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THE FIRST COMMISSION OF JONAH
JONAH 1:4 - 5 Number 3
INTRODUCTION
We have been looking at the first three verses of Jonah Chapter 1.
In the first sermon, we looked at: Jonah – the man.
And we observed what high terms 2 Kings 14 speaks of Jonah.
- He is described as the “servant of Yahweh”
- And he is given the distinguished title of “prophet” in Israel.
- And we saw that he was a true and faithful prophet because his prophesies were fulfilled at a time when it looked unlikely.
Then we went on to look at the: The mission Jonah was given.
We saw that there was an explicit mission to go to Nineveh:
- To cry against it for their wickedness had come up before the Lord.
- It was a message of pending judgment.
- God had had enough of their idolatry, their violence and their arrogance.
- But we noted that Jonah knew Yahweh and therefore he expected that God would save Nineveh if the city repented.
But I also tried to explain that there was an implicit message for his own people, the people of Israel.
They too were coming under judgment in two senses:
(a) First, they were coming under judgement for their self-righteous pride in thinking that they alone were the custodians of God’s grace expressed in the covenant.
They could not conceive of the possibility of a gentile nation, especially one as wickard as Nineveh, could possibly be included in God’s plans of salvation.
(b) Secondly, they found themselves under judgment because of their own idolatry and unfaithfulness.
- One of the curses of the covenant in Deuteronomy 32 was being evoked.
- And we saw that the curse involved making Israel jealous by a nation who was not their people.
- that God was prepared to take their blessings and give it to others.
- And here, in Jonah, that is precisely what’s happening.
- Why?
- That Israel might be provoked to jealously, repent and come back to the Lord.
Then last time we looked at the third “M”:
1.
Not only the Man
2.
Not only the Mission
3.
But we looked at the Mutiny: Jonah’s mutiny against his mission.
And we looked at two things:
1.
We looked at the extent of Jonah’s mutiny against God as set out in verse 3.
Sadly, Jonah’s heart was set on fleeing the presence of the Lord and he took a series of steps into sin and rebellion:
i) He “rose to flee”
ii) He “went to Joppa”
iii) He “found a ship”
iv) He “paid the fair”
v) He “went down into it”
At the end of each step, Jonah had the opportunity to reflect on what he was doing and repent.
But instead, he relentlessly continues, step by step, further from the Lord’s command.
You will recall, that we noted that twice in verse 3 it says he was fleeing “from the presence of the Lord”.
- Clearly Jonah knew that God was both omnipresent and omniscient (that He is both every present and He is all-knowing).
- So what was he thinking in saying he was fleeing “the presence of the Lord”?
- Well, we looked at Gen 4:16 where we read that “Cain went out from the presence of the Lord” after the Lord sentenced him for murder.
- And we saw that it simply meant he left the place of sacred worship; the special place where God had put his name; the consecrated place.
- So Jonah thought that if he left the place where God was worshipped and specially revealed Himself, he would escape conflict with His God over this mission he did not want to embark on.
Jonah went to great ends in his mutiny against God’s revealed will.
Then we finished off last time by …
2. Looking at some of the possible causes for this mutiny.
We saw:
i) It wasn’t the difficulty of the mission: one man against a great city that was extremely wickard.
ii) It wasn’t that Jonah feared for his life.
Despite being sent to a violent, vicious, merciless, blood-thirsty people, we saw that at several points in this book Jonah was prepared to lay down his life for the sake of the truth of God.
iii) Nor was the reason anything to do with just how unusual this mission was.
An Israelite prophet going to a gentile nation.
Many prophets spoke against gentile nations, but not too many are sent directly to them.
Even fewer were to give the gentile nation the opportunity to repent!
So, it was unusual!
But there is no evidence of that deterring Jonah.
iv) So what was the real reason?
Jonah himself gives the real reason in chapter 4:2: Jonah focuses on the attributes of God and their impact on this mission.
He says to the Lord after Nineveh repents:
“Please Lord, was not this [a]what I said while I was still in my own country?
Therefore [b]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.”
- Jonah knew His God; His character; His attributes.
- He knew Yahweh was gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and One who relents concerning calamity.
Jonah was tempted not by fleshly, carnal reasons to flee, but by a spiritual reason:
- Jonah was fearful that God’s name would be tarnished in not judging Nineveh.
- That God would appear weak and soft and inconsistent.
- And he wanted His God to appear strong, powerful, aster and ready to judge these people who he did not think deserved mercy.
And so we concluded by looking at how we too can easily give in to the same spiritual temptations– when we are embarrassed by the God revealed in Scripture.
That too often we are ashamed of His name, and don’t maintain His cause.
Well today, we want to go on from looking at Jonah’s flight to look at the results of it.
We are going to look at three initial responses to Jonah’s mutiny, given in verses 4 and 5:
1.
The Lord’s response in v 4
2. The Sailor’s initial response in v 5
3. Jonah’s initial response in verse 5
1.
What was the Lord’s response to Jonah’s mutiny?
Well, the first thing we notice is the Lord allows Jonah to carry out his purpose to flee.
He doesn’t interfere with any of the steps Jonah takes.
He is God.
He could have stopped him at any point, but He allows Jonah to continue for a time in his rebellion.
- It appears he is getting away with it.
- It appears the Lord doesn’t see.
- It reminds us of Joseph’s brothers in Genesis, does it not?
· It all started with envy of Joseph because of their father’s favoritism towards him
· It developed into hatred and a plot to kill him.
· Then there was the pit they put Joseph in.
· And finally, they sold him to the Ishmaelites.
· It looks like they got away with it!
· They tell their father a great story and show him the blood-stained clothes and nothing appears to happen to the brothers.
· But oh, then comes Gen 42:21, years later!
They meet Joseph, their brother, now the prime minister of Egypt!
“Be sure your sins will find you out.”
Hosea 8:7 say:
“They have sown the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind.”
Amos 9:2 and 3 makes it so clear that there is no escape from God:
“Though they dig into Sheol,
From there will My hand take them;
And though they ascend to heaven,
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