[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.
No comments:
Post a Comment