Looking for Smoke, Watching for Fire.
Read Jonah 3-4
God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach of His pending judgment for their sinful ways and call them to repentance. Jonah’s response wasn’t obedience, but a fast dash in the opposite direction and from God’s command.. But then, the storm, the fish, the 3 day ordeal and Jonah repented….or so we thought. His prayer in Jonah 2:8 was profound, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
When we join him in chapter 3, Jonah is headed into Nineveh, a city of over 120,000 people. It was a large and influential city and a visit to all of Nineveh took no less than three days. That’s an important fact to remember.
Jonah began on day one, preaching “40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned”. Friends, this was one man speaking to a wealthy, influential city. Just one. We’ve seen accounts of someone storming a government meeting, shouting their warning- and being quickly whisked away, while all go back to their business. We’ve seen pictures of a man standing in a crowded city with a sign, “the end of the world is near” as people walk by, indifferent to his warning. Imagine Jonah, preaching God’s judgment in such a huge city- he was likely to be ignored, mocked or run out of town. But no. No, Nineveh listened. In fact, they listened so well that within a day, the entire city believed God’s warning. They began fasting and the king even made a decree that everyone should call urgently on the Lord.. Can you imagine a revival like that?! One day and the entire city was mourning their sin. That’s the power of God at work! Jonah 3:10 “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.”
You would think Jonah would be rejoicing- so overwhelmed, excited, and grateful that Nineveh responded to God’s message. But Jonah? He wasn’t impressed. In fact, he was angry. He was self-righteous and resentful. Jonah 4:2-3 “He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to 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. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”” Jonah then went outside the city, made himself a shelter and sat to wait and watch what would happen to the city (v. 5) He wanted to see Nineveh receive what they deserved- a fiery judgment from the Lord. So he waited. He watched. He wanted to see smoke. And his attitude kept him from seeing the blessing and grace of the Lord revealed to over 120,000 souls.
Here’s the thing, Jonah elevated his own standard of justice above God’s. Jonah resented God’s forgiveness of the Ninevites. He wanted to see them receive the just reward for their sinfulness. He was eager to see smoke and he was ready to be smug and say “you got what you deserved!” Yet, he was ignoring the sin in his own heart. Oh, he obeyed God…on the outside, but inside, he was still as resentful, rebellious and selfish as he was when he stepped foot on the boat.
Friends, I fear we are more like Jonah than we might imagine. We have a fierce sense of justice. We hate to see people get away with wrongdoing. We hate to see the wicked prosper. When someone wrongs another, we want to see them caught in their sin and punished for the pain they caused. Yet, what if they repent? What if they confess their sin and seek forgiveness? And what if they receive mercy instead of punishment? If we’re honest, we struggle with forgiveness and mercy toward those who did wrong because it’s not what that ‘other’ deserves. They deserve condemnation. They deserve for God to ‘smite’ them. Our sense of justice might demand they pay a little more, they suffer a bit longer, they earn their way back into grace. Oh friends, God’s justice is not ours. Isaiah 5:16 says, “But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.” Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”
Jonah lost sight of his own sin. He couldn’t see that he was rebellious against God, too. He didn’t see the depth of God’s forgiveness and mercy for him- he could only see the ‘injustice’ of God’s mercy on Nineveh. Jonah was outwardly obedient to God’s command and inwardly turning his back to the Lord’s standards and creating his own. Jonah, himself, had a idol- craving his own sense of justice and fairness, and that idol robbed him of the grace he would receive from God through his surrender and obedience.
Oh, the story of Jonah holds much appeal for our little ones as they learn the miracle of his rescue in the fish. But friends, the story of Jonah holds much for us and our adult sons and daughters in the bigger story of his outward obedience but his inward bitterness and rebellion. It’s not difficult to live in such a way that we ‘appear’ obedient- especially if we were raised in church.. We check all the boxes; we show up as we should; we ‘talk the talk’. But, we can appear outwardly obedient and still rebel against God in our hearts. We can resent his mercy to those who are undeserving….and totally miss the fact that we are just as undeserving. Romans 5:6-8 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We were undeserving. Justice demanded that we pay for our sin with our life- for eternity. Yet, Jesus stepped in on our behalf. He showed us mercy when we deserved none. And if we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, God looks on us and sees Christ’s righteousness. That, friends, is amazing. It’s undeserved. It's a merciful redemption that changes our eternity. And we should rejoice when anyone believes, repents and surrenders to God.
Do we have a Jonah heart? Do we hold others' sins against them even when God has forgiven them? Are we giddy to see people receive punishment or do we pray for their repentance and that they would know God’s forgiveness? Friends, we have nothing to resent when someone is repentant and shown mercy- it should always be a reminder of the mercy we also received from God. We were and are undeserving. We should rejoice in the repentance of others. And if we can’t? Well, then it might be time to check our hearts.
And Jonah? He was the author of this book. He could have resolved the story and shared how he followed God faithfully. He could have painted himself in a much better light. But he didn’t. Jonah ended his story with God’s rebuke against this prophet’s rebellious, vengeful heart. There was no ‘neat little bow’ on top of this story. Instead, there was a hard lesson and an unresolved sin that leaves us to ponder how Jonah, the prophet and author, was used by God in spite of his heart. And he was used by God in mighty ways. Even unbelievers know the story of Jonah- and God can use those seeds to change lives. Our rebellion will never be powerful enough to prevent God from working…but it can be powerful enough to cause us to forfeit the grace that would be ours.
There is no doubt we’ll meet Jonah in heaven and when we do, I’m sure he will have quite a story…but it’s not just going to be about the fish. It’s going to be about his heart and the weight of God’s mercy toward him. Instead of looking for smoke and watching for fire, let’s look to see how God is working and rejoice when He turns hearts and lives to Him.
Let’s take time to pray today for our own hearts and for those of our sons and daughters. Pray for forgiveness. Pray for a surrendered heart. Pray for freedom from a judgmental spirit. Pray that God would use each of us in spite of ourselves. And pray that we would not cling to idols and forfeit the grace He wants to lavish on each of us.
Pray without ceasing.