February 1, 2010 (Jonah, 2 Chronicles 26, 2 Kings 15)

Jonah - so much good stuff in the short, four chapter book. I'll try to hit the high points:

¹ The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

³ But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

God told Jonah to give a message to the Ninevites, a message of judgement, giving them a chance to repent, but Jonah went the opposite direction - 'to get away from the Lord'. There is nowhere that we can go that will allow us to 'get away' from God. So he jumps on a ship heading the opposite direction and God causes a violent storm to overtake them. Long story short, they determine that it is Jonah that has 'angered the gods' and they confront him about it. Jonah knew that the storm was all his fault. He admitted as much and told them to throw him into the sea and the storm would stop. But they didn't want to do that to him. Here's the story:

¹³ Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. ¹⁴ Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”

¹⁵ Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! ¹⁶ The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

¹⁷ Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

So much good stuff in just those few short verses. God can use even our disobedience for His glory. The sailors were awestruck by the power of God and vowed to serve Him. And then we see that God had arranged for a great fish to be there at just the right time to swallow Jonah. Here's probably where some people think the Bible is just a bunch of 'fairy tales'. Do I understand how it could have happened, 'no'. Do I believe it happened, 'yes'.

So Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and nights. Plenty of time to think about his life and about how truly powerless he was. And finally, here is the last part of his 'musings':

⁷ As my life was slipping away,
I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you
in your holy Temple.
⁸ Those who worship false gods
turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
⁹ But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
and I will fulfill all my vows.
For my salvation comes from the L ord alone.”

¹⁰ Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

So God again tells him to go to Ninevah, and this time Jonah obeys. The Bible says the city was so large it took Jonah three days to see it all. So Jonah preaches a message of judgement and all the people took it to heart, from the king to the servants, and all of them fasted and tore their clothes to show repentance. And here was the King's response:

⁸ People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. ⁹ Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

And here was God's response:

¹⁰ When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Instead of paraphrasing, here is the final chapter:

Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Mercy

¹ This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. ² So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. ³ Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” (The wickedness of this city was well known. Jonah wanted them to die.)

⁴ The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

⁵ Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. (Inwardly he was hoping that the city would be destroyed). ⁶ And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

⁷ But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. ⁸ And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”

“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. ¹¹ But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

We see God's heart as compared to man's heart. God has a heart of compassion, love and mercy. I think the problem is that we don't see ourselves as God sees us. Jonah was probably comparing himself to the people of Ninevah and feeling rather 'righteous', instead of comparing himself against the holiness of God and seeing that he deserved the same punishment. So instead of being thankful for a merciful God that would spare not only the people of Ninevah but himself, he was a spoiled brat.

And now just a few things from 2 Chronicles 26:

⁵ Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.

15b His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.

¹⁶ But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷ Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. ¹⁸ They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!” ¹⁹ Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. ²¹ So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord.

We see God's judgement on Uzziah. I think it was because even when he was confronted with his sin, he did not repent.