Saturday, June 26, 2021

4 Powerful Lessons From Jonah for Today Part One of Two - Introduction

 



4 Powerful Lessons From Jonah for Today  


INTRODUCTION:


Rudyard Kipling, the great English poet of the first part of the 20th century, considered the strengths and influence of the British Empire but warned his fellow subjects of the crown that empires are fleeting. He mentions one in particular:

Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!

Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
"Lest we forget — lest we forget!"

God does not want us to forget the lessons of the book of Jonah, nor the destiny of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The minor prophet, Jonah, takes place when Nineveh, “that great city,” was the largest city on the face of the earth. So great was this monumental world capital that considerable remnants of Nineveh remain to this day. In the north of modern-day Iraq, next to the city of Mosul, the remains of Nineveh, stand as testimony to the historicity of the story in Jonah.

What do we know about the book of Jonah?

The book of Jonah is often characterized by liberal theologians as a metaphorical story to teach Israel to be more open to others. Those who hold Jonah as a mythological yarn seek to strengthen their unbelieving position by adding disbelief in a fish swallowing Jonah and, then, spitting the reluctant revivalist onto the shore. Liberal scholars might dismiss the story of Jonah’s prayer time in a fish belly as riotous rabbinical storytelling, but Jonah would surely protest. He would have very likely carried PTSD and claustrophobia with him for the rest of his life. Long strands of briny seaweed wrapped around Jonah’s neck and the distinct rankness of a creature’s stomach acid digesting the prophet would remain with Jonah for the rest of his life. Since we interpret Scripture by other Scriptures, and since our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ told the book of Jonah as history (Matthew 12:39-41), so must we.

The book of Jonah is remarkable for several reasons. One of those is the way the historical account is conceived and recorded. Rather than the story being only about Nineveh, or about God's message, all of the lessons seem to be centered in the person of Jonah. Jonah was called to go and to preach to Nineveh. He was to call Nineveh to repentance. The mandate to preach repentance is inexorably linked to the announcement of God’s grace and forgiveness.  It is clear that Jonah believed in the efficacy of God's message. It is not that Jonah hesitated and, then, refused to go to Nineveh because the task would be difficult (although that is an argument from silence). Rather Jonah became a reluctant prophet because he knew God's grace would overwhelm Israel's enemy. We know as a fact for Jonah records his prayer, not a petition that flatters its supplicant:

So he prayed to the LORD, and said, ‘Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm’” (Jonah 4:2 NKJV).

The word for the English, “loving kindness” in the text is the Hebrew, חֶ֫סֶד “hesed.” Hesed is the word used repeatedly throughout the Old Testament to describe God’s loyal love, His self-sworn obligation to love Israel, and to provide what Israel lacked (viz., sacrifice for sin and a holy life). This is covenantal language of the highest order. Jonah is saying in his prayer, that he knows that God will bring Nineveh into that covenantal relationship. It is an astounding admission of the true nature of God‘s covenant given to Abraham. God would use Israel to reach the entire world with His love and grace and forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ. Jonah 4:2 is remarkable, also, in that it demonstrates that when God shifts His affection on the people we should expect conversion. The essential nature of God and His mission in the world should be a powerful motivation as well as a source of confidence as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission.

Covenantal-snobbery was, and can still be, a serious problem with God’s people. We can come to think that we are blessed to be in the family of God because of something of value or usefulness that impresses God. Indeed, the Bible is clear:

The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7 NIV).

Jesus echoed this truth:

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16 ESV).

While the theme of God‘s sovereignty and God‘s grace is, indeed, the predominant storyline of Jonah, the book is certainly not merely metaphorical. The book is historical and refers to what became one of the greatest revivals in the history of humankind. The pagan city of Nineveh, the capital of an Ancient Near Eastern Empire, Assyria, was the epicenter of antagonism toward Israel, and yet, this enemy of God became the object of God's love and grace. Jonah was called to go and preach the repentance to the Ninevites (And by natural inference, to receive the forgiveness of God). The story of Jonah demonstrates how Almighty God has sovereign control over every creature on earth. From the wind to the fishes of the sea, and even pagan sailors, all respond to God in obedience. A gourd, an easterly winder, and even a worm, all over the Lord without any protests. The only disobedient figure in the book of Jonah is Jonah. He must learn that God's love is greater and wider than he had ever imagined.

So what are the lessons we can learn from the book of Jonah?


CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THIS SERMON

by Dr. Michael A. Milton

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