Summary: Repentance on man’s part always brings action on God’s part.

God’s directives

Jonah 2:10-3:2 12/21/05

Immediately after Jonah repented of his disobedience, there were some directives that brought about his deliverance from the belly of the fish. Repentance on man’s part always brings action on God’s part. Man could solve many of his problems if only he would be willing to repent.

Now our text gives us two significant directives from God. One is given to the fish and the other is given to Jonah. The fish is directed to vomit out Jonah on dry land and Jonah is directed to go to Nineveh to speak to the people about their sin and the judgment of God upon their sin.

There is only two points to this study tonight and we start with the first and that is THE SPEWING DIRECTIVE. Look at verse 10, “And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”

I don’t think we have the words to really explain what Jonah must have felt when he was finally on dry land. Now he could see the sunshine and the sky. The trauma of the last few days is over and he must be thankful; I know I would be. But you know what; I would like to know some more of the details of the fish spewing Jonah on dry land. I would like to know exactly where that took place. I would like to know if there were witnesses around. Can you imagine fishing on the sea shore and here, a big fish is coming toward the shore and then it opens its mouth and out rolls a man? I just wonder what Jonah looked like as he left the fish. But since the Word of God doesn’t give us any of that information, we will have to wait and ask Jonah when we get to heaven.

There will be many men who will have some stories to tell when we get there but none more exciting than the story that Jonah will have to tell.

I was reading the story over again beginning in chapter one and discovered there are four things said about the fish. The fish was prepared; it was great; it was obedient and it was sick, or at least, it vomited. God did the first two things. He prepared the fish and He made it great. The fish did the third thing; he was obedient. But man did the forth thing and that is he made the fish sick. I know that God is always doing His part and it seems the animal world is obedient to God but man, on the other hand is often making creation sick.

There are a few things I want us to see in the obedience of the fish that we would do well to listen and heed. The first is what we will call the place of service. The fish was to vomit Jonah out on dry ground. This location of service was not what the fish was use to. The fish was a water creature, not a land creature. It would be difficult for the fish to get to the dry ground.

Location can be a real test of loyalty to the service of God. Some miss the blessings of God because the location is not convenient. Every pastorate is not always in a nice comfortable and fruitful situation. But I want to tell you if God sends you to dry land than that is the only place for you to go. With the Lord knowing my heart, I had rather be in the Lord’s place of service for me than in the largest Southern Baptist Church in the nation out of His will.

We see not only the place of service but also the puzzle of service. First, God commanded the fish to swallow Jonah and then commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out. If the fish had been like humans, he would have complained about this. He probably would have said God can’t you make up your mind? But the fish wisely obeyed even if he did not have any reason for it except God said.

Sometimes God’s commands are puzzling. How about Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac? How about Israel being commanded to march around Jericho seven times? Be careful, because if we are always looking for God’s command’s in our life to make sense to us it may not be that way. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” God’s orders for our life may not make sense at times but it doesn’t matter if we understand. We are looking at the situation only from down here and it will be much brighter when we get up there and then we will say oh how wise you are God.

Next, I want you to see the pleasure of service. Jonah did not see the pleasure in his orders from God at first; he only saw them to be unpleasant. But from his prayer, we see that his experience from his disobedience was much, much more unpleasant. Most of the time, in our service for God, the reward for service doesn’t come at first but later. It might be even when we get to heaven and then we know we will be rewarded. In Psalm 16:11, says, “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” I read from that, that there will not be any unpleasant experiences in heaven.

We see the spewing directive but also, I want you to see THE SPEAKING DIRECTIVE. “The Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” The directive that God had given the fish was carried out and fulfilled. Now that Jonah is back on dry ground and alive, it is time for him to be obedient to the directive given him.

Let me give you something here to hold on to and think about. One of the things that God does is to give you or maybe refresh a command of service right after you have repented. God is going to check out the sincerity of the repentance. I have seen too many times someone repent on Sunday morning and not even show up on Sunday night. I wonder about the sincerity of the repentance. Of course it is not for me to judge but I can wonder. There is a difference in repentance and just feel bad that you got caught.

How did Jonah react to the second orders of service which, by the way, was the same as the first? This is another example of the mercy of God. God was giving Jonah a second chance. I know some may say why God would need to examine us because He already knows out heart. That is true but there may be someone out there, even a family member that needs to know that your repentance is genuine and sincere.

Second chance is something that we are not only used to but the nation of Israel is as well. We can name several in the Old Testament that experienced the second chance. There of course is Jonah and I can think of another and his name is Moses. Also when Israel was promised the land of Canaan, they failed to be obedient and take the lad the first time but they did the second. When Jesus came to the nation Israel the first time, they rejected Him and said crucify Him. But the next time He comes it will be different and Israel will recognize Him as their true Savior. In Zechariah 12:10, the Bible says about the nation Israel and how that they will think of Jesus. It reads, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son.”

There is something that God told Jonah and I hope I stand true to this statement as long as I preach the Word of God. He said preach to it the Word that I bid thee. God wants us to preach His Word not the word of man to please a crowd.