The Judgment of Jonah

The Judgment of Jonah

11/1/18

All of us have disobeyed a person in authority over us at one time in our lives for whatever reason we have dreamed up of such action.  Obedience is essential for our livelihood and even though we know what the consequences may be if we do not follow this practice human curiosity and stubbornness many times overrides this conviction.  Embarrassingly truthful would be the result if we commented on how many times we have disobeyed God and the things that He has instructed us to do.  While we do not always immediately feel the effects of such sin God’s Word tells us that each one of us must face consequences to such actions even after we turn our hearts back to God.  As we will see, God has a plan for our lives for a specific purpose and if we do not obey His Ways then we will be subject to devastating consequences.  There is a way that we can avoid such catastrophes and it is a plan that is easy to follow we only have to commit our hearts back to God and drop the selfish and worldly ideas.

After a short break from the life of Jonah, we will be returning to his dilemma for it is time to understand exactly what God had in store for him due to his disobedience and arrogance.  Most of know what occurred to Jonah after he was tossed overboard when a large fish was divinely in the area and swallowed him up for a while.  Jonah knew exactly what God had told him to do, with the when and where details given to him as well.  Yet, Jonah decided to make the decision to run in the opposite direction and thus setting up this scenario that we are about to read.  But do we know that God’s preparation of the fish that happened to be in the area actually served as a purpose?  It seems a bit far-fetched but we have to agree that while God had given instructions to Jonah and then Jonah ran, Jonah could not have believed that God did not know where he was at and that at some point He would find him in His own specific manner.

When we look at the process in which Jonah became closely knowledgeable with this fish of God’s, Jonah must have come to the conclusion that God meant business and that He would not take no for an answer.  But until that point of Jonah’s surroundings hit home he had to sit in the belly of the fish and contemplate his situation.  If one wants they can compare Jonah’s current living conditions to that of the Prodigal son for one really cannot find themselves in any more filthy conditions than these two.  Both went their own ways trying to fend off the responsibilities given to them and as long as they were content in living against the will of God their lives continued a downward spiral until the rock bottom was reached.  While the storms in each passage of the Bible were different they both served as a warning for the people to change their hearts before God had to allow His judgment to unfold, both decided to stick it out and reach the point where God took over and gave them what their choices commanded.

God knew exactly how to grab Jonah’s attention through the supernatural realm, for it is not a common ordeal to be swallowed by a large enough fish that one can survive the process of its digestion.  This seems almost impossible to believe but we must keep in mind that when God ordains a person to complete a task and that person does not follow through with what God has said to do, all boundaries are off and God will take the necessary steps in order to fulfill His commands.  God has a purpose and a directive for everything He does, for that is His definition and when He deems it necessary to tell His children what to do we have the obligation in return to go into that mission field as work that field.  It does not matter if we walk next door or travel to a far away land, all aspects of God’s Will must be accomplished when we are commissioned to do such.  The will of the human to submit to God and to change their heart is also hard to comprehend but it is a process in which when completed gives God the authority to radically demonstrate His eternal love for His children, and even though Jonah was sitting inside a whale God heard his cry for repentance and thus God delivered him out of the fish.

When we study the judgment of Jonah we will find many aspects of the human and of God all being portrayed while Jonah is being sloshed around in the belly of the fish.  While it may be easy to pass this portion of Jonah’s life off as a quick event and one that is hard to believe, it cannot be forgotten for it did occur and the events that God created for this period of time in Jonah’s life serve or should serve as a reminder that one day our lives could face a severe enough setting that rivals such a story.  As it has been stated previously, the story of Jonah can hit home to many people who have received the call of God on their lives or have been given a specific mission from God to complete but have for some reason delayed such commissions.  If you are one of those people who fall into this category please understand that God knows exactly where you are and that He loves you very much but even though you are in disobedience He wants you to know that His plan that He gave you needs to be fulfilled for His Kingdom, not yours.  So, unless you wish to see a similar act of judgment on your life I would suggest you come back to God and allow Him to restore you and your mission before He has to really grab your attention.

In Jonah 1:17 we find that God had already set into motion the plan that He had for Jonah concerning the judgment over his life.  This verse is a sobering one because it means that God had already put His plan into action and this verse also confirms that God was in full control of the storm that had ravaged the boat and men earlier in the chapter.  Now, Jonah was also being tossed in the ways for a while before they stopped but there was no way that he was going to be allowed back in that boat for the men of that boat did their best to get back to shore as quickly as possible.  So, this verse states that while the storm had passed God had prepared a fish for Jonah and it was this fish that was going to change his life and set his heart back in the place that it needed to be.  There can be no question that Jonah had experienced some rough times over the last few hours but I can guarantee he had no idea of what was about to occur for it is not every day we hear about humans being swallowed by a large fish.  The end of this verse gives us the amount of time that Jonah was to be in that belly as well, God even had this detail lined out as well another sign of His authority and Divine presence; for it places God there with Jonah and it also tells that Jonah was going to be okay afterward.

One cannot help but believe that when Jonah figured out what was going on that he began to think that his life was over and that he had blown his chance to do what God had chosen him to complete.  But those thoughts are quickly erased with the first words of Jonah 2:1 when Jonah prayed to God while he was in the belly of the fish.  Jonah knew what his surroundings were and he also had the cognitive to understand that he did not like what was going on around him either.  We cannot help but know that Jonah remembered what God told him to do and why God had said to tell Nineveh about their sins.  Jonah then figured out that what he was going through was a reminder that Nineveh was not off the hook and that if he had the opportunity to tell that city what God said that he would do it without hesitation.  For if this type of condition that Jonah was facing was going to be anything that Nineveh was going to face he had to warn them to change their hearts before it was too late.  But first, Jonah had to allow God to fix his own heart and so that he could honestly tell his mission about their sins and why they were so grievous to God’s heart.

In verse 2 of chapter 2, we find that Jonah speaks about why he was in the state of living conditions that he was in and he hit the nail on the head for he addresses the issue with God right off the bat.  This means that he knew why he was in that fish and that his heart was ready to change.  Jonah realized that what God had told him to do was for a specific purpose so that the people of Nineveh would not have to go through the supernatural course that God had prepared for them if they reached the exact same point in their hearts that Jonah had reached; a place of complete and unabated rebellion.  Now, I have looked in many bellies of fish as I have prepared them for eating and while the majority of the fish in this category have been small I have found some interesting things in them.  Most fish have nothing present inside them but every once-in-a-while you will find a few items trash, hooks, fishing lines, etc. and all of these things must have been present floating around Jonah and washing up against his body providing the usage of the word Sheol from Jonah.

The word Sheol is the Hebrew word that means “hell” and is defined like this: underworld, grave, the Old Testament abode of the dead, place of no return, without praise of God, wicked sent there for punishment, of the place of exile, of extreme degradation of sin.  From the usage of this word by Jonah, we can ascertain that this means that he understood what it was and that it was a true state of separation from God and the end of the road for his life.  This word and its definition also give us a glimpse of what it shall be like when those who do not choose God and His Providence and salvation shall face when their lives have been ended according to the curse of sin over our lives.  However, unlike the end and permanent condition of this potential separation from God, it was already clear that Jonah was in the act of repentance before he had to face this fixed opposition to God.  When this word is used there is never anything happy about the condition that the people are being exposed to at that time, it is a hideous explanative word that described nothing good at all and represents the worst fears that the human mind can imagine, a word that we would want to avoid its presence at all costs.

Jonah 2:3 tells us that Jonah knew exactly who had allowed such turmoil to be presented in his life and that he had no reservations as to why he was now facing such calamities.  This gives us a picture of how our lives should respond if we ever reach this type of situation in our lives.  Now, God is not talking about the small issues that we face every day but He is referring to His prepared judgment that will arrive on the shores of this nation unless we turn our hearts back to Him.  Jonah had plenty of opportunities to change his heart and mind before God began the storm and the proceeding activities that followed, but Jonah had to learn for himself what it meant to go through the angst of being separated from God by his own accord.  Jonah now tells us that he understands why the waves and winds were so violently distraught for their stability was disabled due to his disobedience to God and that for this natural upheaval was strictly caused by his doings.  So, if this is the case and it is, why would we ever tempt God into repeating the same course of instability today?  We see from this passage that Jonah had the opportunity to truly repent his heart to God in time of need, but can we count on us having the same amount of opportunity when our judgment starts?

Verse 5 of this chapter give us a pretty good idea of the physical conditions of being inside a belly of a large fish and from the short description, it seems like it was not a pretty sight.  While Jonah only gives us a description of what was around him the smell of such objects must have been horrendous and must have brought nauseous contentions to his body.  Now, some people actually like to be around seaweed and while it is edible and actually serves the body well with a nutritional satisfaction it would never be any part of my diet especially when it was already present inside a fish, not that being inside a belly of a fish would be considered normal or natural either.  But the slime and muck of what the fish had eaten and was trying to digest are unimaginable yet while in these conditions Jonah continued his repentance to God and sought God for restoration.  How many of us would do this?  Or would it be more accurate to say that we would be cursing God and asking Him why we were stuck in this position or what did we do to deserve such an ending?

Verses 6 & 7 give us an idea about how far Jonah had fallen from the mercy and grace of God and it shows us that as we continue to rely on our selfish mannerisms and forsake God we automatically distance ourselves from God in such a subtle manner that we are not aware of our proceedings.  This is exactly what our enemy wants us to do and it is the perfect tactic that he uses in order to drag us away from our Creator in order to ruin our lives and separate us from God.  Jonah now realizes just how far he has fallen from God and he knows just how high God is and that he should have been striving for this place on the mountain instead of running away toward the sea.  Jonah then prays that he sees and returns to God’s holy temple, a place of reverence, peace, and tranquility of an eternal nature that even though he was far away from God Jonah knew that his words and prayers would be heard by God in His holy place of residence.  So far, these verse about the judgment of Jonah have given us a great deal of insight about how much Jonah knew about God and how much God loved Him, it also allows us to know the depths that we go in order to fall away from God as well, and graciously it also gives us the assuredness that God’s standard never changes and that He is always willing to forgive and to restore if we come to Him with a willing heart.

In verse 8 it is clear that Jonah is not only thinking about himself but while he previously states about his condition he places himself into the same category as others who have fallen into the same category that he is in currently.  This verse is very short but it states so much about how humans, communities, cities, and nations view themselves and how they groom themselves to be presented to their subjects.  The King James Version of the God’s Word uses the words “lying vanities” and the real vagrancy here is placed on the people who according to the Hebrew words “saw hable” which mean worthless idols.  Now, that places things into another level of disobedience doesn’t it and it should set off bells and whistles in our heads for it is exactly the lifestyle that western societies have embraced as their foundation of their appearances and success.  I find it amazing that the word for lying means worthless because it truly defines what it means to lie to another and it also gives rise to just how this action not only creates vanities in our lives but it takes away the mercies of God at the same time.  I cannot help but mourn for my family, my community, and my nation because of these two words alone for we do not understand what our vanity has produced and what it is doing to our relationship with God.

Verse 9 gives us the example of how we should be in front of God at all times so that we do not have to go through such travesties.  Yet, as we all know many or most of us have to take the hard road in order to find the truth about our lives, but God has given us the means to skip this process of pain and agony if we only listen and obey in the first place.  Jonah now worships God through his pain and offers his heart up with thanksgiving and sacrifice.  A couple of years ago there was a popular Christian song that said “I will praise you in this storm” and while the song was not meant solely that judgment would be the reason for the storm it serves as a reminder that no matter what occurs in our life we need to praise God at all times.  When our hearts are in this place, we will be adept to obey God and not to run away when things are given to us that we do not agree with or like.  This means that when we are proceeding through these storms that we are willing to trust God for His protection and to seek His Truth for answers as we pass through the storm.  In other words, if our hearts are not in tune with God at all times, we shall have the opportunity to follow the course of Jonah and that is really not the desired path God wants for His children.

While we do not see verse 10 of this passage as a part of the judgment of Jonah per se, we need to understand that after things are completed we shall be in another state of existence.  When God’s judgment is over and we emerge from our troubles we cannot believe that our lives will be in the same state as they were before our trials began.  Spending three days inside the belly of a fish changes not only the physical appearance of the body it definitely changes the appearance of the human spirit.  This is evident through the words of Jonah while he was in the fish and when one is vomited up onto the shoreline one cannot look too presentable to the public either.  It is at this point that our enemy shall approach us to try and get us to return to our previous state of beliefs for it is his job to ensure that we do not do anything to advance God’s Kingdom.  We do not have to clean ourselves up first we can immediately begin to fulfill what God commanded us to do and to complete the work that He wanted to be done from the start.  God does not want vanity He needs people to complete the purposes that He has for their lives.  God just wants us to do what He says in order for His protection to be continued for His children.

What say you about this story, Church?  How are we responding to such an example?  Are we adhering to the command that Jesus gave us when He said to go and preach the gospel to the world or are we doing things on our own and thumbing our noses and hearts at the Word of God and its eternal Truth by running to catch the next boat out of Dodge?  What is so pathetic about our placement and existence is that we have no idea why we are being readied to be in the belly of the fish, we are too busy pointing fingers at those who are supposed to be performing the same mission as us to recognize that we are headed in such a horrific direction.  We are supposed to be the example of Christ that saves people not obliges their sins in order to gain notoriety or status within a community.  For a minister to stand out in her neighborhood and scream to another person that they are not welcome there is NOT being a true witness for Christ but only demonstrating the lying vanities that Jonah talks about in verse 8 of Jonah chapter 2.

There was a reason that God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and to tell them about the issues God had with them.  It was these issues that were vulgar enough to the eyes, nose, and ears of God that He was about to wipe them from the earth but He wanted to give them one more opportunity to repent before this occurred.  God sent a messenger to inform them of this grievance that He had against them but the messenger did not do what he was supposed to do, instead he fled the mission and went his own way.  One cannot ignore the fact that some people died while Jonah was delaying his travels to that city and one cannot hide the fact that some of these people did not know God and are not with Him now.  Yes, Jonah went to Nineveh and they repented but we cannot forget or ignore what could have been done if he had obeyed God right from the beginning.  We can skip this judgment process but this process is strictly our decision to make, God will either grab our attention now or later.

It may not seem such an important detail to us today, but if Jonah figured out that it was his own vanity that caused him to run away from God and to delay the message He had for that city, what cost are our vanities having on our lives?  We cannot afford not to ask this question about ourselves for as the Church and the ones who have been called to be a witness to others it is obvious that our physical and spiritual vanities have far stretched themselves over our entire body enough that we can no longer represent God and the mission His Son commanded us to complete.  We are running, no sprinting, in the opposite direction and we are costing millions of lives each day that we do not stand up for God.  It is time we end this run and turn around and allow God to change our hearts BEFORE He sets into motion the peeling of our nation (onion).  It is up to us Church to send the message to the world, not to enable their sins.  Let us allow God to change our hearts now so that we do not lose every gift that He has given us.

DLB