Dispelling some Myths - Jonah. Chapter four.

When we last saw Jonah, he had walked through the town of Nineveh, a three-day journey, as he proclaimed “forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The result of God's proclamation, the entire town, and the Assyrian king cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes and repent of their evil.

Does Jonah rejoice over such a great response? Not at all, and that is where we pick up this story.

Jonah 4:1-2 NASB But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. 2) He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

I pointed out early on that you needed to know the background story to understand why Jonah chose to flee from God and not carry out this assignment. Briefly, the Assyrians had ravaged Israel on multiple occasions and taken many captive. They were a brutal people and dragged many of their captives back to Nineveh with meat hooks. To put it plainly, Jonah despised them.

But there is another side to Jonah's background, and you see it in his comment above. “I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.”

Now Ask yourself, how did Jonah come to this understanding of God?

Just do a word search for the phrase, slow to anger. It shows up at least 14 times in the Old Testament. The passages extend from Exodus to Nahum. Another aspect of Jonah's life, which we only see in 2Kings 14:25, was that he was the son of Amittai, the prophet. It was not unusual for many of our biblical characters to be the son of a priest or elder. If that were the case, Jonah would have had a proper education in the local Synagogue school. His education would have required him to memorize the known books of the Law and writings of the prophets. Therefore, Jonah would have had tremendous insight into God's nature and character. How could that be a bad thing? It wouldn't unless, you are actively maintaining un-forgiveness toward a people group, and Jonah was.

Look at what Jonah said,

• “was not this what I said while I was still in my own country?”
  Apparently, Jonah tried to reason with God.
• “Therefore in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish,”
  What is Jonah trying to forestall - God showing mercy, contrary to Jonah's wishes? Secondly, there is the aspect of forestalling. To do that he effectively runs in the opposite direction of where he is supposed to go, and that required a boat ride. We have no maps that indicate a town called Tarshish in Jonah's day. Many, however, have pointed to Southern Spain as the location of Tarshish. That is definitely the opposite direction.
  • “for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, low to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.”
    If you read my posts, then you also know that I have a thorn in my flesh – a study leader. This leader, in opposition to what Jonah understood, and the word of God, on a weekly basis, explains that everyone reaching the Great White Throne will be sent to a fiery hell. An in-depth reading of Matthew 25's account of the sheep and goats, is, though given different names, the same scenario we see in Revelation 20. One demonstrates an angry God, while the other shows us a gentle shepherd. Both indicate a group that chose not to follow Christ and therefore follows their leaders to the same hell. And both have books out of which Jesus makes His decision.
    In Matthew, the shepherd, finding simple acts of kindness in those books, allows those He called sheep to enter into the glorious kingdom, and therefore escape hell. It's all in the details, but details, are tedious for some. And, those details we find in scripture, you know, often point out how wrong we are, as they demonstrate that some teaching or belief we hold, is blatantly wrong and false, and no one wants to hear that. My wife asks me why I put myself under a false teacher. Don't think for a moment that this man is the only one. The pastor, whom my wife reveres, had many of us as a captive audience at a mountain camp where he told us while explaining communion once again, that Jesus, in the garden that night, did not want to go to the cross for us. So, false teaching is not that uncommon. While I am painfully aware of how grave this situation is I have not been called to fight with these men, for in so doing I move into the realm of judgment.
    Let me ask you an obvious question. Have we been called to be God's judges here on earth, or to show mercy and demonstrate His character? The answer is “show mercy.” This theme is detailed throughout the New Testament, and I will let you find that on your time. The ugly and more demanding aspect of the question revolves around judgment, something that has been taken out of our hands.
    David may have been anointed as king, but Saul still sat on the throne. And, Saul wanted David dead. While hunting for David, Saul stops in a cave to relieve himself. David and his unruly band happened to be hiding in that same cave. Given the opportunity to kill Saul, David chose not to, and thus we see his thoughts in 1Samuel.
    1 Samuel 24:12, 15 GW May the LORD decide between you and me. May the LORD take revenge on you for what you did to me. However, I will not lay a hand on you. 15) So the LORD must be the judge. He will decide between you and me. He will watch and take my side in this matter and set me free from you."

John 5:22 NASB "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son (Jesus,)

Jonah's depression has retaken hold of him, and therefore we see this:

Jonah 4:3 NASB "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life."

Two things jump out at me as I read this.

1. Wasn't Jonah dead already?
   I guess to be fair, he didn't ask to be brought back to life, or did he?
   (Right in the midst of writing this I finally took Dad out to the Mexican restaurant I had promised once he had recovered from his surgery. Dad, having not seen much of me lately, asked what's going with me, and I began telling him about what I had been learning as I wrote about Jonah. He listened and then said, I think God prepared “a special fish,” one that could maintain an adequate oxygen supply for Jonah, and therefore Jonah never died. To try to bolster his argument dad added, Jonah was able to think and pray.)
   The problem with this kind of thinking is that it ignores common sense and logic by excluding the idea that God would not merely use what was available. Some examples would be:

• • That NO fish could provide a livable environment.
  • That medical documentation demonstrates how we lose consciousness after 30 to 40 seconds, therefore allowing Jonah the time for thought;
  • It also throws aside what Jesus said about Jonah being a sign, as he was three days and nights in the belly of a fish. This statement by Jesus was made was to Pharisees and scribes for the purpose of establishing a common thread between Jonah and what was to happen to Jesus shortly.
  • One other thing, because of Jewish tradition – that believed the soul finally parted from the body after three full days, Jesus words, meant that He acknowledged that Jonah had died out there in that fish.

2. If being dead was high on Jonah's list, then why did he say all those words we see in chapter two? Specifically:
   Jonah 2:7-9 NASB "While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple. 8) "Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, 9) But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD."

It sounds like he was calling out to God, knowing that God would and could save him. You should be picking up on the general idea that God would and could save us as well?

God did not respond to this depressed, angry whining, but quietly said,

Jonah 4:4 NASB The LORD said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?"

Jonah thought he did, and so did I. I can only speak to my experience, as we are not privy to Jonah's. I wasted a significant portion of my life maintaining the chains and bars of the prison I kept in my head; a prison in which I held those people that hurt me. It was part of the payment I thought they owed me.

Jonah 4:5 NASB Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.

What did I just miss? We have to back up to chapter three to rehearse what happened.

Jonah 3:10 NASB When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

So, Jonah got the word that he was to deliver, and it went like this, “Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!” (Contemporary English Version)

What happened next is beyond belief? Why, because we lack a tremendous amount of information. In my previous post “Dispelling some Myths - Jonah chapter 3,” I posed a hypothetical situation in which an Assyrian worshiper of Dagon, the fish god, happened to be at the beach when the whale spewed Jonah upon it. If that person took this information and shared it with everyone they met along the way and all through Nineveh, it might explain the overwhelming response to the unfavorable words Jonah delivered to them.

Important points that the word shows about these people and their response. Jonah 3:5-10 NASB

• “the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.”
• The king in following the lead of the people covered himself with sackcloth and ashes.
• The king ordered a proclamation written which included man and beast. It stated that all must demonstrate repentance by covering themselves in sackcloth and ashes.
• And then, all must “call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from violence which is in his hands.

How did God respond to their actions?

4:10) When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

So, where do we find Jonah at this point? Sitting on a hill outside of town, watching and waiting for God to destroy them. Did he miss the memo? Did he not see their actions? Did, what seems like common acts of repentance, mean nothing to Jonah?

All you would have to do is start counting the days. And yet, we have nothing to help us with that. Like so many other things, we are left in the void.

Jonah 4:2 NASB He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

For all we know, Jonah saw their acts of repentance and immediately knew what would happen next.

Jonah 4:6-8 NASB So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7) But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8) When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."

Sitting, waiting for these hated people to die, God appoints a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade. I don't know how to perceive this situation because I know that God can do miracles. However, it is reminiscent of Mickey Mouse portrayed as Mickey and the Beanstalk, where the beanstalk grows overnight at an unbelievable rate. Quickly the situation changes as the next day a God-appointed worm eats that same plant, and now the sun is beating down on Jonah's head.

Once again, Jonah turns suicidal.

Jonah 4:9 NASB Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death."

Did Jonah have good reason to be angry, even to death? All Jonah had was his hatred and bigotry. Is that a good excuse? Sorry, but no. Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, said, that having your debts forgiven is predicated upon you forgiving.

Matthew 6:12, 14-15 NASB 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ... "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

I participate in several different groups, from a variety of churches, but they aren't that different for there a consistent lack of understanding, and a limited desire to pursue God's word that permeates all three groups. Asked to join an evening group I am currently doing a book study. We are looking at Max Lucado's book, Facing Your Giants. We were attempting to discuss the fifth and sixth chapter in which the topic of forgiveness was covered. Max Lucado finally spoke in terms I could understand, as he, on page 48, said,

“God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven. He wears the robe and refuses to share the gavel. For this reason, Paul wrote, “Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Romans 12:19 MSG). Revenge removes God from the equation. Vigilantes displace and replace God. “I'm not sure you can handle this one Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly. I'll take this matter into my hands, thank you.”

The problem is, we barely touched on this. One of the men tried to oppose me the previous week, as he said, forgiving is hard! I responded with, No, it is easy, what is hard, is accepting that you have no power over that person, and all your energies are useless.

Jonah 4:10-11 NASB Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11) "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

While I never saw anything said about the plant dying in verse 9; apparently God saw Jonah's heart. Jonah's anger had nothing to do with the plant. He wanted all of those people dead.

You can see that God destroys Jonah's lack of focus when He says, “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand.” I always took this to indicate a lack of common sense. But I have learned so much by doing this study, and one of those things came as I looked at other translations of Jonah 4:11. The Amplified Bible indicates that the 120,000 were innocents - “persons not [yet old enough to] know their right hand from their left, and that is who God is protecting here more than those repenting.

While I have heard several pastors point out how Jesus had compassion on the doves and other animals that were being sold in the temple courts, for he emptied their cages and then threw them. Perhaps, in mentioning the “many animals,” God was taking a jab at those who had repented by their actions, knowing full well what would become of their great nation.

Think about the devastation that would come should God ignore their pleas. We see an example of destruction when fire and brimstone rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah, and everyone died, including innocents.

My study on Jonah is done for now. However, every time I do these studies I learn, things I have never heard; and, I unlearn some garbage. The result is that God always gets bigger and more valuable in my mind. Does any of this imply that I wish to test God's patience and resolve by throwing myself into choppy seas so that a big fish can spit me onto the shore, and entire communities will repent? Not a chance. I am content to let His love grow in me, and occasionally share with those that are willing to listen.

God bless you on this fascinating journey we travel, for we who are followers of Jesus are profoundly blessed, whether you realize it or not. While those outside the family, are loved, longed for, and pursued by a passionate God. Don't waste your time hating. Simply absorb yourself in His passion and watch what he can do.

Dispelling some myths - Jonah. Chapter three.

When I was a child watching cartoons on the television, there was a character named Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties. Every week he would get caught up in some suspense with the bad guys, and end up hanging off a cliff or trying to save his girlfriend Nell, who was always put in some perilous situation. The drama was quite intense, and they always left off with, “will our hero save her in time?”

Well, this story about Jonah is not so different, as Jonah is thrown into a turbulent sea. No one reading this thinks he has a chance. Then, a massive fish swallows him whole. How often does that happen? And, contrary to what we see in Pinocchio, there is no chance of survival in the belly of any fish. Therefore, Jonah, whom we have previously demonstrated from scripture, dies. God, however, in the form of the hero, comes to the rescue and brings him back to life.

God's call comes to Jonah a second time. He gets up, walks an incredible distance to Nineveh, and declares that their destruction will come in forty days. He does not give them an option, and yet the entire town repents and acknowledges God. Having spent enough time around pastors. You would think anyone doing the preaching would be elated to have a whole community change their lives and come to repentance, but not Jonah.

So, let's go back to where we left our (dead or dying) “hero,” Jonah, as he says -

“But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.” Jonah 2:9 NASB

I am splitting Jonah 2:9-10 to make a point. When we read, we ignore small details, such as what Jesus said about Jonah.

Matthew 12:39-40 CJB He replied, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign? No! None will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40) For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the depths of the earth.

One of these details, as you see above, is the idea that Jonah was a sign, and that sign had everything to do with him being in the belly of a fish for an exact length of time. Because some will only read this and not the previous posts, I repeat the understanding that Jewish tradition taught that the soul did not leave the body until it had been dead for three days. Jesus, contrasting himself to Jonah, spoke volumes to the scribes and Pharisees when he said this. They immediately understood that Jonah was, without a doubt, dead.

So, where does that leave Jonah? Dead, in the belly of a great fish.

Jonah 2:10 Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

Lacking details, we are left to speculate as to when Jonah is brought back to life. Perhaps the answer lies in Jonah 3:1-2. The NASB entitles this next section; Jonah Goes to Nineveh, and thus chapter three really begins.

Did God merely throw Jonah aside? The obvious answer is no. However, there are those that would preach such a message, emphasizing how God now has to get another person to do the job you could not, or would not do. In the judgmental minds of many, God had every reason to reject Jonah? And yet He did not. No, God wanted and needed this man; even more, God needed Jonah's current experience. Hence, we get the notice that the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.

Jonah 3:1-2 NASB Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2) "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you."

There is one other aspect of this story that I have recently become aware of, and that is The fish god Dagon.

“Dagon figures into the story of Jonah, as well, although the deity is not mentioned by name in Jonah’s book. The Assyrians in Ninevah, to whom Jonah was sent as a missionary, worshiped Dagon and his female counterpart, the fish goddess Nanshe. Jonah, of course, did not go straight to Ninevah but had to be brought there via miraculous means. The transportation God provided for Jonah—a great fish—would have been full of meaning for the Ninevites.” From the article “Who was Dagon in the Bible?” As posted on www.gotquestions.org.

Just moments before he had been dead in the belly of a fish, and now we find him on the beach lying face first in the hot sand. For all, we know God saw fit to have witnesses to the event. God says arise, and almost simultaneously, Jonah, suddenly aware that life has come surging back into his body, begins to respond. The brain that should have been irreparably damaged now hears the voice of God, as He says, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.”

Arise is the Hebrew word qûm: A verb meaning to arise, to stand, to stand up. The basic meaning of this word is the physical action of rising up.

So, although the implications of raising Jonah from the dead are there, it is not clear from these words alone. What am I suppose to believe about this, that a dead man was told to get up and go to Nineveh, or that Jonah never died? Neither of these scenarios is plausible. At some point, life came back into Jonah, and the beach is the only practical place for that to happen.

I mentioned what I had found about Jonah, to a dear friend. Without my prompting, he added, it is possible that the person who witnessed Jonah being spewed onto the beach may have been an Assyrian. It is possible that this person quickly jumped on his camel and rode back to Nineveh and told them about this fish man, and that he is headed this way. Considering that on two maps, the distance from the ocean to Nineveh is at least 300 miles at its shortest distance. Where is Jonah, with no money or food and water, going to get provisions for such a journey? That is unless someone who believed in fish gods told everyone he met what he saw and that the man was coming. Not knowing any of this Jonah may have approached wells and asked for a drink, only to encounter fearful looks as they backed away and left him to help himself. Vendors in the marketplace may have pushed their children behind their backs handing the man anything he wanted.

Why is any of this important? Because Jesus told the Pharisees, they would get no sign but the sign of Jonah. If I were looking for signs: getting spewed dead, onto a beach, by a whale, and then being brought back to life, while potentially having someone witness the event, then relating what they saw to the target audience, that a fish man was coming could be considered a sign.

Did Jesus, who compared Himself to Jonah and some significant sign, have any signs of His own? Without a doubt, as the sky went dark at midday; no bones were broken, just as prophecy said; he was beaten beyond recognition as scripture told us; the stone that covered His grave was rolled away and, he arose from the dead, just as he said he would.

Note one other thing here. God tells him “and proclaim to Nineveh the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” Jonah does not even know what the message is going to be. Surely it will be ominous and quick in coming.

Jonah 3:3 MKJV And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the Word of Jehovah. And Nineveh was a very great city of three days' journey.

Once he arrives at Nineveh, where he is to proclaim a message that only then will he be privy to, we are made aware that the town takes three days to walk through, and God has made it clear that all of Nineveh would hear the message.

Jonah 3:4 MKJV 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's word for the people was perfect by his standards - “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” He wanted them dead.

I mentioned how the worship of Dagon is not revealed to us in this story.
Is it something we should ignore? No, for it answers many questions. For example, how would an Israelite walk unscathed through a land of savages that have a record of killing his people? Had I not stumbled upon the information about Dagon, the fish god, I cannot say I would have even thought to pursue such a lead, even though it has always troubled me. Knowing that they worshiped a fish god, and Jonah was spewed from a fish, he would have instant credibility, as apparently Jonah's god had greater power.

The response to what Jonah said was instantaneous.

Jonah 3:5 NASB Then the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.

I always thought that the people responded in kind, as the king covered himself in ashes. It seems that the king followed the lead of his people.

Jonah 3:6 NASB When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.

Why being covered in ashes represents some form of remorse, I don't know, but it seems to be universal.

Jonah 3:7-8 NASB He issued a proclamation, and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8) "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.

What are the mandates this king made?

• Nobody and nothing are to eat or drink.
• Man and beast must be covered in sackcloth.
• And let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.

The alarming aspect is the recognition, on the part of the Assyrians, that this message was a direct result of their wickedness and the violence of their hands. The next thing we see is often used as a truth we apply to our own lives. Regardless of who said it, it does demonstrate the nature of God, something Jonah understood.

Jonah 3:9 NASB "Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish."

The Ninevehites were right, for God has relented on multiple occasions.

Jonah 3:10 NASB When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

We will deal with Jonah's response to all this mercy in the next chapter. It is the reason Jonah ran from God and His potential message in the first place.

Now, what do we do with the disappointment we feel as God shows someone mercy, when we, by our judgment, believe they deserve nothing less than hell's flames?

Don't think this kind of logic is so odd, I wasted most of my life, dwelling on the painful repayment process several men owed me for the damage they did to me as a youth in the church. This entire train of thought falls under the category of un-forgiveness, something we come to realize is a waste of energy, as we grow in the knowledge of the God we serve.

Reread verse ten. The writer used the word relented.

Relented is the Hebrew word nâcham. It means to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, that is, (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself).

So, while God may have had pity or consolation toward Nineveh, that did not mean that He forgot what He said.

The Prophet Nahum seems to speak in code about the destruction of Nineveh. Although the entire book of Nahum is as the Amplified Bible calls it, "THE BURDEN or oracle (the thing to be lifted up) concerning Nineveh [the capital of Assyria]." We are not given clear details as to why Nineveh was brought to ruin, and, we are not given details as to who conquered them, nor how. And yet, history demonstrates that God's judgment did come to pass against them.

Nineveh shall be overthrown!

Nahum 3:7 NASB "And it will come about that all who see you Will shrink from you and say, 'Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"

Regardless of when it happened God stayed faithful to His word. Still, the purists will say, Ah, but God said forty days! For a God that lives outside of any known dimensions we have, time means nothing. One of the places in scripture this is evidenced is in Daniel's prophecy about the Messiah's return for His own. It is expressed in terms of 70 weeks of years. We, the church, are stuck between the 69^th and 70^th week, a time period that has now lasted over 2000 years. Does this bother God at all? No, as He is appropriately waiting for the full number, which only He knows, to come into the kingdom.

Again, just because we have no details in scripture about some items, is no reason to ignore historical background information, or the lessons we are meant to learn. A common thread we all fall prey to - whether you are a follower of Christ, or, as the Jewish mind thinks, an idolatrous Gentile - is the foolish belief that just because you did not get caught, then God must not care or see. Oh, He sees everything, for there is nothing that is hidden from His view. And, I think Jonah came to understand this concept clearly.