See Jonah Preach

He's given a second chance, and now he's given this sacred charge. And it's really nothing less than preach the Word.

It's the same charge given by Paul to Timothy. Timothy, preach the Word, 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Ladies and gentlemen, the reformation of souls and the awakening of hearts comes by means of the power of the Gospel of Christ, which comes through the Word of God, which is alive and powerful and sharper than a sword sharpened on both sides. Today, on Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen Davey continues his exposition of the Book of Jonah. He was a prophet who started out running from God.

However, he ended up exactly where God wanted him, even if it took a roundabout way to get there. God used the circumstances of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish to accomplish his will among a pagan people. As Jonah preached, a national revival broke out.

It's probably one of the most widespread and one of the most surprising revivals in all of history. Stay with us as we look at this account today in a message that Stephen's calling, See Jonah Preach. Walter Kaiser, an educator, pointed out the anemic state of affairs in the American church today.

By the way, he placed the responsibility where it ought to be, squarely on the shoulders of pastors and teachers who are preaching and teaching everything but the Word and the words of God. He writes, and I quote him, it's no secret that Christ's church is not at all in good health. She has been languishing because she is being fed junk food.

All kinds of artificial preservatives and all sorts of unnatural substitutes have been served up to her. As a result, theological and biblical malnutrition have afflicted the very generation that has taken such giant steps to make sure its physical health is never damaged by using food that is harmful to their physical bodies. At the same time, spiritual famine has resulted from the absence of any genuine publication of the Word of God.

How true. We pander after the creative, the superficial, we skip here and there looking for the quick answer and the quick fix. Now the solution is not necessarily banning any and all things that are superficial or perhaps topically driven.

The solution is a change in diet. It is a return to teaching, not just the Word of God but the words of God. While the average pastor today, and I can tell you, I get the mail every day in my mailbox here at the church, every Sunday school teacher, every Bible study leader is barraged with the latest fad, the latest thing, the most titillating topic or interpretation, the latest interest about life in general.

We must resist in general that for the sake of the health of the church at large. It bears repeating that the average ministry today in our culture is expounding on life and illustrating with Scripture. We must return to expounding on Scripture and illustrating with life. Now frankly by the time the average curriculum, the average sermon, the average study reaches Jonah chapter 3, we're under the impression that all the good stuff is over. Now we might have some faint awareness that yeah, those Ninevites I think repented and that was a good thing and Jonah wasn't very happy about it but it's time to move on.

You know we're past the fish and all of that, vomiting them up on dry land, that about wraps up the series. It's time to move on to another Bible story, aren't we? However I have discovered Jonah chapter 3 is weighted for the benefit of the church.

In fact I'm going to divide it into two studies. It has convicted me and it should challenge every one of us who hold positions and I know most of you are serving in some way, many of you are teaching and leading in studies. It should be deeply encouraging as well as challenging to all of us no matter what you do, no matter what age you teach, no matter how large the size, if it's in your living room or in a class. In Jonah chapter 3 I believe it may very well hold the key to a spiritual awakening, to a return to spiritual health and vitality. Not only individually but as a ministry and for those of you that wear the mantle of teacher or mentor or discipler or preacher, it could begin in the pulpit of our land this chapter and it would spread impacting the church greatly.

In fact I believe that we are in desperate need for preachers and teachers to follow the example of Jonah in chapter 3 and we are in desperate need of people who will respond like Ninevites. You may remember that Jonah had been told to go to the Ninevites. He responded, you remember, by going down to Joppa and setting sail there on the coast of the Mediterranean. He booked passage on a boat headed for Tarshish on the coast of Spain. It was in the opposite direction of where God had told him to go.

Why? Well for one we learned that, briefly hinted at, he was a patriotic Jew. He had come to believe as most of his countrymen that God belonged to them, that salvation belonged to the Jew. It would be inside the fish where he would rediscover and we would hear him say, salvation belongs to the Lord.

It is his to give to whomever he will. Furthermore I think that Jonah was probably resentful if not afraid of the renowned Ninevite cruelty to their captives. They were known for skinning their captives alive, gouging out their eyes or humiliating them by putting hooks in their noses and leading them like cattle before having them killed. I was recently at the British Museum in London and saw first hand the clay designs that once plastered the walls of the king's palace in Nineveh.

The drawings of prisoners being dismembered and pictures or drawings of skulls piled high against city walls. Frankly I believe that Jonah did not want God to show mercy to this unmerciful people. He didn't want them to receive anything from God but punishment and death and maybe a slow death at that and we'll actually have to hear him admit to that later on.

And so he runs. God then sent a fish after him and brought him back. Chapter 2 verse 10 tells us he was spit out on dry land. Now if I were Jonah I would expect at this point to retire somewhere in Samaria or maybe back in my home town of Gath Heifer to settle down finished. If I were God I would have been looking for another prophet and I would have been wrong on both counts. Jonah is prepared now to accept this mission from God to go to the capital city of the Assyrian kingdom, this impressive city of Nineveh and God is prepared to reenlist him. In fact the next words are very moving to me and I'm sure they will be to you. No notice chapter 3 verse 1.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. Now just pause for a moment. Let that sink in. You ought to underline that. The second time. Isn't that a great phrase?

What grace and forgiveness is bound up in those three English words the second time. You don't reenlist someone like Jonah. You go back to the drawing board, right?

You send out for resumes. You start over. Peter had his chance in the courtyard. John Mark had his opportunity to stand in the garden of Gethsemane.

Thomas missed his chance by skipping out on the upper room. They all had, however, second chances. James Montgomery Boyce wrote in his commentary on Jonah at this point, if we were to say, go home Jonah. I'm glad you repented of your disobedience but you are no longer useful to me.

We would be just and reasonable to do so. That isn't what happened. Does God always do this? Does God stoop to use those who have rejected his commission, who have turned a deaf ear to his word, pursued a course of determined disobedience? Yes, he does. If he did not, none of us could serve him. None of us could serve him if he didn't.

This is not defending disobedience, so relax. This is defending the grace of a very gracious God. Not just in Jonah's life but in your life and mine. He is the God of second chances and behind. Beyond that, in fact, another author reminded me when he wrote this, honest reflection compels the believer to speak of him as the God of the 999th chance. How many times have we been forgiven and yet another opportunity given to us to do something for Christ?

I love that phrase. The word of God came to Jonah the second time. Can you imagine the thrill of Jonah as he heard the word of the Lord come to him again? He was a prophet. He had spoken on behalf of God many times. One of his prophecies became famous as you know in his earlier ministry.

It came true. More than likely he expected this would be the last time he would ever hear the word of the Lord come to him, but it came again. George Morrison, the well-known Scottish pastor and writer from several generations ago put it this way.

Listen carefully to this. The victorious Christian life is really nothing more than a series of new beginnings. Verse 2.

Here is the word of the Lord. Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you. Now, it is interesting to me that this is the same commission Jonah first received back in chapter 1.

However, it is tweaked a bit. The first time Jonah was reminded of how wicked the Ninevites were and he knew that. This time in the second commission Jonah is not reminded of how wicked the Ninevites are. In fact, replacing that phrase is this phrase where he is challenged with this sacred task. Deliver to them my word. He is given a second chance and now he is given this sacred charge. And it is really nothing less than preach the word. Preach the word. It is the same charge given by Paul to Timothy and to every pastor and Bible teacher since. Timothy, preach the word.

2 Timothy 4 verse 2. And for those of you who teach, those of you who disciple and mentor, there is always a pull for some reason to pull you away from the text. Perhaps it is something more interesting in the minds of those who are in your little class or Bible study. Maybe it is something more appealing. Maybe it is something more positive.

Maybe it is something more promising at times. Nonetheless, ladies and gentlemen, the reformation of souls and the awakening of hearts comes by means of the power of the gospel of Christ. Romans chapter 1. Which comes through the word of God which is alive and powerful and sharper than their most distinguished weapon of war at that time.

A sword sharpened on both sides. Take that. Deliver that.

Preach that. I think there is something else here that God is warning Jonah not to do. He has just survived three days in the belly of a great fish. He has just ridden back by God's command in the belly of that fish all the way back to where the fish spit him out safely onto dry land.

Now think about it. Who has got that kind of testimony? Have you ever been to a testimony meeting where the next person tries to top the other person and sin gets worse and worse and worse?

Nobody can top this one. Jonah will rule in the testimony meeting. He will be given the front chair.

He will be given the mic and he will never give it up. I grew up in a Christian home. I was saved at an early age and after some trouble. That doesn't hold a candle to my miracle ride in the belly of a fish.

I thought of how he could publicize it. How I survived three days under water. That's going to rule Wednesday night's prayer meeting.

Life inside a whale and why I'll never eat fish again. That's interesting. My testimony is not interesting. That's interesting. I think there was a challenge here. Jonah, look.

What happened to you is amazing. Nobody has that testimony. It would be so easy for you to go make a ministry out of your fish story. And this is what God emphasizes. You go and you deliver to them my word, my proclamation. You stay focused on that. Don't tell your fish story. Don't dramatize your call back into ministry. Don't focus anybody's attention on you. Jonah, go to that city and deliver my word. That's your sacred charge. Go to this great city.

You know it's interesting that four times that expression shows up. This great city. It was great in its history, no doubt.

It was founded by Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah. It was great in size. Circumference of the city and its suburbs was about 60 miles.

About 600,000 people lived there. Its impressive walls and gates. It was great in sin. It was idolatrous. It was immoral.

It was brutal. Nineveh was located on the eastern banks of the Tigris River near the modern city of Mosul in northern Iraq. Some of its walls have even been reconstructed on their original site. Jonah would enter the city through a massive gate of this great city.

Towers stretching into the sky. Some of the gates have even been reconstructed using original stones. And I can imagine as he walked through Assyrian soldiers would have been looking down at this foreigner who dared to enter. Jonah would no doubt have visited with the king himself. In fact the text implies that the king repented upon hearing the message.

More than likely he was given a personal audience with the prophet in his own palace. Jonah would have seen the palace as it was excavated centuries later brilliantly colored with battle scenes. Its interesting that for years skeptics said that one of the reasons the Bible was unreliable was it talked about this great city of Nineveh and we have no evidence that Nineveh ever existed until the mid 1800s when the city was discovered. This gentleman by the name of Laird discovered the hill under which the buried ruins of Nineveh lay.

In fact the dry sand that covered the city preserved it incredibly. I can only imagine that Jonah could have easily had the opportunity standing in the palace to point at those massive idols and say, King I've got news for you. They will not protect you from the spiritual world, which is what they believed.

You are in deep trouble, in fact you've got forty days and you're dead. And my God says it will happen. Now did the king listen at this point? Frankly I believe the king had already been prepared by God to listen as well as the people. In fact Jonah might have had nothing less than a royal reception these events as quickly as they appear imply that he was given assistance in order to travel from place to place through such a large city and suburbs hitting just the key point so he could deliver his message probably to audiences that were gathered on his behalf. But I have little doubt that the story of a man riding in the belly of a fish delivered to dry ground by a great fish that had already reached the ears of the king and the people for good reason.

It meant something to them. See one of the chief gods of the Ninevites just so happened to be a fish god. His name was Dagon.

Dag is simply or dake is the word for fish. The Ninevites worshiped Dagon the fish god. They believed that he ruled the Mediterranean. That was his turf. He was in control of the Mediterranean and beyond.

Actually he was half man from the waist up and half fish from the waist down. Carvings and paintings of Dagon have been discovered by archeologists in and around the city of Nineveh. You add to the fact that a Phoenician inscription dated about 200 years after Jonah lived informs us that one of the chief cities belonging to Dagon happened to be Joppa.

The very city where Jonah fled and more than likely the place where he was brought back by the fish. You put these pieces together and discover that the Ninevites were probably ready to listen. It's interesting that God would use Jonah's disobedience and intentionally choose his transportation method back to Joppa with exactly the Ninevites superstition and idolatry in mind. The Ninevites are prepared to listen to a prophet who rode inside a great fish commanded by his god. Evidently a god that ruled as a greater god the Mediterranean Sea.

A god who evidently is more powerful than our god Dagon. So you see how the stage is uniquely set for the greatest national conversion ever recorded in the history of our planet. Notice verse four that Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk and he cried out and said yet 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown. The word overthrow means literally turned upside down.

The tense of the verb indicates total thoroughness a complete destruction a complete overturning of the city's foundations walls and gates. In fact it's the same verb that appears in the total destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So Jonah delivers his message frankly from a human perspective and rationale this enterprise seems absolutely ridiculous. How can one man claiming to be God's prophet confront thousands of people with an offensive message that God is going to turn Nineveh upside down and not expect to be impaled on a stake before sundown. He had no assurance if you study the text that he wouldn't. But men and women to this day centuries later it is still God's method of bringing about reformation and revival and an awakening in any land a teacher a Bible study leader a discipler mentor a pastor who simply delivers the words of God.

Reformation comes when a people of God submit to the will of God and communicate to their world the word of God that God will do what only God can do. And that's changed lives. Is it really surprising to read the very next phrase verse five. We'll just read it and stop that the people of Nineveh believed in God. Imagine that they believed in God. By the way you notice it doesn't say they believed in Jonah. They may not have been all that swept away by Jonah. They were swept away by the warning of Jonah's God.

They were swept into the mercy of Jonah's God and that's what matters. Martin Luther the reformer was once asked about his incredible contribution to the reformation where the church itself and so many millions of lives were changed and he responded I quote him I simply taught the word of God and the word of God did everything else. Well the beginning of this great awakening is now underway a man who was given a second chance is fulfilling his sacred charge and the word of God is going to begin to work and it is that word which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes and it is that word which so nourishes your heart and mine doesn't it and I remember as a I think I was probably a senior in high school and I'd grown up in a in a fairly decent non-denominational church very formal don't remember anything like Bible exposition didn't understand what that meant ended up as a later in high school going to a Baptist Church and I remember the 20-minute invitations I do not remember any Bible teaching at all but I remember being invited somebody told me that Jay Vernon McGee was preaching in a church in Virginia Beach and I decided to go he preached every night at that church he opened the Bible and all he did was read it and explain it it dramatically impacted my life I didn't walk away in awe of Jay Vernon McGee I walked away in awe of God I walked away in awe of this book his word more deeply open to it than ever before so for you whoever you are in whatever way you teach or communicate the truth of God just teach preach communicate the Word of God and know that the Word of God will do everything else. Thanks for being with us today here on Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. In addition to this daily Bible lesson Stephen has many additional resources to equip and encourage you in your walk with Christ the best way to learn more about us and access those resources is to visit our website which is wisdomonline.org once you go there you'll be able to access the complete archive of Stephen's 35 years of Bible teaching ministry we also post each day's broadcast so if you ever miss one of these lessons you can go to our website to keep caught up with our daily Bible teaching ministry the archive of Stephen's teaching is available on that site free of charge we also have dozens of books booklets Bible study guides devotionals commentaries and other print resources you can access all of this anytime at wisdomonline.org and if you have a comment a question or would like more information you can send us an email if you address it to info at wisdomonline.org once again that email address is info at wisdomonline.org we're so glad you were with us today thanks for joining us join us again next time for more wisdom for the heart you