JONAH A FUGiTiVE AMBASSADOR. JONAH 1.

No ambassador had a higher calling than the prophet Jonah, when the word of the Lord came to him. Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, and Zephaniah boldly announced that their writing was inspired (or breathed upon by God), as the "word of the Lord came to them also." What authority God gave to Jonah.

His name means ‘ dove’, signifying that he was to be true to his mate for life, would keep the nest spotlessly clean, would have no spleen (that is, no vitriol), and gave an insight into the character of the Holy Spirit, Who settled dove-like on our Lord Jesus at His baptism. Jonah was brought up in a home where truth was taught and practised, for such was the meaning of his father’s name, Amittai. Great men owe much to godly fathers and mothers, as well as to grandparents.

God commanded Jonah to get up, go to the great city of Nineveh and cry against it. V2 Had Jonah reclined, relaxed or recuperated so God needed to stir up His servant? When lethargic, we must be stirred. But why did God send Jonah to that immense city of Nineveh? Why did He give such a tough assignment? It was notably a crooked city, for God spoke of its ‘wickedness,’ which the Hebrew said was ’malignant, noxious, injurious, and harmful.’ Too tough for Jonah!

His task was to ‘ cry against it ‘ as a specific message, to a specific person for a specific purpose. Jonah had no doubt of his calling. This notion of ‘crying’ recurs in this first chapter, as the dominant thought. Life is simple for the Bible teacher, who grasps such a simple strategy in his preaching. God explained that ‘ their wickedness had come up before Him ‘, translated in the Living Bible, ‘ that it stinks to high heaven’. The holy God is sensitive to all sin, and is offended by it.

The Grand prix racing has been held in our city, once the ‘city of churches ‘ in Australia. Each year the final night unleashed unrestrained revelry and dissolute conduct over the whole city, with alcohol and drugs adding moral devastation. Ten weeks later the number of abortions jumped alarmingly, sixty percent.

‘ The wickedness is come up before me ‘ describes the city of my birth.

God’s perfect plan seemed to come unstuck, when ‘Jonah rose up to flee from the PRESENCE OF THE LORD 'V3, which described the ‘ face, favour, awesome fear, and forefront ‘ of Jonah’s God. How come such a mighty preacher could behave so contrary. He determined to head for Tarshish, which was as far west as civilisation had extended, while Nineveh was north east. He searched frantically for a ship and found one. God gave him liberty to do so. He paid the fare, reminding us that rebellion exacts its own price. When Jonah ‘went down into the ship’ he became one with the heathen captain and crew, forgotting that ‘ we are not to love the world neither the things that are in the world, for if any man loves the world the love of the Father is not in him’. Had God chosen the wrong man for such a momentous task? V3 Again we read the distress signal that ‘ Jonah had chosen Tarshish rather than enjoy the ‘Presence of the Lord’. Many profess His Name, but sadly do not know His fear, His face, His favour and His forefront?

The Presence of the Lord comforts the saints, but terrorises hardened sinners. For example, the Lord said to Jacob, ‘ Behold I am with you, and will keep you in all places where you should go.’ Jacob responded saying, ‘ Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.’ So solemn was the experience that Jacob called the place Bethel, meaning the house of God. (Genesis 28:15-19). Also, The Presence of God overawed Moses when the Lord appeared to him in ‘the bush that burned with fire but was not consumed.’ (Exodus 3:12.)

The risen Lord Jesus assured us that He was with us as we go into all the world and preach the gospel. When our children were young, we lived in a village in Indonesia among nationals, yet we drew our strength, from the powerful presence of our God.

Yet such presence awakens terror in the lives of the sinner. Jeremiah (5:22) asks, " Do you not fear Me, says the Lord. Will you not tremble at My presence. Jeremiah strengthens his question reminding his people that " The Lord has placed the sand as a bound of the sea by a perpetual decree." Australia is bounded with eight thousand miles of white, sandy beaches, showing the magnificence of His presence. The pounding surf reinforces God’s decree and preserves those boundaries.

God responded to Jonah’s rebellion with a hurricane or whirlwind, for such is the meaning of ‘ the great wind and mighty tempest’. V4 The Lord supremely controlled the event. The Mediterranean Sea does not normally have ferocious storms, but God had intervened. The ship with its crew and complement were endangered, for the ship could be shattered with the force of the hurricane. The God Who sent this turbulence was able to silence the storm, as our Lord Jesus did on the Sea of Galilee, but not before the crew was introduced to faith in the true God and the recalcitrant Jonah brought low before the living God.

Understandingly, terror gripped the crew (v5) as the wooden vessel creaked and groaned as the ship dived into the trough, was lifted precariously high, and then plunged to the depth. Little wonder that they cried or shrieked or howled in anguish to their false gods of wood, iron, and stone. They discarded their cargo, reminding us that materialism offers no heart support when life is imperilled and all hope has gone. It is so in our society.

Where was the prophet of God while the storm raged and fear seized the heart of each sailor? In a deep sleep! (V5) The shipmaster approached Jonah, ‘coming into intimate proximity with him, as though he would touch him, and physically arouse (or shake) him’ as the language states. The captain’s rebuke stung the man of God, calling him ‘ sleeper’ or one drugged or under an anaesthetic. He showed remarkable insight, for Jonah, though a devout man, had madly run from his God. Satan had deluded him as though under pain-killer or muscle relaxant.

Are we under Satan’s analgesic, when such storms buffet us?

" What do you mean?" .the captain asked. Jonah offered no logical response, for sin nade him non-sensible. The captain urged him to arise and call on his God. Once again the word ‘call’ or cry features here, even used by a heathen skipper to sting memory and conscience of the runaway Jonah. The shipmaster further surprised when he said, " Will God think on us, that we do not perish ". Jonah knew that the history of Israel proved how God had thought for his people and provided salvation for them. The hurricane added force to the word ‘perish’, which also suggested the downfall of nations, the withering of crops, the fading of strength, hope, wisdom, knowledge and wealth. Yes, they could lose everything. We must redefine perishing to contrast with having everlasting life. V7

The heathen sailors sensed that evil had precipitated this violence. Who then was responsible for the hurricane? They followed a general procedure, drawing lots and by coincidence or divine judgment, Jonah drew the short straw. V7

They asked Jonah to own up to his wrong, and tell them his occupation. (V8) He was embarrassed to tell that he was a preacher, but sworn to silence or in recess. They further pressured him about his origin, nation and people. Jonah knew how priviledged Israel was to have the written word of God, and thus obliged to preach to earth’s four corners. The Holy Spirit gloriously rekindled convicting fire in Jonah. (V8)