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Wrong Way (Jonah 1:1-3)-Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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We're going to Jonah today. We finished up our
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sermon series through 1 Thessalonians. Now we
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go into the Old Testament book of Jonah. You
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can find Jonah amongst the minor prophets. And
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when I say minor prophets, I don't mean minor
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in importance, but usually people talk about
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the minor prophets in terms of the length of
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the book. Most of these books are rather short,
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at least compared to the major prophets. You
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know those ones being Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel
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and Daniel. You can find Jonah though in the
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minor prophets right kind of in the middle of
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them. If you see Amos and Obadiah, you're on
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the right track. If you get to Micah, you've
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gone a little bit too far. This being somewhat
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of an introduction to Jonah. We're just going
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to look right now at the first three verses.
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And so would you turn your attention to the reading
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of God's holy word, Jonah chapter one, verses
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one through three. This is God's word. Let's
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pray. Father, we do thank you for this word.
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We thank you for the gift that is the book of
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Jonah. We thank you for the mercy that we see
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in here, Father. I pray that as we study this
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text, you would more and more show us your incredible
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mercy in Christ Jesus. Open our hearts and our
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minds to hear from you now. We pray in Jesus'
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name, amen. When I was young, I had a children's
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Bible that had a lot of pictures in it. Perhaps
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you still have yours. Maybe your children have
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these Bibles, have pictures in them. But I was
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always fascinated by the picture that went with
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the story of Jonah. It's a picture of a man sinking
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deep down into the water. And he's kind of flailing
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about trying to grab for something. There's seaweed
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around him. There's schools of fish around him.
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And in the background, there's a picture of a
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ginormous fish. Some might even call it a whale.
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A whale of a tail, it's been said. But it's not
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a tail. It's not a tail. And the book of Jonah
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is about so much more than a great fish. It's
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really not even about Jonah. At its core, the
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book of Jonah is about God. It's about God. And
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it's about God's mercy. Now when it comes to
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Jonah, we may know a thing or two about him,
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even though the text doesn't tell us all that
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much at the get -go. But in 2 Kings chapter 14
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verse 25, we see a man, a prophet, who is called
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Jonah. And so many think that this is the one
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and the same Jonah. And if so, and I think it
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probably is, then we recognize that Jonah was
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a prophet. This was his job. Jonah's job was
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to prophesy. Now, by way of illustration, if
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you went onto a seminary campus today and you
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were around the Master of Divinity students and
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you asked the students there, hey, how would
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you like to come and preach at our church sometime?
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Probably most of those students would nod their
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heads and say, yes, I would love to do that.
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Why is that? Well, because that's what they're
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training to do. That is, in some cases, what
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they are already doing. Preachers preach. But
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then we get to the book of Jonah, and we have
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a prophet who doesn't want to prophesy. You can
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see he receives the command to go, to go call
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out against that evil city. Jonah has been doing
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this work as a prophet before, but this we might
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consider this is his call to the big leagues.
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This would be what Jonah was known for. You're
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telling me, God, to go to Nineveh, this evil,
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wicked city? What does Jonah say? Not a word,
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does he? Jonah doesn't say anything here. He
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just runs the other way. Perhaps it would be
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helpful to know what was going on at this time.
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The history in Israel and Jonah was a prophet
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in Israel. This would have been the time of King
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Jeroboam the second. You might remember that
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at this time Israel has been separated into a
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northern kingdom. Israel's up here with the capital
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city of Samaria. Down here this is southern kingdom
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with its capital of Jerusalem. So two different
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kingdoms here. This would have been around the
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eighth century. And from the outside, looking
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in, other countries looking at Israel, they would
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have thought, wow, things are actually going
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really well in Israel. In the eighth century,
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the nation of Israel was expanding. It was growing.
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But inside of Israel, things were not looking
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so good. If you read these other minor prophets
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like Hosea or Amos, you see that within Israel,
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There were social and moral and religious problems.
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And so what do you expect a prophet to do in
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Israel? You expect a prophet to reach out, to
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call out within its own country, to call out
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within Israel or to call out within Judah and
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urge repentance or announce judgment. This is
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what we see the prophets do all the time. We
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also see prophets Speaking about the atrocities
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in the other countries, right? Do you know what
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we do not see very often within the scriptures?
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What we don't expect? A prophet being given the
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message and being told to go to another country
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with that message. And especially, especially
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not a place like Nineveh, not a country like
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Assyria. We can understand Jonah's position,
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can't we? We wouldn't want to go there. My first
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mission trip I ever went on was to the Bahamas.
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It was really difficult. This is no resort that
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Jonah is being called to go to. Friends, this
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is Nineveh. And Nineveh was one of Assyria, or
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Assyria was one of... Israel's greatest enemies
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for so long. And so this is very unique that
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he would be told to go there. But let's think
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about this for a second. If you know your minor
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prophets well, you know that there is another
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book after Jonah that almost acts as a sequel.
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It's the book of Nahum. What happens in the book
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of Nahum? This is the judgment upon Nineveh.
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But in the meantime, and this is a spoiler alert
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that the people of Nineveh will repent of sin.
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But what happens in the meantime? What happens
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between the time of them repenting and the book
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of Nahum? We know that the nation of Assyria
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comes and destroys and captures the Israelites.
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And we know this from other texts that prophecy
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of that truth. And so what Jonah is being told
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to do is to go to Nineveh, tell them to repent,
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and then Nineveh, a city of Assyria, is going
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to come and capture Israel. Friends, this is
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remarkable. And we can perhaps understand why
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Jonah doesn't want to do that. And at the same
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time as this is a book about God's mercy, we
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also recognize this is a book about God's sovereignty.
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Because He is in charge of every one of those
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episodes, every episode we see in the scriptures.
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Every time that someone came to wage war against
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Israel or every time that he let those nations
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win against Israel, this was all for Israel's
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good. And so even as Jonah doesn't want to go,
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we must understand that God has a perfect plan.
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even when we don't understand it. This morning,
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I want to look at the command of God and the
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response of Jonah. Look in verse two. There's
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urgency there. Arise, it says. The Hebrew word
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is just simply up. Get up and go to Nineveh,
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that great city. He's saying, get there, not
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tomorrow, not when the weather changes, get there.
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Now Nineveh was quite some distance away. It
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was hundreds of miles to the northeast of Samaria.
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It's in modern day Iraq. And so Jonah is supposed
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to leave home for this great, wicked city. But
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when the word in our English, when it says great
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there, what does that mean? It could mean two
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different things. It could be referring to the
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size of Nineveh. We read in chapter three that
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Jonah spends like three days getting across it,
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preaching repentance. Some have called Nineveh
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a metropolis. It's as if Jonah's being sent to
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Atlanta or something. But it could also be referring
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to the importance of Nineveh as a historical
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city. You can read about Nineveh all the way
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back in Genesis chapter 10. Jonah is called to
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go there, to this great city, but we're not exactly
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given right here why. We're not told exactly
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how evil Nineveh really is, but we do know that
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he is supposed to announce doom if there's no
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repentance. And we know from the book of Nahum
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that the people of Nineveh, they were violent.
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That nation of Assyria is called bloodthirsty.
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The people there were deceitful. They were lustful.
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They committed atrocities. They committed idolatry
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all over the place. Again, Jonah is not being
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sent to a resort. But if Israel had all of these
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problems at home, why is Jonah being sent to
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a foreign nation like this with all these problems
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in Israel? It's very much like people who say,
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Why do we send missionaries abroad when there's
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so much to be done right here? And the reason
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for this that we're going to see is that God
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doesn't restrict repentance just to Israel. Actually,
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what's happening within this text, we are seeing
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God's greater plan of bringing more into his
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family. We are being shown the incredible mercy
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and grace. God, we are seeing God's bigger plan,
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but even as we see it here, it's not as though
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this has been a secret. If you will, let me read
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to you from Genesis chapter 12. This is the call
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of Abraham. Listen for how this shows God's worldwide
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mission. Now the Lord said to Abram, go from
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your country and your kindred your father's house
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to the land that I will show you and I will make
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of you a great nation and I will bless you and
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make your name great so that you will be a blessing
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I will bless those who bless you and him who
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dishonors you I will curse and in you all the
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families of the earth shall be blessed again
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God is showing incredible mercy that is to go
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everywhere and friends if you are a believer
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in Jesus Christ, you have received the very mercy
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of God, and you are a child of Abraham. Listen
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to this from Galatians chapter three, seven through
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nine. Know then that it is those of faith who
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are the sons of Abraham, and the scripture foreseeing
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that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
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preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying
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in you shall all the nations be blessed so then
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those who are of faith are blessed along with
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Abraham the man of faith you Christian have been
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brought into the family of God you've been adopted
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into his family God has reached out to you Not
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the other way around perhaps, you know this passage
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from first John 3 See what kind of love the father
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has given to us that we should be called children
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of God And so we are it is his love. It is his
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mercy that saves us and Friends, I believe that
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Jonah knew about the mercy of God He knew about
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the mercy of God. I don't mean to give away the
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entirety of the book but flip ahead to Jonah
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4, verse 2. Jonah 4, 2, there it reads, And he
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prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this
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what I said when I was yet in my country? That
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is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for
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I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful.
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Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
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and relenting from disaster. Jonah knew this
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about God, didn't he? Jonah just does not. He
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cannot see himself going to this place of Nineveh.
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And I don't believe that Jonah had a problem
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with all Gentiles, because where does he want
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to go? He wants to go to Tarshish. But he has
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a problem with the cruelty of Nineveh. But ultimately,
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he has a real problem with the mercy of God.
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Friends, when I lived in Bulgaria, when I got
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there, the mission team that I was a part of
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said, we have a lot of needs here in Bulgaria.
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You can essentially choose what you want to do.
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Who do you want to minister to? Who do you believe
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needs to hear the gospel. I spent a lot of time
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in prayer and talking with others and thinking
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and I thought you know who needs the gospel in
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Eastern Europe and in Bulgaria. I thought it
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was the Roma population, the gypsy population.
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And so I told some friends this. I said I believe
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the Lord needs to reach the people within these
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gypsy communities and I want to be a part of
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that. And this friend said to me, That's fine.
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That's good. If you feel called to do that, great.
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Take the gospel to the gypsies, but I'm not doing
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it. I'm not doing that. I'm not going there.
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Why? Well, quite honestly, the Roma population
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are known for being thieves. They're known for
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being drunkards. They're known for being lazy,
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all of these things. And so you can understand
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people don't want to go there. And there are
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examples like this all over the world. People
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that were like, I'd rather not. People that we
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shun. People that we believe in our heart of
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hearts don't. They shouldn't have the mercy of
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God. I don't know who it is for you. I don't
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know who it is that you're uncomfortable around.
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Maybe it's the inmate who finishes up his prison
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sentence. somebody who is looking for a church
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home, looking for hope, looking for help, but
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a lot of people would say that's for somebody
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else. Maybe it's people who are just unlike you
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in every single conceivable way, and you think,
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I can't do that, Lord. I can't tell them the
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gospel. Friends, if we keep looking for the person
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who is exactly like us, with whom to share the
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gospel, We will never share it. We will never
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share it if we're looking for the person that
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is just like us. And quite frankly, friends,
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we were like that, weren't we? Before coming
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to Christ, we were dead in our trespasses, right?
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We were what some people might call a lost cause.
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But friends, our God is the God of lost causes.
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He takes people who are dead in their trespasses
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and He brings them to life. This is our story.
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God takes lost causes and sanctifies them. He
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shows them mercy. And so to whom are you to take
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God's message of repentance and salvation? We
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are to be conduits of mercy, not with holders
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of mercy. The church where we used to worship
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at in Texas had a name. I've shared it with some
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of you. Mercy Presbyterian Church. And our slogan
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was this, mercy to us, mercy through us. And
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this is who we should be as Christians, showing
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the mercy of God. And so think today, who is
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it that you know that needs the mercy of God?
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Jonah as a prophet didn't want to go because
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he knew that God would be merciful. And so what
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does Jonah do? He goes in the complete opposite
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direction. Look in verse 3. It's not just that
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he's running from Nineveh, is it? The text says
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he's running from the presence of the Lord. Now,
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as a prophet, Jonah would have surely understood
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God's omnipresence. And so I don't think that
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this is a denial of that. He is thinking, if
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I'm nowhere near Nineveh, I cannot possibly preach
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to them. I cannot possibly fulfill God's command.
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He wants to leave it all behind. Do you remember
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that old Southwest Airlines commercial from years
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ago? Want to get away? That's Jonah here. He
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wants to get away, not just from his home. He
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wants to get away from the calling that God is
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placing on his life. It's like Jonah is handing
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in his prophet card and saying, you are not the
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God of the Tarshishites, if that's even a word.
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So that's where I'm going. Additionally, If we
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look in Isaiah 66, we see that Tarshish at that
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time was a place that had not seen God's fame,
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had not seen God's glory. And so Jonah is in
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effect saying, you haven't called me there. You
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apparently haven't called anyone there. And so
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that's where I'm going. But first you see he
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has to go to the place of Joppa. This is a place
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where he could board a ship. He boards a ship
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then. And he's going to go to Tarshish. But our
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question then is, where is Tarshish? A couple
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of possibilities. It could be a point on the
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Mediterranean, like Carthage, which would be
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quite far away. But it could also be southern
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Spain. And that's probably the most common location
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that scholars point at, southern Spain. That
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is really, really far away. And so if it's southern
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Spain, God is not. or Jonah's not messing around
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here. If it's Spain, it's as if Jonah is saying,
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I'm going as far away as I possibly can from
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Nineveh. I like how James Montgomery Boyce puts
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it. Listen to this quote. He says, we can understand
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the geography and Jonah's motives if we can imagine
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the word of the Lord coming to a Jew who lived
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in New York during World War II. and telling
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him to go to Berlin to preach to Nazi Germany.
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And instead of this, he goes to San Francisco
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and then boards a boat for Hong Kong. He is getting
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as far away as he possibly can. Tarshish might
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be the furthest place that he has ever heard
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of. And that's where he's trying to go. But I
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also want us to see something else. This is not
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just geographics here. If you see within the
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text that first word there of arise, there is
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kind of a picture going on with these words of
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going up and then going down for just as it says
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arise, then we also see twice that it says that
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he goes down. He goes down to Joppa. He's going
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down into the ship. Jonah is on a downward spiritual
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spiral. He's running from the presence of God,
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as if to say, God is not the God of Tarshish.
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I'm going there. And he's running so much so
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that when he buys fare for the trip, scholars
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like to point out, this seems like he doesn't
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buy a seat on a boat. It's not like he went on
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Travelocity and got a window seat. No, in Jewish
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tradition, Jonah rents the entire boat. and pays
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for the crew to get in there. Jonah, if these
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scholars are correct, charters the whole boat
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and has them attempt to get him all the way to
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southern Spain. Can you imagine how much it would
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cost to charter a cargo ship, which is probably
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what it was, charter a cargo ship with a crew
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and get you all the way to southern Spain, friends?
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This is costly disobedience, isn't it? He's not
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simply saying, I don't want to do this. This
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is disobedience at all costs. One commentator
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says, everything about Jonah's action is diametrically
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opposed to Yahweh's commission. Yahweh says up,
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Jonah goes down. Yahweh says go to Nineveh, Jonah
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leaves in the opposite direction. The Lord tells
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Jonah what to say, and we get no words from Jonah.
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Friends, this is costly disobedience. But wouldn't
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we also say that all disobedience is costly?
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Disobedience is what led Christ to the cross.
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The story of Scripture is Christ making right
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what people get wrong. You remember the story
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of Adam and Eve. There's a whole garden there.
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God's provided for them. He says, don't eat of
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that one tree. And what do we see in the next
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moment? They're chomping away on the fruit. Disobedience
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and costly disobedience. But friends, there's
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good news in that story. In that same exact chapter
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of Genesis three, we see the promise of the Redeemer,
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don't we? God promises Christ. And there's example
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after example in scripture to see that. All sin
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is disobedience. No one is immune. We all have
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original sin, and we all commit our own sins.
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And the prophet Jonah is probably more acquainted
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than most with the glory of God and His mercy,
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and yet Jonah wants nothing to do with obedience
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and sharing that mercy. Friends, you may know
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this about yourself. We're all like Jonah a little
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bit, aren't we? We are all a little bit like
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Jonah. But friends, there is good news. Christ
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gets right what we get wrong. Why was Christ
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incarnate? To make things right. And it's not
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just that Jesus died for you, which he absolutely
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did. And that's a critical point. But we also
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must recognize that Christ lived the life for
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us. That he lived... Without sin, he was in perfect
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submission to the Father, and so Jesus does not
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flee from the command of the Father. He signs
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up for it. Jonah fled from announcing salvation,
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but this was Jesus' message, and he embodied
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it. Jesus was tempted to sin as we are, but he
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never did. And ultimately, Jesus, when he came,
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he knew what was ahead for him, didn't he? you
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read in the book of Matthew you see that three
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different times Jesus talks about the cross before
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the cross is ever in the picture and Jesus knew
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that Isaiah 53 was written about him that says
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the chastisement that brought us peace was upon
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him and by his wounds we are healed why why do
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we receive that mercy because that's who God
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is God is slow to anger and he's abounding in
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steadfast love. Friends, I want you to know the
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reason that Jonah is so upset is the reason that
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Christ came. The reason Jonah is so upset is
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the reason Christ came. Christ gets right what
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we get wrong.