Jonah and the Whale

If you grew up going to church, most likely you had some children’s classes. You probably heard about Moses parting the Red Sea, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Samson and Delilah, and Jonah and the Whale. There are probably different versions of the children’s stories, but I tend to think mostly we all got something pretty similar. When it came to Jonah, it probably included something like this: “So instead of listening to God, Jonah thought he would run away from Nineveh and not do what God asked him. He ran to the sea where he found a ship that was going to another city. He paid the captain, went in the lower part of the boat and went to sleep.” Directly from scripture (Jonah 1:3) we see:

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Run Away Jonah. We learned about Jonah running away. We grew up, and we still think of Jonah as someone who ran away. It’s not a good label to put on a person, either. Perhaps better than Judas, but not by much. On his blog “Messy Grace,” Steve Austin, on Tuesday, asked for comments to help him teach a youth group on Wednesday that “Labels Lie.” While I missed the opportunity to comment, it really fits into the Bible book I’ve been reading lately—Jonah—and how I was once called a Jonah by a friend.

My friend decided I was running from my engagement to a mutual friend. He said the marriage was G-d’s will, and I was running away from it. He didn’t accuse me of fearing commitment, which he certainly would have been correct about. And, yes, I ran away from the marriage. Not just from cowardice in the face of commitment, either.

The thing is I really loved the woman. She is an incredible Christian, servant, woman. I’ve followed some of her life since seeing her the last time many years ago: She married a man she served with in WYAM, and later served with him; Along with her husband made mission and medical mission trips overseas; And more trips with her husband and their two boys as they raised them. I’ve prayed for her and her family, too. Occasionally I’ve felt such an incredible burden to pray that it made me hurt for her, and I never learned why. And it doesn’t matter.

Being told I was running from G-d’s will hurt. I couldn’t marry the woman. And I didn’t even know why, at the time. Maybe fear of commitment. Maybe a lot to do with fearing being trapped. Same thing I suppose. But I couldn’t say that to her, or to our friends, for some reason. So I broke up and ran away. And I felt guilty for years. And I’ve played the mind games of “What if. . .” too.

Anyway, is the book of Jonah solely about a man who runs away? Is that the main principle to be learned and taught from the story. Sure Jonah fled to the sea. And, yes, when the storm hit, and the Captain woke him to join the crew in praying, he admitted that the problem might be all his fault, and explained why. (Jonah 1:9,10)

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Aboard a Ship with Jonah. There’s another connotation for the label “Jonah.” It has to do with bringing bad “luck” to those around him. I don’t recall the preacher or the sermon/talk, but I do remember the over-used slogan hammering away at the audience. “Don’t get on a ship with a Jonah.” Bad things happen around people labeled a Jonah. No, sorry to disappoint, but there’s no story about me being considered bad “luck”; I’ve got Midas touch, as one person put it once. In reality, I’ve got G-d’s touch upon me. So do you, if you’ve been redeemed, having turned from sin to the newness of Life, know Y’shuaJesus as Lord, Savior, Son of G-d. Anyway, I don’t really thing that the book of Jonah is really about bad things happening to people around a man who flees from G-d.

Jonah the bad man. There’s a more recent addition to the story of Jonah and the Whale. At least I don’t recall this sort of thing: “The only problem was that Jonah didn’t want to help the people there. He knew they were bad and he wanted them to be punished for their mistakes.” Okay, so it’s true, Jonah, like all Israel, was very familiar with the evil that was the people of Nineveh. And, hey, sure, Jonah knew all to well the threat those heathen Gentile posed to Israel. So Jonah and all of Israel would have been just fine to let Nineveh go up in smoke like Sodom. Did Jonah not want to help the people of Nineveh? No, I’m sure Jonah wasn’t too interested in taking a message to Nineveh that, if acted upon, would ensure G-d’s forgiveness of some bad dudes. But is it fair to characterize Jonah as a person who didn’t care about people. I know, that isn’t what the quote from the child’s story says. But I think, since it appears up in the front of the story, that is what is conveyed to kids, if this story is used.

The Real Point of Jonah. It bothers me that G-d’s spokesperson is characterized as one who doesn’t care about people, runs away from responsibility, and is bad to be around. Here’s my take on Jonah. He cared about his people enough to disobey G-d. That caring drove him to leave, to sail away. And here’s the really cool thing: the people on the boat didn’t worship the G-d of Israel, but that all changed. They met Jonah, and they responded to G-d. (Jonah 1:14-16)

Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

G-d knew Jonah. G-d would have predicted Jonah’s moves. And I’m sure G-d had a plan. Jonah needed some time to come to terms with some key issues. Jonah needed come to an understanding of what he’d done in disobeying G-d, that he’d put his people and the fear of what his people would think before serving G-d’s needs. Jonah also needed to let go of his way of viewing Gentiles as some how outside the mercy of G-d, and to see the way G-d sees all His people—even those who are not the Chosen. Jonah needed a little of what my son calls “swag.” He got that in his breathtaking ride beneath the waves, when he got spewed out onto the beach.

Think about it. Out of a small, despised, people, comes an unheard of man with a message to a powerful, albeit evil, nation, “Repent or Die.” Right. Yawn. But even today, CNN would be right there on the beach when it’s reported that a man is stuck in the mouth of a great fish. Then the camera’s are rolling and Jonah pops out. What an entrance. Now people will listen. Jonah got his fifteen minutes of fame.

Okay. The big message of the book of Jonah is that G-d calls, man rejects, learns from G-d that rejection isn’t an option, and comes out smelling like dead fish and seaweed—er, I mean roses. It’s also about G-d’s concern for Gentiles, to whom He extends mercy. And it’s also about G-d having the right to decide that evil, done even by a people that doesn’t acknowledge Him, needs to be quenched, purged.

And me, what about my accusation of being a Jonah? It seems to me we were not meant to be married. I wasn’t in finished enough shape to be with someone so fantastic. She’d served the Lord for many years. I’d run from Him for as many. She had a calling upon her life, from the age of five, that she’d willingly accepted. I didn’t deserve to have a wife such as she. I needed time in the belly of hell before I could be ready for someone like her. I needed to let her go. That knowledge drove me away. I didn’t run away, but ran toward. Toward the belly of a whale.

All I need is to get some Jonah swag! For that, I’m waiting.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Charged to Preach, Teach, Rebuke, Exhort

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 3:5

In the previous chapter, Paul wrote (3:13,14,15) “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Point One. Continue in what we have learned. Paul has made the point that we will suffer, will be persecuted. He is now encouraging us to stop thinking about new doctrines and interpretations of the Gospel. He is saying to us, like he’s said before, “fight the good fight!” We are to continue in the good that we have been, and have been doing.

Point Two. Remember from whom we learned. “Hey, you’ve learned it and known it . We won’t become deceived if we remember who we trusted when first we believed. We learned the scriptures and a way of life from someone, whether when as a child with our parents or as an adult from another to whom we found life. We knew it, so continue in it. We were assured of it once before, be assured of it now. We must not question ourselves and become lost.

Point Three. Remember that we’ve known the Word of G-d, which is able to make us wise. The Word of G-d is becoming alive within us, continue to allow Him to grow in us and make us wise in Him. We learned from the Scriptures that we are granted salvation by Y’shuaJesus’s death and resurrection, and we follow in faith. We shall not turn from that belief; we shall not turn from the truth of the Gospel.

Point Four. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” v.16. All Scripture. Not a small piece of it taken out of context. All Scripture. It is useable, profitable to us, for ministering within and without the church, to the saved and the unsaved. We are commanded to wash the feet of those with whom we share the communion of the Lord. This is washing of the dirt that comes from walking this imperfect world. We are not their saviour, but their helper in walking in the way of the cross. We also offer instruction to the unsave on righteousness. They may do occasional good things, but they lack true righteousness—they don’t know the Lord as their personal Saviour. We may offer instruction in righteousness that they might see themselves as lacking and turn to the Lord. We must always remember that one day All will kneel before the Lord and understand, and say, that Y’shuaJesus is Lord.

Point Five. “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” v.17. As we continue in the way’s we’ve learned, walking with the Lord, we are being perfected. This perfection enables us to do more good works, to become more like Y’shuaJesus.

In view of all of these points, Paul now compels Timothy, and us—charges us—to Preach, Teach, Rebuke, Exhort. And we are to do it when we know we are “on duty” and when we think we are on holiday. The men and women of G-d are never truly on holiday; we are always on duty. We gaze longingly toward the skies watching and waiting for the Lord to return, all the while we are working.

Lord grant us the strength to fight the good fight, always knowing that one day we will feast with our Lord Y’shuaJesus.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine.

Navigating a Fork in the Way Part Two

“Now to Him who has power to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. . .” (Romans 16:25-26 HCSB)

Okay, in the riddle from part one, you could ask one question of either man, not knowing which would tell the truth to you concerning which fork in the journey to take. Which man would you ask? What would you ask? Did you think about the riddle at all? Did you try out various questions, and see various answers would yield?

Well, the conventionally correct answer is interesting–the answer that is suppose to be correct. Ready? Okay, you ask either man, regardless of which one you THINK tells the truth. The question you ask is this: “Which way would the other man tell me is the right way”? And whatever the answer is, you do the opposite. Think about it! Run the scenario through to it’s natural conclusion. Say you ask the liar what the other guy would say is the correct path. His answer is either left or right, and you are to go the opposite way. If he says “right,” that is because the other guy, the truthful one, would have said “left.” He lied, and said “right.” You do the opposite and go left, which is correct. Run the question as if it was asked of the truthful one. He’ll tell you exactly, and truthfully, what the liar will say. And doing the opposite, gets at the truth. Confused? Yeah, it’s a bit convoluted.

Now let’s take a look at what I called another riddle, the experience of my friend sailing down the river to the ocean. In this story, each gets to the Gulf of Mexico. Each follows a particular pattern of finding directions. For one, it’s charts (maps of waterways), and the other follows a much more serendipitous route. There wasn’t a question associated with this riddle. It’s just a true story, right? It’s not really a riddle, is it? Perhaps not. On the other hand, maybe it is.

Both the riddle and the story are about navigation, about finding the way at a fork in the road. Whether a chart or people we ask on the way, we really don’t if the way we are headed is correct. Is the chart really correct? Are the people we ask really telling us the truth or lying, either intentionally or not? Charts are wrong. People are wrong. We are depending upon an incorrect source for a very important decision. We can be deceived. Yet what else can we do? Can we be as the couple in the trawler who found their way to the Gulf of Mexico despite their lack of charts, wrong turns, misinformation, and such. Most of us are not like that, are we? Yet, I imagine that couple came away with a very interesting experience.

Now let’s consider Christian, we who are Believers in Messiah, who have sat in Church for some time, have heard a lot about knowing or discerning the “right” path. We conclude we are to find our directions through our dependence upon the Holy Spirit. He will guide us. This is our faith walk. In his devotional classic, “Morning to Evening,” Charles H. Spurgeon writes: “Thus it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to him alone.” We are not to depend upon “man.”

So, then, when we approach the fork in the road, we navigate by listening to the Holy Spirit say, “Take the fork to the right,” Or “Take the fork to the left.” David Wilkerson does that. In his blog messages he says things like, I asked G-d and the Holy Spirit said to me. . . this or that. Is that your experience? Be honest with yourself. Do you, one hundred percent of the time, listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit for your directions? And if you listen, do you always hear His voice? Are there not some times, at least, when you walk and simply don’t know what to do? Aren’t there times when approaching a fork in the road, that you don’t hear His voice, and you don’t even see any truth-tellers or liars from whom to glean directions?

Okay, here’s assignment two (homework assignment one was to solve the first riddle, and should have implied solving why the story was also a riddle.) Take time to think, to explore, times in which you’ve come to a physical or emotional or intellectual fork in the road. How did you navigate? Go easy on yourself, though. It’s okay to spiritualize taking directions from someone such as, “In this or that decision, G-d brought so and so into my path to guide me.” See that was easy. G-d spoke through someone. And if you are courageous, ask the hard questions, like: “Did I want someone to ask?” and “Did I ask G-d for some person to help me?” “Am I avoiding G-d in search for a person to tell me what to do?” As a challenge assignment, take some time to think about how you really determine what to do each and every moment of the day. When you have a choice, with what do you fill your spare hours?

And let’s continue this exploration next time.

Lord G-d, Creator, Almighty, teach us, lead us, make us know You, and Your ways. In the Name of Y’shuaJesus. Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, and Shine upon and through you all! Terry