Called to announce righteous
judgment Jonah invests himself with the importance of his
message
Nineveh—which
represents the world in its natural greatness, full of
pride and iniquity, regardless of God and of His
authority—had deserved the righteous judgment of
God. This is the occasion of all the development of God's
dealings that we find in this book. Jonah is called to
announce this judgment. The wretched tendency of the
nature of man, to whom the testimony of God is committed,
is to invest himself with the importance of the message
with which he is charged. That God may so invest him in
His grace we see in the history of that grace; that the
man who bears the message should do so is but pride and
vanity. The result with such is, that they cannot bear
with the grace that God exhibits towards others, nor with
any communication of His mind or nature through any other
means than their own, even although it should be in
grace. It is they who must do the thing themselves; it is
they who must have the glory of it; and thus all their
thoughts of God are limited to their own point of
view—to the portion committed to them of God's
message. Compare that which we have seen in the case of
Moses and of Elijah, those eminent servants of God. The
sense of that supremacy in God which can pardon is too
much for the heart; it cannot be borne. The
self-renunciation that seeks only to do the will of God,
be it what it may, leaves God all His glory, and, if He
glorifies Himself by shewing grace, can bless Him for it
most heartily. Without this we shall like to wield the
sword of His vengeance—a thing more in harmony,
alas! with our natural hearts, and more adapted to
increase our own importance.
Vengeance
and grace to the messenger's natural heart
"Wilt thou that we
command fire to come down from heaven, as Elias
did?" is the natural expression of the heart. For
vengeance is the manifestation of power. Grace leaves
sinful man to enjoy mercy—will not bring in power,
but spares those against whom power might have been
exercised. On the other hand, it is God alone who can
shew grace.
The threat of vengeance is
connected in the mind with the man who has received
authority to announce it. The message and the messenger
are both feared. A pardoned man is at the time more
occupied with his own joy, and with Him that pardoned,
than with the messenger of pardon. Moreover, when grace
is shewn, it connects itself with the alarm inspired by
the threatened judgment. And if the messenger be not
himself imbued with the spirit of love, he feels himself
in the presence of a God who is above his thoughts; and
he is afraid of Him, because he does not know Him. He
fears also for his own importance, if this God should be
more gracious than the narrowness of his heart would
desire and the message committed to him expressed.
Jonah's
displeasure at grace to Gentiles
Such was the case with
Jonah, although he feared God.
He flees from the presence
of Jehovah, feeling that he cannot reckon upon Him to
satisfy the little exigencies of his contracted heart
(compare chap. 1: 3; 4: 2).
God is felt to be above
the desires of man's heart. On the other hand, the truth
of God pleases us when we can invest ourselves with it
for our own importance. Thus it was with Israel.
Israel were the depositary
of God's testimony in the world, and gloried in it as
clothing themselves with honour, and Israel could not
bear with the exercise of grace to the Gentiles. It was
by their opposition to this that the Jews filled up the
measure of their iniquity to bring the wrath of God upon
them (compare Isaiah 43: 10; 1 Thess. 2: 16).
Jonah a type of
Israel's unfaithfulness to render witness to God
Two principles, then, on
which in fact the testimony of God may be rendered, are
unfolded in this prophecy. First of all, man is called to
render this testimony as a mark of faithfulness to God,
for which he is responsible. This is the position in
which we have already seen that Israel was placed. Their
whole history is before us in confirmation of this
thought. Blessed by God with nearness to Himself, Israel
should have been a witness to the whole world of what the
only true God was. But, wholly incapable of apprehending
His grace towards the Gentiles (although the house of
Jehovah was at all times the house of prayer for all
nations), Israel failed even in maintaining their own
faithfulness, and consequently therefore in that which
was the only means of making the world, as such, to
understand the true character of God. Instead therefore
of being made a blessing to others, they only involved
them in the divine judgments that were to fall upon
themselves. This is the picture which Jonah sets before
us in his own history at his first receiving the message
of God. The same thing will take place at the end of the
age. Israel, unfaithful to God amid the billows of this
world, insensible through their blind unbelief to the
judgment which is ready to swallow them up, will drag
into the results of their own sin all the other nations;
and then the intervention of God will bring the latter
also to acknowledge His power and His glory.
Those who truly
acknowledge God must own His glory and grace to others or
become unfaithful in their own walk
Let us here remark, that
the principle we are speaking of is always true. If those
to whom God in His grace has committed a testimony, do
not employ this testimony in behalf of others according
to the grace that bestowed it, they will soon become
unfaithful in their own walk before God. If they truly
acknowledged God, they would feel bound to make known His
name, to impart this blessing to others. If they do not
own His glory and His grace, they will assuredly be
unable to maintain their own walk before Him. God, who is
full of grace, being our only strength, it cannot be
otherwise.
The reason for
Jonah's failure
The first picture, then,
that is set before us is that of a man called to be God's
witness in the midst of a proud and corrupt world, which
follows its own will, without regarding the authority or
the holiness of God. But this man is not sufficiently
near to God to enter into the spirit of His holy and
loving ways; and therefore, knowing that He is gracious,
shrinks from the task of representing such a God before
the world. To invest himself with God's name for his own
honour, Jonah, the Jew, would not refuse. But to bear the
burden necessary to the maintenance of the testimony of
such a God, so gracious, so longsuffering, as well as
holy, this was too hard a thing for the proud and
impatient heart of a man who desired to have his own will
carried out in judgment, if the others would not obey it
in holiness.
Jonah's flight was
from Jehovah, not from the city's opposition: Jonah
contrasted with the Faithful Witness
Observe, that although
Jonah ought to have lifted up his voice against Nineveh,
it is from the presence of Jehovah he fled, not from the
carnal opposition of the city. Christ, our blessed Lord,
is the only One who accomplished the task of which we
speak. He is the faithful witness. We may compare Psalm
40, in which He speaks of the manner in which He
undertook and accomplished it—He who dwelt in a
glory that placed Him so entirely above such a position,
that sovereign grace alone could bring Him down into
it—a glory however which alone made Him capable of
undertaking and accomplishing it, in spite of all the
difficulties which the enmity of man put in His way. And
great as His glory was, He accomplished the undertaken
task of service as a duty in the humility of obedience,
and that even unto death. See in Psalm 40: 1, 2 how far
He went, and how—sheltering Himself from
nothing—He puts His trust in God. He becomes man to
accomplish this task (v. 6-8). He performs it faithfully
(v. 9, 10), not concealing the truth and righteousness of
Jehovah from the congregation of Israel. In verse 11 and
following verses, under the deep pressure of the position
He was in from man's iniquity and His taking up the cause
of His people, He commits Himself to the tender mercies
of Jehovah, praying (after having rendered testimony with
a perfect patience) for judgment on His enemies, the
enemies of God's testimony. For it is the time, under the
Jewish economy, of judgment.
Jonah 1 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
Called to announce righteous judgment Jonah invests himself with the importance of his message
Nineveh—which represents the world in its natural greatness, full of pride and iniquity, regardless of God and of His authority—had deserved the righteous judgment of God. This is the occasion of all the development of God's dealings that we find in this book. Jonah is called to announce this judgment. The wretched tendency of the nature of man, to whom the testimony of God is committed, is to invest himself with the importance of the message with which he is charged. That God may so invest him in His grace we see in the history of that grace; that the man who bears the message should do so is but pride and vanity. The result with such is, that they cannot bear with the grace that God exhibits towards others, nor with any communication of His mind or nature through any other means than their own, even although it should be in grace. It is they who must do the thing themselves; it is they who must have the glory of it; and thus all their thoughts of God are limited to their own point of view—to the portion committed to them of God's message. Compare that which we have seen in the case of Moses and of Elijah, those eminent servants of God. The sense of that supremacy in God which can pardon is too much for the heart; it cannot be borne. The self-renunciation that seeks only to do the will of God, be it what it may, leaves God all His glory, and, if He glorifies Himself by shewing grace, can bless Him for it most heartily. Without this we shall like to wield the sword of His vengeance—a thing more in harmony, alas! with our natural hearts, and more adapted to increase our own importance.
Vengeance and grace to the messenger's natural heart
"Wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, as Elias did?" is the natural expression of the heart. For vengeance is the manifestation of power. Grace leaves sinful man to enjoy mercy—will not bring in power, but spares those against whom power might have been exercised. On the other hand, it is God alone who can shew grace.
The threat of vengeance is connected in the mind with the man who has received authority to announce it. The message and the messenger are both feared. A pardoned man is at the time more occupied with his own joy, and with Him that pardoned, than with the messenger of pardon. Moreover, when grace is shewn, it connects itself with the alarm inspired by the threatened judgment. And if the messenger be not himself imbued with the spirit of love, he feels himself in the presence of a God who is above his thoughts; and he is afraid of Him, because he does not know Him. He fears also for his own importance, if this God should be more gracious than the narrowness of his heart would desire and the message committed to him expressed.
Jonah's displeasure at grace to Gentiles
Such was the case with Jonah, although he feared God.
He flees from the presence of Jehovah, feeling that he cannot reckon upon Him to satisfy the little exigencies of his contracted heart (compare chap. 1: 3; 4: 2).
God is felt to be above the desires of man's heart. On the other hand, the truth of God pleases us when we can invest ourselves with it for our own importance. Thus it was with Israel.
Israel were the depositary of God's testimony in the world, and gloried in it as clothing themselves with honour, and Israel could not bear with the exercise of grace to the Gentiles. It was by their opposition to this that the Jews filled up the measure of their iniquity to bring the wrath of God upon them (compare Isaiah 43: 10; 1 Thess. 2: 16).
Jonah a type of Israel's unfaithfulness to render witness to God
Two principles, then, on which in fact the testimony of God may be rendered, are unfolded in this prophecy. First of all, man is called to render this testimony as a mark of faithfulness to God, for which he is responsible. This is the position in which we have already seen that Israel was placed. Their whole history is before us in confirmation of this thought. Blessed by God with nearness to Himself, Israel should have been a witness to the whole world of what the only true God was. But, wholly incapable of apprehending His grace towards the Gentiles (although the house of Jehovah was at all times the house of prayer for all nations), Israel failed even in maintaining their own faithfulness, and consequently therefore in that which was the only means of making the world, as such, to understand the true character of God. Instead therefore of being made a blessing to others, they only involved them in the divine judgments that were to fall upon themselves. This is the picture which Jonah sets before us in his own history at his first receiving the message of God. The same thing will take place at the end of the age. Israel, unfaithful to God amid the billows of this world, insensible through their blind unbelief to the judgment which is ready to swallow them up, will drag into the results of their own sin all the other nations; and then the intervention of God will bring the latter also to acknowledge His power and His glory.
Those who truly acknowledge God must own His glory and grace to others or become unfaithful in their own walk
Let us here remark, that the principle we are speaking of is always true. If those to whom God in His grace has committed a testimony, do not employ this testimony in behalf of others according to the grace that bestowed it, they will soon become unfaithful in their own walk before God. If they truly acknowledged God, they would feel bound to make known His name, to impart this blessing to others. If they do not own His glory and His grace, they will assuredly be unable to maintain their own walk before Him. God, who is full of grace, being our only strength, it cannot be otherwise.
The reason for Jonah's failure
The first picture, then, that is set before us is that of a man called to be God's witness in the midst of a proud and corrupt world, which follows its own will, without regarding the authority or the holiness of God. But this man is not sufficiently near to God to enter into the spirit of His holy and loving ways; and therefore, knowing that He is gracious, shrinks from the task of representing such a God before the world. To invest himself with God's name for his own honour, Jonah, the Jew, would not refuse. But to bear the burden necessary to the maintenance of the testimony of such a God, so gracious, so longsuffering, as well as holy, this was too hard a thing for the proud and impatient heart of a man who desired to have his own will carried out in judgment, if the others would not obey it in holiness.
Jonah's flight was from Jehovah, not from the city's opposition: Jonah contrasted with the Faithful Witness
Observe, that although Jonah ought to have lifted up his voice against Nineveh, it is from the presence of Jehovah he fled, not from the carnal opposition of the city. Christ, our blessed Lord, is the only One who accomplished the task of which we speak. He is the faithful witness. We may compare Psalm 40, in which He speaks of the manner in which He undertook and accomplished it—He who dwelt in a glory that placed Him so entirely above such a position, that sovereign grace alone could bring Him down into it—a glory however which alone made Him capable of undertaking and accomplishing it, in spite of all the difficulties which the enmity of man put in His way. And great as His glory was, He accomplished the undertaken task of service as a duty in the humility of obedience, and that even unto death. See in Psalm 40: 1, 2 how far He went, and how—sheltering Himself from nothing—He puts His trust in God. He becomes man to accomplish this task (v. 6-8). He performs it faithfully (v. 9, 10), not concealing the truth and righteousness of Jehovah from the congregation of Israel. In verse 11 and following verses, under the deep pressure of the position He was in from man's iniquity and His taking up the cause of His people, He commits Himself to the tender mercies of Jehovah, praying (after having rendered testimony with a perfect patience) for judgment on His enemies, the enemies of God's testimony. For it is the time, under the Jewish economy, of judgment.