The Unwilling Prophet

Jonah 1
¹The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:
²“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

Jonah was a prophet of God during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel. He is name is means Dove and he is commission was to convey a message from God to the Asyrian capitol of Nineveh.
The only other mention of Jonah in bible, is the book of ( 2 Kings 14:25) and in the Gospel of Mathew 12:38-40, when the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign that He is the Messiah. Jesus replied in V 39,
But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

God directs Jonah to go to Nineveh a great evil city. Great because it was the capital of Assyria and evil because of their brutal treatment of everyone they conquered.
History says, they would skin their victims alive, pluck out their eyes and impale them on post for everyone to see. They were just as God said a very wicked people.

Jonah 1
³But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish.

Jonah’s response to GOD’S command is no way. He didn’t even think about it (see v 3)
He immediately disobeys God and heads in the opposite direction away from Nineveh and away from GOD.
I asked myself, what would make him disobey GOD so quickly?
Was it fear of the wicked Ninevites or deliberate disobedience to the directions of GOD. (I could relate to Jonah.)
If it was fear- Jesus spoke about in Matthew 10:28,
“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
If disobedience - Jesus speaking of obedience - said in John 14:15,
“If you love me, obey my commandments.
Also, in Luke 6:46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

Jonah 1
⁴But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
⁵Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.
⁶So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

Jonah was asleep at peace in his disobedience.
For the believer living in disobedience to God is not a good place to be.
We are deceiving ourselves, thinking it’s not a big deal. Over time our hearts become hard, and our faith is spiritually fast asleep. We become ineffective for the kingdom of GOD.
God will not let us live comfortably in disobedience to HIM.
He sends the storm not to hurt us but to lead us back to HIM.

Hebrews 12:6
For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

Jonah 1
⁷Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.
⁸“Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”
⁹Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
¹⁰The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.

Jonah was found out! Luke 12:3-4 says, there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
Living in disobedience to GOD is sin not only affects you but everyone around you, and GOD will make it known.

Jonah 1
¹¹And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
¹² “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

Jonah is so set on disobeying GOD that he would rather die than complete the mission GOD gave him.

Jonah 1
¹³Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.
¹⁴Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah’s God. “O LORD,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death.
O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
¹⁵Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!

V13 the sailor showed mercy to Jonah, even though they knew he was the reason for the danger they were in.
I would have chunked him out of the boat as soon as he told me to.

Jonah 1
¹⁶The sailors were awestruck by the LORD ’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

Two things happened after the storm ceased.
1. The sailors believed and worshiped God,
2. and Jonah believed he had escaped from the will of GOD. So, he thought.

¹⁷Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah 2
¹Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.

What amazes me is Jonah’s, sinful disobedience was so great that he was unwilling to repent, instead choosing to suffer in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights.
Can you imagine how dark, gross, and stinky it was living there?
Oh, that we would not be like Jonah. Stubborn, unwilling to yield to GOD, instead choosing to live outside the will of GOD.
Don’t dwell in disobedience to GOD, instead call out to HIM quickly and HE will hear you. (As we read next.)

Jonah 2
²He said, “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!
³You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
⁴Then I said, ‘O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’
⁵“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
⁶I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!
⁷As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.
⁸Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
⁹But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.”

• Jonah acknowledges that this chastening is from the Lord.
• He repents of his sin. and He proclaims that I will fulfill all my vows.
• GOD hears our cry of repentance.
• Jeremiah 29:12-13
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jonah 2
¹⁰Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

When we cry out to God and repent of or sin and disobedience, He forgives us and replaces that spirit of disobedience with HIS Holy Spirit which frees us from that dark stinky life we were trapped in.
2 Corinthians 3:17 says, For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Jonah 3
¹Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time:
²“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I have given you.”
³This time Jonah obeyed the LORD ’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

GOD is so merciful and full of love for us that HE never holds our past sins against us.
When he forgives, he remembers them no more and uses us for HIS glory.
Psalms 103:12 says, He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Jonah 3
⁴On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
⁵The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
⁶When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.
⁷Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.
⁸People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.
⁹Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”
¹⁰When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah’s message seemed weak to me, but the power is in the sender of the message.
Verse 10 isn’t saying that GOD couldn’t make HIS mind up on what to do with Nineveh. - Instead, it shows how merciful GOD is towards us when we acknowledge HIM and truly repent of our sins.
In Exodus 34:6 God proclaimed this to Moses about himself.
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth.
We like Jonah, have been giving a message from GOD to share with our friends, family and all those who are perishing.
Share the good news in obedience to God as commanded to us by Jesus and let’s see what GOD can do.
Mark 16:15 And then he told them,
“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”

Jonah 4
¹This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.
²So he complained to the LORD about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.
³Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

Now we see the real reason for Jonah’s disobedience to GODS calling.
He didn’t want the Ninevites to be spared from the judgment of GOD that he had proclaimed.
I can see why he would feel this way because they were evil enemies if Israel.
So, he didn’t want them to be spared.
It made Jonah very angry that GOD changed his mind about destroying Nineveh once they repented.
We need to be very carful when we see the mercy of GOD as a bad thing.
We can allow our feelings of hatefulness towards others who have wronged to overwhelm us, and we refuse to show the mercy of God towards them.
And that is a scary place to be in, when we consider what GOD says about not showing mercy to others.
James 2:13
There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

Jonah 4
⁴The LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”
⁵Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.

If we are willing to be angry and complain to God about his mercy on others, we better be ready to listen when HE responds. Not run away and sulk like Jonah did.
“For we can’t comprehend the thoughts of God, they are too great for us, Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Jonah 4
⁶And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
⁷But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.
⁸And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.
⁹Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”
¹⁰Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.
¹¹But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

God leaves Jonah with something to think about.
As we are left with the question like, but what did Jonah do? What happened to him? But the Bible is silent on the outcome.
David Guzik says, Jewish tradition says that after God said the words of Jonah 4:11, Jonah then fell on his face and said: “Govern your world according to the measure of mercy, as it is said, To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness”
We can only hope that Jonah – and we – would have such a humble response.

In closing we can take away several lessons from the Book of Jonah.
First, don’t run from GOD or HIS calling for your life.
It will only lead you down a path that is broken and miserable.
Instead walk in obedience and humbly ask HIM for the for HIS strength to live out HIS calling.
Second, GOD loves you so much that HE will allow and use difficult situations in our lives to draw us back to HIM, when we start drifting away.
GOD has a heart for the lost and is willing to show HIS great mercy for all who will repent and call upon HIM.
Oh, that we would have the heart of GOD for those who are lost and humbly heed the call of GOD for our lives.
Disobedience to GOD is the hard road that Jonah choose to Nineveh.
But humbly submitting to GOD’s plan for our lives is a much better road to travel on, that will lead us right to HIM.

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

Jonah struggled to share the message of repentance GOD gave him.
The message Jesus gave us, has the power to save and restore the lost.
So, what will you do with it?