The Depravity of Man

Jonah 1:1-3 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 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.”

a. God’s command to Jonah (1:1-2)

b. Jonah’s disobedience to God (1:3)

1. INTRODUCTION

a. Both Hosea and Amos had attacked Jeroboam and Israel with oracles of doom for the religious syncretism and social injustice which accompanied that period of prosperity. Both Hosea and Amos 1:1 show that these prophets were around during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash. This lines up with 2 Kings 14:23-29 where it tells us in 14:25 that Jeroboam’s rule was a time of prosperity as they were able to restore land they had lost previously to Judah, from Hamath to the sea of the Arabah.

b. This is interesting because during Hosea and Amos’s reign as prophets, they had continually preached doom and judgment. Hosea and Amos continually preached for Israel to turn away from their sins and to repent. They had preached that if they were to repent, God would forgive them and restore them.

c. What we saw in the days of Hosea and Amos are prophets who were faithful to Yahweh which is in complete contrast to Jonah. We can see as early as verse 3, what type of prophet Jonah was. On the other hand, we can also see exactly who God is.

2. BODY

a. God’s command to Jonah (1:1-2)

i. We can tell that the book of Jonah is an exciting book starting with verse 1. Jonah opens with God coming to Jonah. Jonah opens with the phrase, “the word of the Lord.” Interestingly enough, it doesn’t tell us exactly how God came to Jonah. But what we see is that God’s revelation (계시) came to Jonah.

ii. This phrase is important for us to understand because God revealed himself to the prophets in many different ways. We see that in Hebrews 1:1-2 where it says that God spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, but in these last days, He has spoken to us in His son.

iii. Although it is uncertain how the word of the Lord came to Jonah, today, we know that God communicated to us through His son, in that Jesus came to earth to die for sinners and rose from the dead to show His claims to deity was actually true. And today, God speaks to us through His word, and we can know the will of God because we have the word.

iv. This was different for the old testament saints, as we see in Hebrews 1:1, where God spoke to the old testament saints in many ways. We see that very clearly here in Jonah where God is speaking to Jonah in one of those many ways.

v. But I think we forget the amazing privilege that Jonah received here in verse 1. It says that the word of the Lord came to Jonah. God had gone to Jonah, not only coming to him, but in verse 2, He speaks to him. So here in verse 2, God not only comes to Jonah but says to him “arise and go to Nineveh and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before Me.” God was commissioning Jonah to go to Nineveh and inform them that their wickedness has become known to Yahweh.

vi. This idea of crying against Nineveh was not only informing them that God had seen their wickedness, but also, because of this wickedness, their empire would be overthrown (3:4). Based on 3:4 and what we see here in 1:2, God was commissioning Jonah to tell them that their wickedness would be the cause for their demise. God was commissioning Jonah to tell them that they would face the wrath of God, that their empire would be overthrown and disband. This would be a serious indictment that Jonah would be informing them of.

vii. Why? The history of Assyria is important for us to understand why this commission of God to Jonah was so significant. By the time of Jonah, the Assyrian empire was in decline. Kings had come and gone and by the time of Jonah, there were a series of rebellions which happened between 763 BC and 758 BC. But although Assyria was on a decline which would pick up some 20 years later, under Sennacherib, Assyria would become a great empire once again.

viii. So if Jonah was to go to Nineveh and tell them that their empire would disband unless they repented, this would have been taken seriously by the people. They were already in decline so if any prophesy had come regarding their fall, they would have taken notice to it.

ix. Although Assyria at the time of Jonah was in decline, there is still much evidence that Assyria was an empire constantly at war. They were always at war with Israel, Judah and other nations. Due to this militaristic lifestyle, the Assyrians were a very violent people. Archaeology confirmed that the Assyrians were brutal people. Ashurbanipal, the grandson of Sennacherib (2 Chronicles 32), he would kill people in very graphic ways. This is probably the reason that when God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, because Jonah knew what type of people the Assyrians were, he is hesitant to go and in verse 3, we see that he goes the opposite direction.

x. What is beautiful about this verse is the context. Again, prophets in the past prior to Jonah, Hosea and Amos were continually preaching doom and gloom. They were continually preaching for Israel to turn from their sins and return to the Lord. We could say that they were faithful prophets whereas here in Jonah, we see a man who is completely the opposite. Jonah certainly is not interested in doing the Lord’s work although he is called God’s servant and prophet in 2 Kings 14:25.

xi. So what is the significance of verses 1:1-2? Well it tells us who God is. One of the things that stuck out is how people understand God today. Many people in the world today ignore God and assume that he also ignores them. Many believe that God set the world into motion and allows it to continue along unnoticed. This text portrays God as one who notices, as a God who is active, and as a God who takes sin seriously. This is what propels God to be the one who came to Jonah, just as Jesus came to us when He recognized our need. He didn’t just create the world and lets it to continue unnoticed. Rather, we see God coming to Jonah.

xii. The beauty of verses 1-2 tell us the significance of Romans 5:6. It was when we were dead in our sins, that Christ came to die for the ungodly. Well we see clearly here in verse 2, that the Assyrians were dead in their sin and had no chance of salvation apart from Him calling them to salvation. The book of Jonah clearly shows here that man can’t save himself apart from the work of God. Man is wicked beyond repair and as we see here in verses 1-2, God uses men to call sinners to repentance.

xiii. This is why Hebrews 1:1-2 is so important. God spoke to the people through many prophets and in many ways, but today, He speaks to all mankind in one way through His son. God doesn’t communicate and save man in any other way or path. No, John 14:6 tells us that God has made a way of salvation through the road of Jesus Christ. Man can only reach God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

b. Jonah’s disobedience to God (1:3)

i. It would be wonderful if after verse 2, Jonah then says, ok Lord, I will do what you tell me and in verse 3, it says that Jonah went to Nineveh. But the very opposite happens.

ii. The irony here is that in verse 2, God tells Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh, so what does Jonah do? He rises and instead of going to Nineveh, he arose and goes to Tarshish.

iii. The play on of words almost reads as if Jonah would go to Nineveh. But instead, he arose and goes to Tarshish. Why? So he could flee from the presence of the Lord. It says in verse 3, But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. This is a strange phrase because it almost seems as if Jonah thought he could leave from the presence of God. We see from verse 9, that if God is the Lord God of Heaven who made the sea and land, certainly, Jonah knew he would not be able to escape God.

iv. So what does it mean to go away from the presence of the Lord? It seems to go with the idea of what is described in Genesis 4:16, where it describes Cain’s broken relationship with the Lord, Cain’s rebellion against the Lord and the Lord’s displeasure with him. By fleeing from the Lord’s presence Jonah announces emphatically his unwillingness to serve God. His action is nothing less than open rebellion against God’s sovereignty.

v. So if we go back to verse 3 and think about why did Jonah disobey God? Why would he rise up at all and go the opposite direction of where God was calling him? The book of Jonah doesn’t give us any detail why he would disobey God and act so foolishly. We can speculate why Jonah decided to not obey God. Jonah probably didn’t obey God because of two specific reasons. First, he was afraid of dying in the hands of the Assyrians and secondly, in Jonah 4:2, it tells us that he knew that God was loving and gracious and slow to anger and would save the Assyrians so he didn’t want to go to Nineveh to delay the process of them being saved.

1. What we see from this verse is the reality of fear. Jonah was afraid God would spare the Ninevites if they were to repent so he chose to disobey God.

vi. But even more than this, what we see with Jonah’s behavior is that Jonah is spiraling into more sin. We might look simply at this but it was a big problem. The idea of Jonah rising up and running from the presence of the Lord implies that he had sold everything he had and left it all behind. He was running away, essentially moving away from God. So he went down to Joppa, which is most likely Tel-Aviv Israel today, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fanfare.

vii. This is important here too. The idea that he paid the fanfare was most likely that Jonah purchased the whole ship to take him to Tarshish. The idea that ships existed as taxi’s today most likely did not exist back in the day. Ships back then were for trade and it would have been difficult to find a ship to take him to Tarshish unless he was willing to pay off the whole ship. So what we see is, Jonah was willing to incur great loss to disobey God. Jonah was willing to “go down” from Joppa to Tarshish which shoes his willingness to spiral into more disobedience.

viii. So this begs the question. How could God choose someone who can’t and doesn’t do what God wants him to do? If we are to read the book of Jonah carefully and correctly, we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and recognize that Jonah is us. We might read with frustration and think, why would God use a man like Jonah to be His prophet and to do His work. But when we read this and start to think what’s wrong with Jonah, we fail to realize this is a picture of who we are.

ix. Although we are called children of God, there are many times in our lives where we act and fail to recognize God’s calling for us. When we face difficulty, we don’t directly run towards God and live in obedience. Rather, we are similar to Jonah. Think about the state of Israel. They were continually reminded by the prophets to repent, and turn back to God. But what do we read in the Old Testament? We see Israel’s continued stubbornness and perseverance in sin and instead of running to God, we run away from God. Thus the book of Jonah is painting a picture of us.

x. This picture is the reason why Christ comes to redeem mankind. The heart of man is to run away from God. This is why God sends the God man, the Lord Jesus Christ to come to us to redeem us. The book of Jonah reminds us how amazing the Gospel is, by the truth of the savior coming to us. May we be amazed by the Lord’s love for us, that we would not respond to him the way Jonah did, but the way we should, in our love and adoration to Him.

3. CONCLUSION