Jonah
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Probably most well known, used as children’s story.
Tells us a lot about God’s Sovereignty and Mercy, but also is a cautionary tale.
Jonah is not a hero.
Background
Background
Jonah was a prophet for the Northern kingdom of Israel. Beyond this story, we see that he prophesied for Jereboam son of Joash during his reign in 2 Kings 14:23-25.
Puts him in the same timeframe as Amos and Isaiah.
Different from others, this is a Narrative rather than a proclamation of Judgment or prophecy. The prophetic words are not to Israel or Judah at all.
feels like it should be a part of the histories like Ruth, Esther, or Ezra.
It is likely included in the prophecies because it is attributed to Jonah himself. Though it is written in the 3rd person, tradition says that Jonah was the author and no one disputed that until the last 150 years or so.
for a book that is over 2000 years old, that feels a little disingenuous, especially since the “evidence” is not some newly discovered evidence, but a rejection of the miraculous nature of what happens.
rection of miraculous is an argument that I reject outright. All of scripture testifies to God’s sovereignty over creation. In fact, this is one of the primary themes in this book.
This is a story of a prophet who choses to run from God.
Jonah chooses to go the other way, but a storm arises, he is cast overboard and swallowed by a fish.
He repents and goes to Nineveh, to deliver the message, but his heart is not really changed. Though Nineveh repents, Jonah is in dismay. God shows mercy in so many ways to Jonah, but within the text, we do not see him turn away from his dismay.
As we think about this story, we need to ask ourselves a few questions. First of all, Why did Jonah run? Why didn’t his plan work? and finally, What was God’s goal in this?
Why did Jonah Run?
Why did Jonah Run?
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
No hesitation on Jonah’s part, no “let me think about it,” just go in the opposite direction. (See Slide)
Obviously, these are assumed routes, we weren’t given coordinates, but it gives you an idea of the vast difference between Tarshish and Nineveh.
It’s clear that Jonah was trying to get as far away from Nineveh as possible and the question we have to ask is why?
We find the answer to this question at the end of the book.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah ran because he knew that God was merciful, slow to anger.
Nineveh was an awful place, as the capital of Assyria, it represents the brutality of the Assyrian armies. They were an aggressive, imperialistic society that would eventually conquer the Northern Kingdom of Isreal.
For an Israelite, this is the very definition of an enemy. God was asking him to go to Nineveh, a place that was an existential threat to Israel and preach a message of repentance.
Jonah’s hesitance from a wordly perspective makes sense.
“You are going to forgive and let them live, I want them destroyed.”
He ran because he knew God in his mercy would grant forgiveness and stay his wrath. (For a time)
And God does show mercy, and the city is not destroyed.
But God doesn’t just show mercy for Nineveh, He also shows mercy to Jonah.
Jonah deliberately disobeyed God’s command. The same thing that Nineveh was doing. Jonah couldn’t see his own hypocrisy, desiring judgment on those who reject God while he was actively rejecting God.
At several points along the way, Jonah could have been killed for his sin, but God was merciful:
Shortly after leaving Joppa, a storm came up that could have easily capsized the ship.
As a former sailor, I have spent plenty of time at sea and I have seen my fair share of storms at sea.
Squalls can come out of nowhere, and they are terrifying. We had technology that helped keep the ship from rocking too much, but these guys wouldn’t.
I remember watching our bubble level that tells us how far the ship is leaning from side to side get pretty close to the capsize point. It’s a terrifying experience.
We can see it in these sailors response too. They were terrified and tried everything, even praying to a God that they likely didn’t believe in before the voyage.
Even in this terrible storm, God showed mercy to Jonah and did not kill him.
When Jonah was swallowed by a fish, God preserved him, and did not kill him.
Jonah complained to God as we saw in 4:1-3, and asked God to kill him, but God did not, but his response was Jonah 4:4 “And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?””
After Jonah delivered the message to Nineveh, he went up to the east of the city and watched hoping for it’s destruction. God made a plant grow up to shade him, demonstrating his Mercy.
Throughout all of this, God demonstrates his mercy to Jonah, despite Jonah’s lack of mercy to others.
One of the things that we have to ask ourselves, do we hesitate to share the Gospel because, like Jonah, we are not ready to show mercy to them?
Jonah’s lack of mercy is one of the major themes of this book, and the book closes with a condemnation of it:
But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
The Gospels are full of similar calls for us, to forgive as we are forgiven, to love our enemies, to show compassion and mercy to those who might strike against us.
God makes clear why here, because he cares about these people, and we should care about them too.
So, the answer to the first question “Why did Jonah run?” is because Jonah knew that God is merciful and he didn’t want to be.
Now, the second question is:
Why didn’t Jonah’s Plan Work?
Why didn’t Jonah’s Plan Work?
As we saw, Jonah desired for Nineveh to be destroyed, but that did not happen (yet). Ultimately the reason for that is God’s sovereignty. Both over creation and salvation
This story more than most demonstrates God’s sovereignty over all of creation.
First of all with the storm;
But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
Tempest holds the imagery of a huge storm, and I have to think if they are throwing things overboard, it isn’t just a wind storm.
Off coast of Jax, 60 mph gusts. No real waves. Sudden winds don’t create waves, but if they are throwing things, there had to be large waves.
Waves like this are somewhat predictable. You will see increasing swells before you are caught in a storm. Early sailors would stay close to the coast so they could get in quickly if the swells started to pick up.
All of this is not the norm, but the Lord controls the seas.
What is even more impressive is the end of the storm, Jonah 1:15 “So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.”
Waves that take a long time to form, take a long time to dissipate; the large swells from a major storm will radiate outward ahead and behind the storm, but not here. This is reminiscent of Jesus calming the storm that Jeremy will be preaching about in a few weeks. God is in complete control.
God demonstrates His control over creation through the Fish as well;
Fish are not in the habit of swallowing people and if a person were to be swallowed, they would not survive for 3 days.
God kept Jonah from suffocating in the fish and ordained that the fish would spit him out.
God also demonstrated his control through the Plant and the Worm at the end of the story.
The plant grew up to give Jonah shade, to protect him from the heat, and then the worm ate the roots and destroyed the plant. Both of these things happen far faster than natural.
Throughout the book God demonstrates his complete control over all of creation, much the same way as he did with Elijah, and the same way that Jesus would later do with the disciples.
But it was more than just sovereignty over creation, we also see God’s sovereignty over Salvation.
Nineveh changed, at least for a time, despite having a reputation of being awful.
This isn’t by accident, the same kind of message is preached to the Israelites (see other minor prophets) and they do not turn.
Why didn’t Jonah want to go? Because he knew that God would save them. He knew God’s sovereignty from the beginning. Jonah 4:2 “And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”
God is sovereign over salvation, he made a covenant with a certain people, but he can choose to save people outside of that covenant. This is a picture of the future salvation of the Gentiles, those outside the covenant who would be grafted in thanks to Christ.
Jonah’s plan doesn’t work because God is sovereign, and He intended for Nineveh to be saved at this time, so we have to come to our final question.
What was God’s goal in this?
What was God’s goal in this?
The answer to this question is to bring about repentance, the repentance of Nineveh and in the end the repentance of Jonah.
Nineveh’s repentance is found in 3:5-10
And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
They believed the Lord, they were changed and turned away from their sins.
All the way up to the King of Assyria repented for the sake of the true God.
Why did God want the repentance of this kingdom? 2 reasons
God used the Assyrians later to discipline the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Indirectly, God desired the repentance of Israel.
But more directly, is the reason that God directly stated at the end of the book.
And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
God spares them because he pities them and has grace.
The fact that God would spare a people outside of the covenant is the hope of the gentile believer. That the God who is sovereign over all things, who is Holy beyond measure and cannot abide sin would have pity to give us a path to salvation. That path for us is through the blood of Christ.
God brings about the repentance of a kingdom who has completely rejected him, but he also brings about the repentance of a self-righteous one who is supposed to serve Him.
Jonah’s repentance
Jonah, a prophet of God was not immune to the sinful nature we all possess. Though he heard directly from God, he chose his own way instead of following God’s commands.
He probably justified his sin along the way. “I’m doing this for the good of Israel,” or “God hasn’t stopped me yet, I must be ok.”
Jonah’s repentance is more complicated than that of the Ninevites. It happens in stages, one we see, one is implied.
Jonah’s first repentance comes in ch 2:2-9.
saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
Jonah repents of his attempts to run away from God, recognizing his peril and what he had done he turns back to do what God has instructed him to do.
Some may argue that Jonah’s later attitude shows he didn’t fully repent, but begrudgingly went to Nineveh and did it with a bad attitude. I would push back on that argument.
This prayer is the prayer of a contrite heart, one that recognizes his sin and the only one who can save him from it. I believe that Jonah turned with humility, but the journey to Nineveh was long maybe over a month.
I believe what Jonah demonstrates is the continual need for repentance. It’s not a one time and I am good. I think we can look at many old testament figures like Abraham and David and see that their lives weren’t a repent once, turn back to God and you are good.
Jonah repented, turned back to God, but over time, as he journeyed and after three days of seeing the Ninevites doing the awful things they were doing, that sinful heart started to rear it’s ugly head again.
I would argue that Jonah also repented of this sin as well. If Jonah did indeed write this, as it’s inclusion in the minor prophets suggests, then ending with the line that he did indicates to me, that God’s words quoted in 4:11, were the final word on the matter and that he is admitting his folly.
So What:
So What:
Praise God that he is both merciful and sovereign. He has demonstrated his mercy and sovereignty throughout Scripture. It is evident here in his treatment of Jonah and the Ninevites. It is evident for us in the cross.
Remember that repentance is not a one time thing, but a lifetime pursuit.
Jonah’s sin came back in his bitterness against Nineveh.
Our flesh is constantly fighting for control in our lives. Lusts, bitterness, jealousy, and so many other things.
The good news for us is that there is grace enough for our failures.
We are not just saved from sin through the cross, but saved to righteousness.
That means that we have a responsibility to pursue that righteousness
Every time those sins work their way back into our lives, we must repent and pursue holiness.
But, you are not alone in that fight. The church is here to walk alongside you, and more importantly God has granted us the Holy Spirit to give us the power over sin.
Each week we celebrate the Lords supper, as a means to remind us of our need for repentance and the forgiveness that comes through the cross.
Christ gave instructions for us to do this in remembrance of Him until he returns
1 Corinthians 11:24–26 “and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
It’s a moment to remember that we stand before a Holy God, who is faithful and loving. In that love and faithfulness he called a remnant to himself through the blood and body of Jesus Christ.
Here we practice open communion - If you are a believer we invite you to come
if not, we want you to experience the real thing, not this symbol, so we ask you to abstain.
Take a moment to quiet are hearts, examine ourselves, repent of our sin and turn our eyes upon Jesus.
