2 Kings 14:23, 25- In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.
Jonah wasn't known for all the miracles that Elisha was. He wasn't known for standing up to the wicked rulers of his day like Elijah. He was known for something else. Do you know what it was?
Jonah 1:1-2- Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
God wanted Jonah to go warn a Gentile nation that they were to repent or face the wrath of God for their wickedness.
Jonah 1:3- But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Joanh didn't want to warn the men of Nineveh. They were very evil men. Jonah thought that they deserved the wrath of God. So, instead of going West on dry land to the town of Nineveh, Jonah got into a ship heading East.
He was trying to run from God. Can you run from God? No. Can you ever go somewhere where God won't see or hear you? No. But, Jonah thought that he could get away from God.
Jonah 1:4-5- But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
God was going to show Jonah that he couldn't run from Him. He sent a terrifying storm that was so bad it was about to break the ship apart.All of the sailors were trying to throw items overboard to keep the ship from sinking. As they were doing this, they were praying to their false gods to save them.
But, where was Jonah? He was asleep down inside the ship.
Jonah 1:6- So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
The captain of the ship woke Jonah up. He wanted Jonah to pray and ask whatever god he worshiped to help them.
When asking the false gods to help didn't stop the storm, the sailors decided to cast lots, or do a special game that would tell who had brought this evil on them.
Jonah 1:7-9- And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
The Lord God Almighty used this game of casting lots to show the sailors that it was Jonah's fault. When they asked Jonah what he was doing in their ship, he confessed that he was a Jew.
This scared the men. And, the storm just kept getting worse no matter what they tried.
Jonah 1:10-11- Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
Jonah told them that he was given a job by the Lord God Almighty that he didn't want to do. So, he was running away.
The sailors asked what they had to do to stop the wrath of his God.
Jonah 1:12-15- And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
The sailors didn't want to throw Jonah overboard. They tried everything they could to gain control of their ship, but nothing worked. When they feared they would all die in the storm, they prayed to Jonah's God to forgive them for throwing him overboard. And then, they tossed Jonah into the violent waves of the sea.
But, to the sailor's amazement, the winds ceased their blowing, and the waves settled their raging. The storm immediately went away and all that was left was a peaceful sea.
Jonah 1:16- Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.
The sailors had never seen any false idol do that! They decided that the God of Jonah was worth worshiping, and they offered Him a sacrifice, and made promises to do right.
Now, Jonah was floating around in the middle of a now peaceful sea. Perhaps, he thought that he would drown and then he wouldn't have to go to Nineveh and tell those wicked Gentiles the Lord's message.
But, God had other plans.
Jonah 1:17- Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
God sent a great fish to gulp Jonah down. What kind of a fish was it? Well, Jesus tells us.
Matthew 12:40- For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The fish was a whale! And Jonah was stuck inside the stinky whale for three whole days and three whole nights!
Well, those days and nights gave Jonah a good amount of time to think about what he had done. He was sorry that he disobeyed God. He was sorry that he tried to run away. And he decided to pray and apologize.
Jonah 2:1, 10- Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
God heard Jonah's prayer from the inside of the whale's belly. God told the what to spit Jonah out onto the shore. The whale obeyed what God told him to do.
What do you think God said to Jonah?
Jonah 3:1-2- And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Yep. God told Jonah to do the same thing He had told him to do before- go preach to the Gentiles of Nineveh.
What do you think Jonah did?
Jonah 3:3-4- So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jonah wasn't going to take any more side trips. In fact, he was so eager to obey God that he ran that whole three day trip in just one day!
Here was a man who stank like dead fish! He probably didn't look any better! And, he was yelling that they would be destroyed along with their city in 40 days!
Do you think they believed him?
Jonah 3:5-9- So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
Yes, they believed him! Everyone from the king to the beggar on the street put on clothes of repentance, and didn't eat or drink. All they did was sit in dust and ashes and pray that God would forgive them and not destroy them and their city.
And, guess what? God answered their prayer.
Jonah 3:10- And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Jonah's preaching produced a town wide revival! Do you think Jonah was happy about this?
Jonah 4:1- But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
You see, the reason Jonah didn't want to obey God was not because he was afraid of these wicked Gentiles. It wasn't because he didn't want to travel that far from home.
The reason was because Jonah knew that God would forgive them. And Jonah thought that they deserved to die for their wickedness.
So, when God did forgive them and decided not to destroy their city, Jonah got mad!
Jonah went outside the city and sat down in the desert sands to fume.
Jonah 4:5- So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
God wasn't finished with Jonah. He was a merciful God, not only to the wicked Gentile nation, but also to the angry prophet.
This time, God sent a gourd and a worm. The gourd grew up and shaded Jonah from the desert sun. But, the worm ate the gourd. Jonah had only a little relief from the heat because of the gourd before the gourd died from by the jaws of the worm.
Jonah 4:8- And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
But, Jonah was so mad that he wanted to die.
Jonah 4:10-11- Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
God was trying to get Jonah to understand. Jonah was upset that a worm had destroyed a plant. But, he was angry that God wouldn't destroy 120,000 people- some of them innocent children.
But, God is always righteous. When He tells someone that they are doing wrong, and they ask for His forgiveness, then He forgives them!
1 John 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus used the nation of Nineveh as an example to the religious leaders of His day.
Matthew 12:41- The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
The religious rulers wouldn't obey Jesus' preaching. They wouldn't listen to the Son of God. And, Jesus said that the men of Nineveh would be in the judgement hall when they stood before the Lord God Almighty.
You see, the men of Nineveh only heard from a stinky prophet, and yet they obeyed. But, those religious leaders had heard from the Messiah, the Son of God, and they weren't going to obey.
Did Nineveh do right from that point on? No, sad to say they did not. They returned to their wicked ways, and God sent the punishment that He had promised He would send.
Nahum 3:7- And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Zepheniah 2:13- And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
And, what became of Jonah?
Well, perhaps Jonah had heard Elijah preach. It's possible that Jonah had been one of the sons of the prophets that were under Elisha's teachings. Jonah, perhaps, could have become the next great prophet!
But, Jonah refused to care. Jonah refused to repent. And, Jonah wasn't used by God ever again because of it.
