Jonah 1 1-6 Grace Awoken

Good morning again. I'll be reading out of Jonah chapter 1 verses 1 through 7 this morning if you'd like to follow along and then focus on that whole passage. Here now the inspired word of God. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for the evil has come up before me.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.

But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down in the ship and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said to him, What do you mean, O you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God.

Perhaps the God will give you a thought to us, that we may not perish. And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and of what people are you? Father in heaven, we simply ask that you would bless this message this morning, that you would use it to edify us, to feed our spirits, that we would draw closer to Jesus.

We pray, Father, that we would see Jesus today. I pray, Father God, that you would get me out of the way and that your word would shine forth and do what it's intended to do in the minds and hearts of your people here today.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. So, we started reading out of the story of Jonah. So here's the question. Is this a whale of a tale, or a tale of a whale? Is this fish-tory or history? Speaking of tall tales, have you ever heard the tale of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving?

You remember that story? Anybody remember? Okay, good. The story is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War in a village in the Catskill Mountains in New York, where Rip Van Winkle, a Dutch-American villager, lived.

One day, Rip Van Winkle wanders into the mountains with his dog, Wolf, to escape his wife's nagging, like most men do, right? They run into the woods with their dog. So he sees a man wearing antiquated Dutch clothing and carrying a keg up the mountain.

So he ends up helping the man with the keg, what a shocker, and then begins to drink some of his liquor and falls asleep. When he awakens on the mountain, he discovers some shocking changes. His musket is rotted and rusty, his beard is a foot long, his dog is nowhere to be found, and his nagging wife has died.

So he goes back to the village, where he recognizes no one. He arrives just after a political election, and people ask how he voted. Now, Rip Van Winkle had never cast a vote for anyone in his entire life.

So what does he do? He proclaims himself a faithful subject of King George III. Unaware that the American Revolution has taken place, he gets himself into big trouble with the townspeople until one elderly woman recognizes him as the long-lost Rip Van Winkle.

He's been asleep for 20 years. But he's eventually reunited with his daughter, who's all grown up and takes him in, where once again, sadly, he resumes his usual idleness. Oh, how things can change in 20 years.

Grace, Prophetic Calling, and Jonah's Flight to Tarshish

So let's take a look at this first verse out of Jonah. Verse 1 says, Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.

Now, the word of the Lord coming to Jonah or anyone else is an act of the grace of God. I'm convinced that the word of the Lord is actually Jesus himself. We see that several times in the Old Testament.

But the word of the Lord coming to a prophet was not a common occurrence. It was only the prophets who the word of the Lord came to. It wasn't everyone that received that. And as a prophet of God, Jonah was a recipient of that special grace and honor.

He was given the special privilege of delivering the very words of God to his people. Jonah's story is one that starts in God's grace. And the name Jonah means dove. Interesting. When we hear the word dove, we usually think of peace, right?

Like the dove that brought back the olive branch to Noah on the ark after the flood. And this is what Jonah is actually commissioned to do, to bring a message of peace and reconciliation to the Ninevites.

So, first, the whole account starts off with God granting Jonah grace. He's starting in the grace of God, which actually foreshadows a future point when Jesus would command us to go into all the nations, right?

With the gospel, with the message of grace and reconciliation. So, again, Jonah means dove, but the text also says that he's the son of Amittai. The term son of Amittai means son of faithfulness or son of truth.

And we're going to see a bit of irony in this in a minute, because Jonah, the dove, the son of truth and faithfulness, who's commissioned to bring peace and reconciliation to Nineveh, up and runs the other way.

Verse 3 reads, Now, instead of calling him Jonah, the dove of faithfulness, I decided to rename him Jonah, the pigeon of pridefulness. Pigeons are from New York. We're prideful people, right? And it gets better, because the text also says, go to Nineveh, that great city.

Why would you call Nineveh a great city? See, Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. It was a large city, about a three-day journey walk-through from one side to the other. The walls were 100 feet high and between 40 to 50 feet thick.

It was known for its military prowess, its might. It was an impressive city to see. Nineveh was a great city by that standard. However, greater than the actual city itself were the brutal and wicked sins that they had been committing.

They had been committing great sins. So great that we read in the text, The only other time we hear that phrase, their evil coming up before me, is in Genesis when it speaks about Sodom and Gomorrah. Their evil came up before me.

So Jonah knew about Nineveh. But what was so bad about Nineveh anyway? Was the evil they committed in Nineveh as bad as that of Sodom and Gomorrah? Oh, yes. The Ninevites were masters of brutality. They were a bloodthirsty nation.

In fact, the country Assyria was named after their god, Asher, who was the god of war. And they expanded their country through brute military force. If the Assyrians invaded a city to take over it, they would debilitate and demoralize their enemies by flaying them, impaling them, amputating parts of their body, beheading them, putting hooks in their noses.

Their practices against their enemies were ruthless and brutal. They were very cruel and violent people. Yes, their sin was as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their goal was not just to beat you, but to dominate and intimidate you, to cripple and maim you, so much so that just their reputation of them coming to fight your nation would strike fear in the hearts of their enemies before they even got there.

Many nations would simply just surrender, just knowing that Assyria was on the way, rather than fighting and facing the punishment that they would inflict. The Assyrians were so proud of their conquest that they recorded their practices and victories on scrolls and tablets and obelisks.

One scroll, historical scroll, called the Annals of Shalmaneser III, reads like this. I destroyed, I demolished, I burned. I took their warriors prisoner and impaled them on stakes before cities, flayed the nobles, as many as rebelled, and spread their skins out on piles of dead corpses.

Many of the captives I burned in a fire. Many I took alive. Some I cut off their hands. Other I cut off their noses, ears, and fingers. I put out eyes, as many of the soldiers. As you can see, the Assyrians and the Ninevites in Assyria were a vicious people who brutalized and tortured their enemies, and they were proud of it.

They recorded it on scrolls. Their ultimate goal, however, was to take over Egypt, who was a major power and trading center at the time. But here's the problem. The only way to Egypt is through Israel.

So you have Israel, and a little northeast of that to the east is Assyria. And Egypt's down here. The only way that Assyria is going to get to Egypt is to go through Israel. They would have to conquer Israel before they got to Egypt.

And that would be brutal for the Israelites, and for Jonah as well, because he, too, is an Israelite. So now I ask you, what would you do if you were Jonah? Would you be eager and willing to walk into a city that flays its enemies, impales and beheads them, puts them on sticks?

Jonah didn't want to either, but not necessarily for those reasons. I don't think the Ninevites' military might and cruelty and their reputation was the decisive factor in Jonah's decision. I think Jonah's decision stemmed from Israelite pride.

He suffered from nationalism. He loved Israel more than anything else. The truth is he was afraid of God's reputation. He knew that the message that God told him to preach to the Ninevites might actually help them.

In chapter 4, verse 2, the message is, 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Now, that doesn't sound like a compassionate message or comforting. 40 days and you're going to be overthrown. But Jonah knew exactly what that term, 40 days, meant.

Remember when the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years? It was a period of testing for them to see if they obeyed. God was being patient with them. Remember when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days?

That was his period of testing. These 40 days would be Ninevites' period of testing. If they repented and passed the test, they would receive the favor of God. Jonah's sworn enemies, who flayed and impaled their captors, might be saved, forgiven by God, and lauded as a nation that loves God, a nation that receives God's favor.

And that's what he's afraid of. That's why he's running away. He wanted Israel to be the only nation that received God's favor. He didn't want Israel to be conquered by Nineveh. He wanted Nineveh to be conquered by Israel, the one nation that receives God's favor and attention.

A commentator by the name of Jeremy Meyer says it this way. The Israelites viewed themselves as having a special place in God's plan for the world. They were God's chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a called-out people of God.

Most Israelites seemed to believe that their role as God's chosen people made them better than other nations, or at least more blessed, special, and better suited to serve and honor God. They developed a religious nationalist exceptionalism, which caused them to expect mercy and blessing from God for themselves while seeking judgment and condemnation from God for their enemies.

They wanted God all for themselves, and they wanted only themselves for God. At that time, remember, Israel was steeped in idolatry. They were worshiping other gods. And Jonah knew that God could favor the Ninevites and be used to provoke his people.

In fact, Cameron read Deuteronomy 32 this morning, the whole passage. In verse 31 it says, and this is God speaking, they, meaning Israel, have made me jealous with what is no God. They have provoked me to anger with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with those who are no people. I will provoke them to anger with the foolish nation, the Ninevites. Nineveh could be just that nation. I could see Jonah saying, please, Lord, anyone but the Assyrians.

They don't deserve your grace or your forgiveness. They're not great. Israel is great. Now Jonah's a prophet of God, and he's aware of what's happening, but he wants nothing to do with the mission. He will not be made jealous by the Assyrians, nor does he want to extend God's grace to them.

See, he's received unmerited favor, but he won't extend that unmerited favor to whom God tells him to. Verse 3 says he was fleeing to Tarshish. Now Tarshish is the furthest point west of the known world at that time.

It's the exact opposite direction of Nineveh. You couldn't get any further away. So when he says he's going to Tarshish, that's like saying we're going to the ends of the world. He's going as far away as he possibly can.

Jonah knew that God was gracious, gracious enough to actually save the savage Ninevites, the sworn enemies of Israel, and use the Ninevites to provoke his nation to jealousy. But Jonah wanted justice for the Ninevites while God was offering grace to the Ninevites.

Therefore, after hearing that command from God, Jonah the dove, the son of truth and faithfulness, commissioned to bring the message of peace and reconciliation to Nineveh, up and runs the opposite way.

He withholds the message rather than proclaiming it as God commanded. So first God extends grace to Jonah, and God wants to extend grace to the Ninevites, but Jonah runs away. Now you may be asking yourself the way I did, is this guy Jonah really a prophet?

I mean, why would you call him a prophet if he's not going to prophesy the message? Do prophets really act like this? However, there's no doubt scripturally that he is a prophet, as he's prophesied before to King Jeroboam II under God's commission in 2 Kings 14 .25, which reads, Jeroboam restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath as far as the Sea of Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-Hephir.

Jeroboam II was an unfaithful and wicked king, as were all of the kings of the northern tribes, but he was very successful by political and secular standards. The message Jonah prophesied to him came true, that Israel's borders would be restored.

They would once again reclaim their land. Their borders were expanded. This was a great prophecy, good news, and Jonah was the one who delivered it. Rock star, right? He would be loved, he would be revered by the people of Israel as his prophecy came to pass, right?

Who doesn't want to preach a message of prosperity? Same thing like the health, wealth, and prosperity people do. They want to peddle that message and have the feel-goods. They want you to feel good about the message, and when their prophecy comes to pass, look, I was the one who gave it.

Why? Because it's easy, it's likable. It's difficult to tell someone tough news. But what about that message that Jonah had to deliver to the Ninevites? 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. Does that sound like good news?

It actually was. It was good news for Nineveh, but not for self-centered Israel. If the Ninevites actually received God's favor and repented, they would be saved. And they might also become the apple of God's eye, because Israel, again, was practicing idolatry, playing the harlot, worshiping other gods.

If Jonah brought that message to Nineveh and they repented, Jonah's fellow countrymen would loathe him. They would scorn him for bringing that message to who? Their enemies. He might not have the choice to run to Tarshish.

They might be running him out of the city and sending him there anyway. His reputation as Israel's prophet of prosperity would be ruined forever. In other words, his posts on Facebook would be de-boosted, blocked.

His prophecy to Nineveh coming to pass would go viral, and everyone would know about it. And I think here's where we can see a little bit into Jonah's heart in Proverbs, Proverbs 29 -25. It says, The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Jonah desires to be accepted by his countrymen and receive praises of man over and above obeying God and giving God the glory. He fears his countrymen more than he fears God. Fear of man is a snare. But how would the Ninevites come to know God, experience repentance, and possibly salvation if Jonah, the son of faithfulness, wasn't faithful in proclaiming the truth?

Well, if it was up to Jonah, they wouldn't. But ultimately, it's not up to Jonah. Despite his disobedience, God determines to use this unfaithful prophet to reach the Ninevites, to reach the sailors on the boat, and eventually reach Jonah himself.

The first prophecy that Jonah preached was to his fellow Israelites, and it was a piece of cake. Your borders will be expanded. You'll be prosperous. Yes. The next message was one of judgment that would provoke the Ninevites.

It was still good news, but it would be a message that carries with it conviction. It wouldn't be a popular feel-good message, but it would be a necessary and truthful one. The message we've been given as Christians sounds much like the one Jonah was given.

In Acts 17 .30, we're told, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.

The message hasn't changed. That's the message we're to preach. That sounds simple enough, but does that sound like how Christians usually preach the gospel or share their faith? I still hear people telling other people, unbelievers, that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

When the gospel is repent, the kingdom of God is at hand. You see, one of those messages brings conviction. The other does not. If whoever trusts in the Lord is safe, why do we fear man and alter the message?

One gospel message obeys God but makes you vulnerable. The other gospel message ignores God and makes you popular and likable. Which are we to preach? We know the answer. Just like Nineveh, all mankind will be judged for their sin, so people need to hear the correct message.

They need to hear the necessary and truthful one, the one that God gave us, not the one we alter. Otherwise, what will people do at the judgment? What would happen if Jonah decided to change the message God gave him to preach to the Ninevites?

What if he decided to preach a different message? Jonah could offer them a message of prosperity, tickle their ears and give them what they want, or he can call them to repentance and give them what they need, what God ordered him to say.

Now, we know it's much easier to speak a message of prosperity and love without repentance than actually confronting the issue that faces people, that actually feeds into what the heart of man craves.

Man craves seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Man wants to be happy. How many times have you spoken to somebody when you're talking to them about God and they say, well, doesn't God want me to be happy?

No. You're not the focus. God wants you to be holy. When you worship God, you will be happy. You worship idols, you will not end up being happy. You think you will, but you won't. But why would anyone alter the gospel message when it's what God commanded us to preach?

Why would anyone change the message if people's souls are on the line? Because the fear of man is a snare. The world has seeped into the church. There are way too many Christian pastor celebrities today.

We have to guard against friendship with the world and looking like it. Our job is to trust God and obey. Otherwise, we may succumb to seeking the approval of man and to please man over God. Whoever trusts the Lord is safe.

But there's another option. If you don't want to preach the message you're given, you could do what Jonah does. Rather than change the words of God, he runs away and doesn't preach it at all. Instead of preaching the message God gives him, he flees to Tarshish.

He ran away. Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah runs away from the Ninevites and God. He runs from the presence of the Lord. Where's that? Where can you go? Jonah's not thinking straight.

He's focused on self. He desires to be free from God and his obligation to run and hide and not be seen on him, by him. And Jonah knows better. He's a prophet. He understands the scriptures. It's very reminiscent of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3.

The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. Isn't that the nature of the sinner? To hide from God? To try to cover your sin with little fig leaves or whatever it is?

Man wants to hide from God. I think it was Paul Walsh who said, the problem has never been hiding God. The problem has always been hiding man. Man wants to hide from God, but as you know, you can't. It's impossible.

David tells us in Psalm 139, where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you're there too. Jonah running away from God and Nineveh is a fool's errand.

Where is away from God? God is omnipresent. Wherever you go, the top of the mountain, bottom of the sea, the heights of heaven or to the depths of Sheol, there he is. He's all over. But Jonah persists.

And verse three says, he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. Notice that every move that Jonah made was a move downward. He went down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the inner room, right?

Sin is always a step downward. Over and over in the Old Testament, we hear the phrase, they went down into Egypt. A move downward is a move away from God, away from God and towards sinfulness and worldliness.

Whereas in the New Testament, we hear the phrase, they went up to Jerusalem. Up is a move towards God. Down is a move away from God. And it's very interesting here to note the meaning of the term Joppa and Tarshish.

The name of the city, Joppa, means beautiful, beauty. The root means to be beautiful, to adorn. While Tarshish means she will shatter. The root means to break or subject. The book of Jonah is the story of God transforming Jonah from beautiful to broken and subjective, decreation.

He must die to self and be recreated. Jesus tells us in John 12, 24, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

We need to die to self. Jonah needed to die to self in order to bring this message of grace to the people who didn't deserve it. Again, it's much like the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve go from being broken, from beautiful to broken, and then submitted to God to being restored what was lost.

And if you're a Christian, this is your issue too. You must, you must die to self. And God will take you from being beautiful to broken and then submitting to him to be restored, to be recreated and used by him.

When Jonah runs away, he intentionally disobeys God. He loves the title of prophet, but he doesn't love all the die to self stuff. Again, sin is always a step downward, downward, and it always comes with a price, a fare, the text says.

The end of verse 3 says, so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish. Jonah paid a price to go down into the boat, as will anyone else who rejects the commands of God. He will pay a price when he steps down into sin.

There is always a cost to it. And in running away from God, he will never get to that place because God is everywhere. He will not escape the presence of God, and neither will we. Verse 4 of them reads, but the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship was threatened to break up.

So how many of you here believe in the sovereignty of God? As good reformed people, everybody's hand popped up, of course we believe in the sovereignty of God. You wouldn't be allowed through those doors if you're not.

So you believe that God has a plan, and he will accomplish that plan with or without our permission. God's not asking us for permission. He's doing what he intends to do without asking us. Isaiah 46 .9 says, I am God, there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand.

I will accomplish all my purpose. Do you realize God's the only one who could say that? And here it's in verse 4 that God hurls a great wind that brings a great storm on the sea. So first the word hurl is often used when throwing a weapon like a spear.

We see that in 1 Samuel 18. Saul hurls a spear at David. So God hurling a storm at the ship is not God playing games. He's not just sending a storm to Jonah, he's hurling one at Jonah. And second, it's a great wind.

It's a great storm. Not just any wind or storm, but a great one. Why? It's due to Jonah's great sin. Great sins lead to great storms. Because Jonah refuses to go to the great city, he commits a great sin which leads to a great storm.

And it's here that he comes under God's discipline. And this too is great. Remember, Jonah is God's prophet. God has sent his covenant love on him. God has chosen him. God has sent him. And God is not going to give up on Jonah either.

And so behind that great storm is a great God who pursues him and a great and gracious God who will not let go of Jonah because he's sovereign and because he's committed to his own plan and will accomplish all his purposes.

Although Jonah's disobedient, he's still in the palm of God's great hand, which is great news. So first God extends grace to Jonah and the Ninevites and Jonah runs away. And now God's grace is actually going to pursue Jonah.

We read in verse 5,. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God. And they hurled cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep.

So this was no little storm. Even the seasoned sailors were afraid. They've been on the water many, many times. They're afraid. The ship's about to break apart. Jonah's disobedience has now placed their lives in danger.

And they're frightened enough to throw their cargo, which is their money and their livelihood, overboard. They're willing to forego that just to stay alive. And as this was happening, Jonah, the dove, becomes a swan.

He does a swan dive below deck. He descends lower. He goes down. And then he goes to sleep. Don't you love those guys who could sleep in the middle of a hurricane? A big ship like that. Immediately, my mind is thinking of Mike Liddell.

That's a great place for a MyPillow ad. Like, oh, I gave him the pillow. He fell asleep in the middle of it. All right. As for these men, they're fearing for their lives. They're throwing their livelihood into the sea on the verge of perishing and being shipwrecked because of Jonah.

And what does he do? He descends deeper into his sin. And he doesn't care. He's callous. And what makes it sad is that he's the only one who truly knows why this storm is happening. Even worse, he can stop it if he simply calls out to God and turns back to God in repentance.

But Jonah has such pride for Israel and disdain for the Ninevites that he's willing to sacrifice the sailors' lives and his own just to avoid going to Nineveh. He would rather die than see God favor the Ninevites.

Even the first reaction of the sailors indicates that they think this storm is of divine origin. Why? They cry out to their gods. They know that this is a divine act. But their gods don't answer because their gods don't exist.

They're aware of some god. They have natural revelation. They know that some god exists. But they lack the necessary internal special revelation of the Holy Spirit that would point them to the one true god.

Listen, Jonah has that knowledge. He has special revelation. The word of the Lord appeared to him and spoke to him. And he's choosing to sleep. The word for sleep here means to be in a state of deep sleep from exhaustion.

Jonah is so exhausted in his running away from God and his calling he collapses and puts these men's lives in great danger. His sin has worn him out to the point where he doesn't even care about the Ninevites.

He doesn't care about the sailors on the ship. Nor does he care about himself. More tragic is that he doesn't value that God has given him the privileged office of a prophet. A specific message to deliver.

He takes God's grace for granted and ignores it for his own fleshly agenda. That's what persistent sin results in. Like James says, each person is tempted and when he is lured and enticed by his own desire then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin.

And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. As Jonah protects his own reputation, it makes him indifferent. Callous. Apathetic to the life of the Ninevites and the sailors. He'd rather die. And he doesn't care if they do too.

But unlike Jonah, the sailors say, we want to live. Verse 6, the captain comes and says to Jonah, what do you mean you sleeper? Arise! Call out to your God! Perhaps the God will give us a thought that we may not perish.

And there's a profound irony in this verse because it parallels verse 1 that opens the book of Jonah. In both verse 1 and verse 6, God and the pagan sailors now are calling out to Jonah in the very same way.

Wake up! Wake up! Arise! Both God and the unbelieving sailors are crying out to Jonah to get up. God was calling Jonah to arise to do something, but the sailors are calling him to arise because he hasn't.

We're about to die and you're sleeping. Don't just lay there. Get up and do something. Perhaps your God can save us so that we don't perish. They desperately need Jonah's God to save them, but Jonah remains silent about God.

He doesn't call out to Yahweh. He doesn't repent. He doesn't even speak. And we know this from verse 7 because after Jonah remains silent, they decide to cast lots to see why the storm is upon them. Jonah wouldn't give in.

In verse 7, they said to one another, come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come on us. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. Hmm. Lucky. Got very lucky. Sounds a lot like Proverbs 16, 33.

The lot is cast into its lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. That was the one lottery that Jonah did not want to win, but he did. God made it evident to the sailors and to Jonah that it was his sin causing the storm.

Now the sailors know what Jonah knows. The evil of this great storm is due to Jonah's disobedience. He's been outed. Charles Spurgeon says it like this. Most of the grand truths of God's love have to be learned by trouble.

They must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction. Otherwise, we shall not truly receive them. God speaks louder to us in our pain. The evil of Sodom Gamora came up before the Lord. The evil of the Ninevites came up before the Lord.

And now the evil in Jonah's heart comes up before the Lord, before the sailors and before himself. Not only was Jonah sleeping to the message God called him to preach, he was asleep to his own condition, his pride, his love of comfort, and thinking that the Ninevites hearts were worse than his own.

They aren't worthy of this message or God's grace. Only Israel is. He would rather die than bring them that message. He's also asleep to the fact that his spiritual mutiny may kill his fellow man on the ship.

Now, here's where I want to pause for a second to examine where we are in this story. We already know about the Ninevites and the evil that they've committed. They were a wicked and cruel people. There's no doubt about that.

Did they deserve God's mercy? No. Did they deserve God's justice? Yes. Now we hear about Jonah and how he's a prophet by the grace of God who refuses to listen and refuses to bring a very specific message to the Ninevites.

And he's blind to his own pride as he judges them. Does he deserve God's mercy? No. Does he deserve God's justice? Yes. If you're anything like me, you started off judging the Ninevites because of their vicious cruelty.

These are wicked people. But then you see Jonah. He's the prophet of God. And he's refusing to obey God's direct order. That's worse. And we begin to judge him. So we move from judging the Ninevites to now judging Jonah and his sinfulness.

He's more wicked. And that's where you and I fall into the same trap as Jonah. What you may have failed to see was that what Jonah did to the Ninevites and judging them is exactly what we might be doing now to Jonah.

We're judging him for his sin. Now it's okay to identify sin, but it's another thing to act as judge and condemn someone to hell for it. Jonah judges the Ninevites because they're wicked and he writes them off.

So we judge Jonah for not bringing the message to them because he's wicked. And what do we do? We write him off. But both the Ninevites and Jonah deserve God's justice. And so do we. We've taken our eyes off the God of Jonah and the grace that's been shown to him.

We've taken our eyes off the God of the Ninevites and the grace that he was showing them. Neither of them deserve God's grace. But neither do we. That's why it's called grace. Grace is dependent on God, not on us or them.

And that's the point. That's what makes grace grace. It can't be earned. It can't be demanded. It can only be applied to us by God. Isn't it funny how our hearts jump into justice mode when we examine someone else, but we quickly jump back into grace mode when we're examining ourselves.

Oh, look what that guy did. Don't look at what I did. I'm saved by grace. We're wicked people judging wicked Jonah who's judging wicked Nineveh. We're all sinful people judging each other while God, who is perfect, sinless, is showing them and us grace.

Who can make a charge against those whom God has chosen? You see, we all have a problem when understanding a God of justice and grace. So easy to slide into justice mode and start condemning people to hell for their sins.