All right, in that passage in
Jonah 1, 1 through 3, We are all familiar with this record
of Jonah and of his experience, but we want to look at something
else by the Jonah text today, and that is when God looks upon
a society and sees it extremely and violently wicked, and it
comes up before Him. So, Jonah 1, 1 through 3. Now, the Word of the Lord came
unto Jonah, the son of Amittiah, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come
up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa. And he found the 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. We know what happened, we'll
look at it. But in the second verse, for their wickedness is
come up before me. Now, this is not an isolated,
this is not a one of a kind text, that is, this is not the only
place where we find like expressions under this in the scripture.
There are other texts that very closely resemble it and follow
along in the same vein. For example, Genesis chapter
6 and verse 5, God saw the wickedness of man, that it was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. That is, every day and constantly. All of the time, their hearts
and thoughts and imaginations were set upon wickedness. Well, what did God do when that
generation came like that? Well, we all know He sent a great
flood and He destroyed all off of the face of the earth with
the exception of the house of Noah. Again consider Genesis
18 and the 20th verse, when the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is
great and their sin is very grievous. Again, in Genesis 19 and verse
13, the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the
Lord. And so, what did God do when
that occurred? Well, He rained fire and brimstone
upon them and He destroyed them off of the face of the earth
after he had delivered Jocelot and his family out of Sodom. In Matthew chapter 23 and the
32nd verse, the Lord said to the house of Israel during his
days upon the earth, fill you up the measure of your fathers."
In other words, you are filling full the cup of iniquity of your
fathers. And what did they do to fill
up the cup of iniquity under overflowing? Well, they crucified
the Prince of Life. They rejected the Messiah that
God sent into the world, and they used the Romans' hand, and
they nailed Him to a cross, and they crucified the Prince of
Glory. What did God do then unto them? He miserably destroyed those
men, and He took the kingdom of God away from them, and gave
it unto a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof." Now, these
are just a few of the text and of the examples of what may happen
when wickedness actually comes up before the face of the Lord. When a society or a family or
a city or perhaps even an individual becomes, as it were, seemingly
incorrigibly wicked before the face of God and he acts against
that in judgment. Now, let's consider the case
of Nineveh and the case of the prophet Jonah. Jonah is not mentioned
a whole lot outside of the book of Jonah, though he is mentioned
in the New Testament and that by our Lord. By the way, notice
the place that the book of Jonah is set in the canon of the Scripture. He is set among what we call
the minor prophet. And yet, there's not much prophecy
in the book of Jonah. It is basically a book of history. However, there is the prophecy
of the destruction of Nineveh. Jonah is called a prophet by
the greatest prophet of all, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew
chapter 12 and verse 39, he refers to him as Jonas, Jonas the prophet. And being a prophet, we notice
in Jonah 1-1 that the word of the Lord came unto Jonah. Now, this is a formula that is
used over and over in the Old Testament. I think if you should
count, you should find that over a hundred times it is said there,
the Word of the Lord came unto so and so, or the burden of the
Word of the Lord. It is a phrase to signify that
one has been given a divine message that something from God has been
imparted unto that prophet, that he might speak unto the people,
and that by a divine commission. Now, as is sometimes the case,
it was to be, in Jonah's case, a message of rebuke, of warning,
and of judgment. He was, in the second verse,
if you notice, cry out against it. Go to Nineveh, that great
city, and lift up your voice against that city. He was to
do what Isaiah was commissioned to do in Isaiah chapter 58 and
verse 1. Cry aloud. Spare not, lift up
your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sin. So first of all, let's get
an idea of the city that is in view here, that Nineveh, that
Jonah is commissioned to preach to. It is called in the second
verse, if you might look, Nineveh, that great city. Now he uses
that description of it, and the word great refers more than just
to size or to population. It refers to size more than it
does quality, I think, but thus the city was founded by some
descendants of Noah. If you trace it all the way back
to about the 10th chapter of the book of Genesis. And in particular,
it may be significant that this city, Nineveh, was founded by
some of the descendants of Noah's son named Ham. In Genesis chapter 10, verse
6 through verse 11, by one Asher. And in Genesis chapter 10 and
verse 11, it would seem that Nimrod that great hunter and
builder before the Lord founded this city or had something to
do with it. And it was in what is known as
Assyria. And the book of Jonah makes other
references also to the size of this city. in the time of Jonah
when he was to go and to preach unto it. Jonah 1 and verse 2,
Nineveh, that great city. Over in Jonah chapter 3 and verse
2, Nineveh, that great city. In Jonah chapter 3 and verse
3, now Nineveh was an exceeding great city. And in Jonah chapter
4 and verse 11, that great city, and watch this now, that great
city wherein is more than six score thousand that cannot discern
between their left hand and their right hand. I believe that that
refers to the young, to those who were young and infants in
that city. And that indicates, with this
many children, that it had a very large population of people. But it is mentioned also that
it was numerous in livestock, in herds and such like that. Now commentators say that Nineveh
was the capital city of the Assyrian kingdom in that time. And it
was a Gentile city, which is pertinent to our study today.
And to repeat, with a very large population of people that had
assembled in that place. And as is the case with almost
any large city, in any time or in any place, there is usually
a large concentration of sinners and of the more wicked that are
drawn to such places. And the larger the city, the
more does sin abound. Every excess, every licentiousness,
great lewdness, reveling, drunkenness, immorality, of every measure
and of every degree. And the wickedness of it, the
extent of it, is given in Jonah chapter 1 and verse 2. Their
wickedness is come up before me. So great was it that it became
ripe for destruction. So wicked was the city that God
was moved to move against it in judgment. It cried out for
vengeance. It was an affront to the holy
God of heaven, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity,
and cannot look on evil." Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 13. Well, what was to be the message
of Jonah unto Nineveh? If you look in chapter 2, And
verse 4, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,
or literally destroyed, as their wickedness is come up before
me. Now before we continue with that
situation, let's consider an opposite case of that, that is
to be found over in the New Testament, and it would be in the book of
Acts in the New Testament, chapter 10 and verse 4. Here is an opposite case when
not wickedness but devotion to God comes up before him. An angel appeared unto a man
by the name of Carnelius. Now, Cornelius was a Roman centurion. That meant that he was an officer
in the Roman army and was probably over a brigade of some hundred
soldiers or so. Also, we notice something else
about Cornelius, and that is that he was a Gentile. And verse 2 tells us, Acts 10,
that he was a devout man. This was a man that feared God. He was not a practicing pagan,
not an idolater, or a worship of pagan gods. It tells us something
else, that he had given much alms unto the people, that he
was a generous and a free-hearted man, and that he had given much
alms to the people. Tells us something else, that
he was a man of prayer. that he was a man that was often
a praying. He had turned away, as John Gill
put it, quote, from the Roman idolatry and superstition in
which he had been brought up, unquote. And so far up to this
point in his life, he had a what we might call pure Judaism. That is, he had come to believe
not in the pagan saviors and gods, but he had come to believe
in Messiah that was to be sent into the world. Yet this man
at this time in his life knew only Moses and the prophet. He was instructed only up to
that point in his spiritual life. He knew only the law up to this
point, causing Gil to say that his faith was of the same kind
as those before the coming of the Lord that look forward to
Messiah. Well, anyway, what I wanted to
get at is in verse 4 of Acts chapter 10, the angel tells Carnelius
a strange and an unusual thing, and that is that his prayers
and his alms had come up for a memorial before God. Now at this point I realize that
the experience of Cornelius could provide us a separate study in
itself. This would be a separate study
and I believe very profitable in contrast with what went up
before God out of the city, the wicked city of Nineveh. However, we cannot long turn
aside and tarry here, except to say a few things. To say as
did F.F. Bruce in his commentary on the
book of Acts, that the angel's message to Cornelius was couched
in sacrificial terminology, if we may use that to describe it.
As when Noah made a sacrifice, we read in Genesis chapter 8,
Verse 20 and verse 21, as he put clean animals on that altar,
it says this, and the Lord smelled a sweet savor. You see that again in Leviticus
chapter 2. You see it in Leviticus 5 and
verse 12, 6 and 15, and 24 and 7. All of these using this terminology,
they call the sacrifices, the various sacrifices, a memorial. Looking at them as a memorial. In Revelation 5 and 8, and 8
and 3, We read of something amazing. Of the golden vials full of odors
before the Lord. But then listen to what they
contain. Which are the prayers of the saints. Those golden idols
are vials filled with the sweet odor of the saints before God. Then of course there is Ephesians
5 and verse 2. That the Lord gave Himself a
sweet savor unto God, a sweet-smelling savor. Thus God would be pleased
with the prayers, with the alms and the devotion of a God-fearing
person, men such as Cornelius, for he is, that is God, is not
unrighteous, to forget our work and labor of love, Hebrews chapter
6 and verse 10. Not that God saved Cornelius
by good works, not at all. It cannot mean that. For his
good works were motivated by a previous or prior work of God
in the heart of this man. Also, remember, what Hezekiah
pleaded when the Lord told him that he would die. You have it
in Isaiah chapter 38 and verse 3. Hezekiah is said, Set your
house in order, you shall die and not live. Hezekiah replied,
as he turned his face to the wall, prayed to God, Isaiah 38
and 3, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech you, how I have walked
before you in truth and with a perfect heart and done that
which is good in your sight, unquote. See, I told you that
this would be capable of a separate study in itself. Let's go back
to Nineveh and the book of Jonah and the words, their wickedness
has come up before me. Now, this is not to say that
lesser sins were unknown. are unnoticed or passed by God. But it likely has at least a
two-fold significance for us to grasp out of the text. Number one, of course, that their
wickedness was very excessive. It was an abounding wicked society
and a wicked city. That their practice of sin was
without restraint. They had very little restraint. They sinned and they did so without
any compunction or any tariqa. in conscience whatsoever. Nothing to check their guilt.
And so they gave themselves over to all manner of sin and all
manner of excess with no remorse, no conviction, and no sorrow. And they did it all before the
eyes of God. Before me, for God seeth all. Secondly, God deemed them worthy,
deserving of judgment. God deemed them worthy of judgment. As an example, to them that afterward
would live ungodly, and to preserve his honor and keep up some fear
of God, to demonstrate his wrath against the unrighteousness of
men, as stated in Romans 1 and verse 18. Yet we notice rather
than utterly, utterly destroy them suddenly and without any
warning, God would send a prophet among them. God would send a
prophet among them to cry out against their wickedness, to
expose and bring to mind their wickedness. He warned them of
an overthrow of their city. Chapter 3 and verse 4, Yet forty
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. But first of all, we notice something
else, and that is that God is bound to deal with a reluctant
prophet. Jonah is not, at that time, eager
to go and do God's will and deliver God's message. He is a reluctant
prophet and he must cure that prophet first of his rebellion. And to do so, the Almighty God
provided a sign to the people of Nineveh. Here's a man. Here's
a prophet of God among you. who had been three days and three
nights in the belly or the bowels of a great fish. So we notice
in chapter 1 and verse 3, instead of heading for Nineveh as God
had commissioned, the prophet flees down toward Joppa, then
to the sea, buying him a ticket on a ship bound down for Tarshish. And there we ask, why? Did the prophet of God defy the
call of God? Why did he seek to flee from
the presence of the Lord? After all, where is there that
one might flee out of the presence of the Lord? Psalm 139. But what
is it that possessed Jonah to flee? Could it be that he feared
the wicked ones of the city of Nineveh? That so wicked were
they that his life might actually be in danger? For after all,
remember, a wicked city is a dangerous city. Were there not the fear
of God in any of them that dwelt in the city of Nineveh? Where
the fear of God is not, one may expect danger. exactly as Abraham
did in Genesis chapter 20 and verse 11 when he said, the fear
of God is not in this place and I feared that they would kill
me for the sake of my wife. I think it's likely Jonah was
motivated to flee for another reason, and that is that his
reluctance may have been the same along the line of the Apostle
Peter in the 10th chapter of the book of Acts. And that is
prejudice against the heathen Gentile. Prejudice against God
being merciful unto them and showing them any favor at all. For Jonah delivered his message,
40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. But as we're told
in Jonah chapter 3 verse 5 through 10, the people of Nineveh responded
in an A way not to be expected, I guess, is the best way to say
it. And that is, they repented. Jonah came crying out, 40 days
at Nineveh, your city will be overthrown. And lo and behold,
the people of Nineveh repented. The king repented from the king
on down. They proclaimed a fast. They
sat in sackcloth. and in the ashes there in their
city. They called upon one and all
to turn from their evil and pernicious way, even involving their beast. in not eating and not drinking
during this time. Here's an amazing thing, greatly
out of the ordinary is this, such a degree of repentance and
contrition not seen in Israel. If we may paraphrase the Scripture,
they, as the Lord said in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 41, they
repented at the preaching of Jonah. Hearing their city to
be under a divine sentence of judgment pricked them in their
heart rather than take revenge on the prophet, rather than kill
the messenger of God, they repented. And in chapter 3 and verse 9,
they reasoned, and watch this, who can tell if God will turn
from His fierce wrath and spare us? They repented on the theory,
who can tell if God, after all, will see our repentance and will
spare us and our city? You know, that's something else
you find In the Scripture, who can tell? For example, David
said in 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 22, when the prophet of
God said, and the child born unto you will surely die. And David said later, who can
tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live? In the case of Nineveh, God actually
did. Suspend the sentence, chapter
3 and verse 10. Like Hezekiah, they were spared
a few more years the judgment of God. They repented. And as
John Gill wrote on Matthew 12, In verse 41, quote, though the
repentance of the Ninevites was an external one, yet it was what
secured them from temporal ruin, unquote. Gill reasons, as do
other commentators, that their repentance was not necessarily
unto life, but was external and was temporary. It was not lasting,
for it was not repentance unto life, but to reemphasize it,
it temporarily saved their city from a temporary destruction
at the hand of the Almighty God. Now, in chapter 4 of the book
of Jonah, we read of the reaction of Jonah. We've seen the reaction
of the city. They heard, they were pricked
in their heart, and they repented. But Jonah, what about him? Was
he pleased that God had made his preaching so effectual? Did he recognize that many ignorant,
blind sinners including thousands upon thousands of young children
were spared an awful death? Did he thank and praise God for
the great work he had done? for being merciful, that to such
an undeserving sinners as they were. Not at all, I tell you. Chapter 4, verse 1. It displeased
Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. Anger was kindled
in him, His displeasure at the actions of God ran very high. He went out under a shelter,
made him a little tent or a little booth, and there God said, what
are you doing? Is it right for you to be mad?
And he says, yes, just go ahead and let me die. He even prayed
to die because his message Not that it had failed, but that
it had succeeded and been fulfilled. Matthew Henry suggested he feared
perhaps that he would be disgraced as a prophet for his word had
not come to pass. His reputation tarnished. Perhaps
that he might lose credibility as a prophet of God because his
word had not come to pass. Like the old senile preacher
who's been predicting for a year now that the world's going to
come to an end on this day or that day or the other. Now he's
going to have to get a new day. But driving Jonah first to flee
down to the city of Tarshish, then to be angry about God sparing
The city was prejudiced, no doubt. Prejudiced against the Gentiles.
His resenting God bestowing upon them such a great and wonderful
favor as that. Jonah says, chapter 4, and verse
2, that he suspected as much. He said, I thought so. Let me
read Jonah chapter 4 and verse 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, of great kindness, and repenteth thee of the evil. In this he seeks to justify his
fleeing unto Tarshish. All of this with Jonah may put
in our minds again the experience of the Apostle Peter in our minds
and what is written here or there for our prophet and is found
again in Acts chapter 10. When God was ready to open the
door of faith to the Gentiles, when God was ready to send the
gospel unto them and to begin to call them into salvation,
He chose the Apostle Peter as the instrument of doing so and
of granting repentance unto life unto the Gentile. But Peter up
to a degree, had the same prejudice in his heart and mind as Jonah. And as it was with Jonah, so
the Lord prepared the apostle Peter to go and speak unto the
Gentiles. Peter said this, that the Lord
chose, quote, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel and believe. Acts 15 and verse 7. Now Peter's correction was not
nearly as drastic as was that of Jonah. Jonah spent three days,
three nights in the belly of a whale. Peter saw a vision from
God up on the housetop. A sheet let down, you remember
that, a sheet let down filled with clean and unclean, and a
voice saying to Peter, rise, slay, and eat. Now here's the
dialogue on the rooftop that day. Peter speaks, Not so, Lord. I have never eaten anything. common or unclean. And the voice
of God speaks again, what I have cleansed that call thou not common,
be that as it may. The episode, yonder, with Jonah
in our text today gives us, I believe, two very profitable views that
we dare not let slip by from our attention. Number one, here
is a foreview of the calling of the Gentiles. Not just a proselyte
here and there, but of the calling of the Gentiles in great numbers. That they would be called away
from their idols. That those not called by the
name of God would be called His people. So here is a foreshadowing
of a work of God and bestowing favor upon the Gentiles coming
in the gospel age. Secondly, it gives us one of
the best Old Testament types of our Lord's three days in the
grave. One of the best types out of
the Old Testament is Jonah, three days and nights in the grave,
the Lord three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth. But let's return to the subject. when wickedness comes up before
God, as it did in the days of Noah. Genesis 6 and 5, the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. Genesis 6 and 12, all flesh had
corrupted its way upon the earth. Genesis 6 and 13, The end of
all flesh is come up before me, for they have filled the earth
with violence, and I will destroy them from off of the face of
the earth. In short, as you know, God sent
a flood and destroyed all but Noah and His house, keeping them,
may I say, as a seed for the repopulation and replenishing
of the habitable earth. God did not repent of sending
the flood. He threatened it and He sent
it, destroying all in which was the breath of life. If you can
think about that, all but eight. all but eight, destroyed off
of the face of the earth, when their wickedness came up before
God, and He poured out His judgment, and as Peter said, the world
that then was perished. Again, think of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the cities round about in the plain. In Genesis 13, 13
we read, the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the
Lord exceedingly. Genesis 18 and 20, the cry of
Sodom and Gomorrah is great because their sin is very grievous. The sin and the sinners of Sodom
was very great. What was their sin? Well, Jude
verse 7 puts their sin as this, quote, giving themselves over
to fornication, which is the word that means given to all
forms and degree of sexual immorality, going after strange flesh, Jude
verse 7, again, God did not withhold or suspend the judgment against
Sodom, but He rained fire and brimstone in those cities after
delivering Lot, his wife and family, out of that city, and
He utterly destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the
plains. Now, let's close with a few observations
about the judgments of God as we read about them in the Scripture
and even as they come among us. When the wrath of God is revealed,
when His displeasure is made known, when He shows the tokens
of His wrath, then, as the Puritan Thomas Manton wrote, the people
of God ought to take notice of the judgments of God. Here's
a part of what Manton wrote, quote, His ancient judgment in
former times ought to be laid to heart by us, especially in
time when sin abounds." Unquote. Our generation, yes, our generation,
does not think of these as judgments of God. They view them as, quote,
natural catastrophes, unquote. Or they talk about the wrath
of Mother Nature. Mother Nature has poured out
her wrath rather than an act of God. Pardon me taking a minute,
but I remember in the 50s and 60s, we used to go to Colorado
on vacation and on the motel door window dresser, there was
a sign, not responsible for acts of God. You won't see that around
anymore. But today, we blame the floods
and the heat and the record snowfalls on global warming. Some preachers I've heard say
the devil sends hurricanes on our land. And judgments that
are visited upon other countries and other people ought to be
taken to heart by all of us. Let them be as examples. Lest we forget, judgments visited
upon the sins of a few often affect many others beside themselves. As the sin of Achan troubled
the whole camp of Israel, the camp as well as his own family. The psalmist, Psalm 119, Verse
120, he wrote this, quote, for fear of thee I am afraid
of thy judgment." Isaiah wrote, chapter 26 and verse 9, when
your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world
will learn righteousness, unquote. Now no doubt judgments may be
of two sorts. Number one, personal, of individuals
or even of a few. Number two, national or public
judgments from the hand of God. And when wickedness comes up
before God, it is His sovereign prerogative what judgment to
mete out upon that wickedness that crieth out unto Him like
the blood of Abel did from the ground. in the days of the brothers
Cain and Abel. Wickedness has come up before
the Lord. Not that He didn't know it before,
but it's become excessive. It has become abounding. And
God has often moved in judgment on that account.