Jonah Warren Werisbe

Jonah

I.Resignation—The Lesson of God’s Patience (1)

Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah ran in the opposite direction. He fled “from the presence of the Lord,” which means that he resigned his prophetic office. Jonah knew that he could not run away from God’s presence (Ps. 139:7ff), but he could resign his calling and stop preaching. He became a backslidden prophet.

A.The causes of his backsliding were many.

First, he had the wrong attitude toward God’s will; he thought it was something difficult and dangerous. And he had the wrong attitude toward witnessing; he thought he could “turn his witnessing on and off” when he wanted to, and did not realize that he was witnessing either against or for the Lord no matter where he was. He also had the wrong attitude toward his enemies: he wanted to see them perish.

B.The course of his backsliding was downward.

Down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the sea, and down into the great fish. Disobedience always leads downward. But note that often things seem to “work out” even for a backslidden believer, for the ship was waiting for him and he had the money to pay the fare. He was so at peace that he was even able to go to sleep in the storm!

C.The consequences of his backsliding were tragic.

He lost God’s voice, for now God had to speak to him in a storm. He lost his spiritual energy and went to sleep in the hold of the ship. He lost his power in prayer, and even his desire to pray. The heathen were praying, but Jonah was sleeping. He lost his testimony with the men on the ship, and he lost his influence for good, because he was the cause of the storm. He also almost lost his life. But how patient and long-suffering the Lord was with him.

II.Repentance—The Lesson of God’s Pardon (2)

Jonah was first of all chastened under the loving hand of God. Jonah admitted it was God who cast him into the sea, not the hands of the sailors (v. 3). When trials and afflictions come to us because of our sins, it is important that we acknowledge God’s working (Ps. 119:67). Read Heb. 12:5–11 to see the meaning of divine chastening. Next Jonah was convicted of his sins, and this, after all, is the purpose of chastening—to bring us to the place of conviction and confession. He lost the presence of God (2:4; see Ps. 51:11); he admitted he had believed the devil’s lies (v. 8); and he showed true sorrow for his sins (v. 9). In faith he asked God for His forgiveness, looking toward the temple (v. 4) as the OT Jew was taught to do (2 Chron. 6:36–39). This is equivalent to our 1 John 1:9. God cleansed Jonah and gave him another chance.

According to Heb. 12:5–11, there are several ways Christians may respond to the chastening of God: we may despise it, as Jonah did for three days, and refuse to confess; we may faint and give up; or we may endure God’s chastening, confess our sins, and trust Him to work everything out for our good and His glory. To rebel against the hand of God is to ask for trouble. Jonah submitted, prayed, and trusted, and God forgave him.

III.Revival—The Lesson of God’s Power (3)

The key word in this chapter is “great.” Jonah came to the great city to preach the message of God. There were nearly a million people in and around Nineveh, and the city itself had great walls and towers. It was the center of the rising empire of Assyria. But it was a sinful city (read Nahum 3) because the Assyrians were a ruthless, cruel people who had no pity for their enemies. “Violence” was their chief sin (v. 8). God gave Jonah a great commission, to preach to these Gentiles that they could escape the wrath of God and be forgiven. What a message! Jonah had to overcome his sinful prejudices to preach this message. Then, God performed a great change in the city, for from the king to the lowest citizen, there were expressions of fear and repentance. Two things contributed to this: Jonah’s message and the miracle of Jonah’s deliverance from the great fish, the news of which certainly reached this city. It took three days to get through Nineveh, but revival came the very first day of Jonah’s ministry. The people “believed God” (v. 5), proving their faith by their works of contrition. And God forgave them. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest evangelistic harvests in history. It shows what the Lord can do with a frail human instrument willing to preach God’s message.

Jesus used Nineveh to illustrate an important point (Matt. 12:38–41). He had preached to that generation for three years and had reinforced His message with His miracles, yet they would not repent and believe. The Ninevites heard one sermon from one preacher, and that sermon emphasized wrath, not love—yet they repented and were forgiven. The Jews heard the Son of God for three years, heard the message of God’s forgiveness, yet refused to repent. Certainly theirs will be the greater condemnation.

IV.Rebellion—The Lesson of God’s Pity (4)

Had you been writing this last chapter, you probably would have shown Jonah in the city of Nineveh, carefully teaching the people and helping them in their spiritual decisions. But God does not write it that way. Instead of meeting a rejoicing preacher, we meet a rebellious preacher, angry at the people and angry at God. We see an adult acting like a child, a believer acting like an unbeliever. We see Jonah sitting outside the city, trying to make himself comfortable, and actually hoping that God’s judgment will fall on the people. Here is an amazing thing: God sent a great awakening under the preaching of a man who did not even love the souls of the people he preached to!

This is the key lesson of the book: God’s love and pity for lost souls. Jonah felt sorry for himself, and even felt sorry for the plant that sheltered him and then died, but he had no heartfelt love or pity for the multitudes in the city of Nineveh. It is possible to serve the Lord and yet not love the people. How unlike Jesus Christ he is in this chapter, for Jesus looked upon a city of lost souls and wept. God could control the wind and waves in chapter 1, the fish in chapter 2, and the gourd, worm, and wind in chapter 4, but He could not control Jonah without the prophet’s surrender. Everything in nature obeys the Word of God except human beings, and human beings have the greatest reason to obey. It would seem that Jonah did get right with God, confess his sins, and continue his ministry. And God did spare the city of Nineveh for another century and a half.

Of course, Jonah is a type of Jesus Christ (Matt. 12:39–41) in His death, burial, and resurrection. Christ was greater than Jonah in His person (He is the Son of God), His outreach (the whole world, not one city), His sacrifice (He did die to save others), and His love for those who did not deserve it. Some also see in Jonah a picture of the Jewish nation: disobedient; cast out of the land; “swallowed up” by the sea of Gentiles; preserved in spite of opposition; brought back again and given another chance.