Copyright © 2006 Ron Schwartz
All rights reserved.

Jonah And The Lost Message Of Mercy

Part 2

Isaac Newton taught us that an object in motion tends to travel in a straight line and at a steady speed unless some force stops it.  This, however, does not explain diffusion - a drop of dye in a cup of water tends to slowly diffuse until it is spread evenly throughout the entire cup.  This is because instead of stopping when they encounter anther molecule, molecules tend to deflect away from each other.  The characteristic of diffusion is found throughout nature.  It’s also known as “browning motion.”   Such is the nature of the universe.  Such is the nature of man.

May 20, 2006

By Ron Schwartz

Destination, not Judgment

Jonah 1:3-6 KJV

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

God used the storm to get Jonah’s attention.  Jonah was not able to run from it as he had from his duty.  The storm he faced caused him to come to terms with his sin of disobedience.  Up to that point, he got it right, but there was more God wanted him to understand.  What Jonah failed to understand was:

• the storm was sent to change his heart as well as his course, and

• his understanding of God’s intention was in error.

Like Jonah, we all encounter storms in our lives.  Often times we come to interpret these storms in the same truth and error that Jonah did.  Jonah rightly understood his sin but wrongly interpreted what God was speaking to him.  To Jonah, God’s message was clear: “I sinned, and now God wants me dead.”

Many people read the book of Jonah and see judgment when in reality we find a clear example of “browning motion.”  Like an “object in motion,” Jonah was on a straight line for a destination that he had determined for himself.  God intervened by placing “a mighty tempest in the sea.”  The tempest was not meant to “stop” Jonah but rather to reflect him back in the direction God wanted for him.

We can find numerous other examples of this in the scripture.  Consider the life of Joseph. 

God planned to deliver the Hebrew people out of slavery to Egypt some four hundred years after the death of Joseph.   He planned to do it through the use of great plagues and wondrous signs, like the parting of the Red Sea.  But, for this to happen, the Hebrew people must first be living in Egypt.  God could have gotten the Hebrew people into Egypt through a variety of means, but He chose to do so through the life of Joseph.

Joseph was a spoiled and arrogant young man who bragged to his parents and brothers that they would all bow down and worship him as foretold in his dreams.  Joseph interpreted the dreams to mean that he was sent on a course of greatness, but God placed an obstacle in his path that changed both his destiny and his heart.  Joseph suffered the adversity of slavery and injustice that placed him in Egypt and cured him of his pride.  His heart changed from one of pride and conceit to one of gentleness.  Rather than gloat over the idea that his family would worship him, he developed a deep compassion and appreciation for his family.  And the final result was that both he and the Hebrew people were positioned in Egypt exactly where God wanted them.

Unlike Jonah, Joseph both learned and changed as a result of his adversity.  The storms they faced helped both Joseph and Jonah come to terms with their sin (i.e., Joseph had conceit while Jonah was disobedient), but only Joseph was able to grow from his experience and find a change of heart toward his brethren.

Jonah only got it partly right.  He knew that the storm was from God.  He also knew that God was confronting him with his sin, and he was able to come to terms with that sin.  What he failed to understand was God’s intention.  God sent the storm to change him, to help him grow, to alter his destination, not to kill him.  If he had only considered the life of Joseph, perhaps he would have understood that the storm was meant to change Jonah’s heart toward Nineveh.

Like Joseph and Jonah, we are often traveling along toward our destiny when, out of nowhere, disaster strikes.  We tend to see these storms the same way that Jonah did: they must be judgment from God.  Sometimes this is the case.  But where we often fall into error is in interpreting the storm the same way that Jonah did: God wants me dead.

If God wanted us dead, we would be dead.  The fact that we are alive and merely suffering from adversity should tell us death is not what God wants for us.  God is not sadistic.  He receives no delight in seeing us squirm in pain.  Therefore, when we encounter adversity through the storms of life, we must not conclude that God wants us to suffer in punishment.  We must understand that what God wants is for us to grow.  God wants us to change both in our heart and in our destiny.

Understanding the Nature of Legalism: Obligation or Love

Jonah 1:7-12

7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

For all Jonah’s prophetic gifts, Jonah did not understand the quintessence of the nature of God: “God is love (1 John 4:8, 16).”   What was missing from Jonah’s understanding of God, and therefore from his ministry, was God’s deep abiding love for the people.   Jonah didn’t understand this love God had for his people because he didn’t understand the love God had for him.  People who do not extend mercy and love to others usually have not experienced true love.  This was Jonah’s problem.

Like Jonah, many of God’s leaders minister out of a sense of duty or obligation.   But duty without love has dangerous consequences.  Such leaders misconstrue the structure of the Old Testament – laws of obedience, sacrifice, and obligation – to be the structure of the New Testament.

The Old Testament was a covenant full of duty, sacrifice, and obligation.  Service to God was demanded.  Levites were born into God’s service.   It was a covenant of laws and commandments that required service.  Very little was considered voluntary. Even charity for the poor was detailed and defined.  Hebrews served God because that is what they were born to do.  But that is not the structure we find in the New Testament.

In the New Testament, service to God is voluntary.   We come by invitation, and we have only two commandments: to love God and to love our neighbors.  This is an important distinction from the Old Testament, because love and obligation are opposites.  I am obligated to pay my electric bill, but my provision for my wife and family is out of love.  If paying for my electricity were voluntary, I may never decide to pay.  Yet for my family, I provide for, care for, and nurture them even though I have never received a bill.  I do it, not because I have to, but because I want to.  That is the design of the New Testament.  We are commanded only to love.  That means that we serve out of “want to” rather than “have to.”

Love and obligation are, in many respects, diametrically opposed to one another.  In the Old Testament, because of our obligations, God owned our actions.  You might say that He owned our hands and feet.  In the New Testament, God is looking for more.  Through our love for Him and for our brethren, God is looking for ownership of our hearts.

Pastors and other leaders like Jonah, who serve God out of duty and obligation, have missed the essence of the New Testament as well as the heart and nature of God.   When you listen to some pastors/leaders teach, their message is all about how serving God is our obligation to Him.  They preach that we are to praise God because we are obligated to give Him praise.  They teach that we are to go to church, pray, tithe, and live holy lives because it’s the commandment of God.  While there is truth in that, the pastors/leaders who teach New Testament living in this respect have missed what the New Testament is all about.

How do we reconcile the Ten Commandments given in the Old Testament with the fact that our only commandment in the New Testament is to love?  Some pastors/leaders suggest that both the Old Testament laws and the New Testament commandments of love are in effect.  What these men fail to see that the Old Testament law is fulfilled when people keep the New Testament commandments.  You cannot love your brother and still lie to, steal from, or murder him.  In the New Testament, it is not our actions that God wanted to exercise control over but our hearts.  What we do is voluntary, not out of obligation.   Some preachers never learn that, and the consequences are clear.

The book of Jonah ends with Jonah never coming to understand the nature of God.  The book closes with God trying to explain to Jonah why He wanted to spare Nineveh.  But it made no difference to Jonah because Jonah did not care about the people in Nineveh.  And that was because Jonah did not understand how God could care about him either.   Jonah’s actions and lack of concern for Nineveh was a reflection of his own relationship with God.  In his view, Nineveh sinned and therefore deserved to die.  He felt the same way about himself.  When the sailors of the boat asked him, “What shall we do unto thee,” Jonah could have said, “Let’s turn the boat around and go save Nineveh!”  Instead, he answered in the knowledge of His understanding of God: “Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.”  In other words, “I have sinned.  God must want me dead!”

God did not want Jonah dead.  That’s why God sent a great fish to save him.  God did not want Nineveh to die. That’s why he sent Jonah to them.  In fact, God did not want anyone dead.  “The Lord is… not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).”   In this story, the only one who wanted to see people die was God’s prophet Jonah.  Jonah would have allowed the city of Nineveh to die.  He would have allowed the sailors in the boat to die had they not confronted him.  He would have allowed himself to die.

Today, many of God’s leaders follow in the steps of Jonah.  They see God as black and white and teach others that we must “serve God or die.”  Legalism replaces the love that should be in their hearts.  They live by the law, practice the law, and teach their congregations to do the same. 

But the people of God intuitively know this is wrong.  For instance, consider the sailors on the boat with Jonah.  When Jonah told them that God wanted him dead, they refused to let him die even in face of certain death for themselves.

Jonah 1:13-15

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

In their hearts, they knew Jonah was wrong, but they eventually listened to him anyway (following his example) and threw him overboard.  After all, he was the prophet: he must know what God wants.

This is a perfect example of what we see demonstrated in many churches where legalism is prevalent.  Service to God is all about our duties and obligations.  If we fail at them, God will kill us (at least spiritually).  These churches have no love for God’s people, and as a result, they hack apart with the sword of the scriptures those who do not measure up to their personal expectations of Christians.  There is a long line of wounded people leading away from churches like that.

Such preachers eventually convince their people to do the same.  Just like the sailors who refused to give up on Jonah, most Christians know that God is merciful and loving, but under the direction and example of the preachers, they eventually give in to believing that God wants so-called “inferior” Christians dead.  When Christians are first saved, they are bubbling over with God’s love, but eventually the preacher and his congregation manage to destroy that love, and the new Christian becomes quite skilled at killing people too.  The ultimate goal of legalistic pastors/leaders is to make their entire congregations quite adept at judging and condemning other churches as well as every other Christian they know.  This form of manipulation has the benefit of causing his congregation to stay with him (believing other congregations to be wrong and/or “inferior”) and discourage anyone from leaving (because they will be judged by God).  Such is the nature of legalism.

Conclusion

In the story of Jonah, we find a lost message of God’s mercy.  Quite often, we hear preachers proclaiming how God is a God of judgment, and how only our strict obedience can prevent that judgment.  But even sinners find this thought hard to coalesce with the idea that God is a God of love.  In fact, He is both.  And at the same time.  God brought judgment, not to kill Joseph, Jonah, or Nineveh, but to change their hearts and their direction.  It is God’s love for us that causes Him to take such an interest in our lives.

To some pastors and leaders, serving God is all about sacrifice.  It is all about death and dying to self.  People like this are still living in the structure of the Old Testament.  Remember, the Old Testament was all about death (and sacrifice), but the New Testament is all about life and living.  Yes, Jesus died for us, and we have been crucified with Him, but remember: we “have been” (past tense) crucified with Him.  Now we are to live!  Many pastors/leaders never come to understand this.  They live in the legalism of the Old Testament and teach others to do the same.

We can never measure up to the standards of men.  When we try, we fall into legalism.  In the New Testament, God’s standard is that we serve Him and one another through love.  We do not steal, kill, or covet from one another because we love, and that is not our duty but our pleasure.

To some, it is the laws we keep that please God.  But does it?  Does God derive more pleasure from knowing that He has our grudging obedience then He does from our love?  What kind of warped way of thinking is that?   The truth is that “commandment keeping” only pleases men.  Let’s be clear about this: when a pastor or leader sets rules in place and judges others who do not comply with them, they do so because it pleases them, not God.  It also has the added benefit of giving them control over others.  These pastors/leaders use laws to build their kingdoms and then they call their kingdoms “churches.”  These laws are the laws of their kingdoms.  Consequently, whenever you find legalism, you also find the kingdom of men, and vise versa.

It is apparent when reading the book of Jonah that Jonah had his own laws that were in conflict with the laws of God.  Jonah’s laws were unforgiving and unbending.  Under his laws, few (if any) could find God’s mercy, and no one measured up to God’s standards.  When people are afraid to leave a church because of the fear of falling away from God or the belief that God will strike them down, they are in bondage.  Pastors/leaders who believe that people who leave their church are out of God’s will are also in the throngs of legalism.  They have built kingdoms for self-gratification.  That is not God!

The epistle of Corinthians teaches us that when everything else is gone, love will be the only thing that remains.  Commandments and spiritual gifts will eventually be gone, and so will the men who fabricate them, but love will continue forever.  Love is not just the commandment of the covenant: it is the essence and the nature of God.