Cities

Nineveh was a great city. God calls it great in the book of Jonah. Cities are places where evangelism takes place. Paul often looked at cities to do his evangelism. But why cities and not small communities?
First, cities are have power and prestige. If you can establish a church in a city then you can reach out from that city to the surrounding areas.
Cities are also a place of prosperity. People go to cities to get rich. Often they find that their wishes have not been met so they are open to the Gospel.
But cities are place were there is all sorts of sin and crime. Cities need the gospel.

A Second Time

God is the God of the second chance. Jonah had messed up big time but the Lord called him again. This time he obeyed. But did you notice the difference in the two calls? In the first call he was to go and preach against Nineveh because their wickedness had come up before God. In the second call Jonah was told to go and proclaim the message that the Lord would give him. Because he had failed the first time the Lord led him in baby steps the second time.
Imagine if Jonah went from Chapter 1:2 directly to Chapter 3:3. Instead of reading
'The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.'
It would read:
'The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.'
Now that is how it should have been but Jonah disobeyed so God had to deal with His runaway prophet.

The Jonah Story as told by a child

This is worth watching.

Idolatry

Idolatry
Jonah makes an amazing statement in his prayer recorded in Jonah 2. He says that those who cling to worthless idols forfeit God's grace. I wonder if he was thinking about the sailors or the Ninevites when he said that. I am certain that he wasn't thinking that it was he who was the one who was clinging to worthless idols. His idol was his nationality. He was not an isolator, he was a Hebrew and they worshiped the true God. So Jonah repented, not of his idolatry but for running from God. How could he preach grace when he had forfeited grace by cling to his idol?

Saving Others

Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to preach to the people there so that they might be saved from the wrath to come. He didn't do it. He wanted the Ninevites to suffer the wrath of God.
When the sailors found out that Jonah was running away from God they did everything within their power to save him. Even though they knew from Jonah that he was the cause of the storm they risked their lives to save him. They even sacrificed their cargo to save him but they were impossible to do so.
Jonah had it in his power to save the people of Nineveh and refused to do it. The sailors did not have it in their power but they did their best to save him.
What about us? Do we see secular relief organizations trying to save the sick and dying while we sit by and watch? Secular organizations may have the power to save the sick, starving and dying for a time but eventually they will be lost. Meanwhile we have the power to save them for eternity, the power of the Holy Spirit with in us, but we do nothing.

Arise

One of the key words in Jonah 1 is down but another key word is arise. The Lord told Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh. When the storm came the captain of the ship told Jonah to arise and call upon his god. Jonah told the sailors to pick him up and throw him overboard. The Lord told Jonah again to arise and go to Nineveh. Jonah chose to go down rather than arise. His choice not to arise led him to go down to the very depths.
Once on the Sea of Galilee the disciples called upon the Lord to arise from His sleep and call upon God to calm the storm. Both Jonah and Christ were sleeping when told to arise but Jesus calmed the storm with His Word, Jonah had to give his life. Christ was in the will of God, Jonah was disobedient and had to die to himself.

It must be God's will.

When Jonah decided that he would not go to Nineveh but rather go the opposite direction he went down to Joppa and guess what? There was a boat heading to Tarshish. He easily could have seen that as a sign from God. God must have intended him to go because there was the boat, there was opportunity, all he needed to do was pay the fare.
Circumstances can be so misleading. We can see circumstances has being from God when they just as easily could have been placed there as a test. When we choose to disobey God there will be opportunity.

Why is Jonah in the Bible?

If you read the minor prophets you will notice that Jonah is much different than the other prophets. Jonah is much more biographical than the other minor prophets. The other prophets have autobiographical material but Jonah seems to be written by someone other than Jonah.
Jesus makes it very clear that Jonah has much to say to us today (see Matthew 12:40). Jonah has in the central truth of Scripture "Salvation comes from the Lord". Not only does Jonah teach us that salvation is from God, not from ourselves, but that God is a compassionate God, not willing that any should perish.
Jonah is important in what it teaches us about God. Read Jonah and notice what he teaches us about God.

A Pea

Who do identify with in the story of Jonah? Is it Jonah, the Ninevites, the sailors or the fish? Today I want to identify with the fish.
Once upon a time, a long time ago when our children were at home, we were eating peas for supper when a pea went down the wrong way. I started to choke but soon it was okay. However, the pea did not come back up. A couple of days later I was trying to start the lawn mower and every time I pulled the starter on the lawn mower I would begin to cough. Soon up came the pea that was lodged in my wind pipe.

I wonder if the fish had a coughing spree and finally up came Jonah?

A Whale of a Tale

I couldn't resist this title though I could have used the title "Tale of a Whale". When I was a young child, many, many years at Daily Vacation Bible School at our church we had quizzes. One of the questions was, What swallowed Jonah? I said, "A whale." I did not get the question correct and was told the correct answer was a big fish not a whale. Today I know this to be correct but back then we used the King James Version of the Bible only and in Matthew 12:40 the KJV clearly says that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. I was upset, I felt that I had been cheated.

Miracles

Jonah has been rejected by some people because of the miracles. Let me list the miracles:
1. A wild storm and the raging sea.
2. The immediate stopping of the storm when Jonah was thrown overboard.
3. The fish that swallowed Jonah.
4. Jonah's deliverance.
5. The gourd or vine.
6. The worm that killed the vine.
7. The scorching east wind.
Which of these miracles both you? Do some seam improbable?
Jesus had control over nature when He was on earth.
God has control over all His creatures.
God used insects, lice, frogs to show His power to the Egyptians.
If we reject Jonah because of the miracles then we would have to reject many other parts of Scripture.

Racism and the Gospel

Jonah was a racist. He felt that the Jews were the only ones who had access to God. Now it is easy for us to say that Jonah was wrong. God had told Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to all nations. However, believers have always had a difficult time with the racism.
When Martin Luther King Jr. confronted the racists in the churches he did not say that racism was wrong but rather he said that racism was not compatible with the Gospel. This is what Paul told Peter when Peter had separated himself from the gentiles. Racism is wrong because it is not compatible with the gospel.

Jesus and Jonah

When Jesus was asked for a sign He told them that the only sign He would give them would be the sign of Jonah. Jonah's three days in the fish was a sign that Jesus would be three days in the grave. Even though Jesus compared Himself to Jonah there are more differences than there are similarities. For example:
1. Jonah fled from the will of God while Jesus delighted to do God's will.
2. Jonah suffered for his own sin while Jesus suffered for the sins of others.
3. Jonah preached about God's wrath while Jesus preached both the wrath and the love of God
4. Jonah saw a remarkable positive response to his message while Jesus' message was rejected.
5. Jonah became upset at the repentance of sinners while Jesus delights in their repentance.

The Need and the Call

You have heard it said that the need is the call but that is not Scriptural. The need is the call to pray for workers to go.
In Jonah we read, "The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai." We are not told how the word of the Lord came to him. It may have been in an audible voice or a dream but most likely it came to him as he meditated on Scripture. As you read Ezekiel and Jeremiah you will notice that many times it tells us that the "Word of the Lord" came to them.
Jonah 1:1 - 3 says, "The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD."
If we read Jonah 1:1 - 2 followed immediately with Jonah 3:3 we would read, " The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it." This is how it should read but because of his disobedience we read, "Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it."
God is the God of the second chance so Jonah got a second chance to obey. This time he did but his heart was not in it.

Cartoon characters

Jonah believed that the Ninivites were one dimensional cartoon characters. They were wicked enemies of God's people and needed to be destroyed. However, he thought of himself as much more complex. He hated the Ninivites but you need to understand why he hated them. There were people who he loved, his people, and those he hated, the Ninivites. The Ninivites disobeyed God and needed to be destroyed. He disobeyed God but he had reasons. His disobedience didn't define him, according to his thinking, but you needed to understand him before you could pass that kind of judgment upon him.
Are we guilty of the same thing? Do we see someone you has misled us labeled them a liar while we lie but we have reasons, it is not, we say, what defines us.
People also reduce God to a one dimensional character. He is a God of love or He is a God of wrath. However, God is not a cartoon character. He is much more complex than either you or me.

Down

One of the key words in Jonah 1 is "down". He went "down to Joppa"; he went "down in the ship"; he was thrown "down into the sea"; and he went "down into the fish". Jonah went down to get away from doing the will of the Lord.
Contrast that with our Lord. He came "down from heaven" and he went "down into the grave". He came down to do the will of the Lord. Jonah went down so that he would not see the lost redeemed but Jesus came down to redeem the lost.

Jonah

Next week we will begin a short series on Jonah. I will not be doing the class but my friend Aaron will step into my place. We need to understand two things about Jonah.
First, though Jonah is about evangelism it is not about the fear of evangelism but the idolatry of making our nation or our family or our church or whatever the reason why we do not want to do evangelism.
Second, we need to notice that key verse in Jonah and maybe in all scripture is Jonah 2:9, "Salvation is of the Lord."
Two things to keep in mind while we study Jonah together.
And don't forget the fish, he only makes a cameo appearance, he is not central to the story.

Remembering

Yesterday was Remembrance Day in Canada and we Canadians are so grateful for what our military has done for our freedom.
However, I would like to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our faith. There are more people dying as martyrs than are dying as soldiers. We need to remember them. I am asking that anyone who reads this will take a day next week to pray and fast for the persecuted church and in particular the church in North Korea.

Why Fast?

It is interesting, at least to me, that Jesus' teaching on fasting follows His teaching on prayer. We do not fast so that God will answer our prayers. So then, why do we fast? First, according to Matthew 6:18 we fast for the pleasure of the Father. We fast for the Father, not others. Second we fast for the good of our souls. This verse also says that our Father will reward us.

When you fast

Next Sunday we are going to look at the teaching of Jesus in the sermon on the mount about fasting. Jesus says, "When you fast" not "If you fast". Fasting is not popular among Christians. Some say it smacks of legalism but they don't understand fasting. What is your understanding of fasting? Is it for Christians today?

Fathers and Temptation

Sometimes you read about fathers who have involved their children in their sin. I don't know how you feel but it should enrage us. How can a person of trust do this to an innocent child?
Does our heavenly Father do that to us? Remember that if an earthly father is good how much better is the heavenly Father. He may test us but He never leads us into temptation. So what does it mean when the Lord says in the prayer, "Lead us not into temptation."? The word means test. But we must remember that what God gives to us as a trial or a test is almost always used by Satan as a temptation.

Yield not to temptation

Growing up we used to sing this hymn. (I have mixed feelings about not singing it today):

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin;
Each vict’ry will help you some other to win;
Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.

Refrain:
Ask the Savior to help you,
Comfort, strengthen, and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad language disdain,
God’s name hold in rev’rence, nor take it in vain;
Be thoughtful and earnest, kindhearted and true;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.

To him that o’ercometh, God giveth a crown,
Through faith we will conquer, though often cast down;
He who is our Savior, our strength will renew;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.

My first thought is that the second line of the first verse, "Each vict’ry will help you some other to win" is not true. That may be true if you are trying to beat a habit like biting your nails but it is not true about temptation.

Second, though the hymn writer doesn't say this there is the implication that we can overcome temptation in our own strength. He does not say this but that is what I believed that it said when we used to sing it. In fairness to the hymn writer he does tell us that it is Jesus who will carry it through.

Do I miss the hymn?

Temptations and Trials

When we pray the Lord's prayer we may wonder why it says that we should pray "Lead us not into temptation." We know that God does not tempt anyone but He does test us. However, trials have an element of temptation in them. When Abraham was tested he could have succumbed to the temptation to question God's goodness and not obeyed. That element is always present in any test. Does that mean that God is tempting us? No! But He is testing us.
So how did Abraham obey? Was it because he was strong? No! He obeyed because he was weak and he relied upon his strong God. We can overcome temptation when trials come by knowing that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. He has made a way of escape. Trust Him.