Showing mercy to people you love comes naturally. but extending it to those you don't like? That's the true test of faith. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah continues the story of Jonah.
who finally goes where God wants him. but whose heart is still hardened toward the people there. How will God use him to share the gospel? Listen as David introduces his message, loving the ones you hate. And thank you for joining us.
Today we are in the middle of our study on Jonah, the runaway prophet. And today we come to really the crux of the whole story. Why didn't Jonah do what God told him to do in the beginning?
Well, we find out today. There was a good reason behind it, and he's going to be revealing that reason in his story today as we open our Bibles together. We have a beautiful study guide for this series. I hope you're getting it. If you haven't been getting the study guides, there's a way you can do that.
Contact us at Turning Point at our website, and we'll fill you in on the details. But these study guides are great for you to use for small groups or just for your own personal review and study. And as we go through these books, we create the study guides with you in mind, and they're available from TurningPoint at davidjeremiah.org. This month, our resource is the beautiful calendar for 2027. It's called The Light of the World.
It's a 14-month calendar, and it's yours for the asking when you send your gift to Turning Point this month. A gift of any size, please say, send me the calendar, and it'll be on its way. And now, let's talk about this issue of how to love somebody you hate from Jonah chapter 3. I'm here to tell you today that justice and mercy are not a contradiction. They're how love works.
You tell the truth about the sin. and you still hold out hope for the sinner. That was Jonah's problem. As we face him today, he could accept justice. But mercy for people he believed deserved judgment felt wrong to him.
Let's open our Bibles to Jonah chapter 3 and see why. Here's what it says.
Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city. and preach to it the message that I tell you.
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.
Now, Nineveh was an exceeding great city. a three-day journey in extent. When the great fish vomited Jonah up on dry land, sometimes I think he hit the ground running. running back to where he should have been, he didn't want to go through that again. I imagine him running as fast as he could toward the place he should have gone the first time.
His feet were finally moving in the right direction, but as we learn in the story, you can have your feet going in the right direction. and your heart still is not going in the right direction. That was Jonah. We read, first of all, that Nineveh, the place to which he was called, was a great city. In fact, in the book of Jonah, the word great appears four different times in describing Nineveh.
It was a great city. First of all, it was a great city in size. The Bible says It was an exceeding great city, a three day journey in extent. One thing to note is that the three-day journey probably doesn't mean that Jonah walks straight through the city without stopping. If the Lord told him to preach to Nineveh, he probably would have proclaimed his message throughout the city.
as he made his way through it. We don't have to wonder how big the city was because A British archaeologist by the name of Austin Henry Laird excavated the city of Nineveh. And he found the city proper to be about one mile wide and two and a half miles long. But further excavation revealed that this was just the central hub of the city. Metropolitan Nineveh extended along the Tigris River for more than 20 miles.
It was truly one of the great, great cities of ancient times. The outer perimeter of the city measured over 60 miles. Other surrounding suburbs were included within this vast complex, all collectively known as Nineveh. The enclosing wall was estimated to be about a hundred feet high. In addition, there were approximately 1,500 towers around the perimeter of the city, most of them as high as 200 feet.
Nineveh truly was an exceedingly great city. It was a great city in size, but it was also a great city in souls. Jonah 4.11 says, And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons? Who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock? Most scholars understand the expression who cannot discern between their right hand and their left.
As referring to young children. In other words, There were 120,000 children in Nineveh. who were too young to distinguish right from left. And if that number represents only the children. Then the total population of Nineveh was estimated to be at 600,000 or more.
It was not merely a great city in size. It was a great city in souls. But thirdly, there was also a great city in Sin. That's one thing we know. Jonah 1:2 says, Go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. And anyone who has studied history knows that the Assyrians were wicked. barbarians. The history of that culture is almost too awful to talk about. in church or anyplace else.
During Jonah's lifetime, the delicate balance of power in the Middle East was shifting and the Assyrian Empire was rising and with it came fear. The Jewish people knew the reputation of the Assyrians. They were ruthless conquerors who subjugated entire nations.
Now imagine. volunteering to be a missionary And God says, your first assignment is Nineveh. Knowing what we know about the Assyrians, can we really be surprised that Jonah ran the wrong way? I mean, he was not only afraid of what they might do to him, he feared what they might do to his nation. The Assyrians were a looming threat to Israel's future.
And then of it was a great city in size, no question. A great city in souls, yes sir. But most of all, it was a great city in sin. Nineveh was a great city. It was also a great illustration.
Jonah saw the assignment God gave him but he looked at it through the lens of his own prejudice. And that distorted the picture. In New Testament times, before Christ broke down the dividing wall, An Orthodox Jew would sometimes travel miles out of his way. to avoid passing through Samaria. The Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans hated the Jews.
And though the most direct route lay straight ahead, A Jew would circle around rather than walk through Samaritan territory, making his journey sometimes three times as long as it would normally be if he took the direct route. The Jews also harbored deep resentment toward the Gentiles, referring to them in derogatory terms.
So prejudice and social discrimination have long been part of fallen humanity. They arise from the old sin nature. And until the day we are fully redeemed and made like Christ. We are all going to battle. The blindness that comes from our upbringing, our culture, and our own sinful tendencies.
To be sure, it was an overwhelming assignment for Jonah. any of us might have staggered under that command. But I would suggest that Jonah made five mistakes. These are mistakes we often make when we are called to an unpleasant or difficult task. We can learn.
from what Jonah did wrong. First of all, Jonas saw his assignment nationally but not individually. He saw the Assyrians, he saw Nineveh. He saw them as a group. He had probably heard the stories.
They are barbarians, they are butchers, they are cruel people. And he saw them all as one. But let me ask you something. In any group, no matter how bad its reputation may be. Is everyone as bad?
as everyone could be. Does every individual fully embrace the reputation that has been attached? to a nation. You see, Jonah never saw the individual Ninevites. He never thought about people who lived there.
He saw only the nation. And it is hard to love a nation. You have to get involved individually.
Sometimes we say, I don't like that group of people. I don't want anything to do with them, but the best cure for that kind of thinking is to go walk among them. When you do, you are often surprised to discover that within the group you have labeled, there are some of the finest individuals you will ever meet. They stand apart from the stereotype. That is not just about ethnicity.
It happens in politics and in every area of life. Jonas saw his assignment nationally, but he didn't see it individually. He didn't realize: yes, Nineveh was an evil nation, but within that evil nation were people. People for whom we learn later Christ died. The next thing we realize is that Jonah saw his assignment historically, but not prophetically.
He knew what they had done. Their history of atrocities was well Attribute. But how many of you are grateful that God doesn't evaluate you only on what you have done? but on what you can become through the grace of Jesus Christ. He does not merely see what we are or what we have been.
He sees what we can become through His transforming grace. But Jonah couldn't see that. In fact, I want you to jump ahead in the story for just a moment. In chapter 4, we see how he reacts. After Nineveh repented, and God spared the city.
Listen to this: this is Jonah. but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
So he prayed to the Lord and he said, Oh Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshus, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me. For it is better for me to die than to live.
Now how's that as a response to a successful evangelist? He just conducted one of the greatest evangelical ministries in the history of the world. And he replies, Everyone in the whole city repented. I'm so angry I just like to die. He hated the Ninevites.
Jonah did not want Nineveh to experience God's grace. He wanted them to experience God's judgment. He hated them so deeply that he did not want them to be forgiven. And you may be saying, how could that be? But before you go too far down that road, you should do a little homework.
in your own memory bag. God used Jonah because he preached the word and God blesses the word, but compassion wasn't driving Jonah. He saw the Ninevites only in light of their past, and he believed they deserved destruction. And when we look at anyone, we must remember what God is able to do. Nothing is too hard for God.
And if you're somebody who thinks you've sinned away the grace of God, let me tell you. God's grace is greater than anything you could ever have done, and He is always willing. to change you. This is what the Bible says. If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creature.
Old things have passed away, behold, all things become new. Nobody can transform a life like Jesus Christ. Whether it is a Ninevite or anyone else we might place in that category, no one is too awful. Too sinful, too cruel, or too barbaric for the grace of God to change. when the gospel is preached.
So Jonah saw his assignment nationally, but not individually. He saw it historically, but not prophetically. He now looks at it physically, but not spiritually. Let me add a third mistake. Jonah saw the Ninevites physically, but he didn't see them spiritually.
Too often We only See the outward shell of a person. And we assume that is the whole story. But the body is only the container. There is A soul inside that body. It is dangerous to judge somebody by appearance.
We must look beyond the physical and see the spiritual reality of life.
Sometimes we look at the outward package and we make judgments on a person that we should never make. Even believers can discriminate in many ways. We judge on the basis of ancestry, on the basis of age, we judge on the basis of achievement. And We often judge on the basis of affluence. If we're not careful, we look at the outward traits and we conclude.
That's the person. But that is not Christianity. Christianity looks beyond the surface to the heart. And you cannot evaluate a heart at a glance. You have to take time to know that person.
It is a serious mistake to let outward appearance determine how we value or receive someone.
So Jonah saw his assignment physically but not spiritually. and he saw his assignment ethnically, but not personally. Jonah saw the Ninevites as the enemy. He saw them as a race of people with a brutal history. But he did not see them as people created in the image of God.
Listen to me: the Ninevites were created in the image of God. Yeah. There is a very interesting parallel to this in the New Testament. Most of you know the background. In the book of Acts, there was a transitional period when the gospel began to move beyond the borders of Israel.
It was first preached to the Jews, but now in this transition period, it is being extended to the Gentiles. The Jewish believers struggled with that. They thought the gospel was just for them, just for Jews, nobody else. And they were not comfortable with the idea that a Gentile could receive the same grace they received. unless they became a Jew also.
You remember the vision in Acts 10? Peter refused to eat what he considered unclean, and the Lord said to him, What God has cleansed, you must not call common. God was dismantling Peter's categories. Finally, after working through that struggle, Peter stood up and he said in Acts 10.34, In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. Where had he been?
That was the point all along. The gospel is not tribal. The gospel is not ethnic. It is not confined to one people group. Romans 2.11 says, there is no partiality with God.
And in case you didn't get it, Ephesians 6.9 says there is no partiality with him. What does that mean? It means God is not impressed with background, culture, or social status. He does not measure the value of a person by pigmentation, ancestry, or achievement. He sees the soul.
He rejoices over every sinner who repents, regardless of where that person comes from. The Church of Jesus Christ is not a white church or a black church or an ethnic church. It is the blood-bought church of Christ. Jonah saw ethnicity God saw souls. And whenever we reduce people to categories rather than seeing them personally, we make the same mistake that Jonah made.
And then Jonah saw his assignment hatefully. but not mercifully. I once read about a woman. From the wrong side of tracks, who wanted to join a fashionable church. She spoke to the pastor, and he repeatedly tried to discourage her from joining his fashionable church.
First he told her to go home and think about it prayerfully. Then he told her to read her Bible for an hour each day and then come back. Finally, in frustration, he said, Pray this week and ask the Lord if he truly wants you to be in our church. Months passed before he saw her again. When he asked her what she had decided, She replied, I did pray, and one day the Lord said to me, don't worry, honey, about getting into that church.
I've been trying to get into it myself for 20 years. That story. stings because it exposes a spirit That is far. from the mercy of Christ. And that was Jonah's problem.
He looked at Nineveh hatefully, not mercifully. Scripture says there were a hundred and twenty thousand children who did not know the right hand from the left, and Jonah was willing to see them judged along with everybody else. How can you look at a city filled with children and feel no mercy? You know? That's the thing that makes us believers effective.
It's the mercy that God has given us that we become stewards of and giving to others.
Somebody says, how could you love that person? I can love that person because Almighty God loved me, and out of the reservoir of God's love for me, I love that person. Ephesians 2 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses. made us alive together with Christ. By grace You have been saved.
Later, Paul said, Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. even as God in Christ has forgiven you. We have received mercy. Therefore, we must extend mercy. No one is beyond the reach of God's grace.
Until we see the people as God sees them and love them as He does, We will never reach them. Yeah. First of all, it's all about doing what God tells you to do, even if you don't feel like it. How many of you know that's sometimes what you have to do? I don't feel like doing that.
Do it anyway. For those of us who are Christians, We need a new perspective. One of the most widely read leadership books in the last several decades is a book written by Stephen Covey. called the seven habits of highly effective people. Stephen Covey was a Mormon who had a remarkable ability to illustrate truth in a way that made it unforgettable.
In that book, he told a story. that captures the importance of perspective. He described riding a subway in New York City on a quiet Sunday morning. The car was calm and peaceful. People were reading newspapers, sitting quietly with their thoughts.
some even resting with their eyes closed. Then at one stop, a man entered with several children. The children were loud and disruptive. They were running back and forth, shouting, throwing things, even grabbing newspapers from other passengers. Instantly, the whole atmosphere of the car changed.
The father sat down next to Covey, closed his eyes. seemingly unaware of the chaos his children were creating in the car. Covey said he felt increasingly irritated. It was hard to believe this man could be so insensitive. Others in the subway appeared equally annoyed, and finally, with restraint, Cubby turned to the man and he said, Sir, Your children are really disturbing a lot of people.
And I wonder if you could control them a little more. The man slowly lifted his head and he said, Oh, I guess you're right. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don't know what to think. And I suppose they don't know how to handle it either.
In that instant, everything changed in that car. The irritation vanished. Compassion filled the car. People began helping with the children. The circumstances had not changed.
but the perspective had. The only difference was the lens through which they were now seeing that family. And that is what we must ask God to do for us. We must ask him to change the lens through which we see people. Instead of seeing them through prejudice or anger or assumption, We must learn to see them as God sees them.
And when the lens changes, the heart changes. And when the heart changes, Everything changes. With God. Mercy and grace. are available to everyone.
No matter who they are or what they've done. And God doesn't see packages, he sees persons. He doesn't see everything that's so important to us. He sees the soul. He went to the cross through his own son, Jesus Christ.
and paid the huge penalty.
so that all men could be saved. Everyone is savable. in the eyes of God. And no matter what you've done, you haven't sinned away the grace of God. His grace is truly amazing.
Um Well, the Book of Jonah is a gospel tract in many respects. And it reminds us of the power of the gospel. We're going to see that in these next couple of days as the revival in Nineveh unfolds. Truly, one of the most remarkable moments in the history of the gospel. If you realize this is the greatest revival we have a record of in the Bible.
And it comes as a result of God working on a man's hard heart, a man who ran away from God's initial instruction. It's all ahead of us in these next few programs here on Turning Point. Don't forget, you can get your copy of the 2027 Turning Point Calendar. which is a beautiful production that you will enjoy all year long. It's a gift that just keeps on giving because every time you see it, the beautiful photography that is designed around the theme for this year, which is the light of the world.
We'll light you up and get you Going in the right direction for every day of the new year. Ask for your copy of this when you send your gift to Turning Point during this month, and we'll send it to you right away. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, Jonah the Runaway Prophet, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected. Our monthly magazine Turning Points and our daily email devotional.
Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of our 14-month 2027 calendar, The Light of the World, and deepen your faith daily throughout the coming year. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King James Versions, available in several attractive and resilient cover options.
Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org/slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Jonah the Runaway Prophet on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
