A Bitter Response

As you read the book of Jonah, one of the most striking features is the abruptness with how the book ends. Jonah, having been questioned by God, simply does not answer and goes to build a shelter to "see what would happen in the city" of Nineveh (vs 5). Apparently, he was still hoping for God to render judgment on this foreign nation.

Then we read the following verses:

Jonah 4:6-8
So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."

Again, we see the focus on the sovereign power of God to bring about a supernatural event with the plant and the worm. The text tells us specifically that both of these "God appointed". But He did so, not for the sake of something supernatural in and of itself. He is going to illustrate, once again, Jonah's staggering pride and hate for the nation of Nineveh.

First, YHWH appoints a plant to rapidly grow and provide him comfort. Notice that the text says "Jonah was extremely happy". The vivid words used here are to stand in stark contrast against his displeasure with God's display of mercy on Nineveh. And, as we will see, this is the purpose of God's intervention.

In verse 7, God then appointed a worm to attack the plant, and it withered. Finally, God appoints a "scorching east wind" to exacerbate Jonah's discomfort. Jonah's response? He again dwells on death.

God then asks him a question which is similar to His first question in verse 4, which Jonah did not answer. "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" The response that we see is the last words from this bitter and unrepentant prophet:

vs 9b
"I have good reason to be angry, even to death"

Our "hero" of this story has saved his "best" for last. Not only are his last words filled with selfishness, but the force of the Hebrew indicates that he uses vulgar language in his reply to YHWH! And without being vulgar in return, the words "death" and "hell" are very close in the original. You can do the math on what Jonah is saying.

And so Jonah ends with this unthinkable response to the Lord of glory. God then explains the meaning behind His visual metaphor of the plant, the worm, and the scorching wind.

vss 10-11
Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.
"Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

In other words, how could Jonah show so much concern over a plant, yet care so little for the souls of the Ninevites who are of such infinite value in the site of God? Jonah cared over a plant for which he "did not work and which (he) did not cause to grow". Yet God created the people of Nineveh, and His heart expresses infinite mercy in extending salvation to them.

In verse 11, God makes His point even stronger. In essence, He shows Jonah that the illustration with the plant perfectly communicates Jonah's lack of proper love for the lost. He is so blinded by prejudice that he cared nothing for the souls of 120,000 person "who did not know the difference between their right and left hand." In other words, these people were wicked and did not even know right from wrong. They were in a desperate circumstance of evil. And yet God, the righteous Judge, the only One who could rightly condemn, showed compassion. Then the Lord ends the book rather abruptly by saying "Jonah, you did not care even for the animals". This depiction shows Jonah's utter lack of concern for what truly mattered. "You don't care about these people? To show you how wrong you have been, do you even care for the animals?". The hyperbole is a stinging rebuke to Jonah.

And as we end this series, it strikes me that we were no better than the Ninevites before we were saved. The Scriptures tell us that we were enemies of God (Rom 5:10). We were haters of God (Rom 1:30). Yet God in His grace and mercy made us alive even when dead in, and blinded to, our trespasses (Eph 2:5).

May we as the redeemed people of God, now alive by faith, never look on the lost with a heart of prejudice or hatred. But let's go to all the nations and declare that "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12).

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!

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"Then God relented"

We recently started a Systematic Theology class with our adult Sunday School. As a normal order of the subjects involved in such a study, we started with the inspiration, authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures. After establishing this truth, we then go to the Scriptures as we learn about all of the other topics. The first of which is called Theology Proper; the doctrine of the Person of God.

As we began to delve into His attributes, we came to His immutability; God cannot change. Malachi 3:6a puts it plainly and clearly:

"For I, the LORD, do not change"

So, when we come to Jonah 3:10 we read the following:

"When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it."

Does this verse suggest that God can change? Did He plan to do something that He does not do?



Assuming that we believe the Bible to be inspired by God Himself (2 Tim 3:16-17), these passages do not contradict each other. There are two aspects that need to be brought out in regards to a statement like this. First, we know that the Bible uses anthropomorphic language to describe God in a way that we can comprehend. Remember that He is infinite (2. 1 Kings 8:27, Job 36:26, Ps 90:2, John 8:58, Acts 17:24-28, Rev 1:8, 4:8). Inherently, we as finite beings cannot fully comprehend Him or His ways. So He must condescend to our level so that we can know something/anything about Him. Antrhopomorphic language uses human attributes to describe YHWH. We read, for example, in Genesis 6 that "Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD" (vs 8). Since God is Spirit, and does not have a body (John 4:24), we know that Moses did not intend for us to think that God has a literal set of eyes. But we understand that God had favor on Noah, according to His gracious, divine perspective and provision. These types of descriptions are found all throughout Scripture.

Is 52:10
"The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God."

2 Chron 16:9
"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."

Our anthropomorphic understanding of a verse like this helps us to know that God does not have eyes, nor that His eyes are literally and independently traveling around the planet. We understand, without even having to consciously process the thought, the intend of the author.

So, from a human perspective, it does appear that God actually changed His actions in Jonah 3:10. He declared calamity, and relented from doing it when they repented. But we must temper this with the understanding that God knows all things, actual and possible, including future events (Ps 2:11, 37:18, 139:1-6, 1 Sam 23:10-14, Matt 11:20-24, 1 John 3:20b)

Is 46:10
“Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.”

So God knew that Jonah would finally go to Nineveh. He knew that the city would repent. He knew that the King would declare that all were to repent. He knew all of these things not simply because He can see the future, but because He decreed that it would happen. Did God change? Certainly not.

Secondly, in a rather simplistic approach to explaining this passage, consider what actually changed in the account. Did God change? Or, did the people change? Did the circumstances of Nineveh change? It is clear that the people are the ones who changed, who repented, not the YHWH. Let's continue a bit further in the Isaiah passage from above:

Is 46:10-13
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. "Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, Who are far from righteousness. "I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel."

For those why try to define, describe or limit God based on human perception or reason, remember that we are finite, fallen and "stubborn-minded". His ways are higher than ours (Is 55:9), and we must submit our thinking to the truth revealed in the Scriptures.

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Sackcloth and Ashes

Jonah proclaims. The city of Nineveh repents. Not possible, right? A whole city? Ok, we've struggled a bit with the large fish, but c'mon. How can an entire city repent when just one man preaches on one day, potentially only saying 6 words total, especially when the city is a "three days walk"? Good questions to ask, but the answer will be revealing of your belief in the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture.

The word of God is inerrant! It contains no errors or mistakes. But it is also infallible. That is, it is incapable of being false! That is because it is the word of the living God (2 Tim 3:16-17, Heb 4:12), and it cannot be broken (John 10:35). The God who created the world by divine fiats would have no problem preserving his prophet for three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. And as an even more amazing display of His power, we see His arm of salvation move each time a single person repents and is made alive from being dead in sin (Is 59:16, Eph 2:1). And so we see in this account that YHWH moves on the hearts of an entire city and the largest recorded response to salvation comes to pass. A city repents. "(F)rom the greatest to the least of them" (vs 5). And as we saw earlier, Jesus Himself confirms the validity of this historical account:

Matt 12:41
"The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

This account is not hard to accept if we also remember that repentance is a work of the Lord:

Acts 5:30-1
"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. "

2 Tim 2:24-26
The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." (emphasis added)

Oh, how our flesh hates to hear that God must initiate in our repentance. How can that be? How can we be held responsible for rejecting Christ if we cannot initiate our own belief? The Scripture teaches both, equally and strongly, that we are responsible to respond, are culpable for rejection, but yet are incapable without His initiating grace. For "there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God" (Rom 3:10-11). His ways are higher than ours (Is 55:9)!

And as we continue, we see the response of the people in the city of Nineveh, from a human perspective, we see the message spread from the people to the King:

3:5-6
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.

As Jonah preaches on the first day, the people then take up the message and spread it through the city to the King. And amazingly, when the King hears what the people have started, he responds in faith as well. For Kings do not follow the leading of the common people. Further proof that this was a divine message. And as to the quickness of their response, we have already considered that true repentance is a work of God. But even from a human standpoint, the proclamation is that the city will be overthrown in 40 days. Not that the destruction would begin in 40 days. It could begin at any moment. It is a reasonable assumption that the King may have realized that since God sent one to announce the coming judgment, there is still a chance to turn. Why, after all, would there be a proclamation of judgment that could not be escaped? Sodom and Gomorrah shows us an example of destruction without warning to the guilty.

The King "arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes" (vs 6). He declares that the everyone is to do the same. Again, it is not the Kings proclamation that forces the people to show signs of repentance that are not genuine. The people are the ones who brought the message to the king. They are certainly willing to repent as well. But it is also noteworthy that the King felt compelled to do this despite the lack of assurance that the city would be saved:

3:9
"Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish."

Who knows....God may turn. He may not. But the hearts had been compelled to bow low before YHWH. After all, they understood clearly that it was a "burning anger". How our preaching today must compel people that God is angry with sinners.

And so we come to that verse that seems to show that God somehow changes. Does He? Can He? What does it mean that "God relented" (vs 10). We will take a look at this next time.

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"Yet forty days"

It is a good thing that God is faithful even though at times we are not. After months of being “shamed” by Seth’s amazing contributions to the blog, I felt compelled to once again take up the baton and run my part of the race. For the record, my last post was on December 12th (!). But enough about me, because it’s not about me. Let’s get to it.

In our last installment, Jonah received God’s gracious secondary call to service. We were amazed, in part, that the call would come again at all, knowing that none of us are indispensable.

But we were also reminded of the sobering responsibility at Jonah’s feet now that the call did indeed come again. Yes, the Lord is demonstrating His patience with Jonah, but he dare not incite God’s fury again as he may not survive another strike from the powerful hand of YHWH.

3:1
“So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk.”

As he began to fulfill his calling, we are told that the city is “exceedingly great”. In part, of course, due to its geographical size, as is indicated in the measurement of being a “three days walk”. If we were pragmatists or seeker-sensitive, here would be a tempting proof text for us. But we are certainly not, for there is no basis in God’s word for this approach to ministry. Besides the fact that there are none who seek God (hence, no seekers who are not saved; Rom 3:11) it was Jesus Himself who taught that the good shepherd is one who would leave the 99 in order to restore the one (Matt 18:11-14). How large is your flock? No matter the size, we are to be diligent and to care for individuals among the crowd, large or small. We see that even though the city was large, the Lord is concerned with the exceedingly great number of souls in the city. God always sees crowds as a gathering of individual souls (as A.W. Tozer once mentioned). And In this case, they were souls who were going to be condemned because of their wickedness (1:2).

Eze 18:4
“The soul who sins will die.”



As he walked through the city on the first day, he made his declaration. Or more accurately he proclaimed the proclamation that the Lord had given him (3:1b).

3:4
“Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown."

Jonah’s declaration is six simple words in Hebrew (we could arm wrestle whether he said more that what was recorded in the account) but the LORD moves the hearts of the people to respond. While I believe we can make a decent argument for the importance of the length of a properly done expositional sermon (for a normal worship service) I am also quick to realize that the power of God’s word is not in it’s length. It is who’s words they are! They are the words of the Living and Almighty God! One word, six words, a thousand words. God will accomplish His purposes in His way in His time! (As a side note, for the most compelling sermon I have heard about preaching, contact Grace Community Church and ask for Steve Lawson’s message entitled “Bring the Book” from Nehemiah 8 for the 2006 Shepherd’s Conference; General Session #6).

Some people have pointed to the quick response of the city in its entirety as proof that this story is not an actual historical narrative. How could all people in a single city repent, after all? But as we will see in the next installment, repentance is a work of the Lord. And when repentance is real, the evidences are clear and unmistakable. Nineveh, as a city, repents. And at the risk of stealing my own thunder, if there is any doubt to the truth of this story, Jesus Himself endorses its validity (Matt 12:41).

More to come…..

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Jonah, Pt. 6 - A Gracious Calling

When we last saw Jonah, the Lord brought him to a proper perspective of what he was called to do. At the end of chapter 2, Jonah recognizes that those who "regard vain idols" have cut themselves off from mercy, that he would pay his vow as a prophet, and that YHWH is the one who brings about (or withholds) salvation. Now he has been humbled, and the fish vomits him onto dry land according to the command of the LORD. However, what we read next is truly amazing:




3:1
"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you."

This is very similar to the word of the Lord in chapter one, verse 2. "Arise, go, cry!". But what we should take note of is that the word came to Jonah a second time at all. He is by no means indispensable. The Lord does not need Jonah to carry out His work. Another prophet could have been called. Or, we also recall the words of Jesus in Luke 19:40 when the Pharisees were trying to silence the crowds from giving Him praise that is due His name:

"I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"

God will be praised, and His chosen people will be saved! Even in spite of defiant prophets. But, by God's gracious call, He allowed Jonah a second chance to be a part of His work. "The word of the Lord came a second time".

This second word is parallel to the first in chapter one verse two. However, there is an added emphasis. "(P)roclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." What an important truth this is. The prophet is God's chosen man. The prophet is responsible to take the message to those who need to hear. But be very clear that the prophet cannot speak on his own initiative. He has one message, and that is to faithfully repeat only what he hears from the Lord. Art Azurdia in his series on the book of Jonah stated that the prophet is to speak the speech that the Lord has given him. To say the words that have been spoken to him. To proclaim the proclamation that the Lord will tell, and nothing else. We as teachers and preachers today do not hear the audible voice of God, but we have the same calling. We are to proclaim His written word (2 Tim 4:1-2), and His word alone! Steve Lawson commented that the sooner the preacher gets to the text when he ascends into the pulpit the safer he will be. He then, in essence, draws a box around the text of Scripture and says "I will not depart from this word". How much of the church has lost the sense of this sobering responsibility. Recall the words of James:

3:1
"Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment."

We are representatives of the King of Kings, and we dare not misrepresent His word. For in doing so, we will misrepresent Him (Ps 138:2). John Knox, when he was called to preach, closed himself in his room and wept for fear over the responsibility of preaching. We need to cultivate a healthy fear to rightly divide the truth (2 Tim 2:15).

In this command, we so both the grace of God, and Jonah's serious call and responsibility. Then we come to verse three and we read the reaction we have been waiting for:

"So Jonah arose..."

Think of all the misery that Jonah could have avoided if he had obeyed the first call to go. If he had been faithful, 1:3-3:2 would have never been experienced. Do we see repentance here in Jonah? We had a great discussion about this on a previous comment section. I believer we see the answer to this in chapter 4. But until then, may we as preachers and teachers be faithful to the word. May we respond to God's prompting the first time, every time. Jonah arises, goes, and cries out. We will see the content of his message in the next installment.

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Forget about the fish

Heading into chapter 2 of Jonah, we see the prayer of a man finally broken by the hand of the Lord through discipline. Verse 17 of chapter 1, however, tends to make people focus on the wrong thing. Yes, it is amazing that this prophet was swallowed by a fish, and was preserved in the stomach for three days and three nights. But remember the more important truths of (near context) God's desire to save Nineveh and (far context) Jonah being a type of Christ.

Matt 12:39
"An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet."

Notice that the sign is not the fish. The sign is not, primarily, that Jonah was in the fish. The sign is Jonah himself. He is a type, or foreshadowing of Christ's work. Jesus continues in vs 40:

"for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. "

The correlation is this; Jonah was swallowed and contained for three days and night. He then re-emerged to preach. Jesus, in a much greater fulfillment of the sign, did precisely the same thing! Praise the Father for sending His triumphant Son!

There is much to say about chapter two, but here are a couple of interesting truths. It is likely that Jonah does not realize that he has been swallowed by a fish until verse 10, when he is vomited onto the dry land. Besides the fact that we have the benefit of revelation, and we are so familiar with account (and Jonah could not have imagined this scenario), the description Jonah himself offers of his experience in chapter two is one of chaos. He uses terms such as "sheol" (vs 2), death (vs 5), the bars of the earth were "around (him) forever" and "pit (vs 6). It appears that he believes that he is experiencing death. The unsettling churching of the sea, the tangling of the seaweed is suddenly replaced by total darkness and (in all likelihood) suffocating confinement. No one alive knows what the process of death is like (except for the few rare exceptions in Scripture, including Christ Himself), but even then this information has never been shared (as a tangent, it is interesting to note that we never hear from Lazarus' own words after he is raised. The Holy Spirit held back information about his amazing experience. But I digress).

More notably however, Jonah does not mention a fish in his prayer. Further proof that he does not realize what is happening. And, back to our original premise of a man who has finally been broken, it is shocking that he does not offer any supplication in these 8 verses. Some have argued that it is at this point that Jonah repents. But I would strongly disagree. True biblical repentance does not need to be repeated. And even though sincere believers do falter in their ongoing repentance, Jonah displays his most extreme blasphemy in chapter 4. This indicates that even though here in chapter two he is frightened and humbled, he is not demonstrating repentance. But God, in His merciful way, breaks Jonah and brings him to the place of a correct perspective on what he has been called to do:

2:8-9
Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness, but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD."

In other words, Nineveh, who has regarded vain idols has so far been cut off from faithfulness (or better translated mercy, kindness or pity). The only source of mercy is from the true God, YHWH. Judgment is coming, but mercy is being offered one last time. As a prophet, he has vowed that he will speak what YHWH speaks. He is now ready to pay that vow. And he will no longer try to manipulate who receives salvation. "Salvation is from the LORD". The LORD will save whom He will save!

At this point, God commands the fish and Jonah is delivered.

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Jonah Pt. 4 - A Divine Decree

Jonah, in defiance, had settled in his mind that he was willing to die rather than obey YHWH. As we read the end of chapter one and the beginning of chapter two, Jonah will quickly realize that what he thinks he wants (to die in order to escape) is much worse than what he envisioned. This is a reminder to us how sin can cloud our judgment and perception of reality. In an amazing display of mercy, God will preserve His prophet. In a strong reminder of humility, God's preservation of Jonah is not His main concern. He desires to save Nineveh from their sin.

You'll recall that Jonah reluctantly confessed who he was, and what God he served, to the sailors on the ship. In his description of YHWH, he described him as "the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land". This statement, on the heels of a barrage of questions from the panicked sailors, was designed to do one thing - convince them to throw him overboard. Notice their reaction in vs 10:

"Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, "How could you do this?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. "

Their fear has now increased, as they realize that Jonah is truly the cause of this terrible storm in which they are about to die. So they naturally ask the question we see in verse 11. Something that Jonah has been waiting for:

"So they said to him, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?"--for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. "

As the confrontation continued, the storm grew worse. Jonah's suggestion of a resolution does not strike the sailors as a viable option, at first.

"He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. "

Notice another rebuked to Jonah. These men, these foreign, pagan-worshipping unbelievers understood the sanctity of life and looked for another resolution. They were doing everything possible to keep themselves, and Jonah, alive. They tried all things at their disposal to save him physically. Yet the prophet of YHWH did nothing to try and share salvation with these men so that they could be saved spiritually, and eternally. And he also did everything to avoid bringing news of salvation to Nineveh as well. The selfishness and callousness of Jonah is quite staggering.

Some might wonder why Jonah did not jump overboard himself, if he wished to die. Ultimately, the text does not tell us. A couple of reasonable explanations may include that he simply could have been acting as a coward, and could not do so. Or, in light of how his sin had distorted his judgment, he may have reasoned, however wrongly, that if he was tossed overboard he could save himself from the guilt of taking his own life. What makes Jonah's suggestion even more shocking is the truth that to the Jewish mindset, death by drowning was one of the worst ways to die. Remember when Christ employed this shocking statement:

Matt 18:6
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

But even though Jonah felt that he was in control of the circumstance, we will see in chapter two that God's sovereignty is the back of all events in human history. Notice that when the men tried to row to shore in an attempt to save Jonah's life, the storm became even worse. It is amazing that, as it would first appear, God Himself is preventing a "good" action. But He has a greater plan to fulfill. When the men realized that there was no other option, even they recognized that YHWH was indeed directing these decision. A great truth to remember when we are tempted to analyze our own trials. We need to remember that our vision is severly limited, and God is infintley great in all He does.

"Then they called on the LORD and said, "We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased." So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging."

As this chapter concludes, the reaction of sailors may indicate that salvation did come to these foreign men; the very thing Jonah had tried to run from. The text tells us that they called on Him with the covenant name YHWH, offered a sacrifice and made vows (perhaps to continue to worship the true God). God will save whom He will save!

Verse 17, in the original Hebrew, more naturally belongs in chapter 2 in our English Bible's. During our next installment, we will investigate this great type of Christ.

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Jonah, Pt. 3 - "The Confrontation"

Imagine. God pitted against His own prophet. It only takes us reading three verses into this book to see the two very regretful words "But Jonah...". In open defiance, God's own man shakes his fist at YHWH and runs in the opposite direction. But God will not be mocked. We see in verse 4, in a very direct way, YHWH strikes back.



As we saw in the last article on Jonah, the storm was severe. So sever that even the hardened sailors began to pray as they recognized that this storm had a supernatural cause. And as the Captain ran out of options in trying to rescue himself and his crew, he find Jonah "sound asleep" in the hold of the ship (vs 5). Astonished, he cries out "How is it that you are asleep? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish."

Notice the words of the Captains command. Jonah, while trying to gather his senses from his deep sleep, must have thought he was in a nightmare. Being roused suddenly to find himself in a fierce storm, and to hear words that were stingingly close to those of YHWH in verse 2. We recall that the LORD said "Arise, go, cry". And here the Captain says "Get up, Call!" We can constantly be amazed at the detail of Scripture. No word is repeated without meaning.

In verse 7 what we learn is that Jonah shows no sign of repentance. Notice that even at the rebuke of a pagan calling fro the prophet to pray, Jonah refuses. He also refuses to offer any information until the lot falls to his person in verse 7. Jonah, of all people, should be about prayer, about repentance for his actions, and about evangelism (to use a New Testament term) with these men who have been made spiritually sensitive to their need of salvation at least at some elementary level. And so Jonah's defiance continues. The sailors then confront him with a barrage of 5 questions that come in staccato fashion.

"Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"

And then when we think we have seen the worst from this disobedient prophet, Jonah does the unthinkable. Notice his answer:

"He said to them, 'I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.'"

We first need to clarify that this was not a great, confident declaration of a prophet who had a heart for lost men needing to know the saving power of YHWH. Remember, he is running so that foreigners would not see salvation. Also, this answer does not come from Jonah until he is pressed to speak. So we can read this as a very hesitant answer. With a bit of sanctified imagination, perhaps he barley lifted his eyes when speaking this.

Yet, with all of the designations that Jonah could have chosen to describe the true God, why this one? Why highlight that He is the One who "made the sea and the dry land"?. For one simple reason; He wanted to be tossed overboard. His sinful behavior has so clouded his ability to reason that he considered death by drowning a better choice than obeying the word of YHWH. It is significant to note as well that to the Jewish mindset, drowning in the sea was the worst way to die. This is illustrated by Jesus' words of warning in Matt 18:6:

"but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

A natural question would be why Jonah would not jump ship himself, if he wanted to die in order to escape God's commands. The text does not say. Perhaps he was acting as a coward. Perhaps he could justify his desire to die if his life was taken by these sailors rather than committing suicide. But either way, Jonah's description of YHWH prompts the men to ask the very question he was waiting to hear in verse 11.

To be continued...

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Jonah, Pt. 2

After Jonah's defiance of YHWH, he fled to Tarshish. Some scholars believe that this was the farthest destination Jonah could have chosen of the known world at the time. And while the exact location of Tarshish is disputed, we do know that it was in the opposite direction; further proof of his staggering pride to tell the LORD "No".

As the historical account continues in Chapter 1, we read that the LORD Himself "hurled" a great wind on the sea and caused a terrifying storm. This storm was so severe, that even the seasoned sailors became frightened, began to pray (which indicates that even they realized that this storm was of divine origin), and to toss their cargo overboard. This tells us that they indeed were expecting to die in this catastrophe. Their cargo was means of sustenance and was also how they earned their living.

On one trip into the hold of the ship, the Captain was astonished to see Jonah "sound" asleep.

More to come...

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Jonah - "The Hero"

I would hope that you are as disturbed by the title of this article as I was when I read it in my Bible dictionary under the entry labeled "Book of Jonah". This one statement communicated that the writer of this particular entry did not understand the major premise behind this biblical book. Jonah is by no means a hero! That God is abounding in lovingkindness and will work His will in spite of the sins of men, even His own chosen prophet, shows clearly that He is the hero of this incredible account.

When you have a spare 10 minutes, read through this short book, and take note of Jonah's character; namely that he is marked by racism, hatred, anger and staggering pride. And all of this done as a direct affront to YHWH of hosts.

Jonah is the only prophet who openly and persistently defied God. To be sure, there have been other disobedient prophets, those who hesitated, those who doubted. But Jonah ran. Jonah shook his fist at YHWH and there is no indication in the book that he was ever repentant. Two things to notice are the abrupt beginning and ending to this book.

The opening verses set the tone (unfortunately) well:

Jon 1:1-3
"The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. "

What amazing foolishness to think that he could flee from the presence of YHWH! The last words of Jonah are as follows:

Jon 4:9
Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death."

The force of the Hebrew language communicates that Jonah had the audacity to use expletive language with YHWH Almighty. Unthinkable.

So, who is the hero of this historical narrative? A spiteful, vengeful, selfish and self-centered, disobedient prophet who completed his mission simply based on the fact that YHWH is Omnipotent and Sovereign in causing His prophecy to be preached?



Or is it a patient, merciful and loving God who cares even for the wicked city of Nineveh? Who even cares for an ungodly prophet like Jonah? Who even cares for you?

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