But… It’s the perfect word at the beginning of every excuse. “And the word of the Lord came to Jonah… ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ ” (Jonah 1:1,2)
BUT… ‘Jonah ran away from the Lord ..’ (vs.3) It’s a short story, 4 chapters. I encourage you to read it for yourself today.
Israel was the original exclusivist, the nation was commissioned to be the light of the world. Since Abraham, the first father of the nation, their purpose was to ‘bless all nations on earth’ …‘BECAUSE you have obeyed Me.’ (Gen. 22:18) They were to be a ‘light for the Gentiles, …to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ (Isa. 49:6) I notice that the blessing of all nations comes thru Israel not because of who they are…but simply out of the of their obedient life.
Often, however, they were NOT obedient. Often they were just proud of their status, the simple fact that God had chosen to work thru them instead of any other people Often they chose not to make any efforts to bring others to the knowledge of God. And I think Jonah was an exclusivist.
Jonah had judged Nineveh, he knew about them. This was the capital city of Assyria, the rising world power, cruel in their methods. They were known for their violence and the multitude of their warriors. Jonah thought it was a good idea to get rid of the whole lot of them, rid the world of the looming threat.
Jonah had already condemned them. He didn’t WANT them to repent, he had no desire to see God working on their minds and heart. So he used their sinfulness as a reason to excuse himself from cooperating with God in ministering His love to them, bringing them to repentance. He used their disobedience to justify his own.
I find the circumstances for Jonah’s rebellion interesting. We’d often call things like this a ‘sign’ or a ‘confirmation’. Everything just fell into place for Jonah to do what he wanted instead of doing what God had assigned. He went down to the docks of Joppa, a port city of Judea, and there he found a boat headed just where he wanted to go….away from where he was…absolute opposite direction in fact. They had a ticket available, he had the money…so off he went. I can just hear the conversation he was having with himself on the way. Maybe he was talking to himself, making bargains…‘if they don’t have a ticket..then I guess I am not supposed to go’. ‘If God really wants me to do that Nineveh thing, He’ll close this door’ This must be okay to do…or else it wouldn’t have worked out….right?
Like Jonah, I often realize I’m headed in the opposite direction from where God has in mind. He is ‘patient…not wanting anyone to perish….wanting everyone to come to repentance.’(2Peter 3:9) I don’t always make the effort to tell others about the love of God. I don’t always take the time to encourage them to seek God, repenting and turning away form the lifestyle that will eventually consume and destroy them. I don’t always look beyond the moment, looking into the difference the future might hold if only one person chooses God…changing the course of events for future generations.
This nation of people would be the first agressor upon Israel later in history, carrying them into foreign lands as slaves. If Nineveh had not had this time of repentance, Israel’s future might have been even more dreadful. How much worse would the captivity have been, had Nineveh not had this reprieve from their cruel methods? For a few generations at least, there was a seeking after God and a putting away of the evil that was so prevalent in their society. The captive nation knew the end result of that, even if they didn’t realize it at the time.
How many Ninevites will we meet in heaven one day because of Jonah’s message? Even if it did take an act of God for them to hear it…
