On the Same Page: Jonah and Nineveh (Jonah 2:1-6)

  For full message, see link at bottom

Everybody hated Nineveh.  

Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, one of the great empires that that tromped around the Middle East, conquering and destroying and enslaving. The Assyrian empire was conquered by the Babylonian empire, who were conquered by the Persian empire, who were conquered by the Greek empire, who were conquered by Rome, who ruled the world when Jesus was born. The Assyrian empire was just one in a chain of manifest-destiny, survival-of-the-fittest, might-makes-right, doctrine-of-discovery military machines, taking territory, enslaving people, destroying crops, cities, and lives just because they could.  

The Prophet Nahum wrote a message from God, addressed directly to the city of Nineveh: 

The Lord is slow in anger and great in power. The Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished... Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey. The crack of the whip and the rumble of the wheel... Behold, says the Lord of Hosts, I am against you, and all who hear the news of your downfall will applaud, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty? (Nahum 1:3, 3:1-5, :19) 

People hated Nineveh. 

God was angry with Nineveh, so God does what He does when He is angry; God gave them one last chance. And that last chance was Jonah.  

But Jonah didn't want to be Nineveh’s good news. Jonah did not want to be Nineveh’s last chance. Jonah wanted Nineveh gone. He wanted to see their downfall and applaud. So when God told him to go up to Nineveh, he went down instead. God told him to go east: he went west. God told him to travel inland: he went out to sea. 

So God provided a storm to stop the boat.  

Jonah volunteered to be thrown overboard to save the boat because he preferred death over submission.  

So God provided a fish, that sheltered Jonah for three days, and then put him back on land where he started.  

God again said, “Jonah. Go to Nineveh and deliver my message.” Jonah took the hint. 

He made that long walk to Nineveh, 550 miles—900 kilometres—to do something that he did not want to do, but must. Jonah arrived at Nineveh, held his nose, and walked through the city gates. He delivered the message: 

40 days and Nineveh will be overturned. 

‘Put an end to your evil, or,' says God, 'I will.’  

The message found its way to Nineveh’s king, who took it seriously. He mandated days of repentance, and fasting for every living creature in the city, saying, 

Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent. He may turn His fierce anger so that we will not perish. (Jonah 3:3)

And Jonah was like, ‘Yeah, I am not gonna be here for this. I’m not sticking around to see what happens next.’ He went out into the into the wilderness. He built himself a little lean-to, and he sat back and waited. And he waited. And eventually it sank in that the fireworks were not happening. God was not overturning Nineveh because God saw their actions. He saw the people of Nineveh turn from their evil. He relented from the disaster that He threatened to bring upon them. Nineveh had a reprieve.  

Jonah flipped out, shaking his fist, kicking the sand, and yelling at God, “I knew it! I knew this is what you would do.” 

This is why I was so quick to flee. Because I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God. I knew that you were slow to anger. I knew that you were abounding in love and devotion. I knew that you were one who relents. I am so angry right now. I just want to die. (Jonah 4:2ff)

So Jonah sat in the sand by himself complaining in the desert.  

God looked down on Jonah, shook His head, and thought, “What am I gonna do with Jonah?” 

God provided Jonah a vine with big green leaves for shade. It grew up quickly and sheltered Jonah from the desert sun and wind. The text says that Jonah was greatly pleased. He really liked this plant. Maybe Jonah thought that this was God's way of apologizing, of trying to make up for letting him down. It's not a dozen roses, but that kind of a gesture. 

But the next day, just when Jonah was appreciating his plant, God sent a worm to weaken it. Then God provided a hot, dry wind from the desert and the plant died, and Jonah got a sunburn. One more thing for Jonah to complain about. He was furious with God for killing his plant.  

(*This is how the story of Jonah ends--this is the cliff hanger... This is the question mark that leaves us asking, “what happened next?”) The Lord said to Jonah, “That plant sprang up in a night. It died in a night. You care so much about that plant. Why should I not care about the thousands of people—innocent and guilty—in the great city of Nineveh?” 

Curtain. 

______

Last week we looked at how God worked through Esther and Mordecai to further God’s promises to Israel—promises as yet unfulfilled. Promises that (because they were God’s) were unbreakable.  

Covenant promises foreshadowed when Adam, Eve, and the serpent are told that God's enemy will be crushed by the child of a woman. (Genesis 3:15) 

A covenant ratified later in Genesis when God tells Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) 

A covenant advanced in Isaiah: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each one turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid upon Him [the servant, the king to come] the guilt of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) 

A covenant reinforced in Micah: "Many nations will come and say, “Let's go to the mountain of Yahweh God, to the house of the God of Jacob, so that He can teach us His ways so that we can walk in His path.”" (Micah 4:2)  

A covenant given a face in Malachi: "I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me, and then the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple—the messenger of the covenant." (Malachi 3:1) 

A covenant detailed in Joel: "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. On my servants, men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." (Joel 2:28-29) 

A covenant entrusted to us by Jesus himself: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8) 

A covenant we see fulfilled in Romans: "Some of the branches of God's vine have been broken off. And you—Gentiles from all the nations, from all the earth—although you were outsiders, you have been grafted in among the others." (Romans 11:17) 

A covenant complete and celebrated in Revelation: "There before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, every tribe, every people, every language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God Who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb.”" (Revelation 7:9-10) 

That is the story of God's covenant, God’s promises that He is keeping.  

The story of Esther reminds us of Israel's perspective on that covenant: they were going to become a blessing to all families, to many nations. To all the earth.  

If Esther is heads, I would suggest that Jonah is tails. 

Jonah’s story is the covenant from the perspective of the nations, the families, the outsiders--the perspective of all of the earth. 

Through Esther, God preserved His people so that they could share His loving-kindness with the world.

Through Jonah, God shows us what it looks like when He preserves the rest of us, however bad we are, so that we can share in His loving-kindness. God's covenant is for the insiders and the outsiders. For the guilty and the forgiven. It's for Jerusalem. And it's for Nineveh.  

Scripture writers talk about God's loving-kindness—His mercy, grace, and love shown to people who don't deserve it. But God's love flows from who He is. That loving-kindness is the power behind His covenant. Throughout the Old Testament God showed loving-kindness to Abraham, to Joseph, to Israel in the wilderness, to Ruth and Naomi. He showed His loving-kindness to the kings David and Solomon.  

How precious is your loving-kindness, O God, that the children of humanity might take refuge in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 36:7) 

Not just the 'children of Israel'—the children of humanity.  

Jesus spoke of Jonah in His teachings, as an example of what it looks like when a messenger comes with the good news of the opportunity to be part of what God is doing in the world. Jesus said: 

As Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so I will be a sign to this generation. (Luke 11:30)  

Matthew quotes Jesus further:  

The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation [with the insiders] and condemn it. Because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:41) 

Jesus’ question for them and for us today is... So what are you gonna do about it?  

How are you going to respond to the message of Jonah—the message of Jesus? 

God loved the world so much that He sent His Son to keep His covenant—to fulfill His promise—to give both Jerusalem and Nineveh the opportunity to say yes. To God's calling. To God's standards. To God's loving-kindness.  

God's covenant has two faces. 

Israel through whom the blessing comes, and the rest of the world in which the blessing plays out, and is perpetuated into eternity. 

Jonah shows us what it looks like when we, the outsiders, face that open door. When we have the chance to take our place in His promises. 

To hear the full message: