DREADING TO PROCLAIM GRACE

          Jonah was a servant of God.  We have no reason to doubt his faithfulness.  He labored during the reign of Jeroboam II in a time when the king of the northern tribes continued the evil doings permitted by his father (2Kgs.14:23-24).  Despite Jeroboam’s short-comings, God brought help and salvation to Israel (2Kgs.14:26-27).  Wedged in the midst of these historical notations is 2Kgs.14:25, He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea pf Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His prophet Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.  This Biblical reference highlights Jonah’s pivotal role as a spokesman for God.  It is safe to conclude that Jonah was a bright spot during an age of darkness.  In light of this, HOW DOES ONE EXPLAIN JONAH’S REBELLION IN CHOOSING TO RUN FROM GOD (Jonah 1:1-3)?

           God’s directive to Jonah is explicit:  Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it.  Why did Jonah run?  In this instance

God’s instruction clashed with every ounce of logic that Jonah could muster.  It wasn’t that Jonah wasn’t doing a good work at home.

It wasn’t that Nineveh was hundreds of miles away.  It wasn’t a case of xenophobia (fear of strangers) - - Nineveh was the largest of cities in its day.  The problem wasn’t even that Nineveh was wicked (Jonah 1:2b).  The problem was the Nineveh was WICKED (with a capital “W”, in all caps, bold-faced and underscored seven times.  They were “the lords of the massacres”.  Nineveh was the capital of an Assyrian empire that was noted for their butchery and their barbarian behavior - - they were the very epitome of brutality.

          But it wasn’t just that Nineveh was horribly wicked.  Jonah knew the heart of Jehovah God well enough to know that if he did preach to Nineveh and somehow, someway - - if they chose to repent that God would relent (Jonah 4:2).  Simply stated, Jonah could not countenance the idea of God bestowing compassion and grace upon Nineveh.  So he ran with from this assignment.  In opting to flee to Tarshish, Jonah’s intentions seem to have been to get as far away from Nineveh as possible.  In his anger and rebellion Jonah forgot that you can’t run from the Almighty (Ps.139:1ff).  Here, in this ancient story still read by the Jews on the Day Of Atonement, we see the arrogance of humanity:  some are grace-worthy, while others are not.  One can’t help but wonder if Jesus was thinking of Jonah when He spoke the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, IS YOUR EYE ENVIOUS BECAUSE I AM GENEROUS (Mt.20:15)?

                                                                                                                                     Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ