As I said when I started this story, most everyone knows the story of Jonah and the Whale1. Even unbelievers have heard that one. Indeed, that whole "fish" thing is what really throws people off, believers and unbelievers alike. It gets in the way. It is a distraction at best and a point of contention at worst. Why? Well, because it's not normal. It's miraculous. I mean, even if it is actually true (as I would contend) that Jonah really was swallowed by some sea creature and spit up on the land three days later, it would be a one-of-a-kind event (you know, like the death and resurrection of Christ, an event that Jonah's experience illustrated). And that's a distraction. At best.
Why? Well, we here in the 21st century with our modern Arbitrator of Truth, Science, may its name be blessed forever, can't actually support such a position. While Science itself argues for one-of-a-kind events (like the Big Bang), it quickly shoots down the biblical miracle as unsupportable. And we're in trouble, either from unbelievers or even from believers influenced by ... the lie.
I would argue the opposite, however. I would argue that what Science denies as miraculous is simply part of a continuum of God's hand. I would argue that the mundane is the miraculous2. And I'll illustrate that from the story of Jonah.
We know that when the story begins, God knew the outcome already. He knew that Jonah would run. So, at the very beginning of the story we have God speaking to Jonah (a supernatural event on its own) when God knew that Jonah would run. When he did run as expected, "the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea" (Jonah 1:4). This was not an accidental event, a coincidence. It was a supernatural event. As the sailors panicked and threw lots, the lot fell on the one man whose fault the storm was, a supernatural event. Against their preferences, the sailors threw him overboard. Now, that might seem like a normal event, but Jonah understood otherwise. In his prayer of repentance he told God, "You cast me into the deep" (Jonah 2:3) -- a supernatural event. When Jonah hit the water, the storm stopped (Jonah 1:15). Now, in nature, storms don't stop. They abate. Another supernatural event. And as the ship sailed on and Jonah tread water, God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah (Jonah 1:17). As we've already determined, that, too, was not a natural occurrence.
I haven't gotten to Jonah's repentance in the belly of the fish (because that in itself is miraculous, both in the repentance and in his continued survival), his deliverance to dry land (Jonah 2:10), his proclamation of repentance in the sinful city of Ninevah that produced instantaneous repentance there (Jonah 3:3-5), or Jonah's "worm" that God sent (Jonah 4:7). The point is that, while so many balk at the whale part of the story, the entire book of Jonah is a list of miracles, traced directly to the hand of God. And we object to ... the fish.
It is, I suppose, an illustration of our basic problem. We think that the jobs we have and the families we're in and the places we live and the freedoms we enjoy are our doing. We think that every breath we take and every beat of our hearts are automatic functions apart from God. We think we live and breathe and have our being all on our own. And that whole whale thing? Yeah, that's problematic. We have exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25). In other words, when we balk at the fish, we illustrate that we are fallen beings in rebellion to our God. "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Rom 11:36). "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col 1:17). And "all" is not a few things.
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1 I should point out that sometimes much is made that "it wasn't a whale". Really, don't bother going there. You know that Jonah wasn't thinking, "Now, let's see, what exactly was it that ate me? It was a sea creature, to be sure, but was it a mammal? No, it wasn't that, so don't use the word for 'whale' here. Use the word for 'fish' so they don't get confused and think that God miraculously had a whale swallow me rather than a fish. I mean, a whale swallowing someone would just be ridiculous, right? No, we need to keep the taxonomy correct." Really, folks, "whale" or "fish" just doesn't matter. Not the point. "Sea creature" is all that's important.
2 Somebody may wish to point out that biblical "miracles" were specific, designed by God as signs of the reality of His messengers. All well and good. I'm using the term "miraculous" here just in the sense of something that is not a naturally occurring event, but clearly the hand of God.
Showing posts with label Jonah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonah. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Lessons from Jonah - Three
This third entry is more a bit of conjecture. Don't take it as any more than that. But I thought it was interesting conjecture.
Look at the account of Jonah preaching in Ninevah.
The speed of the event caused conjecture among Jewish rabbis. Why so fast? Their conclusion? They believed that the news of the events prior -- Jonah running from God, being swallowed by a fish, being vomited onto the land, and then coming to call for repentance -- reached Ninevah prior to Jonah's arrival. In the story of Israel's travels in the desert after Egypt, there are constant accounts of their reputation preceding them and causing people to either fear them or fight them (or both). The suggestion here, then, would be that the news traveled to Ninevah that this bizarre prophet was coming and, oh, by the way, he had been swallowed by a fish and coughed up on the land. Best listen to him.
Now, as I say, it's conjecture. The text doesn't say it. Neither am I. But I like it. I like it a lot. First, the text doesn't say otherwise, so I'm not contradicting Scripture if I like that notion. Second, it is a handy explanation. But one thing I like about it is ... it's so "God". I mean, isn't that just the kind of thing God does? He uses our failures and traumas and stupidity to forward His efforts. He saved Israel by having Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery. Not the first plan I would have come up with. He demonstrated Abraham's faith by ordering him to kill his son. Not an idea that would have occurred to me. God chose Peter as a disciple. I mean, God, seriously, Peter? This is the guy who would promise to die with you in the evening and deny he ever knew you in the morning. Peter? It's just what God does. Choose failures not to merely overcome them, but to use them.
In this scenario, then, God looked at the events, recognized that the prophet He was going to charge with the task would bolt on Him, prepared a fish for an unusual feast (Doesn't that suggest that God prepared this fish well in advance of Jonah's sin with Jonah's sin in mind?), and decided to proceed with this loser of a prophet because it would accomplish exactly His plan.
I see this same process in Election. God didn't choose Jonah because of the good that Jonah would do ... because he wouldn't. He would run. God didn't choose Jonah because he was a great prophet because he wasn't. He was obstinate in taking instruction, in failure, and in success. God didn't choose Jonah because of what Jonah would become because we don't see Jonah becoming anything. God chose Jonah in order that God's purposes might stand. And even so with Election.
Again, it's conjecture. I don't know if that's why Ninevah repented as quickly as it did. But I do know that God works that way. He uses failures, not as a catch up, a workaround, something to overcome and then fix, but as failures He can make use of. Failures like me.
Look at the account of Jonah preaching in Ninevah.
Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them (Jonah 3:4-5).Doesn't that seem odd? I mean, it appears that Jonah spent a day preaching and Ninevah instantly repented. How instantly? Jonah didn't make it through the city. It was a three-day walk and he only made one-third of it (Jonah 3:3-4). As instantaneous as it comes. No discussion. No questioning. No delay. "Oh, forty days? Not good! We repent!" Done!
The speed of the event caused conjecture among Jewish rabbis. Why so fast? Their conclusion? They believed that the news of the events prior -- Jonah running from God, being swallowed by a fish, being vomited onto the land, and then coming to call for repentance -- reached Ninevah prior to Jonah's arrival. In the story of Israel's travels in the desert after Egypt, there are constant accounts of their reputation preceding them and causing people to either fear them or fight them (or both). The suggestion here, then, would be that the news traveled to Ninevah that this bizarre prophet was coming and, oh, by the way, he had been swallowed by a fish and coughed up on the land. Best listen to him.
Now, as I say, it's conjecture. The text doesn't say it. Neither am I. But I like it. I like it a lot. First, the text doesn't say otherwise, so I'm not contradicting Scripture if I like that notion. Second, it is a handy explanation. But one thing I like about it is ... it's so "God". I mean, isn't that just the kind of thing God does? He uses our failures and traumas and stupidity to forward His efforts. He saved Israel by having Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery. Not the first plan I would have come up with. He demonstrated Abraham's faith by ordering him to kill his son. Not an idea that would have occurred to me. God chose Peter as a disciple. I mean, God, seriously, Peter? This is the guy who would promise to die with you in the evening and deny he ever knew you in the morning. Peter? It's just what God does. Choose failures not to merely overcome them, but to use them.
In this scenario, then, God looked at the events, recognized that the prophet He was going to charge with the task would bolt on Him, prepared a fish for an unusual feast (Doesn't that suggest that God prepared this fish well in advance of Jonah's sin with Jonah's sin in mind?), and decided to proceed with this loser of a prophet because it would accomplish exactly His plan.
I see this same process in Election. God didn't choose Jonah because of the good that Jonah would do ... because he wouldn't. He would run. God didn't choose Jonah because he was a great prophet because he wasn't. He was obstinate in taking instruction, in failure, and in success. God didn't choose Jonah because of what Jonah would become because we don't see Jonah becoming anything. God chose Jonah in order that God's purposes might stand. And even so with Election.
Again, it's conjecture. I don't know if that's why Ninevah repented as quickly as it did. But I do know that God works that way. He uses failures, not as a catch up, a workaround, something to overcome and then fix, but as failures He can make use of. Failures like me.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Lessons from Jonah - Two
Okay, so we have a prophet of God who decides to run. Bad option, right? Not a good thing.
Have you ever done that? Oh, of course not the whole "sail to Tarshish but get eaten by a fish on the way" thing. I mean where you don't do what you know God wants you to do. Ever done that? One thing we all know about that: bad choice. God wants something from us, and we stand in His way. Not a safe place to be. And the guilt is incredible. God could have accomplished something, but I refused. Really, really not good.
Fortunately for us, we don't have such a poor God. He's actually pretty smart. He's actually ... oh, what's the word ... Sovereign. So look at the outcome of Jonah's hard fought efforts to avoid God's plan for his life.
The first people we come across who are interacting with Jonah in the book of Jonah is the folk on the boat. Jonah crawls into a bunk for a nice nap, and they're in fear of drowning in a storm. They're calling on everyone on board to pray to whatever god they might have. And then they find this sleeper. "Seriously, Jonah, sleeping? Pray, man, pray!" Of course, that was precisely what Jonah could not do because he was, after all, on the lam from the God he would need to pray to. But there was no help. In mounting terror, they opted to throw lots to see who the gods were mad at and, oddly enough, it fell to Jonah. "Okay, what did you do?" He told them. "Ummm, okay, (stupid), so what do we do to keep from dying?" "Throw me overboard." Isn't that strange? He didn't say, "I'll jump overboard and you'll be alright." No, he wouldn't budge. They had to do it. And he played it right because if you read the account they weren't too keen on doing that. But things got worse, so over he went.
And the Scripture says "they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging" (Jonah 1:15). Sounds like an instantaneous change. Kind of like the New Testament account when Jesus said, "Peace! Be still!" And it was.
Most interesting, though, is the outcome. "Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows" (Jonah 1:16). That's right. If these were New Testament men, they became Christians. These people converted because Jonah sinned.
Indeed, when you think about it, there are two types of people in the book of Jonah. There is Jonah, of course, the reluctant prophet, and there is everyone else ... who all repent. The sailors turn to God. Ninevah turns to God. People coming to Jehovah who would never have otherwise. Massive revival. All due to a prophet who didn't want to do what God wanted.
Do you ever wonder if you're standing in God's way? Do you ever think "If only I was more compliant, God would get more done"? Trust me. God can use anything. A donkey. A reluctant, recalcitrant prophet. Even you. No, really. Even me.
Have you ever done that? Oh, of course not the whole "sail to Tarshish but get eaten by a fish on the way" thing. I mean where you don't do what you know God wants you to do. Ever done that? One thing we all know about that: bad choice. God wants something from us, and we stand in His way. Not a safe place to be. And the guilt is incredible. God could have accomplished something, but I refused. Really, really not good.
Fortunately for us, we don't have such a poor God. He's actually pretty smart. He's actually ... oh, what's the word ... Sovereign. So look at the outcome of Jonah's hard fought efforts to avoid God's plan for his life.
The first people we come across who are interacting with Jonah in the book of Jonah is the folk on the boat. Jonah crawls into a bunk for a nice nap, and they're in fear of drowning in a storm. They're calling on everyone on board to pray to whatever god they might have. And then they find this sleeper. "Seriously, Jonah, sleeping? Pray, man, pray!" Of course, that was precisely what Jonah could not do because he was, after all, on the lam from the God he would need to pray to. But there was no help. In mounting terror, they opted to throw lots to see who the gods were mad at and, oddly enough, it fell to Jonah. "Okay, what did you do?" He told them. "Ummm, okay, (stupid), so what do we do to keep from dying?" "Throw me overboard." Isn't that strange? He didn't say, "I'll jump overboard and you'll be alright." No, he wouldn't budge. They had to do it. And he played it right because if you read the account they weren't too keen on doing that. But things got worse, so over he went.
And the Scripture says "they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging" (Jonah 1:15). Sounds like an instantaneous change. Kind of like the New Testament account when Jesus said, "Peace! Be still!" And it was.
Most interesting, though, is the outcome. "Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows" (Jonah 1:16). That's right. If these were New Testament men, they became Christians. These people converted because Jonah sinned.
Indeed, when you think about it, there are two types of people in the book of Jonah. There is Jonah, of course, the reluctant prophet, and there is everyone else ... who all repent. The sailors turn to God. Ninevah turns to God. People coming to Jehovah who would never have otherwise. Massive revival. All due to a prophet who didn't want to do what God wanted.
Do you ever wonder if you're standing in God's way? Do you ever think "If only I was more compliant, God would get more done"? Trust me. God can use anything. A donkey. A reluctant, recalcitrant prophet. Even you. No, really. Even me.
Friday, March 08, 2013
Lessons from Jonah - One
It's an odd thing. When I was growing up we all knew the story of Jonah and the Fish. (Yeah, that's right. We were told at the outset that "this was no whale". Fish.) We knew it. We saw the connection of "in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights" and Jesus in the grave for that time. Yeah, yeah, okay. Fun story and all. But did it really mean anything? I mean, did you get anything out of it?
It is, after all, a bit of a strange story, even without the whole fish-swallowing-a-man component. First you have a prophet who figures the best course of action when God spoke was ... "Run!!!" Why? Then you have this guy who travels to a foreign city and calls on them to repent ... and they do! Why? And finally you have a wonderfully successful prophet -- I mean, the people he warned to repent did -- who is mad at God for it. Why?? Very, very strange.
Recently, however, I've been getting some interesting things out of Jonah and I thought I'd take a few days to share some with you. Maybe you might see something interesting there, too.
Okay, so if you don't know the story, go read it. It's a short book. Not difficult. I'll wait ...
The first question that came to my mind the first time I heard this story (the first question I can recall) was "Why?" Why did Jonah, a prophet, run? What made him think that was a good idea? Or, from the other perspective, what made him think choosing a course different from God's clear instructions was better than following them? Well, I suspect you'll find the answer ... in the cross reference.
We only have one other reference to Jonah (besides those New Testament references). In 2 Kings we find that Jonah was a prophet in Israel (northern kingdom ... bad, bad kings) during Jereboam II's reign. There we learn that Jonah was an accurate prophet (very important for the job of prophet). Back then Jereboam II "restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher" (2 Kings 14:25). So, Jonah said their land would be restored and it was! Well, that's good, right? You'd think so, except for two factors. First, it was Jereboam, who "did evil in the sight of the LORD" (2 Kings 14:24). Oh, that's not so good. And the other factor was that, while God did right by Israel, there was no hint of repentance. So, here we have God's prophet declaring good things, good things that actually occurred, but obtaining as an outcome a restored kingdom credited to a bad king and no repentance.
So God comes knocking again. "Jonah, I have another job for you. Go to Ninevah and tell them to repent." Oh, yeah, that will work. His own people didn't repent even though he promised good things from God. Now God wants him to go to Ninevah, one of the most wicked, most vicious cities in the Assyrian empire, and tell them bad things? When put in those terms, I can see why Jonah might have run.
Then jump to the end of the story. As it turns out, Ninevah actually does repent. But instead of being happy about it, Jonah goes and pouts. Why? I'd suggest the same precursor. His own people didn't repent. Now there is repentance on the part of the heathen Ninevah. As it turns out, while Ninevah was slated by God to be destroyed immediately for their sin, historically they ended up lasting another century and a half. What was Jonah's problem? The same one we see in ourselves too often. "Why do good things happen to bad people?" Why did Israel get restoration without repentance? Why did Ninevah get repentance at all? That's not fair!
May I suggest that in your dealings with God you do not go there? We humans have a horrible sense of fair when it comes to God and His dealings. It didn't work for Jonah. It won't work for you. A valuable lesson from the guy who got eaten by a fish.
It is, after all, a bit of a strange story, even without the whole fish-swallowing-a-man component. First you have a prophet who figures the best course of action when God spoke was ... "Run!!!" Why? Then you have this guy who travels to a foreign city and calls on them to repent ... and they do! Why? And finally you have a wonderfully successful prophet -- I mean, the people he warned to repent did -- who is mad at God for it. Why?? Very, very strange.
Recently, however, I've been getting some interesting things out of Jonah and I thought I'd take a few days to share some with you. Maybe you might see something interesting there, too.
Okay, so if you don't know the story, go read it. It's a short book. Not difficult. I'll wait ...
The first question that came to my mind the first time I heard this story (the first question I can recall) was "Why?" Why did Jonah, a prophet, run? What made him think that was a good idea? Or, from the other perspective, what made him think choosing a course different from God's clear instructions was better than following them? Well, I suspect you'll find the answer ... in the cross reference.
We only have one other reference to Jonah (besides those New Testament references). In 2 Kings we find that Jonah was a prophet in Israel (northern kingdom ... bad, bad kings) during Jereboam II's reign. There we learn that Jonah was an accurate prophet (very important for the job of prophet). Back then Jereboam II "restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher" (2 Kings 14:25). So, Jonah said their land would be restored and it was! Well, that's good, right? You'd think so, except for two factors. First, it was Jereboam, who "did evil in the sight of the LORD" (2 Kings 14:24). Oh, that's not so good. And the other factor was that, while God did right by Israel, there was no hint of repentance. So, here we have God's prophet declaring good things, good things that actually occurred, but obtaining as an outcome a restored kingdom credited to a bad king and no repentance.
So God comes knocking again. "Jonah, I have another job for you. Go to Ninevah and tell them to repent." Oh, yeah, that will work. His own people didn't repent even though he promised good things from God. Now God wants him to go to Ninevah, one of the most wicked, most vicious cities in the Assyrian empire, and tell them bad things? When put in those terms, I can see why Jonah might have run.
Then jump to the end of the story. As it turns out, Ninevah actually does repent. But instead of being happy about it, Jonah goes and pouts. Why? I'd suggest the same precursor. His own people didn't repent. Now there is repentance on the part of the heathen Ninevah. As it turns out, while Ninevah was slated by God to be destroyed immediately for their sin, historically they ended up lasting another century and a half. What was Jonah's problem? The same one we see in ourselves too often. "Why do good things happen to bad people?" Why did Israel get restoration without repentance? Why did Ninevah get repentance at all? That's not fair!
May I suggest that in your dealings with God you do not go there? We humans have a horrible sense of fair when it comes to God and His dealings. It didn't work for Jonah. It won't work for you. A valuable lesson from the guy who got eaten by a fish.
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