For some reason, “Jonah and the fish” is always one of the first “Bible Stories” taught to children. Maybe it’s a scare tactic. Hmm. Anyways, the book of Jonah really holds up on a re-read (I don’t know if that is a word) and there is way more to it than just a guy getting swallowed by a fish.
When we’re not being taught to fear getting swallowed a fish, one thing that we learn at an early age is to be self-reliant, and it never really stops. Even today, we see grown men and women aiming to attain the legendary status of being “self-made”. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be in charge of everything in their life. Nobody telling you what to do. You work when you want to work.
And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If God’s given you the opportunity to do great things where you gain an element of freedom, go ahead.
But we’ve got to make sure that we keep that rebellious aspect under control. You know, that “ I want to do it this way” mentality. Then when we get called out for it, we excuse it with the “I can’t change the way I am. You just have to deal with it.” That may run with your friends and family, but if you are rebellious towards God…good luck Charlie.
For real though, nothing will work in our Christians life’s if we approach God with this attitude. You need God to help a family member, then he hits you with the “Let’s talk about you first”. You want to reach the next stage of your spiritual life, but the Holy Spirit says, “But you skipped the first one”.
Just like Jonah, God’s gonna bring you all the way back to the first point of rebellion.
I’m sure most of you know the story of Jonah, but just to recap.
Jonah was a prophet in Israel during a time when Israel itself was in rebellion against God. But despite this, Jonah had a special calling. He was sent, not to his own people, but to Nineveh, the enemy of Israel. You know what he did? He said no and went in the opposite direction.
As a kid I always thought Jonah was just a guy who didn’t want to listen to God, and him being a prophet never really registered with me. A man of God, but he was so adamant in not going.
“What was so bad about Nineveh?” “Were the people that bad?”
Well, yeah.
Who doesn’t love a bit of History. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were notorious for their destruction and cruelty. Check out Nahum 3 (yeah there is a book called Nahum), and you’ll see a real descriptive breakdown on how bloodthirsty the people of Assyria were. I’ll give you one spoiler; they decapitated their enemies and did up graffiti on the walls with their blood.
Yeah.
But God wanted to use them to judge his own people for their disobedience.
Honestly, I get it. Jonah must’ve seen two outcomes.
- He goes to Nineveh, preaches to the Assyrians, and he helps preserve Israel’s dreaded enemy. Don’t forget. Jonah is an Israelite first and foremost.
- He goes to Nineveh, they don’t repent, and well…let’s just say it gets real tight for Jonah.
And, like many of us, he concludes “Let me not put myself in this predicament. I lose either way, I might as well not go at all.”And just like that, the rebellion begins.
My Sunday Skl 