All About the Book of Esther (Pt. 2)

Esther

We stopped last time just as I was about to introduce the two most important charactersa in the Book of Esther – Mordecai and Esther herself. Let’s do that now

Esther:

Esther was a secular Jew who was not a passionate follow of God. She doesn’t have many positive lessons to teach us. Instead, we’d be better off learning how not to act from her! Please take time to re-read those last three sentences again! Many people have a warm, friendly view of Esther. Some Bible study books even trumpet Esther as a role model for young women. That is a terrible thing. If you want your little daughter to be like Esther, then you haven’t read Esther very closely! Here is why, and this will be explained more as we go through the book:

  • #1 – She actually wanted to be the wife of a pagan king

We now this because she made sure she pleased the man who took care of the young virgins who were gathered for the king:[1]

Esther 2:8-9a So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him . . .

  • #2 – She didn’t eat kosher food when she entered the king’s harem, like Daniel did
  • #3 – She hid the fact that she was a Jew, because the king allowed Haman to issue a decree that all Jews in the kingdom should be killed!

If she concealed the fact she was a Jew for so long, it must mean that she didn’t live her life like a Jew. She may have even worshipped pagan gods along with her husband; if she hadn’t, it would have at least raised a few eyebrows. Contrast this with the faithfulness of Daniel. Contrast this with the faithfulness of Ezra.

Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

Don’t believe that Esther had to hide her Jewish faith upon fear of death – that’s not true and the exilic returns prove it. It’s not as though Jews would be killed if they lived their lives as Jews – after all, Ezra did was a renouned scribe raised in the Jewish community in Babylon. Jews had their own little communities all over the Persian Empire – that’s why Haman was able to issue his decree to kill them all, because they knew where to find them.

The very best that could be said about Esther is that she was a secular Jew.[2] She was born as a Jew, she knew about God and the various covenant promises. She was a brave woman, no doubt – and good for her. But, her faith was lukewarm – if it even existed at all. Her piety and devotion was practically non-existent. She probably worshipped pagan gods, or at the very least pretended to.

Mordecai:

Mordecai was Esther’s older cousin (Est 2:7). He was a secular Jew who was not a passionate follower of God. He doesn’t have many positive lessons to teach us. Instead, we’d be better off learning how not to act from him! Here is why:

  • #1 – A godly Jew wouldn’t tell Esther to keep conceal her Jewish identity

Esther 2:10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.

Christians who read Esther usually assume that her life would be in danger if she lived like a Jew. This is nonsense. As I mentioned above, Ezra was trained as a scribe in the Jewish community in Babylon, and earned the king’s favor. Cyrus had instituted a policy of kindness and tolerance towards Jews about 100 years earlier. Nehemiah lived as an open Jew and was the cupbearer to this king’s son.

Nobody really knows why Mordecai told her to keep it a secret. We do know that her life wasn’t in danger. We also know that it might have been a political calculation on Mordecai’s part – i.e. she’d have a better shot at being the new Queen if she concealed her Jewish identity and simply assimilated.

  • #2 – Mordecai started the feud with Haman:[3]

Esther 3:1-4 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment? Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.

Don’t get the idea that Mordecai was a pious man because he refused to bow and “worship” Haman. Bowing wasn’t a form of worship; it was a mandated sign of simple respect for their culture. Mordecai simply didn’t like the man.

  • #3 – Mordecai kept his Jewish heritage a complete secret until the feud with Haman started (Est 3:4)[4]

He only told them he was a Jew when his co-workers asked him why he wouldn’t bow to Haman. He was likely just using his Jewishness as an excuse[5] – compare that to Daniel’s real piety!

The best you could say about Haman is that he was a secular Jew. He raised Esther as a secularist. He was a secularist. He knew about God and the various covenant promises. He had a high sense of national, Jewish pride. He may not have even been a saved man – only God knows.

More on why the Book of Esther should matter to you next time . . .

[1] Ronald Pierce wrote, “. . . one finds here a diaspora Jewess who desires a chance at the throne so greatly that she is willing to betray her heritage at the advice of her cousin without a hint of resistance. Moreover, she participates in the contest with no evident reluctance, resulting in the king being pleased with her more than all the other women and thus giving her the crown (2:16),” (“The Politics Of Esther And Mordecai: Courage Or Compromise?” Bulletin for Biblical Research 02:1 [1992], 85).

[2]  “If it seems incredible that the Jews who remained in exile should have so utterly lost all knowledge of God and all religious habits and instincts, as the book of Esther indicates, we have only to recur to the testimony of the prophet Jeremiah and Ezekiel to have all doubt removed. Esther becomes only the natural and necessary sequel to the appalling apostasy and depravity to which both these prophets testify,” (Smith, “Esther,” 399).

[3] Joyce Baldwin observed, “It is still part of eastern courtesy to bow in recognition of age and honour, and there is evidence that Israelite culture was no exception. While obeisance was given supremely to God and the king, suppliants bowed when seeking favour (so Jacob to Esau, Gn. 33:3) or when expressing indebtedness (e.g. David to Jonathan, 1 Sa. 20:41). Mordecai stubbornly refused to submit for any reason to Haman; indeed there seems to have been a general lack of respect for this man, otherwise there should have been no need for a royal command that people should bow down to him,” (Esther, vol. 12, TOTC [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984], 72). See also Whitcomb (Esther, 63-64).

[4] See Whitcomb (Esther, 64-65).

[5] “Probably this persistent (day after day) refusal stemmed more from pride than from religious scruples. For several years Mordecai had not let Esther tell the king she was a Jewess (2:10, 20), but now Mordecai was using their national heritage as an excuse for not giving honor to a high Persian official,” (John A. Martin, Esther, Bible Knowledge Commentary, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 [Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985], 705).

Seeking God Day by Day

Ps 119

Many people assume that “seeking God” is something that only lost people do. That’s wrong.

Psalms 119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Christians should always be seeking to know God better:

  • to love Him more,
  • to serve Him more faithfully,
  • to be a more willing and eager slave for His righteousness,
  • to be vessels that He can mold and shape for His own purposes

In short, it is a basic and fundamental duty for a Christian to be a slave for Christ.  This means a Christian should be continually seeking the Lord with everything he (or she) has. More than that, it means a Christian should be in prayer for the courage and conviction to not wander far from God’s word.

Do you seek God with everything you have? The psalmist isn’t interested in a passive, apathetic, convenient and lazy kind of faith – he loves the Lord and seeks Him with his whole heart. If you’re seeking Him with your whole heart, you’ll be willing to cleanse your life by taking heed according to God’s word – no matter how difficult it might be.

The excuses and lame justifications that might have held you back before should be meaningless to you now – if they’re not meaningless, your duty is to echo the psalmist’s prayer and ask God to make those excuses meaningless to you!

Obedience to the God’s word is more important than friendships, loyalties, warm fuzzy memories, and anything else in this world. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you’ve come between a rock and a hard place before, and in that moment as you stood there at the fork in the road, you knew what the right thing was to do. That’s not the hard part – the hard part are the pathetic justifications and sinful “what if” scenarios that pop into your mind.

Let me urge you to adopt my patented three-step self-test questionnaire whenever you come to a fork in the road again, and you have to decide between the Bible and your own personal feelings and loyalties:

  1. Identify the problem
  2. Ask yourself – what does God’s word say to do about this problem?
  3. Ask yourself – why am I still even still conflicted about this?

You must be merciless about this, and that requires courage and determination. Some people would call this attitude “cold-blooded” and callous – I call it obedience, and so would the psalmist.

If you read God’s word, understand it, and deliberately decide to ignore it, then Christ is not Lord of your life, you are – there is no gentle way to put that!

Some Good Thoughts on English Bible Translations

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Mark Ward (PhD, Bob Jones University) has some excellent thoughts on English Bible translations which go along with something I recently posted:

English speakers are looking for the wrong thing when we look for best. As I said, we need to look for useful. Does that sound too pragmatic? Let me clarify. We need to ask, “Which English Bible translation is most useful for preaching?” “Which is most useful for evangelism?” “Which is useful for reading through in a year?” “Which is conducive to close study?” How about for reading to kids? For memorization?

The average Christian has umpteen Bibles at home; we can afford, financially, to buy different editions for different purposes.

He is quite right. I love the KJV for preaching, because it is majestic, beautiful, and follows the original Greek text very closely. I am growing to love the NET for personal devotions, because it flows better in modern English, and is a bit more interpretive, especially in the Old Testament. (You can purchase the NET Bible here, or read it for free online here).

I’ll be posting more on the various English Bible translations in a few weeks. For now, feel free to read Mark Ward’s entire article here.

All About the Book of Esther! (Pt. 1)

Esther

I preached a short 12-sermon series through the Book of Esther a while back. I really enjoyed the study, and I hope at least a few of the folks in my church did, too! I’ll be re-producing that study in a series of posts on this blog.[1]

The Book of Esther was written by an unknown Jew in Persia around 400-450 B.C.[2], and it is set during the time of the Medo-Persian Empire (in modern-day Iran). It takes place from roughly 483–464 B.C. Many Christians are very fuzzy on their Old Testament History (and the entire Old Testament in general!), so let me give you some dates so you know how Esther and Mordecai found themselves in their situation:

  • 722 B.C. – the Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians
  • 586 B.C. – the Assyrians, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, were conquered by the Babylonians
  • 538 B.C. – the Babylonians were conquered by the Medo-Persians

Incidentally, the rise and fall of both the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires were prophesied by Daniel (Dan 2:36-45; 7:17-28).

As a direct result of the Babylonian’s victory over Judah, there is a large Jewish population in Babylon – descendants of the untold tens of thousands deported by the Babylonians. Their tactic was to conquer an area, then deport all but the poorest people, thereby ripping them from their homes, religion and heritage. The idea was that, within a generation or two, they would simply assimilate into their culture and forget about their national heritage. This is exactly what has happened to the Jews in Esther’s day in the Persian Empire – many of them didn’t bother to return to the Promised Land when they had a chance to, because they liked their lives in Babylon.[3]

The first wave of exiles returned to the Promised Land from Babylon from 537-538 B.C. the Book of Ezra tells us all about it:

Ezra 1:1-4 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Isn’t it amazing that God used a pagan king to return His chosen people to their land, to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah in about 538 years!? Almost 50,000 (Ezra 2:64-65) Jews returned, less than 60 years after the Babylonians destroyed the Southern Kingdom. This gives you an idea of how many Jews lived in this area.

The second waves of exiles returned to the Promised Land from exile Babylon in 457 B.C.

Ezra 7:11-13 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

This time, only 1500 men returned (generously figuring wives and three children for each, you still only have 6000!).

The third wave of exiles returned to the Promised Land in 444 B.C.

Nehemiah 2:4-6 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Why are these dates necessary? Why should you care? The events from the Book of Esther took place approximately 51 years after the first wave of exiles returned to Israel. It’s important you know that any Jew in Esther’s day, living in the old Babylonian (now Medo-Persian) Empire, could have returned to the Promised Land if he had wanted to![4].

The temple was being re-built. The priesthood was being re-instituted. God was being worshipped at Jerusalem, which was what the Old Testament commanded! And yet . . . Esther and Mordecai didn’t go – they voluntarily cut themselves off from the divinely-appointed way of worshipping and serving God! This is very similar to a modern Christian, who claims to love God, but never joins a local church in his life, and moreover, never attends church, either! You wouldn’t necessarily say such a person isn’t a Christian without more information. What you could say, immediately, is that such a person isn’t a very good, very dedicated or very obedient Christian.

This leads us to draw some brief sketches of the main characters, which may be a bit shocking, because Esther and Mordecai are usually given very high marks for spirituality that they don’t deserve.[5]

More on that next time . . .

[1] Substantive commentaries on Esther are surprisingly hard to find. The best are (1) John Whitcomb (Esther: The Triumph of God’s Sovereignty [Chicago, IL: Moody, 1979], (2) Joyce Baldwin (Esther, vol. 12, TOTC [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984], and (3) Karen H. Jobes (Esther, NIV Application Commentary [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999; reprint, Kindle, 2010).

[2] Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, revised and expanded (Chicago, IL: Moody, 2007), 395-396. Whitcomb observes that the author betrays a first-hand knowledge of King Ahasuerus’ temple at Susa, which was destroyed in 435 B.C. This goes even further to pin down the date of composition (Esther, 13).

[3] The following dates for the various exilic returns are taken from Leon Wood (History, 333-338).

[4] See especially Whitcomb (Esther, 22ff). “There seems to be no evidence that Mordecai or Esther harbored any desire to relate to the heart of God’s theocratic program by journeying to Jerusalem, offering the prescribed Mosaic sacrifices on the altar through Levitical priests, and praying to Jehovah in His holy Temple. Nor is there any evidence given that they were in any way prevented from going.”

[5] Charles Smith observed, “Their triumph over Haman is their single great achievement. How much honor does it shed upon them? Let us give them all the credit they possibly deserve! To Mordecai, astuteness, statesmanship, courage, leadership; to Esther, fortitude, prompt action, the power of beauty, queenliness, patriotism. But does either touch the high level of prophet or saint? Is Mordecai a David, a Daniel, a Zerubbabel? Is Esther a Deborah, or a Ruth? By no means. We can admire her as a superior woman, who, at a critical moment, acted with promptness and good judgment so as to save her own life and that of many others. But she was not a champion of God’s righteousness, or a savior of souls. Her success was in that lower realm where success or failure does not seem, in the long run, a matter of much importance,” (“The Book of Esther,” Bibliotheca Sacra 082:328 [Oct 1925], 400-401).

Cleansing Your Life

Ps 119

Psalms 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

People can only be cleansed by doing what God’s word says – no matter how difficult, hard, painful or unpleasant it is. Cleansing is a perfect word to use here, because the Psalmist is asking how a believer can keep his life pure, holy, undefiled, uncorrupted and blameless before God and the other people in the congregation.

The phrase “young man” representatives the normal, average believer – it represents you, if you’re a Christian. The “cleansing” represents the activity and the work the average believer needs to be doing – identifying sin, confessing sin, forsaking sin, replacing that sin with godliness. This “cleansing” is present-tense;[1] it’s something that needs to be done continually, regularly, and often. 

You are never finished cleansing your life. Just as dirt begins to accumulate on the carpet as soon as you put your vacuum away, so sin begins to accumulate in your life the very moment you relax and let your internal guard down in your Christian life. You need to be on the lookout for sin, laziness, neglect and moral filth and corruption in your life on a regular, ongoing, present-tense and active basis.

In the first part of this verse, the psalmist asks a question (“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?”), and now he gives us a very simple answer:“by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

You keep your life morally pure by continually cleansing it according to God’s word. If you’re a Christian, then you belong to God and your life is not your own (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). This means that God cares what detergent you use, what vacuum you use, what kind of soap you use – in short, He cares about what method you use to cleanse your life. God says that you cleanse your life by doing what His word says.

If you don’t do what His word says . . .

  • then you don’t care about His word,
  • you don’t care about Him,
  • then you’d prefer to be disobedient,
  • and you’re in deliberate rebellion against Him

This is a very black and white statement. There are no shades of gray to be found (not even 50 of them . . .) There is a general trend in popular culture to avoid making absolute black and white statements, and many Christians have absorbed this Satanic tendency without even realizing it. We have become a culture of wimps, both inside the local church and outside. We like what God’s word says in the abstract, as long it doesn’t become personal – the same way we like the idea of exercise and good health, but shrink from ever actually doing anything to achieve it

However, when God’s word does become personal, when it stops being abstract and theoretical and becomes intimate and practical, this is when all the pious talk, the flowery prayers, and all the outward actions need to be translated into action.

Do you have the nerve, the courage and the commitment to actually cleanse yourself and your life by taking heed to God’s word day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year – or is your faith nothing but hot air?

I’m deliberately calling this trend of Christian wimpiness “satanic,” because it is intentional disobedience wrapped up in a filthy cloak of pretend righteousness. It’s cowardice. It’s rebellion. It’s pathetic. It’s blasphemous. And we are all subject to this epidemic of wimpiness and fearful compromise, because we live every day in a wimpy, fearful and compromising culture!

The psalmist tells us that a Christian continually cleanses his life by doing what God’s word says. Period. This is a black and white statement, and there is nothing we can do to change this very simple precept:

  1. What’s the problem?
  2. What does God’s word say to do about this problem?
  3. Why are we still talking about this?

Anything else is nothing but excuses, self-deception, and self-delusion. If you want your personal life to be cleansed and be holy, you must take heed to do what God’s word says. The same is also true for the corporate life of a local congregation:

  1. What’s the problem?
  2. What does God’s word say to do about this problem?
  3. Why are we still talking about this?

If you love the Lord, you’ll want to honestly demonstrate that love by doing what He says. That’s not so hard to understand, is it!?

Luke 6:45-46 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

[1] At least, it’s present-tense in the LXX (κατορθώσει)!

A Better Devotional Life . . .

Let me suggest a few things to you that may bless your devotional life:

  1. Read large sections of text at one time (e.g. multiple chapters)
  2. Read through single books at a rapid pace until you finish them
  3. Read from both the Old and New Testaments
  4. Switch your Bible translation – and do it now!

Reading God’s word in a different, conservative translation opens your eyes to the text as though you’re reading it for the very first time. I recommend either NKJV, ESV, NASB, HCSB or NET.

For example, consider the difference between these two translations.

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If all you’ve ever read is the KJV, then you’ve probably been conditioned by popular sentiment and well-meaning but wrong preaching to put stress on the English word “whosoever,” and think of this verse as an invitation to salvation. This is completely wrong – Jesus is simply stating a fact in this verse, not issuing an invitation to salvation[1].

The KJV rendering “whosoever” is a perfectly acceptable translation, as long as you understand what it means! William Tyndale, the great Bible translator of the 16th century, translated this as, “For God so loveth the world that he hath given his only son that none that believe in him should perish: but should have everlasting life.” The NET translation brings this out clearly, and opens your eyes to hidden treasures in God’s word that one single translation cannot possibly convey. Jesus is not issuing an invitation to salvation per se; He is stating a simple fact.

Think about switching up your Bible translation. Try out another good conservative translation and see if you are blessed by it.

[1] The phrase in question is ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν, which means “so that every person who believes in Him . . .”

Jonah . . . An Example of Real Faith?

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Today, we’re looking at the passage where Jonah runs away from God. In this passage, Jonah is going to teach us about what real faith is. This may not sound quite right; after all, Jonah’s not usually considered a good candidate, at first glance! How can a prophet who runs from God be an example of real faith?

GOD REBUKES JONAH (1:4-10):

4

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Here, you can see that God intentionally sends a storm out to hound Jonah as he tries to get away.[1] This is a very bad storm that threatens to break their ship in two! God does what He needs to in order to get our attention when we run from our calling. Somne people believe that God doesn’t have a plan and purpose for every believer’s life. I disagree. I believe God has made us each unique and special, and has given us different niches within our local churches. The Apostle Paul told us that we’re all different members of the same body – the Church. God gifted Jeremiah to be a prophet. He made Paul the way he was, with his peculiar background, upbringing, education and citizenship, in order to do a specific job (Galatians 1:13-16). He did the same for Jonah.

Your calling, your specific gifts and your specific task are probably not as exciting as Jonah’s mission. But, you have one.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Jonah had a calling from God, and he chose to run away. God was not pleased, and His word tells us that He will discipline His wayward children (John 15:1-2; Hebrews 12:5-11).

5

Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

The Bible tells us “the mariners were afraid.” I wonder how bad this storm was to make the sailors afraid!? They “cried every man unto his god.” Notice that man’s instinctive reaction is to pray to something higher than yourself. In this case, each sailor prays to his own god. You could say we’re “hard-wired” to do this. Where does this instinct come from? It comes from being made in God’s image! We’re hard-wired (all of us) to seek relationships with (1) other people and (2) with God.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:26-27).

The sailors “cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them.” It’s amazing how quickly our priorities change when we’re in physical danger! If only people would realize that they’re in worse, eternal and spiritual danger without Christ![2] Now, here is a good question – why was Jonah sleeping? Shouldn’t he be awake, worried sick about God’s vengeance? Shouldn’t his conscience be giving him fits?

the answer seems to be that Jonah had some bizarre, false sense of security. He knew intellectually that God could reach out and stop him in his tracks. But practically, however, he’d allowed himself to forget all about it[3] Once we start down the path of stupidity and completely abandon God’s word on a certain point, we allow Satan to fool us into a false sense of security that isn’t real.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

6

So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

The shipmaster seems to think, “the more gods we pray to, the better! Sooner or later one of them will hear us!” Isn’t it so sad to see a pagan urging the prophet of God to pray![4]. Consider how Muslims put our prayer life to shame! They’re unbelievers, and yet they pray several times per day!

7

And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

Jonah has come out on deck in the middle of this horrible storm. You can picture the sailors taking shelter wherever they could find it. Maybe in some cabin, maybe behind something solid. The wind and the waves are trying to break the entire boat into pieces all around them. The sailors decide to cast lots to find out who is responsible for bringing this evil storm upon them.

God providentially arranges so that the lot falls on Jonah. Imagine how defeated Jonah must feel right now!

  • Wakened out of a sound sleep to find himself in the middle of a terrible storm.
  • Told he ought to pray by a pagan ship’s captain
  • Reluctantly participating in drawing lots to see who is responsible for bringing this storm on them

I can picture Jonah right now as everybody’s eyes turn to him. His shoulders slump and the entire weight of his stupidity and sin comes crashing down on him. He thinks, “you’re not going to let me get away from this, are you . . .?”

8

Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

These questions come at him rapid-fire from different people:

  • “Why is this storm happening?”
  • “What do you do for a living?”
  • “Where do you come from”

Can you imagine the guilt and shame Jonah felt when they asked him what his job was!?

9

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

Jonah responds, “I’m a Hebrew! I worship the Lord God of heaven who made everything, including the sea and the dry land”

This kind of claim is odd in a pluralistic society,[5] but in the heat and fear of the moment the sailors aren’t going to have a philosophical discussion with Jonah. What they would have snickered at a few hours ago they’re now ready to take seriously!

10

Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Now the men are terrified, “What have you done to bring this upon us!?” [6] They knew that Jonah was fleeing from God; that part of the story had come out sometime before[7]. They probably smiled condescendingly then, shrugged their shoulders and thought “you’re running from your God. Ok. Whatever . . .”

They don’t think it’s so funny anymore – now they’re completely horrified[8]. Who is this God who controls the sea and the storms? Who is this guy that this God is angry at?

JONAH REPENTS (1:11-16):

11

Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

Meanwhile, the sea is growing worse and worse. The sails are being almost torn to pieces in the rigging. The masts are groaning under the pressure of the wind. The ship itself is creaking from the pressure of being tossed up and down like a bathtub toy on the sea. They ask Jonah in increasingly desperation, “what are we supposed to do!?”

Their own gods are discarded and forgotten for the moment – they can’t help them. They’re perfectly willing to accept Jonah’s God as the supreme and real God of heaven and earth – at least for now. All the loyalty, sacrifices and devotion they made have for their own “gods” is completely forgotten when their own lives are at risk of being lost.

Meanwhile, the sailors are still standing there, asking Jonah, “what are we going to do!?” It’s at this very time when God is doing what He must to get ahold of us, to grab our attention, that we ask ourselves that very same question. Remember, God chastens those He loves (Heb 12:4-17).

So, if you’re in a similar situation, wher God is disciplining you to get your attention about something . . . “what are we going to do?” [9]. We ought to do what Jonah does, and stop running and repent

12

And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

He asks to be thrown into the sea, which would mean certain death[10]. Why does Jonah choose this route? So the sailors won’t die. They’re suffering for something that he did, and he isn’t willing the they would continue to suffer – it’s not their fault.

What Jonah does is an example of real repentance. He basically admitted, “it’s my fault this is happening!” He owns up to it.

Why does Jonah have to be thrown into the sea? Why can’t he just repent and tell them to let him out at the closest port, and make his way back home? I think this is a very graphic lesson learned for us. Here it is – if we are serious about repentance, and we’ve confessed our specific sin and forsaken it – we ought to be willing to deal with the consequences.

Jonah is the only prophet of God who ever actually ran away and defied God. He knew the storm was God’s doing. He knew God made the lot fall on him. The ship is about to break apart in this ferocious storm. This isn’t a walk in the park – they’re literally all about to lose their lives! Evidently God isn’t through disciplining him yet. What else can Jonah do?

The idea of the Lordship of Christ is a strange one in too much of Christianity. We read Jonah’s words and see them abstractly, like a movie scene or a cute Sunday School lesson – we don’t see it as a real-life possibility. We think, perhaps even unconsciously, “that’s noble and all, but this is the 21st century . . .”

Christ MUST be Lord of your life. You and I MUST be willing to suffer loss for His sake. This isn’t an abstract, cold idea – it must be a reality in our lives! There was a terrorist attack in Kenya in June of 2014. Here is an excerpt from a news story that illustrates what real Lordship of Christ ought to look like in a believer’s life[11]:

Somali militants who murdered 48 people in a Kenyan village as they watched the World Cup went door to door asking residents if they were Muslim or spoke Somali – and shot them dead if either answer was ‘no’, witnesses revealed today.

The attack on the coastal village of Mpeketoni, about 30-miles southwest of the tourist centre of Lamu, came at the end of a weekend of bloodshed that has exposed the world to the shocking depravity of terrorists, apparently emboldened by each other’s acts.

Witnesses told how about 30 gunmen – believed to be members of Somali terror group al-Shabaab – arrived in the town in minibuses at 8pm yesterday before bursting into residents homes, shooting dead any man they thought was not Muslim.

They came to our house at around 8pm and asked us in Swahili whether we were Muslims,’ said Anne Gathigi. ‘My husband told them we were Christians and they shot him in the head and chest.’ ”

How easy would it have been for that poor man to say they were Muslims? How painless and tempting it would have been! Why didn’t this man do it? We can’t ask him now, but we can assume he would rather die than renounce Christ. That’s what making Christ Lord of your life looks like. It isn’t abstract and it isn’t old-fashioned – it’s real. Jonah understood that

He’d done wrong and he’d repented – he’d admitted fault. Now, he was willing to die if necessary it that was what God wanted.

13

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

14

Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

15

So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

16

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Jonah knew that was what the Lord wanted – and he was right. The storm ceased immediately. The sailors are terrified – God’s power has been demonstrated now more than ever.

CONCLUSION:

What does real faith look like? It doesn’t mean we’re perfect. Jonah wasn’t perfect.

It means we own up to our sin when God chastens us. Jonah sure did.

It means that we claim Christ as Lord of our life. Jonah did. Remember Jesus’ words:

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it (Mark 8:34-35).

Are these just profound words, or a command? It’s a command. 

Real faith means we’re willing to actually live our faith out in real life. Jonah was willing – and if God wanted Him dead for disobeying Him, so be it. That man in Kenya was, too – and was willing to die rather than deny the name of His Savior. Are you?

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[1] “When Jonah was set on ship-board, and under sail for Tarshish, he thought himself safe enough; but here we find him pursued and overtaken, discovered and convicted as a deserter from God, as one that had run his colours,” (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 6 vols. [New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.], 4:1281).

[2] “And shall we not put a like value upon the spiritual life, the life of the soul, reckoning that the gain of all the world cannot countervail the loss of the soul? See the vanity of worldly wealth, and the uncertainty of its continuance with us . . . Oh that men would be thus wise for their souls, and would be willing to part with that wealth, pleasure, and honour which they cannot keep without making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience and ruining their souls for ever! Those that thus quit their temporal interests for the securing of their spiritual welfare will be unspeakable gainers at last; for what they lose upon those terms they shall find again to life eternal,” (Henry, Commentary, 4:1281).

[3] C.F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch are spot on when they remark, “[i]t was not an evil conscience, or despair occasioned by the threatening danger, which induced him to lie down to sleep; nor was it his fearless composure in the midst of the dangers of the storm, but the careless self-security with which he had embarked on the ship to flee from God, without considering that the hand of God could reach him even on the sea, and punish him for his disobedience. This security is apparent in his subsequent conduct,” (Commentary on the Old Testament, 10 vols. [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2011), 10:265-266).

Henry, in his characteristically warm way, writes, “[i]t is the policy of Satan, when by his temptations he has drawn men from God and their duty, to rock them asleep in carnal security, that they may not be sensible of their misery and danger. It concerns us all to watch therefore,” (Commentary, 4:1281).

[4] “There is extreme irony here: a ‘heathen sea captain’ pleaded with a Hebrew prophet to pray to his God. It is sobering to see one who might be termed an ‘unbeliever’ pleading for spiritual action on the part of a ‘believer.’ The ‘unbeliever’ saw the gravity of the situation while the prophet slept. It is a sad commentary when those who are committed to the truth of God’s word have to be prodded by a lost world into spiritual activity,” (Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary [Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995], 231).

Charles L. Feinberg comments, “[w]hat a shame that the prophet of God had to be called to pray by a heathen. How the Muslim with his five times of prayer daily puts us to shame as believers. Are there among us those who remember not to lift their hearts to God once a day?” (The Minor Prophets, Kindle ed. [Chicago, IL: Moody, 1990], Kindle Locations 2445-2446).

[5] Commenting on Jonah’s insistence that His God “hath made the sea and the dry land,” H.L. Ellison wrote, “[i]n a pluralistic society, it was difficult to find a title that would more perfectly express the supremacy of Yahweh,” (Jonah, vol. 7, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985], 372).

[6] “To run away from a god was foolish; but to run from ‘the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land’ was suicidal. Their question, ‘What have you done?’ was not a question about the nature of Jonah’s sin but an exclamation of horror. They were frightened to the depths of their beings,” (Smith and Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, 235).

[7] Did Jonah tell them everything right now, as the storm raged? Or, had he told them the bare bones of his story before the storm struck? Nobody will ever know for sure, but I lean towards the latter option.

[8] “The fact that Jonah is fleeing from an audience with his god would generally not have been cause for alarm. But now the Sailors are overwhelmed by its significance,” (John Walton, Jonah, vol. 8, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Tremper Longman III and David Garland [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008], 472).

[9] “When sin has raised a storm, and laid us under the tokens of God’s displeasure, we are concerned to enquire what we shall do that the sea may be calm; and what shall we do? We must pray and believe, when we are in a storm, and study to answer the end for which it was sent, and then the storm shall become a calm. But especially we must consider what is to be done to the sin that raised the storm; that must be discovered, and penitently confessed; that must be detested, disclaimed, and utterly forsaken. What have I to do any more with it? Crucify it, crucify it, for this evil it has done,” (Henry, Commentary, 4:1284).

[10] Did Jonah ask to be tossed overboard, content with the sure knowledge that God would save him? Some, like Matthew Poole, suggest that. I don’t.

John Calvin writes, “[h]e seemed like a man in despair, when he would thus advance to death of his own accord. But Jonah no doubt knew that he was doomed to punishment by God. It is uncertain whether he then entertained a hope of deliverance, that is, whether he confidently relied at this time on the grace of God. But, however it may have been, we may yet conclude, that he gave himself up to death, because he knew and was fully persuaded that he was in a manner summoned by the evident voice of God. And thus there is no doubt but that he patiently submitted to the judgment which the Lord had allotted to him. Take me, then, and throw me into the sea,” (Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 3 [Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010], 55–56).

Feinberg remarks, “Jonah confesses he is worthy of death and is willing to endure the punishment. These are noble words from a true servant of God. He was willing to sacrifice himself to save those about to die,” (Minor Prophets, Kindle Locations 2462-2463).

Keil and Delitzsch agree, and write, “Jonah confesses that he has deserved to die for his rebellion against God, and that the wrath of God which has manifested itself in the storm can only be appeased by his death. He pronounces this sentence, not by virtue of any prophetic inspiration, but as a believing Israelite who is well acquainted with the severity of the justice of the holy God, both from the law and from the history of his nation,” (Commentary, 10:267).

[11] Tara Brady and Matthew Blake, “ ‘My husband told them we were Christians and they shot him in the head’: How al-Shabaab militia went from door to door killing non-Muslims as Kenyan village watched World Cup,” DailyMail Online. 16JUN14. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/Eryh5s.

Jonah . . . the Missionary?

This is the beginning of a short little series on the Book of Jonah. Enjoy!

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All people know about Jonah is that he was swallowed by a giant fish! That’s all most Christians remember about this wonderful little book. The truth is the Book of Jonah isn’t a Sunday School lesson, but a real account of a real event that has real meaning for your life

 JONAH RUNS (1:1-3):

 

1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 

Jonah is commanded to go and preach to the people in Nineveh because of their wickedness. God hasn’t just found out about their wickedness. It’s just gotten so bad that He’s decided to take some drastic action. Nineveh is in Assyria, and if you know the Old Testament, you know that the northern kingdom of Israel isn’t exactly friends with Assyria!

God gives an immediate command, “Arise, go to Nineveh!” In other words, “Go, right now!” It’s also a pretty big undertaking – over 500 miles overland! This is more than a car-trip!

Jonah 1 (1-3)
See the distance Jonah had to travel, from Israel all the way overland to Nineveh?

 

Before we move on, I want you to think about how strange of a command this is in the Old Testament. We see calls for repentance all the time in the prophets – for Israel, though. Where else do we see a prophet sent directly to a pagan nation to preach to them about their wickedness in particular? Nowhere else! So, this raises the question – what kind of missions work was done in the Old Testament?

 Missions Work in the Old Testament:

Here are some good questions to ponder, and if these questions have never occurred to you, then do some thinking on it now:

  • Why don’t we see a “great commission” in the OT?
  • Why weren’t the Israelites told to go make disciples of all nations, and bring them to Jerusalem to worship the One true God?
  • Why don’t we have maps telling about Old Testament missionary journeys in the back of our Bibles?
  • Did God have no message of salvation for the rest of the world?

I want to start by reminding you that God has worked with mankind in different ways, at different times. Before God chose Israel, He worked with all of mankind individually. After God chose Israel, He worked with all of mankind through Israel

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).

God makes a whole lot of promises, but one of them is that the vehicle of blessing for all the other nations will be Israel:

“In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:1-6).

What in the world was God talking about here? What does it mean to be a kingdom of priests? What does a priest do? A priest represents God to the rest of the people – He’s a go-between. So, to go back to the missions question – what were the Israelites supposed to do to fulfill this responsibility of being a kingdom of priests, or a corporate go-between for God and the pagan nations?[1]

  • Option #1: Go out, preach the Gospel, and make disciples!
  • Option #2: Live holy lives, follow God’s law with a true heart and let unbelievers gradually flow to them, slowly but surely?

Don’t worry about what scholars say, or what your study Bible notes say – what do you think? I take option #2. If Israel had lived as a holy people, God would have continued what began under Solomon. After all, some great things happened under Solomon. Israel came closer than ever before to realizing the covenant blessings that God had promised for obedience. The temple was built and God did dwell inside it. Solomon was a godly king who only asked for the wisdom to rule right (see 1 Kings 10:1-9).

And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom (1 Kings 4:34).

And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart (2 Chronicles 9:22-23).

This sounds like a good start, doesn’t it? So, what happened to this seemingly unstoppable roller-coaster ride to greatness and God’s blessing? The Bible tells us:

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart (1 Kings 11:1-3).

Sin is what happened. That’s why we need Christ –  the perfect King who will succeed where even good men like Solomon failed.

 

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a 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.

 

So far, so good – Jonah is commanded to go preach to the heathen Assyrians in Nineveh. But, he doesn’t like that idea, so he heads off to Joppa and books passage[2] on a ship bound for Tarshish. Nobody is quite sure where Tarshish was – but the smart money says the southwest coast of Spain[3].

 Why is Jonah Running?

So, why is Jonah fleeing? What in the world does he hope to accomplish?

  • Option #1 – Jonah thinks he can hide from God, and God won’t be able to find him[4]
  • Option #2 – Jonah just wants to get away, wash his hands of the whole business and have God find someone else for the job[5]

I go with option #2. Jonah hates the Assyrians and doesn’t want anything to do with them. He’s so sick at heart and outraged that God’s mercy and forgiveness is being offered to them, that he’s willing to run from God!

Think about how drastic of a move this is! He’s dropping everything, leaving his home, family, friends, possessions – everything! He books last-minute passage on a ship bound for the ends of the earth (not literally, but you know what I mean!) – this must have cost a whole lot of money! He has no baggage, probably not much money and no plans.

He used a ship; today we’d use a plane. If I were in Jonah’s position today, and wanted to run far, far away, long-distance destinations available from O’Hare airport today are Beijing, Berlin, Tokyo and Zurich. I’d personally choose Zurich. There’s a flight leaving on tomorrow, for only $1,000! I could pay for the flight, and survive for a few weeks on just the credit card, but I’d have to figure something out very quickly:

  • Where would I live?
  • How would I earn money?
  • Where will I buy clothes?
  • How will I afford food

Jonah is doing something very drastic – and his situation would be more dire than mine! He’s so opposed to the very idea of the Gospel[6] going to the Assyrians that He’d willing to do all this!

Why Didn’t Jonah Want To Go?

He didn’t want to go because the Assyrians were not nice people! They were the dominant empire in the entire Middle East – Babylon would come next. Archeologists and historians have discovered evidence of several massive military battles in Israel from 853 – 845 B.C. During that period, Israel, Judah and a bunch of other countries apparently joined together to defend themselves against the Assyrians[7]. The Judean King, Jehu, is shown cowering down and kissing the Assyrian King’s feet in this picture, below:

jonah

In Jonah’s day, Assyria is in the middle of a roughly 75 year (823-744 B.C.)[8] slump. They’re not doing so well anymore and are fighting amongst themselves. Meanwhile in Israel, Jeroboam II has come to power. Israel is expanding northwards and gaining territory. The economy is booming. Jonah and Hosea are from the same approximate generation.

But, Assyria is still out there, still dangerous and still a threat to Israel. They’re a serious danger to Israel – that means they’re a serious danger to Jonah. I want you to picture the absolute last kind of foreigner you’d want to share the Gospel with as an American – who would it be?

  • The five Taliban members who were just released in trade for SSG Bowe Bergdahl?
  • The 9/11 hijackers?
  • Osama bin Laden?
  • ISIS?

How would you like to leave behind your family, friends and your home to preach the Gospel to these folks? Not many Christians would be too eager to sign up for that trip? Yet, that’s what Jonah was told to do; and he didn’t like it!

There is a new book out about a Lutheran chaplain during World War II named Harry Gerecke. He served two years in England and then in Europe with the Army. He was preparing to ship back home in the summer of 1945, but was asked to stay and be a Chaplain to the German war-criminals during the Nuremberg Trials. He had watched soldiers blown up, shot and killed by Germans for two years. Now, he was being asked to delay his return home and preach the Gospel to the captured Nazi leaders, many of whom had committed horrible atrocities!

What would he do? What would you do? He stayed 1.5 years extra and reported that four men were saved![9] Put yourself in Jonah’s position, and don’t condemn him too easily. What he did was wrong, of course – but what would you do if God told you to travel to Syria and preach the Gospel to ISIS militants?

WHY DID GOD SEND JONAH TO NINEVEH?

I won’t answer that question until we reach the end of the book! But, what can we learn about God from the very beginning of this little book? God saves people from every tribe, tongue and nation.

The Gospel isn’t an American thing and it wasn’t an Israelite thing – God’s vision has always encompassed more than that. Israel wasn’t supposed to sit still and look pretty because she was chosen (“elect”) by God to be His holy people – she was supposed to:

  1. live the right way
  2. follow His law out of a pure heart, and
  3. draw other nations to Him by her own example!

The Gospel gets shared with everybody, even if we don’t like them.

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[1] This is indeed the crux of the issue! Perhaps the most accessible advocate for the idea that Israelites were supposed to be active missionaries to the pagan world is Walter J. Kaiser. He asks, “[i]t is at this point that the thesis of this book participates in issues that are hotly debated today: Did this ‘kingdom of priests’ serve Israel alone or the entire world? Were they to be active or merely passive witnesses,” (Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations, 2nd ed. [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012], xiii). Kaiser goes on to insist, “[t]he fact remains that the goal of the Old Testament was to see both Jews and Gentiles come to a saving knowledge of the Messiah who was to come. Anything less than this goal was a misunderstanding and an attenuation of the plan of God. God’s eternal plan was to provide salvation for all peoples; it was never intended to be reserved for one special group, such as the Jews, even as an initial offer!” (Ibid, xiv). Kaiser states the issue well, but his opponents do not suggest that Israel was supposed to be an elitist, snobbish society. Nor do they suggest that Israel did not fail in her adherence to the Mosaic Covenant. They merely disagree over the nature of her missions mandate – was it passive or active?

Over against Kaiser’s model is the idea that Israel’s “missions mandate,” such as it was, was basically passive. This position believes that the great ingathering of Gentiles is an eschatological one, for the latter days. This position is well represented by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Peter T. O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission (Downer’s Grove, IL : IVP, 2001), 25-53. At this point, one’s theological stripes will be revealed – will this ingathering take place when Jesus rules and reigns from a literal Jerusalem over a literally restored Israel (dispensationalist), or is this ingathering taking place right now as the spiritual kingdom of Christ reigns in the hearts of the elect (covenantalist)?

I hold to the second option, advocated by Kostenberger and O’Brien, that Israel’s missions mandate was very real, but basically very passive (Jonah being an obvious exception). I am a dispensationalist, so I believe the great eschatological ingathering of Gentiles will take place when Israel is restored, and Christ rules and reigns as her King in Jerusalem in the Millennium (see, for example, Isa 61).

[2] There is some debate about whether Jonah chartered the entire vessel, or whether he merely booked passage as a passenger to Tarshish, where the ship had already been headed. The Scripture itself provides the answer; v.5 tells us that the frightened sailors tossed the wares they were carrying overboard. Evidently the ship was engaged in trade and already bound for Tarshish; Jonah merely slipped on-board after negotiating the fare. If Jonah had chartered the entire vessel outright, they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of loading wares for later sale in Tarshish. If they had tried to, there would no doubt have been a considerable delay and Jonah would have sought passage on another vessel.

[3] “Although alternatives have been suggested, south-west Spain remains the most likely location for Tarshish,” (T. Desmond Alexander, “Jonah,” in Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, vol. 26, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988], 110). John Walton suggests Tarshish need not be taken as a literal destination, but as a reference to great distance, e.g “I’m headed for Timbuktu!” doesn’t necessarily mean one is going to Mali, Africa. It could mean one just wants to get far, far away (Jonah, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 8, revised ed. [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008], 469).

[4] No Bible believer would really believe one can literally hide from God. This is not a legitimate option!

[5] “Jonah wished to escape, not beyond the power of God, but away from the stage on which God was working out His purposes and judgments. The Christian worker anxious to avoid the full impact of modern problems should have no difficulty in understanding Jonah’s action,” (H. L. Ellison, Jonah, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 7 [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985], 369). See also Ellison’s remarks on the silliness of the first interpretive option (369). Walton remarks, “Jonah does not necessarily think that distance will put him out of range of the Lord’s reach; he may have thought his flight will simply result in the Lord’s finding someone else for the job,” (Jonah, 469).

[6] Many commentators discount the idea that Jonah was a “missionary” in the NT sense, and certainly don’t agree that Jonah preached the Gospel (according to the revelation Jonah had at the time, the Gospel entailed saving faith in God alone for justification [e.g. Gen 15:6] and loving adherence to the Mosaic Covenant as proselytes). John Walton (Jonah, 457-458, 477-485) and H.L. Ellison (Jonah, 363, 383-384) are particularly insistent on this point. The particulars will wait until we reach Jonah 3, but as for a hint of my own position, Jesus’ own words in Mt 12:41 are rather decisive on this point! But for the sake of brevity I’ll simply refer to Jonah as a “missionary” and his message as “the Gospel” and save the details for later!

[7] See A. K. Grayson, “Assyria, Assyrians” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, ed. Bill T. Arnold and H.T.M. Williamson (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP, 2005), 100-102

[8] Ibid.

[9] This information is from Lyle Dorsett, “Would You Share the Gospel with Hitler’s Worst Henchmen?” ChristianityToday.com. 23MAY14. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/Ll6mmr.

Why Should Christians be Separate From the World? What Does This Mean!? (1 Peter 2:11-12)

Separation
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If you read the New Testament, you’ve read that Christians are supposed to be different from the world around us. Why does Peter tell us to be separate from the world? What’s the point? Are Christians somehow “better” than everyone else? Are unbelievers somehow inferior people, folks not worthy to be around? Is that what Peter is talking about? Not at all, that is silly and ridiculous reasoning. I hope you don’t believe that. Peter certainly didn’t!

Today, we’ll take a very honest and important look at why Christians are supposed to be separate from the world.

WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD (v.11):

 

11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

 

Peter starts out on a sympathetic, friendly note. He writes, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you . . .” I want to point out how Peter is motivating his readers to live Christian lives. He doesn’t just issue commands, like some kind of dictator. He could have done that, but he didn’t. He just appeals to his readers, and us, to do what we already know is right.[1] As Christians, let’s be very honest – we already know we’re obligated to live holy lives as best we can. We just don’t do it. Peter is telling them to remember who they are, so that they’ll be stirred up to actually live like it. So, what are we as believers? 

Peter says that all believer are “as strangers and pilgrims . . .” We don’t have citizenship in this world; if we’re children of God we have heavenly citizenship. That’s why God’s people have always considered themselves different from the world around them. God’s people have always failed when they allowed the influences of this world (which Scripture says is energized and influenced by Satan [Ephesians 2:1-3]) to direct their thoughts, attitudes and actions. We see this after the Fall, when the descendants of Seth intermingled with the Cainite apostates are corrupted the entire earth (Gen 6:1-5). King David also understood this. Read his words here: 

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were,” (Psalm 39:12).

David confessed that he was stranger on the earth, a wanderer who was passing through this world! The writer of Hebrews says that all the Old Testament saints had this mindset: 

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city,” (Hebrews 11:13-16).

Think about how zealous we are about being patriotic Americans in this country. However, we ought to be even more patriotic and zealous about our real citizenship in God’s kingdom. Are we? How do we show our Godly patriotism? Peter begs us that, because we are strangers and pilgrims here in this sin-cursed world, we must “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”

I want to re-read something I just quoted about the Old Testament believers from the Book of Hebrews: 

“But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city,” (Hebrews 11:16).

Do you see that because these folks lived as though they were citizens of God’s kingdom (rather than the world) . . . God wasn’t ashamed of them? Do we realize that God is ashamed of us when we don’t act like His children? We show our patriotism for our real country (the heavenly country we’re citizens of) when we don’t act like the world. Think about it – how do you know a foreigner when you’ve seen one? Because they look different! They look different. They talk different. They dress different. They think different. Everything about them is different!

What happens to a foreigner who lives in this country (or anywhere) for long enough? They assimilate. They “go native.” They lose their rough edges and start to fit in and adapt to their new culture and surroundings. Eventually, you won’t be able to tell they’re foreigners at all.

They may still have accents and be a little bit different, but they adapt to their culture. You definitely won’t be able to tell their kids are foreigners! For all intents and purposes, they’ll be Americans.

Peter says we’re foreigners in this world and we ought to act like it. Peter says that God doesn’t want us to assimilate. He doesn’t want us to “go native.” We live here, love here and die here – but we don’t belong here. We don’t bleed red, white and blue – we bleed Christ. God wants us to keep the distinctive speech, attitudes, actions and demeanor that comes with being a Christian and a citizen of God’s Kingdom. We can’t lose any of that; no, Peter says we have to retain that identity as we live in this fallen world.

We’re commanded to not partake of, stay away from and abstain from “fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” The danger is from within ourselves. It’s our sin that wants to burst out and take control of our lives. Peter says that these desires war against our soul! There is a civil war going on inside our hearts, and Peter says we have the ability to overcome our sin. The Devil doesn’t make a believer do anything. He tempts us and we make a decision to act wrongly

Peter says we’re supposed to act like citizens of God, not citizens of this world.[2] We get upset when people disrespect military members (e.g. elitists who have never served), our national heritage or our country in general. Why do we get upset? Because it’s unpatriotic. It’s “un-American.” It’s arrogant! God gets upset when we have the same attitude about our citizenship in His heavenly country!

HERE’S WHY (v.12):

Here’s why we have to act like citizens of God’s kingdom:

 

12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

 

Peter says (1) we live holy and honest, Christ-like lives, so that (2) even though unbelievers might slander and speak evil of us, (3) they see our witness and testimony, and (4) that can be a major factor in that person getting saved! God can, and does, use our testimony to lead somebody to the Lord. We’re supposed to be separate from the world (live, think and act differently) so that we’re a testimony for God – more than that, so that we prove all the lies spread about Jesus Christ and Christianity wrong!

Did you know that in the early years of Christianity, there were a whole lot of misconceptions, lies and gossip spread about Christianity that weren’t true? For example;

  1. There were wild accusations that Christians engaged in sexual orgies and incest when they met for worship![3] They based this on the fact that believers called one another “brother” and “sister.” They also misinterpreted the command to love one another as Christ loved them (Jn 13:34-35). This was what unbelievers thought went on at their church meetings. Large doses of lies, gossip, innuendo and hearsay helped these ridiculous charges spread rapidly.
  2. There were rumors that Christians were cannibals! This misunderstanding was based on Jesus’ words, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you,” (John 6:53). There were even scandalous rumors that Christians sacrificed small children during the Lord’s Supper, and drank their blood and ate their flesh![4]
  3. Some unbelievers also believed that Christians were atheists! In a world that only worshipped physical, visible gods, Christians were seen as bizarre because they worshipped an invisible God![5] Unbelievers though to themselves, “at least the Jews worshipped at a temple – you guys don’t even do that!”[6]

Now, all of these are silly, slanderous lies that can easily be proven wrong! Peter says one of the reasons we have to act like Godly people is so that we do prove lies about our Savior wrong. People see us on the one hand, and the accusation on the other, and say to themselves, “no, that can’t be true. So and so would never do that!”

This means that God calls us to be separate from the world, not isolated from the world. We aren’t supposed to go up into the mountains, build communes, bake bread together and build tall, thick walls to keep the world out like modern-day monks. We know that’s wrong because Peter said that the unbelieving world will see how we act and how we live.

CONCLUSION:

God doesn’t want us to be separate from the world because we’re better than everyone else (e.g. “holier than thou,” etc.). He wants us to live like Christians in an unbelieving world so that, by our own example, we can be a light for Christ. It actually would have been easier if God did want us to be monks who isolated ourselves from everybody else! No – what God wants us to do is much harder. He wants us to live each and every day in the world, surrounded by sin and temptation – and to rise above it all and be holy. That’s a lot harder.

God didn’t give us this responsibility to be in the world, but not of the world, to torture us. He’s given us the wonderful responsibility to be a part of His plan of salvation!

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Footnotes:

[1] “Peter did not command his readers; he appealed to their own sense of what is right. As those who have been born again, he knows that they are able to do what he asks. True holiness is not procured by the application of a compelling external authority, but by awakening and strengthening the personal desire and will of those appealed to,” (D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter, revised ed. [Chicago, IL: Moody, 1992; reprint, Winona Lake, IN: BMH, 2008], 154).

[2] “Called as children of the light, Christians are free. Their freedom, however, binds them to their calling. They are free in bondage to God,” (Edmund Clowney, The Message of 1 Peter, The Bible Speaks Today [Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP, 1988; reprint, Kindle edition, 2014], Kindle Location 1394).

[3] For example, in the writings of Minucius Felix from approximately 201 A.D., he relates the charge of a non-Christian who claimed:

“Everywhere also there is mingled among them a certain religion of lust, and they call one another promiscuously brothers and sisters, that even a not unusual debauchery may by the intervention of that sacred name become incestuous: it is thus that their vain and senseless superstition glories in crimes . . .  On a solemn day they assemble at the feast, with all their children, sisters, mothers, people of every sex and of every age. There, after much feasting, when the fellowship has grown warm, and the fervour of incestuous lust has grown hot with drunkenness, a dog that has been tied to the chandelier is provoked, by throwing a small piece of offal beyond the length of a line by which he is bound, to rush and spring; and thus the conscious light being overturned and extinguished in the shameless darkness, the connections of abominable lust involve them in the uncertainty of fate. Although not all in fact, yet in consciousness all are alike incestuous, since by the desire of all of them everything is sought for which can happen in the act of each individual,” (“The Octavius of Minucius Felix,” Chapter 9, Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols., ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis [Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885], 4:177, 178).

[4] Felix once again records the same accuser:

“An infant covered over with meal, that it may deceive the unwary, is placed before him who is to be stained with their rites: this infant is slain by the young pupil, who has been urged on as if to harmless blows on the surface of the meal, with dark and secret wounds. Thirstily—O horror!—they lick up its blood; eagerly they divide its limbs. By this victim they are pledged together; with this consciousness of wickedness they are covenanted to mutual silence. Such sacred rites as these are more foul than any sacrileges,” (“Minucius Felix,” Chapter 9, ANF 4:177, 178).

[5] “For why do they endeavour with such pains to conceal and to cloak whatever they worship, since honourable things always rejoice in publicity, while crimes are kept secret? Why have they no altars, no temples, no acknowledged images?” (“Minucius Felix,” Chapter 10, ANF 4:178).

[6] “The lonely and miserable nationality of the Jews worshipped one God, and one peculiar to itself; but they worshipped him openly, with temples, with altars, with victims, and with ceremonies; and he has so little force or power, that he is enslaved, with his own special nation, to the Roman deities. But the Christians, moreover, what wonders, what monstrosities do they feign!—that he who is their God, whom they can neither show nor behold, inquires diligently into the character of all, the acts of all, and, in fine, into their words and secret thoughts; that he runs about everywhere, and is everywhere present,” (“Minucius Felix,” Chapter 10, ANF 4:178).