A lesson on grace (Jonah 1)
Jonah is a literary masterpiece. It is filled with surprising twists, irony, humor, drama, and unbelievable miracles.
Out of all twelve minor prophets in the bible, Jonah is the most familiar one. Why? Because of Jonah and the (not whale) but big fish. And out of all twelve minor prophets in the bible, Jonah is different in genre. It is written as a narrative whereas the other minor prophets are written as prophecy. In other words, we see them hear the word of the Lord and speak the word of the Lord.
The book of Jonah is called a minor prophet, not because it is less important than all the other prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but because of its length. It is only four chapters long.
But the saying is true: dynamite does come in small packages. Although the book of Jonah is small in length, it is deep in theology, the character of God, who he is and what he does.
Chapter 2:9 says,
“But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.”
Why?
Chapter 4: 2 says,
“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Our God is in the business of saving sinners because he is compassionate. Let me say it in this way. God is the evangelist because he cares for the lost. We are gonna see that played out in the book of Jonah beginning in chapter 1.
God is concerned about the wicked because he is compassionate
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: v2 Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah 1:1-2
It does not seem like God is concerned about this city but he is. We know this because he sent Jonah the preacher to warn Nineveh of God’s impending judgement.
Tim Keller said,
"If God wants to smash Nineveh, he doesn't need a messenger, but if God wants to save Nineveh, He does...The only possible reason God would have to send a messenger to Nineveh is He wants to give Nineveh a chance. He wants to save Nineveh. He wants to have mercy on Nineveh. He wants to help Nineveh. He wants to turn them from their violence."
And one can get this assertion from Jeremiah 18: 7 - 8,
7 “If at any time I announce (through a messenger) that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned (through a messenger) repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.”
So when God wants to save sinners he warns them. He sent John the Baptist who said to the Pharisees,
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matthew 3: 7b - 8). He sent Jesus who called us to turn away from our sin and turn to God for forgiveness so that we may have eternal life”.
What motivates God to do this? Compassion and grace. What a remarkable God! Think about it, the Ninevites were a wicked people and God saw all their wickedness. He saw their violence (3: 8), He saw them plotting evil against him, he saw their cruelty and plundering in war, prostitution, witchcraft and commercial exploitation (Nahum 1: 11, 2: 12 - 13; 3: 1, 4, 16, 19).
Nahum 3: 1 - 4 describes their wickedness;
“Woe to the city of blood,
full of lies,
full of plunder,
never without victims!
The crack of whips,
the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
and jolting chariots!
Charging cavalry,
flashing swords
and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
piles of dead,
bodies without number,
people stumbling over the corpses—
all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries,
who enslaved nations by her prostitution
and peoples by her witchcraft”.
Nineveh was a wicked, rebellious nation yet God was concerned about them. Nineveh was not interested in God yet he was interested in them. So much so that he raised up a messenger and said go and warn them. Do you see? God is concerned about the wicked because he is compassionate.
But Jonah isn’t:
“But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, when he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” v3
Jonah decides he does not want to go. So he flees his mission (v3). Twice we are told that Jonah ran away from the Lord.
I do not think he intended to run away from the presence of God. This is futile because Psalm 139: 7 - 12 tells us,
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths you are there, if I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”
Jonah must have known this.
I do not think he intended to run away from the actual presence of God, instead to escape his divinely appointed task.
Why?
Perhaps fear of what they will do to him.
Remember Nineveh was a violent and cruel city and Jonah’s message wasn’t a happy go lucky one.
He was commissioned by the one true God to go and tell them that God is going to punish them for their evil ways. No one likes this type of message.
So perhaps he ran away out of fear.
Perhaps, just like Moses, he wasn’t eloquent in his speech.
or
Perhaps he didn’t want to go because he was a racist.
Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. It was pagan nation and was of a different race to Jonah. And Assyria brutally destroyed Israel and Judah, Jonah’s country. Perhaps Jonah didn’t want to go to a pagan enemy race because he was a racist.
But he did not go for these reasons. He gives us the reason in chapter 4: 2,
“O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Do you see why Jonah did not want to go and preach to the wicked Ninevites? Because he knew that if they heard his message and turned away from their evil ways, God would have forgiven them. He would have withheld his wrath from them. So Jonah, knowing the character of God, says, “No way am I going to let them be forgiven. They deserve God’s wrath! They have sinned against you, drop the hammer on them Lord!”
What does this tell us about Jonah? What kind of a person is he? A person who lacks compassion and concern for sinners. A person who does not share the same convictions and emotions as God does for unbelievers.
Are you this kind of person? We need to think carefully about this.
For God is not only concerned about the wicked in Nineveh but also in your city and neighbourhood.
The hindu, the muslim, the atheist has a special place in God’s heart. God is concerned about the bossy, insensitive, inconsiderate and arrogant neighbour who shakes his fist at God, laughs and scoffs at Christians.
We live in a community where everything goes. If that god can give me stuff then I will worship it. If that material thing can bring me happiness, then I will pursue it at all cost, even if it cost me my health, family and life. Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling, sex, homosexuality, prostitution, bribery, the LGBTQ+, same sex marriages are part and parcel of our community. And you know what? God is concerned about every single person who has given themselves over to these sins.
Think about someone who is doing something that is utterly disobedient to God. You got someone in mind. God is concerned about him or her because he is compassionate.
You say what? Are you sure? How do you know?
We (Christians) are here. You have been strategically planted by God in your city, suburb, community to make disciples.
Matthew 28: 1, “Jesus said go and tell the world about me and my commands. Go and tell them of my wonders and works and what I did for them”.
Have you done this lately? Have you ever done this? Do you intend to do this? If not then you are no different to Jonah! Whilst people are crying out to gods that cannot hear them, are we as a church sleeping like Jonah? V4, “Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
V5 “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah has gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.”
There is chaos up top, things are flying overboard, people are crying out for help but nothing is happening, but Jonah is fast asleep. He does not care.
Did you spot the irony in the story? The irony is that the pagan Captain is more concerned about the safety of his passengers, including Jonah, than the messenger of God.
v6, “The captain went to him and said, How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”
How dismal is Jonah at this point? It is sad to say, but it is true, sometimes pagans are more concerned about people than we are. And if we take a closer look at ourselves, we might find that we are more like Jonah than we actually think. Are we turning a deaf ear to the cries of unbelievers?
Here’s the bottom line beloved, there are people in Newlands who are dying and going to hell.
So arise, go and preach, teach, share, testify, invite people to come and hear the good news about Jesus Christ and how he rescues sinners.
Why don’t you share your testimony with someone? Jonah did it in v9, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the land.”
You can say, I am a Christian and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven who made everything and sent his son Jesus to die for me on the cross and promises eternal life to all who believe. If they don’t listen or care. That’s fine, move onto the next person and the next person and the next person.
God is concerned about the wicked in our cities and neighbourhoods because he is compassionate and so should we.
May this word be a blessing to your heart.
God Bless.
