Jonah's Original Message to the Original Audience
The book of Jonah is an open rebuke of the nation of Israel
for their hard heart.
- Hardened against
repenting except under threat of death
- Hardened against
Gentiles, whom God loves.
We see this message through demonstration, not just in
chapter 4, but in Jonah's response throughout the book. Because the original
audience would have identified with Jonah's action in full agreement, the Lord
uses Jonah as an illustration of the nation of Israel. So, everywhere Jonah is
mention, mentally substitute the nation of Israel, and a picture of the state
of the nation emerges quite clearly.
Chapter 1: Jonah flees from the presence of the Lord
when told to warn the city of Nineveh of impending destruction, so right off
the bat we see his heart is hardened against the Assyrians.
But then, during his flight, Jonah displays his hard heart
toward others in knowingly placing the crew of the ship in danger. He will not
pray to God for relief from the storm, and he will not throw himself overboard
to save the crew.
Also, Jonah shows how hard his heart is by refusing to
repent at the general call, the confrontation by one, and the confrontation by
many. Even in isolation, it takes Jonah three days to finally give in.
Chapter 2: Jonah only relents to do the will of the
Lord when under extreme duress and the realization that God would not kill him.
The nation of Israel was the exact same way. God had promised that He would
never "kill" the nation of Israel, and so all that was left was
discipline not leading to the death of the nation. Very powerful concept.
Of course, Jonah doesn't repent, but rather relents to do
the will of the Lord from external pressure.
Chapter 3: Jonah finally obeys, and God does a great
work in the hearts of the Assyrians. Once again, Jonah has suffered greatly at
the hand of God in order to turn him from his disobedience while the Ninevites
hear the word of the Lord and repent, with actions matching the heart change.
This stark contrast of responses to God's hand of discipline
is meant to shame Jonah and soften his heart, but that does not happen and in
fact, Jonah hardens his heart even more.
Chapter 4: Jonah finally erupts in anger that stems
from his hard heart. He is not just a disobedient prophet, a petulant prophet,
a reluctant prophet, a sulking prophet; he is a hard hearted prophet. He is
furious that God has not destroyed the 600,000 people of Nineveh, including
120,000 children and lots of animals.
God appoints three things, a plant, a worm, and a wind, in
order to show Jonah just how hard his heart is. Jonah mourns, even to death,
his withered plant, his shade tree, his lost comfort.
God, knowing all things, compares Jonah's compassion for the
plant and His compassion for the city of Nineveh (and by extension, Jonah's
non-existent compassion for Nineveh). It is a night and day comparison.
Application for today
God's original message is still applicable today. As we
substitute ourselves in the place of Jonah, God brings to mind people, groups,
and individuals that we have hardened our hearts against. We want God to bring
judgment not mercy to these ungodly, wicked people! We rejoice at the thought
of their destruction and are furious when God gives them grace.
God used this original message in my own life as He
confronted me with my attitude toward the people I work with. While they are
not the most vile, evil people on the planet like the Assyrians were, they were
still ungodly and steeped in the ways of the evil one. They were, and still are,
walking "according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience." (Eph. 2:2b).
But, of course, I conveniently
forgot both
Eph 2:1-2a (And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked) as well as
Eph 2:3 (Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest.).
And of course, I pushed aside Eph
2:4-5 (But God, being rich in mercy, because
of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved),).
I was just as guilty as Israel and
thankfully, God has used this study to turn me from my wicked, hard hearted
attitude against my co-workers and is molding my heart into a heart of flesh,
of concern, of compassion for the people that He has sent me to as a
missionary.
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