INTRODUCTION

In this lesson we face the issue of how to respond when we are asked to represent God as His ambassador and to be a minister of reconciliation to individuals or groups we dislike; those with whom we have serious disagreement and who we probably fear. Our response is often to make sure we have very little contact with these people.

We sometimes encounter people who have different beliefs from ourselves, or who do things differently than we do, and these people might have become our enemies. It is of course possible that these people deserve our negative evaluation and our condemnatory judgment but we might not be correct in our assessments. Some Christians feel justified in keeping away from, passing judgment on, and writing off individuals or groups that declare themselves to be enemies of God. Hopefully after our study, we will examine ourselves as to how we think about people such as kings, governors, politicians and rulers that we consider spiritually evil and therefore our enemies and how we view our responsibility towards them.

Christians often differ over political matters. What is common to them however are feelings of helplessness in dealing with issues of public morality and ethics. They often feel that they cannot just walk in, confront the powers that be and give them God’s truth. This fear, even where there is not likely to be severe repercussions, is not a good thing. So the problems in relationships between peoples are of considerable importance and this often causes God to act to change the situation.

The very misunderstood book of Jonah calls out to us to ask God to remind us who the Ninevites are in our lives and encourage us to be a Jonah to those people. We need to know the individuals, family members, racial groups, political action groups, musical groups, theatre groups, artistic groups, and others that we find depraved and deviant, and with whom we disagree.

We need to know this, because God might just be sending us to minister to them, and maybe we have been shutting our ears to our sovereign God and Lord. We hopefully will be put in the place where we ask God to bring some tough love into our lives as He did in Jonah’s, so that we can be ministers of reconciliation and valuable ambassadors for Christ.

Traditionally, a “community” has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location.  The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger that a household.  The word can also refer to the national community or global community.

Since the advent of the Internet, the concept of community no longer has geographical limitations, as people can now virtually gather in an online community and share common interests regardless of physical location.”

If we read our Bible carefully, especially the book of Jonah, we will see that God has an extremely expanded view of community. After all, He is the Creator of all things and people. He recognizes that there are different groupings and deals with each one appropriately. There is no doubt that for Him people are of one blood, share a common humanity and all must be brought into a knowledge of Him. This is the scope of the ministry of reconciliation given to all Christians.

Jonah knew God’s definition of “community” and the extent of His mercy, but like us, he chose to pursue his own will.

God’s heart is shown in chapter 4:11, the very last verse of the book. There He asked Jonah a rhetorical question when Jonah was displeased that God destroyed a mere plant, though he was hoping that God would destroy many people. God says to the still petulant prophet: “And should I not pity (or show merciful concern for) Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know they are right hand from their left, and much cattle?”

THE TEXT

The events of this book were either written by Jonah himself or very carefully dictated by him. The events described are very personal and reveal many intimate details about Jonah’s disgraceful inner thoughts in his dealing with the Lord. It is hard to believe a child of God would ever want to reveal such behaviour. Clearly the prophet wanted us to know what we earnest and hardworking children of God are capable of, and to show us that God is a God of second chances, a fact we do not often appreciate.

I am sure it was not easy for Jonah to tell us of his struggle against God and his disagreements with God and His directions. He must have known that for all generations he would be regarded by many as an unpleasant and foolish character. He has told us his story anyway to our benefit, so we must congratulate him for that unusual level of honesty and candor.

Verse 1. We are told that “the word of the Lord” came to Jonah. This phrase occurs over one hundred times in the Old Testament, and in this case we are not told how God gave the message to Jonah, and so we are left to focus on the fact that God was the one that initiated the action in this book.

The book records that Jonah was the son of Amittai and this notation in Scripture confirms that Jonah was a real person.  He is mentioned in other places in Scripture and in 2 Kings 14:25 it is mentioned that Jonah was prophesying in the Northern Kingdom, representing God among the idolatrous and disobedient tribes of Israel.

We are told that he prophesied successfully as a servant of God in the reign of Jeroboam 11, a successful military ruler of the eighth century B.C., who forged significant expansion to the northern borders of Israel. This king was idolatrous and immoral and brought nothing but evil into the land. The nation was in gross disobedience to God but nevertheless God had Jonah prophesy that their territories that were captured by Syria several generations before would be recovered.  

2nd Kings suggests that Jonah's ministry played a great part in encouraging the expansion of Israel despite the growing menace of Assyria power. This military expansion would have required a great deal of nerve and Jonah's role in motivating the rulers of Israel and the army would be crucial for their success.

Note carefully that these prophecies of Jonah which supported the military actions of Israel were made despite the evil nature of the rulers and people. God was showing great mercies to them but this demonstration of His mercy did not change their attitude toward God. The nation persisted in their rebellious behavior. We would have expected that the Northern kingdom and its rulers would have repented in response to God's merciful blessings and with the return of the economic and military glory days would have rewarded Jonah’s ministry.

Clearly, the rulers and the people would have respected and feared Jonah, and welcomed his presence.  They certainly would not like the idea of Jonah going to their enemy to save them from God's wrath and destruction, and Jonah seemed to prefer to keep their respect and accolades rather than to obey God.

One writer tells us about some popular Jewish ideas about Jonah.

“There are several unbiblical Jewish traditions about Jonah's origin. One held that he was the widow's son who Elijah restored the life (1 Kings 17: 17-24). Another held that he had some connection with the Jerusalem Temple even though he was from the North. Another credited him with a successful mission to Jerusalem similar to the one to Nineveh. None of these has any biblical support. They were apparently attempts to fit Jonah into other inspired stories and to glorify the prophet.”

Verse 2. Jonah was instructed to go to Nineveh, one of the capital cities of the Assyrian Empire.  The city had a very long history and according to Genesis 10:8-12 was built by Nimrod. He built this city in Mesopotamia along with Babel and others cities.

Nineveh was the largest and most prominent city of its time. Going there would be an intimidating experience for anybody, for this was indeed a world-class city. It was much larger than any of the cities in Israel with a population of 120,000 people living in the metropolis. The cities of Israel were peanuts compared to Nineveh, for we are told previously that Samaria, the capital city of the Northern Kingdom had only about 30,000 inhabitants.

Nineveh occupied about 1800 acres and was located on the east bank of the Tigris River. It is actually across from the modern Iraqi city of Mosul. Jonah was required to go 550 miles northeast of Samaria.

The Assyrians were the most cruel, violent, and feared nation in the ancient Near East.  It is a wonder that God loved them. One writer describes them as follows: “God loved these wicked Assyrians even though they are hung up on all kinds of astrology and pagan worship.  They had water gods and land gods; they had sky gods and wind gods, but they were forever under fear, because the gods they created in their minds were like people -they were greedy and demanding; they loved sacrifices; they had husbands and wives and children. Their gods controlled their destiny, so the Ninevites were forever trying to appease them.

So in a true sense they were religious people; they were very conscious of the other world: they were very aware of powers and beings and destiny; they were very aware of the stars and how they moved in the heavens.”

God had an agenda.  He wanted His prophet to go to Nineveh and tell its inhabitants that God was aware and was no longer prepared to tolerate their wickedness.

Jonah was to “cry against it”. We are not told that God specifically said what the sins of Nineveh were but certainly it appears that though they were pagans, they would understand the nature of their unacceptable behavior.

Verse 3.  It must be understood that Jonah knew his Bible very well. Exodus 34:6-7 records God's revelation of His own character and His concern for the people.  He descended in a cloud and declared  His character. Moses made haste to plead for the people who he described as stiff-necked, asking for pardon for their iniquity and their sins. God was then gracious and forgave them.

So Jonah knew well that once there was genuine repentance from sin, God would forgive the iniquities of the people of Nineveh. He knew that God loved all mankind and was not willing that any should perish but that all should come to know Him.

Jonah revealed this honestly in chapter 4:2. He passionately hated the Assyrians and could not see why God cared about Assyria. He probably felt that Israel was God's favored nation and that was enough loving for God. He would certainly agree with God that the Assyrians were very wicked and he wanted to leave it that way, so that God would destroy them.

He considered himself a prophet only to Israel and he disagreed with God's calling him to go to this great city to preach judgments against its wickedness, even though he had loved it when God had showed grace and mercy to his own nation.

He wanted to see this great city destroyed for they were great enemies of his people. He knew that the Assyrians were extremely creative with their cruelty, and were brutal and sinful.

Jonah struggled against God's love for the Assyrians in Nineveh, that pagan city that hated Israel and had no allegiance to the God of Israel. God told Jonah to go east five hundred miles, instead Jonah turned and went in the opposite direction to the seaport of Joppa on the Mediterranean, bought a ticket on  a ship going to the farthest distance away. Joppa was thirty-five miles southwest of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom

Tarshish was as far away as he could go west. It was a little fishing village on the Atlantic coast of Spain, and just to get there by ship would take about one-and a half years journey through the straits of Gibraltar.

The long journey would as one writer said, put God's desires out of his mind. He would be away from the presence of the Lord, having abandoned his ministry.

Jonah gave way to the dangerous impulse that Satan put into his mind.  He thought that by paying his own fare that was enough to get away from God. He thought he was finished with God. His act was one of sinful rebellion. He was obviously a strong, self-willed person who was not afraid to be involved in a power struggle with God. He was faithful to God as long as God wanted what Jonah wanted.  When God told him to encourage Israel in their territorial drive and their steps toward increased prosperity he was happy.  But when God commanded him to do something contrary to what Jonah wanted, Jonah was going to do what he was pleased to do.

When he got on the ship to Tarshish he thought he was finished with God but God was not finished with him. He obviously had the false idea that God would allow him to get away with leaving the ‘presence’ of God. He was foolish enough to think that he would win the argument. God therefore had to break him.

One writer who seems to have much empathy for Jonah warns us that we should not get carried away with harshness toward the foolish prophet. He writes: “A Jonah lurks in every Christian heart, whimpering his insidious message of smug prejudice, empty traditionalism and exclusive solidarity.”

Another writer reminds us:

“Perhaps we can appreciate how Jonah felt about his commission if we compare a similar case. Suppose God called some Jew living during the Hitler regime to go to Berlin and prophesy publicly that God was going to destroy Nazi Germany unless the Germans repented. The possibility of the Germans repenting and God withholding judgment on them would have been totally repugnant to such a Jew. His racial patriotism would have conflicted with his fidelity to God just as Jonah’s did.”

We could just as easily place this idea in the context of an oppressed black south African during the apartheid South Africa regime, or in some other terrible situation of oppression. There is no shortage of evil places and events into which we can fit human behaviour or try to explain Jonah’s reluctance and unwillingness to obey God.

Another writer warns us: “Many servants of the Lord throughout history have mistakenly thought that they could get away from the Lord and escape the consequences of His actions by changing their location.  This book teaches us that that is not possible (Psalm 139:7-10).

Another warning is: “It is possible to be out of the will of God and still have circumstances appear to be working on your behalf.”

And yet another warning by one writer: “An officer in an army may resign the commission of his president or King, but an ambassador of the Lord is on a different basis.  He service is for life, and he may not repudiate it without the danger of incurring God's discipline.”

One spiritual says: “My God is so high that you can't get over him. So wide that you can’t get around him So low you can't get under him.”

CHAPTER 3:1-9

God blocked all of Jonah's attempts to avoid performing the duties of his prophetic office.

The prophet was imprisoned in the unpleasant surroundings of a ‘great fish's stomach and then came to repentance and accepted the fact that salvation was of the Lord. His living prison transported him 500-600 miles east to Nineveh and disgorged him on a beach.

The passage describes the size of Nineveh as three days journey. The meaning of this description is uncertain. It probably refers to the entire administrative district of Nineveh, the complex of the metropolitan area which was about thirty to sixty miles across. Archaeologists have excavated and

discovered that the city itself was about eight miles in circumference and could easily hold about 175,000 people.

The reference in Genesis 10:11 mentions four specific cities that were close to each other and the growth in population probably joined the cities. Some commentators point out that the Hebrew words used to describe the distance do not distinguish between the metropolis proper and the district. This suggests that Jonah did not necessarily journey as far as he could in one day but went up and down the streets and preached the word for three days.

THE TEXT

We now study the incredible conversion of Nineveh, the capital city of the great and wicked kingdom of Assyria. Nahum describes Nineveh in Chapter 3:1 as a remarkably wicked city. The Book of Jonah says Nineveh at this time had 120,000 people.

The word of God came to Jonah the second time. The proclamation was interesting. It was just one point, and is the only prophecy in the book. It was a simple message: "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown."

It was a simple message of judgment but it resulted in the biggest miracle of evangelism. This shows the amazing love of God for not only His wayward prophet but His wayward creatures living in Nineveh. Jonah was offered a new beginning.

Clearly God is patient and His perfecting grace is amazing. When His people fail He remains faithful.  God determined that He would do the work of repentance through Jonah and no one else.  So God did not give up on this reluctant and disobedient servant.

This time God told Jonah to preach to the people what he was told to preach. It is amazing what the discipline of God does.  The stress God brings into our life because of sin should make us more obedient to Him. It should make us more obedient in responding to what God wants us to do.  Discipline should make us more submissive to His will. You should ask yourself whether stress makes you bitter toward God, or whether it makes you serve Him better.  Jonah was to preach the word of God and nothing else. We are told he did this willingly.

Jonah 3:4 says nothing about the necessity of repentance but it seems clear that the Ninevites understood something about Yahweh and about repentance.

THE RELEVANCE OF JONAH'S MESSAGE

Despite the similarities between our days and those of Jonah, the content of preaching today is quite unlike that of Jonah. Today the message has a decidedly social thrust, teaching us how to enhance our personal self-esteem, and how to attain mainly material blessings.

The primary message however, must be one of repentance for salvation. When men's hearts are truly changed, they will become concerned about the problems of the poor, racial antagonisms, the inequities in society, and many of the practical problems we face.

Because God's unequivocal message is not preached, people have a superficial Christianity and often behave in ways which contradict the very word of God. The life in the Church then becomes a poor witness to the power of Christ.

A reading of Nahum's description of Nineveh is uncomfortably close to an accurate description of our modem societies.

THE EFFECT OF THE MESSAGE

Verse 4.  Jonah's traveling and his simple message must have made quite an impression. While no Assyrian record refers to any incident of dramatic conversion to monotheism, as in the Jonah account, some scholars have noted some religious reforms began about 800 BC. By Adad-Nirari III, who reigned 805-782 BC. These reforms had a monotheistic (one God) emphasis, even though the records show the cult-worship of the god Nebo was encouraged.

The reforms may have been somehow connected with Jonah's mission but even if it was, we should not expect the Assyrians to admit publicly that they had changed to the worship of a foreign God. It is also felt that since the Ninevites worshipped Dagan, the fish god, Jonah's appearance from the ‘great fish’ would have had a striking effect. Some speculate his skin and hair colour, changed due to the fish's digestive enzymes and this added to the force of his dramatic message.

Verse 5. Historically, the conversion experience of the Ninevites did not last for a long time. But one cannot ignore the magnitude of the reaction and the transformation of the people's attitude. The chapter does not mention Jonah. God's work takes center stage.

The Ninevites were convicted of their sins. They accepted that God's judgement was certain and they prayed and fasted. The King was also converted.     

Verse 6. The king of Nineveh means ruler of the city. It was the common practice to call any ruler king of the city in which he lived. For example, Benhadad of Syria was called King of Damascus in

2 Chronicles 24:23.

The king set his robes aside and sat in ashes, adding his significant influence to the call to repentance.

Notice the king was uncertain if God would relent, but since Jonah did not rule out God's mercy, the king expressed the hope that God would indeed be merciful.

The king conquered his enemies by his ferocity and military might but now was conquered by humility, seen in his mourning, his prayers and his genuine conversion. God saw that the people turned from their wicked ways and did not destroy the city. Destruction was postponed for about one hundred

years.

WHAT ABOUT GOD'S CHARACTER

The Bible teaches that God does not change but here we are told that when the people turned from their evil, God did not do what He said He would do. Jonah prophesied 'yet forty days and Nineveh would be overthrown,' but that did not happen. Was Malachi wrong in saying God is unchangeable? Was James 1 wrong?

We often say that God cannot change because since God is already perfect, any change would indicate a move away from perfection. Notice however, the prophecy contains a conditional element.

Jonah said, "Yet forty days", implying there was time in which a response could be made, a period of grace.

The Old Testament in Jeremiah 18:7-10 teaches us that there is this conditional element. God often states that there is a time during which He will withhold divine judgement, so that men can use the opportunity to turn to Him.

This does not mean that God changes. Granting a time of opportunity for mercy is a part of God's nature. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is always the merciful, just and gracious God.

A WORD FOR TODAY

It is evident that the people of Nineveh had an opportunity to repent as long as the forty days were running. We live in a time like Jonah's but a bigger judgement is coming. A genuine repentance and a little sackcloth and ashes and fasting would certainly not hurt us today.

We must ask ourselves if we are truly responding to the message of God. Let us not fool ourselves, salvation can only begin with the word of God. Our conversion is then proved by our works.

God's glory is shown in His justice. He will destroy all who will not repent as did Nineveh. But God is also willing to be glorified in His mercy and in forgiving our great and numerous sins.

LESSONS FOR JONAH AND FOR TODAY

The Book of Jonah appears to be Jonah's confession of how God settled the quarrel Jonah had with God. He came to truly understand the word with which the Lord first instructed him to go Nineveh.

He now understood the nature of God's mercy. We learn of the ultimate success of God's discipline. God prepared a fish for the prophet, he prepared a shady plant, he prepared a worm, and he prepared

the hot east wind in order to prepare the prophet. The Book teaches us that we cannot avoid sinners and isolate ourselves, contented with what God has done for us. We are not very different from sinners. The only difference between 'us' and 'them' is that God has worked in grace to change our hearts and to bring us to faith in Himself.

He wants to do for them only the same that he has already done for us. So do not be proud. Persuade men, since we know the terror of the Lord. We learn too that God loves those who believe. Jesus warned that the men of Nineveh would rise up and condemn the generation of His time for its evil, since they repented at the warnings of Jonah. A greater than Jonah is here and if we do not repent, the men of Nineveh will condemn us too. We have more reason and opportunity than anyone who has ever lived to pass from death to everlasting life.