The Cost of Disobedience

And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. (Jonah 4: 1, 3)

The prophet Jonah is one interesting character. Were it not for the fact that introspection leads me to know that I might be more like him than I would want to confess, I would simply pick on him as an example of extreme rebellion.

Most people with the basic exposure to the Bible, even others without any interest in spiritual things have heard of Jonah at one time or the other. Probably the other Biblical human as popular along the same lines is doubting Thomas.

In a nutshell, Jonah is sent by God to Nineveh, a great city of antiquity. In the last verse of the book we learn that it had 120 000 people who could not discern their right hand from their left. Who are these? I would think that these are infants, probably less than three years old. What then was its total population? I suspect it must have been running into the millions.

What was Jonah’s problem then? That city was reputed for cruelty to their enemies who he would be as a Hebrew. I am sure one reason for Jonah’s reluctance was the fear of the consequences of obedience. As he well knew, prophets were not safe even in Israel. What could he expect when he takes God’s message of doom to such a cruel enemy?

Another reason we find towards the end of the book is that he did not want to entertain the thought of the city repenting. Why is Jonah so much like us? Or how many want to see an enemy, leave alone one like Nineveh being given a second chance? Won’t it be better if they received their full cup of judgment from God?

He therefore opts out of the assignment by taking a ship going the opposite direction. His company in the ship was a godless crowd. Why did he not ‘witness’ to them? Of course you cannot witness about a God you are running away from! He therefore conveniently goes downstairs to probably avoid the risk of exposing his calling as a prophet which could have led to these characters wanting to know exactly why he was running away. Reminds me of Peter and the circumstances under which he denied Christ.

But can one run from God? I am sure he knew Psalm 139 and even the story of Job concerning the same. But rebellion does not listen to reason. Remember Saul being warned against kicking against the goads? Rebellion has its own source of energy that knows it cannot be stopped.

Of course we know God stepped in. But by this time our friend was so far, so down and dead asleep. Whoever said that sleep can only come to a heart at rest ought to talk to Jonah!

But God ruffles everything so that His messenger is unearthed from his grave as we later are able to see he had preferred death to dealing with the outcome of delivering God’s message. And even there Jonah is not alone. We have many prophets who expressed the same sentiments, beginning with the mighty Elijah!

He is then unmasked by these people who though they worshipped idols are so terrified by this prophet who is not even afraid of this God who even speaks to him and sends him, a God who had displayed His power to unmask His wayward servant. That is when he becomes the reluctant witness and leads them to believe in the one true God.

But is Jonah repentant? Far from it! He is still looking for death instead of confronting the assignment. I am sure that had he told the ship to change course they could have been more than willing to do so as they had confronted the wrath of his God. But he simply could not go to Nineveh and that is why he asked them to ‘drown’ him as there was simply no chance of him swimming to shore. He gave God two chances, drown him or have him chewed by sharks. Was he insane? You might think so until you examine rebellion. His rebellion was being brought to the fore, and especially to him.

What he forgets in his fury against God was that He is the creator and is not limited to what works on earth. God provides a fish, but not to chew him. He is swallowed! How big was that fish? Ask Jonah. God also works it out that not only would Jonah not only be chewed; he would even have oxygen in the stomach of this mighty fish so that he does not die before his time. Interesting air conditioning!

But the prophet has to deal with all the food in the stomach as well as the digestive juices, and that for three days! He has ample time to reflect on the course his life had taken and the consequences. He has enough time to repent and rededicate himself to the service of his Master.

Then God orders the fish to vomit Jonah. But unlike what we sang long ago, he was not vomited in Nineveh. I am sure he was vomited farther from Nineveh than where he was when the order first came. He therefore had to go a longer distance once he had agreed to start walking in obedience. And this is where I start the message.

Jonah paid fare to go to Tarshish, a fare that cost him much more than money. He lost his luggage, probably all that he had because I don’t think he had envisioned coming back to Israel soon as he was sure to deal with God there. He also had to face the shame of confessing his sins before the heathen, and especially because he was not willing to change. He also had to face the encounter with the food and digestive juices in the stomach of the fish. I am sure he came out with his skin peeling from that encounter. He probably had to take a few days to deal with the damage to his body as well as eat well to recover the food his body had lacked during the ordeal. That may have been the reason the sun made him faint in 4: 8

He had to survive without money as he not only spent some paying the fare and the other must have remained in the belly of the ship where he had hidden as I don’t think he had the time to sort himself out when the crew and other passengers came for him.

He looked ridiculous and I believe he was even more vulnerable as he looked worse than previously. What with his skin peeling and his clothes looking as weird as weirdness itself from coming from the laundry called belly of the fish. I am sure he also smelled fish however much he washed, unless we assume that the fish was a submarine, in which case Jonah could not have uttered what he did in 2: 5.

I try to imagine Jonah trekking to Nineveh, a lone and every ridiculously looking fella. His clothes were a blend between shredded sacks and hides and so crimpled that they looked like the belt Jeremiah had been ordered to bury in a humid environment. Like I have said his skin must have been peeling all over from the exposure to the digestive juices. Of course he smelled, and not of perfume. Most likely he lost his shoes, either left them in his bunk or they disappeared in the belly of the fish. He therefore had to tread very painfully for a longer distance than he could have travelled had he obeyed at once.

Then he had to preach a message his whole system cringed from uttering, first from fear and secondly he wanted his enemies to perish therefore was after denying them chance to repent because he knew God enough to believe that he would forgive them if they repented.

Of course he hoped against hope that his message would fall on deaf ears so that he could defend himself for his initial reluctance to preach in Nineveh.

Finally he had to deal with the reasons for his suicidal tendencies by seeing beyond the immediate. Probably the most painful of all was confronting God’s love, the whole reason for the experience.

But I believe Jonah saw things God’s way as I am sure had he not there could have been no chance of reading his story.

How obedient are you? Are there things God has told you to do that you think are not doable? What are the reasons? Could it be the friends and company you keep? Could it be the church you attend? Could it be that your pastor is shackling you to his theological perspective? Is it your upbringing or culture? Is it a special relationship you value so highly?

I have written this to challenge us that disobedience is costly, vastly more costly than obedience. You will lose much more than you bargained for.

That short cut into sin could take you to the depths of hell itself. That thrill you get from sex outside the marriage bed (whether fornication or adultery, even pornography) will give you punishment worse than AIDS. That innocent lie you tell to accentuate your narrations could very easily lead you to great depravity. That stretching of your hands in greed you call ambition has a capacity to lead you to great wickedness. That bribe you give to access this or the other will lead you to lose much more than your reputation. And the saddest part is that disobedience will lead you on a downward spiral that only God has the power to rescue you from, and then if only you will let him.

May Jonah’s life lift our hearts to a greater awe and submission to God