Jonah 4: The anger of man does not produce God’s righteousness

We now turn to Jonah’s reaction to the mercy of God to the penitent Ninevites. He was enraged that God could consider their repentance, leave alone forgiving them!

1)      Jonah was displeased exceedingly for the Ninevites repented

Jonah instead of being pleased that he served God who is so rich in mercy and abounding in steadfast love, was furious that God would forgive them! In fact the passage shows that according to Jonah, ‘It was evil to Jonah a great evil,’ and this tells you that his reaction was very strong.

He was not just irritated, he was burning with rage and fury over the mercy of God on people who were outside the commonwealth of Israel. He did not appreciate the sovereignty of God in the dispensation of His grace. If God had consulted with Jonah, if or not to pardon them, Jonah’s counsel could have been ‘no pardon’ without any reservations or remorse! Before you and I lift up our hands to flare Jonah, let us at least appreciate that he lacked the understanding of what God was doing and he is not the only one. Habbakkuk and Jeremiah had the same problem.

Back to Jonah we see that in his prayer to God he justified himself. His word came out that his problem was he had wanted the people of Nineveh to be punished for their sins and particularly because they were enemies of God’s people. He knew that bringing God’s word to Nineveh was itself an act of God’s mercy, therefore he fled to Tarshish. He felt justified in his defiance of God, because ‘God’s mercy is only to be spent on His people, and no other!’ This was Jonah’s theology! In this position Jonah had imbibed a false entitlement to the grace of God that Israel had. Did God chose Israel because they were the best nation? Read Deut. 7:6-8

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

No one deserves or will ever deserve God’s grace, and except the one who doesn't deserve it will receive it. If by any chance it turned out that you deserved the grace of God, then it would cease to be grace – Grace it always unmerited. If it is deserved, then it is one’s dues (Rom. 4:4-5). In this chapter, we see the blowing up of the Jewish balloon – they deserved the grace of God and everyone else was unwelcome.

Jonah finally admitted the wickedness of the intent of his heart. If Jonah’s theology was true, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, the Ethiopian Eunuch, you and I should not be recipients of God’s saving grace. Thank God that His grace does not depend on counsel from any man, not even a prophet. God does not solicit for human counsel. In fact God does not have a cabinet, outside of Himself! This is the lesson that Peter was taught of God before being sent to the household of Cornelius in Acts 10. Later on he explained this to the other apostles and this was the conclusion: If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life." Act 11:17-18.

Thank God that He is not hindered by human failure. He turns the hearts of men, even kings to do His bidding. They may not like it, but they will only accomplish the purposes of God even in their wickedness – no one, even the devil can stay His hand to accomplish His will. Jonah’s displeasure was all in human vanity and folly.

2)      Knowledge puffs up (1Cor 8:1)

Jonah knew that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster! Excellent theology but only intellectual confessionalism is not a sufficient Christianity. But while we may be made indignant by Jonah’s rage we must instead see the infinite patience and wisdom of God in dealing with this prophet. But before casting any stone against Jonah, let us ask ourselves how we use the knowledge we amass here. You may be a well educated person in things of God, thank God for that and use it for His realize the purposes for which He has given it. Never make the knowledge you have as the basis for slamming other people. Use it to edify and not to tear down. Any knowledge could be used either for good or for evil.

3)      God exposes the selfishness of man in love for the posterity

Ultimately the Lord forced him to accept the divine love that motivates divine government in providence by appointing a plant to protect Jonah from the scorching heat and save him from the discomfort. This made Jonah exceedingly happy. This was another demonstration of Jonah’s shameful selfishness (4:6) While he was glad for the plant provided but when it was destroyed by a worm the following day he was back to his fits of anger. Self-entitlement fails to receive the grace of God in affliction. We must guard against the thought that God owes us anything – He does not owe you or me any apology when He governs His creation.

Just as Jonah was beginning to enjoy the shade of the vine, God appointed a worm to attack the plant so that it withered. God then appointed a scorching east wind and the sun to beat on the head of Jonah so that was faint! Jonah got even angrier! In this Jonah was getting a tiny taste of the horrors of the Hell the Ninevites were headed to before they were saved.

This time, God sets the record straight! He reminds Jonah that Jonah cared more about a plant than he did the souls of the people of Nineveh. People made in the image of God and people who would have perished had He not intervened! Do you see the same attitude in your life? Where you look at the wickedness of sinners and think that they deserve hell? Are there people that you consider unworthy of the grace of God? This is the same attitude.

We all should be highly convicted by this. We tend to get upset about things that simply do not matter. Think about the last thing that made you mad. Now, ask yourself this question: What will it matter in 100 years? Friends, the only thing that really matters as we pass through this life is finding God's will for you and walking in with all your power! People are going to Hell and we are worrying about plants and other comforts. Our priorities need to be refocused and narrowed until they want only what God wants in all of life. That would please Him and it would get His work done in the world! Eph. 6:6; Heb. 13:21; 1 John 2:17.)

What has your attention today? Jonah didn't care about the eternal destiny of the people on Nineveh! All he cared about was his reputation as a prophet and the foolish prejudices he carried with him through life. He learned, or at least we hope he did, that God's will in this world is all that really matters. Isn't it time we put aside all the things that cloud our vision of His glory? Isn't it time we put aside our hurts, our desires and our wills so that we might be better able to do His will in the world?

Jonah suffered because he didn't care about God's will. What do you care about today? If anything is more important to you than doing the will of God, then I invite you to leave your booth and come to Him in humble obedience. God has a right to spend His mercy, grace and steadfast love on whoever He wills. We should not imagine that a mortal man can give counsel to God.

Jonah 3: God’s purposes cannot be thwarted

One of the big lessons of the book of Jonah is the sovereignty of God in all things. He is involved in all the affairs of His creation, even the most minute. This is to say that God is ordering His creation to accomplish His purposes. This is the third lesson from this book – that His sovereign purposes are immutable by a human hand. Jonah’s will couldn’t withstand the sovereign omnipotence – neither yours nor mine can! We must always bow to God and understand that His counsel shall stand. We see this in two ways in chapter three of the book of Jonah:

1)      The message of God is far powerful than we can imagine:

Jonah was forced to go to Nineveh and he preached the message of repentance boldly. He was told to “Arise and go to the Nineveh, that great city and call out against it the message I tell you.” This time round Jonah went according to the word of the Lord. Jonah preached the message given by God to the Ninevites, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” He could not change it!

This was a terrifying message and it must have been terrible for the people to hear this sad news. A simple eight word message, easy to understand but powerful for the people believed the message as well as God. This tells us that the Word is powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. It is like a sledgehammer – it breaks to pieces all human resistance and penetrates into the human mind, into the heart and the conscience. Jonah preached it and the people of Nineveh as wicked as they were, were brought to submission. The Word of God is powerful to belivers as well as unbelievers alike and no one is too strong willed to resist its power. Those who reject it, are condemned and those who receive it are justified.

When people heard Jonah preaching judgment and demanding repentance, they did not just repent as the message demanded – they believed God (v.5). When you believe God you are justified (Gen. 15:6). But how do we know that one has believed God? There is repentance! Repentance and faith come together, just as the two sides of a coin. They who put their trust in God the Father, and the Son as given ability by the Holy Spirit, repent of their sins. This is what happened in Nineveh- they called a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them – from king to the pauper in the villages; from the nobles to the poor in their slums of Nineveh – there was national repentance. This is the first of its kind outside Israel! From this we learn that when the message of God is preached, it has powerful convicting power.

There is good news in this for you and me! It is a blessing to know that God can use even those who have fallen short for His glory! The upshot of this is that if God can use Jonah, God can use you too and bring glory to His name and good to His people. This also means that when the Lord gives you a message and you preach it as given (faithfully), the Lord will make blessings out of it. We must take confidence when we share the word of the Lord, knowing that He will bless His Word and that it will accomplish the purpose to which He sent it, Isa. 55:11! The truth is that the gospel is called the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. We must unleash it wherever the Lord has placed us.

From this event in Nineveh we see an outstanding miracle. The miracle lies in the fact that a whole great city turned to God! There have been great revivals throughout history, but this is the only instance of a town of this size, filled with such wicked people, being converted and delivered from sin. Isn’t it such a great miracle when revival comes and lives are changed? Shall we not pray for such to come upon our cities and our countries? The Lord did it in Nineveh, He is able! Pray for the conversion of your neighbours and countrymen from today. Pray also for the salvation of the nations. But, it is always a miracle when even a single soul hears the good news of salvation and comes to faith in Jesus! That is the glory of the Gospel, Rom. 1:16; John 1:12.)

2)      God always remembers His great Mercy 

When the people of Nineveh repented of their sins and turned to the Lord, God reacted to their faith in grace. When they turned to Him, He saved their souls by grace! Of course, God knew what would happen before Jonah ever arrived since He is the One who sent Him! Their conversion was part of His perfect plan! Salvation always works this way! When God loves a sinner, He has a plan to save his soul. So He sends the Holy Spirit to give spiritual life and the willingness to listen. He then appoints a messenger who is sent with the good news. Yes, His Word usually is sent to a sinner through a human agent. The sinner is convicted and sees his wicked condition and repents. When that sinner repents of his sins, God saves him by grace through faith, Eph. 2:8-9. Of course, it's all part of His plan! Remember that none of His purposes, plans or intentions are changed.

What about the word ‘relent’ used in 3:9-10,

Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish." When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it (3:9-10)

The Ninevites, although wicked people knew that God is merciful and will turn if they turn – He will not punish them if they repent. They knew that there is a way by which God’s fierce anger can be appeased. So they repented. So did God really thwart His plans? Can God change His mind? Isn’t God the unchanging or immutable One?

In dealing with this matter, John L. Mackay on his Focus Commentary on Job writes:

The OT does not hesitate to affirm both that God is unchanging, and that He can and does alter His attitude towards people and His way of dealing with them. It is interesting to find both these truths stated in the one chapter of Scripture, 1 Samuel 15. In verse 11, the Lord tells Samuel, ‘I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions,’ while a little later Samuel says to Saul, ‘He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind’ (1Sam. 15:29). The same word is used for grieved is the same as change His mind and clearly it is not God who changed it was Saul. When God uses this language in the Scripture, it is that matters are viewed from a human perspective. It seems to us that God has changed, but what has in reality happened is the human conduct. Saul was no longer the human he once was, he had become with no regard for God and had turned to wickedness. Thankfully the opposite is true in the case of the Ninevites who were initially wicked but had now turned around for the better in light of God’s warning and threat. Clearly God could have been inconsistent if His holy and divine attitude had remained the same despite the change in their conduct for the better.

God is consistent in His divine government in all matters. His rule is that the soul that sins shall die and so whoever dies in His sins is committed to eternal punishment. On the other hand whoever is willing to give his sins to Jesus Christ has his punishment meted on Christ on his behalf. There is no question that there is no shadow of turning with God and so our confession of faith puts it like this:

There is but one, and only one, living and true God. He is self-existent and infinite in His being and His perfections. None but He can comprehend or understand His essence. He is pure spirit, invisible, and without body, parts, or the changeable feelings of men. He alone possesses immortality, and dwells amid the light insufferably bright to mortal men. He never changes. He is great beyond all our conceptions, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty and infinite. He is most holy, wise, free and absolute. All that He does is the out-working of His changeless, righteous will, and for His own glory. He is most loving, gracious, merciful and compassionate. He abounds in goodness and truth. He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. He rewards those who seek Him diligently. But He hates sin. He will not overlook guilt or spare the guilty, and He is perfectly just in executing judgment.   1689LBCF Chapter 2:1

So in His outworking all things He is changeless and in the case of the forgiveness of the Ninevites, we see a demonstration of His mercy and grace. For this we must be so thankful that He is willing to commit His mercy not just on the people of His own choice, the Jews but also the Gentiles, for He is God of the Gentiles also. God simply gave the statement of intent if they were to remain in their course of wickedness, the very giving of the warning is an act of His grace. Threatening with judgment is the same as alerting the sleeping evil man of the impending disaster so that he may be awakened from his wickedness. This is what happened. Consider Jeremiah 18:7-10

If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.

Jonah 2: Salvation Belongs to the Lord

1.       God chastens those He loves (Chapter 2)

When spanking my son, I find that he is very quick and wise in words imploring me not to spank him further. He knows how to plead and beg so that he is not spanked. He makes promises and even sometimes kneels down for the fear of pain. There are times I listen to him, and relent and there are times I have to be faithful to God by not withholding the rod of correction and so destroy him. I know what God has said, "Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death." Prov. 19:18 and again, For the Lord discipline the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives. Heb. 12:6. I know that For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Heb. 12:11.

This reality is applied in this second chapter that God chastens those He loves. This is what He did with Jonah, His servant and prophet. When Jonah defied His Word, He lifted His chastening rod by the appointing the great storm and the great fish, and later the great scorching heat.

How Did Jonah respond to this? He responded in prayer. He pleaded with God for mercy. The most part of chapter 2 is the prayer of Jonah (vv. 2-9) and God’s answer to Jonah’s prayer (v. 10).

1)      Jonah prayed to the Lord His God from the belly of the fish.

His prayer was so important that it is recorded as inspired Scripture. Being a man in distress, he called out to the Lord. As was pressing upon the damp flesh of the fish, the darkness surrounded him, but he recollected his minds to remember to call upon the Lord. Many Christians of our day do not highly value prayer – it is regarded as worthy nothing. Yet, we must never forget that prayer is God’s own idea. It is provided for us graciously. When Jonah prayed, He also immediately tells us that when he called out,

…he (God) answered … you (Lord) heard my voice ((2:2)

He described the situation inside the belly and I can assure you I wouldn’t want to be there for a minute! …floods surrounded me. He was driven away from your sight… waters closed over me… the deep surrounded… weeds were wrapped about my head… my life was fainting away!

2)      Jonah acknowledged that God answers prayers even of those who have gone astray.

Even from the belly of the great fish! Even from a fainting heart (2.7). It is very reassuring to know that God will not tell the worst prayer sinner to shut up. He will listen. He listened to Jonah. He listened to Samson and in one day killed more Philistines than ever before! Has the Lord not promised that whoever comes to Him He will by no means cast out? Why do you then abandon yourself to prayerlessness? May our dire situations be the fuel to drive us to fervent prayer. May the prayer meetings overflow with praying saints. And if not, may the saints wherever they may be, even though in the valley of the shadow of death, may they sincerely and powerfully, even in their groaning call out to God in prayer.

3)      Salvation belongs to the Lord

One of the most astounding statement in the book of Jonah is the bear knuckled fact that salvation from disaster and even the eternal danger and peril cannot come from men. Men are all helpless – we all look to the Lord for help. More specifically, our salvation from sins, from the eternal punishment, from the wrath to come, from the final destruction to be meted on all who live according to the folly is of the Lord. Our gracious God has sent forth His son who has willingly died in our place and paid the penalty due to you. Trust Him! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today and you will find real life.

JONAH 1: You defy God at your own peril

Jonah: The runaway preacher!               

BOOK OF JONAH           

Many times a Christian finds himself in the dungeon of giant despair. And you feel like you cannot continue in faith because the silly spiritual mistakes you have made. The book of Jonah is a good book to turn to as the experiences of Jonah can be very similar to such a Christian. 

I believe that even the great Apostle Paul was once a resident there. How else can he write 2 Cor. 1:8. & Rom. 7:15-24.,

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

It is not interesting being in such a state. Yet from this book we see how wise our God is. He turns even the worst of the coconut shells into the best utensils. When you find yourself in this state, may you be advised that your medicine is prayer. Pray as you have never done before. This is what Jonah did in Chapter 2. Now, we all have lessons to learn from this book whether we have been imprisoned by the giant despair or we haven’t. Because we need to be forewarned and so forearmed when our paths cross the vast wasteland of Mr. Despair’s land. 

A few lessons for us to consider from the book of Jonah:

1.       You defy God at your own peril

Jonah defied God, and fled from His presence (Jonah 1)

1)      Do not forget that God is omnipresent:

Here is a man of God, a prophet, someone that God spoke directly to. God came to him with a message and matching orders to go to Nineveh that he may call out against it because of their terrible evil that had come up before God. However, Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. he went down to Joppa, got himself a ticket and boarded the ship that goes away from the presence of God! But he forgot that God is everywhere. He should have gone to the 139^th Psalm, 7-12:

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, "even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

You cannot run away from God. The simple catechism for boys and girls, 10^th question is – where is God? and the simple but profound answer is, God is everywhere. There are many here living their lives with the knowledge that God is omnipresent, but living in blatant disregard of that reality. Run and wherever you will go, you will see the face of God in the wonder of His creation. The very ship that Jonah boarded was being driven by God, its course was determined by God, the wind that carried it along was the wind of God and it blew in the direction and intensity that God determined. Poor Jonah!

2)      Remember the power of God - He is omnipotent!

God is not just omnipresent doing nothing, He is omnipresent powerfully outworking His divine and eternally determined purposes. God is governing and ruling all His creation according to the counsel of His own will. This is because God is omnipotent! He consults no one and does all things very good. Consider His sovereignty in this book:

-          He hurled a great wind upon the sea (1:4)

-          The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah (1:17). He who made a mute beast talk He also made the fish provide good voyage for Jonah!

-          The Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah to Nineveh where He wanted him! (2:10)

-          The Lord appointed a plant to save Jonah from the scorching heat

-          God appointed a scorching east wind and the hottest of the sun to beat upon Jonah’s forehead until he almost fainted

3)      God spoke through unbelievers (1:6-16)

“…Arise you sleeper, call out your God”. He used unbelievers to speak sense to Jonah. There is no monopolizing God. After all He created all. In this episode, the heathens make Jonah look like a pagan. How many times have you been ashamed by the seemingly righteousness of unbelievers? Thank God for the common grace. When unbelievers fear God more than believers – interesting enough Jonah parades his credentials as one who ‘…feared God of heaven, the Creator.’ They knew Jonah was fleeing from the presence of God, they did not want to shed innocent blood, they called out to Yahweh, they offered sacrifice to the Lord and made vows (been converted?)

Consider yourself - non Christian. Everyday your own conscience testifies that you are constantly defying God who graciously created you. And you are living in sin of heart, sins of thought, sins of ambition, sins of actions, sins against God and against your neighbour. You know that you are constantly standing up against God just like Jonah. Remember, the God that we are referring to is God that Jonah described this way: 

           "...the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." (1:9)

This is what the seafarers did - they repented to God this way:

"O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you." (1:14)

They also offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. What this means is that they realized that they could not atone for their sins and showed their faith by obeying the law that said that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. In the sacrifice they were saying that their faith was anchored in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

You need to deal with this swiftly before God's patience runs out. Because when this will happen, and like Jonah you are cast from your comfort, you will regret bitterly. The tragedy is that you will not be languishing in the belly of a huge fish, but you will be in the eternal and irreversible torments of hell. However, the message of Jonah is that you should not throw yourself into despair frenzy - this will be of no value to you. Rather plead to Christ for forgiveness. Beseech Him to be merciful to you, for indeed as Jonah confessed, God is a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (4:2) 

The point is that God has not punished you for your sins as you deserve because He wants you to repent. Please don't count His patience as slowness. Repent now and be saved.

If you are a Christian and reading this, then there is hope for you. Do not abandon yourself to despair and hopelessness. Hope in God and praise Him for He is your help and hope. Those suicidal thoughts are not necessary and they should be abandoned. Consider the great salvation that has been given to you. Remember the cost paid for your redemption - the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the begotten Son of God. Remember the great hope and inheritance laid up in heaven for those who endure to the end and hold on patiently. May this give courage on the way to keep on trusting and depending on Christ and His purchased merit on the cross.

The Lord has called you to His service. Serve Him diligently and do not question His wisdom. His counsel is the only one that will last forever. Those who serve Him will soon find full recompense. Do not flee from the God given services, even though at the brink of danger. Surely you cannot defy God, can you? Jonah's case shows that God's plans and purpose will prevail over those of men. Serve the Lord for your service to Him are not in vain.