LESSONS TO LEARN FROM JONAH
You can’t run away or hide from God. Jonah did his best to run away from God and escape the responsibility of going to Nineveh. “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:3). Tarshish was in far away Spain. It was as far away as you could possibly go. Nineveh was to the East, Tarshish was to the West.
There is no place in the entire universe that one can hide from God. The Psalmist said, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (Psalm 139:7-12).
Jesus said the prodigal son gathered all his “stuff” together and made his journey to a “far country” (Luke 15:13). He wanted to get as far away from home as he possibly could. He wanted to go where no one knew him — where no one would remind him of his good home and loving father. He had to hit rock bottom before he realized what he had left behind. When he came to his senses, he humbled himself and returned home. When Jonah came to his senses, he did that which he should have done at the beginning.
PROPER FEAR WILL CAUSE ONE TO REVERENCE GOD
At first, Jonah feared God, but ran away from his responsibility. But then later, his fear caused him to humble himself before God. “Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. … But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:4; Jonah 2:9).
The mariners on board the boat were moved by the fear of the Lord. “Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows” (Jonah 1:16).
When the children of Israel went in to possess the land of Canaan, they were given warning. “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2).
Notice these many verses that tell us about the fear of the Lord. Psalm 2:11, “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” Psalm 19:9, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” Psalm 22:23, “Ye that fear the LORD, praise him….” Psalm 33:8, “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” Psalm 34:9, “O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.” Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” Psalm 115:11, “Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.” Psalm 115:13, “He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.” Psalm 147:11, “The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 2:5, “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 3:7, “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Proverbs 10:27, “The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.” Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.” Proverbs 14:27, “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” Proverbs 15:16, “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.” Proverbs 15:33, “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.” Proverbs 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PREACHING THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD
Jonah did not spare! He told it like it was. I’ve always appreciated his words recorded in chapter three and verse four, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be over- thrown!”
Isaiah proclaimed, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their trans- gression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1).
Jeremiah was told, “…thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. … Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem…” (Jeremiah 1:7-10; Jeremiah 1:17-19; Jeremiah 2:2).
Since we did not “write the book” (the Bible), we have no privilege or license to alter the message in any way. We must not “add to” nor “take from.” Severe and strict warning is given for doing so. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).
Paul had no regrets regarding his two years of preach-ing while in the region of Ephesus and Asia Minor (Acts 19:1-10). Years later, when passing through that area again, he told the elders of the church in Ephesus, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27). He had kept back nothing that was spiritually profitable to them (Acts 20:20).
The early church prayed for strength and boldness to preach the word without fear or favor. When Peter and John were released from the custody of the priests and Sadducees in Jerusalem, they gathered with the brethren and prayed, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word” (Acts 4:29).
While in Corinth, Paul announced that their blood was upon their own heads and that he was cleared from responsibility because he had preached all that he had been commanded (Acts 18:6). He later wrote unto them saying, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God…” (2 Corinthians 2:17). He would always tell the truth, even if it made enemies with some (Galatians 4:16).
Paul exhorted Timothy to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2-5).
GOD WILL FORGIVE THOSE WHO REPENT
“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5). The king made a decree saying, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jonah 3:8-10).
God will pardon those who turn to him in humbleness and repentance. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). God is not willing that any should perish in their sins, but he desires that all repent and turn to him for forgiveness (1 Peter 3:9).
“…Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).
The message of John, Jesus and the apostles was repentance for the remission of sins. “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3). The first sermon ever preached declared, “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Faith, repentance, confession of faith in Jesus and water baptism brings God’s forgiveness (Mark 16:16; Hebrews 11:6; Acts 17:30; Acts 8:37; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:6; Roamns 6:18; 1 Peter 3:21).