Just Say the Word :: Jonah 3

And the people of Nineveh were caused to be faithful in The God.

Jonah tried to go it alone, tried to go his own way. He tried to silence God’s calling. He tried to pursue life apart from God. He tried to die. But as unwilling as he was ... as unwilling as we can be ... God Almighty wins the day ... with just five Hebrew words ... eight if you want them in English. 

Just say the word I give to you, Yahweh tells us. He will win the day.

Just say the word. Don’t be anxious. Have Faith. Repent. Follow me.

Just say the word. And just like that they did. And just like that we do. 

With just a word. 

NOW WON’T YOU JUST SAY THE WORD, TOO?

Jonah, the son of Amittai, had been commissioned by God to Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it. Instead, Jonah arose and ran away ... as far away as he could, as far as west is from the east ... or maybe just as far as Spain is from Iraq. 

I suppose you can’t blame him. Pick someone who really deserves what’s coming to him. Pick someone who not only is unrepentant but is proud of their immorality. Then, multiply all the people of Saint Clair County by 12, make them all people whose deeds are a stench to the Lord ... and there ... you have Nineveh. 

So God called to Jonah ... Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. Arise and just say the word. 

I suppose you can sympathize with Jonah for not wanting to. His heart and mind were not in tune with the Lord’s. We all think there are greener pastures, don’t we?

So Jonah bought his ticket for Tarshish and set sail into history. 

You know the narrative. In short order, a fierce storm swelled up around him. And the sailors of his ship thought they were goners. They cried out to their own gods to no avail. So Jonah, wanting to die to get even farther away from the Lord, convinced the sailors to throw him overboard so their ship wouldn’t be sunk. But the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and after writing a great psalm and being vomited out onto dry land, Jonah arose and went to Nineveh and resolved himself to declaring no more and no less than what God had told him to say. 

Just say the word, God told him. 

The rest is magnificent history. 

Sometimes God’s love for the loveless ... for those who deserve his wrath the most ... it seems ever so adorable. Are you a prodigal son, too? Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me?  Have you told Christ, you don’t want to follow him?

Sometimes God’s love seems endearing. Are you like Andrew and Simon, James and John ... who at the simple word of Christ immediately dropped their nets, left their families, and began following Christ for the rest of their lives? All praise for the great apostles, so eager and so bold. But then you realize you are chicken, too, that you run away from the Gospel, too. It takes guts to be Christian.

But sometimes God’s love for the loveless is nothing short of shocking. God actually calls even the most vile, reprehensible people to repentance. God actually loves them all ... Manson, Dahmer, Pol Pot. We think they should get what they deserve. But God wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth. We’d all rather go to Spain than to preach to the meth-heads in Appleton City. God wants to save us all.

Is it any wonder our church is shrinking? 

Jonah fled from the Lord ... and so too are the people all around you. So-called atheists and agnostics account for more than one-quarter ... 27 percent ... of all religiously unaffiliated Americans. They are among your family and neighbors. They love their sin. They love their lifestyles. They love ignoring God. And their numbers are growing at a staggering rate. Nearly six in ten of them identify as being those with no religion. They don’t hear the Gospel. And you thought the third world needed Christ? 

Look next door. Your neighbors are dying to hear the word of God. Your family is dying to hear the word of God. Are you just saying it?

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it ... So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh ... And he called out, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! 

And the people of Nineveh were caused to have faith in “The God” ... that is, “The One True God,” “The Only God,” the one Jonah was preaching. It wasn't because of Jonah, per se. God caused the people of Nineveh to hear his word, to have faith in his word. God caused them to repent. God saved them. That is the way it always is. God saves you through his word proclaimed to you.

See what kind of love the father has given to us, that we too can be called the children of God. An entire city immediately repented as “The God” of heaven and earth drew near. They heard the Word of the Lord. They heard the law. They recognized their sin and their need for a savior. They were cut to the heart for all the evil they were doing and they began trusting in Yahweh ... on account of five Hebrew words.

It’s amazing how powerful the word of the Lord truly is.

This is the message of Jonah. And it’s a message for you. 

Are you listening?

We don’t always understand why or when the word of God works the way it does. But when Jonah spoke the Word of the Lord, the people immediately turned and covered themselves in sackcloth and ashes, the signs of repentance. They recognized they had faith in The God Jonah spoke of. They became horrified by their sin. And they felt sorrow for it. That is what true repentance is: Faith and Contrition. They then produced fruit in keeping with repentance: They fled their sin. And when God saw how they turned from their evil way, he relented (3:10) ... or better yet had compassion on them.

Now won’t you just say the word? 

The word is near you, it’s in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we proclaim, because if we confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

That is exactly what happened in Nineveh to 120,000 people ... plus their cows.  They turned from abortion and divorce. They turned from adultery and the idolatry of me, myself and I. They turned from their greed. They turned to the One True God. 

And they were saved. 

Repent and believe the gospel, Jesus beckons ... for the kingdom of heaven has come to you, too. The Word has become flesh and He has dwelt among us for this very reason. Jesus has taken your sin from you, nailed it to his cross, and died a sinner’s death for you. He died the death you deserve. 

Your sin should horrify you like that!

Jesus was not only born sinless, unlike you and me, he lived life without sin. He had faced all the temptations of the world, and overcame them. Then, while we were still sinners, God saved us by pouring out his wrath ... not upon us, the vile, idolatrous, unmerciful sinners of the world ... but upon his sinless, blameless, merciful son who didn’t shy away from facing his Nineveh, aka the cross. More than that ... through the great sign of Jonah ... Jesus emerged from the depths of Sheol on the third day and declared victory over sin, death and the devil ... for you. And now you don’t have to face the wrath that awaits those who won’t repent. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s a beautiful Gospel. Won’t you share it?

God hears the prayers of the saints. You are his saints. 

Thanks be to God, Jonah and the prophets delivered that word to us. Thanks be to God, you who believe have not been consigned to destruction. You have been given new life and you will not be put to shame (Rom 10:11).