First Bible study: Jonah chapter 1 Second study: Jonah chapters 2 & 3 | Third study: Jonah chapter 4        Top   Jonah's commision, disobedience, and consequences    Read Jonah chapter 1 The book of Jonah can be studied in different ways. Jonah was a real person with real experiences. He can be considered a type or picture of the Lord Jesus-- or a contrast to Him. He can also be viewed as representing the whole nation of Israel in their relationship with God; and there are probably other perspectives, too. Our conference discussions today are not limited to any of these viewpoints; all of them can be helpful to us. Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:23-25 as a prophet during the reign of Jereboam II in Israel. He is one of the earliest prophets to have a book with his name. In this book, he is used to speak to Israel's enemies. The opening verses emphasize the word of the Lord. Some prophetic books, such as Daniel, start with historical context; but these opening thoughts make the Lord's message preeminent. The message itself shows that God sees; He is aware of the activities and injustices of the world. He also assesses the people and their circumstances: He calls Nineveh "that great city" and uses that phrase throughout the book every time He speaks of that place. The prophets in general have an important place in the work of the Lord. In Ezra 5:2, the prophets were helping those who built the house of God. Jonah, however, seems to lack any appreciation for the word of the Lord at this time in his life. It's likely Jonah only wanted to speak the word of God to his own people and didn't want to share it with others. He did not understand the heart of God for others. Peter had to learn a similar lesson about Gentiles who would believe in Christ (Acts 10). It's the contrast of a nationalistic mindset as opposed to God's mind of mercy (see also Romans 3:29). Christians today have the word of God, too, and yet sometimes we also are self-willed and prejudiced, whether racially or otherwise. At least Peter listened to the Lord's lesson and went, but Jonah intended to go in exactly the opposite direction. Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, was about 500 miles northeast of Israel in present-day Iraq. Jonah planned to sail to Tarshish, probably a city in Spain, about 2000 miles west! But God was not going to replace Jonah when he became disobedient. Instead, God was going to pursue Jonah so he would learn God's heart and ways more perfectly. Jonah probably knew he could not really hide from God. Psalm 139 had already been written, describing God's all-seeing and all-knowing character. But Jonah likely thought he could leave behind the influences around him in Israel, hoping he would hear less from God in another place. Jonah kept going "down" in the first verses of chapter 1-- down to Joppa, down inside the ship, and down to the lowest part of the ship! It shows his spiritual condition is also on a downward track as he tries to get away from God's presence. Yet we also see that he had to pay the fare. It was the price of disobedience. Sin always takes you farther than you wanted to go and costs you more than you wanted to pay. Ships did not sail to Tarshish often (cp. 2 Chronicles 9:21), and perhaps Jonah rationalized that the circumstances were in his favor since a ship was ready to leave just as he arrived in Joppa. But circumstances do not overrule God's word. However, despite Jonah's disobedience, God still accomplishes His will, and He was even going to use Jonah among an unexpected group of people-- the Gentile marinersaboard the ship. In some ways they were more devout than Jonah, who was a sleeping believer. He couldn't even hear the voice of the Lord in the storm; it took an unbeliever to wake him! Why do we so often sleep spiritually? Are we trying to escape from following God's word? By contrast, the Lord Jesus slept during a storm as well (Mark 4:35-41). However, the wind of that storm came from the enemy, whereas this wind came from God. Moreover, Jesus slept as one who was doing the will of God, not running from Him. Jonah was a believer in disguise; the sailors didn't know anything about him at first. He didn't want the job of preaching, and yet he was content to let the sailors call out to all their false gods! Our days are tempestuous, too. If we are not being lights for God, then we're sleeping Christians (Ephesians 5:14). When Jonah did stand before the mariners, he described God's mercy and truth, His forgiveness and righteousness-- lessons he would have learned from God's message to Moses (Exodus 34:7). These truths should not be kept to ourselves! But Jonah also had to admit that he was fleeing from his God. By contrast, the apostle Paul was a testimony for God during another storm in Acts 27. "I believe God," he declared, giving thanks in the presence of everyone on board (Acts 27:25, 35). Notice the impact of Jonah's disobedience. It endangered the lives of every sailor, and it also cost the ship its cargo, which affected those who were waiting for it to arrive. Disobedience is not cheap. When Jonah spoke to the sailors, he included his confession about attempting to flee from God. Confession is a necessary part of restoration. The cost of sin has always been death (Romans 3:23), and Jonah no doubt expected to die as a result of his sin. The seamen valued his life and try to avoid throwing him overboard, but the storm is too great. Spiritually, we could say that people do not like the way of death as a payment for sin-- they would rather give their best efforts instead. But the death of Christ is the only means by which atonement for sin can be made. There are eight questions asked of Jonah, and each has much to consider. For example: "For whose cause is this trouble upon us?" It's sad when a believer is the cause of trouble. "What is your occupation?" What is ours? The Lord asks us to keep busy for Him until He returns (Luke 19:13). "What is your country?" Christians are heavenly citizens (Philippians 3:20) and should live in a way that matches this character. Jonah's testimony did impact the sailors, and when the storm ceases they become worshipers of Jehovah, the true God of whom Jonah had testified. They prayed; they acknowledged God's sovereignty; they realized that Jonah, by his death, has become a substitute for them. These are important truths. Jesus Himself supported the truth of Jonah's story and declared that the sign of Jonah the prophet would be sufficient to cause seekers to trust in Him (Matthew 12:39; 16:4). Second Bible study: Jonah chapters 2 & 3 Study 1: Jonah chapter 1 | Study 3: Jonah chapter 4        Top Jonah's prayer, deliverance, and preaching; Nineveh's response    Read Jonah chapters 2 & 3 This section really begins with the last verse of chapter 1: God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. It was God's mercy to preserve Jonah's life even though he expected death. Figuratively, Jonah's time within the belly of the fish represents the time Christ spent in the tomb. The burial of Christ is not vicarious-- that is, it is not for us-- but it is part of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:4). Then, just as Jonah came out of the fish, Christ was raised from among the dead; and now, He is in the glory! This fish is one of five "great" things in the book of Jonah. It is also the first of four things God "prepared" in this book. Just as God prepared the fish, the body of the Lord Jesus was laid in a tomb prepared by Joseph and used specifically for the Lord. Jonah's prayer in chapter 2 is one of repentance. He echoes many phrases from the psalms, such as Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 42, and Psalm 69. These psalms and Jonah's expressions remind us of the depths of the Lord's suffering. It's also an example of Jonah being conformed to the image of the Lord, which God wants to accomplish in every believer. Yet the Lord went to the depths of the earth because of His obedience, and Jonah because of his disobedience. Jonah had learned that God was at work in his life. He said, "You cast me into the deep" (2:3), even though it had been the sailors. Jonah's words also indicate his sense of being completely distant from God-- at the bars of the earth, as far as he could go. This is how far sin and disobedience will take us. Sinning believers have to reach this sense, realizing the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Romans 7:14). Jonah felt as if he was out of God's sight, just as he had wanted in chapter 1! Yet it was no longer what he wanted, and he prayed toward the holy temple. This is his dependence on God's mercy, according to the prayer of Solomon at the temple's dedication (1 Kings 8:31-43). The sailors realized that God is a judge; Jonah also knew that God is merciful. The word of God was in his heart, and it was used in his restoration. When we feel we are in the belly of the fish in despair or contrition, is the word of God our meditation as well? Jonah is delivered from the fish and brings God's message to the people. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus brought the new word of new life to us. As a lesson for us, we realize that failures in our past do not mean the end of our service for God; He has a future for us. Jonah obeyed God's second commission. "It's better to obey than to sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22), even though we find that he didn't really have his heart in the obedience. God's second commission is the same: Go to Nineveh. Yet the command in chapter 3 emphasizes that the preaching is to be "the message that I will give you." Those words suggest the authority of the Lord as well as the kind of dependence on the Lord that Jonah needed to develop. Jonah's message was, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" This is only five words in Hebrew. It's a nice connection with Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 14:19 that five words from the Lord which are understood are better than a much longer message. We learn later that Jonah didn't even like delivering the message, so the impact of his words is not because of his style or forcefulness. It's the power of the word of the Lord, applied to the heart by the Spirit of God. Judgment is part of our preaching, too. The world today is similarly filled with violence and corruption. The Ninevites accepted the message as the word of God, however. The believed God; they denied themselves (fasting); and they became humble (sackcloth). The authority of God and the opportunity to repent are not even part of Jonah's message. Yet the people of Nineveh felt that a God great enough to destroy their strongly fortified city would also be great enough to show mercy if He would choose. From the greatest in the land down to the least, the people had to repent; God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Even our possessions are affected when we turn to the Lord; the animals were covered with sackcloth and caused to fast, as well. And this was not just for show; they turned from their wicked, corrupt ways. Matthew 12:41 indicates that they had really repented, for they could condemn those who would not. God wants reality in our hearts, not just a show or an act. If all this took place after Jonah's disobedience, how much better if he had been a willing servant from the beginning! God saw the repentence of the people of Nineveh, and He turns away from His declaration of judgment. What does this say about God? Is He not trustworthy? Does not the Scripture say He is not like a man who changes His mind (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29)? God takes account of every act towards Himself. He responsd to His creatures. It's not that He has made a mistake or that He ever acts capriciously or dishonestly. He is all-knowing, the only wise God, and is always true. Instead, God always acts according to His own principles, and one of His principles is that disobedience will bring judgment but repentence will bring mercy (Jeremiah 18:7-10). It's an invention of man that he must never change his mind. It was the Medes and Persians who made laws they could not change (e.g., Daniel 6:15), but it's the glory of God to be able to show mercy. Third Bible study: Jonah chapter 4 First study: Jonah chapter 1 | Second study: Jonah chapters 2 & 3        Top Jonah's discontentment and correction    Read Jonah chapter 4 The inclusion of this fourth chapter shows us the real message of the book of Jonah. If we only had the first three chapters, the main message would be a call to repentance. But since Jonah includes this chapter, we realize that the main message is one of mercy. "Mercy triumphs over justice" (James 2:13). It's a sad situation when we think ill of others. Jonah felt so strongly antagonistic towards the Ninevites that he wished for their destruction. Jonah knew God was merciful, which is more than the wicked servant of Luke 19:21 knew. Yet Jonah did not share the merciful heart of God. It's serious when we know the Scriptures that tell us God's character but those Scriptures have no impact on our lives. Jonah prayed twice in this book: once in sorrow, praying for deliverance; and once in anger, praying for death. He asked mercy for himself but had no mercy for others. There are a number of people in the Bible who say they are weary of their lives (Rebekah, Job, Elijah, and others). It's usually an extreme expression of selfishness! But God maintains His tenderness towards the one who feels this way. He gently asks, "Is it right for you to be angry?" It's a good question. There are right times for anger! God invites Jonah to share the facts about his anger and justify the reasons for it. But Jonah walks out on the conversation, so to speak, and leaves the city (4:4-5). God still didn't abandon Jonah. Instead, He took him to school. God intends to teach Jonah through object lessons. Jonah made a booth for shade; all through the book, we find how resourceful he is (finding a ship, making a booth, and so on). But God's provision is an improvement on the limited booth-- the full shade of a natural plant. This chapter reveals Jonah's emotional instability. It's really what people would call today a bipolar condition. Jonah's emotional responses swing from great anger to exceeding gladness, even though the reality of what is happening does not seem to warrant such highs and lows. He was exceedingly glad about a plant! God gave us our emotions, but they should not rule us. Additionally, we see how self-centered Jonah is-- the shade is only for him, and as long as his need is met, he is happy. God gave Jonah a blessing so He could get his attention by taking it away. When we have a loss like this, it's good to ask whether God is also trying to get our attention. Job was so content in his middle-aged life that he was ready to die in his nest (Job 29:18), yet he had more to learn about God. Despite Jonah's weaknesses, even suffering from the instabilities of his humanity, God is resourceful enough to meet him in his present need. God had prepared the fish, and now He prepared three more things for Jonah: the plant, a worm to damage the plant, and a wind that dried up the plant and brought the desert heat to Jonah. Jonah was miserable to the point of death. Compare the sorrow of the Lord Jesus unto death and the sorrow of Jonah. The Lord was sorrowful because He would bear our sins; Jonah was only thinking of himself. God's message to Jonah is this: You didn't even have anything to do with making the plant, and you're upset that it's gone. Wouldn't I be upset at the destruction of people I Myself have created? In chapter 1 God had exposed the wickedness of Nineveh; now we learn that God has tenderness towards them, as well. Abraham shared God's heart of mercy when he prayed for the preservation of Sodom. And God even showed more mercy than Abraham dared to ask for, delivering Lot even though the city would be destroyed. People like to paint God as a terrible Being, but no! He is compassionate and full of mercy. It's helpful to remember that Jonah himself is no doubt the one used to write this book. God's mercy must have impacted Jonah, and we can feel confident that he must have learned this lesson. Jonah allows God to have the last word in this book, and His question about mercy should impact us as well. There was a time when David had to go after his enemies, and he recovered everything that was lost (1 Samuel 30:18-19). God has done this in the story of Jonah: He recovered the Ninevites who repented, and He recovered the prophet Jonah as well. If we learn God's ways through the story of Jonah, how much more will we learn as we appreciate the Lord Jesus Himself. [A message on Jeremiah 9:23-24 followed this study: "Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,' says the LORD."]