Jonah 2.8-Jonah Declares That Those Who Worship Idols Forfeit God's Mercy Available To Them
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday October 28, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 2:8-Jonah Declares That Those Who Worship Idols Forfeit God’s Mercy Available To Them
Lesson # 32
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 2:1.
This evening we will note Jonah 2:8 and in this verse, Jonah declares that those who worship idols forfeit God’s mercy available to them.
Jonah 2:1, “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said, ‘I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. 3 ‘For You had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 4 So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, but You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. 8 Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness.” (NASU)
“Those who regard vain idols” is composed of the masculine plural piel active participle form of the verb šā∙mǎr (שָׁמַר) (shaw-mar), “those who regard,” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun šāwe(ʾ) (שָׁוְא) (shawv), “vain,” which is modifying the masculine plural form of the noun hě∙ḇěl (הֶבֶל) (heh-bel), “idols.”
The verbal root šā∙mǎr appears in the piel stem only in Jonah 2:8 and means “to regard, to revere” and is used of man’s attitude of having reverence for worthless, impotent idols.
It speaks of having a worshipful trust and reliance upon an idol.
The verb describes the attitude of paying attention to worthless idols with an inappropriate attitude of reverence.
By way of metonymy it refers to the act of worshipping worthless, impotent idols.
The verb is in the plural and participle form functioning as a relative clause meaning “those who worship.”
The piel stem is iterative referring to an activity that is done multiple times or as a lifestyle indicating worshipping worthless idols “as a lifestyle.”
The noun hě∙ḇěl is in the plural form and means “idols” with emphasis upon the idol’s lack of value and impotence.
It is used as a designation for false gods worshipped by the people of God (Deuteronomy 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13, 26; 2 Kings 17:15; Jeremiah 2:5; 8:19; and the heathen (Jeremiah 10:8, 15; 51:18; Psalm 31:6).
The noun šāwe(ʾ) means “worthless” since the word is used to describe an idol’s lack of value.
Psalm 31:6, “I hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.” (NET)
Jonah 2:8, “Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness.” (NASU)
“Forsake their faithfulness” is composed of the third person masculine plural qal active imperfect form of the verb ʿā∙zǎḇ (עָזַב) (aw-zab), “forsake” and the third person masculine plural pronomial suffix hē∙mā(h) (־הֵמָה), “their” and the masculine singular construct form of the noun ḥě∙sěḏ (חֶסֶד) (khaw-sad), “faithfulness.”
The verb ʿā∙zǎḇ means “to forfeit” and is used of those who as a lifestyle worship worthless idols referring to idolaters “forfeiting” the mercy that God gives to sinners.
In relation to idolaters among God’s people, if they confess their sin of idolatry they will receive mercy from God in the sense that they won’t be disciplined by Him.
However, if they don’t confess it and obey God’s Word, they will “forfeit” God’s mercy in the sense that they will be disciplined.
Proverbs 28:13, “The one who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy.” (NET)
Isaiah 55:7, “The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.” (NET)
In relation to heathen idolaters, in the Old Testament if they trusted in Yahweh, they received mercy from Him in the sense that they received the forgiveness of their sins and were entered into a covenant relationship with Him.
However, if they did not trust in Him, they “forfeited” the mercy that God would have given them in the sense that they “forfeit” the forgiveness of theirs sins that was available to them if they had trusted in Him.
In relation to heathen idolaters, among church age believers in the New Testament, if they confess their sin of idolatry, they will receive mercy from God in the sense that they won’t be disciplined by Him and will be restored to fellowship with Him.
However, if they don’t confess it, they will “forfeit” God’s mercy in the sense that they won’t be restored to fellowship and will be disciplined.
In relation to heathen idolaters, in the New Testament, if they trust in Jesus Christ who is the Yahweh of the Old Testament, they receive mercy from Him in the sense that they receive the forgiveness of their sins and are entered into union with Christ and identified with Him.
However, if they do not trust in Him, they “forfeit” the mercy that God would have given them in the sense that they “forfeit” the forgiveness of theirs sins that was available to them if they had trusted in Him.
So mercy is available to both the believer and the unbeliever and is appropriated through faith.
Jonah appropriated God’s mercy that was available to him as a member of the covenant people Israel by exercising faith in the Lord by praying to Him for deliverance from death.
The noun ḥě∙sěḏ means “mercy” which refers to withholding judgment.
In context, Jonah is thanking the Lord for the mercy he received from Him even though he was disobedient to the Lord and refused to go to Nineveh and proclaim judgment against it.
The prophet is thanking the Lord for “withholding judgment” against him by not killing him for his disobedience.
Further supporting the fact that ḥě∙sěḏ means “mercy” is that the word in Jonah 4:2 means “mercy” where it is used of Jonah speaking of God’s mercy, which the prophet did not want God to exercise towards the repentant Ninevites.
In Jonah 2:8, the noun ḥě∙sěḏ is an objective genitive rather than subjective since in context Jonah is thanking the Lord for the mercy he received from Him when he was saved by the Lord from drowning even though he was disobedient to the Lord (See NET; NIV).
So here the noun takes the third person masculine plural pronomial suffix hē∙mā(h) in an objective sense referring to the Lord’s mercy which is “available to” those who as a lifestyle worship worthless idols.
God’s love is “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Eph. 2:1-7).
Ephesians 2:1-7 teaches us that God’s attribute of love causes Him to be “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them when they believe in Jesus Christ.
Mercy is God acting upon His policy of grace and withholding judgment and is a manifestation of Who God is and helps to compose His glory (Ex. 34:7).
The mercy of God is related to the believer’s salvation since God saved us on the basis of His mercy and not on the basis of human merit or actions (Tit. 3:5).
To summarize, Jonah 2:8 looks back at the mercy God made available to Jonah and which the rebellious prophet appropriated by faith in the Lord resulting in his deliverance from drowning even though he was insubordinate to the Lord.
It also looks back at the crew’s deliverance from death as well.
It also serves as a precursor for the mercy God exercised towards the Ninevites when they believed in Him and repented from their evil conduct.
Jonah 2:8 continues Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for delivering him from drowning.
In this verse, the prophet is expressing his thanks to the Lord for His mercy that was extended to him even though he was disobedient to the Lord.
It would serve as a warning to those in Israel who were in apostasy to forsake their idols otherwise they would forfeit the mercy that was available to them and would be disciplined severely by the Lord.
It also prepares us for the hypocrisy of Jonah in that he did not want God to exercise His mercy towards the Ninevites when they repented even though he received it in the face of his disobedience.
Like the Ninevites, Jonah was involved in idolatry.
However unlike the Ninevites, he did not worship figurines or idols made of wood and metal.
Rather, his idolatry was expressed by the fact that his hatred of the Ninevites was greater than his obedience to the Lord.
His hatred was above his obedience to the Lord.
This verse as well as the entire prayer of thanksgiving implies that Jonah has confessed his sin of rebelling against the Lord and fleeing from his service commission to the Lord and not going to Nineveh to proclaim judgment against it.
This is further indicated in that in Jonah 3, we have Jonah obeying the Lord’s command. Jonah confessed his disobedience to the Lord and repented, i.e. changed his attitude and went to Nineveh.
However, Jonah 4:1-2 reveals he did not confess his hatred of the Ninevites and did not repent of his attitude towards them.