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| Sperm whale (Physeter microcephalus) illustration by Uko Gorter |
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| To Part 2 |
Fast
forward to today, salvation happens in an instant, but obedience proves the reality of the experience, beginning with baptism by immersion as the first step in obedience to the LORD, delaying this sacrament sends the wrong message. Apparently, Yahweh was satisfied with the response of
the people to Jonah’s message and relented from destroying Nineveh and all, man and
animals, living within the city and the suburbs surrounding the walled city proper.
Jonah
was reluctantly winning this battle through Yahweh’s enablement
behind the scenes, but the response of the people was most troubling to Jonah
during his mission (cf. Jon 4:1). Assyrians were repenting, and God was
forgiving them (cf. Jon 4:1-2)! These were not good signs to Jonah perhaps because
of the prophetic forecasts of his contemporaries?
The
king is interpreting the message given to Nineveh by Jonah and concluded that this
messenger’s God had fierce anger towards the people of Nineveh by threatening to kill every living thing in
Nineveh. Was Jonah that obvious!? They were not able to defend themselves from
this unseen God. Their gods have not protected them at all from the plagues or internal dissension among their people.
By
what metrics are they being convinced that this messenger’s God had the power
and authority to do what Jonah said He would do after day forty? The last
six years? His seafaring beast now dead and smelly on the shore? His
appearance? His words? The ominous timing of it all? The king’s decrees? It was
all of that, but it was the work of God’s Holy Spirit behind the scenes. It is
very possible that the God of the Israelites was still known for His
deliverance of His people out of the hands of the powerful Egyptians and the
victories in the land of Canaan. He was a God to be feared.
Regardless
of all the things we know and don’t know and can only speculate about, the most incredible thing that ever happened in all of the OT was the undetermined
amount of people who had repented in Nineveh that day (cf.
Mt 12:41; Lk 11:32). Jesus didn’t have to read about it in the Septuagint, the Bible of His day. He
was there, and through the process of inspiration, Jonah was moved by the Holy
Spirit to write the book of Jonah.
Yahweh
knew by virtue of His all-knowingness, that the hearts of the Assyrians of
Jonah’s generation would be turned to Him. Nobody else knew other than Jonah
(Jon 4:2). Jonah did a dumb thing attempting to run from the will of Yahweh,
but ironically, He knew God in a way that most prophets didn’t; He loved every
son of Adam and preferred their salvation over their destruction, regardless
of their past! Do we ignore that fact about God in our lives? I think we do; how
else do we explain a heart not bent toward reaching those without Christ around
us, away from us?
If
the Assyrians had merely dressed down to contrition clothing and that was all
that they did, it would have been a nice drama, but such pretentious penitence
would have had no impact in thwarting a disaster for Yahweh was/is all-knowing.
They would have been the first city in history to all die in fashionable sackcloth!
They turned from their evil way
Did they all turn? I’m not convinced that they all
repented. Did a very large amount turn? I believe that they did. Jesus worded
it in such a way that it would give that impression in the Gospels of Matthew
12:41 and Luke 11:32. Knowing the heart of man and being there, He would know.
Turned is a critical verb
in their salvation from destruction as well as ours! It illustrates the meaning
of repentance; we are heading in one direction and doing a 180 and heading in
the opposite direction, leaving our sinful baggage behind; it is a great sign that something has taken place in the heart. Those who
are going through the motions of mourning usually make a limited oblique turn
(not a full 180) to give the impression their repentance was real, but it would
not be lasting. True repentance lasts forever.
How
odd it is that Jonah is referred to as a “missionary prophet” by some
interpreters. He wanted Yahweh to destroy them not spare them. Here was an
unwilling preacher who had positive results among the Gentiles! God always honors
His Word, and thankfully, it is not based upon the spiritual condition or
willingness of the one heralding the message. It cost Jonah a great deal to get
him where he belonged.
Jonah
in some sense is a metaphor for Israel who forgot that Yahweh’s concern
was not exclusively Israel though they were God’s chosen people out of all the
peoples of the earth who abused that privilege. God was/is concerned for all of
mankind,
(1Ch
16:23) Sing to the LORD,
all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
(1Ch
16:24) Declare His glory
among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
(Rom
3:29) Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He
not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.
God relented
I intend to do an addendum on this clause before proceeding to chapter 4. The
line is lengthy of those who have accused the immutable (eternally
unchangeable) God of changing His mind, suggesting He was wrong, and He was
changeable or malleable or one of us! God relented does not mean His character changed for He is
immutable or unchanging (Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17, but His conduct or course of action
toward man can change in His dealings with men. This is precisely what happened
in Nineveh. He is not caught off guard by the actions of men for Yahweh knows
the end from the beginning (cf. Isa 46:10-11; Job 42:2; Eph 1:11).
In
His omniscience, Yahweh already knew the terrible Assyrians would repent; Jonah predicted as much
(Jon 4:2). To be sure, judgment would have taken place after forty days should
the Assyrians have failed to repent. Nineveh destroyed the northern kingdom of
Israel in 722 B.C. and was itself destroyed ~147 years later in 612 B.C. by the
Medes and the Babylonians.
Each
generation is responsible for its own repentance. One cannot rely on the
laurels of past generations. Nahum’s book illustrates that. Again, there is no
historical Assyrian record of any Hebrew prophet ever visiting Nineveh except
for the record of Jonah. It was bad optics for ancient pagan kings to put them in
their record books; it made them look weak and vulnerable.
Jonah’s
greatest fear and the very reason, according to him, why he took off to
Tarshish in the first place (Jon 4:2) was the people of Nineveh repenting! His
reaction revealed a darker and unbecoming side of God’s prophet that was not surrendered to the sovereignty of Yahweh beginning in
chapter 4:1. It is the only book in Scripture that ends in a question mark, and
we are left wondering, not if Jonah was a true believer, but how did things
work out between him and Yahweh after chapter four of his book.
After
reading chapter four, it is not hyperbolic to say that Jonah was anything but euphoric! He left the city with a temper tantrum intensity! You kind of get the impression that if the first whale
episode didn’t change Jonah’s mind, it is doubtful another round of whale would
either.
Should
we harbor any strong disagreement with Yahweh in our hearts and fail to repent
of it (1 Jn 1:9), our life only ends in a question mark, like Jonah, not an exclamation
mark. How do you want to punctuate your life with God and others? <><
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| End of Jonah 3:5-10 |
