Monday, July 16

To download an audio version of this, click here.

Monday 

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”  But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.   - Jonah 1:1-3

Jonah was a prophet; he was not a priest. Priests served in the temple. They offered sacrifices. They led worship. A prophet was different kind of character altogether.  A prophet was a reformer, an activist.  Prophets were often asked to do and say hard things, and they were rarely ever appreciated for their role.  Israel always had a lot of priests, but generally just one prophet at a time because that was all Israel could stand.

One day the Word of the Lord comes to this prophet Jonah. Life is not easy when you are a prophet. The Word comes to Jonah and says, "Go to Nineveh." When you hear from God, and sometimes you will, it may be just three little words, but they can change your life. "Go to Nineveh." Jonah was a prophet, but he was a prophet to Israel, for crying out loud.  Why should he go to Nineveh?  If God wanted him to prophesy against that wicked city, why couldn’t he just do it from Israel?   But the Word of the Lord comes to him, "Go to Nineveh and preach." It's very striking how this is expressed.  Not go to Nineveh and preach to it; go to Nineveh and preach against it, the text says.  This is a very daunting task.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. In the seventh and eighth centuries BC, Assyria was the great world power. It chewed up and spit out countries right and left.  It would put the populations of countries that it defeated on death marches.  It practiced genocide basically as state policy.  When Israel was split into two sections, there was a northern kingdom, ten tribes up there, and the southern kingdom, just two tribes. The northern kingdom, those ten tribes, was captured and basically obliterated, by Assyria.  the southern kingdom had to pay tribute to Assyria and they would have made those payments directly to the city of Nineveh.

Assyria was hated so much...this is what a prophet named Nahum said about Nineveh, which is the capital, kind of embodied Assyria, "Woe to Nineveh" (Nahum 3) "woe to the city of blood...full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims, piles of dead." Now think about this, "...bodies without number, people stumbling over corpses...your injury is fatal."  Nahum here is predicting the fall of Nineveh. "...your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?"  Nineveh is so hated. Not just cruelty, but endless cruelty. When it is destroyed Nahum says, people are going clap; they are going to stand up and clap.

If you want to understand how an Israelite felt about Nineveh, think of Al- Qaeda, think of Nazi Germany, think of a power that killed your children, enslaved your brother, brutalized your sister. Nahum said very, very strong condemning words about Nineveh, but where do you think Nahum was when he said those words? He was in Israel. He was a long ways away from Nineveh.

Then the Word of the Lord comes to Jonah, "Go to Nineveh."  Learn to speak Assyrian and tell them face to face that they're facing judgment. Jonah says, "Lord, Nahum got to taunt them from a distance. Couldn't we like send them a telegram or something?" "The Word of the Lord came to Jonah, 'Go to Nineveh.'"

How did the Word come?  Was it a burning bush?  Was it a still small voice?  Was it an angel?  Was it a vision?  Was it a dream?  Was there room for doubt or discussion?  The text doesn't say.  Was there a Mrs. Jonah?  If so what did she think about all of this?  The text doesn't say.  It just says the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, "Go to Nineveh."

Nineveh was not at all in Jonah's comfort zone.  What do you do when God asks you to "Go to Nineveh."? Nineveh is the place God calls you to where you do not want to go. Nineveh is the person you don’t want to face.  It is the issue in your life that you don’t want to deal with.  How do you respond?  Because God will say that to you.

We know how Jonah responded, he ran, he ran away from God.  This is really a pretty ridiculous thing to do when you think about it...God is omnipresent!  Where is he going to go? 

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.   - Psalm 139:7-10

But Jonah knows this about God, he knows that he can’t really get way from Him.  He is running to get away from his own awareness of God’s presence in his life (do you ever do this?), so he heads in the exact opposite direction, for the city of Tarshish.   Nineveh is located in Northeastern Iraq today, Tarshish was a wealthy seaport in Spain!  This was the opposite end of the known world!  Tarshish was well known for it’s prosperity and wealth through trade.  Perhaps Jonah thought he was running to a place of security and comfort...but what often seems safe and secure from a human perspective, turns out to be trouble.  

Jonah will eventually learn that the only truly safe place in this life is in the center of God’s will!

What do you do when God calls you to "Go to Nineveh."?  Do run toward Him or do you run away?

Jeff Frazier