Rev. Don Campbell
Jonah 1-4
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, July 7, 2019
“WRONG-WAY JONAH”
In the 1929 Rose Bowl, Roy Riegels, center for the California Golden Bears, picked up a fumble just 30 yards from the end zone and a touchdown. He got turned around and ran 65 yards the wrong way before he was turned by a teammate, but then smothered by Georgia Tech. Backed up against their own one-yard line, the Bears chose to punt, and the punt was blocked for a safety, giving Georgia Tech a two-point lead. They went on to win 8-7.
Jonah did not run the wrong way by accident. Not wanting to accept God’s mission to travel 800 miles to Nineveh (modern Iran), Jonah set out to travel some 3000 miles in the opposite direction to modern Spain. The book has been divided into four acts:
Act one: Jonah runs from God (Jonah 1:1-16).
Act two: Jonah runs to God (Jonah 1:17-2:10).
Act three: Jonah runs with God (Jonah 3:1-10).
Act four: Jonah runs ahead of God (Jonah 4:1-11).
Jonah’s mission was to pronounce sentence on Nineveh—”Nineveh will be overthrown in 40 days.” There was no call to repentance and no promise of mercy. The record said, “The people of Nineveh believed God” (Jonah 3:5). When word reached the king, he arose from the throne, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. He also issued a decree that the nation, including beast, would fast and 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” (Jonah 3:6-9).
God did hear and relented of the disaster Jonah had proclaimed (Jonah 3:10).
Jonah became angry and went outside the city, made himself a shelter and sat down in the shade, hoping to see them all destroyed. God caused a vine to grow up over Jonah to give him more shelter. However, the next day God sent a worm to attack the plant, and when it withered away, Jonah became angry, saying he would be better off dead (Jonah 4:5-8).
God challenged Jonah: “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11). The NLT translates: “120,000 people living in spiritual darkness.” Nineveh is called “an exceedingly great city,” meaning that it took three days to walk its breadth (Jonah 3:3). This could hardly describe a city of 120,000 people. Because God also mentioned cattle, who have no understanding of right or wrong, I believe he is talking about children who are not old enough to know right from wrong. Either way, there is a lesson for us today.
CONNECTIONS
1. Jonah fled from the mission because Jonah did not want Nineveh to repent and receive God’s mercy (4:1-3). It is one thing to love to preach. It is quite another to love those to whom we preach. What are some evidences of a preacher’s despising his audience?
2. God’s rebuke of Jonah (4:10-11) is a rebuke to all who believe that because they belong exclusively to God, that God belongs exclusively to them. This is sometimes called “Putting God in a box.” Does the church to which you belong believe that they have God in a box, and he can save none but them?
