Jonah – chapters 1 & 2. 4th February 2007 am.
The book of Jonah is probably the best known of the 12 minor prophets.
And it starts in a familiar way with God calling a prophet – BUT from here it becomes far from familiar or expected – because in effect rather than setting off on his assignment - the prophet says... NO. He flees from God and his commands and from there all sorts of exciting things happen.
The book of Jonah is best known for the presence of the “whale” or more accurately the big fish that swallows Jonah whole and keeps him safe for 3 days and 3 nights. And it’s been described as a tragedy that this is why it’s so well known! Because actually this book is full of profound and significant truths about God and the way he deals with people. People who know him and people who don’t. And we have loads to learn from this book!
A big question to tackle first is of course whether this is a historical account of real events, or if it’s more of a parable.
And there are a few indicators to help us work this out.
· The book of Jonah is an odd one out amongst the other 12 minor prophets. There are no dates or allusions to which King was reigning in order to give us historical context.
That’s not to say we don’t know who he was. It is likely that this Jonah son of Ammitai is also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25-28 – meaning he was probably around in the 8th century bc, when Israel was very much overshadowed and threatened by the powerful Assyrian empire and it’s ruthless armies.
· But we find that the writer of Jonah gives us far more detail about his character and responses to events than he does any historical information.
· We also find that the prophetic word he was called to give appears in just one verse Jonah 3:4. This is unusual that it should be so little.
So it has been suggested that what we read in the book of Jonah is more of a parable grounded in experience than a totally factual account. The writer seeks to give us a theological interpretation of the prophet’s personal experience and struggles.
The historical reality of Jonah’s attitudes towards the Lord and to Ninevah are not in doubt, neither is the truth of God’s mercy and grace that it teaches. In fact God’s amazing patience and mercy is all the more poignant when we see it in the context of the life of a very disobedient prophet. And actually, it can be argued that expressing these truths about God with the use of imagery and humour, gives them a wider and more long lasting application.
To call it a parable is not in ANY WAY to diminish its theological importance. And it has been suggested that actually, the story of the prophet Jonah is IN ITSELF, the prophetic word to us more so perhaps than the prophetic word, which he brings.
From which we have much to learn – so we should crack on!
1) Jonah runs!
So verse 1 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Ammitai”.
And God asks him “Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me”
To understand this we need to know a little about Ninevah. It’s not mentioned much in scripture but Ninevah was a powerful Assyrian city. It contained several palaces for Assyrian kings and it’s fortunes would have been up and down throughout the 8th to 6th centuries bc.
As we’ve said Assyria was a huge threat to the people of Israel, God’s people at the time. And so Ninevah probably came to represent the opposite of everything that Israel held dear.
And Jonah hears God tell him to go there. We don’t know how – whether audible voice or vision or dream? But he becomes aware of God’s call as with other prophets that we read of. But from here – Jonah is unique! Because he doesn’t respond with a yes. He doesn’t even respond (as with Moses and Jeremiah) with dialogue or even excuses! He could have said “Actually God- thanks very much, but I’m a bit busy at the minute” or “ I’ll certainly give it some thought God, but was planning a bit of a holiday actually – thinking of popping down to Tarshish – nice cruise is just what I need!”. Jonah hears God call, but is silent in response. He just runs! His body language says it all!
V3 “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”
So he goes “down to Joppa” now this is a literal “down” to the port, but this phrase also carries a sense of going “down out of God’s presence” as he runs.
It’s also significant that Joppa is to the west whereas Ninevah was to the east. He’s going as much in the opposite direction as he can. And the picture painted is all the more dramatic if we understand that the west was the place where the sun dies – a place of darkness. He then pays possibly heavily – we’re not sure if he paid for the whole boat to sail or just for his ticket. The text isn’t clear. And then he sailed for Tarshish.
Where’s Tarshish? Scholars don’t know the exact location. But all the possibilities include a long sea crossing. So it was no destination for the faint hearted! It would have been like journeying to the ends of the earth. And almost certainly would have been a place where Yahweh, Jonah’s God, the God who had called him to Ninevah, was unknown. For Jonah it was pretty much as far away as he could get.
So Jonah’s no wimp! He’s shown that he’s not afraid of a hugely long journey. He’s not afraid even to cross the sea – which was known as being a place where evil dwelt. He’s shown he’s prepared to die to escape this call.
But God doesn’t let him get away! V 4 says “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up”.
This isn’t God being cross with Jonah. This is a continuation of His word and desire to bring about his will. And of course as we look at the rich imagery in this text- we have to acknowledge what kind of storm must have been raging within Jonah at this point.
He’s a man of God. He, as he states later in verse 9 is a Hebrew who “fears the Lord who made heaven and earth”. What is he doing running from God, when he surely knows that God cannot be run from? Travelling even as far as the ends of the earth is surely not far enough to escape the God who made the earth.
But he’s consciously disobeying and trying to avoid what he knows is right. He knows he’s running. He knows he’s in the wrong place. And yet- he goes on running.
So God sends a storm. Not out of anger, but in order to bring about his will.
And this got me thinking....... cos if Jonah had said yes in the first place. Or even argued and entered into conversation with God. God wouldn’t have needed to send a storm to bring about his will. He knows the only thing that’s going to get Jonah off that boat is if the men throw him off!
And if we’re going through storms. We need to check that it’s not a storm of our own making. Sometimes our disobedience or our sin leads to bad consequences; sometimes God will send stormy weather. Not as a punishment – but to bring about his will, to shake us up and get us moving.
Undoubtedly storms can come when we’re in exactly the right place, doing exactly the right things, but also they come when we need to make changes. And like the sailors- we need to discern what the cause might be and sort it out if we can. Jonah knew he was disobeying God. He knew he was running. And in doing so was prepared to put his own life and the life of the sailors in danger. I wonder if any of us know we’re doing the same.
2) Jonah sleeps!
As the storm blew up and the sailors desperately cried out to their gods for mercy and threw off their cargo, “Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep”! v5.
Jonah had hidden himself in the depths of the boat. The NIV uses “below deck” but other versions use “inner parts” or “lowest part” suggesting he got himself into the recesses and most remote place he could. And there he went to sleep. We can ask can’t we as the sailor’s did – how could he sleep at such a time? It certainly wasn’t the same kind of ‘faith enabled sleep’ that Jesus slept in the fishing boat prior to stilling the storm for his disciples.
Jonah’s sleep appears to be one of denial. He doesn’t want to deal with his situation. He wants to forget. So he sleeps.
On finding him asleep the sailors are shocked and probably more than a little cross! There they are doing everything they can to save the ship and he is doing nothing.
And so v6 the captain goes to him and says to him “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God”
And it’s worth pausing here – cos this is significant.
This text is full of contrasts. We’ve got the terrified Pagan sailors, praying frantically to their gods and working hard to save the ship (which in the absence of air-sea rescue is their only hope) in stark contrast to a prophet on the run from the one true God and hiding himself in denial at what’s happening. Then we have the pagan sailors calling Jonah the prophet of God, to pray – yet he remains silent. Appearing still not to want to speak to the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth and the master of the wind and the waves.
The pagan sailors are more aware at this moment of the power of prayer than Jonah, God’s prophet. And even more strikingly God uses the captain to challenge Jonah’s paralysis and call him to action.
· And isn’t that often the case with the Church today? How often are the people of God put to shame by the energy and efforts of people of other faiths or no faith at all to bring about justice and social change?
Undoubtedly in the past the church took the lead in bringing about justice and we can be rightly thankful to God for those who worked hard to bring about the kinds of welfare and social care we have today. And recently – there’s been a good response from the Church with Jubilee 2000 and the Fair Trade movement. But there’s more to do! And often the issues that should get us up and active leave us sitting quietly, while non-christian and humanist organisations get on with the job.
And here in the text these men are in a dire situation. They are fearing for their lives. On board they have Jonah – a man of God, a prophet. A man who should be able to dissuade them from praying to their false god’s and call on Yahweh. And yet – he is silent. He lets the panic and suffering go on, whilst he keeps his God to himself.
And actually – perhaps his previous conduct means we shouldn’t be surprised. He wanted neither to stand up and be counted in Ninevah (as he was called to) nor now to stand up and deal with the consequences of his disobedience.
You see – to begin with – it appeared he was running from the call to preach to Ninevah. It appeared that was too big a calling. Or that Jonah was reluctant to go to such a wild city, to a city that was “evil personified” and one which stood for everything that the people of Israel didn’t. Some of us will relate to Jonah’s issues in responding to a scary call from God. Some of us maybe need to be reminded that running from God is not only pointless because He is the Lord of heaven and earth. And even though his people may disobey him, the elements and indeed big fish- may well be sent along to bring about God’s purposes in our lives. But as well as being pointless it’s also foolish. Because consciously disobeying God carries consequences. If we disobey God, we get into a mess, like Jonah.
But NOW we find Jonah needing to respond to the needs of his shipmates. Needing to pray to his God, speak of his Yahweh who he claims to have confidence in. And yet he’s lying low below deck.
And that’s not unusual is it? How often christians lie low in the face of dire need – maybe we do it out of fear or maybe complacency. But how often we keep quiet and keep our head down, rather than standing up and risking rejection or disgrace.
· I think is where Jonah has a message for all of us. Not just those called to a Ninevah sized task! But those who are called of God to be His witnesses in a world that doesn’t know Him.
Let me remind us of a calling, which is common to all of us:
This is Luke 4:18f.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
That was Jesus’ calling – his kingdom manifesto if you like. So it’s our calling too. We are all called- and we’re most of us, just like Jonah asleep to it.
Many of you will know I’m in the process of applying to go to bible college. I’m looking into training for ministry. And discerning that call and responding to that call has been quite a struggle at times. But you know I’ve realised that- as much as this has been one of the biggest decisions I’ve had to make so far in my life – that calling is just the tip of the iceberg of God’s call on the way I live my life EVERYDAY.
What about God’s call on me to love that child at youth club who I really struggle to even like?
What about God’s call to see justice done in the area of trade with other countries? Why aren’t I lobbying my MP? Why do I allow myself to buy any old bananas and think nothing of it when the fair-trade ones are sold out? Why do I not stand up and ask my work colleagues why we didn’t buy fair-trade tea and coffee this month but instead we bought the cheapest?
And what about the call to serve the poor in our community? Why am I really not very bothered that I keep forgetting to bring in even a tin of baked beans for basics bank? Why do I seem to just not get around to it and yet with no qualms go home to my lovely roast dinner?
What about God’s call to help those who are ravaged by war? Why aren’t I on my knees in prayer? Why don’t I make it my business to know what’s going on? Why aren’t I writing to Sandra Gidley to ask why third world debt is still not dropped?
What about God’s call to look after our planet? Why don’t I buy eco friendly cleaning products even though I don’t like the way they smell? Why aren’t I making sure that I recycle everything that I can –even when I’m tired and don’t want to wash it up?
Why... because I’m asleep to God’s call. Because I’m comfortable and lazy and I’d far rather be ignorant, relaxed and remain a nobody- than stand up, be counted and take responsibility.
To defend ourselves slightly this is a cultural phenomenon that we face. It’s part of the reason, although not all, that numbers of voters are decreasing every general election, and yet numbers watching reality TV and joining the gym are increasing dramatically. But we’re called to be counter cultural. We called not to let this world squeeze us into its mould.
The danger is that in seeking our own comfort and security, rather than seeking meaningful, responsible standards, roles and opinions we forget who we are. Like Jonah – the silent prophet!
In a book called “Messy Spirituality” Mike Yaconelli quotes Nelson Mandela. who said this:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness which most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don’t feel insecure around you”
Perhaps Jonah- in addition to running from God, was also running from himself and fear of what he could become, if only he’d stand up and be counted.
Are there areas of life where we’re asleep to God’s call? I’m sure there are. Let’s sort them out.
3) God holds on!
There’s another contrast that I want us to look at as I close.
We’ve read here of Jonah making some pretty huge errors. He runs from God. He attempts to flee to the ends of the earth to escape his high calling. He puts his own and other’s lives in danger. He keeps quiet when given a fantastic opportunity for evangelism. He misses several opportunities to admit to and say sorry to God for his mess. In the end he gets thrown into the sea when the men realise that getting Jonah out of the boat is their only hope of survival.
BUT God uses these events in a wonderful way. After they’d thrown him overboard and the wind and the waves grew calm v16 says, “At this the men greatly feared the LORD. And they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him”
What an encouragement that when the man of God Jonah doesn’t fulfil his responsibilities or use his opportunities- whether out of fear or complacency or whatever – God still reveals himself to the Sailors.
So often when it comes to sharing the gospel we beat ourselves up and we worry that we need to say exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.
But all Jonah did was to (eventually) own His God. He said “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land”. And he admitted (to the men at least- even if not to God at that moment) that he was in the wrong. He didn’t preach a fantastic sermon. He didn’t even answer all their questions. But God in His mercy and grace revealed himself to the Sailors who didn’t know Him.
And for Jonah- who did know Him, God sent salvation in the form of a great fish. Who swallowed him up and taxied him around for 3 days and 3 nights. God doesn’t give up on Jonah. Instead he gives him yet another chance to sort his life out.
And while inside the fish Jonah talks to God for the first time. And most of chapter 2 is a psalm.
And we’re not going to look at this. But it finishes with Jonah stating what he should have known and recognised before- that
“Salvation belongs to the LORD”
Whether he’s really learnt his lesson about judging to whom God should and shouldn’t show mercy we don’t know. You’ll have to come back tonight to hear how he gets on in the second half of the book.
But we need to hear and be encouraged that Salvation belongs to God – not to us thankfully. If it did we’d make a mess of it.
God didn’t give up on Jonah and He won’t give up on us. Our God is a covenant God- who holds on even when his people choose to let go. May this encourage us in our personal struggles, if like Jonah we’re having a hard time and also may it encourage us in our prayers for those who don’t yet know Him.
Chapter 2 finishes with the obedient fish- vomiting Jonah up onto the shore of Ninevah. He got there in the end! And what he’ll do next we can learn tonight.
Let’s learn from Jonah!
Are we running from God – if so we need to know that it’s pointless and it’s foolish.
Are we asleep to God’s call – A call to live for justice and peace everyday?
Are we lying low in the face of the needs around us?
Do we need to respond to God and commit to doing that thing He keeps prompting us to do and yet we’re scared, afraid that we’ll be rejected or laughed at or that God could make us powerful beyond measure?
Let’s be quiet for a minute. Pray and wait on God.