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To be Right or to be True

December 10, 2000

Jonah 3:10 and Jonah 4:1,2

  1. 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.
  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.

When the Lord told Jonah to go warn the people of Ninevah that they were about to be destroyed because of their wickedness, Jonah went in the opposite direction from where the Lord told him to go.  After he ended up in a whale’s belly he repented and ended up going to Ninevah after all.

But after he warned them, they repented and God forgave them and didn’t destroy them like He said He was going to.  Jonah’s reaction?  He was mad at God.   He says that the reason he ran away is because he knew God was gracious and would forgive them if they repented.  Why would that bother him if they were forgiven and not destroyed?

Some say it’s because they were enemies of Israel and he wanted Israel’s enemies destroyed.  I think it’s not quite as noble as that.  Chapter 4:3 says:

  1. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

Jonah was concerned about what happened to him, not to his nation.  He figured he looked bad now because he told everyone God was going to destroy the city and He didn’t.  Did Jonah lie?  Was he a false prophet?  No.  But he was afraid everyone may think that he was a false prophet now that what he said was going to happen didn’t happen.

He wanted to be right at all costs.  He wanted to be a prophet who was always right rather than one who always obeyed God.  He wanted to be right more than he wanted God to forgive those people.  He cared more about his reputation than God’s.  God wanted the truth to be spoken so the people could repent and He could forgive them.  God cares about forgiving people.  But Jonah didn’t want them to be forgiven if it was going to make him look bad.

God says to speak the Word--to speak the Truth and put it out there for people to grab hold of and believe in.  But doing that may mean we have to be not so concerned with our reputation but with God’s plans and purposes.

Do we want to be right?  Do we want to look good?  Or do we want to do whatever is necessary so people can be forgiven by God?

Let’s not take for granted the grace we’ve received from God, but let’s share it with others unselfishly.

 

God Bless you and have a great day!