Jonah

Scott Wilson

Jonah • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Jonah

Fear is the Main Theme of Jonah Chapter 1

1:5–6 Jonah’s ongoing sleep was perhaps induced by God to advance the crisis to a point where it was clear that the sailors’ gods could not help (1:6).

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 10

8 And Cush fathered Nimrod. ⌊He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior⌋.c 9 He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” 10 Now,d the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went out to Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 18

20 Then Yahweh said, “Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very ⌊serious⌋,r 21 I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress which has come to me? If not, I will know.”

Dedication

Jonah 3:3, 4

Jonah’s response to his renewed commission is one of great dedication. Instead of rising up to flee to Tarshish, as he had done when he received his first orders to go the Nineveh, he “arose, and went unto Nineveh” (v. 3) as he was ordered to do. It is either dedication or disobedience. The more you lack dedication to the will of God, the more you will be disobedient. Those who show little enthusiasm for the things of God and give little priority for serving the Lord are simply disobedient people. Their lack of dedication proclaims loudly their disobedient life.

Jonah 3:3–4+ Add anchor

Disobedience

Jonah 1:3

Jonah blatantly disobeyed the Divine commission given to him. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but instead, “Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish.” What a disappointment! We expect our heroes, especially our Bible heroes, to act nobly, courageously, and exemplary. But, alas, we discover that all heroes, even the best heroes of the faith, are human and have the old nature within them; and, therefore, they can and sometimes do fail. They may not fail as obviously and as intentionally as Jonah did, but they do fail. These failures are not to discourage us, however. Rather, the study of them can help us greatly; for we can learn much from them to help us avoid delinquencies in our own lives. Therefore, we will look intently into Jonah’s disobedience, as described in our text, and endeavor to learn as much as we can from it in order to help us be more victorious in the battle against disobedience in our own lives.

In our study of Jonah’s disobedience, we will note the spontaneity, the separation, the success, the spending, the stumbling, the society, and the stupidity of it.

A. THE SPONTANEITY OF DISOBEDIENCE

Jonah did not waste any time in heading for Tarshish once the orders were received to go to Nineveh. No sooner had God’s orders been given in verse 2, than Jonah’s disobedience began in verse 3. And the action in verse 3 moves so rapidly it almost leaves one breathless. Jonah rises up to flee, then he is in Joppa, then he finds a ship, then he pays the fare to travel on the ship, then he is down in the ship. Everything happened so alarmingly fast—it was so spontaneous.

But though it was so spontaneous, it was not without cause: for a sudden spiritual demise does not happen accidentally. Spontaneity in disobedience does not occur unless much ground work has been laid for it. We sin inwardly in thought, desire, and will before we take a single bad step outwardly. There will be a number of little falls before a great fall occurs in one’s life. Victor Hugo said that great blunders are often made like large ropes—of a multitude of fibers. David’s great fall was preceded by days of dilatoriness in his duty. Before his terrible sin with Bathsheba and subsequent ordering of her husband Uriah into a deadly battle situation, he had “tarried” in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1) when Israel’s army was at war and his duty was to be with them. In Jonah’s case we can only conclude that his spiritual health had been decaying for some time prior to his call from God; otherwise his quickness to disobey would not have happened. For some days, weeks, or even months before his call to go to Nineveh, Jonah was being conditioned for his great disobedience by inward spiritual decline.

Spontaneity to disobedience seems more common than spontaneity to obedience. Too often men seem more ready to “do evil with both hands earnestly” (Micah 7:3) than they are to do good with just one hand. Our drawing near to God is generally done at a snail’s pace, but our departure from God is frequently done by leaps and bounds. The reason for this is that we are conditioning ourselves spiritually to react disobediently more than we are conditioning ourselves to obey. We feed the flesh and make it healthy and vigorous, but we starve the spirit so it is nearly lifeless. As an example, we fill our lives with TV hour after hour; but we neglect the Bible and prayer day after day. Then when we are confronted with a Divine command, as Jonah was, or when we are confronted with temptation, as David was, our spontaneity is habitually in the direction of disobedience. So we need to keep a constant watch on our lives. Are there places where we are slipping, where we are losing ground to the devil? Are worldly habits and philosophies creeping in and bending our wills ever so subtly, but ever so surely, in the wrong direction? If these things exist, we are going to be an easy target for a sudden fall. The rapidity with which we hit the road to Joppa may shock others and even ourselves. But if the inward spiritual life has been corroding, then we will sooner or later manifest spontaneity in pronounced disobedience.

B. THE SEPARATION OF DISOBEDIENCE

Jonah in his disobedience wanted to separate himself from God. Going to Tarshish emphasized this separation and indicated he wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and God. Twice in our text we are told that Jonah’s disobedient actions took him “from the presence of the Lord.”

Some may be quite perplexed about the idea that anyone could ever leave “the presence of the Lord.” They may wonder how Jonah could actually leave an omnipresent God and if Jonah actually thought that he could do it. To clear up the perplexities about leaving the presence of God, we will consider first the possibility of leaving the presence of God and, second, the practice of leaving the presence of God.

1. The Possibility of Leaving the Presence of God

In one sense it is impossible to get away from the presence of God, for He is omnipresent. The Psalmist says, “Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Psalm 139:7, 8). But the term, “the presence of the Lord,” used in our text is not a reference to this omnipresent attribute of God. Other passages in the Bible show that this term can refer to a number of things other than God’s omnipresence. We look at some of these passages.

Genesis 4:16 speaks of Cain going “out from the presence of the Lord” after he had killed Abel and had been rebuked by God for this murder. What Cain was leaving, as the context of the Genesis text shows, was not the omnipresence of God but such things as the place where Cain worshipped God, the place where God’s Word was declared, and the place where Cain spoke with God.

Jeremiah 23:39 tells of God Himself saying to disobedient Israel, “I will … cast you out of my presence.” Obviously this did not mean God would no longer be omnipresent. What it did mean, however, was that Israel was going to be separated from some of its spiritual privileges. As an example, their Temple would be destroyed; and, furthermore, God would stop sending His prophets to them to declare His Word.

Luke 1:19 records Gabriel, the angel, when speaking to Zacharias about John the Baptist’s birth, as saying, “I am Gabriel, that stands in the presence of God.” To stand in the presence of God is used at times in the Bible to speak of serving God. Elijah spoke similarly to describe Whom he was serving when he spoke to Ahab about the coming drought. He spoke of the Lord God, “before whom I stand” (1 Kings 17:1).

From these various references about the “presence of the Lord,” we learn that the presence of the Lord does not always refer to the omnipresence of God; but rather it can refer to such things as the place of worship, the place where one hears the Word of God, the place of prayer (which is our speaking to God), and of being in the service of the Lord. With this understanding of some of the meanings of “the presence of the Lord,” we can see that fleeing “the presence of the Lord,” such as Jonah was doing, was indeed a very possible thing to do. One cannot leave the omnipresence of God; but one can leave the place of worship, the place of hearing or of reading the Word, the place of prayer, and the place of service for God. Jonah was obviously running away from service. But the Scripture will also indicate that he was fleeing the place where he heard the Word of God; plus, as we will see in future studies, he certainly was not interested in being in the place where the presence of God meant prayer. Yes, leaving the presence of the Lord is very possible, and we will notice next that it is a very frequent practice, too.

2. The Practice of Leaving the Presence of God

The presence of God is intolerable to a rebellious spirit. Therefore, we are not surprised to read that Jonah’s disobedience took him “from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah’s action is the habitual practice of sin. When one disobeys he will sooner or later separate himself from those things which represent God’s presence.

This habit of man began with the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed in the Garden of Eden, they soon “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God” (Genesis 3:8). They no longer wanted to worship God, hear the Word of God, speak (pray) to Him, or be in His service. Sin had produced that disinterest and separation from God; and the more pronounced the disobedience of a person is, the more pronounced will be the efforts to get away from God.

Another instructive illustration in Scripture of this practice of leaving the presence of God is found in John 6. There Christ was giving a discourse to a number of His followers. But many of the listeners were not very willing to submit to the way of Christ. So while Christ was speaking, they “murmured” (John 6:41) and said that what Christ was saying was a “hard saying” (John 6:60). Then they “went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66). Unwilling to submit to His Word they, like Jonah, left Him. “Hard saying” will doubtless describe what Jonah thought of the Word of God which came to him about Nineveh. But it was a “hard saying” only to disobedience, not to obedience.

Efforts today to keep the Bible and the mention and honoring of God out of the schools, government, and other places are also strong evidences of disobedience and its desire to flee from the presence of God. Such actions may be carefully disguised under legalities and “rights,” but they are simply manifestations of rebellious hearts that are very uncomfortable wherever God’s presence is cultivated. So we have court cases to keep the Word and prayer out of graduation exercises, government functions, and the like. Sin does not like the presence of God, and these actions reveal it emphatically.

Our own devotional habits will also reflect whether we are living an obedient life or not. Disobedience will produce a decline in our interest in reading and studying the Word of God and in praying. These things, as we noted above, reflect the presence of God; and we will flee from them when we walk in disobedience. Our church attendance will oftentimes reveal our obedience or lack thereof, too. Disobedience does not like the presence of God; and since worship speaks of the presence of God, church attendance will frequently suffer when disobedience enters our lives.

C. THE SUCCESS OF DISOBEDIENCE

“He found a ship going to Tarshish.” That sounds like success for Jonah’s plans. In fact, everything seemed to be working out well for Jonah in his plan to go to Tarshish. He had traveled to Joppa without incident; and when he got to Joppa, there was a ship going to the very place he wanted to go. How providential! But, as we know from reading the book of Jonah, this was not success at all. Yet, when Providence favors us in disobedience, we often conclude it is approval. Making that conclusion, however, will only encourage more disobedience. So how do we avoid this wrong interpretation of Providence and protect ourselves from this deception of evil? To answer these questions, we will consider two important things about success in disobedience: first, we will consider the expectation of this success, and second, we will consider the evaluation of this success.

1. The Expectation of This Success

When once a person determines to leave the will of God and pursue a course of disobedience, the means to pursue it will generally be found—the devil will see to that! There are plenty of ships chartered for this purpose; all waiting in the harbors of life ready to transport the rebellious person on their evil way. In fact, this life seems to give much more encouragement, support, and help for doing evil than for doing good. But we must never forget that we live in an evil world that is most interested in propagating evil. Satan is doing all he can to help and encourage evil. So the person who turns away from God’s will and heads out on the road of disobedience is going to find considerable help and apparent success. One “may be out of the way of duty and yet meet with a favorable gale” (Matthew Henry). The Psalmist was observing this when he spoke of “the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3).

If we are trying to live righteously, this success of evil can be very upsetting. But we must not let it surprise us nor throw us out of our spiritual equilibrium. It is part of life, but it is not the defeat of truth and righteousness, and it need not deceive and discourage us. To know that it exists and that it occurs, though it by no means justifies evil, will help us to keep things in perspective.

2. The Evaluation of This Success

You can evaluate this circumstantial success either by the world’s standards or by the Word’s standards.

The world’s standards. Evaluating this success of disobedience by the world’s standards will quickly conclude that Jonah’s conduct must be acceptable. Such people “make circumstances into a kind of Bible, and argue that, after all, it is impossible they can be so very bad, or Providence would not thus conspire to further their purpose” (T. Kelly). And if they are looking for an excuse to pursue a forbidden path, they will jump quickly at the smile of Providence thinking it is all the approval they need to continue their disobedience.

When Providence smiles on you, it is very easy to argue your case; for the world certainly will not disagree and neither will carnal Christians. Only the faithful souls will question your claim of justification for a questionable path because of a smiling Providence. And since there are so few faithful souls around, you will find that favorable circumstances will make your course approved by most folk. Therefore, a promotion in business, though it comes because of compromise in character or though it means missing church quite frequently, will be looked upon by most people as good success. Increasing profits will find you gaining accolades from many folk; even though to get these increased profits you have to occasionally set aside honesty. A convenient marriage which brings material security will be encouraged by just about everyone; even though it means marrying one whose salvation is very questionable. But all this evaluation is based on the standards of the world, and such evaluation fails miserably to evaluate things correctly. “The ready way is not always the right way” (Matthew Henry).

The Word’s standards. The sure and accurate way of evaluating circumstances is to go to the Word of God. In Jonah’s case, the Word plainly, very plainly, discredits any claim of success anyone could possibly see in Jonah finding the ship going to Tarshish. That was not success at all. The Word told him to go to Nineveh, and all the success in the world in getting to Tarshish did not nullify the command of God and change disobedience to obedience. Any apparent smiling circumstance must be interpreted in the light of the Word of God before it can be declared an approval, a confirmation, or affirmation of our deeds. Providence can verily help to confirm the path of obedience, and often it is a great encouragement and validation to the obedient one that what he is doing is right. But such Providence will be in full accord with the Word of God. It will walk in step with the Scriptures. It will not contradict the plain commands of the Bible.

Always evaluate any benevolent circumstance by the Word of God. In our wicked world, such an evaluation will not be encouraged by many folk. But if you want to stay anywhere near the will of God, you must make the Word of God, not some apparent helpful situation, the prime test of your ways.

D. THE SPENDING OF DISOBEDIENCE

Disobedience is not free. It costs plenty. Jonah was not exempt from the costs, and so “he paid the fare.” All who head for Tarshish in disobedience will discover there will be fares to pay.

We note here the eagerness of Jonah to pay and the extent of his paying in his disobedience.

1. The Eagerness to Pay

Jonah paid the fare without hesitation. There was no arguing, nor was there any attempt to try to sneak on board without paying the due cost for being a passenger on the ship. Later on, in disobedience, Jonah will not be so enthused over the price he must pay. But the beginning of evil adventures generally finds the disobedient more than willing to spend.

Men seldom begrudge expenses to carry out their own will. They may be very reluctant to spend to do God’s will; but when it comes to their own will, they become very liberal. Therefore, carnal expenses generally abound in men’s lives; but spiritual expenses are spaced out and regulated with considerable strictness. Spiritual expenses will be challenged, scrutinized, evaluated at length, and given low priority. But the expenses of the flesh will be approved cheerfully, quickly, and liberally. So some do not hesitate to spend lavishly on such things as a car or boat; but when a missionary offering is taken for a guest missionary, there is considerable struggle to give much of anything. Some must have the finest for their own houses. But if the church wants to do any work that would make the church look attractive, those in the plush homes often insist much of the proposed work is unnecessary. Or if they approve, they will insist the church look around to see if it can purchase any of the supplies, equipment, or furnishings from second-hand stores, cut-rate businesses, and the like. All the Jonahs will gladly pay the fare to Tarshish, but the cost of going to Nineveh will be too much to consider.

One’s spiritual condition is readily apparent in what one shows the most eagerness to spend and in what one does not want to spend. The person who must sharpen his pencil to make sure he does not pay more than a tithe is in spiritual trouble even though he tithes. Beware of those folk who, like a tax expert, want to show you what you do not need to tithe, what is not “tithable” income. Such folk, you will easily notice, will not be that picky about spending on fleshly things; and if you listen to them, they will distort your spending priorities to favor Tarshish over Nineveh every time. Disobedience becomes quite liberal in spending to help its pursuit, but it tightens up the purse strings ever so tightly for expenses that support obedience.

2. The Extent of Paying

Jonah “paid the fare” in more ways than he realized when he bought his reservation for the ship to Tarshish. Disobedience is expensive. It is much more expensive than the initial costs. The fare Jonah paid to get on the ship was just the beginning. Jonah is going to pay and pay and pay. Disobedience will cost Jonah his peace of mind, his good conscience, his honor before men, and his life (yes, Jonah died because of his disobedience; we will see this fact in a later study).

If the only cost was the fare for the reservation on the ship, then, of course, the spending for disobedience was very, very small. But the initial expense is only the tip of the iceberg. Disobedience has extravagant habits that lead to more and more spending. The Prodigal Son learned that lesson in rather short order. He soon “spent all” (Luke 15:14) in disobedience. Samson is another example of the terrific cost of disobedience. The small cost of time and energy for his early trips to Philistia soon escalated into having to obtain clothes for thirty men; and from there the spending increased until it cost him his hair, his eyesight, his super strength, his judgeship, his esteem, and finally his life.

Obedience is the best economical policy known to man, but disobedience is an economical disaster. Obedience spends on things of true value, but disobedience throws away its resources on junk. Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the world world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Many folk spend their all for just a small part of the world, let alone the whole world; but the cost of the soul always makes any product the wrong price. Therefore, plan your spending in terms of what it does for your soul, not for what it does for the appetites and pleasures of the flesh. The emphasis of obedience is the welfare of the soul. The emphasis of disobedience is the welfare of the flesh. Emphasize the soul and you practice eternal economical wisdom. Emphasize the flesh and you spend prodigiously for eternal waste.

E. THE STUMBLING OF DISOBEDIENCE

It is impossible to walk on the path of disobedience without stumbling and falling down. Jonah certainly verifies this fact. Our text records twice that he “went down.” He “went down” to Joppa, and he “went down” into the ship. A later text (2:6) records another “went down” when Jonah “went down” to the bottom of the sea after he was thrown overboard.

We can sum up Jonah’s stumbling by observing that he “went down” physically, spiritually, and continually.

1. He Went Down Physically

Each time our text records that Jonah “went down,” it refers to his physical location. First, it says he “went down to Joppa.” That was certainly true geographically which meant a physical descent for Jonah. His home was in Gath-hepher which was located in the hill country of northern Israel. Joppa was on the sea coast and so was on sea level. Hence, Jonah truly “went down” to get to Joppa. Second, we are told he “went down” into the ship—that is, when he got on the ship he went down to the lower decks (cp. 1:5). That also was a physical descent.

It seems like just about every step Jonah took when he began his disobedient ways was a step down in his physical location. Now, of course, it is not necessarily wrong to go down physically; but frequently when the Bible mentions a physical descent or ascent, it carries a spiritual lesson. As an example, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we are told a certain man “went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves” (Luke 10:30). How symbolic that is of the fall of man and of the effects of sin. Jerusalem is located on a mount, but Jericho is in the valley. Jerusalem is the city of God, but Jericho has a curse on it because of sin (Joshua 6:17). When we leave that which speaks of God and go to the place cursed by sin, we really are going down; and our prospects will eventually reflect that fact as “fell among thieves” emphasizes. All of this is illustrated in the physical location of the Good Samaritan parable. A similar lesson will be found in many other passages of Scripture, including the one before us about Jonah. His descent physically spoke of his descent spiritually which we look at next.

2. He Went Down Spiritually

“Went down” also describes well what was happening to Jonah spiritually—to his attitude about God, his relationship with God, and his service for God. Disobedience never lifts a person up where it counts the most, but it always lowers him. We speak of the fall of man when he sinned in Eden, never of the rise of man. Yet the world seems to think that the way up is often through sin. They may not come right out and say that in those exact words, but in their advice this thinking comes through clearly. The salesman is told by his superiors that he may have to lie to make a sale, the student is often encouraged by his peers to cheat to get a passing grade, and Hollywood and others exhort us to junk morals in order to gain fame and fortune and move up in the world. But moving up in this world is not moving up where it counts. Moving up in this world is only a mirage, a deceptive vision of vice. Jonah, because of sin, went all the way down from being God’s spokesman to being rebuked by a heathen shipmaster (v. 6) for not praying. What a descent that is! But sin will always do that to the sinner.

3. He Went Down Continually

Once you start sinning, you sin more and more unless you are rescued by the grace of God. One “went down” leads to another and another “went down.” One sin makes it easier to commit another sin, for each sin breaks another fiber of resistance to evil, and each fall brings more disabling injury and weakness. Once Jonah got on the sinful slide downward, he kept going down, down, and down. Twice in our text it is reported he “went down.” But the downward movement does not stop with our text, as we noted above. He kept on going down until he “went down” to the very bottom of the Mediterranean Sea (2:6). From the hills of Zebulon to the bottom of the Mediterranean is quite a descent, quite a fall.

What a strong warning Jonah’s experience is to anyone who thinks it does not matter if they sin just a little. Once you start sinning, it is very hard to get off the downward slide. Once you take that first drink, once you try drugs, once you start flirting with immorality, once you begin skipping church, once you betray a trust, and once you commit any sin, you will discover that, apart from the grace of God intervening, you will sin more and more. Though you may firmly intend to only do something once or just a few times, you still will do it again and again. Jonah went down continually, and so will anyone who chooses the path of disobedience.

F. THE SOCIETY OF DISOBEDIENCE

One of the telltale marks of disobedience is the worldly crowd with whom the disobedient person chooses to associate. A person advertises their spiritual condition very conspicuously by whom they choose as friends and associates. Our text takes the time to point out whom Jonah was traveling with—and it was definitely not the people of God. It was ungodly, pagan sailors. Jonah, in his disobedient, backslidden condition chose “to go with them.”

Man will travel with the crowd in which he is the most comfortable. This may not necessarily have to do with right and wrong; for folk of different, legitimate interests choose to be with those of like interests. Musicians like to be with musicians, farmers with farmers, teachers with teachers, etc. In the area of character, man will also, whether he realizes it or not, be surprisingly consistent to associate with those in whose presence he is the most comfortable. Lot was more comfortable with the dwellers of Sodom than he was with godly Abraham. Lot’s life and character give us little difficulty in understanding why he preferred immoral Sodom to upright Abraham. Also, Ahab certainly was more comfortable around wicked Jezebel than he was around the Prophet Elijah. We could have predicted that fact, even if Scripture did not tell us of Ahab’s dislike for Elijah; for one look at Ahab’s conduct and you know he will much prefer wicked Jezebel and her kind to Elijah. Furthermore, we should not be surprised when the carnal in our churches leave and seek out a more worldly type church whose standards are not nearly as strong. They are simply seeking a crowd in which they can feel more comfortable.

When folk sin, they prefer the world to God’s people because the world is certainly not going to give them much rebuke for their sin. Rather, the world will probably do much to encourage their sin. So the sinner will not mind the world’s company. But he will not like the company of God’s people and especially of God’s preacher, who is a living protest to the unholiness of the sinner’s ways.

The habit of disobedience to prefer and associate with the worldly crowd will help one spot the two-faced church member. As an example, some members feign allegiance to the church, but their close friendship with the dissident church member gives them away. If they were truly of the faithful, they would not be chumming with the unfaithful. Jonah’s society gives away Jonah’s spiritual condition. When you “go with them,” you tell all the world you are not right with God.

G. THE STUPIDITY OF DISOBEDIENCE

In view of what we have considered of Jonah’s disobedience, it is very obvious that disobedience is a very stupid act. No one makes a greater fool of himself than he who tries to go contrary to the will of God. In his disobedience, Jonah attempted the ridiculous and the impossible. He abandoned the indispensable and thought he could succeed. He tried to escape from God but ended up colliding with Him. He endeavored to manage his own life apart from God but only managed himself into trouble with God and with all those around him. He did not want the trouble of going to Nineveh but only ran into more trouble going the other way. He tried a recipe for life that is very popular, but it leaves out the most important ingredient of all—obedience to God. Hence, he indeed played the fool.

In referring to Jonah’s disobedience, J. O. Keen said, “Disobedience is moral mania.” We have many cute and dignified sounding names for sin today, but “moral mania” is still what sin is. The world dresses up disobedience in the finest looking arguments and titles possible and encourages and applauds it. But that will never change the fact that disobedience to God is stupidity. And it is stupidity no matter who is doing it. Jonah may be a prophet of God, but that does not alter the character of his disobedience. The sin of the prophet is just as sinful and just as stupid as the sin of a profligate.

The Apostle Paul also spoke of sin as folly. In describing the character of those who reject God, he said, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” (Romans 1:22). “Moral mania,” “fools,” and “stupidity” is language much too strong for disobedience as far as most folk are concerned today. But timidity in labeling sin reveals a corrupt heart, not a charitable heart.

Instead of calling disobedience stupidity, foolish, or moral mania, the world would call obedience to God by those names. But the world is all mixed up. Paul showed how mixed up the world was when he said, “We are fools for Christ’s sake,” (1 Corinthians 4:10). Paul did not believe he was a fool in following Christ, but he made that statement to show what the world thinks of those who follow Christ. How mixed up men have to be in order to think that obedience to Christ belongs in the category of “fool” and that Apostle Paul was a “fool” for living for Christ. But disobedience to God really messes up the mind—as can be attested by Jonah’s action when he disobeyed God and by the action of the disobedient in every age.1

1 Butler, J. G. (1994). Jonah: The Parochial Prophet (Vol. Number Two, pp. 29–43). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

Jonah 3:3 NLT Study Bible

3:3 a city so large that it took three days to see it all: Literally a great city to God, of three days’ journey. God desired to save rather than destroy such a vast city, one teeming with human and natural resources (4:11). This desire on God’s part was precisely what Jonah fought against (see 4:2, 10–11). • The city’s circumference was roughly three miles, and it would not have taken three days to walk around it. This description possibly indicates how long it took Jonah to spread his message throughout the city. It might also include the surrounding villages along with the city.

Jonah 3:4 MSBNASB

3:4 Yet forty days. The time frame may harken back to Moses’ supplication for 40 days and nights at Sinai (Dt 9:18, 25). Jonah’s message, while short, accomplishes God’s intended purpose.

Jonah 3:4 NLT Study Bible

3:4 Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed! Jonah’s message apparently did not include a contingency clause—e.g., “But if you repent, God will not destroy you” (note the king’s uncertainty in 3:9). Jonah knew, however, of God’s desire for people to repent rather than be destroyed (3:10; 4:2).

Set NotebookDefault (Times New Roman)24AAAnchorsJonah 3:5–6 NLT Study Bible

3:5–6 For the second time in this short book, pagans respond favorably to the Lord (cp. 1:16). • In ancient Israel, fasting would often accompany prayer and repentance in times of distress (see 2 Sam 1:12; Neh 1:4). Wearing burlap and sitting on a heap of ashes would often accompany mourning and sorrowful repentance (see Gen 37:34; Job 16:15; Lam 2:10). The Assyrians apparently had similar customs. These activities allowed the participants to express their grief in a tangible way for all, including God, to see. • The repentance of the Ninevites was an indictment against the hard-hearted in Jesus’ day (Matt 12:41).

Set NotebookDefault (Times New Roman)24AAAnchorsJonah 3:5–6 NLT Study Bible

Jonah 3:6 MSBNASB

3:6 The king of Nineveh, thought to be either Adad-nirari III (ca. 810–783) or Assurdan III (ca. 772–755), exchanged his royal robes for sackcloth and ashes (cf. Job 42:6; Is 58:5). Reports of Jonah’s miraculous fish experience may have preceded him to Nineveh, accounting for the swift and widespread receptivity of his message (cf. 1:2). It is generally believed that acid from the fish’s stomach would have bleached Jonah’s face, thus validating the experience.

Jonah 3:7–8 NLT Study Bible

3:7–8 By extending the fast and the mourning rituals to animals, the king communicated that this dire emergency required all normal operations to cease so that everyone might pray earnestly and repent of their evil ways. The violence that had come to permeate their society topped the list.

Jonah 3:10 NLT Study Bible

3:10 he changed his mind: Had the people of Nineveh not repented, God would have destroyed them (3:4). But God was ready to meet their repentance with mercy (see 4:2, 11). In God’s mind, the change did not reverse his original intention, because his disposition always included the possibility of mercy. Nor does this change in God’s mind say anything about God’s foreknowledge. Historically, the church has believed that God knows the future fully (see Ps 139:4; Isa 46:10; Dan 2:28–29; Matt 24:36). Nothing in this account contradicts that belief.

Jonah 3:10 MSBNASB

3:10 God saw … God relented. See notes on 2Sa 24:16; Jer 42:10 (cf. Jer 18:7, 8). The Ninevites truly repented.

Genesis 18:20–21 POSB KJV Ge 2

3 (18:20–21) Justice, God’s—God, Love of: How does a person become an intercessor, a prayer warrior? By sensing the pain of God’s heart over the wickedness of man. God told Abraham that He was going to execute justice, examine Sodom and Gomorrah to see if their sin was so great that they needed to be destroyed. Note how softly God made this statement: He did not say that He was going to destroy the cities, but rather that He was going down to examine them, to examine the outcry for justice that was rising against them. Scripture tells us that God is longsuffering, not willing that any person should perish (2 Pe. 3:9; 1 Ti. 2:4; Eze. 33:11). The wording of God’s statement indicates just this: He wanted to extend His mercy and give the people every chance to repent and turn to Him. His heart was hurting and suffering pain ……

Jonah is Antry at Yahweh’s Compassion

Jonah 4:1–7 NLT Study Bible

4:1–7 The account takes an unexpected turn. Jonah, himself a recipient of God’s mercy, complains about the mercy that the Lord has dispensed to the Assyrians. The prophet’s insolence only magnifies God’s grace (see 4:8–11 for God’s response).

Jonah NLT Study Bible

Jonah is unique among the prophetic books. It narrates God’s sending of a prophet to Assyria, an enemy of Israel, and the widespread repentance that resulted. The lesson Jonah learned was evidently one that the entire nation of Israel needed. That lesson may be summed up in the last line of Jonah’s psalm-prayer, “my salvation comes from the Lord alone” (2:9, literally salvation belongs to the Lord). Salvation is the Lord’s to give to whomever he pleases, and those who have received God’s mercy must not try to restrict the flow of God’s mercy to others, even their enemies (see 4:1–11).

Salvation, then, whether from the threat of physical harm or from judgment, is directly related to God’s sovereignty. The sailors were saved after God calmed the storm. Jonah was saved from drowning when God sent the fish to swallow him. There is no domain, even in the depths of the ocean, from which God cannot deliver and protect human life. Likewise, there is no nation that God cannot judge

14. But the Ninevites, although a barbarous and foreign people who had never participated in any of these benefits, small or great, neither words, nor wonders, nor works, when they saw a man who had been saved from shipwreck, who had never associated with them before, but appeared then for the first time, enter their city and say “yet three days and Nineveh shall be overthrown,”1 were so converted and reformed by the mere sound of these words, and putting away their former wickedness, advanced in the direction of virtue by the path of repentance, that they caused the sentence of God to be revoked, and arrested the threatened disturbance of their city, and averted the heaven-sent wrath, and were delivered from every kind of evil. “For,” we read, “God saw that every man turned from his evil way, and was converted to the Lord.”2 How turned? I ask. Although their wickedness was great, their iniquity unspeakable, their moral sores difficult to heal, which was plainly shown by the prophet when he said “their wickedness ascended even unto the heaven:”3 indicating by the distance of the place the magnitude of their wickedness; nevertheless such great iniquity which was piled up to such a height as to reach even to the heaven, all this in the course of three days in a brief moment of time through the effect of a few words which they heard from the mouth of one man and he an unknown shipwrecked stranger they so thoroughly abolished, removed out of sight, and put away, as to have the happiness of hearing the declaration “God saw that every one turned from his evil way, and He repented of the evil which God said He would do them.” Seest thou that he who is temperate and watchful not only suffers no injury at the hands of man, but even turns back Heaven-sent wrath? whereas he who betrays himself and harms himself by his own doing, even if he receives countless benefits, reaps no great advantage. So, at least, the Jews were not profited by those great miracles, nor on the other hand were the Ninevites harmed by having no share in them; but inasmuch as they were inwardly well-disposed, having laid hold of a slight opportunity they became better, barbarians and foreigners though they were, ignorant of all divine revelation, and dwelling at a distance from Palestine.

Nahum 1:1 IVPBBCOT

1:1. Nineveh. This oracle against the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh most likely dates to the period between 663 b.c. (the date that the Egyptian city of Thebes is captured by the Assyrians—Nahum 3:8) and the fall of the city to a combined army of Babylonians and Medes in 612 b.c. Nineveh, on the east bank of the Tigris River (ancient Kuyunjik and modern Mosul), was about six hundred miles upriver from the Persian Gulf and just over 250 miles from Babylon. It functioned as one of the major cities of Assyria for much of its history— serving the Old Akkadian, Amorite and Mitanni dynasties prior to the establishment of the Middle Assyrian kingdom in the mid-fourteenth century b.c. At the height of this expanding empire’s power, in the reign of Sennacherib (705–681 b.c.), it became Assyria’s capital. Excavation of its palaces has revealed stone reliefs of the invasion and ransacking of Judah in 701. The library of its last great king, Ashurbanipal (668–627 …

lt (Times New Roman)24AAAnchorsBBS Jonah

Displeasure

Jonah 4:1–3

If men were writing the Bible apart from the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the book of Jonah would only have three chapters, not four. We like happy endings to our stories, books, and experiences. Chapter 3 ends in happiness, but not chapter 4. Chapter 3 ends on a very high note with the spiritual awakening and turning to God in Nineveh. As far as men are concerned, it would, therefore, make a grand and glorious finale to the book. But not Chapter 4. It is not our kind of ending. It makes the book of Jonah end on a sour note in our thinking. It is a chapter filled with unhappiness. Jonah is unhappy with God’s behavior, and God is unhappy with Jonah’s behavior.

Jonah 4:2 NLT Study Bible

4:2 Jonah expresses his motive in originally fleeing from the Lord (1:3): He knew that the Lord would not destroy the wicked Ninevites if they repented. • I knew: Jonah practically quotes Exod 34:6–7, a passage set in the context of Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord. Even in the OT, God was concerned to spread salvation to the nations (cp. Matt 28:18–20).

Set NotebookDefault (Times New Roman)24AAAnchorsJonah NLT Study Bible

BBS Jonah

Displeasure

Jonah 4:1–3

Jonah NLT Study Bible

This is alone true wisdom, to submit ourselves wholly to the will of God.

JOHN CALVIN

Commentary on Jonah, s.v. 4:3

Jonah 4:3 MSBNASB

4:3 death is better … than life. Perhaps Jonah was expressing the reality of breaking his vow (2:9) to God a second time (cf. Nu 30:2; Ecc 5:1–6).

HNTC 1-2 Pe/1-3 Jn

Yahweh—The Hebrew personal name of God revealed to Moses; came to be thought too holy to be pronounced by Jews; often translated Lord or Jehovah.

Jonah 4:6 MSBNASB

4:6 a plant. The identity is uncertain, but it possibly could be the fast-growing castor oil plant, which in hot climates grows rapidly to give shade with its large leaves.

The phrase “to ease his discomfort” is literally “to deliver him24 from his evil” (rāʿâ). The latter word is the term occurring throughout the book with its two senses, “wickedness” or “trouble, calamity” (see comments at 1:2; 4:1). The translation of the NIV, “discomfort,” while perhaps on the side of understatement, does express the general state of Jonah’s malcontent. No doubt the heat was a major cause for this discontent. The mean daily maximum temperature in Mesopotamia is about 110 degrees, so the temperature was a factor. Any shade would have been most welcome. Perhaps adding to his discomfort was the sound of mourning and supplication from the city below him. From his overlooking perch he could hear the cries of the cattle and the wailings and earnest beseechings of the human inhabitants.25 These factors, combined with the restlessness that inevitably occurs when a believer is out of the perfect will of God, accounted for Jonah’s discomfort.

The last clause in this verse, “and Jonah was very happy about the vine,” is both fascinating and tragic. Literally, the text says that “Jonah rejoiced over the vine with a great rejoicing.” He was not just happy; he was deliriously happy. The miraculous growth of this vine caused Jonah to experience an emotion that is otherwise unrecorded in the book. In other words, for the first time Jonah was happy. He did not experience this emotion either in his own deliverance from certain death or from the mass turning of the people of Nineveh. His happiness was induced by a plant. His emotion as expressed in 4:1, in fact, at Nineveh’s deliverance was the exact opposite of that expressed here. Perhaps his reason for happiness was twofold. First, there was some relief from the horrible heat. But he also saw in the miraculous growth of this vine an indication of God’s favor and thus a vindication of his own feelings of disappointment at Nineveh’s repentance. This was not a game26 or a trick27 God was playing on Jonah; he was in the process of teaching him an important lesson. Jonah’s supposed vindication would be as short-lived as the vine.1

24 24 The verb for “deliver,” נצל, is a play on the word for “shade,” צל. There also is intentional ambiguity in the use of רָעָה, for while God’s immediate purpose for the vine was to relieve Jonah’s discomfort, his real purpose was to deliver Jonah from his sinful attitude.

25 25 Kirk, Life and Mission, 217.

26 26 Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah, 170.

27 27 Allen, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, 231.

1 Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, pp. 278–279). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Jonah 4:8 MSBNASB

4:8 scorching east wind. A hot, scorching wind, normally called “sirocco,” blowing off the Arabian desert. The shelter Jonah made for himself (v. 5) would not exclude this agent of God’s sovereignty.

Jonah 4:10 MSBNASB

4:10, 11 God’s love for the people of Nineveh, whom He had created, is far different from Jonah’s indifference to their damnation and greater than Jonah’s warped concern for a wild plant for which he had done nothing. God was ready to spare Sodom for 10 righteous; how much more a city which includes 120,000 small children, identified as those who cannot discern the right hand from the left (cf. Ge 18:22, 23). With that many 3 or 4 year old children, it is reasonable to expect a total population in excess of 600,000.

Jonah 4:11 NLT Study Bible

4:11 people living in spiritual darkness (literally people who don’t know their right hand from their left): God graciously sent the light of his prophetic word into a wicked city. Not all who encounter God’s light respond favorably (cp. John 3:19–21), but God is eager to save those who receive his word in genuine repentance and faith. • The book closes abruptly, leaving the reader to ponder God’s final question to Jonah. God would rather save than destroy. Those who have received his mercy must be glad for that same mercy to be shown to others, even to their enemies.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 11

30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

Luke 11:30

11:29–30. Jonah’s preaching was a simple message of judgment, but that was all that Nineveh required in his generation.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 11

32 The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, something* greater than Jonah is here!

Luke 11:32

11:31–32. Jewish discussions of the end times included converts from among the poor who would testify against those who said they were too poor to follow God; and similarly converts among the rich, converts among the Gentiles and so on. Here Jesus appeals to pagans who converted. Jewish people probably thought of the “Queen of the South,” the queen of Sheba, as the queen of Ethiopia, which was considered the southernmost part of the world (cf. Acts 8:27).

Revelation 18:5

18:5. Jewish people recognized in the Old Testament (e.g., Gen 15:16; 2 Kings 22:20) that if God’s full judgment was delayed, it meant only that he was storing up retribution for the sins of many generations to pour them out on an even more wicked generation (also Mt 23:34–36).

See 2 Kings 14:25 Yahweh via Johan the Prophet restored Israel, by his word. Amazing nugget.

Context of Scripture

to the place where lot casting occurs. The text reads, “In his eponymy (assigned to him by) his die, may the harvest of Assyria prosper and thrive. Before Aššur (and) Adad, may he throw his die.” We can scroll up a bit to discover the origins of this inscription. The name of the inscription is The Die of Yaḫali and it originates from Assyria. Younger writes. “The use of lots for many legal and commercial purposes is well attested throughout ancient Mesopotamian history. Presumably the inscribed lots were thrown, either by their owners or an impartial third party, and priority was established by the location in which they fell.” Younger continues to explain the possible mechanics of this particular lot.

What’s also interesting here is Younger’s last statement about this text: “The term in this inscription translated “die” (i.e. pūru) provides the name for the festival of Purim in the book of Esther. Lots were used in a number of instances in the Hebrew Bible.” Here we have both an ancient Assyrian reference to lot casting and another statement about the prominence of this practice in the Hebrew Bible.1

1 Logos Pro Team. (2016). LT271 Study the Bible with Logos: Jonah 1. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

21. And that these words are not a vain boast, shall be made manifest to you from things that have already happened. What could be more stupid than the Ninevites? What more devoid of understanding? Yet, nevertheless, these barbarian, foolish people, who had never yet heard any one teaching them wisdom, who had never received such precepts from others, when they heard the prophet saying, “Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,”2 laid aside, within three days, the whole of their evil customs. The fornicator became chaste; the bold man meek; the grasping and extortionate moderate and kind; the slothful industrious. They did not, indeed, reform one, or two, or three, or four vices by way of remedy, but the whole of their iniquity. But whence does this appear, says some one? From the words of the prophet; for the same who had been their accuser, and who had said, that “the cry of their wickedness hath ascended up even to heaven:”3 himself again bears testimony of an opposite kind, by saying, “God saw that every one departed from their own evil ways.”4 He does not say, from fornication, or adultery, or theft, but from their “own evil ways.” And how did they depart? As God knew, not as man judged of the matter. After this are we not ashamed, must we not blush, if it turns out that in three days only the barbarians laid aside all their wickedness, but that we, who have been urged and taught during so many days,5 have not got the better of one bad habit? These men had, moreover, gone to the extreme of wickedness before; for when you hear it said, “The cry of their wickedness is come up before me;” you can understand nothing else than the excess of their wickedness. Nevertheless, within three days they were capable of being transformed to a state of complete6 virtue. For where the fear of God is, there is no need of days, or of an interval of time; as likewise, on the contrary, days are of no service where there is a want of this fear. For just as in the case of rusted7 implements, he that rubs them only with water, though he spend a long time on them, will not rid them of all that foulness; but he that puts them in a furnace, will make them presently brighter than even those newly fabricated: so too a soul, stained with the rust of sin, if it cleanse itself slightly, and in a negligent way, and be every day repenting, will gain no further advantage. But if it cast itself into the furnace, as it were, of the fear of God, it will in a very short time purge all away.

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