announcer (00:00:00): It's time to think about the Bible like you never have before. This is Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Here's Rick, Jonathan and Julie.
Rick (00:00:16): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 20 years. Julie, a longtime CQ contributor, is also with us. Today's episode: "Do I Show Up When God Calls, or Do I Run and Hide?" Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?
Jonathan (00:00:35): Jonah 1:1-2: "The word of the LORD came to Jonah... saying, Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me."
Rick (00:00:47): We've all heard of the biblical account of Jonah and the whale. Because it's so unique and dramatic, it has been an often-repeated story with many lessons - and rightfully so. What many don't realize is the magnitude of the events and teachings that surround this amazing circumstance. First, though, one point of clarification; it wasn't a whale. It was a great fish. Alright, now, when we examine how and why Jonah came to be in the unlikely position to be swallowed by that fish and what happened afterwards, we end up with a powerful story of God's will versus our preferences. The bottom line here is that Jonah is an example of what not to do when tasked with godly responsibilities. However, he's also an example of what to do. So, let's unfold this account and see how both of these descriptions can be true.
Jonathan (00:01:44): To frame our lessons for the book of Jonah, we want to think about how we handle challenges when they come our way. What makes us stand or run?
Julie (00:01:53): We have a quote that's often attributed to Auschwitz survivor Viktor Frankl, but the author's actually unknown. Here's the quote: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." We often hear the same principle described as, "Take a deep breath," or "Count to ten before you react."
Rick (00:02:20): This is small, but it's really, really big. In our mind, in our thinking process, this process goes like this. First there's some kind of stimulus, some kind of an input. As part of this stimulus, there's always, always, always an instinctive reaction. For good or for ill, we have some kind of reaction that evokes the second part of the process, which is a response. We had a reaction and now we have a response. In between these two events - in between the stimulus, the reaction, and the response, the action - in between those two, there's a space, perhaps a small space, but a space nevertheless. In this space, in this space lies our destiny. For it's in this space that we make the choices that shape our lives. For Christians, this space is where the mind of Christ should be invited to take up permanent residence. A quick example of this is road rage. You get angry, you're driving and you want to do something. You get that stimulus, that reaction. Then what do you do with it? Do you be destructive or you decide to act differently? Stimulus - space - response; that's what we're going to be looking at here.
Julie (00:03:35): We're going to get into our story about Jonah. Here's a little bit of the history. He lived during the reign of King Jeroboam II of the northern ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. He lived around the time of the prophets of Hosea and Amos. Now this period was an interesting time for Israel. Wars with Damascus weakened the nation, and even more troubling was the rising of the Assyrian empire. Assyria was an enemy of Israel known for its violence and cruelty, and eventually they conquered Israel in 722 BC, about 63 years after the story we're going to talk about today.
Jonathan (00:04:12): The only other Old Testament mention of Jonah outside of the book of Jonah actually verifies his status as a prophet. 2 Kings 14:25: "He (Jeroboam) restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher." Commentary by Albert Barnes states: "This passage tends to fix Jonah's date to some period not very late in the reign of Jeroboam II, that is, from 823 BC to 782 BC."
Julie (00:04:53): Now, the strongest evidence we have that Jonah's experience really happened is that Jesus refers to it as an illustration pointing to the experience he himself would face in providing the ransom sacrifice for mankind in Matthew 12:39-41. There is a lot to study in that comparison that he made, but we're going to leave that for another day.
Rick (00:05:13): Alright, so it's in this context of this background that we begin our story, our review of the account of the book of Jonah, and we're going to divide this into four parts. The first part, Part I, is God's Task. God is going to proclaim a task. What we want to look at is, is there a human or godly reaction to that task? Then we want to look at is there a human or godly response to that task? We're going to look at Jonah, and then we want to be continually asking ourselves, well, how am I doing with this? Are my reactions human or godly? Are my responses human or godly? Let's get started with this. God's Task. Here's what God's task is. It's pretty simple, it's pretty straightforward, but it's pretty massive. God says to Jonah, go to the massive city of Nineveh and warn them of their sins and My displeasure. Let's look at Jonah 1:1-2:
Jonathan (00:06:06): "The word of the LORD came to Jonah...saying, Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." Watch for this word "arise" and "rising up" to show up throughout this account.
Julie (00:06:21): Nineveh. Okay, so Nineveh is located in modern-day Mosul in Iraq. The archeological site has been looted and severely vandalized by the violent extremist group, ISIS. Back at the time of Jonah, though, Nineveh was this great city. It's the capital of the hated Assyrian empire, a nation that laid siege to Jerusalem, and they demanded a tax from the southern kingdom of Judah for many years. Nineveh was a city of violence. These were bad people. Nahum 3:1 calls it "the bloody city," "full of lies and robbery," "never without victims." So, it was known for its brutality and endless cruelty, it says.
Jonathan (00:07:03): Nelson's illustrated Bible Dictionary states: "God had called him (Jonah) to visit the very heartland of enemy territory and to give the hated Assyrians a chance to repent! It was a radical order that would have taxed the obedience of any prophet. Jonah's grudging attitude should not blind us to the fact that he did carry out God's command."
Rick (00:07:26): This is a huge city, and Julie, the way you described it, it's not a fun city. It's not where you go as a Jewish person to go have vacation, alright? This is the place that you want to run away from, that you don't like in any way, shape, matter or form. Now let's take a look at, Jonah's given this task by God, go there to proclaim against them. What is Jonah's reaction here?
Julie (00:07:50): Nope! No, thank you! His reaction is disdain, disgust, rebellion. He's without compassion and is probably, like you said, afraid of this city with a horrible reputation. Remember, Jonah hates the Assyrians. He wants vengeance and revenge, certainly not mercy,
Rick (00:08:11): That's right. He doesn't. That's the humanness of Jonah right there. Let's look at what actually happens in Jonah 1:3:
Jonathan (00:08:21): "But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." God said, "Arise" and "Jonah rose up..." Unfortunately, he "rose up" to go in the wrong direction.
Julie (00:08:34): But how would the average person respond if they're told, walk right into enemy territory and say "Ahem, hello, you need to change your ways according to how my religion says you should act. Okay?"
Rick (00:08:47): Sure, fine. No, I mean, and that's the thing. We look at this and say, you're going the wrong way, aren't you? Disobeying God. Yes, he was, but let's pause. Not that we're going to justify what he did, but we're going to pause and say, what would our potential reactions be if God had delivered such a responsibility to you and I? What would our reactions have been? Okay, let's look at this. Our enemy has finally kindled God's wrath.
Julie (00:09:12): It's about time he destroyed them. I can't wait to see that because they're finally going to get what they deserve!
Jonathan (00:09:17): OR--What an amazing opportunity God is giving them to turn their lives around!
Julie (00:09:23): But if I go cry against them, telling them all they're doing wrong, they could turn on me and they're probably going to kill me!
Jonathan (00:09:30): OR--They might just listen.
Julie (00:09:33): Yeah, not likely. But if they do repent, and here I prophesied their destruction, then I could be seen as a false prophet. I have a reputation to uphold!
Jonathan (00:09:42): OR--I could be seen as a hero who saved hundreds of thousands of people.
Rick (00:09:48): You look at those things and you say, that's where we would sit. We could go either/or, either/or. Jonah was in that very, very same position, the either/or position. Is it our human reaction that is going to give us a sense of "No, thank you!" Or is it a godly reaction that says, "Hmm, this is God's will. This might be hard, but this is God's will."
Julie (00:10:12): If we're given a difficult task, it might be the way we frame it. Like, "You're asking me to do WHAT??" Or, "Wait, you're asking me to do what again?" Because one is rebelling and one needs more information.
Rick (00:10:24): All right, and that's good. That's actually a good place to put an example in place. So let's look at what could be a strong, godly reaction here. Jonathan, what could be a strong, godly reaction in this case?
Jonathan (00:10:39): Seek clarity. Just like Ananias, after being told to seek out Saul of Tarsus, the Christian-killer, found in Acts 9:13-14: "But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name." Like Jonah, Ananias was also given a dangerous mission. Saul could have put Ananias in prison or even take his life, but he didn't rise up and go the other way, the way Jonah did. He just needed to get clarity to understand his mission. Ananias' gut reaction was to be spiritually driven.
Rick (00:11:23): That's such an important point here at the very beginning of this account of Jonah, is we want to compare things and then, folks, again, look at ourselves and say, where am I on this scale of human reaction versus godly reaction? Look, here's the bottom line: reactions happen. They do. Oftentimes our reactions aren't great, let's admit it, but it's okay. The thing is, we need to recognize those reactions for what they really are, and that is a reaction. It doesn't create a destiny. That's the part of this that we really, really want to put in place. Now let's go a little bit further. We get past the reaction. His reaction was rise up and go the other way. Julie, what would Jonah's response, what his response have been here?
Julie (00:12:18): Well, he's going to end up with the response of run, hide and try to disappear.
Rick (00:12:23): Oh, that sounds like real productive activity, doesn't it? Let's go to Jonah 1:3:
Jonathan (00:12:31): "...So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD."
Julie (00:12:41): Okay, Tarshish is now thought to be part of Spain. It's 2,500 miles away from Joppa where he's standing. He literally gets on a boat to go the exact opposite direction. It reminds me a little bit of Adam and Eve foolishly trying to hide from God in the Garden of Eden.
Rick (00:12:57): He's actually going this opposite direction, and there is this very clear sense of, "I'm not doing it." His reaction was to rise up to flee, and his response here is, he finds the ship, pays the money, pays the money to get on this ship to go the other way. This is a tough situation, but again, let's ask ourselves, what kind of response would I have had in a circumstance like that?
Jonathan (00:13:31): Well, Rick and Julie, when I look back in my Christian walk, I see that I've reacted in both ways. There were times when I was overwhelmed and ran away from godly responsibilities. My hope is that now with maturity in Christ, I would accept Godly direction in my life with God's help.
Rick (00:13:49): See, the key to that is growing as a result of your previous experiences. We're going to come back to that thought later because that becomes very important here. Now let's take a look at what, let's go back to Ananias. Let's take a look at what a strong godly response would be.
Jonathan (00:14:09): Act affirmatively. Let's go to the New Testament and see how Ananias responded. Acts 9:15-17: "But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake. So, Ananias departed and entered the house..."
Julie (00:14:32): In other words, he's saying, "I get it. No more questions. I walk by faith, not by sight." He didn't let fear or anger or resentment turn him in the opposite direction. This is why Ananias is a really good contrast to Jonah's initial reaction to receiving the Lord's direction.
Rick (00:14:47): We look at Ananias and say, "Man, he was gutsy." Actually, he wasn't gutsy so much as he was full of faith in God's providence on behalf of him and his mission. That's what Jonah was missing here. Let's put this piece together; Finding the Fortitude to Stand Strong. Because you know what this is about? Either running forward to do God's will or running away and hiding from God's will. Finding the Fortitude to Stand Strong - Jonathan, what do we have?
Jonathan (00:15:15): Our human reactions can be our worst enemies. The good news is that God knows this, and He simply challenges us to consider those reactions before acting. A potential "reaction adjustment" is to learn to change the reaction from a statement to a question. Fear! or fear? This can help us seek clarity to act affirmatively.
Rick (00:15:42): Sometimes you can't change how you feel, and if you're afraid or if you're discouraged or you're rebelling, and you say, "I'm rebelling!!" Or "I'm rebelling?" It's the same thing. But when we change the ending, we can create an opening to create a different response. That's really what we're looking to learn from the lessons of the book of Jonah. Here we have such a dilemma! What we're saying here is that our natural reactions likely create natural responses, which are not good for our godly health.
Jonathan (00:16:19): Jonah was given a direct command from God and literally went the other direction to hide. How can this be good?
Rick (00:16:28): Well, it can't be good, but it can lead to some necessary learning experiences that can change the outcome back toward a favorable direction. For Jonah, these learning experiences would end up being some of the most dramatic in all of the Bible. The good news is there is hope after bad decisions. The reality check is one needs to climb up into that hope and then truly hang onto that hope. We looked at God's task, that was Part I. Part II here is God's consequences. Now, as we look at God's consequences, we're going to ask the questions, is it a human or godly reaction to these things? Is it a human or godly response that we have to these things? Reaction first, then response. What are God's consequences here? Well, consequences for disobedience by one who is bound to God's will--they're always inevitable. They just are coming. Just that's the fact.
Julie (00:17:35): As Christians, we're bound to obey God, just like His prophets and the nation of Israel were. It's easy for us to critique Jonah's responses, but we want to be thinking how they might mirror our own, even if we find ourselves in much less dramatic circumstances.
Jonathan (00:17:50): Jonah is on a ship to Tarshish, heading as far away as he can from God. Let's pick up the account in Jonah 1:4-5, because things are looking grim: "The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them..."
Julie (00:18:18): These are fighting for their lives. This is bad. These experienced sailors are hurling cargo overboard and screaming for their gods. Where did all these waves come from? Where did all this wind suddenly come from?
Rick (00:18:30): These are experienced sailors and they're panicked. When you see the ship is about to break up, there's almost no space for anything now. It's like you are doomed because there's just nothing you can do to right the ship. No pun intended. Let's look at Jonah's reaction here. Jonathan, is Jonah's reaction human or godly?
Julie (00:18:54): I'll answer that. It's human.
Rick (00:18:57): Okay.
Julie (00:18:57): He's sound asleep. His reaction is, we're going to ignore everything and it's going to go away. That's a human reaction.
Jonathan (00:19:05): Now, let's continue with Jonah 1:5: "...but Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep." Now sound "asleep" here means "to stun that is, to stupefy (with sleep or death)." This is a really deep sleep that's hard to wake up from.
Rick (00:19:25): Jonah is out of it. He's absolutely asleep. We all know such a reaction eventually brings a reckoning. He's run, he's hiding, he's hiding in sleep. For Jonah, that reckoning, that reckoning for running from God came very quickly. Let's go to Jonah 1:6:
Jonathan (00:19:42): "So the captain approached him and said, How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish." In other words, nothing seems to be working out on our end and we're about to die.
Julie (00:19:58): Yeah. Here's the irony. Here Jonah's being asked to call on the very God he's hiding from.
Rick (00:20:05): The reckoning is arriving. We take a look at this and we say, okay, now he's got to respond. His reaction was to run and hide. Now a response is come because he's literally shaken out of his lethargy. He's shaken out of sleep. Is his response human or godly?
Jonathan (00:20:26): The godly response is to see the problem, face the problem and fix the problem.
Julie (00:20:32): However, Jonah's immediate reaction was to hide from the world in sleep. His response is he's going to be forced to face the reality of rebelling against God's command.
Jonathan (00:20:44): How about - see the problem, Rick.
Rick (00:20:47): Okay, see the problem. He has to see what's happening. First, God would make the consequences of Jonah's choice public. Folks, sometimes when we get into a situation and we're trying to hide, it has to get so big that we just can't hide anymore. That's exactly what happened in this moment. Jonah 1:7-8:
Jonathan (00:21:09): "Each man said to his mate, Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"
Julie (00:21:32): Who are you? And why are we about to die?
Jonathan (00:21:36): How about face the problem, Rick.
Rick (00:21:38): Okay, so he had to see it, and he was being grilled. All these questions. Who are you? Where are you from? What are you doing here? Why is this happening? All of this. Now he's got to face it. There is no place left to hide. Second, God would require Jonah to come clean regarding those consequences. Let's continue in Jonah 1:9-10:
Jonathan (00:21:57): "He said to them, I am a Hebrew and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, How could you do this? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them."
Julie (00:22:14): Jonah's saying, "Yep, it's me. I'm the problem. My God made this sea and it's about to kill us all." He comes clean in a way that makes it even worse, because now they all know he was trying to hide from this all-powerful God who could make this sea and the waves.
Rick (00:22:32): This is important because this is a big step for Jonah. He has run; he has hidden himself. Then he was forced to see what the problem is, and in his facing the problem, he gets detailed and he digs in and he makes it worse because it is worse. In other words, he's being honest in this moment, very honest in this moment of life and death.
Jonathan (00:22:56): How about fix the problem, Rick.
Rick (00:22:59): Alright, fix the problem. Third thing; knowing that others' lives were in danger, Jonah proposed dramatic reaction. He actually proposed a solution for their problem. Jonah 1:11-12:
Jonathan (00:23:14): "So they said to him, what should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. He said to them, Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." Jonah had the right solution, but he was too weak to jump into the sea himself.
Rick (00:23:39): Yeah, looking at that, I don't know if I'd be strong enough to go. I mean, what a tough thing. But see, he knows, he knows that God is angry with him and he knows that these men's lives are in danger solely upon his shoulders, his actions, his reactions, his responses. Now he's saying, just throw me overboard. That's a tall order. That's a tall order. Now remember, the ship's about to break up, they're tossing cargo overboard. There's not a whole lot of time to sit and have a conference and think about this. Let's look at the men's reactions here. Are they human reactions or are they godly reactions?
Jonathan (00:24:20): Well, I would say godly. They were trying to protect everyone's life and we'll see that here in Jonah 1:13: "However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them."
Julie (00:24:36): Seeing this vivid demonstration of God's power, they probably aren't too keen on throwing a prophet of this God overboard.
Rick (00:24:44): Yeah, you look at that and you think, why would we do that? We are stuck if we don't throw him overboard and we are stuck if we do throw him overboard.
Julie (00:24:54): Row harder! Row harder!
Rick (00:24:56): Yeah, we're going to die here. I mean, that's the sense of this. Now these men had to respond, they had to have a response here. They themselves, they had to see the problem. They had to face the problem and they had to fix the problem. Let's move forward with that.
Julie (00:25:11): Well, the problem was Jonah, because as long as he remained on the ship, everyone would die, so they had to do what they had to do.
Jonathan (00:25:18): But listen to what they did first - Jonah 1:14-17: "Then they called on the LORD and said, We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased. So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows."
Rick (00:25:51): Let's pause and just consider what that moment looks like. They actually bring themselves to throw him overboard as they desperately try to save everybody. As soon as they do, the whole storm begins to subside. First of all, you can't see Jonah anymore, but you can see your life being brought back to you. What do you do? These men, they look up and they give honor and praise to Jonah's God. They make promises to Jonah's God because they realize that this is bigger than anything that they have ever seen or believed in their lives. What they did with that afterwards, we don't know, but in this moment, these men were a great example of learning how to respond in a godly way. They were the pagans responding in the godly way. Jonah, his initial response, the prophet of God, ran the other way. We've got these godly consequences. Let's continue with that now, because the godly consequences are okay, now you've been found out, okay? But the Godly consequences go further. While disobedience brings consequences, they happen under the providence of God's will for the sake of those who need to learn. This is important because God's anger is not out of control, road-rage kind of anger. God's anger is always justified and clear. It has a purpose, it has an ultimate end. For Jonah it was no different. Here's what God's consequences brought. Jonah 1:17:
Jonathan (00:27:29): "And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights." Yuck! I can't imagine I, ugh, I can't go there. Now interestingly, the word "appointed" here means "to allot or constitute officially." Other translations say the Lord, prepared, provided, arranged for, or designated a great fish. This gives us the sense of the altering of something to accomplish God's will.
Julie (00:28:03): Yeah, but let's go to your first part. We don't want to let the technical part of the Hebrew words negate how disgusting, dark, slimy, gurgly and smelly the inside of that fish would be.
Rick (00:28:13): Okay guys, guys, let's just let it go, okay?
Jonathan (00:28:17): Don't forget, Rick, how claustrophobic, but God "appointed" or altered this fish to be able to house Jonah for three days. That same word "appointed" is used again when we talk about God appointing the plant, the worm, and the wind at the end of the account a little later.
Julie (00:28:35): But we can't overlook that God's providence was present in his consequence. It was disgusting, but this is how God cared for Jonah and kept him safe while he had to sit and think about what he did by trying to run and hide. How is Jonah going to react to God literally plucking him up and swimming him in the right direction?
Rick (00:28:55): Let's get this straight. He runs from God. He gets on a ship, he falls asleep. There's a big storm, they're all going to die. They throw him overboard. He's swallowed by a fish. He's now completely out of control. He has gone as far from being able to control his own destiny as you possibly can go. He's still alive and here he is, and the key to all of this is the consequence is within the providence of God. Remember, God's anger is never without justification. It's never without clarity, and it's never without being as a teaching tool for others and individuals to learn from. Let's wrap this piece up. Finding the Fortitude to Stand Strong: Jonathan, where are we now?
Jonathan (00:29:48): Serving God is serious business. For Jonah, running away from that service put him into what seemed to be a certain death circumstance. Our lesson here is to realize that the end result of our own running from God's direction can be tragic. When such a tragedy does occur, how will we respond?
Rick (00:30:11): Do we try to ignore it? It'll go away if we sort of try to sleep it off, or do we face the problem and fix the problem when we are faced with it and say, okay, now it's time to change back. Now it's time to do something different. Jonah did that and the result was entirely unexpected. It's sobering to realize just how high the standards are for those who are called to do God's will.
Jonathan (00:30:42): Jonah has no place to go. He is plainly suffering the consequences of his own rebellion against God. What does he do now?
Rick (00:30:52): Well, what can you do? The only physical option for Jonah at this point is to wait in the slime and the darkness to be digested. I mean, call it what it is. That's all he's got physically. However, however, there were other options available regarding his connection to God and His will. Interestingly, while Jonah is forced to face his own mortality, he can choose, he can choose to do it with his heart and mind focused on either his misery or on God's greatness. There's a choice.
Julie (00:31:34): That's a good lesson for us because we can be in a slimy, digestible situation and still be godly. We always have a choice in our attitude towards our circumstances. How will we then stand by the choice that we make?
Jonathan (00:31:48): You know, I was thinking of Paul and Silas in prison after they were whipped. They were shackled and in pain. They had a choice. They could either be miserable in their circumstance or they could sing praises to God. They chose to honor Him.
Rick (00:32:04): That's the whole key here is, okay, we react to things and then we have to understand how to further respond. Now Jonah's in a completely different situation. He's in the belly of a fish. How many of us can actually say, Hey, you know what I did yesterday? I just hung out in the belly of a fish. I mean, come on. This is just so out of the ordinary on any level. Let's explore, let's explore Jonah's reaction. Is it human or is it godly?
Jonathan (00:32:33): Godly. His reaction was to pray, acknowledge and confess. This is a true godly reaction. Now, Jonah is now in the position of no longer hiding. Instead, he's being hidden and kept safe. Jonah 2:1-3: "Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, I called out of my distress to the LORD, and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of sheol (the grave); You heard my voice. For You had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me."
Rick (00:33:14): This prayer begins with this recognition of his distress and his utter helplessness. He is in this, "I cried (for help) from the depths of the grave." It's like, there's no getting out of this, and I'm still praying. There's some very positive, positive things happening here, but it's such a desperate situation. We have to ask ourselves, do we acknowledge the depth of our weakness and the seriousness of our self-inflicted consequences when we go that kind of route that Jonah went? He's stuck, and what's he doing? He's now honoring God.
Julie (00:33:55): It may give us some comfort to know that God uses these consequences to educate us and to help us grow. I once heard a sister from our church say "Our trials are worth millions. Don't waste even one." No matter how it turns out, we can still learn and praise God.
Rick (00:34:14): It's such an important aspect of looking at this. Whatever the circumstance, folks, that you're in, if you are working at being a godly person, and maybe you've made some mistakes. Look up and see what it is that you have the opportunity to be taught here. Now let's go further and see how Jonah's prayer develops. Jonah 2:4-6:
Jonathan (00:34:36): "So I said, I have been expelled from Your sight..."
Rick (00:34:41): This is just what Jonah had tried to do. He was running from God. Remember he wanted to hide where God couldn't find him. Well, you are now out of sight.
Jonathan (00:34:52): "Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple."
Julie (00:34:56): I see despair, but I also see hope. What is this? Was he looking towards the literal temple in Jerusalem? You think it's not possible while he is in this fish, because as this fish is swimming around, he doesn't know what direction he's facing. It might mean he was looking forward to being in Jerusalem again. But verse 7 we're going to read in a moment, supports that he meant he was once again approaching God in the heavenly temple, through prayer.
Jonathan (00:35:21): Jonah's faith is alive even though the situation is grim. Continuing with verses 5-6: "Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, but You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God."
Rick (00:35:46): Man, what a powerful prayer. What powerful devotion. He's looking toward his temple. Yeah, you're right. He doesn't know what direction he's looking, but he's seeing it. He's reaching out to holiness. That's what he's reaching out toward. He is captive because of his own actions. But here's the question for us. Are we held captive by our inability to truly give our problems to God? We can be captive, but it doesn't necessarily keep us from giving the problem over to our heavenly Father the way Jonah gave his issues over to his God and said, "Here I am, I'm looking for you. I'm looking toward you. I'm looking to get back to where I need to be." We've got Jonah's reaction. It's this praying and acknowledging and confessing. Now we get to his response. Was Jonah's response human or was it godly?
Jonathan (00:36:47): The godly response is to embrace the experience, claim personal responsibility. This is the turning point where everything can change. Jonah 2:7-9: "While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness, but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord."
Julie (00:37:19): That's an interesting phrase. "Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness." The King James says: "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy." In this case, Jonah saw the "lying vanity" of placing his judgment above the Lord's.
Rick (00:37:35): That's a huge thing. That's actually, verse 8 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it captures the dichotomy of sinful humanity. Here's the question; do we struggle to hold onto our way and God's way at the same time? Do we struggle to hold onto both? Let's give a very practical example - texting and driving. You should never text and drive. Driving is the main objective. You're behind the wheel. You have your life in your hands and other people's lives in your hands and so forth. If you decide to start texting, what you're doing is you're paying attention to something that is not the main objective, and it can be damaging. It could be deadly. Jonah was texting and driving and he ended up in the belly of a fish because he wasn't paying attention. He was paying attention to something that was more along his speed. He wanted what he wanted, but we need to understand that these "lying vanities" forsake our ability. They put aside our ability to be faithful to God because we're trying to hold onto two things at once. It just doesn't work.
Julie (00:38:44): Rather than listen to God and preach repentance to an enemy, Jonah thought it was wiser to not give the people of Ninevah any chance to avoid destruction by God. Now he makes these two decisions as to how to change his life if and when he's delivered from the great fish. First he peels the seaweed off his eyes, he literally said that, and offers thankfulness for his own personal deliverance and also for being given another opportunity to mend his ways and accept the will of God in place of his own judgments. But second, he would be more careful to speak the word of the Lord whenever and wherever he was directed.
Rick (00:39:24): He has come to a point of resolution in his own mind. He is now clearly responding as a prophet of God. What happens? God hears and respects the hearts and prayers of those who serve to seek him. Jonah 2:10:
Jonathan (00:39:42): "Then the LORD commanded the fish..."
Julie (00:39:45): Bible commentary by David Guzik says, "If God can speak to a fish, He can speak to us. Then again, fish probably don't resist the will of God like we do."
Jonathan (00:39:55): Continuing with verse 10: "...and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land."
Julie (00:40:02): Ew.
Rick (00:40:03): Ew, but yay! I mean, okay, you got the gross and the slime and all of that stuff, but now you're on dry land and you are now, you have been redeemed. You have been brought back from the depths of your own sinful choices. This is huge. This is something that God is saying to Jonah, "I heard you. I trust you." Finding the Fortitude to Stand Strong instead of running and hiding: Jonathan, what do we have?
Jonathan (00:40:34): As those who seek to serve God, we realize that when left unchecked, our human reactions and responses will inevitably lead us into self-inflicted traps and challenges. God's providence will inform us of our faulty approach. Sometimes His providence is painfully obvious and other times it's more subtle. Either way, the message is to listen, acknowledge, claim responsibility, adjust and move forward.
Rick (00:41:05): Just like Jonah was doing. This is where we want to emulate the steps of Jonah. Now we've got the second part. First we had God's task, Part I; Part II was God's consequences. Now we move to Part III; God's task, restated again. We look for human or godly reactions and human or godly responses when God restates His task. What's His task? Go to the city of Nineveh and warn them of their sins and My displeasure. Now let's go to Jonah 3:1-3:
Jonathan (00:41:40): "Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk." God said, "Arise." This time Jonah arose and went to Nineveh.
Julie (00:42:06): Yeah, but we're in chapter 3. If he had listened in the first place, we could have skipped chapters 1 and 2! I've got a quote from Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Herodotus is a Greek historian and geographer from the fifth century. He reckoned a day's journey at about 18 to 23 miles. Nineveh is not a circle or a squared city. It's an irregular quadrangle composed of these four mounds. They think it's about 60 miles. Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary said at the time of greatest prosperity Nineveh was described as a great city. It would've had an area sufficient to contain a population of 120,000 people, so it's a big, big place.
Rick (00:42:59): You've got three days' journey to be able to walk through that city. You're right, it's huge, so the task that Jonah was given was enormous. Now Jonah is now given the task a second time. Jonathan, you already said he arose and he went, so what is his reaction here? Is it human or godly?
Julie (00:43:18): Well, technically we have no indication of how he felt. So we can't say.
Rick (00:43:21): Okay, we have no...so let's go to his response then. Was his response human or was his response a godly response?
Jonathan (00:43:30): Godly. Do what I am commanded to do with godly zeal. Jonah 3:4: "Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Now this is the shortest prophecy in the Bible, eight words in English, and only five in Hebrew.
Julie (00:43:52): The number forty, "forty days Nineveh will be overthrown" in scripture, generally symbolizes a period of testing.
Rick (00:43:59): You have this period of testing, forty days you'll be overthrown. He goes through and it says he goes through the city "one day's walk;" okay, we're going to come back to that in a second. "One day's walk," remember it's three days to get through the entire city. He does "one day's walk."
Julie (00:44:17): Now we've had some internal discussion between us as to whether or not Jonah is really putting maximum effort or still in his heart he's hoping Nineveh won't be converted. I am more skeptical that with a five-word Hebrew prophecy, he is just going through the motions and doing what he's instructed to do. Bare minimum.
Rick (00:44:38): Okay, I am of the absolute belief that is he put the absolute maximum into this. First of all, he cried out and said, "Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown." We don't know that that's all he said. He likely gave a massive explanation. When he was in the belly of the fish, his response to God was very clear, very, very, very, very specific about doing what he said he would do. His heart was in the right place and God saw that heart and released him, so I think that you look at him and there he was, he was ready to go. I really think that he poured his heart into it. This big, big city was filled with natural enemies and Jonah acted. Look, I think that his natural self said, "I don't like these people," but his spiritual self said, "I am going to preach to them because that's what I told God I would do." He acted contrary to his own will. He threw his heart, I believe, into his work. He was as good as the words of his prayer from inside the fish's belly. That's where we see Jonah at this point. He's heralding God's warning and it proves to be incredibly powerful and incredibly effective.
Jonathan (00:45:52): Yes, the people's reactions and responses were clear. Jonah 3:5: "Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them."
Julie (00:46:07): The king and his nobles led the example. The king removes his royal robes, puts on sackcloth and ashes. These actions symbolize that the king was truly sorry for being so sinful. He issued a decree that everyone should fast for three days and be dressed in sackcloth, even the animals. All the people were to pray earnestly to the one true God and turn from their evil ways.
Jonathan (00:46:29): The king continues: Jonah 3:9: "Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish."
Julie (00:46:39): I thought this was interesting that he doesn't bargain with God. He doesn't know if this is going to work, the sackcloth and ashes business, but whether we all live or die, we are going to do the right thing. God had to have been pleased.
Rick (00:46:51): That's why I think Jonah had to be, had to have been effective because you have this very deep, heartfelt, overwhelming response to whether we live or die, we must do the right thing. Never in all of recorded history of God's prophets had there been such a total and immediate conversion of sinful people to God's ways. This repentance was without a guarantee for forgiveness.
Julie (00:47:19): But why would a king listen to a prophet that wasn't even from his own country? It's possible that those in Nineveh heard about this miraculous survival of Jonah through the trade routes. People bringing messages and news could have heard about the God of Israel and the victory over its enemies. But now Jonah here is in person giving this message of destruction. This is someone who we would listen to. In addition, there's some thought that the Ninevites worshiped Dagon, a fish god. Jonah was inside of fish for three days and deposited on dry land by that fish. Perhaps they reasoned their own God had something to do with saving Jonah from the belly of the fish. Or maybe they were in awe of Jonah and that's why they listened to what he said. Or maybe they interpreted that the God of Israel to be even more powerful than this Dagon. Whatever the reason, the warning worked.
Jonathan (00:48:07): The entire city was serious about worshiping God. The old evil Nineveh was indeed destroyed within forty days.
Rick (00:48:16): You have this tremendous, tremendous turn here. Let's put this together and remember, "one day's walk," one day's journey into the city, this is what was accomplished. You see that this was a huge, huge national turnaround for them, if you will. Let's wrap this up. Finding the Fortitude to Stand Strong: Jonathan, where are we?
Jonathan (00:48:40): The power of God's chosen ones doing what God requires of them is immeasurable. Let us never underestimate what godly zeal expressed in a godly way for a godly cause can produce.
Rick (00:48:56): We need to realize the power of godliness in our actions even after we have made mistakes. What an amazing example of not only God's providence, but the results of putting oneself in a position to contribute to that providence.
Jonathan (00:49:17): All should be now in order. Jonah powerfully followed God's will and was overwhelmingly successful. It's all good, right?
Rick (00:49:27): Well, it would be nice to have that storybook "happily ever after" ending to this truly remarkable series of events. However, let's remember that we're not only dealing with the power, will and providence of God, but also with the stubbornness, emotions and desires of sinful humanity as well. As we shall see, Jonah is not done rebelling. He's not done. Let's go to Part IV. We've just had God's task restated. Part IV is now God's providence. This is a very, very powerful part of this whole account. Then we look at God's providence, we want to see does Jonah have human or godly reactions and human or godly responses? How does he handle God's providence? Well, what is God's providence at this point? God rewards righteousness while He challenges and educates ungodly behavior.
Julie (00:50:29): Just to be clear, by "God rewards righteousness," you're not saying that the better Christian I am, the more wealth and fame I will receive, right?
Rick (00:50:37): Well, you know, let's put it this way. The righteousness of Jonah previously got him spit out of the belly of a fish, so he didn't get fame and fortune. He got life. He was given the ability to do what? To do what God had tasked him to do. The reward is not about fame and fortune and riches and glory and all of those things. It's about the privilege of doing that which God asks us and tells us and directs us to do. Let's go to Jonah 3:10 and see how this unfolds:
Jonathan (00:51:08): "When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it."
Rick (00:51:19): God indeed did forgive those of Nineveh. You've got God forgiving those of Nineveh. Now we're going to look at, so how does Jonah feel about this? What is his reaction? Is it a human reaction or is it a godly reaction?
Julie (00:51:36): Well, his godly reaction after being spit up by the fish sure was short-lived because his human reaction says he was not prepared for the Ninevites' response of repentance. We're going to see a reaction of displeasure, anger. They didn't get what they deserve; and isn't this why Jesus's command for us to love our enemies is so difficult? We want mercy for ourselves of course, but we resent it when others, particularly those we don't like, receive that same mercy.
Rick (00:52:05): Yeah, that's kind of an interesting thing. So his response is displeasure. He's successful doing God's will and he has displeasure and anger about it. Jonathan, Jonah 4:1-2:
Jonathan (00:52:19): "But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity."
Julie (00:52:42): "See, God, I told you so! This is why I didn't want to do the preaching!" That's why I hesitate to say that he put his whole gusto into it. He didn't like the result.
Rick (00:52:55): No, he did not like the result. Unquestionably, he did not like the result. Funny though, how he loved the result when after his sinfulness, God spared him. Yeah, You're right. The concept of loving our enemies is a hard thing, and Jonah's just a human being and he had a very, very hard time loving them. But let's look at this. What happened? How could such a great prophet with such great success after such great rescue from certain death have such great anger? It does not add up. You look at this and say, this doesn't make any sense. It does make sense from the standpoint of a broken human being. That's the way it makes sense. I think, bottom line, one of the reasons we have the account of Jonah is because he was a broken human being who had issues. He absolutely had issues and God was working with him in those issues. His reaction is this displeasure and anger. Now let's go to his response. Because as bad as the reaction is, the response is even worse! Is Jonah's response human or is it godly?
Julie (00:54:04): Well, it's human and it's appalling because he takes God's compassion and hurls it back at God. He's bewildered, and there's this hopeless surrender to this, God's will. I also think his reputation is on the line because he predicted Nineveh would be destroyed physically in forty days, presumably, and it didn't happen. We have to add the description of, he's just plain irritated.
Rick (00:54:28): Jonah 4:3:
Jonathan (00:54:31): "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." Wow. This went downhill quickly.
Rick (00:54:41): It did, it did. You've got to feel such, I mean, it breaks my heart to look at Jonah having this conversation with God Almighty and saying, "take my life from me," because I just did the greatest work of my life for You and did exactly what You said. Now I want You to take my life from me. It's, it's a pretty dramatic contrast from his expressed desire to unequivocally live and serve while in the belly of the fish. What happened to "casting off lying vanities?" Here's what happened to "casting off lying vanities." He hadn't put them away. He had put them aside, but he hadn't put them away. Those "lying vanities" came back. God knew it, and here, watch how God handles this. This is really quite amazing. Jonah 4:4-5:
Jonathan (00:55:31): "The LORD said, Do you have good reason to be angry? Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city."
Rick (00:55:46): God gently questioned Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry?" But he did not receive an answer from Jonah.
Julie (00:55:56): For me, that's a good question to ask in the mirror, to inch out some of that space between my reaction and my response. Do I have good reason to be angry? Asking ourselves to critically look at what's causing us so much emotion might help us buy precious seconds of cooler thinking.
Rick (00:56:14): Sometimes in those precious seconds we can change the destiny of our responses. That's what God is looking to help Jonah to do here. He's giving him something else to have to respond to. "Do you have good reason to be angry?" What follows is God's power and love towards Jonah, and it's presented as some very hard reality checks. These three next things that we're going to be looking at in the book of Jonah 4 all fit in with that great fish as well. As we shall see, all four, the fish and these three things coming, were appointed for Jonah in his own life and death struggles within himself as a prophet of God. Let's go to the first piece. Let's go review very quickly; the fish. The fish forced him to see his own deep and troubling faults. Now as we go through each of these four things, we want to look at a different text to give us a sense from the Bible as to where it fits with everything else.
Jonathan (00:57:19): He admitted his faults when he was faced with life and death. Psalm 19:12-14: "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."
Rick (00:57:50): Let what I do be acceptable in thy sight. David wrote that. Was he perfect afterwards? No, no. He fell into sin again and again and again and he came back out of sin again and again. This is an important thing to understand as we look at the picture and the experiences of Jonah and what's happening to him. That's what the fish put that out there. Now we've got these three new things coming up. Let's go to Jonah 4:6 for the first:
Jonathan (00:58:18): "So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant." Do you remember how the Lord appointed, provided, arranged for the fish? This is the same Hebrew word. God provided this plant.
Julie (00:58:39): Jonah's overjoyed! He can observe Nineveh in cool shade and comfort.
Rick (00:58:46): He's overjoyed at this plant that just God put in place for him. What happens here? The plant gave him great physical and emotional comfort as he relapsed back to his own reactions. He's very happy for the plant, he's very happy for this one little thing. Okay? He's looking for the next best, greatest little thing to just make him smile again, because he's all very, very upset. You could see there's a dichotomy going on inside of this guy. Let's look at Psalms 84:11-12 to give us a further scriptural sense of where we need to be in these kinds of circumstances.
Jonathan (00:59:25): "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!"
Rick (00:59:38): You've got this plant given and this other scripture says God doesn't withhold good things from those who walk uprightly. Jonah had walked uprightly and then he had faltered. God gave him a blessing anyway in spite of his faltering. With that in mind, let's go to Jonah 4:7 for the next appointment:
Jonathan (01:00:01): "But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered."
Julie (01:00:08): Okay, now this seems cruel. Why would God torture him like this? He gave Jonah this nice plant, Jonah's all happy, but the next day it gets eaten by a worm. Why?
Rick (01:00:19): God's not torturing him. God is teaching him. There is a world of difference between the two things. God gave him something to give him a sense to be able to sit and think and be comfortable. Jonah is not responding to that, and we'll see that in a moment. He's not responding, and God is testing that. God is testing to see, is Jonah with Me or not with Me in this moment? Not forever, but in this moment. God is working with him. The worm quickly removed that comfort to leave him rightfully exposed to the elements. I say rightfully exposed because frankly with the attitude that Jonah had, did he deserve to have God's comfort just washing over him as he's hoping for the destruction of all these people? No.
Julie (01:01:08): Yeah, he wanted mercy for himself, but didn't want mercy for the others.
Rick (01:01:11): When he got mercy for himself, he responded to it. Interestingly, when Nineveh got mercy for themselves, they responded to it.
Julie (01:01:20): Oh, right.
Rick (01:01:20): God takes that mercy away. Let's look at another scripture. Psalms 32:3-4:
Jonathan (01:01:27): "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah."
Rick (01:01:43): This is a psalm written by David after his sin with Bathsheba, and he's talking about his life wasting away because he was hiding his sin. What's happening to Jonah? The same thing. He says, "My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer." What happened when that plant was taken away? The "fever heat of summer" came upon him again. He is being reminded of whom he serves and where his flaws are. That's God's mercy upon Jonah. It goes even further because God is not stopping, and this is the beautiful thing about this. Jonah 4:8 is the next appointment:
Jonathan (01:02:25): "When the sun came up, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, Death is better to me than life."
Julie (01:02:40): "I've had enough. You're not listening to me. So, death is better than life." Jonah is more concerned about this vine and his own comfort than he was about the Ninevites. This is just going from bad to worse. 1 John 4:20-21 of the Message Translation says: "If anyone boasts, I love God, and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt; Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both."
Rick (01:03:15): Jonah needed to understand that he had to overcome himself and so God put very serious physical testings before him. He's looking to get Jonah's clear attention. The wind not only accentuated his exposure to the elements, it pressed him to proclaim his human grief and anxiety. God is literally drawing out of him his sin. He's pulling it out of him as we're looking at this. A good scripture to help us describe this is Job 1:20-21 and this is after Job gets word of catastrophes happening to his family:
Jonathan (01:03:55): "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."
Rick (01:04:13): With Job's situation, he is basically saying, "I've got nothing left," and he still says, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." God, I believe, is working with Jonah to show him that very attitude. "Jonah, you are in the wrong place. You have done wonderful work for Me, but you're in the wrong place in your own heart and mind and you need to grow out of it." What happens next? Well, here's the end of the account of Jonah, and interestingly, it ends with a question. Jonah 4:9-11:
Jonathan (01:04:50): "Then God said to Jonah, Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant? And he said, I have good reason to be angry, even to death. Then the LORD said, You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and their left hand, as well as many animals?"
Rick (01:05:24): The Book of Jonah ends, and God asks a question, but He says, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" If Jonah was first angry about the sparing of Nineveh, and now he's angry about the death of a plant. And God is using Jonah's own broken thinking, broken reactions and broken responses to bring him to a center where he can see "I'm off," and he needs to have that prayer moment back in the belly of the fish that says, "I will look to your temple." We don't know what happened. We have no idea what happened, but I submit to you if we had the story of the Apostle Peter and when he denied the Lord three times and then we ended the story and you didn't know what happened, what would you say? Well, that's a pretty bad situation. Jonah's in the same kind of circumstance. He had been used of God, he was a godly man. I firmly believe that Jonah would eventually find his way back because God gently was drawing him back and showing him what needed to happen. Jonathan, let's wrap this up. Finding the Fortitude to Stand Strong:
Jonathan (01:06:36): We have all fallen down or run away from God's direction at different times and under different circumstances in our lives. What have we done? What are we doing as a result? When God's providence drives our lives, do we have human or godly reactions? Do we have human or godly responses?
Rick (01:06:58): Folks, as we wrap this up, let's think about the major lessons from the book of Jonah. You're given a message from God to deliver. We have to do what the Lord God tells us to do because His will is mighty and wise and just and loving and merciful. If things don't work out the way we want them to, what we need to do is instead of looking at things with our eyes, let us have our response be a godly response to say, "It's in God's providence." When we are broken and we need fixing, we need to look at that through God's eyes, not ours, and say, what would He have me to do? That's the lesson from the Book of Jonah. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions of this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up next week, "Is My Christian Judgment Tainted By Bias?" Talk to you then.
Final Notes (01:07:53): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.