Jonah 4:1-11

1. Jonah Very Angry (vv.1-4)
In this book, there have been a succession of great things: a great wind (1:4); a great fish (1:17); a great city (3:2) and now a greatly displeased prophet! Jonah sees the repentance of Ninevah and becomes very angry. In fact, the words could be translated as "a great evil" - Jonah sees God's mercy as evil!

We know the story but still this is so shocking: a rebel who has so recently tasted afresh the grace of God is now angry that the same grace should be shown to others! In 3:10 the LORD relents from his anger and in 4:1 Jonah becomes angry. The contrast just couldn't be greater.

What's his problem? His complaint in vv.2,3 is that he knew all along that this would happen. This is the reason he ran away in the first place; "I knew you are a gracious and compassionate God". (nb: Jonah refers to 'my word' as opposed to the LORD's word)

His theology is not wrong but his heart is. Jonah is guilty of the worst sort of parochialism and nationalism: one that wants the best for its own and the rest can get what they deserve (nb: notice v.2 "at home")

Someone has said, "he cannot stomach Yahweh's cheapening his mercy by offering it to all and sundry" (Allen p.227). This is just how the Scribes and Pharisees felt. Is it how you feel too? Remember the story of the unforgiving servant (Mt 18:23-35).

In his anger he declares that he'd rather die, he'll cut off his nose to spite his face. His words echo those of Elijah. He may sound like him but this is no Elijah!

Do you get angry with God? Want everything your own way? It may be immaturity or a sign that there is much to be done in our hearts.

How does the LORD deal with him? By asking him a straightforward question: Have you any right to be angry? There is no answer but the question is a devastating one if we will face it. It asserts again the sovereignty of God. Who are we to argue with him?

2. Jonah: blessed and blazed! (vv.5-9)
So Jonah goes to sit down, east of the city. It's hot, so he builds himself a shelter of sorts. But still the LORD is active and causes another great thing to happen (the book shouts at us!) - a vine grows up and shades Jonah's head. And Jonah is right pleased (v.6)!

There we see again that willingness to receive God's blessings whilst still wanting to deny them to others.

But there is a lesson waiting for Jonah just around the corner. We cannot treat God like this and expect to get away with it. When he questioned him, the word for angry also means 'hot'. Now Jonah is going to feel the irony of that as God withers the vine and makes the sun blaze down on his head, giving him sunstroke (he grew faint).

The lesson is all about the sovereignty of God, the repeat question shows that. He is the LORD, the Creator who can make things grow and die. There is none like him.

This time, Jonah responds. "Yes I do have a right to be angry", he says, "and I'm angry enough to die!" Before, he wanted to die, contesting God's right to save (v.3); now, he wants to die, contesting God's right to destroy (the vine).

How fickle! Jonah wants to be in charge, he wants to handle God. But he cannot and we cannot. He is the LORD and we need always to recognise that and respond to it. Jonah had recognised that in his own deliverance (Salvation is from the LORD) but failed to work it through in the whole of life.

3. The Challenge of God's Compassion (vv.10,11)
So Jonah thinks he has a right to die. Now it's time to listen!

The LORD confronts him with his concern for a plant that he had not planted or cared for and contrasts that with his own Creator-concern for the vast number of Ninevites and the animals of the city too.

Here are people who are morally blind, they can't tell their left from their right. And the Father is saying, I forgive them, for they know not what they do.

What a contrast with the mean heart of Jonah! The question is a devastating one and we're not told of any answer from Jonah. Perhaps he was shamed into silence.

But the real effect of the question is to be upon us: what answer will we give? What are our hearts like? Is our compassion alive and well or are we in it for what we can get and everyone else can perish?

"A Jonah lurks in every Christian heart, whimpering his insidious message of smug prejudice, empty traditionalism, and exclusive solidarity. He that has ears to hear, let him hear and let him allow the saving love of God which has been outpoured in his own heart to remould his thinking and social orientation" (Allen p.235).

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Jonah 3:4-10

1. Jonah Preaches (v.4)
As we saw last time, Jonah now obeys the word of the LORD and goes to Ninevah and preaches there. Verse 4 tells us that "Jonah started into the city (and) he proclaimed".

We may suspect from what we know of Jonah, the man and the book, that his preaching is lacklustre and dry, because his heart is not in it. But for now, we should at least acknowledge that he was obedient and delivered the message he had been given. It is always commendable to obey.

The message that Jonah preaches must be noticed, for two reasons. Firstly, there is the timespan that is mentioned: forty more days. The implication quite clearly is that there is the possibility of mercy; they are being given time to reflect on their sin, on the threatened judgement of God and to repent. This hint at the mercy of God is what Jonah has known to be present all along.

The second thing to notice is the word 'overturned'. It quite clearly implies judgement and reminds us of the situation with Sodom and Gomorrah. But there is an irony in the use of the word here, because it also carries the meaning 'turned around'. Again, there is the indirect reference to the mercy of God and his sovereignty in 'turning round' that great and wicked city.

2. Ninevah Repents (vv.5-9)
So Jonah preaches to these pagans. Many a preacher has been in a similar situation and faced derision and even danger. But here the response is not hostility but humility. The crowd that one might have expected to 'have Jonah for lunch' instead proclaim a fast.

These pagans 'believed God' (or 'believed in God'). The totally unexpected happens and happens straightaway (the 40 days were not needed)!

And this was true of all the people, from the greatest to the least. Verse 5 tells us in general what happened and verse 6-9 explain the detail. The King, in his role of leading the people and representing them, makes all the outward signs of inward repentance and leads the nation in its grief and sorrow over its sin and in its turning to God.

Now, it has been well-noted that this does not mean that the Ninevites were truly converted and turned from their idols to serve the living God (unlike the sailors in ch.1, there is no mention here of Yahweh).

However, insofar as it goes, they are genuine in their turning to God for mercy in this situation. Notice how the King calls for genuine repentance seen in a change of life: "Let them give up their evil ways and their violence".

There are many lessons to learn from this remarkable scene:

- Ninevah was a truly wicked city yet was turned around and brought to its knees by the word of God - even when it was proclaimed by a reluctant prophet! Such is the power of God at work.

- How urgent is the need for god's word to be heard today!

- The change was 'across the board'. A whole society was affected. Many genuine revivals also show the same thing when God is at work in power.

- Leaders are important in the spiritual life of the nation. They can so often set the tone and their example is a powerful one.

- It is right for those with opportunity to do so to speak prophetically to leaders of nations and those in positions of authority.

- This passage encourages us to think that their ministry could be blessed beyond their or our expectations, and to pray for that.

These lessons are a great incentive for us to pray for our land and for this world. And to do so with confidence in the word of God and in his power to turn around the worst situation.

3. The LORD Relents (v.10)
The Ninevites turned to God from their evil ways. But as with the Captain in 1:6, they acknowledge that mercy and grace are in the hand of God. Even man's repentance does not merit the grace and favour of God.

But what we see here is the character of God: slow to anger, abounding in mercy: "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion". We have already seen divine grace and compassion at work in the life of Jonah; now it's extended to the pagan sinners of Ninevah.

This is the God we worship! This is the God we proclaim to others! And this is the grace we are to embody as we live before others the lives of forgiven men and women.

May the sign of Jonah - the sign of Jesus, crucified for our sin and raised for our justification - be seen in us. And may his word turn this world around, so that all may know his mercy, from the greatest to the least. Amen.

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Jonah 3:1-3

1. A Second Time (v.1)
Last time, we thought about the great grace of God that is seen in his pursuit and rescue of Jonah. That grace is seen again in the opening verse of this 3rd chapter: "the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time".

Here is the God who doesn't bear grudges. He told his people through Malachi that "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed". When we are faithless, he yet remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself and his purposes.

Maybe we sometimes find it hard to forgive others, perhaps especially our brothers and sisters ('they should know better!'). Maybe we have an even greater problem at times forgiving ourselves and insist on dragging up the past and beating ourselves with our sins. Sometimes the devil is very active using our past to hinder our present and future - and we can all too easily help him.

God forgives and forgets; we must forgive and forget too.

2. Same Message, Same Purpose (v.2)
The rebellion of Jonah has not changed or deflected the purpose of the LORD. There is still a work to do, as verse 2 shows us. And this 2nd commission to Jonah is couched in the same words as the 1st (v.2 & cf. 1:2).

We are reminded of the Lord's dealings with Peter after his resurrection as he restored Peter into his service with the same words he had called with "Follow me" (see Jn 21:19; Mk 1:17).

But there is a slight change in the wording of the commission. Jonah was originally sent to preach 'against' Ninevah, a phrase that brought to mind the whole notion of judgement. Now he is told to go and preach 'to' Ninevah.

It is a small change yet significant in the light of Jonah's experience in the sea. This God is not just a God of judgement but also of mercy; the act of sending Jonah to Ninevah is not simply with the threat of judgement but also with the implied offer of mercy (see v.4 - 'Forty more days' gives them time to repent).

Now, Jonah should have been changed by his experience of grace. It should have been, from here on in, the defining aspect of his ministry. It should have radiated from his life. And if that is so of Jonah, how much more should it be true of us! We've been blessed by the most wonderful grace - does it show?

3. A Willing Servant? (v.3a)
Having been re-commissioned, verse 3 finds Jonah obeying the word of the LORD. He is now as compliant to the will of God as were the wind, the sea and the great fish.

There is something immensely encouraging in these words at first sight (and we must try to put ourselves in the place of the first hearers of this book). But this book is going to challenge us about our learning of the lessons the Lord teaches us: is Jonah truly a willing servant?

Much has been made of Jonah's change of heart but in many ways the question is still open and won't be answered until the final chapter of the book (although we know answer being familiar with the story).

What this should do is give us pause for thought and reflection. A right response to the grace of God is not always forthcoming; it is sadly all too possible for us to be mixed in our response and for our motives to be much too selfish as we grasp hold of the grace that is offered to us.

I don't want to elaborate on that now (we must follow the book through!) but it is important to register the possibility here of a less than thoroughgoing response to God's grace.

4. Ninevah: A Significant City (v.3b)
Having been taken up with Jonah and his story, we are now in v.3 brought to think again about the focus of his ministry, the city (and district?) of Ninevah.

We are told here that Ninevah was a great city and that a visit required three days. Quite what that means we're not sure of: 3 days to go round it? To go through its streets and alleys? To cover the area of greater Ninevah? To arrive, preach and them leave?

But quite what it exactly means is not as important as the description that is given of it as 'a great city'. Is that just telling us that is was big or important in its day? We've already seen that in some ways its fortunes were on the slide.

The phrase used here actually translates as 'a great city of/to God'. Putting that together with the rest of the book, especially chapter 4, it is clear that God is concerned for Ninevah (eventually it fell under his just judgement - see Nahum & Zephaniah). But here the point is being made that, whatever its ultimate destiny, it matters greatly to God - enough for him to pursue Jonah as he did.

Now, that is also true of all the world: there is no limitation in the Bible on the work of mission. Although strategies are used to reach the world (for example, going first to the large centres of population, as Paul did, except where the Lord overruled) that is no justification for saying that other places are insignificant to him.

You see, people matter to the Lord - enough for him to spare not his only Son but to freely give him up for us all. The fact that Ninevah is significant to God will contrast greatly with how Jonah feels about it (more of that when we get there!). Does it also contrast with the way we see the world around us?

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Jonah 1:17 - 2:10

1. God Intervenes! (1:17)
Having chased after Jonah and thrown the storm upon the boat such that the sailors eventually agree to throw Jonah overboard, the Lord continues to act by providing a great fish to swallow Jonah.

Now, that may sound like more punishment - who would want to be swallowed alive by a great fish?! - but in fact this is the grace of God at work to rescue Jonah from sure death in the sea. As we said before, we can be so taken up with the miracle of the fish that we fail to see the greater miracle - the invincible grace of God!

(nb: People often find the fish harder to swallow than the fish did Jonah! One man even suggested that 'Great Fish' was the name of a tavern where Jonah recovered from his ordeal of being thrown overboard!)

This verse, indeed the whole passage, stresses what Jonah himself expresses in 2:9 "Salvation comes from the Lord". The passage begins and ends with the actions of the Lord to save Jonah. The sailors think that Jonah's had it (1:14) and so does Jonah (2:6a) but God is still at work!

We need to see that even when his people take themselves far away in sin, the Lord is at work to restore them, that his purposes of grace and salvation may be fulfilled. How patient he is with Jonah - and with us too. But we must not presume upon his grace. It is never right to disobey his word as Jonah did (cf. Rom 6:1,2).

2. Jonah's Response (2:1-9)
Jonah's response (once he has got over the shock of being swallowed alive!) is to praise God. Let's look at what he says.

Verse 2 summarises what has happened. As he sank beneath the waves, Jonah called out to the Lord - and, he says here, "he answered me". Isn't God's grace stunning? Someone has said that "A sincere cry to (the LORD) is efficacious, whether from a pagan...or from one of his rebellious prophets".

What makes it all the more amazing that the Lord delivers Jonah is that there is no word of confession here, no expression of regret that he had failed the Lord.

Jonah then goes on to express more fully the situation he was in and his response to God's grace to him.

a) His situation: he was as good as dead. God has hurled him into the deep (he is conscious of the Lord's activity through the sailors) and the deep has claimed him. The words he uses - the depths of the grave - are, literally, 'the belly of Sheol'; he is in the grip of death. The sea has claimed him for Sheol.

He is also conscious of having been banished from God's sight (quite rich when you consider that that was the very thing he was running away from!!).

b) His cry Yet at that point of great extremity, he prays for help (that's what the phrase means, to look towards the holy temple). He remembers the LORD (his character and person) and prays in the light of who God is. And as he prays, so God hears and answers: "you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God" (still conscious of whose he is).

c) His response And because the LORD has rescued him , Jonah responds with resolve to honour the LORD in public. He is now "a supremely saved man who has tasted the grace" of God and it is going to show. Or so he says here. We'll have to wait and see!

But there is no doubt that what he says he intends to do: the words of v.9b "What I have vowed I will make good" are very strong ones. But as we're reminded in Micah 6:6-8, the LORD wants true obedience, not sacrifices. How will these vows look later on?

We can be so quick to take the grace that is offered to us, perhaps even expecting it to be offered without much confession from us. We need to ask ourselves: do we really value the grace of God? And are we serious about responding to it with renewed obedience and faithfulness?

Like Jonah, we can know all the right words (his prayer is an amalgamation from the psalms) but do we mean the words we say? Do we pay the vows that we make to serve the LORD afresh with renewed zeal and conviction?

3. The Sign of Jonah
But there's something else I want you to notice here that takes us from the days of Jonah forward to the days of Jesus.

Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and 3 nights. Our Lord referred to this verse when he said that the only sign that would be given to his generation was the sign of Jonah and he went on to compare his own coming experience of death and resurrection to Jonah's in the fish. How does this passage help us to understand our Lord's words? Was Jesus simply using the time comparison or was there more to it?

Jonah tells us here that he was as good as dead; we've seen that in vv.2b; 5,6a. It's also been suggested that in the ANE it was thought that 3 days and 3 nights were the length of time it took to journey to the underworld.

Jonah also says in 2:6b that the LORD brought him up from the pit, language that brings to mind the idea of resurrection (cf. Ps 16:10 & Acts 2:27.

Jonah came back from the apparent dead. The sailors never expected to see him again; Jonah thought he was a gonner too. That stressed the fact that God punishes sin to death.

But Jonah was raised from apparent death; the fact that he is later seen walking around showed the great mercy of God. And his mercy will extend to unbelieving heathens.

Now this gives what Jesus said its impact and power. He truly did die on account of sin, the sin of obstinate, wilful people, just like Jonah, just like us. And he was truly raised to life again, by the power of God, to show the great mercy and salvation of the LORD.

We may have much in common with Jonah - sometimes hard, more ready to receive grace than to respond to it. How much we need to be saved! And how great a Saviour we have! One who died for our sin and rose again for our justification.

Here is the grace that has saved us and the grace that has kept us. Here is the grace that we must respond to - today.

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Jonah 1:4-16 Chased and Chastened

We said last time that this story was not so much about the great fish as about the great God. We see that immediately here and throughout this passage as Jonah tries to flee from the Lord but the Lord will not let him go.

And so we have a story of '3 throws'. Firstly, the LORD throws a storm upon the sea. This is no ordinary storm; the experienced sailors know that and are in real fear. They try to fight off the storm by praying to their gods and throwing the cargo overboard. But it quickly becomes apparent that the real problem is Jonah and they won't get out of this one until he is dealt with. They refuse at first but then reluctantly agree to throw him overboard. And when they do, the storm subsides and they fear the LORD.

This is an amazing scene, exciting, ironic and so full of interest. But it is also crammed full of lessons for us to learn and benefit from.

1. Sin Does Not Pay
The LORD will not allow Jonah to get away with his rebellion. He is never indifferent to our sin. And notice that our sin is seldom if ever a purely private thing; it will have an impact on others too, however directly or indirectly (the sailors are put in peril because of Jonah's sin).

[Incidentally, it's worth noticing that pagans can sometimes act better than true believers. The way the sailors act here is to be admired. True, we see the emptiness of their religion and its impotency but we also see here their concern for Jonah - they'd rather get him to land than throw him overboard. That's more than Jonah would do for Ninevah!]

2. There is a love that will not let us go!
Jonah has rebelled against God in the most daring and provocative way. How will the Lord deal with him? Let him go on his way and never let him back? No. His grace is such that he will not let his children go. He may allow us to go on in our sinful ways for a time but his commitment to us is such that he will do whatever it takes to get us back.

And he is also committed to Ninevah. We may lack compassion and, like Jonah, we may turn our backs. But the LORD is well able to make us see the error of our ways and stop us in our tracks.

Here, he does so by the exercise of his power in bringing the storm and terrifying the sailors. In Ancient Near East religions, the sea was a powerful monster but in truth we see here that it is at the LORD's command.

3. We are made to face up to our sins.
Jonah seems to have no trouble with his conscience as he goes aboard and settles down in the hold. Perhaps he's exhausted through mental and spiritual fatigue.

But he's in for a shock! The Captain wakes him up and tells him to pray to his God!! That's the last thing Jonah wants to do! If we regard sin in our hearts, we know the LORD will not hear us if we pray. But we also know that when we sin and persist in that rebellion, the desire to pray is not there and praying for help is the last thing we feel able to do (we feel it is just so hypocritical).

Do you see how the LORD is making Jonah face his sin? He's happy enough to sleep in sin but the LORD wakes him up! How often has he done that with you and me? Sin is so dangerous; it is so soporific in a spiritual sense, it deadens us to spiritual realities and concerns. And in his mercy the LORD deals with that.

4. Even in sin, the believer knows who he is & whose he is
When they tackle Jonah about which God he's running from and what he's done to offend him, Jonah's answer is very instructive. He cannot deny the reality of the LORD nor can he deny the fact that he belongs to him.

Although his claim to 'fear' the God of heaven seems a bit weak, yet he is still testifying to a relationship with the living Lord. He knows that he belongs to the covenant people, that the god he fears is the true God of heaven and that he rules over all things, land and sea included. That is quite some declaration!

Surely there is hope here.

5. The seriousness of sin demands atonement.
Sin is serious and needs to be dealt with. Even pagan sailors know that and reluctantly come to the conclusion that they must sacrifice Jonah to appease his God. And when they throw him overboard, the sea is immediately calmed.

Although the Lord in his grace is willing to have us back when we have sinned against him, it is always on the basis that our sin is atoned for. And the table we will sit around this evening reminds us just how our sin has been atoned for and the just anger of God turned away. It is not through our self-sacrifice but through the giving of the very Son of God, our Lord Jesus.

Remember this as you come to the table tonight: Jesus went in the opposite direction to Jonah; he fully embraced the will of god, at the greatest personal cost. And because he did so as the sinless one, he has stilled the storm of God's anger against us, once and for ever.

The sailors tried to take Jonah back to land - but you can't just turn the clock back on sin. It must be atoned for. And decisive atonement has been made, for all our sins. Praise God!

What that means is this: there is a way back for each and every one of us from the dark places where we try to sleep away our rebellion. And the way back is the way we first came to the Lord: by the blood of Jesus, freely shed for us.

And it is not just us who benefit from the great compassion and mercy of the Lord. The sailors who witness this great event "greatly feared the LORD and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him".

I'm not suggesting that they were saved but a deep impression has been made on them about this God, Yahweh. They have been shaken and perhaps awakened. Who knows where things went from there?

And in our lives, as we experience the renewing grace of God, the marvellous patience and dedicated love of the Lord, who knows whether others may not be blessed too? Surely it is right for us to pray that they will be.

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Jonah 1:1-3

Introduction to the Book
We know this story so well but we need to know it afresh. We must pray that the Lord will bring it to us with real freshness and power and deliver us from thinking it's a good children's story.

We must also try to release ourselves from simply seeing it as a battleground in terms of whether such things could happen. We have no problem with the supernatural but many battles have been fought over the details of this story. As one man has said, "'Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God'. It is the greatness of Israel's God that is the burden of the book" (Allen, p.192, quoting GC Morgan).

The book is history (the way Jesus speaks of it shows that) but it is also carefully constructed as a story. Consider this structure for it (show chart from Allen p.200). This is history told in such a way as to get our attention and teach us lessons!

As we go through the book, we will aim to keep an eye on the NT because this is a book that is important in the unfolding of the purposes of God for his world and also in terms of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.

We won't stop here to take it all in but one summary of the book's main lesson may be helpful to us and serve to wet our appetites as we begin our studies of it: "Look at the world, pleads the author, at God's world. See it through God's eyes. And let your new vision overcome your natural bitterness, your hardness of soul. Let the divine compassion flood your own hearts." (Allen, p.194).

Verse 1
The word of the LORD came - Here is a phrase that appears over 100 times in the OT to introduce a divine communication to a prophet. The Lion is going to roar! It is time for man to listen!

to Jonah, son of Amittai - Jonah has cropped up before in the scriptures, in 2 Kings 14:24,25 where his ministry was to prophecy the extension of the borders of the northern kingdom under an evil king! That helps us to date Jonah's ministry to sometime in the 8th century bc.

God is here speaking again to a prophet he has used before, a man used to receiving and passing on the message of God. He would know what to do with the Lord's word!

Verse 2
Go - the LORD's commands Jonah to go at once about his task; the phrase is the equivalent of 'action stations!' We're to expect something to happen and soon!

to the great city of Ninevah - the phrase possibly means not just the actual city but the whole region of Ninevah that took in other towns too; Ninevah was on the east bank of the Tigris (in northern Iraq).

Ninevah was the capital city of Assyria. Once it had been an empire and a force on the world stage but by Jonah's day it was in steep decline (although it would later be responsible for the destruction of Israel). Foreign expansion had ceased, there domestic rebellions in the land and there was a very severe famine in the land, as well as a solar eclipse on June 15th 763 bc! They were known as a very cruel people.

and preach against it - the phrase implies a message of judgement against Ninevah.

because its wickedness has come up before me - the words are reminiscent of the situation with Sodom and Gomorrah. Ninevah's sin is great. And it is the sin of the nation, not just certain individuals. They are all embroiled in it.

God is concerned about the sins of nations. Amos ch's 1&2 show that to us and this verse confirms it to us.

Verse 3
Then we're hit with a real surprise. Indeed, the book is full of surprises: "it is crammed with an accumulation of hair-raising and eye-popping phenomena, one after the other" (Allen, p.176). You get the idea that God is trying to get our attention as well as Jonah's!

And verse 3 surprises & shocks because Jonah the prophet does in one sense what a prophet should do - he responds straight away - yet his response is one of rebellion against the Lord's word. We've been led to expect action but not this sort!

Verse 3 is full of hustle and bustle as Jonah gets ready to leave and flee from God. There are 2 points that emphasise to us his determination not to do as God has commanded him to do.

First, his chosen destination: Tarshish is thought to be in Spain (see map), about as far away as you could get! Second, the Hebrew people were not sea people; as one commentator has said, this is "proof positive of his mad determination" to escape God.

Why was he running? Clearly it is to do with the task he has been assigned but we're not told yet and shall await the book's timing. But for now we need to just notice how even a believer can be overcome by the madness of sin, all logic and reason flying out of the window (he knew Psalm 139!).

We need to pray for ourselves that the Lord will keep us steady in our walk with him. It's easy to look at Jonah and sneer but in a sense he is Everyman. This is a story for you and I, for the church at large. We're equally as capable of mad rebellion against the Lord.

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