Jonah’s Prejudice
God has called men and assigned them to teach His people from His Word. The glory of exegetical preaching (verse by verse rather than topically) is that preachers cannot skip over the things they think are hard or might offend people.
How many times have people heard the biblical account of Jonah being thrown into the sea and swallowed by a “great fish” from which he is vomited out three days later?
But that is not the whole story. Jonah was swallowed as he was fleeing from God’s command to go and tell the Ninevites about their wickedness that God was witnessing among them (Jonah 1:12). Jonah, not wanting to address the Ninevites, got on a ship headed in the other direction.
God sent such a great wind that the sailors cast lots to know why they were seeing such trouble. The lot fell on Jonah and he admitted he was running from the Lord. This struck fear into those who were with him. At his own suggestion about how to calm the sea, Jonah was thrown into the water (his plan) and swallowed by the fish (God’s plan) (Jonah 1:17).
Jonah prays, knowing the power of God has caused his situation. After being vomited out of the fish he heads to Nineveh and speaks the truth to the people. They listen to him speak the words of God and they repent…much to Jonah’s dismay. He admits it is why he didn’t want to preach to them in the first place. He knew God would convict and save them.
Jonah 4:1 says, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.” He is so angry he wants to die.
Can you imagine being so prejudiced against a people that it angers you when God saves them from an eternity in Hell? God asks straight up, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Jonah leaves town and makes a little shelter to sit under and watch what happens to Nineveh next. In His mercy God “appointed a plant” to grow and create shade to protect Jonah (Jonah 4:5-6) from the hot sun. “But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered” (Jonah 4:7).
Now Jonah is angry about the plant! The Lord confronts him in Jonah 4:10-11, But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?
Two important applications of this book of the Bible are clearly for our day. The Bible teaches us that we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). God is merciful to sinful people – just like us. No matter our personal feelings about specific people (especially a whole city), should God decide in His sovereign providence to save them, our work is to rejoice with them and disciple them.
And the second one that sticks out like a sore thumb is the fact that God says 120,000 of the Ninevites did not know their left hand from their right. Does this not point us to small children? Jonah had more pity for a plant than he did for 120,000 children headed for Hell!
Does this describe some churches today? They care about some biblical issues within the church: modesty, music, movies, and the tithe, etc. But, the blood of 63 million babies has polluted our land (Numbers 35:33) since 1973 and we are all but silent. Many Christians consider it too great a political issue to be worthy of our attention.
Murdering babies in the womb (or outside it) is a matter of serious consequences for the unrepentant mother, abortionist, receptionist, nurses, and all who participate in this murder of innocent life. In Proverbs 24:11 we are commanded to “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”
How often are Christians hearing about this holocaust from their pulpits? If the Pastor does not find it to be an important teaching topic he is not teaching exegetically through the scriptures. He is not challenging his congregation to take a stand for God’s law and against the sin of murder (which is serious enough to carry the death penalty).
If God is upset with Jonah over 120,000 children possibly going to Hell, what is He thinking about 63,000,000 dead babies? The answer is before us in what He is bringing us in our culture today. How can we work to rescue innocent children being drawn toward death?