Realigning with the redeemer

Jonah 4:5-11

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Our next series will be on God's heart for the city and our role in the city.

The book of Jonah is less about the city of Nineveh. Rather, it is about the heart of Jonah. A prophet of God should be closest to God. But you notice the misalignment of God and his prophet. He does not see what God sees, he does not love what God loves. He reconciles Jonah to Himself by using a storm,a fish,a city's repentance... 

God sends a plant to shade Jonah. Then a worm to make it wither. And Jonah is angry enough over this to wish he could die. God uses this plant as an argument for the salvation of Nineveh. He asks Jonah why he cares more for a plant yuan for the entire city of Nineveh. A plant that lived for less then a day...compared to the entire population of the city. A city that God had created and cared for. God reveals the skewed priorities of Jonah's heart.

In this, Jonah serves as a mirror for our hearts...the people of God. We have our own. Our grades. Or job problems. Or someone is slacking on our group project. Or our sports teams. Such joy and anger over such small things. Consider what God thinks of these things in our lives. We get so worked up over what happens on a field, over our grades, and what happens at our job... But God is concerned with those who do not know their right hand from their left. Who do not know where life is found. Who are not saved. Those who are lost.

That is the gospel. God seeks to save that which was lost. This is what our lives are for. We are to advance the gospel with our lives. God prioritizes the lost, therefore the people of God should prioritize the lost and the city. Harvie Conn and others speak of ministry to cities. (Tim Keller and Manny Ortiz)Ronald J. Sider speaks of evangelical flight from the city. What kind of priorities do you have? That of a child of God? Or a self-seeking atheist? If you move based on schools or restaurants, then you're acting as a non-believer.

Turning a Prophet, Turning a City

[Johan 3:1 - 4:5]

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?"

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

Repentance is About Turning

In verses 1-3, God pursues Jonah through a storm, pagan sailors, and even a sea animal. We are pursued by God to turn from our idols whether they be family, career, money, self-satisfaction, or personal desires. When we see Jonah's repentance, it certainly looks like the right attitude, but we will see that it is a very shallow repentance.

Consider that when Jonah preaches... the city, the entire city repents. Jonah doesn't give a gospel presentation, he just speaks of God's judgment. He speaks a word of judgment to a hostile and violent people. And the entire city, from greatest to smallest, puts on sackcloth. The repentance of the city was immediate, sudden, and complete. Even the animals fasted.

This is a rebuke to the Israelites. Their repentance was always partial. Every time the people repented, there was always something held back. The high places, the places of idols remained. They were the chosen people of God. They knew his word. Yet the pagans turned to God all the more even without so much of God's word.

This is also a rebuke to us, the followers of Christ. We know the incarnation of God's word, Jesus. Yet we repent so much more like Israel than Nineveh. Yet we take sin so lightly. We wonder how close we can get to sinning... without getting burned. We put off dealing with our sin. We are so slow to turn from our sin.

God's voice hurls storms and quiets them, sends fish to swallow men and vomit them out, calls nations and peoples to repentance... and they obey. Yet we do not listen to Him. We should be harsh with our sin, because we have a forgiving, patient, and loving God. We have a God who turns from judgment to forgiveness.

Repentance is Required and Mercy Needed, for the Religious and Irreligious

When the city of Nineveh repented, Jonah was angry and displeased. Jonah was a prophet of God, a preacher. What preacher goes to preach and is displeased when those he speaks to... turn to God? Jonah hated Nineveh. But more than that, Jonah hated something else. He hated something about God. Jonah could only see that Nineveh, a city of violence and hostility, was forgiven and let off the hook. He was angry that a city of torturers, violent people was let off because they said sorry. How is this fair? Jonah is religious. He thinks that God should bless those who are good and do good things. We should get what we deserve for our good works. That is what religion says. Bad people deserve bad things to happen to them. It is the older son in the story of the prodigal son. They consider all they have done and they trust in their good works and how they lived. But even though they do all this good works outside, inwardly they are still lost and far from God. Jonah needed to repent of his righteousness. He needed to see that the world is not separated into good and bad people. The world has one group, sinners. The only difference was that some hide their sins better than others. Jonah forgot his sinfulness before God. Jonah has gospel amnesia.

Gospel amnesia looks like this. We accuse God of being unfair to us. We demand things of God. We refuse to forgive, especially our enemies. We forsake the poor and downtrodden. We think others should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. We demand of others, what they've owed us.

Gospel thinking looks like this. When bad things happen, we admit that we deserve worse. When people hurt us, we remember that we've hurt God much, much more. When we see people who are in need, we know that this could be us. We had no choice about the circumstances of our birth and our family and how rich our surroundings are. God has placed us into our jobs, by His grace. All the good things in our life are by His grace.

Repentance leads to revival

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you." - Psalm 51:10-13

God did not save us for ourselves. He saved us for Him. When we turn anything and everything to Him, God can work through us. Revival starts when the people of God repent. Not just a bit, but totally and completely surrendered to God.

A Prayer From the Gut

[Jonah 2]

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

"I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, 'I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.'
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O LORD my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the LORD!"

And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

Let's stop and consider... it's hard to believe that people can be swallowed by a fish and this guy is praying?! This is ridiculous. So lets have a word about miracles in the bible. Noah's Ark has been lambasted by Bill Maher. But consider this... the entire framework of Christianity rests upon a set of miracles. Jesus was born of a virgin birth, lived a virgin life, and then died and was resurrected.

Consider the words of Tim Keller:

"when studying a natural event, the scientist must always assume there is a natural cause. That is because natural causes are the only kind its methodology can address."

"There would be no experimental model for testing the statement:'No supernatural cause for any natural phenomenon is possible.' It is therefore a philosophical presupposition and not a scientific finding."

It takes faith to believe that there is no supernatural cause. If there is a God who made all of nature and the universe, it is easy to believe that He could also suspend natural laws with such power and ability.

God uses distress to revive and rescue us

Sheol is the place of the dead and separation from God. It is the Hebrews' version of hell. He was drowning. The deep waters means more than just literally deep waters. It implies chaos. Jonah is in living hell, in utter chaos. He's going through all of this and then Jonah remembers God. Jonah started in a deep sleep in the ship. God woke him from his physical and spiritual slumber. As Jonah was plunged into all this chaos, Jonah prayed to God. And God sent salvation... not in the form of a boat, not in a person, but rather in the form of an enormous fish. It is in the belly of this fish that Jonah realizes this. That God was the one who sent the storm and sent the fish. God was the one who sent the deep difficult distress.

God is patient in the process of transforming unwilling servants

Jonah prays to God. God hears Jonah's prayer. God commands, and the fish spits out Jonah. Jonah prays this prayer of repentance. He recognizes God as the one who saves and also the one who calls the shots. Jonah is grateful and thankful during that prayer. But notice that there is still tension between what God calls us to and what Jonah wants. This is found throughout the psalms. There is both a question if God really cares as well as a small voice of faith that God is good and loving. There are times where we are genuinely grateful and thankful. But this is interspersed with times where we question, we second-guess, and we whine & complain.

Grace for Rebels

[Jonah 1]

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish."

And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the LORD, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

Everyone knows the story of Jonah. It's a rather short book and we use it often for Sunday school. But it is still a rich book.

The rebel heart in Jonah is the rebel heart in us all

Jonah was a prophet of God. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. We'd expect that every prophet would respond by going to Nineveh. But instead, he gets up and goes to Joppa in the opposite direction. He plans to get on a ship to go to Tarshish... which some people believe was in Spain... far, far away from Nineveh. It is clear that Jonah is in clear rebellion to God. But as a prophet, Jonah knew that God could not be escaped. Jonah was a believer and he knew all this. This book was given to believers, you and I, for a purpose. There is no room for self-righteousness or smugness in our lives. For those who go to church regularly and serve the church, this book is for you. When we sin against God, we are rebelling. Whether it is porn, not forgiving, choosing a career for our fulfillment, not being His ambassador/witness... we choose what we want over what God tells us to do. At the root of it, we are all rebels. There are two types of rebels. There are overt rebels: defiant atheists, drug addicts, and drunkards who live as they wish... There is also religiously coated rebellion. They may go to church, they might even tithe... but they raise themselves above God. They think God owes them for their service and what they've done. It is the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. God's will is bent down to our own will. What would your response be if God told you to drop everything, literally everything and go to China, Iran, Saudi Arabia... places where sharing the Gospel could cost us God knows what. If we are honest with ourselves, we can come up with so many excuses not to do it. We would run. This is what God asks of Jonah. Nineveh is the land of his enemies. God knows what awaited Jonah there.
Consider also that there is a downward spiral to Jonah's path. He goes down to Joppa. He goes does into the ship. He lies down into a deep sleep. Jonah, a prophet, runs from God and goes to sleep during a raging storm. It is a reflection of Jonah's spiritual state. He is asleep and does not hear God. Rebellion dulls us to God's voice. And you know what happens? A pagan sailor comes to awaken Jonah. It is ironic that an unbeliever is the one who calls to the believer to "Arise!", in echo of God's call. Not only is Jonah affected, but the people around him are at risk as well. These sailors were minding their own business... but because of Jonah, their lives were now at risk in this horrendous storm.

God always gets His way

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

This storm is not a coincidence. God hurled it. So what happened? The sailors start hurling the cargo overboard... trying to save their lives. And then Jonah admits his fault. He tells the sailor to hurl him overboard. But they are soft-hearted! They attempt to row back to shore instead. Consider the irony... Soft-hearted pagans trying to save a rebellious believer. Not only that... but they also prayed to a god that they did not know. After they hurled Jonah overboard... and the storm quieted, the sailors learned to fear God and offered sacrifices to the LORD. Even in rebellion, Jonah witnessed to these pagans... without meaning to. Jonah was running from Nineveh... because he didn't want to witness to pagans.

Consider those who run away from God. This should give you hope. No matter how they run and curse God. If God has set His heart upon them... God gets His way.

God is gracious in our rebellion

Isn't it good that the book of Jonah doesn't end with being swallowed by a fish? Run from God and end up being fish food. God hurled that storm to awaken Jonah. God had the fish swallow Jonah to save him. God has every right to be angry. When we sin, God has every right to ask us who we are... God can tell us that we are dust... we are a mist. God has every right to hurl fury and wrath at us for our defiance. But the gospel tells us instead of wrath, Jesus comes to the land of the enemies of God... and God hurls his anger and fury at His son and sentences His son to death. So that now, God hurls only grace at us. He will stubbornly hurl His love and grace at us until we are fully His.