A WHALE OF A STORY

God calls people to his service. Here Jonah is called to preach to a foreign city, Nineveh. Not only does God call people to His service but no one can successfully run from God’s call.

The eyes of the Lord were continually upon him

Proverbs 15:3 ESV

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

, and the sea is God’s dominion. As the psalmist wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” ().

and the sea is God’s dominion. As the psalmist wrote,

Psalm 24:1–2 ESV

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

HE IS COMPASSIONATE TOWARDS

SINFUL CITIES

God cares enough about sinners to send a word of hope, love, and grace. Far more importantly, Jonah brings us face to face with such important issues as God’s grace for the wicked, God’s sovereignty over his servants, and the intense human struggle involved with forgiveness and repentance. Ferguson summarizes,

“The Book of Jonah is not so much about this great fish that appears in the middle of the book … [but] in order to teach Jonah that he has a gracious God.”

Nineveh was not only a great city, it was also a wicked and violent city. The Bible clearly represents it as such. Nahum prophesied against Nineveh:

Nahum 3:1–3 ESV

Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder— no end to the prey! The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over the bodies!

Nahum 3:1-3

Frank Page writes:

Archaeology confirms the biblical witness to the wickedness of the Assyrians. They were well known in the ancient world for brutality and cruelty. Ashurbanipal, the grandson of Sennacherib, was accustomed to tearing off the lips and hands of his victims. Tiglath-Pileser flayed victims alive and made great piles of their skulls.

SELFISH CHRISTIANS

God says "Arise call".

Jonah 1:2 ESV

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

In the pagan ship captain says "Arise call". God has reinforcers everywhere.

Jonah 1:6 ESV

So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

God says "Arise call". Pagan ship captain says "Arise call". God has reinforcers everywhere.

The casting of lots was a widely used method in the ancient Near East. The most common word used for “lot” indicates that they were either stones or pebbles that were painted or colored. When the stones were thrown, if two dark sides landed up the usual interpretation was no. If two light sides landed up, that meant yes. A light and a dark side meant throw again. Using this system, the sailors dealt with each individual until the color revealed the guilty person. This specific means of discerning the Lord’s will is found many times in Scripture. For example, the casting of lots was the means for determining the guilt of Achan (), for distributing the land to the tribes of Israel (), and for selecting Saul as king (). As

Pagan ship captain says "Arise call". God has reinforcers everywhere.

Proverbs 16:33 ESV

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

The Lord has more ways of confronting us than we have ways of evading him.

· The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea.

· The lot fell on Jonah.

· The Lord appointed a great fish.

· The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.

· The Lord God appointed a plant.

· God appointed a worm.

· God appointed a scorching east wind.

“God forgives, and never holds the thing against you. Think of how wonderful are the implications of that one fact for your life. God simply does not hold grudges against people who humble themselves and ask his forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

HE IS CONCERNED

HE KNOWS OUR SINFUL DEFAULT.

The only course of action was to take matters into his own hands and out of God’s hands. Christians sin this way frequently, refusing God’s commands simply because they do not like them or do not think they will work out well.

God’s command to Jonah was also difficult. Nineveh was a great distance away, in the heart of a violent empire. Nineveh was among the largest cities in the ancient world, which is why God refers to it as “that great city Nineveh.”

Jonah 3:3 ESV

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth.

). It was also distant, about six hundred miles northeast of Israel, near present-day Mosul in Iraq. And God was sending Jonah alone, commanding him to pronounce a message of doom: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (). Imagine receiving such a calling! Imagine the difficulties that would go through the mind, and the obstacles to any kind of success!

It was also distant, about six hundred miles northeast of Israel, near present-day Mosul in Iraq. And God was sending Jonah alone, commanding him to pronounce a message of doom:

Jonah 3:4 ESV

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

J). Imagine receiving such a calling! Imagine the difficulties that would go through the mind, and the obstacles to any kind of success!

Imagine receiving such a calling! Imagine the difficulties that would go through the mind, and the obstacles to any kind of success!

When God gives the most difficult commands he typically intends the most marvelous acts of deliverance and salvation. Whenever we find that God has called us to a task that seems far more difficult than we think we can handle, our hope ought to be kindled that God intends to do something wonderful and great.

HE WILL KEEP HIS SACRED DECLARATION.

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT JONAH?

· WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT JONAH?

HE WANTED HIS WAY MORE THAN GOD’S WILL.

The narrative may also suggest that Jonah hired the whole ship, which if true would have taken a considerable sum of money. J. Magonet suggests that “to flee from God, Jonah must have sold his home, left everything behind and set off at the risk of his life.” The ship on which Jonah traveled was most likely a merchant ship and probably of Phoenician registry. The Phoenicians were responsible for most of the sea traffic in the Mediterranean during this period of time. They pioneered exploration and trade by sea. But Jonah tragically played the fool when he chose to pit their seafaring skills against the Creator and Lord of the sea.

HE SOUGHT THE GOOD OF HIS COUNTRY MORE THAN THE GOSPEL IN OTHER CITIES.

The Israelites possessed the word of the prophets and God’s covenant of grace. Yet they forgot that these were held not solely for themselves, but in trust for all the world. The psalmist sang,

Psalm 67:1–2 ESV

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

)

HE HAD A HEAD SATURATED WITH SOLID ORTHODOXY BUT A HEART SHALLOW IN ORTHOPRAXY.

o HE HAD A HEAD STATURED WITH SOLID ORTHODOXY BUT A HEART SHALLOW IN ORTHOPRAXY.

The reason for Jonah’s disobedience, while not given in this verse, is explicitly stated by the author in

Jonah 4:2 ESV

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.

. The issue was fear—fear that the Ninevites might repent and be spared the disaster they deserved. It is absolute absurdity that Jonah thought he could just walk away from a divine assignment. But the Lord was to make Jonah’s voyage into a “teachable moment.” The plans of a sovereign God are not so easily thwarted by the stubborn will of a puny prophet. Jonah was to learn that it was not so easy to resign the Lord’s commission.

The issue was fear—fear that the Ninevites might repent and be spared the disaster they deserved. It is absolute absurdity that Jonah thought he could just walk away from a divine assignment. But the Lord was to make Jonah’s voyage into a “teachable moment.” The plans of a sovereign God are not so easily thwarted by the stubborn will of a puny prophet. Jonah was to learn that it was not so easy to resign the Lord’s commission.

Sinclair Ferguson has expressed Jonah’s story in these terms: “It is really a book about … how one man came, through painful experience, to discover the true character of the God whom he had already served in the earlier years of his life. He was to find the doctrine about God (with which he had long been familiar) come alive in his experience.”

Jonah’s struggle with God’s grace is displayed from the very start of this book. The cause was a most unexpected call from God that shocked and repulsed the prophet.

Jonah 1:2 ESV

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

). This is the kind of command a prophet might expect to receive: a summons to confront the wicked with their sin. So what bothered Jonah so much? Simply this: his knowledge of the grace of God. Jonah had learned what most people do not know, that when God calls us to face our sin his purpose is to show his mercy and thereby to save. Knowing the grace of God as he did, from the very start Jonah suspected God’s purposes toward hated Nineveh.

This is the kind of command a prophet might expect to receive: a summons to confront the wicked with their sin. So what bothered Jonah so much? Simply this: his knowledge of the grace of God. Jonah had learned what most people do not know, that when God calls us to face our sin his purpose is to show his mercy and thereby to save. Knowing the grace of God as he did, from the very start Jonah suspected God’s purposes toward hated Nineveh.

HE PURSUED HIS EARTHLY DESIRES RATHER THAN OTHERS ETERNAL DESTINIES.

HE FAILED TO CONNECT GOD’S MERCY IN HIS LIFE WITH THE MISSION OF GOD IN THE WORLD.

How can we know if we also are approaching such an attitude? if we gaze upon the wicked around us and see mainly a threat to our Christian lifestyles instead of perishing sinners in need of the gospel, and if we pray for forgiveness of our sins but justice for the agents of a wicked culture, then it cannot be doubted that the spirit of Jonah is in us.

In God’s plan, grace abounds through his gospel, so that God’s blessing on Nineveh would result in blessing for Israel as well. In fact, one of the best ways any person or nation can provide for their own need of the gospel is to spread it to others.

WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT JESUS?

HE AND JONAH ARE A STUDY IN CONTRAST AND COMPARISONS.

CONTRAST

JONAH WAS SELFISH JESUS WAS SELFLESS.

JONAH WENT RELUCTANTLY TO PREACH AND JESUS RELENTLESSLY PURSUES SINNER IN NEED OF HIS GRACE.

JONAH GOES TO A CITY FILLED WITH HIS ENEMIES. JESUS GOES TO A CROSS FOR HIS ENEMIES.

JONAH’S ACTIONS SPARED NINEVEH TEMPORARILY FROM JUDGMENT. JESUS ACTIONS CAN SAVE PEOPLE ETERNALLY FROM GOD’S WRATH.

COMPARISONS

JONAH WAS SPIT UP AFTER THREE DAYS. JESUS ROSE UP AFTER THREE DAYS.

JONAH SAID REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS COMING. JESUS SAID REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME.

JONAH WAS SENT FOR THE SALVATION OF NINEVEH. JESUS WAS SENT FOR THE SALVATION OF THE NATIONS.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah; Jonah sold everything to get away from sinners, Jesus gave up everything to seek and save sinners.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

LET US SURRENDER TO HIS COMISSION AND NOT SET SAIL ON OUR OWN MISSION.

LET US BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT SPREADING HIS NEWS RATHER THAN BEING SCARED BY THE NEWS.

LET US ASK GOD TO TAKE OUR KNOWING AND TURN IT INTO FUEL FOR OUR GOING.

LET US SACRIFICE OUR LIVES FOR THE SAKE OF SOULS.

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