365 Reflections

One of the most damaging things to our souls is to forget God's sovereignty. That He is ultimately over all things and that from His hand come all that we could have, every breath, every moment.  To this end, we come to the final chapter of the book of Jonah. As far as prophetic books go, Jonah is a true outlier. There are no judgments, no descriptions of torment in harsh conditions as God unloads on sinners among the nations. Jonah is unlike the rest of them, for the book of Jonah is a referendum NOT on nations but on Jonah. You would think a prophet whose message was heard and abided by would be thrilled at the success! Not Jonah. He sees Nineveh repent and the Lord spare them, and wants to die. Jonah 4:1-3 (ESV) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger a...

Why didn’t Jonah want to go to Nineveh? He knew God would be merciful to them, as we find out in chapter four. With that framing in mind, we should consider why Jonah assumed they would be repentant in the first place to receive that mercy. By this time, the people of Nineveh had experienced a famine, two plagues within 7 years, and an earthquake (according to history and as mentioned by Amos). They were primed for a message that destruction was imminent.  Yet these were hardened sinners of the most sordid type. We have written testimony of Ashurnasirpal II, king of Nineveh (at the time of Jonah), in 883–859 BC. This king's inscriptions describe in detail how he had enemies flayed alive, impaled, and decapitated. He boasted of burning cities and piling up human heads into pyramids as monuments of his victories. Moreover, they lacked the Law of God. Why would they have fear of their actions?   Remember that Romans 2 tells us the non-believers have a natural law written on their...

Jonah 2:8–9 (ESV) Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!” Before we leave Jonah's ordeal in the belly of the great fish, we should look at these last lines to understand the power of God's salvation. He first confesses, "those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope." An idol is anything that takes our hearts away from God. They can be things, people, places, or even our own emotional needs. What idol may Jonah be renouncing in his own life at this point? Perhaps it was the idol of ethnocentrism. The sense that those evil Ninevites did not deserve the grace of God when his own nation was playing the fool with the preface to those same sins! Maybe it was the idol that God was wrong, and he was right. Perhaps it was the idol of self-love, the source of almost every other sin. Whatever the case, Jonah acknow...

Jonah 1 ends with the prophet's disobedience, defiantly running from God, and insisting on his own way. He will not head to Nineveh, and even death will not threaten him. But Jonah won't get away with his plan. God can provide for His people in strange ways.  Jonah 1:17 (ESV) And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. What do you do in this situation? You do the only thing you can: Pray.  Jonah 2:1–2 (ESV) Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. Interestingly, this is the first time you hear the prophet speak to God. Prophets were known for their regular back and forth with the Lord.  God says in Numbers 12, Numbers 12:6 (ESV)  If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him i...

The book of Jonah forces us to ask some difficult questions. Here's one more.  Is it true that sometimes non-believers are better than believers? Chapter one makes me ask this. Jonah is on a ship headed away from God's presence. God will not let him go quietly into that good night.  Jonah 1:4–6 (ESV)   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. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” Already, the picture is troubling. Being on the sea is already a tense environment. To be in such a storm and be dropping cargo to survive ...

Here's a question: If God saves, if God elects, if God brings people to Himself in a supernatural work of His grace, can people really run away and miss out on that saving grace?  Of course, that question is still hotly debated by many, many theologians and experts. No one answers the question better than Jonah. A prophet who DID run, who tried to get away not only from his calling but from his very ministry and life. And yet, God did not let him go. If you've ever purposely tried to go your own way, the book of Jonah is a wonderful reminder that God's grace is greater than our sin.  Jonah 1:1–3 (ESV) Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 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 down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away f...