I don't know about you, but when I read a book in the Bible, study a book or study a specific chapter of one of the books, the first question I ask is: Why did God put it there? Why did God cause this particular book or this particular incident that we read within a book, why did He put it in the Bible? Why did He cause it to be recorded? And, since He did that, obviously, then the next question is: Well, there has to be a lesson for us. Why would He put it in there if it wasn't for us to learn things and so, what is the lesson that He would like us to learn?
And this is true with the Book of Jonah.
Now, it's easy with the Book of Jonah to view that as a fun story to tell your kids or your grandkids. And you can go through the motions. A little wide-eyed kid is there. And you are talking about Jonah being gobbled up by this giant fish and then barfed up on the beach later and talk about all of that. And it's entertaining for the children and it's an exciting story.
But the fact is it's there in the Bible and it's not for entertainment purposes. We have to ask the question: Why did God put this in the Bible? Why did God have this entire account? Why was this event recorded for all time? And what were the lessons that God wanted us to learn from this incident in the life of the prophet Jonah?
Now the Book of Jonah is a record of God's dealing with him as an individual, as a prophet, but also God's dealing with the nation of Assyria. The name of Jonah means "Dove." And he was from the Tribe of Zebulun. This is all by way of introduction.
And the incident that we read about in the book of Jonah occurred close to the time of Elisha. It was written a bit earlier than the prophecies of Hosea and Amos, which makes it the earliest of the Minor Prophets. It is the oldest of the Minor Prophets. He was the first to write. And it is read, the book is read traditionally on the Day of Atonement.
And, yet, as with everything God does, Satan has attempted to corrupt the story of Jonah and, hence, the message of Jonah. Satan has corrupted the Sabbath with Sunday. Satan has attempted to corrupt the Holy Days with Christmas and Easter and Halloween and all of that. We understand that, but the same is true for the story of Jonah because in Greek mythology the deliverance of Andromeda from a sea monster by Perseus is part and parcel of [Greek] Mythology. Also, Orion, the musician, was thrown into the sea by sailors and carried safely to shore on the back of a dolphin. We read about that in Herodotus and his history. And then Hercules, who sprang into the jaws of a sea monster and was three days and three nights in the belly of this sea monster, comes from Homer's The Iliad. And the fact is that the story of Jonah most likely passed from the Phoenicians (The Phoenicians were a great sea-faring people.), the story of Jonah most likely passed from the Phoenicians to the Greeks. And then the Greeks adopted it in their culture by retelling the story in their own language and with their own environment. And it became part and parcel of Greek Mythology.
And if Satan would go to the trouble of corrupting the Book of Jonah, then there obviously must be lessons for us today from that book. Otherwise, why would he go to the trouble? So the title of the sermon is just that—Lessons from the Life of Jonah. And we're going to find that there are plenty of lessons from the experience that we read in that very short book.
Now, let's look at the context from the only other reference to Jonah in the Old Testament outside of his own book. Let's go to 2 Kings chapter 14 and we're going to read verses 23 through 25. And this is the only reference to Jonah outside of his own book. 2 Kings 14 verse 23:
II Kings 14:23. In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam… (KJV)
Now, this is not the first king of Israel, the Jeroboam that was the first king of Israel, but:
II Kings 14:23b. … Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria [the northern ten tribes], and [he] reigned forty and one years. (KJV)
He reigned from 793-752 B.C. And notice:
II Kings 14:24. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the [Eternal]: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam… (KJV)
That's the first Jeroboam, the first king of Samaria, the northern ten tribes.
II Kings 14:24b. … he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin [who took Israel away]. (KJV)
And one of the things he did was to keep the Feast a month later, as you recall.
Verse 25, now, he [the second Jeroboam, son of Joash] did some good things.
II Kings 14:25. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the [Eternal] God of Israel, which he [spoke] by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, (KJV)
And his dad, the word "Amittai," rather, means in the Hebrew "Truth" or "Truth-telling." That was his dad's name. And it goes on to say:
II Kings 14:25b. … the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher. (KJV)
And that is located two miles northeast of Nazareth. So, Jonah, his father's home was two miles northeast of Nazareth and he grew up with a father whose name was Truth-telling. Interesting!
Some authorities say that the prophecy of Jonah was fulfilled during the reign of Joash, the father of Jeroboam. Someday we'll find out for sure. And it was written when Assyria was just starting to become a world power and just starting to threaten Israel. So, you have to have that background to understand some of Jonah's reactions as we go through the story.
Now, what we are going to do is just have a very brief overview of the story. You can follow along in Jonah if you wish. We're not going to necessarily read any verses, but I'm just going to give you a summary of it. You can follow through on that as you follow the summary. And, probably, if you have a ribbon or a marker in your Bible, you want to put it in Jonah because we are going to be going back and forth.
So, Jonah chapter 1, I'll read the first two verses just to get the context. And it says:
Jonah 1:1. Now the word of the [Eternal] came unto Jonah the son of Amittai [Truth or Truth-telling], saying, (KJV)
And this was the word that came to him. It could have been in a vision. It could have been in a dream. It could have been something he actually heard.
Jonah 1:2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. (KJV)
Now, it says Nineveh is "that great city." Well, what was Nineveh like back then? It was founded by Nimrod. We read that in Genesis chapter 10. And Nimrod, as we know, was the father of the Assyrians. All the Assyrians have descended from him. And Nineveh was one of the royal residences of the Assyrian kings. And it was made the capital of the Assyrian Empire by Sennacharib.
And Sennacharib built the city. Now that it became the capital, he invested a lot of money into this city. He invested in magnificent palaces, magnificent temples to their pagan gods, to fortifications to defend the city. The city had parks. It had a botanical garden. And it even had a zoo.
The city at its longest point (It was an oval shape, an ovoid shape.), at its longest point it was about eighteen miles long. And it had a wall 40-50 feet high that ran for ten miles to protect this city. Part of it was on a river. So, that provided protection, too. It had along this wall fifteen gates. And each of those gates was guarded by stone statues of bulls, one on each side of each gate. And, of course, they worshipped the bull. And that was, I'm sure in their view, a form of protection when you had an idol of a bull on each side of a gate guarding the gate.
And in accordance with Biblical prophecy, the city fell in 612 B.C. to a coalition of the Babylonians and the Medes. You can read about that in Nahum chapter 2, Zephaniah chapter 2 regarding the prophecies of that city's fall.
So, we see here that God said, "Go to Nineveh." And He gave him [Jonah] a commission. He gave him the job of prophesying against this city because of their wickedness and that in forty days it was going to fall.
So, in verse 3, he [Jonah] attempted to flee from God. He tried to give up his office as a prophet and he ran away. And the speculation is that he fled to Tartessus. And Tartessus was a city in southern Spain. So, if you look at the Mediterranean here, the Promised Land is over here, Tartessus in southern Spain is about as far as you can get by sea from Nineveh. And that is the speculation of many writers that that is where he was headed for.
In verses 4 and 5, God caused a storm to occur. And this was no ordinary storm because the Hebrew literally means "he caused a wind to burst forth." And we are told here that the ship was ready to break up. Granted, ships were not like they are today, but it still takes an awfully powerful storm to break up a ship. And the storm was powerful enough that they were worried that the ship was going to do just that.
Now, in verse 6, we find Jonah down in the belly of the ship asleep in the middle of this storm. So, that tells us that Jonah probably thought he was successful in running away from God because he didn't seem to be worried, didn't seem to be wringing his hands. He was in this ship sailing away from Nineveh and probably thought he had succeeded and God was going to pick somebody else.
Verse 7, the crew then began to cast lots to try to determine the cause of their difficulty. And the lot fell to Jonah (verses 7 through 9). And then in verse 10, Jonah told them the truth. He was fleeing from God, trying to run away from God. And in verses 11 through 16, the men (the rowers of the ship) tried with their might to row to land. They were unable to and, as a result for fear of their own lives, they cast Jonah into the sea.
In verse 17, God prepared, we are told, a "great fish." Now, there has been over the years a lot of speculation on what this fish was. Some have speculated that it was a dogfish because in years past, they have found in the belly of a dogfish, a man in a full suit of armor. So, obviously, the dogfish is big enough to swallow a man! Also, another obvious choice would be a whale. And whales have been known to swallow a whole dinghy full of men back in the days of the whaling ships. That has happened. So, that's another speculation. A third is that—and this is the one I believe right at this moment in time—is that God could have created a fish just for that specific purpose—one time, one fish, just to do His bidding.
But in any case, it was a miracle. It had to be a miracle because down in that fish's belly you have a lack of air. And you would suffocate down there, unless God provided an air supply somehow through a miracle. The water pressure would kill a human being if the fish went down to any depth at all. And then the third, the digestive juices would just fry you alive! The acids in the belly would just take your skin right off. So, there is another miracle. So, in every aspect you see, the incident with the sea creature was a miracle from God! No question absolutely!
Then in chapter 2 the first nine verses, we find that Jonah is inside the belly of the whale or the creature rather, and he begins a prayer. The prayer leads to a prayer of thanksgiving because he is alive! And he finally realizes down in this black darkness that God is his only hope—the One he's trying to run away from! That God is his only hope! And then in verse 10, once he comes to that realization, the fish vomits him up on the shore.
Then in chapter 3 after all this persuasion, let's say, from God, the first two verses of chapter 3, God tells him a second time, "Now, I want you to go to Nineveh." And guess what? Jonah had a change of heart based on all that had previously happened. He decides now to go. And, then in verse 3, he makes the decision to go. In verse 4, on the first day when he reaches Nineveh, he begins to prophesy. And he says, "In forty days, this city is going to fall if you don't repent because of your wicked deeds."
And frankly, it is the same message that was delivered to Sodom—the same message. Sodom didn't repent. But in verses 5 through 9, unlike Sodom, the people believed God. They proclaimed a fast, not only for all the humans, but for the animals too. And from the king on down, they sat in sackcloth and ashes. And the king told the people that they needed to repent and "We need to return, turn about from our evil ways. We need to repent from that." And this is the only nation in recorded history that has nationally repented. The only city that has come together and repented—the only recorded time! And then in verse 10, we see that God relented because of their attitude of repentance. God relented.
Now, you would think that Jonah would be happy. God gave him a job to do. He did the job in order to get the people to turn from their evil ways. They did that. And you would think that he would rejoice.
But we find in chapter 4 in the first three verses that that was not the case. We find he was very angry. In fact, he said, "I knew this was going to happen! I knew they were going to do that." And it was obvious he didn't want them to do that.
He gets to the point that he would rather die than to see Nineveh repent because the Assyrians were his enemies. The Assyrians were a threat to the northern ten tribes. And he wanted them wiped off the face of the earth. And he didn't want them to repent. As we are going to see, he even wants to watch.
Now in verse 4 in the New King James (It's a little cumbersome in the King James.), God said:
Jonah 4:4b. "Is it right for you to be angry [because they repented]?" (NKJ)
And so, in verse 5, Jonah makes a temporary dwelling, a booth to sit on the hillside and see what was going to happen to Nineveh. Being in the Middle East, it is warm, it is hot. Verse 6, God made a plant to shade him and he was very happy, very thankful for that.
And yet, in verse 7, God made a worm that came and killed the plant and, therefore, killed his shade. Then, in verse 8, God caused heat and wind to come as a test to Jonah and to the point that he said in verse 8 once more he wanted to die. He would just rather die than to keep going the way he's going.
In verse 9, God said again:
Jonah 4:9. … "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" (NKJ)
When you think about this, God is saying, "Here you are angry and upset about the plant, are you right to do that?" Notice what Jonah said!
Jonah 4:9b. "It is right for me to be angry, even [unto] death!" (NKJ)
Now, he came real close here to crossing a line with God, of being angry and caustic with God and upset with God. But God, thankfully, was very gentle and very patient. (John was pointing that out in the sermonette.) He was very patient with Jonah.
And He said in verse 10, "Look! You have had pity on the plant. You didn't do anything to bring it up. You didn't plant the seed. You didn't water it. You didn't fertilize it. You didn't do anything to make it grow and you had pity on that plant. (Verse paraphrased.)
And in verse 11, He said, "Shouldn't I have pity on a hundred and twenty thousand people that don't know how to put one foot in front of the other? Not to mention all their animals? You had pity on this little plant and yet you don't want Me to have pity on a hundred and twenty thousand humans, women, children, little babies, plus all their animals. You're upset about that?" (Verse paraphrased.)
And then, the story ends. Interesting. The story ends. There is no further comment about what happened to Jonah. We know Assyria was spared, but no further comment and the story ends.
So, after all of that, we have to look back and say, "Okay. Well, what did God mean by putting this in the Bible? What lessons are there for us to learn? And there are plenty. We're going to cover ten of them, but I'm sure you can think of many more.
The First One, this starts at the very beginning of the story [and] is that:
I. Once God begins to deal with a person (with us it was our calling), but once God begins to deal with a person, you cannot run away from Him.
You cannot do that! It is impossible! [It] just will not happen.
Now, he tried to run away. And God said to him, "Okay, you want to separate yourself from Me. I'll give you a taste of what separation is like." And He put him three days and three nights in the belly of a fish that was underwater. Now, that is about as far away from your world as you can be! It was dark. My guess is it didn't smell very good. It was dank and humid, not a lot of fresh air.
And you talk about dark? You are under water in the belly of a fish. I've been in Carlsbad Caverns several times when they shut the lights off. And you can't see a thing! Not a thing! And that's the way it was with him.
And God is saying, "Okay. You want to be cut off from Me? You want to run from Me? Let me give you a taste of what it is like?" And he had a taste.
Let's go to Matthew chapter 18 and read verse 12. This is Christ commenting after the incident with the centurion and the centurion's faith. Matthew 8 and verse 12, He is talking about children of the Kingdom and He says:
Matthew 8:12. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (KJV)
Well, this was inner darkness inside the belly of the fish. And the fact is that I'm sure that there was weeping and gnashing of teeth on Jonah's part because he realized what he had done wrong. He was trying to run away from God and you can't do that. We cannot run away from God. We cannot run away from our calling.
Let's go to Romans chapter 11 and verse 29. Paul is trying to show that our calling is something very precious and that we should not, cannot turn our back on that. Romans chapter 11 and verse 29, notice what he says:
Romans 11:29. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (KJV)
Meaning: We do not need to repent of God's gifts and of God's calling. They are so valuable; they are so precious there is nothing to repent of.
And so, in Jonah's case, God was calling him to do a job and, yet, he tried to run away from it. And some of us have tried to run away from our calling when God first dealt with us.
I did twice! I wanted to be a pilot in the military and that was my lifelong goal since I was a five-year-old kid! And God began to deal with me and He knew that if I had to a chance to be a pilot or come into the Church of God, guess what ol' Rick was going to choose? And so, what He did was He made my eyes go from 20/20 to 20/50 so that I couldn't pass the eye exam.
Now, at the same time I was getting all the literature from the Church, I was also studying the martial arts. I wanted to be a black-belt, wanted to instruct, and go through all of that. It really captivated me. I really loved it in that sense, from a physical standpoint. And it never occurred to the thickhead that studying the martial arts is probably contrary to the Law of God. And so, once again I tried to run away from that calling to pursue the martial arts. And guess what God did? I hurt my back and I tried to play through the pain and keep practicing and practicing. And it finally got worse and worse. And, as with all of us, if we get in enough pain, we'll do anything, just about anything. And finally, I said, "God, okay! I can't do this anymore. Maybe I better get my head on straight and pay attention to what You are trying to tell me."
And [it was] the same with Jonah. We can't run away from what God wants us to do. We can't run away from our calling. We shouldn't! And, frankly, we can't run away from our sins either. We can't run away from our sins.
Let me give you an example. Israel was approaching the Promised Land. And they had to cross—they were east of the Jordan—they had to cross over the Jordan to go into the Promised Land and wipe away all of the nations on the other side of the Jordan. That was their commitment; that was their commission.
Now, Reuben, the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad, their inheritance was on the east side of Jordan. And, yet, Israel had to cross over to the west side of Jordan and do battle with all the nations on the west side of Jordan. And so, they agreed, Reuben and Gad agreed that even though they didn't have to drive anybody out of the land of their inheritance, they would go across the Jordan with their brothers and fight the fight.
Now, let's go to Numbers chapter 32 and we'll read verses 20 through 23. Now, Moses told them that that is what they had to do. They had to cross over the Jordan. And in verse 20 of Numbers 32:
Numbers 32:20. And Moses said unto them, If [you] will do this thing [if you will cross over the Jordan and fight], if [you] will go armed before the [Eternal] to war [if you do this],
21) And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the [Eternal], until he [has] driven out his enemies from before him,
22) And the land be subdued before the [Eternal]: then afterward [you] shall return [you can go back across to the east side of the Jordan], and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the [Eternal]. (KJV)
Now, notice verse 23.
Numbers 32:23. But if [you] will not do so, behold, [you] have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your [sins] will find you out. (KJV)
You cannot run away from your sins. You cannot run away from the consequences of sin. Jonah turned his back on God's commission and tried to run away. And one of the big messages is: We can't run away from our calling. We can't run away from our sins. We cannot run away from God.
David tried to ignore his sins. Didn't he? In the situation with Bathsheba during the nine months of the little baby growing and then being born, he just winked at it, buried it, tried to ignore it. And, then, Nathan came to him and said, "You're the man." We won't turn there, but in Psalm 51 and verse 3, what did David say? "My sins are ever before me." They weren't before him for those nine months, but they were afterward. And the message was: You can't run away from your sins. You have to deal with them. You have to repent of them.
So, all of us, if we haven't learned it already, before it is all over with all of us are going to learn that we cannot run away from God. God has called us. He has given us His spirit. And there is no way we can run away. God will deal with us. We have free moral agency. We can reject that calling, but God is going to bring circumstances to pass in our lives that will guide us and lead us toward the Kingdom of God.
So, that is the First Point.
I. You can't run away from God.
The Second is:
II. We cannot allow national pride to blind us.
That is exactly what happened to Jonah. He was filled with national pride. Let's go to Jonah chapter 3 and let's read verses 10 through the third verse of chapter 4, right at the juncture of the two chapters. Jonah 3 verse 10:
Jonah 3:10. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he said he would do unto them; and he [didn't do] it. (KJV)
[Chapter 4 verse 1]:
Jonah 4:1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. (KJV)
This wasn't just a little snit. This was a full-blown anger fit! Verse 2:
Jonah 4:2. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray [You], O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? ["I told You this was going to happen!" he said.] Therefore I fled unto Tarshish [or Tartessus]: for I knew that [You are] a gracious God, (KJV)
Wow! He said, "I knew You were a gracious God. I knew You were merciful. I knew you were slow to anger, and of great kindness." (Jonah 4:2b paraphrased.
And the King James says, "repent." The New American Standard and the NIV says, "You relent," which He did. He [Jonah] said, "You relented of the evil that You were going to do. You were going to wipe them out." He said, "I knew You were going to do that because You are this kind, good God." (Jonah 4:2b paraphrased.) That makes your mind kind of boggle. Verse 3:
Jonah 4:3. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech [You], my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live [and watch them repent and watch Your face smile upon them and for You not to destroy them. I'd rather die than have that happen]. (KJV)
He wanted Nineveh to be punished and to suffer and He wanted to watch it happen because he was filled with national pride. He could care less about the little babies and the women and the children and the animals. He was more wrapped up in his pride as an Israelite than he was in the welfare of another group of people.
And today, the message for us is we have to be really careful about that. Because in the United States and Great Britain and Canada and Australia, we were the recipients of God's promises to Abraham and coming out of that we can think we're special. We can think we're God's gift to the world. But given what has happened in the United States in the last forty or fifty years and the decline of this country and the decline of morals and values, God is obviously withholding His blessings from this country.
Look at the hurricane just this last week. Look at Katrina. Look at our deficit. Look at the state of the political situation in Washington. Look at the state of the morals. Look at the deaths through abortion. And the list goes on and on and on and on!
God is not smiling on this country. God is withholding His blessings on the descendents of Abraham. And, yet, some today act like we're just God's gift to the entire world. And, as a result of that, we can look down on other nations. We can have the same attitude toward other nations that Jonah had to Assyria and to Nineveh.
And we can sometimes—I've seen people take joy in the suffering of others. "Oh, they're pagans. They deserve it." Or, "They're just reprobates. They deserve it." Well, we all deserve it! We all certainly deserved it before we were called, before God began to deal with us. So, we have to be very, very careful that we don't fall into the trap that Jonah did and look down on others and take some kind of perverse pleasure in seeing them suffer for their alleged sins, which are no worse than the sins of the United States and Canada and Australia and Great Britain.
You see God's purposes are so far greater than the interests of any nation or the interests of any group of people or the desires of any human being; His purposes are so far above that that it is incomprehensible to us and the minds that we have—our limited finite minds.
So the Second Lesson we have to pay particular attention to is:
II. We cannot let national pride blind us to what God is doing and to give us a sense of vanity and to look down on others.
The Third Lesson we can learn is that:
III. Unlike Jonah, we must want all nations to repent and all peoples to repent.
We must want that! Jonah did not want Assyria to repent. He didn't want Nineveh to repent. He wanted them punished for who and what they were, their evil ways. He wanted them destroyed so they wouldn't be a threat to Israel. He did not like it!
But notice what Christ says in Luke 5 and verse 32. Christ came with a totally different mindset than Jonah. And, obviously, we have to have the mind of Christ. Luke 5 and verse 32, notice what He said. This is something we have to remember. He said:
Luke 5:32. I came not to call the righteous, (KJV)
What did He say?
Luke 5:32b. [He said, I came] but [to call the] sinners to repentance. (KJV)
That's what He did with Nineveh. He called them to repent. And they responded, to their credit. But Christ wants, ultimately, all to see their sins and all to repent, irrespective of nations, colors, past religious beliefs, and all of that. Look at 2 Peter 3 and verse 9. [Peter] reminds us of the mind of God and the mind of Christ. Notice what He says. Peter says:
2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise [a promise to each one of us], as some men count slackness; (KJV)
Because, today, a promise means nothing. It used to be a handshake would seal a deal, but today you have to have a staff of lawyers spend hours, days, weeks, months to write up a contract. And then, people look for loopholes to get around it.
2 Peter 3:9b. … as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering [toward us], not willing that any should perish, (KJV)
That means Muslims, Arabs, Eskimos, Africans.
2 Peter 3:9 continued. … not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (KJV)
And Jonah hated that. He didn't want that. In fact, he would rather die than to see that happen. Now the incident with Jonah was a forerunner of what we find in Acts chapter 11. Let's just turn there and I'm just going to skim through it very briefly and just paraphrase it. The incident with Jonah is a forerunner of what we find in Acts chapter 11 and that involves the gospel coming to these evil, evil, evil Gentiles—"These people that we can't even associate with; these people that we can't even touch; and, in fact, if our sleeve rubs up against them, we have to go and wash!"
Acts 11 verse 1: The Judean Brethren in the area of Jerusalem heard the Gentiles were being converted. Then in verse 2 and 3: Peter came to Jerusalem and the Jew confronted him. "How dare you associate with them? How dare you preach to these heathen pagans?"
Then in verse 4, we're told that Peter rehearsed the matter before them from the beginning to the end. And he talked about the dream he had with the sheet and all the unclean animals in it and how it came down from heaven three times and, then, all of the miracles that occurred after that and that how he finally realized that God was trying to tell him that the gospel is open to the Gentiles.
Then in verse 18, notice the attitude of these Judean Brethren. It changes.
Acts 11:18. When they heard these things, they held their peace, and [they] glorified God, saying, Then [has] God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (KJV)
They rejoiced because they had God's holy spirit, unlike Jonah who did not rejoice. He wanted them wiped out. He had the attitude, really, of a Pharisee. So, the New Testament [Brethren] rejoiced and Jonah did not and there is a lesson there. There is a lesson there that we should all look forward to the day when all the earth, all nations, all races, all previous religions will repent and change and turn to God and we will rejoice with them, we will embrace them as brothers and sisters in Christ. We should look forward to that day.
Point Number Four is that:
IV. We must be able to forgive.
The Assyrians were Jonah's enemies. He wanted to see them perish. They repented, but he did not forgive. They turned from their evil ways, but he would not accept that. And he would not forgive them.
Now Christ said a lot about that. I think we all know that. Christ said a great deal about that. Let's go to Matthew chapter 5. It was so important to Christ that He got this message across very plainly in the very first sermon we have recorded that He ever gave. Matthew 5, we'll read verses 43 and 44. Christ is saying to them:
Matthew 5:43. [You] have heard that it [has] been said, (KJV)
This was a tradition of the Jews. It was not in the Bible. Christ said Matthew 5 verse 43:
Matthew 5:43. [You] have heard that it [has] been said, [You shall] love [your neighbor], and hate [your] enemy. (KJV)
That was a popular concept in Christ's day. You do not find that in the Bible. Verse 44:
Matthew 5:44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, (KJV)
Did Jonah do that?
Matthew 5:44b. … bless them that curse you, (KJV)
Did Jonah do that?
Matthew 5:44 continued. … do good to them that hate you, (KJV)
Did he do that?
Matthew 5:44 continued. … and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; (KJV)
Did he do that? No, he didn't! And there is a lesson for us.
Look at chapter 6. We'll read verses 14 and 15. Christ said:
Matthew 6:14. For if [you] forgive men their trespasses [their sins], your heavenly Father [is going to] forgive you:
15) But if [you] forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (KJV)
Jonah had a big problem with this! Because as the story ends, he was sitting on the side of the hilltop looking down. And they had repented and, as of that moment, he had not forgiven them. Not forgiven them!
Look at chapter 18, Matthew 18. This is a parable that Christ told us that we would do well to heed. Matthew 18, we'll begin in verse 21.
Matthew 18:21. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how [often] shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? [He says,] seven times? (KJV)
Well, the Oral Law of the Jews said you should forgive three times. So, Peter was maybe trying to curry a little favor with Christ and he's says, "I'm willing to go seven, even when we've been taught that we only need to go three." And then in verse 22, Christ said unto him:
Matthew 18:22. … I say not unto [you], Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (KJV)
Meaning: really an infinite number of times. "Therefore," He says, "because of this subject and what I just said:"
Matthew 18:23. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24) And when he had begun to reckon [the account, look at the books], one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. (KJV)
Ten thousand talents today in today dollars, depending on whose talent you use, but the minimum would be 7½ million bucks! That is not an insignificant amount of money. Big pile of money!
Verse 25:
Matthew 18:25. But forasmuch as he had [nothing] to pay, his [boss] commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and [everything] that he had, and payment to be made.
26) [Then this man] fell down [at his feet], and [he] worshipped him, [he begged him, he cried, pleaded] have patience with me, and I will pay [you].
27) Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and [he let him go], and [he] forgave him the debt [Forgave it!]. (KJV)
Now notice what this man's actions were. Christ is trying to say if you want Me to forgive you, then you have to forgive your fellow man. And He is drawing a point here. Verse 28:
Matthew 18:28. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: (KJV)
Now this is less than a tenth of what this man owed his master.
Matthew 18:28. … and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me [what you owe me].
29) And his fellowservant fell down at his feet [did the same thing], and besought him, [pleaded, cried], Have patience with me, and I will pay [you].
30) And he [wouldn't do it]: [he] cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31) So when his fellowservants [they] saw what was done, they were sorry [they were sad, they] told [the master what had happened].
32) [The] lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, [He said, You] wicked servant [of mine], I forgave [you] all that debt, because [you desired] me [to]:
33) [Should] not [you] also have had compassion on [your] fellowservant, even as I had pity on [you]?
34) And his lord was [angry], and delivered him to the tormentors, (KJV)
Now the Greek word for "torment," the root word means to torture. The actual word means to administer torture, a torturer, somebody who administers torture. And that indicates the severity of the judgment that Christ was passing, or this master was passing on this servant—very severe punishment.
Matthew 18:34b. … [that he should be tortured] till he should pay all that was due unto him. (KJV)
So, then Christ gives the lesson.
Matthew 18:35. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if [you, not from the surface, but] from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. (KJV)
And what He is saying is if we want mercy, if want forgiveness, we have to show it to others when they sin against us.
God forgave the national sins of Nineveh, the city-state, and of the Assyrians and of the individuals. He forgave them. Didn't He say, "Shouldn't I have pity on this great city? There are a hundred and twenty thousand who can't put one foot in front of the other. They walk in darkness and their livestock too. Shouldn't I have pity on them?" Because He did, He wanted to have pity on them. And they repented and, indeed, He did. And so we should do likewise. We should take pity, frankly, on those who stumble blindly in the dark.
Look at what the Muslims are doing in the name of religion. Chopping off hands! Poking out eyes! Killing people! All that they do in the name of religion, they are stumbling in the dark. They do not know. Someday they will. Now, we hate what they do, certainly, but we can't hate them as people because someday they are going to be our brothers and sisters. They are deceived. They are blinded and they do horrible things, but look at our country and the horrible things we do. Through abortion we kill more than the Arab nations, the Muslim nations even think about, even comprehend. They can't even think about that! So, we can't point fingers at others unless we point fingers at ourselves.
So, we need to take pity on those who blindly stumble in the darkness.
The Fifth Lesson we can learn is that:
V. God cares about all His children—every one!
He cares about them. He cared about Israel. Because of what Jonah did (the preaching) and then Nineveh's repentance, the captivity of the northern ten tribes was postponed for a hundred and thirty years! He cared about Israel. He wanted that to happen. And, indeed, they repented and Israel got a breathing space of a hundred and thirty years.
But He also cares about the heathen and the unconverted. Look at Amos chapter 9 and verse 7. Before Jonah—Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah—so, it's previous to, before, earlier in the Bible. Amos chapter 9 verse 7, notice what He says. He is likening, He's putting Israel in the same group as a bunch of pagans and heathens. Amos 9 verse 7:
Amos 9:7. Are [you] not as children of the Ethiopians unto me [He says], [Aren't you just like the Ethiopians,] O children of Israel? [Says] the [Eternal]. Have [I] not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? [And then He said, Have I not brought up] the Philistines from Caphtor, [or have I not brought up] the Syrians from Kir? (KJV)
"Haven't I done that to them, just the same as I did to you?"
The implication is very clear here that to God and the big picture that God loves the Philistines, and He loves the Ethiopians, and He loves the Syrians and He loves the Ninevites as much as He loves the Israelites. Yes, Israel is a special nation. They were a special people. They divorced God—I mean God divorced them. They broke that. But He is saying He loves them just as much as He loves any other peoples.
Now, the Book of Jonah—think about this—the Book of Jonah is to the Old Testament what Acts is to the New Testament. I'll say it again. The Book of Jonah is to the Old Testament what Acts is to the New Testament. Now think about this.
The Book of Jonah shows that God cared for the Ninevites. And God brought about through His direct intervention, His direct actions, Assyria's national repentance. [That was the] only time it has ever happened.
Now in the New Testament, Acts shows us that God cares for the Gentiles just like He cared for the Ninevites. And He brought the Gentiles to repentance. He opened the door for the truth to come to the Gentiles as an act of mercy and compassion just as He spared the Ninevites after they repented.
God is no respecter of persons. He is no respecter of persons.
Back in the Worldwide days, a pastor told me, once he was flying out of a city and he was looking down on the city. And he said, "Good riddance, you suckers!" to the people in the city because they were unconverted. They were sinning. "Good riddance when the A-bombs start to fall."
And, God is no respecter of persons and when we do something like that, we elevate ourselves and say, "Well, I'm not like you guys. I'm not sinning like you." Well, we were before we were called. We were before we had our mind opened and that wasn't anything we deserved or anything we did! God does not respect persons.
Look at Acts chapter 10 and verse 34. Peter says it directly! Peter understood that when he had those visions and those sheets came down, God made him understand that salvation was open to the Gentiles. Notice what he says, Acts 10 verse 34:
Acts 10:34. Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive God is no respecter of persons: (KJV)
He doesn't favor one over the other. He doesn't favor the rich over the poor. He doesn't favor the intelligent over the not so intelligent. He doesn't favor somebody that has a long lineage of accomplishment in past generations and decades. Say the Royal Line of the English Throne over somebody who doesn't even know, Heinz 57, a mongrel, a mutt, doesn't even know who his parents are. God has no respect of persons in that regard.
The Book of Jonah, think about this. You can go through the Book of Jonah and Israel is not once mentioned. Never mentioned! Until I did this study, I had never thought about it! It never occurred to me. Israel is not once mentioned. And, it may seem odd at first, but the fact is it focuses on God's love for all His people.
Yes, Israel, their captivity was postponed for a hundred and thirty years, but that's not mentioned in the book. And there is a reason for it, because God wants us to focus on a nation that repented versus Jonah's reaction to that repentance and to learn some lessons from it.
Look at Matthew chapter 9. We'll read verses 35 and 36. Notice Christ's attitude toward the common person—man, woman, child. Look at His attitude. Was it haughty and superior? "Well, you're not a Jew. You're not of this lineage. You're not this. You're not that." Notice what He said, Matthew 9 verse 35.
Matthew 9:35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (KJV)
And certainly He healed some non-Jews. Verse 36:
Matthew 9:36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. (KJV)
Just like Nineveh. They couldn't put one foot in front of the other because they didn't have a shepherd or a leader or somebody to take care of them. And here Christ has great compassion on them.
Luke 13 and verse 34, notice what He says looking over Jerusalem, this ancient city where so much fighting and warfare has occurred down through the centuries and millennia. Luke 13 and verse 34, notice what Christ said. Look at His compassion. He said:
Luke 13:34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which [kill] the prophets, and [stone] them that are sent unto [you]; (KJV)
Nineveh had their sins too, but Nineveh had a prophet come to them and they didn't stone that prophet. They saw the message and they repented of what was brought to them. But Christ says:
Luke 13:34b. … how often would I have gathered [your] children together [Jerusalem's children together], as a hen [does] gather her brood under her wings, [but you] would not! (KJV)
He said, "I want you to, I beg you to, I plead. We've sent prophets down through the millennia to you and you just turn up your nose at them. In fact, unlike Nineveh, you stone them! It's not that you just don't listen. You kill them!" And so, He was lamenting that.
Look at 1 Timothy 2 and verse 4. Paul picks up this compassion and understanding. He echoes what Peter said, what we read in 2 Peter. Notice what he says, 1 Timothy 2 and verse 4. This is God's plan, His purpose because He loves all of His creation—all of His creation!
1 Timothy 2:4. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (KJV)
So, let's never ever forget and let's learn from this example of Jonah that God cares about all of His children. We should too! We should care about all peoples.
The Sixth Lesson:
VI. Don't confuse your will with God's will.
[This is a] big lesson for all of us today!
Jonah's will was not to answer God's call, was not to do God's bidding. And look what happened to him. Look at everything he suffered. And the second time, he answered.
Remember what Christ said? We won't turn there. In Luke 11 verse 2, the Model Prayer, He said:
Luke 11:2b. [Your] kingdom come. [Your] will be done, as in heaven, so [on the] earth. (KJV)
"Your will be done."
And yet, I'll tell you the number of e-mails I get from Brethren around the country and they are lambasting Obama. And they're talking about, "We've got to get this guy elected or that guy elected and throw the bums out," and all that kind of stuff. Well, what if it's God's will that Obama get re-elected for His purposes and His reasons? And, then, all of a sudden we're at cross-purposes with God! We're going against God's will! We can't confuse our will with God's will.
And remember Christ—we won't turn there again—but in Matthew 26, Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane. And He was sweating great drops of blood. And He said, "My soul, my life is sorrowful even unto death." He told the Father twice, He said, "If this cup can pass from Me, please let it pass from Me. But nevertheless," what did He say? "Not as I will, but as You will," because He knew what was in front of Him. And, yet, He was willing to submit to God's will.
And I will tell you as a minister, the thing I pray for so much every day, many times a day is "Don't let me do my will. Let me do your will. Please show me what it is because that's all I want to do is do Your will." Everything else is trouble and turmoil and pain and suffering if we do anything other than God's will. And we don't want to go there because I've gone there too many times thinking what I wanted was what God wanted!
And Jonah wanted his will be done. "Get in a ship and go as far away from Nineveh as I can! And I don't want to do what You want me to do." You see, God's ways are so far above ours. Let's go back to one Scripture in this point. Isaiah 55, we'll read verses 8 and 9. We read that here a few weeks ago, but in this context of not confusing our will with God's will, Jonah did it and we cannot do that. Isaiah 55 verse 8, God says:
Isaiah 55:8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, (KJV)
That's just a declaration of truth.
Isaiah 55:8b. … neither are your ways my ways, (KJV)
"The way you want to do something, don't assume that it's the way I want it done," says the Eternal." Verse 9:
Isaiah 55:9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, (KJV)
When we look up, they're a long way up there.
Isaiah 55:9b. … so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts [higher] than your thoughts. (KJV)
Never ever confuse our will with God's will.
Point Number Seven:
VII. Jonah was a type of Christ.
That seems kind of, given what we've covered so far, that seems like an odd statement, but he was. Look at Luke 11 and we'll read verse 30 and 32. Christ talked about Jonah. Jonah was a sign. Jonah was a forerunner in many ways. Luke 11 verse 30, Christ says:
Luke 11:30. For as [Jonah] was a sign unto the Ninevites [He was.], so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. (KJV)
He said, "I am a sign just like Jonah was a sign." Verse 32:
Luke 11:32. The men of [Nineveh] shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of [Jonah]; and, behold, a greater than [Jonah] is here. (KJV)
And what He was saying, "You're not repenting. You're not getting it! Jonah was a type, a forerunner, of My mission in coming the first time."
Look at Matthew chapter 12 and we'll read verses 39 and 40—a different type. Matthew 12 verse 39 and 40:
Matthew 12:39. But he answered and said unto them, (KJV)
They were wanting a sign.
Matthew 12:39b. An evil and adulterous generation [seeks] after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, [except] the sign of [Jonah] the prophet:
40) For as [Jonah] was three days and three nights in [a]whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth [or the belly of the earth]. (KJV)
Jonah went to Nineveh to preach repentance. Christ came to us to do the same thing. Jonah went into the belly of a creature three days and three nights. And Christ was in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights. And in that sense, Jonah was a type of Christ.
The Eighth Lesson:
VIII. God hears our prayers and acts on them.
I believe God acted on everybody's prayers in the case of Roberta. God hears our prayers and acts on them.
And remember Jonah was in the belly of the whale when he finally realized you can't run away from God and he prayed in the first nine verses of chapter 2? There is no place too remote or too inconvenient to pray. That is about the most remote place and the most inconvenient place to pray, but he did. And guess what? God listened!
Look at 1 Peter 3 and verse 12. 1 Peter 3 and verse 12 tells us that God not only hears but He listens and He acts.
1 Peter 3:12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, (KJV)
It can be in the belly of a whale. It can be anywhere.
1 Peter 3:12b. … and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the [Eternal] is against [those] that do evil. (KJV)
God acts. He brought Jonah back. And He will do the same for us.
The Ninth Lesson that we can learn is that:
IX. God is Sovereign.
That means God's will is going to be done. Nothing, no power, no force can deter God from doing His will.
The patience and mercy of God stand in stark contrast to the selfishness and hard-heartedness of men. And that was brought out with Jonah—selfish, hard-hearted, wanted to take vengeance, wouldn't repent. And, yet, look at God's mercy and the contrast of this wonderful God that we serve.
Look at Romans 9 and verse 15. This is something that Jonah forgot. And, now, Romans 9 and verse 15 is quoting a conversation between Christ, the God of the Old Testament, and Moses back in Exodus 33 and verse 19. Paul says, he's saying to the Church at Rome:
Romans 9:15. For he [said] to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (KJV)
God decides! He is going to do what He is going to do. And if it disappoints us, as it did with Jonah, that’s just tough because God is so far above us in His thoughts and in His ways!
If you study World War II history, there are accounts time after time after time where an individual or a group of men cried out to God. They were near death. They cried out to God and all of a sudden, a miracle happened just like that! (Fingers snapping.) I believe that's God looking down and just saying, "I'm going to have mercy on these people. I'm just going to do it. That's what I want to do. That's what I'm going to do."
And shame on us if we point fingers saying, "Well, God shouldn't have done that," because that's exactly what Jonah did. He decides—not us—whom He show compassion to and to whom He shows mercy to. And in the previous point, His thoughts are so far above our thoughts that who are we to judge whom God shows mercy to and whom God shows compassion to.
And the story of Jonah magnifies God's power, magnifies God's judgment, and magnifies God's mercy whereas a human would not have done that. Jonah didn't want to do that. And there is a powerful lesson there! We can be thankful that God is Sovereign and God's will will be done, even though men, and even converted men sometimes, erroneously oppose themselves against God's will. I've done it. You've done it, but let's remember God is Sovereign.
The Tenth Point, Final Point, and this is probably the one that we're going to have to learn, all of us, before the end is that:
X. God is our only hope!
Ultimately, God is our only hope.
When he [Jonah] was in the belly of the sea creature in the first nine verses of chapter 2, he finally realized that God was his only hope; God was his only way out.
David said—we won't turn there, but in Psalm 71 and verse 5, he says—"You are my hope, O Lord God." He says, "I have trusted you from my youth up. You are my hope." And we must learn that. Jonah did. It took all of the creature gobbling him up and down in that mess for seventy-two hours for him to realize, finally, that God is our only hope.
And I believe before our lives are through, God will bring us to the point where we see He is our only hope. We will see that we can't put our hope in men. We can't put our hope in a church administration. We can't put our hope in a government, the United States or any other government. We can't put our hope in money. We can't put our hope in our own strength or our own skill or our own wisdom. God will bring each one of us to the point where we see that He is our only hope. He strips away everything else.
And if we don't see that now, He will bring us to the point that we see it later. He will strip away everything we value, everything we put our trust in, everything we put our hope in. He will strip it away like He did with Jonah until he is in this total darkness in this horrible stench and he finally realizes that "If I want to get out of here, God is my only hope." And He is going to do that to all of us if we don't realize it already.
Let's go to Romans 15 and verse 13. We've covered in Romans 9 God says, "I'll have mercy on whom I will mercy." And in chapter 15 and verse 13, Paul is saying this to us; God is saying this to us through the writings of Paul:
Romans 15:13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, [He says, so that in believing, you] may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy [spirit]. (KJV)
And Jonah was there and there was no way out. He had no hope at all other than looking to God. Roberta has no hope at all unless God takes care of her, takes her by the hand and leads her through the next period of time. The same thing is true with those who have cancers, those who have strokes, those who are out of work or whatever. You finally realize that God is our only hope. Not in our own strength, not in men, not in men's institutions, not even in a church organization. God is our only hope!
And so, He says, He's telling us, "I am the God of hope. And I will fill you with peace and joy. Even on your death bed I will fill you with peace and joy that you may abound in hope through the power of the holy spirit." So, we need to learn this now, because if we don't learn it now, we'll learn it painfully later on. And we want to learn that now.
So, we have seen—let's conclude now. We have seen Ten Lessons that we can learn from the life of Jonah.
And the Book of Jonah is unique in the Bible because it was authored by Jonah, but it was written in the third person. It doesn't say, "I did this or I did that." It says, "Jonah did this, or "The king did that." It was written in the third person. In that sense, it is unique among the prophets.
And it is most likely—if you read all the commentaries and do the research—it was most likely written from his village of Gath-hepher after this incident occurred, after it was all over with. Nineveh was spared. He was sitting on the side of the hill. He trudged home and he's now reflecting back, looking on this incident, and looking on the lessons learned from this.
Because he was reflecting back from a distance and sometimes we do that. I do that. You might have had a trial or a crisis and you look back as kind of this third party, this disinterested person. And you see yourself there and you see this other person there. And you see what you did wrong and maybe what they did wrong and how this elevated into say a turmoil or a problem. And you look down as a third person kind of seeing what you did wrong.
And I believe what happened is that Jonah was doing exactly that. He was looking back on this situation. And he was looking back on his mission's success because Nineveh repented. But he also looked back, had to look back, on his own personal failures as we do. All of us look back and we look at our own personal failures.
And he was honest about it. There is no doubt—all the commentaries say that Jonah wrote this book. No one doubts that. And he was honest about himself. He was honest about his attitude. He was honest about his failures. And he's looking back on this.
And so, that indicates that he probably responded positively to God's rebuke. Let's hope so and let's pray so. It's not specifically stated but he certainly saw his own actions, certainly saw his own sins. And one would infer from that that he learned lessons.
So, the Book of Jonah is there for a reason. It's not a fun story to tell kids and grandkids. It is, yes. But there is more to it than that. There are powerful lessons to learn from Jonah and his experiences with the City of Nineveh. And let's learn those lessons from the experiences of this unique man.
Transcribed by kb October 1, 2011