Lessons from their lives Podcast Episode 151

Lessons from their lives talk 17 - Jonah

Welcome to talk 17 in our series Lessons from their lives. Today our subject is Jonah. To remind ourselves of the story we’ll read the first chapter and then a few verses from chapters 2 and 3.

Jonah 1:1-17

1. The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2. ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’
3. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
4. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
5. 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 had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
6. 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 so that we will not perish.’
7. Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
8. So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’
9. He answered, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’
10. This terrified them and they asked, ‘What have you done?’ (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
11. The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’
12. ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea,’ he replied, ‘and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.’
13. Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
14. Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.’
15. Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
16. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
17. Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2:1, 10

2:1. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God…

1. And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

3:1-5, 10

3:1. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:

1. ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’
2. Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.
3. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’

4. The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

5. When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Why was Nineveh to be destroyed?

The book of Jonah doesn’t tell us much about Nineveh’s wickedness, but Nahum, prophesying over a century later, does. Nineveh was guilty of:

• Plotting against God (Nahum 1:7-9, 11)
• Cruelty in war (3:1-3)
• Idolatry, prostitution and witchcraft (3:4)

Plotting against God (Nahum 1:7-9, 11)

1. The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,
2. but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.

3. Whatever they plot against the Lord he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time.

4. From you, Nineveh, has one come forth who plots evil against the Lord and devises wicked plans.

Cruelty in war (3:1-3)

1. Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!
2. The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots!
3. Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses

Idolatry, prostitution and witchcraft (3:4)

4…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.

No wonder God said it was to be destroyed (Jonah 3:4)

But it wasn’t destroyed! Why?

Because Nineveh believed and repented (3:5)

God had compassion on them (3:9-10)

God’s anger at sin is because of his love.

But this story raises the problem of unfulfilled prophecy.

In Jonah 1:2 God says:

‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’

In Jonah 3:4 we read

Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’

Was Jonah adding to the message God had given him?

Or had he received further clarification on what God was saying?

Either way the fact that God did not do what he had originally said is covered by the general principle taught in Jeremiah 18:7-10:

1. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,
2. and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
3. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,
4. and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

The fact that Nahum, prophesying over a century later was predicting the downfall of Nineveh shows that Nineveh’s repentance was only temporary.

Who was Jonah?

The son of Amittai (1:1). Also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25.

He prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, the king of Israel from 793-753 BC. This means that he lived at the same time as Elisha and may have been one of Elisha’s school of the prophets.

As we have seen, God told Jonah

‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’

Yet Jonah didn’t want to go! He didn’t like what God had told him, so he ran away. In the opposite direction- west instead of east! Why?

He thought the people might repent! He didn’t want God to have mercy on Nineveh.

Lessons to be learned from all this

God has a plan for your life (1:1-2)

The word of the Lord came… Go

God gives you a choice about it (1:3)

Jonah ran away. God does not force us. We can say no.

God is very persistent (1:4)

The Lord sent a great wind.

Our disobedience may affect others

E.g. the sailors and Nineveh

God is in charge of circumstances

1:4 the Lord sent a great wind

1:7 the lot fell on Jonah

1:14 you, Lord, have done as you pleased

1:17 the Lord provided a huge fish

2:1 the Lord commanded the fish

If you go astray, and repent, God can put you back on track (1:12+17)

I know that it is my fault… the Lord provided…

No matter where you are, you can never get away from God (2:1).

Even inside a fish!

The purpose of it all - the salvation of sinners (3:10)

Jonah, like Israel in general, had forgotten that it was their mission to share God’s love with others (Genesis 12:3). Are we in danger of doing the same?