Don’t Be Like Jonah

Don’t be like Jonah? But Jonah was a prophet, a man of God commissioned by God to bring his word to the nation of Israel. We know that he served in this capacity because in writing of the reign of Jeroboam II over the northern kingdom of Israel we find in:

II Kings 14:25 “He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.”

But in addition to his mission to preach and prophesy to Israel, God had another work for Jonah to do. He was instructed to go the city of Nineveh and bring them the word of God.

Jonah 1:2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”

This was an assignment that Jonah did not want to do. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, the enemy of Israel. Jonah even knew that it was possible that the Ninevites would accept God’s warning, repent of their sin and be spared (Jonah 4:1). So Jonah decided to run and hide from God:

Jonah 1:3 “³But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

This gives us the first reason that tells us that we should not be like Jonah. Jonah did not like the assignment that God gave him. Jonah did not want to bring the word of God to the enemies of his country; so he tried to run and hide from God. He’s going to Tarshish instead, which city by that name we don’t know. If it is the one in Asia Minor its about 250 miles away; but if it’s the one in Spain it’s about 2,000 miles away. We cannot run away from God and we cannot hide from God regardless of the distance, neither could Jonah. The Psalmist writes:

Psalms 139:3-10 “THOU COMPASSEST MY PATH AND MY LYING DOWN, AND ART ACQUAINTED with ALL MY WAYS. FOR there is NOT A WORD IN MY TONGUE, but, LO, O LORD, THOU KNOWEST IT ALTOGETHER. THOU HAST BESET ME BEHIND AND BEFORE, AND LAID THINE HAND UPON ME. Such KNOWLEDGE is TO WONDERFUL FOR ME; IT IS HIGH, I CANNOT attain UNTO IT. WHITHER SHALL I GO FROM THY SPIRIT? OR WHITHER SHALL I FLEE FROM THY PRESENCE? IF I ASCEND UP INTO HEAVEN,

THOU art THERE: IF I MAKE MY BED IN HELL, BEHOLD, THOU art there. If I TAKE THE WINGS OF MORNING, and DWELL IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA; EVEN THERE SHALL THY HAND LEAD ME, AND THY RIGHT HAND SHALL HOLD ME.”

We are familiar with the next part of the story of Jonah; how God brought a great storm against the ship that Jonah was in, how he was found to be the cause of their trouble, tossed overboard and swallowed by a great fish, called a whale in some translations. Then we see Jonah repenting and praying to God to remove him from his difficulty. God hears the plea of Jonah, causes him to be placed on dry ground and repeats his instructions.

Jonah 3:2 “Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”

So Jonah goes but did Jonah go to Nineveh with the right thoughts in his heart? Did he preach to the Ninevites with the right purpose in his mind? He’s obeying God but even in his obedience we see another reason for us not to be like Jonah.

When he had finished warning the city about God’s judgment and the wrath that is to come upon them, Nineveh repented and God spared them.

Jonah 3:10 “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”

Nineveh is saved. Jonah, as a proclaimer of the word of God, should be ecstatic; his preaching of God’s word has saved a city of 120,000 souls from God’s wrath. Even secular history tells us that Nineveh existed for another 150 years before being destroyed at God’s direction. But Jonah is of another mind:

Jonah 4:1 “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.”

Jonah has no love for these people, they are enemies of Israel. Jesus tells us us what Jonah’s attitude should be and what our attitudes should be today:

Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

Jonah proclaimed God’s message because it was a duty that he could not escape, not because he followed the way of God and loved his enemies. This is another reason for us not to be like Jonah.

We should not be like Jonah when we do not get our way. Nineveh was spared, Jonah was angry so what does he do? He goes and pouts like a spoiled child.

Jonah 4:5 ” So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.”

Jonah goes out of the city to the east, apparently to a high place where he could see the city and sits, angry, pouting; waiting for God to rain destruction down upon Nineveh. So God prepares another lesson for Jonah, he gives him a small comfort and then takes it away. Nineveh is in a region of high desert, hot during the day and cold at night.

Jonah 4:6-7 “⁶And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. ⁷But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.”

Jonah is angry again, for a different reason. This small comfort that perhaps eased his anger against Nineveh and gave him some comfort has been taken away. Now he is so upset that he just wants to die. God knows his heart; that he had more pity, more compassion for the gourd that shaded him than he did the city of 120,000 souls that was before him. God asks him:

Jonah 4:10-11 “And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. ¹⁰Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: ¹¹And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?”

Should God not have mercy and compassion on those that repent of their sins and turn to him regardless of what those sins might have been? Should God not accept the repentance of even those who are our enemies and forgive them even if we don’t? God says he should, even if they are our greatest enemies.

There are four ways that we should not be like Jonah:

1.) We can not run and hide from God; we must willingly and cheerfully do God’s will to the extent that we can so long as God gives us breath.

2.) We must carry out the commission of God with joy and understanding, reaching out to and teaching all peoples, even our enemies that their souls might be saved from a devil’s hell. Not because it is our duty but because of a genuine love for the souls of men; because of compassion for our fellowman, whoever he or she might be.

3.) When our work does not achieve the results we want we must accept the will of God, change our attitude and thinking if that be necessary, and as the apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 6:9 not be “WEARY IN WELL DOING.”

4.) When we do not get our way, wallowing in our anger like a hog in a mud hole and pouting just makes us more miserable, solves nothing and is not the way that a Christian should be.

William L. Schwegler, Heritage Manor South Nursing Home, October 9, 2008