Working from rest commision jonah on a mission

Editor's Notes

• #4: God The main Character of this book is not Jonah but God. This story is ultimately about revealing God to us. Jonah Jonah was an early prophet among the twelve "minor prophets". He prophesied about 780 B.C. during the days that King Jereboam II reigned over Israel. We are informed of this in the historical books of the Old Testament rather than in the book of Jonah itself (2 Kings 14:23-25).  Jonah was very loyal to Israel and despised any enemy of his people. He was especially bitter toward Assyria and its capital city of Nineveh. Before we criticize Jonah too severely for his lack of concern for the Ninevites, it must be remembered that the Assyrians were a very cruel people bent on conquering the world. They had spread much misery, suffering and death among the Israelites living along the northern border of Israel. If something like that occurred along our own borders, you and I would also probably find it difficult to have much concern about the welfare of those causing the trouble. Jonah hated Assyria, and that is the main problem Jonah had with the particular mission that God handed to him. Jonah was told to go and preach in Nineveh urging repentance. Jonah would much rather see them destroyed.  Nineveh Nineveh and the Assyrian EmpireThe Assyrian empire became extremely great and powerful with NINEVEH as its center, all the way until its final destruction by the Chaldeans and the Medes. Nineveh was located in a very desirable place, east of the Tigris River in a very fertile plain. Today the ancient ruins are located just opposite of the present day city of Mosul. NINEVEH was also famous in the ancient world because it was a center for the worship of Ishtar (Astarte) the fertility goddess. The size of NINEVEH is revealed in the Bible, in Jonah 3:3 and 4:11 (A 3 days journey in breadth with over 120,000 people). The classical writers describe NINEVEH as being over 60 miles wide. The city of Nineveh is described in Genesis 10:11 as having been founded by Nimrod, the hunter who built the tower of Babel and led the world into a rebellion against God.
• #5: The word of the Lord came to Jonah saying Jon 1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me."
• #6: The word of the Lord came to Jonah saying Jon 1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah flee’s very far to get away from this command. But God sent a wind - Jon 1:4 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. But Jonah was asleep - Jon 1:5 NASB Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. The captain asked him how he could be asleep, he should rather pray for them all to be delivered. The men on the boat figured out Jonah was the problem and asked him what to do Jon 1:12 NASB He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.“ They resisted to throw him overboard but eventually with no other choice prayed to God and threw Jonah overboard. Immediately the wind stopped and the men were in fear of God, burnt offerings and made vows. That is OT speak for they got saved. Then the Lord sent a Fish. The fish swallowed Jonah and he was in the fish’s stomach for three days.
• #7: Then the Lord sent a Fish. The fish swallowed Jonah and he was in the fish’s stomach for three days. In the fish’s stomach Jonah turned back to God and sang praise to the Lord. The fish vomited him out.
• #8: So God speaks to Jonah a second time Jon 3:2 NASB "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." The people of Nineveh heard Jonah’s preaching and repented. Jon 3:4-6 NASB Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. God forgave them and relented from destroying them. Jon 3:10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
• #9: But Jonah became angry Jon 4:1-3 NASB But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." But God wonders why Jonah is angry. To teach Jonah His heart God sent a plant for Jonah’s shade and Jonah was happy. So God sent a worm to kill the plant and Jonah became very unhappy again and again asked to rather die.
• #10: A Boat – As Christian people we should find security in the truth that we have received. We live our lives on the firm foundation of the revealed will of God and we live our lives within His law. We must all study the Bible and pray. We will discover many things in that great book. We must follow all these truths. But, let us realise a fact about some subjects. Our understanding of Bible passages can be different. We must not be certain that we are always right. This would mean that those who do not agree with us are wrong. People like this act like a judge. They say things before they think. Their words can be very cruel. This can lead to groups that oppose each other in a bitter way. All this is very much against the Bible’s teaching. There will be times when we cannot agree with other Christians. Then we must remember something. They will not agree with us! We must be careful about our attitude to other true *believers. We can easily say things about them that are not with love. We can say bad things about them. But just remember something. They belong to the same *Lord. So, we would be saying bad things about our *Lord too. Our beliefs have great value for us. This is right. But we must all have God’s love for other people too. They may express their beliefs in a different way. They may not understand some Bible passages in the same way. But this does not mean that their beliefs are dangerous. Jonah had strong beliefs about a certain truth. Parts of that truth were essential. It was right that they were valuable to him. But God desired to say something more to Jonah. Another truth was just as important. It was the truth about God’s *mercy and patience. Jonah would not listen to God’s appeal. He preferred the easy parts of God’s truth at that time.
• #11: A Boat – As Christian people we should find security in the truth that we have received. We live our lives on the firm foundation of the revealed will of God and we live our lives within His law. We must all study the Bible and pray. We will discover many things in that great book. We must follow all these truths. But, let us realise a fact about some subjects. Our understanding of Bible passages can be different. We must not be certain that we are always right. This would mean that those who do not agree with us are wrong. People like this act like a judge. They say things before they think. Their words can be very cruel. This can lead to groups that oppose each other in a bitter way. All this is very much against the Bible’s teaching. There will be times when we cannot agree with other Christians. Then we must remember something. They will not agree with us! We must be careful about our attitude to other true *believers. We can easily say things about them that are not with love. We can say bad things about them. But just remember something. They belong to the same *Lord. So, we would be saying bad things about our *Lord too. Our beliefs have great value for us. This is right. But we must all have God’s love for other people too. They may express their beliefs in a different way. They may not understand some Bible passages in the same way. But this does not mean that their beliefs are dangerous. Jonah had strong beliefs about a certain truth. Parts of that truth were essential. It was right that they were valuable to him. But God desired to say something more to Jonah. Another truth was just as important. It was the truth about God’s *mercy and patience. Jonah would not listen to God’s appeal. He preferred the easy parts of God’s truth at that time.
• #12: A Fish – God prepared a place to persuade Jonah. He places him in a tight and terrible spot, a place where he cannot escape from to soften him up. Have you ever been stuck in a tight and terrible job, class or relationship. Could it be that God prepared that place for you to work on your heart, to soften you up so that you can receive His heart. Jonah ultimately realized while inside the fish that Jon 2:9 NASB But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.“ Salvation is from God not from ourselves. He entered into the rest from works.
• #13: A Tree – But after Nineveh repented Jonah was angry because Jon 4:2 NASB He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Again Jonah wants to die, he’d rather die than live in a world where God shows mercy to Nineveh. He couldn’t imagine living while his enemy was forgiven, he also probably feared going back home to be killed by his own people. So God provides him with comfort, God says I am with you and provides him with a shade. Jonah feels good things are as they should be, he is more favoured by God.
• #14: A worm – But God sends a worm to destroy the tree and exposes Jonah to the sun and the warm wind. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God wants Jonah to know that mercy is His to show as he pleases and that one never deserves mercy. He wants to remind him that even he, Jonah does not deserve mercy. How quickly can we as believers forget that we don’t deserve mercy, how quickly do we become entitled, thinking we in some way deserve God’s favour. Jon 4:11 NASB "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" Do these last words of God not remind you of Jesus on the cross saying, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”?