‘Biblical Truth Discovered’
It’s been several months since I’ve written a ‘By the Way’ article. We’ve been extremely busy moving from our home of 28 years in Medford, Oregon to the big city of Portland. We’re now settled in our new home, and it’s time to start writing again. I thought I’d write several articles on the minor prophet Jonah. This is the first of four. I encourage you to read through this short book.
‘Biblical Truth Discovered’
As biblical people we hold to some shared understandings of the nature of God, and what form the crucial underpinnings of our relationship with him. God is sovereign, just, loving, gracious, everywhere present, all powerful, and all knowing. Essential to our relationship with him is our acknowledgement of sin, the confession of Christ’s lordship, our understanding of servanthood, our commitment to a life of obedience, and an ever striving to be pliable in the Lord’s hands. These aren’t sterile theological ideas, extrapolated out of the biblical story; these are truths most profoundly realized in the experiences of real life. In a sense, these truths are most forcefully discovered in the events of our personal lives, so that our experience bears witness to biblical truth.
I want to draw your attention to five important truths that surface in Chapter one. First, our sin is never hidden from the Lord - “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me (v.2).” The Berkeley translation says ‘...their wickedness has mounted up before me’. Their sin had become the focus of God’s attention. No matter how sophisticated, clever, or secretive we may be, our sin is being observed, and the time will come when it will be exposed. Sin is never hidden; it’s always exposed. We’re always held accountable. For example, David’s sin with Bethsheba was exposed by the prophet Nathan.
Second truth: trying to run from God is foolish - “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord (v.3).” Tarshish was as far west from Nineveh as Jonah knew to go. This was the beginning of a downward spiral. He went ‘down to Joppa’…’down into the ship’...and ended up down in the belly of the great fish, down in the depths of the sea. Have you ever tried to run from God, refusing to go to church, and avoiding God’s people? The most common expression of running from God is to ignore the things of God and give them no consideration. This is an impossible undertaking when God has called you. King David found this to be true - “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night’, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”....”Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps.139:7-12, 24-25)!” Instead of running from God, we should acknowledge his presence and present ourselves to him.
Stormy Weather
Also, disobedience always leads to stormy weather - “But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up (v.4).” Jonah’s disobedience led to a serious situation which threatened not only his life but the lives of those around him. Listen, to willfully violate the will of God for your life can lead to tragedy. Consider Adam’s sin which led to humanity’s fall and domination by sin and death. Or Achan, who took the spoils of battle when told not to; he put all Israel at risk. We see examples of this truth all around us; promiscuity leading to broken health and devastated relationships; substance abuse destroying families and crushing the abuser; greed bankrupting companies; and bitterness pushing people into depression and self-destruction. Are you in the middle of a storm? Is it because of disobedience? If you are, there’s only one way out…repentance, submission to the will of God, obedience which brings renewal. Don’t persist in disobedience; it’s too costly! - “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. ‘There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked (Isa.57:20,21).”
Truth number four: compromise betrays our identity - “Then they said to him, ‘Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ And he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land (vv.8,9).” The questions in verse 8 are identity questions. Jonah responds by identifying himself as a Hebrew who worships the Lord. His life is centered on declaring God’s worthiness through unconditional trust and obedience. Jonah is a worshipper of YHWH, yet what he’s doing betrays his identity at the most fundamental level. It violates his call to unconditional obedience and service. This should speak forcefully to us. When we compromise our Christian call we not only betray the Lord we serve, but ourselves as well. When this happens it should disturb us. The appropriate response to this condition of compromise is found in verse 10, and it’s not expressed by Jonah but by the pagan sailors - “Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, ‘What is this that you have done!’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them (v.10).” May God bring us to a place where we can’t live with compromise or any form of hypocrisy.
God’s Discipline
Finally, grace and restoration are always at the heart of God’s discipline - “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights (v.17).” The fish wasn’t the instrument of God’s judgment; rather, it was the instrument of God’s grace and discipline. It was God’s redemptive provision. The fish saved Jonah from his own disobedience and gave him the opportunity to turn around. It wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t his choice, but it was transformative. Perhaps you’re in the belly of the great fish, circumstances that are far from pleasant. You’re stripped and broken. Yet, you’re being forced to rethink your commitment to Christ. It’s painfully redemptive. If so, rejoice in it! This is God’s grace at work in your life. Our Lord wants to mend and restore those who are fallen, no matter how badly broken they may be. Verse 17 is a striking expression of the gospel.