TEXT: Jonah 1:3-2:10

SUBJECT: Exposition of Jonah #2: Grace Resisted

We come this morning to the second sermon in our thematic study of Jonah. I have chosen the word, "thematic" for a reason: I am attempting no verse-by verse exposition nor do I intend the series to be devotional in nature. Rather, I'm trying to present the "big picture"--which is about God and His grace to sinners, and not reluctant preachers, big fish, or withering gourds.

The theme of Jonah is the grace of God to sinners, and unlikely sinners at that. And this grace can be summed up under four heads:

Last week, we heard God propose His grace, as He spoke to the prophet, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." At first glance, one might ask: "Where's the grace?" It seems that all God wants Jonah to do is to go to the Assyrian capital and pronounce its doom. But the prophet knew better. He suspected that, behind the grim warning, lay an offer of mercy. And so, later he admitted: "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm".

And so, God proposed His mercy to Nineveh. And what bombshell that is! The Crown of Assyria will be spared. The vilest of sinners, pardoned. The city that threatened Israel's borders--and existence--would find "mercy with the LORD".

But not everyone is happy at Nineveh's survival. And among the naysayers is one "Jonah, the son of Amittai", prophet of Jehovah. He is displeased with God's grace being extended beyond the frontiers of Israel. And, if He must bless the Gentile nations--he reasons--why does He have to chose Nineveh of all places?

And so, in the chapters before us we find Jonah doing his level-best to stymie the plan of God and to frustrate His mercy. Let's go on to see how he tried to do it, and the disappointing results.

Jonah resisted the grace of God, first, by simple disobedience. It began with a sin of omission. In v.2, God commands: "Arise, go to Nineveh". But Jonah offers a polite "no". But he can't leave it there. In every dereliction of duty there is a corresponding transgression. In refusing the call of God, Jonah hears another voice, calling him to the Spanish Riviera. And to this voice, he hearkens. And so, we find him "fleeing to Tarshish". Jonah, it seems, has won the battle of wills with God. For surely, the LORD cannot fulfil His plan with Jonah soaking up the sun in Tarshish.

Jonah continued his rebellion by breaking fellowship with God. He boarded the ship, you recall, not for the therapeutic life at sea, but to quit "the presence of the LORD". God sustained a unique relationship to Israel. Everything there was invested with sacred memories. Jonah need only open his eyes to behold "the works of the LORD and the operation of His hands". But he didn't want to think about it. And so he fled "the Promised Land" for the cursed shores of heathendom. This, too, Jonah thought, would avert the plan of heaven. For surely, if Jonah was not in fellowship with God, then he could not receive the prophetic message on which the conversion of Nineveh depended. No fellowship with God, no prophecy; no prophecy, no repentance; no repentance, no Nineveh. Or so the devious preacher hoped.

Jonah would also unfit himself for service by cutting his ties to God's people. Prophecies often did not come to a single man only, but to the community of prophets. The men of Bethel and Jericho, for example, knew what was in store for Elisha's master. Thus the good men of Israel would have disapproved of Jonah's bad attitude, and urged him to surrender to the will of heaven. But nobody likes pressure. And so he left his friends and colleagues in the work of God. If he was going to resist the LORD's grace, he'd better do it alone.

To this he added depression. In v.5, we find the preacher in the hull of the ship, sound asleep. Now, this has long puzzled me. Jonah's race was known for its love of the land. They took it to be a heritage from God and thought of farming as a sacred vocation. The Phoenicians, the Greeks, and others used the sea for commerce and conquest, but the Jews were perfectly happy on terra firma. This implies that Jonah was not a sea-faring man. Thus, we would expect to find him wide-awake, with excitement, fear, or sea-sickness! But there he is, sleeping like a baby. How can this be? Luke 22:45 offers a clue. There we find Peter, James, and John, in the Garden of Gethsemane, "sleeping for sorrow". Christ had just told them of His imminent departure--and they had just seen him bathed in bloody sweat. But still, they slept. Could they have just been unusually tired that night? I don't think so. They slept out of depression; not wanting to think about what lies ahead, they choose the comfort of sleep. The same--I think--is true of Jonah. He knows that he is acting wickedly and that his future is dim--but he can't live with himself--and so finds peace in the hammock. He's frightfully depressed. And surely, God can't use a man who has sunk that low, can He?

But Jonah is not through yet. He will resist God to the end. He must do everything within his power to thwart the LORD's plan for Nineveh. And so, in the furious storm, he makes an outrageous demand: "Pick me up and throw me into the sea". Some men are willing to die for the conversion of sinners; Jonah must die to ensure their damnation.

And so, Jonah has done everything he can to resist the grace of God. He has refused the word and hardened his heart; sunk in despair and taken his life. Here was no half-hearted rebel,or uneasy sinner; he would rather go suffer hell than to obey the voice of heaven. And being a prophet of the LORD, he knew better. With full knowledge, he preferred "darkness to light, and Belial to Christ". Anything was better than Nineveh's conversion.

But did he succeed? Did his defiance torpedo God's plan for Nineveh? Was he able to pinch off the LORD's mercies?

Subsequent chapters will teach otherwise. Jonah would go to Nineveh; the city would repent in sackcloth and ashes; and "God would relent of the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them".

Thus, Jonah resisted the grace of God...but not successfully. The embittered prophet, himself, must finally admit: "Salvation is of the LORD".

And He was not alone. Others have challenged the decree of heaven, too. And they, like Jonah, would suffer defeat. Jeremiah tried to quit the ministry and open a hotel, only to find God's "Word burning within him as a fire shut up in his bones, so that he could not stay". Esther, too, tried to defer in the hour of crisis, only to be stung: "...if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place..." And Nebuchadnezzar, of course, has the unforgettable line: "He does according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no man can stay His hand or say to Him, `What are you doing?'"

Hence, the grace of God will shine in the world, no matter how busy you are in trying to keep it "under a bushel".

Your choice, therefore, is not: Will you advance God's cause in the world or not. You will. Maybe like Jonah; maybe like Herod and Pilate. But however it goes, you will. "All thy works will praise Thee, O LORD".

The only question that remains, therefore, is this: Will you do it "grudgingly and of necessity (like Jonah); or cheerfully?

To discourage you from the wrong choice, you should observe how much Jonah suffered by his mutiny against God. "Three days and three nights in the belly of the fish". This was the price that Justice would extract from the unwilling preacher. Or, How little Jonah accomplished by his mulishness. What did he hope to achieve by quitting his home for Tarshish? He hoped to see Nineveh broken. But did he? No; he left it a humbled and restored city.

Or, to look at it the other way, notice how good it is to do God's will willingly. It makes you happier by ensuring a good conscience and the continued fellowship of heaven. It inspires other people to both do and take pleasure in God's will. But most of all, it depicts the LORD as a kind Master, instead of a Harsh Tyrant. His "yoke is easy and His burden light". But not for everyone. Only for those who, like Christ, "Delight to do His will".

I trust, therefore, that you will see the folly of rebellion. No one can resist the grace of God successfully. It triumphs in the end. "Where sin abounds--wrote Paul--"grace does much more abound". And so, surrender to it. Become a cheerful servant; a slave who so loves his Master that he pierces his ear and so binds himself to the Good Lord for ever.

And so, this is the choice: not helping God's cause or hindering it; but doing it with grief or joy. I hope you'll avoid the Jonah's choice. And make Paul's: "finishing your course with joy".

This will be hard, make no mistake about it. But it is possible. And for the LORD's people, assured, for "His people shall be willing in the day of His power".

Make us willing, LORD, for Christ's sake. Amen.