When God Says “Go” and a Rebel Runs!
The Story of Jonah is not about the Whale! It's all about Him!
What do you think of when you hear the story of Jonah? A runaway prophet swallowed by a great giant whale. If you have been a Christian since childhood, you have seen this story at Bible or Sunday school. And many times, we think this book is a story of miracles. Because the second question everyone asks is, can a man survive being swallowed by and living in a whale for three days? Drowned, dead, and spit up on a beach for three days? Coincidence? How many days was Jesus in the tomb? Jonah spent three days in the belly of a whale and would go on to preach the most significant revival in the history of humanity.
Think about it. The Book of Jonah consists of four chapters; only two verses discuss the great fish, but we often focus on the fish and miss the message of Jonah. But what if I told you this story is not about a fish or a stubborn, mean, nasty prophet that ignores God’s call? What If I told you the story in this book was one of the most beautiful Gospel stories in the Bible, and the central character was God himself? Yes, indeed a story of answering God’s call. Please understand that the book of Jonah is poetry. A lot of the Old Testament is poetry, and you may think it’s about a prophet which it is, but the story is Satire. Yes, I said that—it’s Satire. Books like Jonah are why the Bible is hands down the greatest book ever written. The Author is God, and he sarcastically illustrates what happens when we ignore his call!
“Arise, Go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” Jonah 1:2
God loves to say Go! My mantra since becoming a Pastor is Go Bold! The word "Go" is in the Bible 1542 times, and the word "stay" is in the Bible 62 times. There are times when God strategically commands us to stay. Often we “Stay” when he says “Go,” and we “Go” when he says “Stay.” Nonetheless, God tells Jonah to “Go.” Go to Nineveh, that great city. The great city is the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The population at the time was one hundred and twenty thousand, and it’s the modern-day city of Mosul, Iraq.
Nineveh was the most powerful city in the world. God gave Jonah a simple command “Go” to Nineveh and preach the words I give you, just like you do in Israel. Now I know what Jonah is thinking. We need to put ourselves in Jonah’s shoes. But God, you don’t understand these are nasty uncircumcised gentiles that hate your guts. They have defiled Israel; they are your enemy! That city Nineveh is their capital, and I don’t need to preach to them, God; you need to wipe them off the face of the earth. Go full Sodom and Gomorrah! They don’t deserve nor need your mercy and grace. Are you telling me to preach your words to these scumbags?
God is commanding Jonah to “Go” and share my words. Has God ever commanded you to “Go” and share a word? Has God ever given that command to you personally? I assume that if you have been a saved believer for more than a day, God has commanded you to Go and share the Gospel. God would later give this command to His Disciples before he ascended to heaven when Jesus said: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19
Nineveh is a city of unsaved people…so what is the difference between unsaved Gentiles at Nineveh and the unsaved people in Portland, Oregon or Seattle, Washington, or those unsaved souls at your place of work. Jonah immediately got afraid because Nineveh was packed with the enemies of Israel, a modern-day Antifa Farm. Are you ever afraid to share the Gospel? Do you feel embarrassed to share God’s word with colleagues or classmates? Remember when I said we all have a little Jonah in us? And we need to read and re-read this satire. There are so many reasons to share a word from God with non-believers. But you know what the most important reason is that we should eagerly, consistently, and fearlessly share the Gospel with the lost? Because our Lord commanded us to. He commands, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,” because we are on the most incredible rescue mission in the history of humanity.
For their wickedness has come up before Me. Like any other command, rebelling against God’s commands harms our Christian growth. We then take our chances with the consequences of the Almighty and Holy God. God is testing Jonah, but he is also portraying a story to all of us. God is telling Jonah yes; I want you to go into the bully’s backyard and tell him their wickedness has come before me. But Jonah is thinking in his mind,” God, I have a better idea; that will be uncomfortable for me! People won’t like my Facebook and Twitter pages, which will hurt my revival circuit in Jerusalem; people will talk badly about my family and me. God, there is a good chance these Assyrians are crazy. They will kill me. Then I can’t serve you anymore.” Sound familiar?
But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1:3
Jonah arose to flee. What is he fleeing from? The presence of the Lord. Yes, the Rebel is Running from God. By fleeing from the presence of the Lord, Jonah tells the whole world of his unwillingness to serve God. Is this unprecedented? Well, Moses would wander around in the Desert for 40 years, as did Amos and Jeremiah, to name a few.
Our entire identity is predicated on the presence of the Lord. You can never escape His presence ever. You can’t run from the presence of the Lord, nor can you hide. Remember Adam and Eve? When they deprived themselves of a life with God. What was the first thing they tried to do? Hide from the presence of God! Do you remember when Cain killed his brother Able, he went away from the presence of the Lord?
In all these images, God’s people run, hide, and ignore God’s commands. Why are they fearful of what the great things God is going to do for them? There is fear of God’s Goodness! God is not constrained by a law of vindictiveness but rather by a law of gracious love! Do you know why we are so attracted to this satirical story? Because Jonah is not a hero, He’s not like David or Moses, Jonah is like us. He is ordinarily called and commanded to do something extraordinary.
Often, God calls upon us to accomplish extraordinary tasks for His Kingdom. However, our human judgment can sometimes interfere with this calling. It is common for us to make assumptions about what this calling means for our own lives. It is important to remember to prioritize God's will above our own. In America, Christianity faces a significant issue where many claim to be Christians but fail to lead a Christian lifestyle.
At this point, Jonah is unaware that God is about to send a severe storm into his life; Jonah quickly learns it’s hazardous to ignore God’s call! God will then use a storm to unleash His Power. Jonnah will become His vessel and later preach one of the most significant revivals in human history. Indeed it’s easy to sit back and throw rocks at Jonah, but if we look long enough in the mirror, we look like Jonah. The story's moral—When God Says “Go”—Go Bold!