An Introduction to

Jonah

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An Introduction to

Jonah
A Brief BACKGROUND to Jonah
AUTHOR:
*The author of Jonah was most likely Jonah himself, the son of Amittai, whose name signifies, dove. *Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 as prophesying during the reign of Jeroboam II, who was king over Israel from 782-753 B.C. This would make Jonah's ministry one of the earliest of the minor prophets. *In 2 Kings 14:25 Jonah is said to have been from Gath-hepher, which was in the territory of Zebulun in northern Israel.

DATE:
If Jonah was indeed the author, the book of Jonah must have been written sometime from the early to late 8th century B.C. (around 725-775 B.C). If Jonah was not the author, it could have been written anytime between the 8 th century B.C. and the second century B.C, which is the first recorded mention of the twelve prophets (Sirach 49:10).

AUDIENCE:
Being himself a prophet from Zebulun, Jonah's audience is most likely the 10 tribes of Israel in the north. In reading Jonah, Israel is warned against nationalistic presumption (cf. Deut.32:21 with Rom.10:19) and challenged with a missionary God who delights in saving those far off.

CONTEXT:
Jonah prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, a period of great economic prosperity among the people of God, seemingly unparalleled since the days of Solomon. This was especially true of Israel in the north, for we read of Jeroboam II in 2 Kings 14:25 (the only verse in Kings or Chronicles dealing with Jonah's ministry), He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. Though there was unparalleled economic prosperity in Israel in the days of Jonah, there was sadly great spiritual poverty. The golden calfs, erected under Jeroboam I generations earlier, continued to be worshiped by Israel in the north in Bethel and Dan (see 1 Kings 12:26-29). Jeroboam II, like every single king before him in northern Israel (over the 10 tribes) was said

to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. Thus, though the church in northern Israel is rich and wealthy and seemed to have need of nothing, they are really wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Rev.3:17).

Application: One very important application here: When did God send Jonah far away to the Ninevites? When the church at home was well established and had little need for him to stay? No. God sent Jonah to an unreached people group, as it were, in a distant landwhen there were still massive needs in the church at home. Perhaps Jonah's fellow prophets would have harshly criticized Jonah for going to Nineveh, citing how badly the church needed him at home. The lesson should be fairly clear for us. God is calling the church to send out preachers of the gospel to unreached people groups in foreign lands even when there are still needsand even great needsin the church at home. OVERVIEW:
*The STYLE of Jonah: The author of Jonah is brutally honest about the prophet's failings, something we would do well to follow in the writing of our modern Christian biographies. Jonah is written much like a prophetic narrative (as the narratives of Elijah and Elisha in Kings and Chronicles). Further, the book of Jonah is structured through parallels:
Jonah swallowed by the great fish (chs. 1-2) Jonah's commission and disobedience (1:1-3) God calms the storm He had sent against the pagan sailors (1:4-16) Jonah's prayer of thanksgiving (2:1-9) Jonah sent to the great city (chs. 3-4) Jonah's recommission and obedience (3:1-3) God relents concerning His wrath He had declared against the pagan Ninevites (3:3-10) Jonah's prayer of anger (4:2-3)

*The SCOPE of Jonah: The book of Jonah tells the greatest fish story known to man, but it is meant to do more than tell a story. It was meant to teach Israeland now usthat the Lord is a God who has compassion on those who are far off as well as those near. This message contains both a reminder and a warning:

It seems that Jonah is written to REMIND Israel of GOD'S CHARACTER. As Peter would later declare, God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him (Acts 10:34-35) whether Jew or Gentile. It is good news that the Lord is not a God who shows partiality. The book of Jonah clearly shows that, whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom.10:13). The Lord longs to draw to himself those who are far off as well as those who are near. It seems that Jonah is written to WARN Israel of GOD'S JUDGMENT. The repentance of the Ninevites is in stark contrast to the continual rebellion of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel remained unrepentant for generations despite the faithful preaching of the prophets (including Jonah himself). In comparison, these Gentile dogs are brought to repentance after one day of the preaching of Jonah (4:4-5)and such manifestations of repentance as had never been seen in Israel (even the Ninevites' animals must fast and be clothed with sackcloth)! In comparing the continual rebellion and disobedience of Israel with the response of the Gentiles in Nineveh, we sense Isaiah's words echoing throughout the book of Jonah: All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people (Is.65:2; Rom.10:21). Moses had likewise prophesied many years before: They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation (Deut.32:21; Rom.10:19). In this way Jonah is given as a warning to Jewish Israel (and a forecast of their exile and judgment). If they continue to reject their God, the Lord was quite able to raise up children for Abraham from among the Gentiles.

*The OUTLINE of Jonah, in brief (we will return to this in more detail soon):

Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Chapter 4:

Jonah's SIN Jonah's PRAYER Jonah's PREACHING Jonah's LESSON

*The book of Jonah is quoted or referred to in the New Testament in at least the following passages: Matt.12:39-41; 16:4; Lk.11:29-32. For more on Nineveh see the book of Nahum, which is a later oracle pronounced against Nineveh (written some hundred years or more after the events recorded in the book of Jonah).

COMMON MISTAKES in the interpretation of Jonah

Mistake regarding the HISTORICITY of Jonah's preaching:
Some take it to be merely an allegorythat none of these events really actually happened. These people say that everythingfrom the storm to the fish to Jonah's preaching in Nineveh and the conversion of the citywere not factual events but a fictional story to teach lessons about God. We do not disagree that the story of Jonah is here to teach us lessons. But the natural reading of the text is to take it as it is: a record of events concerning the life and preaching of Jonah, the son of Amittai, prophet from Gath-hepher. It has been rightly said that Jonah reads like one of the historically grounded prophetic narratives found in Kings or Chronicles (see 1 Kings 17:2,8). Christ also confirms the historicity of Jonah's 3 days in the belly of the fish and ensuing repentance of the Ninevites in His words in Matthew 12:39-41.

Mistake regarding the HEARERS of Jonah's preaching:

Some say that the Assyrians (the people of which Nineveh was the capital) were presently the greatest enemies of God's people, and thus that the greatest significance in Jonah being sent to Nineveh was that Jonah was being sent to preach the gospel to his worst enemies. The Assyrians were indeed a brutal people, and enemies of the people of God, but they weren't by any means the greatest enemies of Israel in Jonah's daythat would have been the Arameans (2 Kings 13:4-5,22 is the backdrop of 14:25-26). They are indeed the ones who will eventually conquer Israel in the north and exile them to their own land. But the exile wouldn't take place for another several years (40-70 years later), under an Assyrian king who was most likely the grandson of the reigning king of Assyria during Jonah's day. The Assyrians are the enemies of most other foreign lands because of their brutality (including Israel), but they are not necessarily Israel's worst enemies at this time.

Mistake regarding the CONTENT of Jonah's preaching:

Some say again, that Jonah, hating the thought of having to preach to the Assyrians, rebelled against God yet again as he preached, in that instead of preaching upon the love and grace of God (as he ought to have), Jonah preached a harsh and legalistic message of only doom and gloom. We will get to this in more detail later, but for now we will briefly point out that, 1) in chapter 1 God told Jonah, Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me (1:2); and 2) after the Ninevites repent, the text reads, God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them (3:10);

IE, the message Jonah preached was indeed God's messageGod himself was preaching through Jonah.

A SUMMARY of Jonah
Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Chapter 4: Jonah's SIN Jonah's PRAYER Jonah's PREACHING Jonah's LESSON

CHAPTER 1: JONAH'S SIN

*The SOURCE of Jonah's sin: Why did Jonah run away? Jonah reveals later (4:2) why he fled in the first place: he was afraid the Ninevites would repent, and in turn, that God would relent concerning His pronounced judgment.

Why didn't Jonah want them to repent?

First, a clarification. Jonah's problem was NOT a lack of knowledge. It wasn't that Jonah didn't realize or understand (perhaps as the early church in the book of Acts) that God was a compassionate God who had purposed to save the Gentiles as well as the Jews. He knew full well that the Gentiles (and by implication, the Ninevites) were included in God's purposes of salvation (see 4:1-2)he just didn't want them to be. So why not? It may have been for one or all of the following reasons: Perhaps, 1) because Jonah wanted God to give justice to his enemies instead of mercy. It's not for nothing that the Lord says what He does in 1:2 (see also Nahum 3:1-4). The Assyrians are said to have been absolutely brutal. Jonah's call to go to Nineveh has been likened to God calling a Jew to preach the gospel to Germany under the reign of Hitler, or an American being sent as a missionary to Al Qaeda. They were a fierce people and the enemies of human kind.

Application: Are there any group of people we are so disgusted with that we would much rather see God's justice poured out upon them than His compassion? Have we forgotten we were once haters of others and enemies of God?
Perhaps, 2) because Jonah had become too nationalistic so much so that even though he knew that God was a compassionate God who was concerned for the salvation of Gentiles (like the Ninevites), he didn't want those Gentile dogs to be part of the people of God. If this was the case it wasn't necessarily that he had a special grudge against the Assyrians, but it was rather that he didn't want any filthy Gentiles coming in (to the kingdom) and polluting the temple of God.

Application: Do we have wrong and sinful notions about the church? Do we (either openly and explicitly or inwardly and subtly) keep anyone out of the church because we see them as a polluting (or just uncomfortable) influence? (IE, poor smelly people, people from other races countries or religions, homosexuals, unchurched rowdy kidsanyone who because they act or talk differently make us uncomfortable?) Is our church an open door for all? A house of prayer for all nations? Or are their some who we basically close the door on (though we would never admit to it)?

Perhaps, 3) because Jonah knew that the repentance of Nineveh exposed ugly and fearful truths about the people of God: what would be the implications of Nineveh repenting after 1 day of Jonah's preaching (it seems the city repented before Jonah could even get through the 3 days' walkand as it turned out, such repentance as we have never read before in the pages of the Old Testament); but Israel remaining unrepentant for hundreds of years despite the Lord continually sending prophets like Jonah to her? It may have been that Jonah had the words of Deuteronomy 32:21 ringing in his ears: They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. It may well have been that Jonah knew there was more at stake with Nineveh's repentance than the conversion of the Gentilesit may well have been that Jonah was fearful that the conversion of Nineveh exposed the necessity of the judgment of Israel.

Application: Imagine that there was a large-scale repentance of Al Qaeda, so much so that there was an ensuing missionary movementwith former Al Qaeda terrorists now being sent to the US as passionate, sold-out to Christ missionaries. How would it make you feel? Excited or angry? Pastorsimagine one of them coming into your church wanting to partner with you to stir up your (perhaps somewhat sleepy) congregation and reach the community. How would it make you feel? Would you be thankful for the new life and opportunities for the gospel? Or would it make you fearful that it might expose that your church isn't as healthy as everyone might have thought? Do we welcome the Light of Christ to expose our sins (both individual and corporate sins), or does that thought terrify us?
*The DESCRIPTION of Jonah's sin: In running away from the mission of God, Jonah found himself actually running away from God's very presence (1:3 twice; 10).

Application: Whether we don't want to share the good news with others because they are our worst enemies, or because we think that outsiders with filthy mouths or filthy lives would mess up our pristine church, or because we are afraid of what true conversions and new life would expose about the sins of our own church hidden beneath the surface know this: in running away from the mission of God to gather those far off, you are not staying on neutral territory with the Lordyou are running away from God's very presence.
*The RESULT of Jonah's sin:

1) A FIERCE STORM comes upon the ship: The great storm comes upon Jonah's ship because of Jonah's disobedience (1:4,12). Jonah's reaction to the storm? He is fast asleep.
While unbelieving pagans are earnestly calling on each their god, Jonah has gone down into the hold of the ship and was fast asleep. Jonah sleeps while his mates are perishing. Jonah, whose God alone is the Living and true God who could actually deliver them, sleeps; while his mates uselessly call upon their gods who could never deliver. The only man on that ship who could help had chosen not to. Jonah's actions are so despicable even to the pagan captain that he rebukes Jonah and has to admonish him to call on his God along with everyone else.

Application: Storms don't always come to us because of disobedience. Sometimes it is just when we are following the Lord that the winds and the waves become the fiercest (as

in Mark 4:35-38). But we have a God who pursues us when we run away from His presence. He has promised to sanctify us (Psalm 23:3; 31:3). He is the hound of heaven. It is in love for Jonah as much as in love for the Ninevites that God sent the storm in chapter 1. The Lord sends discipline to His wayward children because He is committed to our sanctification. 2) THE JEWISH PROPHET is thrown out of the ship: Jonah told them this was the only way for the sea to be made calm again. The sailors feared to do this and tried everything they could to prevent Jonah's being thrown overboard, but in the end they saw this was the only way. 3) THE GENTILE SAILORS are brought to faith in the Lord: The progression is beautiful: when the storm comes, the sailors became afraid, (v5); when they learn it had come upon them because of the Lord, the men became extremely frightened, (v10); and when the sea stops its raging, the men feared the Lord greatly (v16). Further, the language used by the sailors in Jonah 1:14-16 is the Old Testament language of salvation. They earnestly called on the Lord (v14) before throwing Jonah in the sea, and when everything immediately becomes calm, they fear the Lord greatly (v16), offer a sacrifice to the Lord (v16), and make vows (v16). It is hard to find any clearer language used in the Old Testament for men being brought to faith in the Messiah than this. CHAPTER 2: JONAH'S PRAYER
*Its CONTEXT:

Jonah's prayer is FILLED WITH FAITH faith that the Lord hears and delivers sinners who call upon His name.
It is evident that as he is sinking down to the bottom of the sea, Jonah casts up a faint prayer to God: I called out of my distress to the Lord. . .I cried for help from the depth of Sheol. . .While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You (2:2,7). Jonah had been nothing but disobedient. He had deliberately run away from God, and had acted so reprehensibly towards his fellow man that even the pagan sailors had to rebuke him. But Jonah cried out to God for help as he sunk to the bottom of the ocean. And God heard him and delivered him.

Application: When does God hear our prayers and deliver us? When we've been good Christians and have some religious points to cash in? No. God hears our prayers even on our worst days. Our Savior hears and answers the prayers of sinnerseven Christian sinners.
*Its CONTENT:

Jonah's prayer is FILLED WITH THE PSALMS. . . Jonah 2:2 Psalm 18:4-6; 50:15 Jonah 2:3 Psalm 42:7; 69:1-2 Jonah 2:4 Psalm 31:22; 5:7 Jonah 2:5 Psalm 18:5; 69:1-2; 116:3

Jonah 2:6 Psalm 30:3; 40:2 Jonah 2:7 Psalm 142:3; 18:6 Jonah 2:8 Psalm 31:6 Jonah 2:9 Psalm 50:14, 23 Application 1: The value of PRAYING SCRIPTURE. . . Application 2: The value of MEMORIZATION. As one brother has pointed out though Jonah's prayer is filled with the Psalms, the prophet had no copy of the Old Testament with him in the belly of the fish. 1 What he prays here from the Psalms had been committed to memory. An application here: We are given seasons of summer in the light to store up truth for seasons of darkness. What we learn in the light will be valuable in times of darkness.2 Do we have Scripture tucked away in our hearts for the times we need God's Word but don't have a Bible handy?
*Its THEME:

Jonah's prayer is FILLED WITH WORSHIP. Though he had been delivered from drowning in the ocean, he was by no means out of the woods yet (has anyone ever been known to be swallowed up by a whale but live to tell about it?) Still, instead of Jonah's prayer being filled with anxious supplications for deliverance, it is filled with worship. In the midst of the darkness and uncertainty, Jonah worships the Lord for who He is and for what He has done. Do I worship and give thanks in the midst of darkness and uncertainty? CHAPTER 3: JONAH'S PREACHING
*Its CONTEXT: After Jonah's disobedience, God did not look for another, more obedient prophet to send to Nineveh. We read: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. . . (3:1).

Application: God is a God of second chances. Like blind Bartimaeus, we may yet again regain what we had lost through sin and neglect: Lord, I want to REgain my sight. . . (Lk.18:41). Have you failed God? Have you been all too often like disobedient Jonah? In Christ we may draw near once again, having our consciences cleansed with the blood of the Lamb, we may be filled afresh with His Spirit, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.
*Its NATURE: How are we to understand Jonah's proclamation to Nineveh? Was the commission that God had given to Jonah a one-time, specific prophesy, given exclusively to the Ninevites with no direct applications to us? Or are we to see Jonah as an evangelist being sent to an unreached people group (as it were) to preach the gospel? Is Jonah prophesying of a specific occurrencesomething we ought not to pattern? Or is Jonah simply preaching the gospelsomething we definitely ought to pattern? Are we to understand Jonah and his proclamation as a prophet in the exclusive and unrepeatable sense? Or are we to understand Jonah as a preacher, sent to the Ninevites as a missionary evangelist in much
1 Very much appreciated this insight from John Stevenson's study of Jonah (www.johnstevenson.net). 2 Ibid.

the same way we are sent out to preach Christ to the nations today? In one sense, Jonah's message was very UNIQUE to the Ninevites. God had revealed to Jonah that He would send judgment to them after 40 days. We are never to speculate about dates or times of the second coming of Christ. This specificity was revealed uniquely to Jonah as an Old Testament prophet. But in another sense, Jonah's message is to be understood in GENERAL terms and can be thought of not only as a specific prophesy to the Ninevites, but as evangelistic preaching. In referring to Jonah, our Lord said: The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here (Matt.12:41). The plain reading of Christ's words is that Jonah had been sent to Nineveh as a preacher of the gospel. *Its CONTENT:

WHAT message was given: Short and to the point: Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown (3:4). Surely this is a very condensed summary of his preaching, but this was the thrust. WHEN the message was given: This time God didn't give Jonah his message well ahead of time. Jonah wasn't given a well-written manuscript weeks ahead of schedule, for we read: proclaim to [Nineveh] the proclamation which I am going to tell you (3:2). Application 1: Living by faith in future grace. God often leads us in such a way as forcing us to trust in Him. Jonah didn't have to be anxious, wondering if God would give him a message or not. God said that He wouldat the right time. Jonah was called to live by faith in FUTURE gracepromised grace for tomorrowand so are we. Application 2: Keeping a keen sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in preaching. Sermon preparation is not badit is very necessary. But we need to always have about us a desperate sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. HE needs to dictate everything about what and how we preachfor it is THE SPIRIT that gives life. With all our sermon preparation let us never trust in prepared manuscripts or outlinesbut look to the Living God in desperate dependencein seeking our text, in preparing an outline, and in our preaching itselfknowing that He may well give us a different message when we get to the pulpit. We need to believe and trust in the Holy Spirit in everything we do especially in preaching.
*Its ORIGIN:

The message to the Ninevites was SENT FROM GOD: We mentioned above that some deem Jonah's preaching to be harsh, judgmental, and legalistic. In short, they say Jonah preached the wrong message. He should have preached love and mercy, but he preached wrath and judgment instead.
But what does the text say? We can only assume that what Jonah proclaimed in Nineveh was the same message that the Lord had told Jonah to proclaim the first time in 1:2, where they Lord commanded Jonah to cry against [Nineveh], for their wickedness has come up before Me (1:2). This is confirmed in 3:10, where we read that it was God himself who had declared through Jonah the message of impending judgment. Thus we see that the content of Jonah's messagewhich the prophet had been given to preach from God himselfwas the message of the impending righteous judgment of God against the wickedness of sinners. And it is quite noteworthy that it is this message that led to what was arguably the greatest revival ever recorded in the Scriptureswhich leads us to another

truth:

The message to the Ninevites was GIVEN IN COMPASSION: We learn in chapter 4 that it was out of compassion that God sent Jonah to preach this message of impending judgment (4:2). Does this sound strange?? It was actually out of love and mercy FOR guilty sinners that God had sent Jonah to preach upon God's righteous judgment and coming wrath AGAINST guilty sinners. Wow. . .
*Its IMPLICATIONS: In this we learn a vital truth: Preaching upon the coming judgment of God is the most compassionate thing you can do. Do you believe that? Jonah's preaching was not just some kind of legalistic and judgmental preaching reserved for the Old Testament. Jonah's preaching should be our preaching. If you have compassion for sinners and want to see them come to Christ, then preach often upon the coming wrath of Godfor it is this that leads men to call upon the Savior. Free grace is only seen to be as precious as it is against the context of the judgment of God. Sinners must first be broken if they are to be truly healed by the Savior. And sinners must be confronted with the holiness and righteousness of God, and His just wrath against sin, if they are to be broken.

Application: As any good physician, a faithful preacher must cut deeply the consciences of sinners with the scalpel of the Law if they are to remove the cancer of sin buried deep within. We must follow the pattern of not only the prophets, but John the Baptist (see Matt.3:7-12), Paul (Rom.1:16-3:20), and of our Lord Jesus himself in showing sinners why they must repent: the wrath of God is coming, and all of us stand as guilty criminals before the holy Judge of heaven (Rom.1:18ff).
*It's RESPONSE:

Faith and repentanceand such as had never been seen in Israel. . .

*In the span of a single day (3:4ff), the whole city is found earnestly calling upon God Jonah can't even seem to walk the full 3 days before the whole city is brought to repentance!! *We read that the repentance of Nineveh spreads from the greatest to the least of them (3:5). Even the king humbles himself before God in sackcloth and ashes. *Now the most amazing thing. Not only does the whole city begin to fast in order to call upon Godbut the king of Nineveh orders that even the beasts, herds, and flocks of Nineveh both fast and be clothed with sackcloth (3:7-8)!!! This kind of earnestness in seeking God is absolutely unprecedented.

Application: Jonah fully EXPECTED God to work mightily in Ninevehhe just didn't WANT Him to (4:1-2). This is probably not our main problem. Perhaps for us it is the other way around. We may often WANT God to workto draw to Himself even our enemies, and those who might make us uncomfortablewe may struggle here and there, but our main problem is not wanting God to work. Our main problem is that we don't EXPECT God to do anything. We need to live in true Holy Spirit expectation that God is constantly willing and wanting to use us in powerful ways to draw lost sinners home to himself.

CHAPTER 4: JONAH'S LESSON

*Its BACKGROUND:3

God GIVES Jonah the plant (4:6): God is in our COMFORTS. God TAKES the plant away from Jonah (4:7): God is in our LOSSES. God SENDS affliction to Jonah: God is in our HEAVIEST TRIALS. God does all of this for a specific PURPOSE: God is always wanting to TEACH us. General Application: What do you think God has been trying to teach you recently through the events in your life? Am I thankful for His gifts? Do I cling to Him in my losses and trials? Am I listening what what He is wanting to teach me? Specific Application: Jonah cared more about the plant than the eternal souls of the Ninevites. But maybe we're more like Jonah than we would like to think. Do we care more about our temporal comforts than eternal souls? Do we care more about our AC than the neighbors next-door? Fresh basil on our pasta more than the precious souls we walk by at the grocery store? The iced-coffee we get from Dunkin Donuts more than the girl (from one of the most unreached people groups in the world) who makes it for us?
*Its THEME:

God has compassion for far-off, lost, guilty sinners (4:11). . .do we?
*Its MEANS:

God teaches Jonah by asking him a searching QUESTION (4:4,9). The Lord often probes our hearts through questions. For instance. . .
*The Lord's question to Adam in the garden, Where are you? (Gen.3:9). *Jesus' question to the scribes, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? (Mk.2:8). *Jesus' question to some of His disciples, Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? (Lk.6:46). *Jesus' question to blind Bartimaeus, What do you want Me to do for you? (Lk.18:41). *Here to Jonah: Do you have good reason to be angry? (vv4,9). *Its RESULT: The book ends with God's question to Jonah, the prodigal prophet; we're left wondering what will Jonah's response be? There are a lot of similarities here with the parable of the prodigal son. In both we're left asking, how will he respond?

Application: We're left asking not only how Jonah will respondbut, How will I respond? The question is meant to probe your heart and mine as much as Jonah's.

3 Taken from Spurgeon sermon, Jonah's Object Lessons.

Jonah and the MISSION of God

The DOMINION of God SETS THE BACKDROP for the mission of God (1:1-2):
That the Ninevites were not yet worshipers of Yahweh didn't get them off the hook or make them any less accountable to Him for their wickedness. Scripture wants us to see that these pagan Assyrians were accountable to the God of Israel.

Application: Citizens in a monarchy may not necessarily want to be under the rule of their particular king, but they have no choice in the matter. Likewise, that many people don't want to be under the reign of Yahweh doesn't make them any less accountable to Him for their actions. We will every one of us give an account of himself to God (Rom.14:12), whether we want to or not. The PROVIDENCE of God EXISTS TO ADVANCE the mission of God:
*The Lord hurled the great wind on the sea (1:4). *The Lord again calmed the raging of the seas (1:15-16). *The Lord appointed the great fish to swallow Jonah (1:17). *The Lord commanded the fish to spit Jonah out upon dry land (2:10). *The Lord appointed the plant to grow over Jonah (4:6). *The Lord appointed the worm to devour the plant (4:7). *The Lord the next day appointed a scorching east wind (4:8).

Application: Do we believe that the God who saves sinners is the same God who directs us providentially to those He has prepared to receive the gospel and draw to Himself? Do we live like we believe it? We ought to live constantly in Holy Spirit EXPECTATION expecting that God is providentially directing usbringing us to this or that placeputting this or that person in our pathvery intentionallyand for His saving purposes. The WORD of God IS THE SOLE FOUNDATION of the mission of God:
*God's Word is the BASIS of our preaching: It is WHY we preach to all creation (1:2; 3:1). *God's Word is the CONTENT of our preaching: It is WHAT we preach to all creation (1:2; 3:2).

The PURPOSE of God is to SPREAD HIS PRAISES through the church:

God's purpose is to GATHER those FAR OFF (4:10-11), and to do it through the proclamation of a messagethe spreading of His praises. Conversion necessitates the proclamation of a message. Jonah was given a message to preach. The Ninevites wouldn't be saved simply by seeing Jonah's lifeno matter how holy or kind he was.

Application: We must proclaim a message if we would see souls saved. It is the message of the gospel that sets men free from their sins (Rom.1:16). The PLAN of God is to spread His praises THROUGH the church:
God's plan is to USE HIS PEOPLE to gather those far off (cf. Isaiah 2:3). There are still

empty seats at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and Christ has sent you and I into the world in order to rescue His precious bride from her tormenters, and deliver her safely to the arms of Christ. Spurgeon draws out the account of Jonah's sleeping in the ship the following truths:4

I. The ship is in danger: Men are dying! Men are perishing! Hell is filling. . .What, shall we sleep now? Shall we be idle now? II. Men are longing for deliverance: In Jonah's ship every man was a pleader; every person was praying; and though I cannot say this of the world that lies in the wicked one, yet, to a very great extent, it is truth that the masses are longing to hear the words of this life. III. The children of God are the only men who can do any real spiritual service to the perishing world: the salvation of the world under God lies with the church. IV. You are in the ship yourself: you enjoy its privileges, and therefore, you ought to take your quota of the work. V. The honor of our God is mightily concerned in every Jonah being aroused: How could Jehovah be glorified, if the only worshipper of Jehovah in the vessel should sleep? The PROMISE of God is to spread His praises through THE CHURCH:
To use His people DESPITE THEM to gather those far off: Not only does Jonah make these pagan sailors look like devout men of God in comparison, but the prophet appears to us to be more of a curse to everybody around him than a blessing! But wholly despite Jonah and his sin, God is using him as a blessing of salvation to those around himand in doing so, fulfilling the promises He had made to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12). Thus, his interaction with the pagan sailors results in their fearing and making vows to the Lord (1:1416; the OT language of conversion); and his begrudgingly preaching to the Ninevites results in a massive awakening among the Assyrians perhaps unparalleled in the history of missions.

Application: How comforting it is that even on our worst days, we cannot mess up God's saving purposes.

Seeing CHRIST in Jonah

Jonah's COMMISSION came through the WORD of Christ (1:1; 3:1):
God did not appear to Jonah in a dream or vision. We are told, both in 1:1 and 3:1, that it was the Word of the Lord that came to Jonah, telling him to go and preach to the Ninevites. It is the same for us. God speaks to us through His Word, and Jesus Christ is the Wordmade-flesh (John 1:1-14). As Jonah was sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles through the Word of the Lord, so you and I are commanded by God's Word to go and make disciples of all nations.

Jonah's LIFE points to the GOSPEL of Christ:

Jonah a picture of the FIRST ADAM. . .

*As with the first Adam, it was because of Jonah's sin that certain death was coming to all on the ship. The reaction of the sailors to Jonah confessing his sin is exactly the same as the Lord God's reaction to Adam and Eve's sin in the garden: What is this you have
4 In his sermon, What Meanest Thou, O Sleeper?

done? (Genesis 3:13). We see played out in Jonah chapter 1 what we read in Romans 5:12-21, that it was through the transgression of the one man that the fierce anger of God was kindled against all those in the ship.
Jonah a picture of the SECOND ADAM. . .

*As with the second Adam, Jonah was given over to certain deathby the hands of Gentile unbelievers (1:15)in order to fulfill the words of the prophet (himself in 1:12). Who threw Jonah overboard? Gentile sailors did (1:15); but ultimately God himself did (2:3). So it was with Christ, who was given over to death by the hands of Gentiles in order to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophets (Acts 2:23). *Jonah's deliverance from death was miraculous, fore-picturing the miraculous deliverance of Christ from the grave. *Jonah remained in the heart of the earth for 3 days, as a type of the One who would raise from the dead after 3 days (Matt.12:40; 16:4). *The death of Jonah resulted in life and salvation for the Gentile sailors. As the throwing of Jonah overboard stopped the raging of the seas, so the offering up of Christ on the cross stopped the fury of God's wrath for all who would believe upon Him. Jonah's SIN highlights our NEED for Christ:
Every single one of us is a profoundly messed up sinner in desperate need of a Savior. No man will ever get into the kingdom of God by being a good person, because there simply are no good people. There are only messed up self-righteous sinners like Jonah and appalling filthy wicked prodigal sinners like the Gentile sailors and Ninevites. Every single one of us has broken God's Law to pieces. The Ninevites were a wicked people, and Jonah was a disobedient prophet. The Ninevites unknowingly worshiped false gods; Jonah knowingly disobeyed the true God (which is worse?). We may be prodigal son-sinners like the sailors and Ninevites, or we may be self-righteous pharisee-sinners like Jonah, but at the end of the day, we areall of usjust profoundly messed up sinners who desperately need a Savior.

Applications: Is this the way you see yourself? Is this the way you see others? Jonah's STORY shows us the WAY to Christ:
*Seen in the response of JONAH:

Though Jonah runs far away from God, he seems to evidence true repentance just before he is cast into the sea. In 1:12, Jonah tells the sailors, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you. There were a lot of things Jonah could have said here. He didn't have to take responsibility. He could have blamed it all on God who sent the storm. He could have blamed it on the wickedness of the Ninevites who all but made him run the other way to Tarshish. But he put the blame on himself. Jonah is saying in effect, It's my fault. In verse 12 of chapter one, Jonah shows us that repentance is the way to come back to Christ.
*Illustrated through the response of the SAILORS: 5

I. Sinners, when they are tossed upon the sea of conviction, make desperate efforts to save themselves.
5 Spurgeon draws out of their conversion four implications in coming to Christ; from his sermon, Labor in Vain, on Jonah 1:12-13.

II. The fleshly efforts of awakened sinners must inevitably fail. III. The soul's sorrow will continue to increase so long as it relies upon its own efforts. IV. The way of safety for sinners is to be found in the sacrifice of another on their behalf.
*Seen in the response of the NINEVITES:

I. The SOURCE of faith and repentance:

Faith and repentance come through hearing, and hearing by the WORD of Christ (Rom.10:13-15).

II. The NECESSITY of faith and repentance:

WITHOUT faith (3:5) and repentance (3:10) we CANNOT be saved.

III. The PROMISE in faith and repentance:

WITH faith and repentance we CANNOT BUT be saved (3:5,10).

Jonah's PRAYER proclaims the DEITY of Christ:

Jonah finishes his prayer from the belly of the fish with the words, Salvation is from the Lord (2:9). These words are actually profoundly important for the defense of the deity of Christ. Some false teaching (especially Jehovah's Witnesses) say that Christ was not truly God himself in the flesh. But if Christ has truly flown wide open the doors of salvation through His work on the crossyea, accomplished salvationand yet is not in fact God himself in the fleshthan we cannot affirm the truth of Jonah 2:9. If Jesus was no more than a man, than salvation was NOT of the Lord, and thus our worship is idolatryfor we are worshipping a manand not Godif salvation came through Christ but He is not in fact the Lord. The deity of Christ is so vitally important that Jesus himself declared to the Jews that no man can be saved who does not affirm His deity: Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins (literal translation of John 8:24).

Jonah's PREACHING echos the WARNING of Christ:

Our Lord says the following sober words in referring to Jonah: The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here (Matt.12:41). The Jews of Jesus' day were not on the whole an immoral irreligious people. They went to synagogue regularly and sat under Jesus' teaching (Lk.13:26). Many of them called Jesus Lord (Matt.7:22). But many of them would be thrust out of the kingdom in the last day, for they had never truly bowed the knee to Christ (Lk.13:24-30). And these words are for us as much as the Jews. To whom much is given much is required, and we have an infinite amount of greater light than the Ninevites. Let us never be found playing churchif we reject the Messiah with the light we have been given this side of the gospels, our judgment will be worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt.11:20-24). He who has ears, let him hear. God help us.

A few FINAL LESSONS GLEANED from Jonah

Who the Lord is. He is GRACIOUSit's hard to say whether God was more gracious to the pagan

Ninevites or to the disobedient Jonah. He is SOVEREIGNthe God of creation and the God of salvation; opening the mouths of fish in the sea to serve His purposes, and opening the hearts of pagan unbelievers to the gospel message. He is HOLYwhich is the reason destruction was on its way to Nineveh, and also the reason for God's pursuing sanctification in the life of the runaway prophet. He is IMPARTIALreceiving all who call upon Him, whether Jew or Gentile, those outside the church or inside; and the righteous punisher of all who rebel against Him, whether Jew or Gentile, those outside the church or inside.

No good people will ever enter the kingdom of God. Never forget thisand never stop preaching it. Remember, the Ninevites were not an innocent, good-hearted people who just had never heard about God. They were a brutal people and it was because their wickedness had risen to heaven that God sent Jonah to cry against them. Never forget that Jesus came as a Savior for sinnersnot a cheerleader for good people. Never forget that good people will never enter the kingdom of God, for there are none. Christ has not come to call the righteous, but sinners. It is only wretched and filthy sinnerswho turn to Christwho will enter the kingdom of God. No unrepentant sinners will ever enter the kingdom of God. Never forget this either. Why were the Ninevites saved from imminent destruction? The text is clear: because they turned from their wicked way (3:10). Just as no good people will be saved, so too no sinners will be saved unless they turn from their wicked ways (repentance). Faith without repentance is no true faith. Jesus didn't come as a cheerleader for good people, but neither did He come that His followers might continue to revel in sin. The repentance of the Ninevites was necessary for them to be saved from the impending wrath of God, and so is ours: unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Lk.13:5). True believers are not immune from falling into grievous sin. I don't think anyone questions Jonah's salvation. Nor does anyone take Jonah to be a new believernot yet matured in the ways of God. Jonah was not only a seasoned believer but a minister of the gospel and a missionary of the cross. Yet as we read his story we almost laugh at how stubborn and disobedient and childish he is. But we shouldn't laugh. We should examine our own hearts, and take good warning, because this highlights for us a humbling and fearful truth: true believers can fall into grievous sin, just like Jonahand even into sin much worse than Jonah's. So don't criticize Jonahbe on guard for yourself: let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall (1Cor.10:12). And the best way to be on guard is to keep our hearts in an abiding intimacy with Jesus Christ: Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Prov.4:23). There is a vast difference between knowing God's Word and doing it. We need to hear this. Jonah knew the Scriptures inside and out. It was the Word of the Lord that called Jonah to go to the Ninevites in the first place (1:1; 3:1). He confesses later that it was because Jonah knew God to be gracious and compassionate that he fled to Tarshish (4:1-2 from Exodus 34:6-7). We saw how Jonah's prayer in chapter 2 is filled with allusions to the Psalms. Jonah knew his Old Testament Bible very, very well. But there is a vast difference between being a hearer, knower, even teacher of God's Wordand a doer of it. As I write this, I am a hearer of God's Word, a knower of it, and now a teacher and preacher of it. But am I living it out? Do I myself actually do what I know so well and what I preach to others? Am I being changed by my own sermons? Some of us need to start actually living out what we already know. I feel often that if I could just live out half of what I know, I would be a happy man. As Jesus said, If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. There can be a vast difference between fruitfulness and faithfulness. We learn from Jonah that they don't always go together. Much like the gifts and graces of believersthough they ought to always increase together, it's not always the case. Some believers increase in their gifts but have stagnated in their gracesand some, like Jonah, though used mightily of God, will perhaps be shown to be no more faithful than any other. Let us then be faithful first, and let God take care of the fruit. God help me to be faithful, come what may. And if you grant any measure of success in my ministry, constantly remind me of thisthat it is in no way necessarily linked to greater faithfulness. God is a missionary God who longs to gather home His lost sheepand the way He has purposed to

do this is not through dreams or visions, but through His people. So BE EXHORTED: There is a perishing world that desperately needs the message we have been given, and we are the only ones who have it. If we, like Jonah, have drifted into a deep sleep, now is the time to wake up, repent, and get this gospel out to the world. The question, really, is not whether God will gather home the lost sheep of Israel. The question is, will you get to be part of it? BE COMFORTED: God is the God of second chances, and He uses weak and sinful vessels like Jonah to usher in His kingdom. BE HUMBLED: Repentance isn't just for unbelievers. Jonah was as much in need of repentance as the Ninevites. God is calling us as believers to a life of repentance. What do we need to be repenting of? (See appendix). BE EXPECTANT: We ought to live every day in Holy Spirit expectation wholly believing that if Christ is drawing home His lost sheepand if He primarily uses His people to do sothen He is constantly putting in our paths those He is calling home to himself.

APPENDIX: A proposed confession from Jonah

The ways I too am a prodigal prophet. . . My HYPROCRISY. If Jonah was indeed the author of his own story, as most believe, then at least, though he had many faults, he didn't try to hide any of them but freely confessed and acknowledged them. Jonah had a lot of faults, but is he a better man than me? Do I hide my sin so others think highly of me? God have mercy on me, the sinner. My DROWSINESS. Jonah, the missionary of the cross, slept while pagan unbelievers cried out to their gods in earnest supplication. While the world perishes, Jonah goes in for a nap. The only one who could help his perishing mates was sleeping like a baby in the holds of the ship. But if I am to condemn Jonah I must also condemn myself. I ought to live in earnest watchfulness but how often do I trudge along in a drowsy slumber? While the world perishes how often do I close my eyes and pretend there is no storm? God have mercy on me, the sinner. My APATHY. Jonah seemed to harbor a hatred for the Ninevitesbut it was complete indifference towards the lives of his ship-mates that led him to go have a rest while everyone else perished in the storm (and that because of his sin). I may not often have hatred in my heart for lost sinners, but how often am I apathetic towards them? How often am I completely indifferent as to whether this or that person will spend eternity in glory or torment? I find my heart often totally apathetic to the poor, lost sinners that surround me. God have mercy on me, the sinner. My INGRATITUDE. Jonah worshiped his God in the stomach of the fishwhen as yet he was in the midst of deep darkness with no guarantee of deliverance. Instead of supplications his prayer in chapter 2 is filled with worship and thanksgiving. How little do I give thanks to Godespecially in the midst of trials and darkness? God have mercy on me, the sinner. My SILENCE. I am in many ways a worse missionary than Jonah. For all his faults, at least Jonah went to Nineveh in the end and preached the gospel. Do I preach the gospel? There was no salvation for the Ninevites apart from the proclamation of a message, and there is no salvation for lost sinners apart from a proclamation of a message. But though I know this, I am astounded at how silent I can be. How little I open up my mouth and proclaim the message of Jesus. God have mercy on me, the sinner. My LACK OF EXPECTATION. This is one reason for my silence. I don't expect God to do anything. I don't live in Holy Spirit expectation. Christ has saved me from my sins but I seem to not believe He will save anyone else through my witness. And in this way I once again am guilty of sins that Jonah was not. He fully expected God to save the Ninevites. He didn't want that to happen, but he fully expected it. I ought to expect God to be constantly bringing to me lost sheep that He is calling homebut I live little in Holy Spirit expectation. God have mercy on me, the sinner. My MOTIVES. Jonah evidently didn't want the Ninevites to find salvation in the Messiah. We may differ from Jonah here. But what is the reason we want lost sinners to be saved through our ministry? If we are very honest, buried deep within our heart are sinful motives. We want sinners to be saved, but often not solely for their eternal joy and God's glory. We want to be seen as productive, accomplished, zealous, approved. God have mercy on me, the sinner. My PRIORITIES. Jonah evidently cared more for his plant than the souls of the Ninevites. But am I any better? Do I care more about my food than the waitress who brings it to me? Would I be more disturbed by my mosquito net being taken away than the reality that a whole country is perishing in their sins? God have mercy on me, the sinner.

Reflections on Jonah
Chapter 1: God's ministers must either send or bear his message as he directs them. But even good men will often take the most foolish methods to evade difficult and dangerous duties. And Providence may seem at first to favor their projects; but rebellion against God will at last awaken terrible storms in consciences and societies; and saints may become a plague to heathens themselves, and need their rebukes for their wickedness and deep unconcern. In troubles it highly becomes us to inquire into the sinful cause. In sinning, we seldom think how mischievous the consequences may be; and in vain we indulge the most secret wickedness, when God can so easily discover it. Yea, shameful is it when ministers and saints are forced to confess their secret rebellions to his open enemies. But when men are truly humbled for sin, they will readily submit to either shame or suffering for it. And if sin has raised a storm, we never must hope for peace till it be removed by remission and repentance. Those who acknowledge their guilt with openness and grief are entitled to our deepest compassion. But even natural conscience, if awakened, will startle at the very appearance of murder. There is no striving against the counsels of God; his will must be done; and if, with prayer, we follow his direction, we may trust him with the issue. While alarming providences produce short appearances of religion in sinners, God often strangely marks his dominion over and direction of his creatures, and affords marvelous protection to his offending saints. Chapter 2: Many are forced to pray when and where they never expected. But no place can shut out a saint from communion with his God; nor need he doubt his nearness and willingness to help in a time of need. But how fearful is it to fall into the hands of the living God, even as a provoked Father! Into what hells, what depths, what pits of corruption, desertion, temptation and affliction may a saint be plunged! And be reduced, how near the bring of despair! But troubles should lead us directly to our God, and make us by faith call to mind his new-covenant characters and promises. To expect happiness in sinful courses, or idolized creatures, is to forsake our own mercy. And if we run from our proper work, we run from our substantial comforts. It is unreasonable, on this side of hell, to indulge despair. For great is the power of God over all creatures; and infinite and unbounded his mercy towards penitent and praying offenders. But noted deliverances ought always to issue in high praises and thanksgivings, and in redoubled applications to our duty. Chapter 3: God often tries the sincerity of men's repentance by assigning to them that very work which they had formerly evaded; and marks his favors to true penitents in honoring them with important trusts. And it is a mercy even to be scourged into cheerful obedience. What alarming messages of unexpected wrath must God's ministers sometimes bear! And his Word must not be bent either to the humors of preachers or hearers. It bears a promising appearance when kings obtain proper notice of God's warnings, and seriously attend to them; when they and their subjects concur in repentance and reformation; and when believing fears of judgment, and hopes of mercy, jointly excite to it. While sinners are stirred up to prayer, there is hope in their end. God favorably regards even external reformation, that he may encourage to that which is truly evangelical. Chapter 4: It is very dangerous to be under the power of a proud peevish spirit. Men often pretend regard for God's honor when they mind only their own; and fear disparagement without any ground. Alas! Awful is the consideration that pride and passion should so affect even saints, that they should wish for death, either to themselves or others, when they are very unripe for it; and rage at that very mercy of God which prevents their damnation. Yeah, even create inconveniences to themselves, that they may get somewhat to complain of! How apt are men to be lifted up or cast down by a mere trifle. But if they will vex themselves with imaginary miseries, it is but just that they be made to feel real ones. Ungoverned passions too often bear down reason and conscience, and make men vindicate the most glaring absurdity and guilt, and outrageously fly out against both their God and their life. But infinite is the tenderness of God in taking such pains to convince and reclaim the froward children and servants. If we have pity on an earthly comfort, how absurd to quarrel with his pity to babes, to creatures endowed with immortal souls, and to all the works of his hands. But let me not bid adieu to this prophet without beholding in him my once suffering and now glorified Redeemer. He, for our rebellion imputed to him, was pursued

John Brown's

by the storm, was cast into the raging ocean of his Father's wrath, to procure for us an eternal calm of forgiveness and favor. After lying a part of three days in the grave, he was miraculously raised from the dead, and ascended to glory. And marvelously effectual was the publication of the gospel to multitudes of sinners, chiefly of the Gentiles, for their conviction, conversion, and eternal salvation.

Summary of Jonah: In whatever point of view he is contemplated, Jonah stands alone among the prophets of God. His first characteristic is resistance to the divine commission. In this, no doubt, he appears assimilated both to Moses and Jeremiah, Exodus 3:11; Jeremiah 1:6; 20:9; but still there is this remarkable differencethey only remonstrated against their commission on the ground of their unfitness. Jonah never pleads unfitness, yet timidly, sensitively, alasit may be, selfishly, shrinks from the unwelcome duty. His second characteristic is irritability; and that, not a momentary ebullition succeeded by as speedy repentance, but a spirit that sits and broods over its malady, and vindicates, even before God, the indulgence of its bitter reflections. The third characteristic stands in the historic events by which his life has been distinguished from other men. His miraculous preservation; his prayer composed at the bottom of the sea; his return from the regions of death; and, probably, his wonderful reappearance to the very mariners that threw him overboard; the faithful boldness of his preaching; its unparalleled success with a rich, luxurious, and abandoned peoplethese form peculiarities in the personal history of the prophet perfectly unparalleled among any of his brethren. But with these historical peculiarities we have little concern, further than to admire them as examples of the wonderful power of God. Our business is rather with the two moral traits by which the prophet is distinguished, which, however strange, nay almost incredible as they may at first sight appear, will on examination be found much more common than Christians generally imagine.
1) As to the firstdisobedience to the divine commissionis it not every day realized when conscience tells us not to suffer sin upon our neighbor; and yet fear of giving offense, the desire of pleasing, the love of ease, or some selfish interest, prevents us from delivering the unwelcome message. No doubt we may satisfy ourselves with pleading that we have no direct commission as Jonah had; but he that knows his Master's will, and sees a sinner perishing without an attempt for his salvation, is just as culpable as Jonah was, commits exactly the same fault, and with this remarkable aggravation, that he has more light than Jonah had, and is proportionably liable to greater condemnation. 2) As to the second characteristicirritability--it may be partly dependent upon bodily structure; partly upon education, example, and previous habits; and partly upon the state of the health; and it may not be denied, that where these concur, though they cannot justify, they may yet go far to palliate many personal faults of temper. But for Jonah what can be pleaded either in excuse or extenuation? Nothing; at least nothing that is recorded. Nor is it needful that he should be defended; nay, it is just that he be condemned. But while we cast the stone at the prophet, let us carefully examine whether we may not stand under like condemnation. Have we never murmured at our lot? Have we never wished to have it changed? Have we never been unreasonably angry with an adversary? Have we never justified that anger to our own conscience or to others? If we have ever been guilty of these, or any of these things, have we not acted in the very spirit of Jonah; and when we condemn him, are we not literally condemning ourselves?