Joel was a wake-up call for those in Judea centuries before
Christ and for those who now live in the last days. In the battle of good and evil, God
wins. Love wins, but how many must lose? How many will continue in rebellion? How many can even recognize rebellion? It looks just like our own understanding.
Joel is three chapters of in-your-face prophecy. Links to messages for each chapter are
provided below.
Have
you ever seen anything like this?
Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord
Read Joel
3
Let’s
consider the last days. Are we talking a
week or a month or a year?
We are
talking about every day that you have ever lived. Since Christ rose from the dead, ascended
into heaven, and the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost, we have been in the
last days—the last age if you will.
Now will
certain things happen as we get closer and closer to the second coming of
Christ? Yes, but consider when Joel
talks about in those days, he is talking about these days. He is talking about this age.
Again, we
see some near-term and long-term prophecy.
Jerusalem would be taken captive into Babylon and returned to its land
before Christ came, but they would not yet have the blessings of all of the
prophecy until the end of this age.
At some
point, all of Israel will cry out: Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They will welcome and receive the Lord, Jesus
Christ.
At some
point, God will hold court on the nations of the world. Everyone who has wronged his chosen people
will be held accountable. It is as if
God is saying, “I double-dog dare you to rebel on this day.”
Go ahead and
make your weapons of war. You have
enjoyed peace in your ungodly ways long enough.
Go ahead and
generate that machismo spirit. It won’t
last when you face the one true God.
Everything
you did against God’s people will be settled and those who have wronged God’s
people will not come out of this in good shape.
Your days of
getting away with stealing from, ridiculing, fighting against, and otherwise
showing scorn for God’s people will be dealt with by God himself.
Nations of
the world, you are invited to judgment.
You don’t get to send your regrets and sit this one out.
Where will
this take place?
In the
Valley of Jehoshaphat. Where is that?
Some think
perhaps the Valley
of Beracah where King Jehoshaphat once had a military victory.
We don’t
know. Some suggest the Valley of Kidron,
but surely it is too narrow for such a massive gathering.
Some suggest
the Valley of Megiddo. Some think this will be Armageddon.
But the
Valley of Jehoshaphat is less a location than an event. Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges or Jehovah
Judges.
Joel uses a
different term to describe this valley.
He calls it the valley of decision.
Nations will gather there amidst cosmic disturbance as the Lord judges
from Zion.
Does the
prophecy of Joel leave room not only for people but for nations to repent? Is it possible for nations to come to this
time of judgment not in war against God but in total surrender?
I don’t
know. I do know that God will reign with
a heart that desires none
to perish but that the blood of his people will not go unavenged.
Where does
that leave us?
Stand strong
to the end. Remain faithful to the very
end. Never abandon God. Never resist his Holy Spirit.
If the
nation in which you live is judged, be among those who have taken refuge in the
Lord.
I’m going to
use some highly technical terms here.
There is going to be some stuff going on as we grow closer to the end of
this age. Our mission does not change. We are people of light and love and hope and
even joy in the midst of calamity.
Don’t’
underestimate God. He can bring judgment
and reconciliation concurrently. He can
do more than one thing at a time.
Judgment may
befall our nation but you have been saved from God’s wrath.
The Day of
Decision is coming upon the world. Take
refuge in the Lord now for you have made your decision already.
Amen.
Read Joel
3
Half a league,
half a league,
Half a league
onward,
All in the valley
of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the
Light Brigade!
Charge for the
guns!” he said.
Into the valley
of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the
Light Brigade!”
Was there a man
dismayed?
Not though the
soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right
of them,
Cannon to left of
them,
Cannon in front
of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with
shot and shell,
Boldly they rode
and well,
Into the jaws of
Death,
Into the mouth of
hell
Rode the six hundred.
Alfred Lord Tennyson continued for
another 3 stanzas but the outcome was clear.
The decision to attack when and where they did was a blunder, but the
brigade rode on.
The decision to continue the attack
was not made in the ranks. Theirs was
but to do or die.
This poem reflected upon one brigade
that would be eternally known for its courage in a hopeless cause. It was in Crimea not Kidron or Megiddo. It was not the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
But it was the Valley of Decision.
in
the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in
the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his
people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Everyone who calls upon the name of
the Lord will be saved, but you must call upon the name of the Lord.
The ultimate battle of good and evil
is on the horizon. We know God has
already won, but some remain in rebellion. Some avoid the decision to accept
God through Jesus Christ.
I meet with many people whose lives are
a mess but their excuses are in order.
They have so many reasons and justifications for living in their own
understanding instead of living God’s way.
Their lives are a mess but their
excuses are in order. This is a defense
mechanism to avoid making real-life decisions.
There are so many that live under the
umbrella of what is often called determinism.
That is their circumstances determine their outcome.
I spent many hours in conversation
with inmate clients who had years to go on their sentences who still wrestled
with, I didn’t have a choice.
Only when they realize that we always
have a choice can we move beyond our circumstances into real decisions. Yes, many decisions are difficult to make and
harder to live by, but they are our decisions
They take us out of the victim
mentality and put us in the more than conquerors category.
The decision that I speak of is the
decision for life in Christ. The
decision is to profess Jesus as Lord and serve him as Lord, Master, and Savior.
The decision is to take
his yoke and learn from him.
The decision is to obey
his commands with joy in our hearts not as burdens on our backs.
I feel for many of you as you minister
to those who pay lip service to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and
diligently serve the god of their own understanding.
You, like
the prophets, often minister to deaf ears and are not well received. I get it.
But we are not allowed to throw in the
towel. We reveal God’s grace and mercy
every chance that we get. One day, time
will be up. The battle in the Valley of
Decision will be consummated in God’s victory and those who held onto their own
understanding will go the way of the 600, without the human glory.
Joel is a wake-up call for all
generations. God wins. That means that love wins. Why would anyone decide to play for the wrong
team in the battle of eternal outcomes?
The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his
people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
He is our
Rock and Stronghold as well. Our
salvation is secure but the nations of the world are in peril. So many are at risk of being eternally
separated from God. It may seem
comfortable now to not deal with this God stuff, but is that really the eternal
condition that some want to choose in their valley of decision?
The world is gathering for war in the
Valley of Decision. The only winning
decision is to receive Jesus as Lord and serve only God. We go forth into battle armed with the Sword
of Truth—the Sword
of the Spirit—that we know as the word of God.
God wins. We know that part, but how many must lose. We have a part in keeping
that number low. It’s a target-rich
environment. Everywhere we look there is
someone who needs the Lord.
Everywhere we look we see people with
their excuses in order but their lives are a mess.
Everywhere we look we see people
living in their own
understanding and rejecting
God.
Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
Joel
is a wake-up call for this generation of apathy and ambivalence that lives
entrenched in its own understanding. For
many, the time for decision is already upon them.
For us, the message of hope and love
and grace and mercy must be delivered with more urgency now than ever before.
We all are entering the Valley of Decision.
Amen.
Read
Joel 2
The first chapter charged
those who should have
known better to wake up. Judgment
was coming. Joel continued in the second
chapter with what he would label as the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
Mostly, he focused on the second part.
Darkness, gloom, clouds, and blackness
headline what’s coming. Let’s add an
army like never seen before. This may be
an army of locusts that devour.
If that were not enough, there will be
fire that precedes the invasion and is still burning afterwards.
What looked like the Garden of Eden
before will be a desert wasteland afterwards.
No place will be left untouched. People will tremble in fear.
Could this be an army of locusts or is
this the battle in which the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords leads the
charge? The answer is yes.
This was prophecy for the near term in
Judah. Calamity was coming.
This is prophecy for the end of the
age. Things will get really bad before
the end.
We see the cosmic disturbance that
Jesus mentioned to his disciples in Matthew 24. That tells us that this part was still to
come.
Who can endure the Day of the Lord?
Joel’s prophecy does not answer so
much who can endure the Day of the Lord but how we can endure it.
Even now—at this late date return to
God with all of your heart.
Even now—your time is not up yet, so
do the things that signal repentance.
Even now—all is not lost. Do you know God? Tell me if this sounds
familiar.
That was from Jonah 4. Let’s
see how Joel presents God to his people.
He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
God desires none to
perish. His desire is
for all to come to repentance.
Joel’s prophecy called upon the people
to rend their hearts and not their garments. Return to the Lord.
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Joel calls upon people to repent with
their hearts. Repent with your very
being.
Then the repentant people are to call
out to God and ask him to remember them as his prize possession. Don’t let them be an object of scorn for the
world.
Repent, return to God, and call upon
him to spare you.
For us today: Repent, Profess Jesus is Lord, live as his
disciple.
But how will the Lord respond?
He will send grain and wine and never
let his people be an object of scorn again.
He will drive out all who oppose his
people. It’s going to be a real
whuppin—the enemy will be driven into the sea.
The pastures will be green, the trees
will bear fruit, you will have abundant crops and plenty of wine.
Your abundance will make those days
when the locust consumed everything a distant memory. Paul would say that our
present suffering would pale
in comparison to what is in
store for us.
Then you will know that God is with
his people and they will never be shamed again.
Realize that this will take place
amidst cosmic disturbance. The world
will be in turmoil. But God will pour
out his Spirit on all people.
His Chosen People will be protected
and rewarded and never scorned again, but his Spirit will be poured out all
over the world.
Men and women, old and young, people
in high and low positions will have visions and dreams and prophesy.
Wonderous things will happen all over
the world and even in the heavens.
For some, these wonders will be
terrifying. For others they will know
them to be signs of the Lord himself and they will take comfort.
It will be the Great and Terrible Day
of the Lord, and it’s not just for show.
Remember what both Jonah and Joel said about God?
You are a gracious and compassionate
God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending
calamity.
Calamity is finally on its way but it
is not for all. God’s grace and
compassion continue to the end even when his wrath will be poured out on those
who insist on rebellion.
For everyone who calls upon the name
of the Lord will be saved.
Everyone who calls upon the name of
the Lord will be saved.
Our mission—our commission—is to call
people to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ now and know that their
eternity with God is secure, but we must know that a time will come when the
evidence of God and his love will be so overpowering, that many will repent and
believe the good news that we now enjoy in Jesus Christ.
Everyone who calls upon the name of
the Lord will be saved.
The world will be as evil as it has
ever been, but God’s compassion and forgiveness are offered to the very
end. He will send his Spirit and his
word will be everywhere.
So what are we to do?
Go into the world. Preach repent and believe the good news. Live out your commission every day. Be known as a follower of Jesus by your love.
Be salt and light and goodness in a
world that does not know God, knowing that while the world gets worse and
worse, God will give signs and miracles and pour out his Spirit so that many
will be saved.
Do your best to share the good news,
but the pressure is off.
Don’t lose hope when things get really
bad. Such things must happen and they
might just be that nudge that opens the eyes of those blinded by the god of
this age.
Know that God is a God of grace and
compassion. He is slow to anger. He is abounding in love and he desires none
to perish.
Visualize Jesus standing before the
world one last time before judgment and wrath come. See him with his arms wide open calling upon
all to take his yoke and learn from him.
We have our part, but Jesus calls
people to come home and if the earthly
shepherd will leave the
99 to find the 1, how much more will the Lord of Lords do to meet the desire of
his Father’s heart?
How much more?
There will be great and terrible signs
and God will pour out his very own Spirit upon this world to give all one more
chance to repent and come to him.
See the things that must come as one
last effort to bring the lost home, to call all to repentance, and to give
everyone a chance to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
Amen.
Read Joel
2
The first
chapter charged
those who should have known better to wake
up! Judgment was coming. Joel continued in the second chapter with
what he would label as the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
Mostly, he
focused on the second part.
Darkness,
gloom, clouds, and blackness headline what’s coming. Let’s add an army like never seen
before. This may be an army of locusts
that devour.
If that were
not enough, there will be fire that precedes the invasion and is still burning
afterward.
What looked
like the Garden of Eden before will be a desert wasteland afterward.
No place will
be left untouched. People will tremble
in fear.
Could this
be an army of locusts or is this the battle in which the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords leads the charge? The
answer is yes.
This was
prophecy for the near term in Judah.
Calamity was coming.
This is
prophecy for the end of the age. Things
will get really bad before the end.
We see the
cosmic disturbance that Jesus mentioned to his disciples in Matthew
24. That tells us that this part was still to come.
Who can
endure the Day of the Lord?
Joel’s
prophecy does not answer so much who can endure the Day of the Lord but how we
can endure it.
Even now—at
this late date return to God with all of your heart.
Even
now—your time is not up yet, so do the things that signal repentance.
Even now—all
is not lost. Do you know God? Tell me if
this sounds familiar.
You are a
gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents
from sending calamity.
That was
from Jonah
4. Let’s see how Joel presents God
to his people.
He is
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger
and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
God desires none
to perish. His desire is for all to come to repentance.
Joel’s
prophecy called upon the people to rend their hearts and not their garments.
Return to the Lord.
Rend your
heart
and not your garments.
Return to the
Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger
and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
Who knows? He
may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain
offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
Do you
remember what the King of Nineveh said in Jonah
3?
“By the
decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let
people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or
drink. But let people and animals be
covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up
their evil ways and their violence. Who
knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so
that we will not perish.”
The king of
Nineveh made sure that his people—and even the livestock—at least had the
outward signs of repentance.
Joel calls
upon people to repent with their hearts.
Repent with your very being.
Then they
are to call out to God and ask him to remember them as his prize
possession. Don’t let them be an object
of scorn for the world.
Repent,
return to God, and call upon him to spare you.
For us
today: Repent, Profess Jesus is Lord,
live as his disciple.
Amen.
Read Joel 1
We are
beginning Joel, but I will start with Matthew 24 as we consider chapter 1.
“But about
that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father. As it was in the days
of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood
came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of
Man. Two men will be in the field; one
will be taken and the other left. Two
women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore
keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Jesus told
us that we can’t know the day or the hour but Joel tells us that we should see
the signs of the times.
Had we kept
on reading in Matthew, Jesus also told his followers to note the signs of the
times. He directed us to be ready at all
times.
God’s Chosen
People were sitting around fat, dumb, and happy not aware of what was coming in
the way of calamity. Actually, they
might have been getting skinny and grumpy, but their attitude was same
stuff, different day—life goes on.
Calamity was
coming both in the near term and in what would be the Great and Terrible Day of
the Lord.
The
Babylonians would take care of the first part.
The conclusion of this age will involve the entire planet.
Joel’s
message was Wake Up!
Your crops
won’t grow. Your priests are helpless to
aid you. The locusts invade like an army
that doesn’t take prisoners.
Wake Up!
Those people
should have known better. They were
God’s Chosen People—were they not paying attention? I’m glad that we are not like them. Right?
Because we
wake up every morning saying this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I will work at everything I do as if I am working for the Lord.
Throw
whatever problems you have at me. I will trust in the Lord over my own understanding. I will acknowledge the Lord throughout the
day. The Lord himself will keep me on
his path for me.
No weapon formed against me shall prevail!
Or do we get
up thinking are we out of coffee? I have
to stop and get gas. Who left their
clothes all over the house. Does the
trash run today?
Do we ever
begin the gift of a new day thinking, same stuff—different day?
Do we fall
into malaise? Do we pay homage to the
twin gods of apathy and ambivalence?
Joel was
telling his people to get out of their daily funk and get their God game
on. Can’t you see what is heading our
way?
Hello 2021.
I don’t know
if the election for president was legitimate or not. I don’t know, but I have never seen anything
like this before.
I don’t know
why rioting suddenly became acceptable and enforcing the law is inherently
evil. I don’t know, but I have never
seen anything like this before.
I don’t know
why the color of my skin which was given to me by the God who knew me in the
womb is suddenly something that makes me unworthy of being a person. I don’t know, but I have never seen anything
like this before.
I don’t know
why people celebrate killing a baby but abhor a police officer shooting an
armed criminal. I don’t know, but I have
never seen anything like this before.
I don’t know
how one contagion can shut down most of the world but all other illnesses and diseases
seem to have disappeared in the process.
I don’t know, but I have never seen anything like this before.
I don’t know
why censorship only applies to patriotic posts and statements of faith in
God. I don’t know but I have never lived
through this before. I have studied this
in history and know of it in other countries, but never lived through it.
The mores of
society have abandoned the morals of God.
I am not going to give you a political platform here, but challenge you
to Wake Up!
Calamity is
coming upon this world. I can’t say if
it will be this year or ten years or a hundred years from now but the signs of
the times tell us to Wake Up!
I have told
the age-old story of the frog that you put into a pot of boiling water. It will jump out and you will never see it
again. Its skin is scalded but it is alive and plans to stay that way.
But put
another frog into room temperature water and turn up the heat a degree every
few minutes and in a couple of hours you have boiled frog. It never knew what happened.
You remember
the message in the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
It is to be ready. All ten fell
asleep but when they awakened, only five were ready to receive the bridegroom.
Joel
prophesied to a people who knew only the law.
They did not know Jesus, but the stakes were high. They are likewise high for us too.
Some today
are like Jonah. Intellectually, they
know what to do but their hearts rebel against God. How can you profess Jesus is Lord with a
rebellious heart?
The message
of Joel to today’s world is Wake Up!
Too many have given lip service to this profession that Jesus is
Lord. It’s time to Wake Up!
There is a
term that has gained momentum over the past couple years. It is Woke America. It’s fairly accurate but not in the way those
who embrace it think.
So many have
awakened to the evil around us and have embraced it. So many have awakened to see the gods of
Apathy and Ambivalence as easy to serve.
They require nothing that runs against how you feel.
For those
who hold firm to the word of God and do so to the end, we may not be able to do
anything about the course the world is on.
I pray that we can but all that we might be able to do is Wake Up!
We are not
helpless. Our hope is in the Lord.
There is one
thing that can help awaken this depraved world in the last days. Read chapter 2 this week and see if you can find
it.
Amen.
Read Joel 1
We don’t get
much information on the prophet Joel. He
is mentioned in his own prophecy. He
likely lived about 9 centuries before Christ was born. He likely lived in Jerusalem, or at least in
Judea.
Peter
referred to him in his first big sermon after the coming of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost.
Joel means
one to whom Yahweh is God. Some say it means Jehovah is God.
His Father
was Pethuel. Pethuel means God’s—in this case Elohim’s—unfocussed
expansion. There’s a rabbit trail to
follow on a slow day.
It appears
that much of what was described by Joel was happening as he wrote, but much was
prophecy for what we will call the Day of the Lord. It was yet to come.
Joel’s
message first addressed the elders—those older and wiser. He asked, have you ever seen anything like
this in all of your lives?
This should
be getting everyone’s attention. The
Babylonians would not be too far behind this devastation and Judah would be
ruined. This is what followed in the
short term.
The Day of
the Lord would come at some time not yet established. This is the long-term prophecy.
As is often
the case, we are left to discern which is which, but apparently, the locusts
had arrived in Joel’s time.
About a
dozen or so years ago, I remember the grasshoppers sweeping through the
area. In a single day, they had consumed
all of my garden and half of my apple tree.
It seemed strange to see half of my apple tree consumed—fruit, leaves, buds, everything—and then half left untouched.
It was as if
someone had drawn a line down the middle of the tree and the grasshoppers
stopped at the line. They finished off
the other half the next day.
Nobody got
squash or apples from my house that year. It was memorable but nowhere near the
devastation of Joel’s time.
Devastation
has come, so now what? Wake up! This is not business as usual. Something is happening. Wake up!
And do what?
Put on
sackcloth and mourn like never before.
Repent. Get right with God. This is not just a bad year for agriculture. The judgment of the Lord is upon you. Wake up!
You can’t
even go and make a simple offering. The
acts of worship that you know have ceased.
You want to
drink away your sorrows? Good luck with
that. There is no more wine.
You need a
lamp for the room at night? Good luck
with that. It’s a bad batch of oil this
year.
Everything
is withering all around you, including your joy.
Wake up!
It’s good to
live in 21st century America instead of the 9th century
before the birth of Christ. At least if
the grasshoppers eat my garden, I have canned goods galore and even some stuff
to microwave.
Imagine
nation-wide or worldwide agricultural failure.
You think the insanity of buying out all of the toilet paper was bad,
wait until it’s everything.
I laughed
pretty hard when I saw the video of someone filling a plastic tub with gasoline
after the flow of the oil pipeline had been hacked. Then I saw a video of someone putting
gasoline into a plastic Walmart bag. It
was ok. She double bagged it.
One of these
days, you are going to have to explain 2020 to your grandkids. Good luck with that. Looks like we have some explaining
to do for this year too.
If there is
one thing that we should take away from this chapter in Joel, it is this: Wake Up!
Wake
up! This is not a time of life goes on
as usual. The fragile nature of many of
our human systems is exposed. We are
vulnerable when we place our hope in the world and its ways and its systems.
From the
oldest to the youngest, we should have eyes to see. What should we see? The end of the age is upon us. Evil is everywhere and so often accepted as
the norm.
The love of
so many has grown
cold.
Evil
is presented as good and good as evil.
We claim to
be Christians, but have we lived as those who truly follow Jesus and his way?
Jesus noted
to his disciples, that in
the end times people will be living just as they did in the days of
Noah. They were eating and drinking
and getting married and enjoying life.
They were living in their own understanding and living for their selfish desires.
I don’t want
you to panic. God
did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Joel charged
those who heard his prophecy to put on sackcloth. Mourn like you have lost
everything. We don’t need a wardrobe
change. We need to do the things that we
have known to do for some time.
I charge you
to live
fully as followers
of Christ Jesus.
I call us
all to be known
by our love.
I call us
all to keep the faith.
I call us to
be the light
of the world and the salt
of the earth.
I call us to
put the words
of our Master into practice so that our house is built upon solid rock.
I call us to
prepare for the storm
ahead by living every day in loving
obedience to our Lord.
These are
not my ideas, but the Lord’s. My role is
to send the same message as Joel.
Wake
up! Take notice of the storm around you but
fix
your eyes on Jesus.
Now is the
time to trust
in the Lord and not your own understanding.
Now is the
time to wake
up and live as he has called us to live.
Amen.
Jonah is a very short book in the Old Testament. He is often considered a minor prophet. The chapters are short but their messages are
powerful and applicable to us today.
Use these links as review or the beginning of a new Bible
study.
Read Jonah 4
These
people have always been enemies of Israel.
We were not always at war but always on the brink of war. Their incursions were ruthless.
They may
have deserved some fire and brimstone but surely not mercy.
Make no
mistake about it, I know better than to disobey God. I don’t want any more time in the belly of
that big fish. I’m still getting the
fish smell off of me. I don’t need another
lesson.
Do what
God tells you to do. Just do it!
But
somehow, I need to convince God that he is wasting his mercy on these
people. I’m going to pick out a seat
here and wait and see what happens.
Maybe God will see my distress and kill all of them and destroy their
city anyway. That’s what they deserve.
Did you pick
up on the part about Jonah picking a spot out east of the city. He made a shelter. He wanted to see what would happen to the
city.
Maybe
these suckers will still get their comeuppance.
Maybe they will still get what’s coming to them.
Jonah obeyed
God but his heart was still in rebellion.
He complied with God’s authority.
He did not accept it or embrace it.
I have
divided our response to authority into four areas.
Reject,
comply, accept, and embrace. So many
live in the realm of rejection. Some
live in the realm of compliance.
Few know what it is to accept authority and even fewer to
embrace it.
God is sovereign. Does that bother us or comfort us?
God’s thoughts and ways are beyond our comprehension. Does that bother us or comfort us?
God’s answers to our prayers may not
always be what we ask for. Does that
bother us or comfort us?
We can tell people that God loves them and he has made a way to be right with God, but do we want them to repent and believe the good news?
Do we also desire that none perish
and all come to repentance and life eternal?
Do we know God’s heart and are we teachable enough to let God make our
hearts like his?
Jonah knew
to obey God but his heart still rebelled against God’s sovereignty. God
provided Jonah another lesson.
God caused a
leafy plant—a vine in most translations—to grow up over Jonah’s makeshift
shelter. Jonah was pleased.
The next
morning, God sent a worm to devour the vine.
Jonah was angry.
This was
followed by scorching sun and desert wind.
Remember this area is essentially northern Iraq. It was in the fertile crescent but on the
edge of the Arabian desert. You can have scorching sun and sandpaper air on
demand.
So, Jonah
threw a pity party.
Oh, just
let me die. God has bestowed mercy upon
these wicked people and now he took away what little comfort I had.
It was time
for a little conversation between God and Jonah.
So, you
are really upset about this plant?
Jonah
remained anchored in this anger.
Yes! I’m so angry that I wish I was dead.
Let’s frame
God’s comments in modern-day syntax.
Are we
talking about the same vine? The one you
didn’t plant? The one that you didn’t
tend. The one that you never watered?
Are we
talking about the same vine? The one that
sprang up overnight and gave you shade and relief from the heat?
Are we
talking about the vine that was here one day and gone the next?
Is that
what you’ve gotten yourself worked up about?
If your
heart is not right with God, sometimes you just go into your day looking for
something to anger you. Sometimes we
look for reasons to be angry.
Now that God
had Jonah’s attention, he continued.
OK
knucklehead, you are so upset about this vine that provided you relief for a
day but don’t care one iota for the people in Nineveh—people that are part of
my creation too.
There are
over 125,000 people in this city and you get all wrapped up in whether this
vine lives or dies but don’t care about any of those made in my image?
These
people don’t know up from down, left from right. They are lost. Would you have me leave them that way?
Can I not
be true to who I am? I am a God of love,
and mercy, and compassion. Would you
want me to set that aside and join your pity party?
That wraps
up the book of Jonah. I will now give
you the quiz.
What do
Jonah, the rich young ruler, and Nicodemus have in common?
We don’t’
know the rest of the story. The rich
young ruler went away sad because he had great wealth.
Nicodemus
helped prepare Jesus for burial, but the gospel doesn’t say whether he did this
out of respect for Jesus as a rabbi or as a follower of Jesus.
Jonah ends
and we don’t know if his heart became like God’s heart or he was still in
conflict with himself.
He didn’t
want another 3-day/3-night all-inclusive stay in the belly of the fish, but he
wasn’t too keen on this mercy for his enemies either.
We don’t
know how Jonah lived the rest of his life.
We can only focus on how we take this account of Jonah and apply it to
our lives.
I return to
the topic of authority once again.
Few know
what it is to accept authority and even fewer to embrace it. That includes God’s authority.
God is
sovereign. Does that bother us or
comfort us?
God’s thoughts and ways are beyond
our comprehension. Does that bother us or comfort us?
God’s
answers to our prayers may not always be what we ask for. Does that bother us or comfort us?
We can tell
people that God loves them and he has made a way to be right with
God, but do we want
them to repent and believe the good news?
Do we also
desire that none perish and all come to repentance and life eternal? Do we know God’s heart and are we teachable
enough to let God make our hearts like his?
Are we like
Jonah or have we learned the lesson of Jonah?
God’s love
is for all. We can wrap our minds around
that. Can we get our hearts in sync
with that as well?
Amen.
