“Being a Servant of the Lord”

Jonah 1

1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

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.

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.

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. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2

1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jonah 3

1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Jonah 4

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Let us consider the following points (and more):

  • Does the Lord find me a faithful and useful servant?
  • Am I a vessel in His hand which He can use to His glory?
  • What can cause me to be a troublesome servant in His service?

Firstly the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah. It is grace when God speaks to you, the sweetest fellowship you can imagine to hear God speaking to you. Do you know that Voice?

The Bible also notes that Jonah was the son of Amittai. A successful parent is the one who can teach his child to hear the Lord’s voice. Not like the measurement of the world of being a successful parent – to give them an excellent education, riches and see them happily married.

Secondly how obedient are we when God speaks to us? Jonah arose after God spoke to him but went another way – he fled from God’s presence. The presence of God is something wonderful to a true child of God. But a disobedient child of God, finding himself in that same palm, finds how terrible it is to be in the hand of God.

That’s why two Christians might find the Christian life very different. To the obedient one it brings him joy and liberty and he wouldn’t exchange it for anything else. But to the other it is a burden to be a Christian.

Thirdly Jonah went down to Joppa, found a ship and went down into the hull of the ship. Everything seemed to be going his way and he could’ve interpreted it as God being with him. But he didn’t have to wait too long to discover his peril. Don’t misinterpret it that God is with you when you run from God’s presence and things seem to work out for you. You too will soon find out that your success is only carnal security. You might earn a bit more money and mention other benefits of your disobedience, but it will be at the peril of your spiritual life.

Fourthly a disobedient child of God has to boost his own ego. When the heathen sailors asked Jonah what he was doing and pointed out to the contradictions in his life, he claimed to be the servant of God and to fear Him. But his actions of disobedience clearly showed that he did not fear God. His disobedience also caused suffering to the heathen sailors and they had to throw some of their possessions overboard. So too if you are disobedient to God it will cause suffering to others.

Still these heathen sailors had more compassion on Jonah than he had for the inhabitants of Nineveh. But in the end Jonah ended up in solitary confinement in the belly of the fish. Finally Jonah saw and acknowledged his sin, and God had compassion on him and let him out of his prison.

Fifthly when God spoke to him this time he obeyed and went to Nineveh – but still he did not go in the Spirit of God. One gets the impression that he just wanted to do things his own way.

He was like some Christians who think that they are doing God a service by serving Him. They act as if God could be fortunate to have them as His servant; God must appreciate what they have given up for Him. They think of the car they could’ve driven, the salary they could’ve earned, the positions they could’ve reached if they didn’t serve God. So they feel that God is owing them. Such Christians are like Jonah. God cannot do anything right according to them.

If you live like that you become an enemy to God. You do God’s work; you say that you do His will, but you are carnal. You walk in the flesh. It is like the Bible says “their god is their belly”. If your appetite is satisfied then Christianity is good. But your appetite might differ; maybe you have an appetite for fame, recognition. You want people to notice you. And when you’re not recognised you throw your faith overboard. Then you’re like Jonah.

Jonah was a complaining Christian. Jonah went as far as even finding fault with God’s mercy and grace He showed on these people. But he forgot that God spared his life when he didn’t deserve it.

Jonah should’ve known compassion after God had spared his life, but he did not want God to show compassion on the Ninevites. He felt they had sinned and must be punished.

Sixthly, Jonah’s self-centered life caused him to go into depression. He withdrew himself, sat alone on a hill and wished that he might die. It is the same with so many people that live for self. When it doesn’t go their own way, they go into depression. They withdraw, and isolate themselves and want to die.

One is amazed when one reads his story. This should’ve been the highlight of his life. Imagine God using him to turn a whole city to the Lord! There was rejoicing in heaven and thankfulness in Nineveh. The Ninevites certainly appreciated what he did for them. But there was sulking on the hill where Jonah was.

May we be synchronised with heaven. When there is rejoicing in heaven let we rejoice and when mourning in heaven let we mourn.

While Jonah was complaining to God that He was such a merciful God, Jonah could’ve thanked God for being so merciful and not even taking his life at that very moment for his stubbornness.

So too if it was not for God’s goodness and kindness and grace we would’ve been totally lost.

Seventhly God provided Jonah with a bit of comfort and made a plant to grow up over him. That made him exceedingly happy and did for him what the thousands of souls in Nineveh that were saved could not do.

Beware lest we rejoice over God’s comforts and forget Him. May we always have God and His cause as the ultimate goal in our lives. May that plant which God sends (God’s creature comforts to make our life a bit easier) never become our god.

Remember that the comforts God gives He also has the right to take away. May we not complain and become bitter when God removes them.

May God give us a heart after Him and His love be our driving force. Let we not serve Him for personal gain. May we rejoice in the Lord and in His strength.