Jonah 2:10 - 3:10
August 09, 2009
When it comes to forgiveness, there are different types of people.
There are some people who cannot forgive, even the small things aren’t forgiven. Then there are those who say they forgive, but really don’t forgive, if you know what I mean. Then we have those who quickly forgive, only to get hurt time after time because they never learn from their experience. Forgiveness is a process we must go through in order to be a healthy person, and a healthy Christ follower. But, think about it . . . we love the song Amazing Grace, but we struggle giving amazing grace. And even basic grace.
As I’ve been considering the central message of Jonah, I’m brought back to the theme of God’s amazing forgiveness! Think about it, the Assyrians were not nice people, yet God wants to forgive and have a relationship with these people.
This speaks volumes about God’s character, and also calls into question who we are as God’s holy and dearly loved children. Jonah didn’t want the people to experience God’s amazing grace. Which begs the question, how do we forgive others who have hurt us? Do we want those who have hurt us or our friends to have the chance to know Christ?
And that is exactly where Jonah stands.
When we last saw Jonah he spending a luxurious 3 days and nights in the belly of a great fish. After 3 days the fish got sick of Jonah, and vomits Jonah onto dry land, leaving Jonah dazed, confused, in need of a real shower, and feeling like a beached whale! And that’s where we continue this morning.
The book of Jonah reminds us of the fact that God is a God of 2nd chances, in fact maybe it would be more accurate to say He is a God of almost unlimited chances. Jonah received a 2nd chance and so do the people of Nineveh, and think about how many times in our lives we’ve messed up. . . and pleaded with God to forgive us and we come to the amazing understanding . . . that God has forgiven us.
Pastor John Ortberg wrote, Redeeming is what God is into. He is the finder of directionally-challenged sheep, the searcher of missing coins, the embracer of foolish prodigal children.
His favorite department is ‘Lost and Found.’ If there is one way that human beings consistently underestimate God’s love, it is perhaps in His loving longing to forgive. How true that is for God.
In chapter 3, we’re told: The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Notice that God hasn’t changed His mind. He’s changed the prophet’s mind, so Jonah continues his journey to Nineveh. Finally, Jonah travels across the desert to Nineveh.
Remember Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and fled from God because —
Jonah wanted to see the people destroyed. They were the great enemy of Israel. The Assyrians were cruel and ruthless people, who had no mercy on their captives.
They were known as one of the bloodiest and most vicious people in the world. They found ingenious ways to torture people. Besides being brutal, they were godless and sinful -- and Jonah hated them. The one thing he wanted more than anything was to see Nineveh destroyed. Yet when God told him to go to Nineveh, he said, “O God, I know you too well. If anybody repents and gives you a chance to be merciful, you’ll always error on the side of mercy.”
That’s amazing, isn’t it? This is another great revelation of God’s character. Especially the God of the Old Testament! People, even Christians refer to the God of the Old Testament as a vengeful, wrathful God, a God of black thunderclouds and bolts of lightning, always looking forward to killing people.
But, do you find that here? That is not the kind of God Jonah knew. Jonah knew the scriptures, He knew what happened to Moses in Exodus 34, when,
6 God passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the COMPASSIONATE and GRACIOUS God,
SLOW TO ANGER, ABOUNDING IN LOVE and FAITHFULNESS, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and FORGIVING wickedness, rebellion and sin.
That’s who sent Jonah to Tarshish. Jonah knew God’s character was one of amazing grace.
I want to talk about this verse for a little bit, and next week I will talk more about it. Maybe I’ll even repeat myself, since this is such an important verse for us to understand, and simply take in.
{NO NOTES FOR THIS SECTION}
You know from the scripture reading that Nineveh repents of their sinfulness. All people, including the king repent from their wickedness and violent ways and God forgives them. It’s an amazing story about God’s grace.
So, why did they listen to Jonah’s message? There are 2 things which help us.
Firstly, God loves everyone. God isn’t willing that any should perish but that all people would know Him. God is a God of mystery and majesty. You’ve seen it in your own lives. People you never thought would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are sitting next to you. Maybe you’re one of them; I know I am. People in your office you never thought would come to know Jesus Christ are Christians. Why? Because God loves them and worked in their lives in a mysterious way. If you look hard, you see it happening all around you. When God calls you, you may resist Him, but let me tell you something, you will always, always . . . eventually turn to God and follow Him.
Secondly, there are Bible scholars who feel that what happened to Jonah was that his features were changed by his experience in the fish’s belly. Remember that picture of a whale sharks mouth? There are some interesting historically verified incidents of men who have been swallowed by fish very much like Jonah was. Harry Rimmers wrote about an English sailor who fell overboard, and was swallowed by a fish. A day or two later the fish was seen floating on the surface of the water, and was taken ashore. When it was opened up, to their amazement, the sailors found their shipmate alive. He survived the experience, but his skin had turned a chalky white and remained so for the rest of his life. Dr. Rimmers talked with him and learned the details of his experience. So, it seems to have occurred to others as well.
The message of this book is not so much what happened to Jonah, but the results in Nineveh when Jonah rose up to preach. You can imagine what happened in this city if something like this occurred. If Jonah’s face and body confirmed the remarkable story that he had just gone through the harrowing experience of being swallowed alive by a fish and later vomited out, and that God had sent him to proclaim this message, you can imagine the effect upon the city. Jonah was living evidence that God meant what he said and would do. The city repented, and God hd compassion on the people.
When we repent, we not only ask for forgiveness, but we also change who we are. That’s true for us today. We are to be givers of God’s amazing grace, because we have experienced God’s amazing grace, given to us through Jesus. But in order to give away grace, we need to be like those Ninevites and ask for God’s forgiveness, and once we receive it and know how amazing it is to have God forgive us and cleanse us, we become more willing to demonstrate God’s grace to others.
During the Welsh Revivals of the 19th century, the Holy Spirit convicted many people of their sin and the need to make restitution. But it created an unexpected problem for the shipyards along the coast of Wales. Over the years workers had stolen items ranging from wheelbarrows to hammers. As people sought to be right with God, they started to return what they had taken. Soon the shipyards were filled with returned property. There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs saying, "If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken."
Can you imagine if that type of repentance came upon us?
Repentance also isn’t a way of twisting God’s arm so that He will forgive us. Repentance is an act that occurs by people like you and I. It’s when we’re touched by the Spirit of God and we cry out to God, asking to be forgiven – and not only that, but also to be changed — to be made into a new creation, into a person who resembles the character of Jesus Christ more and more everyday.
The repentance in Nineveh is nothing short of a miracle. It’s impossible to imagine that Nineveh would repent at the sound of this reluctant prophet’s voice. In the same way, when we repent of our wrong doing, it’s a miracle in our hearts that we have heard the word of God and responded.
One final thought, God’s offer to each of us is a limited time offer. Nineveh had 40 days, and then it was over. God is extremely patient with us, much more patient than most of us would be with one another, but even God’s patience runs out. If we fail to respond to the word of God and continue in our sinful ways, the consequences of our actions will catch up to us.
Jonah wanted to keep God to himself. But the call of God and the purpose of our church is to powerfully and passionately make Jesus known to others, by our words and our actions, so that others, and yes, even our so-called enemies turn their lives around and embrace the love, joy, peace, grace and forgiveness God offers. We are ALL called to go and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
