"And the people of Nineveh believed God."
Even people who don't claim to be Christians know the story of Jonah. God told the prophet Jonah to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and "call out against it for their evil has come up before me."
Jonah boards a ship in the opposite direction, "away from the presence of the LORD." Which is impossible. ( Psalm 139 ) "God hurled a great wind upon the sea." You'll take note it says that God caused the storm.
The sailors throw Jonah overboard at his request so the storm will cease. Before they do, these terrified fishermen, who are not Hebrew, say, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you O LORD have done as it pleased you." ( 1:14 )
This book, as all books of the Bible, is so rich and deep in meaning. Occasionally I'll hear someone say that the Gospel isn't presented in the Old Testament; however, the Gospel IS the Old Testament. Jesus is all throughout. Here is a beautiful type and shadow of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these unbelieving sailor's lives.
And Jonah is a picture of Christ. Obviously, he isn't the Christ, but like so many of the Old Testament saints, the stories of their lives pointing us to the One to come, Jonah foretells of the innocent blood that would be shed for ours. The blood that would keep us from perishing when we believe in him.
"And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah." ( 1:17 )
You'll note again, that God caused the great fish to swallow up Jonah.
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." ( Matthew 12:40 KJV )
Peter's prayer in Acts: "for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." ( Acts 4:27-28 )
"And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." ( 2:10 )
Do you see how God is the one driving not just Jonah's narrative, but the entire biblical story? That's because it's his story. And yet, we are free to make choices, not coerced, and held responsible for our choices. We live in this mystery and tension, but make no mistake, God is ultimately in charge.
This time when God speaks to his prophet, Jonah listens and the people of Nineveh, that great, wicked city, repent.
That's the Gospel.
Isn't the Bible nourishing? Recently, as I am reading and understanding God's Word for the first time in my life that adjective and it's verb form keep coming to my mind. "Nourishing" as well as "satisfying" and "transforming" and "sanctifying."
This happens when we "rightly divide God's word." Honey oozes out of the rock and into our souls. ( Psalm 81:16, 2 Timothy 2:15 )
"Taste and see that the LORD is good." "His Word is sweeter than honey." It is a "double-edged sword," cutting both ways, bringing truth to our hearts, and in a type of good pain, surgically removing infections and tumors at the same time. ( Psalm 34:8, Psalm 19, Hebrews 4:12 )
"Salvation belongs to the LORD!" ( Jonah 2:9 )
And everything we need for life and godliness is found in our salvation. You don't need any other emotional experience to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He comes into your heart at salvation, Jesus told us this. And Jesus said he would be with us forever, so God the Holy Spirit isn't going anywhere. Salvation is a work of God from beginning to end in the life of the believer, and the ground is level all around the cross. ( 1 Corinthians 12:13 ) No group of believers is more powerful than the others. That breeds pride - something God hates.
If you follow this blog, you'll know that I've been unpacking the Word of Faith Movement, looking at the roots, shoots, and fruits of this false teaching. One thing the false teachers like to pound into their follower's heads is that "God is not sovereign" - that man, in fact, is in control. "God can't do anything," they say, "Because we tie up his hands until we exercise enough faith enabling him to act on our behalf."
Did you notice any of that kind of wimpy behavior in the story of Jonah?
I know, it's simply ludicrous, and yet many believe it. I told you the Farmer and I were a part of this heresy for years. Even after we got out from under the Word of Faith/prosperity/health-wealth teaching, it took years to deprogram our brains and hearts from all of the nonsense.
The Bible is so much better than this.
David, another biblical saint, most often calls God, "Lord" the Hebrew word adonai, meaning sovereign. To not believe and confess that God is sovereign is not only an arrogant, foolish thing to do, but it's also not to believe his Word.
God calls himself "sovereign" in his Word. ( Matthew 10:29-31, Isaiah 45:7-9, Colossians 1:16-17, Proverbs 16:33, Lamentations 3:37-39, Acts 4: 23-31 ) These verses are just the tippy tip of the iceberg.
At the beginning I wrote "claim to be Christians" because in this day and age it is so difficult to tell who the Christians are because Jesus said in the last days that many false prophets will arise deceiving many. In fact, of the 27 New Testament books, 26 sternly warn of false teachers and false prophets. ( Paul's letter to Philemon is the only exception.)
Think about that. That's what we are seeing all around us today in the American church. We must pray for discernment more than ever, so we will recognize their diseased fruit. That reminds me! Yesterday I watched the 15 minute trailer for American Gospel Part 3. This time the documentary is going to be in the form of a series with episodes instead of one long film, and they are taking on the NAR!
I'm so excited for this to come out! ( If you haven't watched the first two documentaries, please do! I can't recommend them enough. American Gospel, In Christ Alone and the second is American Gospel, Christ Crucified. )
We will have false teachers until the end Jesus told us, the weeds grow with the wheat until the very last day. And the days ahead are scary ones, but we must remember that Jesus is building his Church. He's been successful for 2,000 years, and the good work he began in us, he'll bring to completion, just as he promised. ( Philippians 1:6, Matthew 16:18 )
I think of how he protected his Word and the core doctrines of our faith during the Reformation. When we've done all to stand, stand, remembering our fight isn't against flesh and blood. Satan is behind the wolves' agenda to take over the Church, but no matter what happens, Jesus will preserve his Bride. We must continue to fight the good fight of faith and pray for all of the saints and the unbelievers as God has had amazing grace on us. ( Ephesians 6 )
Okay, my friends, thank you all for joining me in this journey for our Lord Jesus, proclaiming his name and his kingdom to the lost. I'm currently continuing my research into church history now in the direction of the charismatic movement that rocked our nation beginning back in the 60's and until now. It's a heavy study for me since my parents left our Presbyterian church when I was twelve to join this thing.
I find myself taking extra walks around the farm in the midst of God's creation to reflect and process all I'm learning. I find myself repenting over and over of ever taking all of this beauty and intricacy for granted - "his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made."
"Man is without excuse." ( Romans 1:20 )
Soli Deo Gloria! 💜
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