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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