The prophet Jonah triggered one of the greatest spiritual awakenings ever recorded. and yet on the heels of watching over 120,000 souls transformed. Jonah was trapped in bitter racism, hidden sin, and spiritual pride. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl exposes this surprising contrast in character. Along the way, we'll discover God's outrageous compassion and his willingness to redeem a rebel.
This biographical series on Jonah is for anyone who feels like running from God. It'll challenge everything you believe about His love and mercy. Chuck titled today's message, Jonah the Reluctant Prophet. Father, speak to us through this time we spend in the pages of this book. Though only 48 verses may we see these words, as timely and timeless.
speaking to us Not just about Jonah and his life, but about us. And our lives Today, as I address all who hear, some running from you, others running to you. Many running with you. others running against you. May we realize you have a message.
for all of us. A message of hope and compassion. That comes through faith in Jesus. Christ. Thank you for the privilege of giving to your work.
We do so with gratitude. In the name of Jesus. As we ask these prayers, And everyone said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the life of Jonah, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash workbooks.
Chuck titled today's message, Jonah the Reluctant Prophet. My imagination. Kicks in as I think of Jonah walking along the port city of Joppa. Looking for the ship, and finally is attracted to the name someone painted on the back of this one in Hebrew: Parat. Ah, that's the wand.
It means Escape. Escape. He gets a ticket. There's room for him on board. Not only does he get on board, it isn't but a matter of.
A brief period of time before he's down in the hold of the ship.
sound asleep. His conscience doesn't bother him. The amazing thing, he's not only running away. From that calling which is so clearly revealed. He's running from the presence of the Lord.
Can't do it. God is omnipresent. Great big 4-bit word for He's everywhere at once. But Jonah, of course, is caught up in himself.
So he gets on board the ship. These Phoenician sailors Are all troubled by the storm, and these guys know their way around the sea. But Jonah forgot that God also goes to the sea. And he suddenly came to the realization when they finally woke him up. He says to them, it's my fault.
Throw me over.
Well, they couldn't imagine doing such a thing. To them, in their religion, It's called murder. But for Jonah It's called relief. Finally they do it and the sea is immediately calmed and And Jonah is churning down below. and finally rescued by the fish.
I call him the reluctant prophet. In chapter one, Jonah is running from God. as we've seen. On the ship, off the ship, into the sea. He's on a Mad dash to get away from the presence of the Lord.
The fish comes, and he comes to a sudden realization that the fish is his deliverance, not punishment. And in chapter 2, Jodah is running. To God. Because in the fish you will find Jonah offering up A prayer. Chapter 3, we have Jonah following.
Running with God. Gets the same commission, the very same commission he was given in chapter 1, and he hears it again, but this time he doesn't think of Tarshish. He thinks there's only one place for me. None of that. Quite a place for uh Zealot Like Jonah.
Maybe you've not thought of it that way, but it's true. Jonah ran with his own people. To him. God was exclusively For the Jew. And Jonah is told, you're to go into Gentile.
Territory.
Now, this gives us an opportunity to Hats off to Jonah. Chapter 3, he's running with God. And he doesn't stutter. God said, get up and go, and he got up and went. This time we read: Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and he went to Nineveh, the city so large it took three days to see it.
Just a massive city. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted.
So he's not reluctant here. He is on the street. No one knows him. Here is this guy fresh from the fish's belly. announcing disaster.
Jonah entered the city and shouted, Forty days from now, Nineveh. will be destroyed. Allow me just to Mm-hmm. for a preacher's imagination here. Uh Deep within him there was some sense of satisfaction in that message.
I'd love to see all of you killed. Every last one of. When we get to this book and closer look, you'll learn of the Assyrians, in this case, the Ninevites' brutality. They were Well, the atrocities We're almost beyond imagination. Stacks of skulls were left in their week after a war.
As the victims were beheaded, Skulls boiled and then stacked. People were filleted. men, women, and children mercilessly. by the Assyrians. They were known for this.
So when Jonah announces Forty days you will be destroyed. He keeps on the move. No one throws anything at him. No one assaults him. On the contrary, Verse 5, the people of Nineveh believed God's message.
from the greatest to the least. They declared a fast, put on burlap. to show their sorrow. And the next verse says, even the king. comes from his throne and dons burlap and sits in ashes the mark of bankruptcy.
and ultimate humility And sends out a decree to the city: no one. Not even the animals from your herds and flocks may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning. And he goes on to declare this edict. I mean, this is a genuine repentance.
A wholesale repentance. And the city experiences revival. As I said earlier, this is the greatest revival in the history. of the scriptures and perhaps even of time. A hundred 20.
Thousand Souls.
Now, that is enough to give an evangelist. A real swelled head. But Jonah's head isn't swelling. He's back at it. I knew it.
I knew that would happen. And in case you wondered why he ran like he did, He tells us right here in chapter 4. Verse 2. That is why I ran. To Toshish, I knew that you were merciful.
I knew that you were filled with compassion. meaning Jonah was not And I knew when I declared your message you would do that. You do a work in their lives. And just kill me now. I can't bear to see it.
Goes out on the edge of the city and sits under a gourd plant. That grows rapidly with wide leaves and it shelters him from the searing Hot sun, and he finds comfort in that, and then a worm comes and Uh I can just see Jonah. Trying to stomp that worm out and he eats that gourd and that baby dries up and he's now under the sun, the heat of the sun, and he is in one childish pout. How dare Dare you do that? I want them dead.
God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry? And to be angry that the plant died, you're worried about a plant? And Jonah, his impudent is enough. to shake his fist. in God's face and say, Yes.
I have every right to be angry. I'm angry enough to die. The Lord said, You feel compassionate about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly, but Nineveh. Has more than 120,000 people in spiritual darkness.
not to mention all the animals shouldn't Shouldn't I have compassion? for such a great City What you have read in excerpts from Jonah's own account. And by the way, he gets high marks for vulnerability. As he writes his story. But these are the words of a blind, obstinate, selfish man.
filled with prejudice. I'll address that more in depth next week. and some of you will not like hearing it. Because some of you harbor racism. and prejudice To this day, And because of that, in Jonah's life, he's cultivated this bitter attitude that not even the salvation of an entire city could melt his heart.
Jonah can only think of himself And probably is thinking, what am I going to tell the people back home? I gave them God's message, and of all things, they believed it.
So he's in the ultimate catch 22. He doesn't think he's going to be received by the people, and he is. And he wonders if he will be received back home. We're never told. I find four lingering lessons in this book.
You just may need them sooner rather than later. Who knows what to morrow holds? Here's the first. Running from God is a theological impossibility. Running From God is a theological impossibility.
You cannot, as I said earlier, you cannot outrun. Omnipresence. Everywhere at once. Wherever you go, he is there. It only complicates things.
And today, some of you are running as fast as you can run. You have an affair going. It's the secret of your life. Your mate does not know it. Your family does not know it.
Others of you, hidden in pornography, it's not known in the home that it's going on, but it's going on. And in that, every time you view it, you're running further, you're going deeper. And the addiction is grabbing a greater hold on you. Uh it it's impossible. to think that all of that is secret.
So let's start here. Jonah knew better, but he didn't act better.
So he ran, trying to escape. Palat. Trying to escape the presence of God. Here's the second. Running to God is a personal necessity.
I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. writes David in Psalm forty. He lifted me up from a horrible pit from the muck and mire and the mud. and put my feet on a rock and established my going. He put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.
Many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord. That's a testimony of a man. who has run to God. Far from perfect. A flawed, scarred individual.
pulled up from the muck and mire Who simply says, I run no longer. I've come to my senses. I'm of the impression that all prodigals are temporarily insane. Seriously, things are said, things are thought, things are done that are marked by insanity. Husbands will do the most insane things in a state of carnality.
And so were wives.
So will kids. We're quick to say the kids will, we're not as quick to say we will. Here's a man who is coming back to his senses. Remember the prodigal? Knee deep in pig slop and excrement.
Starving eating the pods that were going to be fed to the hogs. This young man said I, I will go to my father. But before we read that, it says he came to his senses. Meaning what? meaning he had been out of his senses.
Today, there may be just enough being said. to arrest your attention and make you aware. that you are free to return to your God. or to come for the first time. If you've never come before.
What is beautiful about the Lord God Is the gracious way He will deal with you. Rather than shaming you with hands on hips. How could you act like that? Or didn't you know better that you will read nothing of that on the part of our God? You read God asking Jonah questions.
You will see the arms of the Father wide open, waiting for his son. to come over the horizon. Ready with the and the feast. Running to God is a personal necessity. Running with God is a remarkable discovery.
That's the third. I see here. Whenever you run with God, you are in for some remarkable discoveries. Amazing results. The Assyrians didn't assault him.
They in fact believed him. Even though his lips spoke truth, But his heart was in another place. Which gives new meaning to the fact that God blesses his message in spite of the messenger. That explains how You can read of an individual who is ultimately exposed and discovered. And found to have been in open sin.
And yet, over a period of time, God used him. I should say used his message to reach others. He says he will bless his word, he will bless the truth. But if a heart is not right, The one delivering the message is not the example. The remarkable discovery is that God blesses his word in spite of the messenger often.
Finally, the fourth. which becomes really a sad ending. running against God. is a pitiful catastrophe. Rather than being thrilled with the results, Jonah sulks.
like a nine-year-old boy that doesn't get his way. Nothing was more important to him than his own comfort. His own will. and his own plan. And you find Jonah Absorbed in pathetic narcissism.
At the end of the book. And God's still pleading with him. Shouldn't I have had compassion? on this city That's what caused me to give you the commission to go. I saw the Assyrians.
I know what they're doing. I know how empty their lives are. I know if they continue to operate like that, there's only one ultimate destiny for them. But Jonah, you go. I'll use what you say.
He goes, God uses it. Jonah's spirit of exclusivity kicks in. And he just can't find any way. to rejoice. That's a mind twisted by prejudice.
No matter how you desire to paint the picture. It's a twisted mind. You see, so much of what I've talked about today starts with an attitude. Which brings us back to our opening line This may describe your reluctance. Only you know.
Bow with me, will you? Just close your eyes. Just sit right where you are. Just for a few moments. How faithful of God to see you through.
All the things you've been through to this point. How good of God It stayed right there with you. The one who knows us the best loves us the most. And he does love you. God is not looking for a way to to beat you into submission.
E He's in the rescue work. If it takes a fish in the sea, He'll send a fish. If it takes an overcast day, in the little town of Frisco. He'll use this overcast day. to reach your heart.
I speak to you who have never come to Christ.
Now I won't beg and I won't plead and And I won't embarrass you. I will simply. Promise you. And if you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, And you come to this cross where he died. Made the complete payment for your sin once and for all.
you will never, ever regret coming. If you do not You may never have another chance again to consider the offer. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. With all your heart. You will be born again.
We're here to help you. As you struggle to make a decision. that may bring some fear to you. Maybe some Confusion. Let us help you.
Or you may wish to simply write us. Connect with us. And say I've heard enough to know. I don't have what I need. to be right with God.
What the pastor says is true. I am a person of prejudice. I really am one whose attitude has soured. But my times I have become a cynic. Or I am hiding sin in my life.
and I realized my life is an open book. before God. And I come to Christ today. If you connect with us. I give you my word, we will help you.
Move from where you are to where you want to be. In your journey from earth. to heaven. Thank you, Father, for the assurance of your truth and the truth of your book. And thank you that though written centuries ago about a man we've never met.
in a setting where we've never been. to reach a group of people we've never known. Thank you for the relevance. in the way it's spoken to us directly. I pray for those today running from you.
running to you. running with you and running against you. Speak to them in their need. And connect us, I pray. Through the power of the Spirit of God.
In the name of Jesus. Everyone said Amen. Our graceful God keeps his arms wide open. ready to receive us in any condition.
Some are running from him.
Some are running with him, and some are running against him. but all are welcome. You're listening to Insight for Living and the first message in a biographical study of Jonah presented by Chuck Swindahl. To purchase the nine sermons in this series on Audio CD or to access the other Bible study tools for this study on Jonah, Just go to insight.org slash offer. Chuck titled this study Jonah the Reluctant Prophet.
In addition, we'd love to offer you a brand new booklet by Chuck Swindahl. In October of last year, Chuck preached his last sermon as the senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church. It was the weekend of his 90th birthday. In his final sermon, Chuck reflected on the final word of the Apostle Paul, who in his letter to Timothy looked back on his lifetime of service to Christ. We'd love to send you a copy of this booklet containing Chuck's last sermon.
It's called Look Beyond. Will you focus on eternity? And we're pleased to send a copy to your home when you include a donation to support the Ministry of Insight for Living. Let me say a word of thanks to all those who consistently support Chuck's teaching ministry. Because of your generosity, Insight for Living is available to millions of listeners on the radio, YouTube, our website, our mobile app, and all the different digital platforms that are so popular these days.
We couldn't provide these resources without your support. Be sure to mention you'd like to receive Chuck's booklet called Look Beyond when you write to us at InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas 75034. To make a donation online, go to insight.org slash donate or call us at 800-772-8888. I'm Bill Meyer.
Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his biographical study of Jonah, the reluctant prophet. Monday on Insight for Living. The preceding message. Jonah the Reluctant Prophet was copyrighted in 2018, 2019, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl Incorporated.
All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
