Jonah - 1
Introduction
The prophet Jonah is often criticised because he was disobedient to God's command that he should go and preach against the wicked city Nineveh. However, there are certain things about him that we should remember. We should remember his prayer in the depths of the sea after he was thrown out of the ship in which he was running away. We should remember his honesty when he confessed to the ship's crew that the violent storm they were in was his fault. We should remember his self-sacrifice in choosing to die for others if that were necessary.
So what can we discover about this man Jonah from the Old Testament book that tells his story? What do we know about him? When Israel was divided into two kingdoms after the death of King Solomon, an evil king, Jeroboam, ruled the ten tribes in the northern kingdom. This northern kingdom was eventually taken into captivity by the kingdom of Assyria. Jonah lived in the period between Jeroboam's revolt and this captivity. He lived at the same time as Elisha and both prophesied in Israel, in the kingdom of Samaria. All this was about eight hundred years before Christ.
We have a glimpse of Jonah's life and ministry in the Second Book of Kings and chapter fourteen. What sort of time was it in which Jonah lived? It was a time of bad leadership and a time of sin. We read in 2 Kings 14 verse 24 concerning King Jeroboam the second: "He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit". We know from the following verses that all of this led to suffering and oppression and bitter affliction for everyone.
Jonah might have been given a scathing message of judgement and denunciation, but he tells them in verses 26 and 27 of 2 Kings 24 that God had seen them in their need and had spoken to them when they were oppressed and had actually delivered them from nations that would have destroyed them. The Lord had done this because He was not going to blot out the name of Israel from under heaven. He even used the wicked king Jeroboam to save them. So Jonah lived in a time when the people no longer worshipped the true God and they no longer obeyed His commands. The Word of God was no longer precious to them. The inevitable result of this was misery, isolation and oppression. They were deprived of God's blessings, they were lost and utterly without hope. It is summed up in verse 26, "There was no one to help them".
Isn't that a picture of the people in our day? Humanly speaking there is no one to help them. There is no one who can deliver them from the power of sin. Jonah, in his day, had a message of grace from the Lord. God was even using an evil king to achieve His purposes for His people, despite their wickedness. Clearly Jonah knew something of the extraordinary patience of God and it amazed him and perhaps perplexed him.
This little snapshot of the life of Jonah is actually the key to his perception of things as it's recorded at the beginning of chapter 4. Here we see that he is angry when God spares the wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah probably expected to live out his days in his own land. The Israelites were an exclusive people, everything about them created a dividing wall between them and the other nations. Of course Israel was to be separate from the Gentiles for a specific time and purpose. They were called by God to be the custodians or guardians of the grace that the Gentiles would inherit in due time. They should never have forgotten that the covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also embraced the Gentile world. God had said to Abraham, "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. The very name Abraham means "father of many nations."
During the Old Testament period there were the few like Isaiah the prophet who saw the universal grace of God involving all the nations. The Psalmist David caught the same vision when he says in Psalm 2, "Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession.” Did you know that the very central chapter of the whole Bible is Psalm 117 and here we read, "O praise the Lord all you nations, extol Him all you peoples. For great is His love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever."
The Jewish nation was chosen by God for His special blessing. Through them he would fulfil His purposes for the salvation of all men, but they saw God as their own exclusive God and had a very narrow understanding of His love for the whole world. Jonah shared that view and the Lord had to show him how wrong he was. Even today there are those who have this same narrow view of God's grace and don't realise that they should have a great vision and compassion for the lost all over the world. Before his conversion the apostle Paul said that this was his attitude and he hated and even persecuted those Gentiles who had come to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Israel were so privileged, they knew the living God; God had revealed Himself to them; they had the Holy Scriptures; they had the promise of a coming Messiah. They knew more than any other nation that God Who is utterly holy can only be approached on the basis of sacrifice and in His appointed way. They should have walked humbly before their God in true penitence and worship and not tried to rely on their own righteousness.
Now all of this background is very important if we are to understand the book of Jonah in its historical setting. Jonah was sent to a Gentile city, the capital of Assyria, Nineveh. Jonah was the only prophet ever given such a mission. His was an extraordinary call and it is a prophetic glimpse of how God would in His time and purposes reach out to all nations in a great missionary movement. Even Peter, when he became a follower of Christ, did not understand that Gentiles were to be included in God's great plan of salvation. It took an unusual vision from God, recorded in Acts chapter 10, to make him understand this. This is what Simeon described as he took the infant Jesus in his arms and said, "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel.” You will find that in Luke chapter 2 verses 30 to 32.
Jonah's call was a glorious moment for Israel and it was a call of revelation to the city of Nineveh. Jonah was to bring the light of God's word to that city, to warn them of God's justice but also to tell of God's mercy. His message was not comfortable or easy or popular. It was a very disturbing message. The truth about the human condition in the sight of God is also very disturbing. Nineveh was a wicked city and stood condemned by God, facing His judgement, but Jonah was sent with a message of hope if only they would listen. It is the same today.
The Lord Jesus says to His servants today, just as He said to Jonah, "Go to the great city and preach against its wickedness". This was because God wanted the people of Nineveh to repent of their wickedness and seek His forgiveness. The Scriptures tell us that "God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” But the people must hear the message for "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God".
If you are a Christian you are called to take the good news of your Saviour to your family, your neighbours and friends. Perhaps He may call you to take it to a foreign city, just as He did with Jonah. Do not be reluctant, as Jonah was, to take the message because it is for all people. Have a heart of compassion for those who are lost among the nations of the world.
If you are not a Christian then the Living God calls you turn to Him, repenting of your sin and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. The One Who Himself has borne the punishment for your sins and mine so that we need not fear the judgement of God.