Thoughts On Jonah 3&4
Today, we study the Book of Jonah chapter Three, where God gave Jonah a second chance to preach to the great city of Nineveh.
Reflection:
“Vessels – Useful For The Master”
Key Scripture
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah THE SECOND TIME saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” (Jonah 3:1-2)
MERCIFUL GOD
Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh earlier, and he disobeyed and fled to Tarshish via Joppa. (Jonah 1: 1-17)
Of course, the Lord arrested Jonah, trapped in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights
Mercifully, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, AGAIN, stubborn Love at work!
We serve the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.
The Lord reserves MERCY for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin.(Exodus 34: 6-7)
Historically, many mortals that fell short of the expectations of Jehovah were still given OPPORTUNITY to return and serve Jehovah. Examples are:
Adam (Eden)
Moses (Murder)
Elijah (Lost hope)
David (Killed Uriah)
Peter (Denied Jesus)
Repentance
—————-
The people of Nineveh believed God through the message of Jonah and repented.
Then God saw their works, forgave them, and DISASTER was averted.
(Jonah 3:5-10)
Conclusion
God calls and uses many “unqualified” vessels and gives a second chance to us in spite of our inadequacies.
Vessel For Honour
Nobody takes the honour and privilege of service to Jehovah upon himself.
Indeed, we can all testify to the GRACE of God that located and called us for SERVICE – Not due to our human wisdom, not due to our political influence, and not due to noble birth. (1Cor. 1: 26)
Prayer
(2 Tim.2: 20-21)
Father, we pray that You make us USEFUL, Sanctified Vessels For Honour, prepared for every good work of the MASTER, in the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.
Thoughts on Jonah 4
Jonah 4:2 NKJV
So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, One who relents from doing harm
Exodus 34:6 NKJV
And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth
In today’s chapter, Jonah revealed the cause of his initial reluctance to go to Nineveh. He felt it was better that he dies, than see his pronouncement of judgement over this wicked city unfulfilled.
In this regard, Jonah’s posture reflects how the human mind works, how easy it is for him to be sensitive to his own interests, but easily becomes oblivious to the spiritual needs of others, particularly those who in his estimation, are “undeserving”.
Jonah’s affirmation on the nature of God is in the same as what Moses had earlier revealed in Exodus 34:6
No matter how “personalized” we have made God, the truth about God will not change. He is still the God of the whole world. We may dislike some out there because their habitation is full of cruelty and we can’t wait to see God’s wrath unleashed on them soon enough.
The the prerogative of mercy does not lie with us, it is always going to be according to the pleasure of His good Will. God is slow to anger, favours the undeserving, forgiving, patient with the disobedient, and above all, “He relents from doing harm”.
It didn’t seem fair to Jonah that God would forgive the rebellious Assyrians, even though God has forgiven him, a rebellious prophet.
It’s such a irony that Jonah who had just been so thankful for his deliverance from death (chapter 2:1-5, 9) now wish to die because God demonstrated mercy to Nineveh.
This unwilling stance of not wanting pagans to benefit from the grace of God was what consistently pitted the Jews against Paul in his ministry to the Gentiles as highlighted in 2Thess 2:14-16. They seem to have forgotten their original purpose as a nation – TO BE A BLESSING to the rest of the world (Gen 22:18) by sharing God’s message to other nations so that they will come to know the true God.
If you have become a partaker of the inheritance with Christ, then, necessity is placed on you and I, to whom God has given the ministry of reconciliation, to jettison our self interests to make known His way on the earth and His Salvation among all nations (Ps 67:2).
Let’s take a brake from being reactive, ready to spew judgement here and there. But as we see the Day of the Lord approaching, be more focused on soul winning, allowing God to diffuse through us the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. Hear the testimony of apostle Peter in the house of Cornelius in Acts 10:34-35 NKJV…
Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. [35] But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by by Him
His mercy endures forever.
