CRITICAL NOTES.]
Jonah 3:2. Arise] J. might not imagine that God would send him again. But he appears to have some settled home, and an interval seems to have elapsed before the second commission, to give time for the report to spread. Preach] Lit. proclaim.
HOMILETICS
JONAH A SIGN TO THE NINEVITES.—Chap. Jonah 3:1, and Luke 11:30
Jonah would obey the second commission with renewed strength and Divine authority. He would appear in Nineveh as a sign, an outward proof of a Divine purpose in his life and work (cf. Luke 11:30).
I. A sign of God’s mercy towards men. As in a mirror, we see much of God and men, of sin and grace, in the history of Jonah. God proved that he was reconciled.
1. In forgiving sin.
2. In restoring a backslider.
3. In reinstating a runaway prophet. If we abuse the confidence of our fellow-creatures, they seldom forgive and employ us again. But God freely forgives, restores to favour after rebellion, and grants commission to unworthy servants. “I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins; return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.”
II. A sign of God’s inflexible justice towards men. God’s servant must be punished and corrected. The sincerity of his penitence, and the honour of his God, must be vindicated. Nineveh must be threatened, and her sin forsaken. Pardon gives no licence to disobedience. Neither the righteous nor the wicked can sin with impunity. God will be glorified in the life of his people, and the law magnified in the destiny of nations.
III. A sign of God’s unchangeable purpose towards men. God’s plans are made in wisdom, and must be accomplished. He does not alter them to gratify the whims and caprice of man. “He is of one mind, and who can turn him?” Nineveh must be warned, and Jonah must go. All pleas and excuses are in vain. God gives to every one his work, and expects him to do it. If he runs away he must be fetched back. Treachery and cowardice God has determined to scourge. “He that knoweth his Master’s will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.”
THE SECOND CALL.—Jonah 3:1-2
If Jonah doubted whether after sin like his he would ever be restored to favour and service again, he had not long to wait for an answer; for “The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time.” This second call was—
I. Divinely given. The prophet might be ready, but he had need to be certain that God required him to go. If we are willing, we require instruction in duty. The spring of action is not mere religious feeling, but apprehension of God’s word. Emotion will not ensure consistent life, without faith in Divine truth. God had to speak again. “The first verse,” says Luther, “is therefore written that we may bear in mind that nothing is to be undertaken without God’s word and command. For the first command of God having been violated by disobedience, had not God renewed it, Jonah would not have known whether he should do it or not.”
II. Urgent to immediate service. “Arise, go,” are terms of incitement, and indicate that he was not girded for work, but resting in contentment and ease.
1. The duty was imperative. The more quickly we perform, the better for our souls. Delays are signs of distrust, and impeachment of Divine wisdom. We must prove the sincerity of our profession by prompt obedience. “Be ready to every good work.”
2. The communication was suspended. The exact message seems not to be given at first. Immediate departure to Nineveh was required, and further revelations were delayed. God thus cultivates the dependence and tries the faith of his servants. His own authority in prescribing duty must be sufficient. His simple word is entitled to respect and compliance. Present duty should be enough for us. God will give enlarged views, greater strength, and more consolation, if we practise what we already know. “If any man will do the will of God, he shall know,” &c.
III. Specific in directions.
1. The destination was still the same. “To Nineveh, that great city.” The trial is not abated, the dangers are not hidden. He is again reminded that it was a great, proud, and heathen city, to which he was sent. A city whose inhabitants were pre-eminently wicked and violent, and whom he was to threaten with speedy and complete ruin. But God had given Jonah proofs of his love, and Jonah should give not less evidence of his obedience.
2. The message would be given him. “The denunciation that I shall speak to thee.” He was not to concern himself about his message and its results. That would be given to him when he was ready for it. He is to add nothing, nor diminish nothing. The Christian minister is not left to his own discretion, nor must he study to gratify the taste of the people. He must preach the Word—the message from God to him—earnestly and faithfully. If he tries to explain away or soften down what is severe to the ungodly, “he takes upon himself a double responsibility—responsibility for the salvation of the souls entrusted to him, and responsibility for his own disobedience.” Many may speak to us smooth things, but we must not please men, for how can we then be servants of God? Jonah must be faithful:
(1) In the matter of his preaching. The unwelcome message must be delivered. Nineveh was to be denounced for sin.
(2) In the manner of his preaching. He was to “cry.” Cry in compassion for perishing men, as a proof of his own sincerity, to rouse a careless and sinful people. “Proclaim the preaching that I shall bid thee.”
(3) A second call summoned him. Ingratitude and failure had disgraced his conduct. But God had chastised and forgiven him. His experience was a preparation for service. Before we can proclaim mercy to man we must receive it ourselves. Profound repentance and perfect restoration to Divine favour will qualify us for a proper discharge of duty. Repeated acts of grace to us are a ground of hope for others. Severe trials and deep sorrow are often forerunners of great trust and high distinction. “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Jonah 3:1. God does not utterly reject him who has failed once; but he rather gives him a new opportunity of correcting former faults [Lange].
The most prominent lesson in this verse is that God gives to men successive opportunities for the accomplishment of their life-work. We are not crushed by the weight of our first sin or failure. If so, few would have anything like hope for the future. Life would be a dreary foreboding, lest any message committed to our care should be neglected, and entail final condemnation. The world would be full of wretched mortals, upon whom would rest the woe of unfulfilled mission [Exell].
Jonah 3:2. Jonah would resume his work with a new obedience.
1. As a sinful man, whose sin had been eminently forgiven. He would accept his mission in a spirit of gratitude, reverence, and submission.
2. As a prayerful man, whose prayer had been eminently answered. Prayer answered was (a) a testimony to him of his sincerity and integrity; (b) It would inspire him with the assurance that he was not returning alone—that he had One who would carry him through all danger, and give him success in his work.
3. As an afflicted man, whose affliction had been eminently blessed. Like the Psalmist, before he was afflicted, he went astray, but was chastened and subdued. He knew the “goodness and severity of God,” and was fitted to teach them to others [H. Martin].
The preaching. Nothing should be more sacred to the preacher of God’s word than truth, and simplicity, and inviolable sanctity in delivering it [Pusey]. The grand doctrines of the New Testament are eternally fixed. We must preach them, all, faithfully and fully; should we alter, add, or diminish, we do not preach unto the people the preaching which the Lord bids us. If, instead of this, we preach another gospel, we shall bring down upon us a curse and not a blessing [Jones].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Jonah 3:1-3. This is substantially the same commission, and yet different. The “second” call to a man is never exactly the same as the first. The third is never a repetition of the second. Another tone is in the voice of the speaker, firmer or milder. Other shades of meaning are in the message. If it is “the second time,” still more if it is the seventh time, or the seventy-and-seventh time, there will be changes in the message corresponding with changes which time has brought in circumstances and in character. It may seem a refinement, but, properly understood, it is but a simple truth, that he never receives exactly the same command or invitation from God more than once. “If slighted once, the season fair can never be renewed” [Raleigh].
A great city. Nineveh covered a great extent of ground. Historians say that its walls were 480 stadia, or 60 miles, in circumference. It was great in population. Jonah mentions 120,000 who could not discern between their right hand and their left. It was great in splendour and power. “The researches in the mounds have astonished Europe with the barbaric grandeur of the statuary, and the full details of life and history sculptured on marble, or stamped in arrow-headed characters upon the bricks.” But it was morally great to God on account of the human souls, and their spiritual condition. In God’s sight, grandeur, territory, and architectural beauty, are nothing to immortal souls, and the influence which they exert. The material worlds, the sun with its satellites, are not so great as a man. Try to realize how great you are in the sight of God.