Jonah, Part IV: Jonah and God's Way

"The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:10-11)

The Aftermath

The work of God has incredibly far reaching effects. Imagine God's work as a massive jigsaw puzzle. Each part must fit together according to a plan and, in the end, it makes one cohesive picture. That being the case, one piece cannot stand alone. When one piece is added it is not simply an accomplishment for the one piece, but for the entire puzzle. One piece necessarily affects the others. This is vaguely how God's holy plan for salvation works. When God touches someone, he does so with the intention of invading all who come in contact with that person. He works in wonderfully creative and intrinsically personal ways. His arms are fluid and constant like a river. He does not work in a vacuum; no, God's resurrection power seeps, spreads, simmers, and solidifies. From beginning to end, his plan is flawless and purifies and precipitates like fire. His greatness is unspeakable and unimaginable.

            Jonah's story is a brilliant display of how God works. In the end, look at all of the great things God did through this cataclysmically glorious chain of events: He spoke to Jonah (1:1), the sailors on Jonah's ship are saved (1:16), He had compassion and saved the people of Nineveh (3:10), and He answered Jonah in His time of need (4:10) and taught Him innumerable lessons (if, indeed, Jonah followed through with them…!). For all we know, many more people may have been touched as a result of God's gifts to Jonah. Plus, here we are something like 2700 years later learning of God's ways through Jonah's life. See, Reader? Ultimately, God's will lines up circumstances between all of us in order to guide us into His unending love. His plan for us as individuals interlocks with his plan for mankind as a whole. All things work together for His glory and, God, "no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:1).

The Cistern

            I'm going to take a short departure from Jonah to expound upon this idea of God's colossal salvation plan: So, walk with me over to Genesis and the story of Joseph. Now, remember the "pit" in Jonah's story? Remember your own personal "pit" that you thought of in Part III? Keep that in mind here as we study the story of Joseph. I'll quickly go over what's going on here. Joseph is the son of Jacob, the guy who wrestled with God and was given the name Israel (Genesis 32:22). Now, Joseph's birth was a gift to Jacob in his old age and so Jacob "loved Joseph more than any of his other sons" (37:3). Because of this, his brothers hated him and, long story short, threw him into a cistern (or a well sort of thing). Eventually, he was taken out of the cistern and sold into slavery to the Midianites (37:28). Scripture tells us that "the Lord was with Joseph." So, God blessed Joseph and he remained faithful to God whether he was in the cistern or in the hands of the Egyptians. He was eventually wrongfully accused of seducing his master's wife and was thrown into prison. Even still, Joseph remained faithful to God. Eventually, through an awesome chain of events you'll have to read on your own time, God brings Joseph out of prison and he is put in charge of the "whole land of Egypt" (41:41). During Joseph's service under Pharaoh there were seven years of abundance in Egypt. The land prospered.

            So that's the beginning of the story of Joseph.

            His testimony is remarkable. Do you see it? Despite the "pits" in his life, Joseph remained faithful unto God. In fact, I'd go so far as to say because of his "pits" Joseph remained faithful to God and look what happens next: He says in verse 52, "… God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." On the other side of it, his suffering sure looks an awful lot like a gift, huh? What used to be a cistern is now an entire countryside exploding with "huge quantities of grain like the sand of the sea."

            So, what of Joseph's brothers who sold him into slavery?

            Because of Joseph's love for God, he shows compassion to his brothers. He gave them provisions, clothing, silver, donkeys, and grain. Towards the end of the story (forgive me, I'm skipping a bunch of the story for time's sake) Joseph's brothers "threw themselves down before him. 'We are your slaves,' they said" (50:18). Instead of holding a grudge and damning his brothers, Joseph speaks life into them. Joseph allows the spirit of God to raise out of him and enter into them: "But Joseph said to them, 'Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them" (50:19-21). Unbelievable! See, Reader, that's what God's work looks like. That's how God moves. God offers forgiveness and abundance. Joseph understood that all of his suffering, all of his rejection hurt like Hell but cultivated Heaven. He understood his role as a human being (Gen. 50:19). In his time spent in the cistern and his time in prison he remained faithful to God… and God remained faithful to him. What was supposed to kill his loyalty to God only made him stronger. It sure looks to me like the cistern and the prison were a gift from God not only to Joseph, but to his brothers and Potiphar. The Lord should be praised before, during, and after our times spent in Sheol.

           

The Lessons

           

The story of Jonah does not end conclusively, but I would hope that Jonah walked away from this with four lessons. Two of which are of God and two are of mankind.

First of all, Jonah (and Joseph… and we) should have learned of God's omnipotence through his experience in the "pit". Through it, we gain an understanding that God has both a small-scaled individualistic plan for salvation (Jonah), as well as a large-scaled corporate plan for salvation (Nineveh).

Secondly, through Jonah's story we experience God's omniscience. Despite the "pit", or should I say through the "pit", God wants only to save us. God is only love. Through the Hell of the fish and scorching sun, God saved. God saved Jonah, Nineveh and even saves us today as we study this story. We mustn't get caught up in the "pit" and miss God's love within and without it. We should remain faithful just as Joseph did in the cistern, in slavery, and in prison so that we can bless others and allow God to finish his deigned work of salvation.

The third realization that I hope Jonah finally understood was that without God, nothing is possible. Conversely, with God, all things are possible. Until we understand our ineptitude as humans, we will be faced with humbling "gifts" as God tries to gain our attention. We need God. The vine that shaded Jonah in the desert was planted overnight… and it died overnight. Jonah was resting and completely unaware. The people of Nineveh were created without Jonah's help, too. We as believers must remember that what we have and who we are was no more created by us than the trees that hold bird nests or the mountains that tower stiff-necked over us. God created all things and to him all things belong. We are inherently incapable.

The final lesson we gather from Jonah's story is intertwined with the third: Yes, we are empty, but with Christ, we are full! We need to realize that our weakness is filled by God's strength. Remember the nursery song, "Jesus loves me this I know… we are weak but He is strong." In him we have all the fullness that can be offered. It wasn't until Jonah realized that he'd rather die before God came in and filled him (John 15:19b). We must die to ourselves in order to let Christ fill us… "body broken and blood shed." When we die, we are raised up… our bodies take on a new form as we become vessels for God's great plan of salvation. In John 16:14-15 we read the words of Jesus that say, "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine." What belongs to Jesus? With little investigation we figure it out: "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power…" (John 13:3). See, Reader, we have all the power of Jesus Christ! We have the resurrection power of the Messiah… Yahweh! Get it? Do you REALLY understand that? "I tell you the truth," Jesus said, "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…" (John 14:12). Jesus inhabits our souls and flows from us into others. That's how God works.

Now, don’t get hung up, Reader, on the validity of the story of Jonah. Don' miss the point. I know it seems weird that a guy would get swallowed up by a fish and live in there for three days, but listen… To the believer, it shouldn't matter if this actually happened. Too many Christians today argue over the interpretation of Jonah, whether it is literal or figurative. It doesn't matter. The point remains the same: God is capable of ALL THINGS. If God wanted to put a guy in a fish for three days, he could. If God wanted to make a vine to shade you from the sun and then have a worm eat it up, he could. If God wanted to put his only Son in a tomb for three days, he could. The point is, God uses whatever means he desires to save us.

Take a look at your "pit" now, Reader. Does it look the same? Look at it with the "mind of Christ." Does your "pit" look like a gift? Even if it doesn't right now, you'll see… it will. God only creates and he only loves. Stop running. Surrender to the loving arms of your Father and watch what he does. Watch how many people he saves because of your faithfulness.

Thank God for the fish. Praise him for the vine. Thank God for the cistern and the prison. Praise God for the cross. 

Jonah, Part III: Jonah and the Vine

"… the earth beneath bared me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God." (Jonah 2:6)

           

The Reasoning

           

            Take just a second with me and think of the darkest part of your life. I know this is a blog and you might be completely zoned out or whatever, but just think with me for a second: What stresses you out when you think about it? What is burning on your mind? What is that thing that aches in your heart in the morning as soon as you wake up?

            That's your pit. Whatever is dragging you down and makes you feel hopeless is your pit.  It could be tangible (such as persecution) or it could be intangible (such as a state of mind). It could be a situation that you have to deal with or an emptiness that can't be dealt with. Whenever the pit is mentioned in this blog series, it is that to which I am referring. Keep that in mind as we continue on with the story of Jonah.

            Chapter four is where the real lesson is taught to Jonah (and to us!). Apparently, the whole fish episode wasn't enough. We find out the reason behind this unreasonably strange course of events. After Jonah was vomited out of the fish, he preached boldly to the people of Nineveh just as God commanded him. The people heard and "they turned from their evil ways" (3:10). It is important to note that God's plan was carried out. Despite Jonah's failure and fear and selfishness, God ultimately did what he wanted. Our will is never greater than God's. Our will is never greater than God's.

            The two verses that hinge chapter three and chapter four are perhaps the strangest two verses that sit back to back in the entire Bible:

            "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened," says verse 10…

            … and is immediately followed by verse one…

            "But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry."

This is the Jonah, right? This is the same Jonah that listened for the voice of God? This is the same Jonah that was confidently praying for God's mercy, right?… the same one who preached to the people of Nineveh? God's mercy and compassion angered him? Verse two plainly tells us why: "This is why I was so quick to flee Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." Jonah ran because he didn't want to save Nineveh. He wanted them to go to Sheol. He hated their sin so much that he wanted to stop God from saving them. See, Reader, this is the essence of human pride. We'd rather stay true to Hammurabi's erroneous code of "eye for an eye" than allow God to carry out his salvation plan for all mankind. It starts wars. It enhances gossip. It's the reason we'd rather sit in our pews than feed the poor. After all, what have they done to deserve to be saved? Shoot, even John, Jesus' so called "Beloved", wanted to cast down fire upon an entire village (Luke 9:54). We're all guilty of damning people like Jonah did. We all want to play God and save the people who we think deserve salvation. Instead, we must realize that the True God came to save ALL men and women… regardless of nationality, social status, level of proclivity to sin, age, background, etcetera. God loves all of us just as much as he loves his son Jesus (Isaiah 54:10, Matthew 10:30, John 3:16, 14:20, 15:9, 16:14-15, 1 John 4:4:9).

            His laments continue: "Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live," (v.3) Finally! Finally, Jonah gets it! Yes, Jonah, it is better for you to die than to live. Jesus would say, "the man who wants to save his life will lose it…," (Matthew 16:25). Marriage provides a wonderful illustration for this point. (Marriage, by the way, perfectly depicts our relationship with God in more ways than I can comprehend! Absolutely wonderful! Check out Romans 6-8!) A couple years ago I was with my older brother when he was just days away from marriage. I asked him what he was feeling. "Marriage is like death," he said. My family and I laughed and poked each other with our elbows. One of us sighed, "… Oh, Ryan…" as if to dismiss his comment as pessimism. He didn't crack a smile. He went on to explain the necessity of death for marriage. In other words, he is saying goodbye to selfish pleasures; he is killing the Bachelor Ryan so that he may resurrect as Husband Ryan. In much of the same way, we must die to ourselves in order to serve God. We must live for his glory setting aside our ways for his ways. Because, after all,  "… love is as strong as death…" (Song of Songs 8:6). Jonah says that he'd rather die than live. I would agree with him. I want God to spend my life.

What would happen if every time we found ourselves in a "pit" we faithfully thanked God? What would our lives look like if we were in a perpetual state of faithfulness unto our Creator? Could it be that God occasionally brings us to the point of exhaustion so that we have nothing else to do but cry out to Him? Could it be that this is where God wants us all… with our backs up against the wall in surrender ready to die for Him? Yes, yes, yes! We must die to ourselves and let God live within us. Where there is sin, he offers mercy; where there is death, He offers life (Romans 5:20, John 10:10). Without him we have nothing. Without God's judgment we are left with our own… which is always Hell. Therefore, look at your "pit" with the new eyes you have. It should look very different. It should look like a gift.

The Vine

God's response to Jonah's laments is similar to the way he responded to Job's: "'Have you any right to be angry?'" (4:4). Sassy! To further his point, God places Jonah in another hellish scenario in which Jonah can do nothing but cry out to God. He is placed in the pit yet again. So, Jonah sulks in the desert. While he's sitting there in the desert God provided a vine to shelter him from the sun's heat (v.5). This strange story gets even weirder as God takes away the vine that he that he made for Jonah. Again, Jonah wants to die because it's so hot (v. 8). As Kempis said, nothing from God is insignificant… so what is the point of the vine if God simply takes it away by morning? God does what He likes to do in all of us: He expands Jonah's horizons. The life of a believer is full of these types of situations. God is constantly trying to show us the massive wide-angled view of his plan. Our God is a Consuming Fire (Hebrews 12:29) and sometimes he speaks through a "scorching east wind" and a "blazing sun" to show where we fit in the history of mankind.

God plainly explains to Jonah: "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow… But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand who cannot tell their right hand from their left and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" (vs. 10-11). Basically, the Lord is telling Jonah to take his eyes off of himself and to place them on the bigger picture. Jonah, stop looking at your own discomfort and be mindful of what I am doing! You didn't create Nineveh any more than you created the vine. I create ALL things. So often we try to fit God into our lives while we miss what He is trying to get accomplished right before our eyes. It helps me from time to time to establish what the "vine" is in my life lest I get caught up in the discomfort of its green, thorny branches.

A big fish… a small vine… and a scorching hot lesson… Is that the end of the story? Well, hopefully it didn't stop there for Jonah and it certainly does not stop there for us…

Jonah, Part II: Jonah and the Pit

Reader, do you ever look at pain and sorrow as a gift? Is my emptiness and confusion a gift? Was the fish that swallowed Jonah a gift from God to the people of Nineveh?

           

The Prayer

In his classic work, The Imitation of Christ, the blunt Thomas á Kempis wrote, "Nothing given by the Most High God is insignificant. And if he should give you pain and sorrow, you ought be thankful, too. For whatever he permits he does for our own good."

Lately, through cloudy personal circumstances, I've come to a place where I often take inventory of what I have. What has God given me? I'm not talking about material things or possessions as much as the places and times He's given me. Who is in my line of sight? What are the circumstances in which God has intentionally placed me? Why?

            I've mentioned in previous entries the importance of being attentive believers who notice God's instruments. The Spirit will teach us "all things" and if we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, listening and watching Him is our lifestyle (John 14:26). God's intentions are never frivolous. God's motives and His means should never be overlooked. He is actively involved in our everyday lives. To Him there are no "spiritual matters" divorced from "physical matters." Every part of our lives are spiritual because we are spiritual beings. God-breathed beings.

            After trying to flee from God by boat, Jonah is thrown overboard in an attempt to calm the raging storm. Here's the memorable climax to the narrative… Jonah gets swallowed up by a giant fish. For three days and three nights he sat alone in darkness in the belly of a fish. Jonah cries out to God. Isn't it funny that a man who runs from God can also, at the same instant, call upon God?! The Thing that scares Jonah the most is the very same Thing that calms him. The very judgment of which God wished to warn Nineveh was now Jonah's judgment: Hell. There is significance in anything He permits or creates.

            While in the belly of fish, Jonah reached a crossroads. At this point, he could have kept running from God by choosing to ignore Him. He could've just sat in darkness waiting to die. Instead, though, something profound happens: Jonah prays. His voice, perhaps in a violent scream, reverberates off of the fish's malodorous loins. One might expect his prayer to be one of abhorrent rage or even a plea for death… or the opposite… a miracle. Instead, Jonah prays in Hebrew's perfect tense. He prays "from the depths of Sheol" a confident, faith-full prayer that sounds as if he's already been saved: "In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me." He goes beyond a recognition of God's saving power as he begins to utter thanksgiving: "But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you" (v. 9). Isn't this the same man who ran from God at all costs? This doesn't sound like a man who is in Hell. This sounds like a changed man… like a new man. Hold on... newness inside Jonah's darkest hour? Yes, God can create even in our "pit." He only gives. 

            Eventually, God commands the fish to spit Jonah out (v. 10).

            He was saved. This begs the question… What in the world was God thinking? Why was Jonah put through all of that? God placed him in Hell for three days and three nights! What's going on here?

            Jonah's damnation was far from fruitless. As the opening of this entry suggests, nothing God does is haphazard. God makes no rash decisions. He only makes perfectly just and impeccably planned decisions. I like to think that Jonah sat in the fish for maybe two days and contemplated his life. I wonder if he sat there covered in seaweed (2:5) as he was struck with a thought: The Lord my God is faithful. He has never left me or forsaken me. Though I am in the pit of Hell, my God is still worthy to be praised. I like to think that that's what initiated his prayer.

           

The Hellish Gift

           

            Chapter 3 finally uncovers the mystery of Jonah's hellish experience. God was able to use him to speak to the people of Nineveh. If it weren't for his damnation, perhaps Jonah never would have been broken enough to call upon the Lord. He probably would have been sleeping in the belly of a boat ignoring the wave-breaking breath of God.

            So, now you see, Reader, Sheol was not only Jonah's gift from God, but also Nineveh's gift from God. God only creates, gives, and restores. His gifts do not look like normal worldly gifts (Matthew 7:11, John 14:27). No, no, no. His gifts keep on giving. They transform, bleed, penetrate, breath, sparkle, and they breed. He is our gift and we are His.

            I want to be as clear as I can here, Dear Reader. I'm NOT suggesting in any way that God brings calamity or that He likes to strike us down like an angry grandpa. All I am suggesting is that it is God's will to save every man (John 3:16-17, 12:32  and countless other references!). God desires an intimate relationship with all of us and He does all that He can to romance us into His grace. Sometimes that looks weird and sometimes it looks confusing. But it always turns out to be grace. It always turns out to be far better than we could've imagined. God cannot be overestimated.

            My point, Reader, is this: Don't, whatever you do, overlook the Holy Spirit's attempt to save you. For Jonah it happened to be three days and three nights in the belly of a giant fish. For Jesus it was three days and three nights in a tomb. Both were spent in darkness and both begot salvation (Matthew 12:40). We must keep an eye out for God's gifts and we must learn to respond to them with tender hearts. I need to be attentive to what the Spirit is teaching me and mindful of the ways in which He chooses to speak. Sometimes it even looks like death, but He is life.  

Jonah, Part I: Jonah and His Way

Preface

            I find the story of Jonah to be one of the most fascinating books of the Bible. Of course, as I've grown up I've heard this story probably one hundred and seventy three times. In the last year, though, I've read it with new eyes. It is such a classic story that is repeated again and again in Sunday School classrooms. Because of that, though, I believe that adults fail to recognize the enormity of the narrative. The climax is easily recalled, but the aftermath is completely lost. It only takes up about a page in my Bible, but the lessons I've gathered from it are innumerable. I'm about to jump into it, so, Reader, I'd suggest that you read it again if it's been a while.

…here we go…

The Word

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai," says verse one. Let's stop there. I always thought of Jonah as a rebel. You know… someone who is running from God; someone who displeases the Lord. While that may be true, that ought not be the summation of Jonah's character. "The word of the Lord came to Jonah…" because he was a righteous man who sought after God's will. Whenever we read about the word of the Lord, change takes place. God's word, His breath, is irrevocable and unimaginably creative. John wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." (John 1:1-2). God's Word creates. We must tune our ears to the perfect pitch of God's whisper. Applied to the life of Jonah, we can gather that he was familiar with his "shepherd's voice" as he heard God say, "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." (vs. 2). Yes, Jonah may have run from the Lord, but we must not write him off as a bad man. It takes an attentive and sensitive believer to live a life quiet enough to feel God's breath. And it takes hearing God's voice to run from it; it takes someone who knows what's straight to know what is crooked.

           

The Great Contradiction

            Jonah was a righteous man who listened to God's voice and cried out to God in times of stress (2:1-9). At the same time, though, he would rather die than to carry out the will of God (1:12 and 4:3). When the sailors on his boat asked him who he was, his definition was something similar to what we might say: "I… worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land" (1:9). Jonah knew, as the demons do, that God exists, but he expanded to say that he worshiped God. Yet, he still denied God's command.

Since Adam, we, as followers of Jesus Christ, share the same contradiction as Jonah. In our hearts and with our mouths we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We boldly declare that God created the heavens and the earth. We deny all other gods and burn all of our idols. We go to church on Sunday (maybe even Wednesday, too!) and worship our Lord and Savior. God asks us, Who do you say I am? to which we respond, You are the Christ! We are Pro-Life because we know God created all of us with purpose and with a soul. We know and teach that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. We tithe. We send money to Africa. We love the poor and treat others as we want to be treated. With faith we pray for miracles. We disciple others and lift each other up in prayer, believing that God can do great things. Our ears are acutely tuned to God's harp and we spend time with Him behind closed doors. Yes, we say, Our God is above others and He knows all. Yet, when it comes to allowing God to have His will carried out in us, we tarry. 

            We carry in the same Body that finds shabat in the arms of God the contradictive spirit that denies His will. I love the way Eugene Peterson elegantly phrased it: "Defining God down to the level of our emotions, and thinking and then demanding that God work by the terms of our agenda, is set aside in favor of a life of worship and prayer, obedience and love-- a way of life open and responsive to what God is doing rather than one in which we plot strategies to get God involved in what we are doing." God does not exist to be a part of what my life is about. I shouldn't walk around everyday trying to fit God into my working, eating, playing, talking, etcetera. Rather, we exist to fit into God's Orchestration. We have been invited to join in God's Great Dance. It's not ours. So, the question here is this: Do you or don't you believe that God knows all and works together all things according to His will? It is black and white. If you do believe that God is omniscient and omnipotent, your life should look differently. It should be one bent on serving God's purposes. We should be a fearless group of people. It is the essence of our faith. Running from God is an activity set aside for those who deny God's existence. "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:39)