The Runaway Prophet

Jonah 1:1-9 - Runaway Prophet Doug Partin - The Christian Church - Sept 13, 2020 There was a young family that was on the fringe of the church I was serving. They were not married, with children. They were poor, and their life choices evidenced that they didn't really know the Lord or His ways, but one of the members had crossed paths with them. They had been helping them, and had also been encouraging them to join our congregation when we gathered to worship They only showed up on Sundays when we had a fellowship dinner, and the man only after the services were over. But they did come. We ended up helping them in a variety of ways, but it seemed like they made one poor choice after another. Which only created more problems for them, and increased their need for more help. There were a lot of churches helping this same family, and they needed it. Then came the day when the man was arrested for child abuse. He had grown frustrated with his own child's repeated need to have a diaper changed. His attempt to solve the problem of cleaning the child and the diaper resulted in the child's death. We were all shocked, angry, and dismayed. We reached out to the mother as did everyone else who had been helping them. She was going to need even more help. The man was arrested, and held in custody, and began the process of moving through the judicial system. Although I was angry with him, I felt the need to go and visit him, but there was a part of me that didn't want to go. When I tried the local jail, where he had been held, I found out that he had been moved to another city nearby just a few days before. And I felt relieved. As much as I felt called to visit him, there was still that part of me that didn't want to do so. I didn't know what I was going to say to him. I wanted to share with him the grace of God, but I also wanted him to be held accountable for his behavior. So... I dragged my feet. All of a sudden, things that didn't have that much importance before, needed my full attention. I just didn't have time to drive to that other city. After being convicted of my own poor attitude, I relented and drove down to that other city to see him. I checked this time to make sure he was there, and I went down the next day. When I arrived, I was told that he had been transferred early that morning to a prison in a different state. I didn't feel relieved, I felt ashamed. I missed the opportunity that God had given me. And I told myself that I never wanted to feel that way again. So, what I was planning to tell him, I had to tell myself on the drive home. I needed to repent, and I needed to be forgiven. Jonah's story is one of the most well known in the Bible. It is uncomplicated, fast moving, and poignant. It captivates children and adults alike. It is rich in meaning, revealing much about God and His love for the world, and how we don't always share that same feeling. We are not told much that can be used to identify Jonah in this book, only that he was the son of hAmittai (a name that meant "my truth"); But using this bit of information we discover from 2 Kings 14 that this same Jonah (whose name meant a "dove," harmless, gentle, peaceful, loving), was given a word of the Lord that foretold how the boundaries of Israel would be restored to their former extent. Those prophetic words, unlike the ones recorded in this book, were not written down; but the reference to them places Jonah as living during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 BC). That is a very long time ago, and it is pretty amazing that we know anything about him at all. He was not a fictional character from some bedtime story, but a real person. We also know that Jonah was not a lone voice speaking for God in those days. Hosea, Joel, and Amos were also given words from the Lord to proclaim to Israel under Jeroboam II's rule. The gist of their combined message was for Israel to turn away from the false gods they had embraced, and their neglect of the people who lived under their rule. Repentance would bring God's favor, and obstinance would bring His discipline. They heeded God's call, and enjoyed a time of prosperity not enjoyed since the days of Solomon; but the elite embraced those blessings as if they were responsible for creating them; and became materialistic, selfish, and arrogant; attitudes which these prophets were also used by the Lord to confront. We are not told "how" the word of the Lord came to Jonah, but we are told what the Lord said to him. God told him, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." God cares enough to confront, and He always gives those He loves the opportunity to repent. And He promises blessings to those who do, which begin with His transforming forgiveness. The term translated wicked, and it is almost always translated this way, literally meant "to graze." The resources that I used didn't explain how a word for grazing ends up being constantly translated wickedness. It did say that sheep grazing together implied a sense of friendship, or companionship; and that grazing flocks eat up, devouring everything, leaving them nothing to sustain themselves. I surmised from that information that grazing flocks would have to move from place to place because they would consume the resources at each place, and would have to move again and again and again; each time moving further away from where they began. When applied to people, our appetites lead us further and further away from God. And whatever it is that leads us away from God, isn't good. So, I can see how this word for grazing got used as a "general" word to talk about anything that was "harmful, troublesome, hurtful, and bad." It did describe, in this sense, "wickedness." Jeremiah, another prophet who spoke at a different time, would say "My people have become lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains; they have gone along from mountain to hill and have forgotten their resting place." (Jer. 50:6) We are not told, specifically, what the people in Nineveh were doing that had led them further away from God; but it was bad enough for God to send someone to cry against it. It reminds me of that time when God sent John the Baptist to cry against the wickedness that those in Judea had embraced; calling on them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, which would prepare them to receive the Lord. But the religious leaders felt no need to repent. In fact, these same religious leaders accused Jesus of "receiving and eating with sinners," implying that Jesus lived the same lifestyle that they had embraced. But Jesus defended his friendship with them as being one of a good shepherd who left the 99 in search of the one who was lost, and who would also bring it back to the fold. Jesus said, "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." (Luke 15:7) Anyway, Jonah complied with the first part of God's word. He arose, and he went... but in the opposite direction. He was evidently fine with taking the Lord's word to the lost sheep of Israel, calling on them to repent, which he had already done successfully; but he was not okay with going to the lost sheep of Nineveh. I mean, what would happen if they, like Israel had done, repented? Would God bless them in the same way that He had blessed Israel? We don't know what went through Jonah's mind in regard to the word of the Lord that came to him at this point in the story, only that Jonah fled in the opposite direction. He went down to the port city of Joppa on the Mediterranean coast. And found a ship which was headed to Tarshish. Nineveh was on the eastern bank of the Tigris river, near modern day Mosul in Iraq. Tarshish was in the opposite direction, but the exact location is lost to history since there are a lot of ancient cities with very similar names. It might have been as close as Phoenicia or as far away as Spain. Interestingly, it was in Joppa that Peter had to be told through a vision, that the good news was not just for Israelites, but also for gentiles. God was about to send him to share the gospel with a Roman centurion; but God knew that Peter would not want to go. So, he was given a dream in which a sheet was lowered before him with all kinds of unclean foods on it, and God told him to eat; but Peter refused. He had never eaten that sort of food, and would never do so. He thought that it was a test of his loyalty. It happened again, and he refused again. And it came down a third time, and Peter was told, after his third refusal, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy" (Acts 10:15). While Peter was trying to figure out what God was trying to teach him, some men showed up at the door ready to take Peter to the Centurion's home. Reluctantly, Peter learned the lesson. He preached the gospel to the centurion and he and his whole household gave their lives to Christ; were baptized, and received the Holy Spirit. And there was rejoicing in heaven. God is, if anything, consistent. So, it should come as no surprise that God cared enough about Jonah to confront Him, although it was a little different than the way that he would later confront Peter. Jonah had paid for passage on a boat, and when it set sail, he found a place to lie down and went fast asleep. While Jonah was blissfully snoozing away, God brought a storm against it. It was not your average storm. It was so severe that the boat was on the verge of breaking up. The only other person mentioned in the scriptures who could sleep through a raging storm like that was Jesus. He slept while the disciples struggled at the oars. Waves were breaking over their boat, and out of desperation they woke up Jesus saying, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" Jesus got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Hush, be still," and it became perfectly calm. The sailors didn't expect Jonah to do anything like that, but they were all crying out to their various gods, and they wanted Jonah to do the same. There are no atheists in the midst of a disaster. It was the captain who approached Jonah, asking him, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up and call on your God like the rest of us. Perhaps your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish." That captain spoke better than he understood. We aren't told how Jonah responded to that request, but the storm didn't immediately abate. Since he was running from God, it is not likely that Jonah sought God's help. So, the sailors did their best. They "cast lots." It was a way back then of tossing a trinket of some sort into the air and trusting that God would manipulate it as it fell to reveal a divine answer. They were hoping that whichever god was causing the storm would reveal to them who was the offender. And the lot fell on Jonah. These sailors believed that their only hope of surviving the storm was to find out what Jonah knew about their situation. So, they asked him, point black, "On whose account has this calamity struck us?" Jonah could have said, "It is me." They asked, "What is your occupation?" Jonah could have said, "I am a prophet." They asked, "Where do you come from?" Jonah could have answered, "From Israel." They asked, "From what people are you?" Jonah could have said, "From God's people." We will get to Jonah's answers to these questions next week when we continue our study of the book of Jonah. But we know enough from this much of the story to understand that Jonah really was the problem. Jonah would reveal his relationship with the Lord. And, as we'll find out as this drama unfolds, that He would confess that he was intentionally trying to flee from God's presence. What we have studied today is enough for us to reflect that like Jonah, we too have been given a word of the Lord. Jesus has commissioned those who follow Him to make disciples of all nations. He calls on them to go in order to make those disciples. That means that you and I have a word from the Lord to go make disciples from people of every nation. He might not have given you a specific city filled with wicked people to target as He did Jonah, but He will direct you to someone. It might be to your own family or friends. It might be to your neighbors, your co-workers, a stranger, or even someone that you can't stand, or someone who you consider wicked. You may, as did Jonah, want to head in the opposite direction. But as God did with Jonah, he will begin by dealing with you. Why? Because God really does love the entire world. Every person, to Him, is a lost sheep; and His plan is to use you in extending His love to the world, so those lost sheep who need to be saved. And as a result, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one wicked person who repents, than over a church full of people who need no repentance. Prayer: Lord, gives us ears to hear your voice, your word to us. And a humble our hearts to follow your Word. Help us love as you love. Amen.