  It was still all about Jonah........and that's what God desired was changed.

We have a very similar situation in the New Testament.  If you remember the story of the prodigal son you'll remember there was an elder brother who had served his father for years faithfully........never doing anything rebellious.  He maintained a position of privilege in his father’s house. But when the prodigal son returned.......was the older brother happy.......overwhelmed with joy?  No!  The older brother didn't welcome his brother back.......he was mad.......the younger brother didn't deserve the love of his father.  The older son did his duty......but he had no compassion.......no love.  His attitude is what was in question.  

What needed to be changed in Jonah?   Well.......I think it's another vital lesson from this little book that God left us.  It seems Jonah was overly concerned with Jonah.  We see him going out of the city and sitting under a little shelter he built and just waiting for the fireworks.  He's angry......he's displeased......he's sulking.  And then God gets directly involved again by causing a plant to grow up......overnight.....and bring about some relief.......some comfort for Jonah.  And how did Jonah respond to this act of mercy in his life?  Verse 6 says "He was extremely happy about the plant."

Then God gets directly involved again and appoints a worm to come and destroy the plant the very next day.  What's God doing here?  Is He just messin' with Jonah?  Is He trying to make him miserable?  No.......He's chastening Jonah.  He's trying to get him to see some spiritual lesson here that needs to be incorporated into his life.  

Jonah is almost overwhelmed with happiness about a plant......but greatly displeased.....in fact, angry with the salvation of the Ninevites. It almost doesn't make sense, does it?  But all we have to do is look at it a little closer.......look at it with application in mind........and we might find that it hits much closer to home than first glance. 

Jonah was concerned about his own comforts. He wanted everything to go his way........he wanted to feel good.......regardless of the effect upon other people. He was more concerned for things than he was about people.  Is there a lesson there for us?  Well there certainly is if we find that we have a pre-occupation with things......with creature comforts.......with earthly treasures to the point of neglecting our spiritual responsibilities.  It has a tendency to show up in our priorities.......the way we spend our money.......the way we spend our time.......the people we spend our time with.......the things we talk about. God desires His children to be concerned about the eternal and to ignore the temporal.  Is the discipline of Jonah here really a lesson for us?  God’s work of discipline exposes such an attitude so that we might be delivered from anchoring our lives on the temporal to the neglect of the eternal.

Let's look at one more lesson in looking back over this whole account of Jonah.  The men were discussing this at Friday morning Bible study this past week.  I know we've all thought about it before.  How involved in our everyday life......our moment by moment journey through life.......how involved is God in that?  Does He manipulate events in His providence so that things are accomplished His way?  Does He just let us go about our merry way and not involve Himself.......just see how things turn out for us?  How does all of that work?

One look at Jonah may shed some light on that question.  From the very start to the very end what do we see?  

"......the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea....."

".......and the Lord appointed a great fish......."

".......the Lord commanded the fish......"

"......the Lord God appointed a plant......"

".......God appointed a worm......."

"....... God appointed a scorching east wind......."

You start to get the picture that the God of this universe is directly involved in each and every aspect of Jonah's life in order to bring about the desired end that He wants.  None of this is accidental.....none of it is coincidence.  The Lord God did these things for a purpose.  And all of these incredible miracles were done in one man's life.  Is He just as concerned with you?  With me?  Of course He is.  Scripture says He's no respecter of persons.  Jonah's not more special than you are.  

We had talked in an earlier lesson about the fact that the book of Jonah is not about Jonah......it's about God.  Jonah's just a character in the play......God's the star.  God shows His incredible compassion for men throughout this book.......and what that does is exposes the lack of compassion that's often seen in His children.  Wow.......a lot of lessons in this little book.

So......getting back to the text.  Jonah's angry again.......mad enough that he wants to die because his plant died.  God is trying to give him a lesson here that he'll understand.  The final exchange here says, 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the differencebetween their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

We've pretty well talked through the fact that Jonah was angry at God for being God......and here he is mad again.  For much the same reasons as we've discussed.....God didn't do things the way Jonah wanted.  Jonah was in discomfort.......Jonah wasn't happy.

I know I've told this story before......and Tish and I still use it a lot among ourselves.  But several years ago......when airlines still served meals on flights.  We were coming home from Washington D.C.......and the stewardess was going from seat to seat taking orders on what you wanted to eat.  We were sitting in the back row and I heard her asking everybody, "Do you want soup or salad?"  And I remember thinking the soup sounded really good.  So when she got to our row she just handed Tish and I the meal with the salad.  No soup!  I said, "I wanted the soup."  The stewardess said they had just run out of meals with soup so I'd have to settle for the salad.  But I wanted the soup!  Now, Tish wrongly accuses me of pouting the rest of the trip.  So the joke is.....whenever something happens that we don't want to happen we say, "What's the matter....Tommy didn't get his soup?"  Well......that's what happened here.  Jonah didn't get his soup! 

I have to admit that there is a part of God's response that struck me as funny.  When He asks Jonah "What about those 120 thousand people......who are so dumb about spiritual things they don't know which way is up?  And if you don't care about them.....what about all those cattle?  Surely you don't want to waste all that meat!  I don't think it was intended this way......but it did cross my mind.

God's response is pretty pointed.  "Seriously Jonah?  You feel bad about a plant dieing that you didn't have anything to do with.  You're showing concern for it to the point that you just want to die and yet you're mad at Me for showing compassion on 120 thousand people?  That's what the problem is?"

When it's put in that light......the answer is almost a given.  But there is no answer.  Was Jonah silenced by God's question?  Or is it left without answer because we're supposed to answer it?  God's made His point clear......people are his concern.  Not our comfort.......not our prejudices.......not our petty differences.......just people.  As flawed and sinful as we are.......we are in fact His greatest creation.  We exist purely to glorify Him in the manner that we live......in the manner that we deal with adversities.......in the manner that we care about people.

This book is a book about God! A God that controls the winds and the waves and the fish of the sea. A God that can sustain a life in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights. A God that will hear the cries of a pagan nation and forgive them. A God that takes time to teach his errant prophets.......rather than punish them. 

No........this isn’t a story about Jonah at all......it's a story of a God that can do the impossible and that takes notice of great cities and lousy prophets.......and you, and me.   There are a lot of lessons in this little book.  My prayer is that we've seen them......applied them to our lives.....that it makes a difference.