Take Heed of God's Voice
“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.” Jonah 3:1-2
One of the essential marks of a Spirit-filled Christian is that they hear from the Lord, that God speaks to them by the Spirit and through the scriptures. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Moreover, the Apostle Paul wrote,“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:16)
Concerning the critical nature of hearing God’s voice and responding in faithful obedience, the author of Hebrews wrote: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,” (Hebrews 3:7-8)
Do you hear God’s voice? Jonah was a man who heard from the Lord. He was someone that God spoke to, that God revealed His plans to. Notably, in Jonah 3, the bible says that God spoke to Jonah a “second time” (Jonah 3:1).
But between the first time that God spoke to Jonah in this particular season of his life and the second time, Jonah had a whale of a time. While he ran from the presence of God, the ship he traveled on encountered a severe storm. When the sailors traveling with Jonah discovered that his disobedience was the cause of the storm, they eventually threw him overboard. But God in His mercy appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And later, after Jonah cried out to God in his distress, the Lord “spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” Jonah 2:10
It’s important to note here that Jonah was in this predicament because he turned a deaf ear to God’s voice. Specifically, He did not want to go to Nineveh and speak to its sinful inhabitants on behalf of God. The Ninevites were the enemy of his people.
But unlike Jonah, the great fish listened to God and became God's gracious instrument to get rebellious Jonah back on the path of obeying God. God has other ways of getting our attention even after we harden our hearts to His voice. When we don’t make time to hear from the Lord or we choose to disobey His word, in His mercy, He may choose to use other means to get a hold of us.
Warren Wiersbe put it this way:
The great fish that swallowed up Jonah was God's mercy running interference in Jonah’s life. During this nightmarish experience, Jonah finally cried out to his God and was heard. As a result, the great fish became God's vehicle to get Jonah back on course, albeit God still had much work to do in Jonah's heart—a heart that lacked the compassion of the Lord. (Jonah 4:1-4)
Jonah, as a prophet of God, was a good theologian. He knew that God was merciful, and slow to anger. But somehow His theology didn’t get transferred from his head to his heart. His self-righteousness and pride was blinding him to the mercy and longsuffering that God abundantly bestowed upon him.
We too will have a hard time showing mercy and patience to others when we take God’s abundant mercy and relentless love in our own lives for granted. The more we see how merciful God has been to us in Christ, the more willing we will be to serve God by serving others in sacrificial and selfless ways. We must daily remind ourselves and declare like Paul:
Jonah was in the belly of the great fish because of his woeful indifference, which by grace led to God’s wonderful interference. Because he cried out to God, the great fish became His salvation, which not only kept him from perishing in the sea, but helped to get him back on course to running with God.
Jesus also referred to Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish as a picture of His work of redemption (Matthew 12:40). Jonah’s whale of an experience pointed to the greatest and most important way in which God ran interference for us—namely Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross and resurrection.
James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote:
One of the great blessings of our salvation is that we can hear from God through His indwelling Spirit, who makes God’s word come alive in our hearts. And as we continue to draw near to God, behold His glory, and listen to His voice, we will take on His heart. We will have compassion for others, saved and lost, as Christ has had compassion on us.
Again, like God used Jonah, even through He was a work in progress, and like God used the great fish to run interference on Jonah, God wants to use us, His redeemed people.
As the great preacher Charles Spurgeon so insightfully observed:
Are you hearing from the Lord? If not, perhaps you have some unfinished business that you need take care of, something that God has already spoken to you about that you need to obey. Don’t run from the voice of God, run to it. Run to it daily, and obey His word without delay. Obey the first time. When we respond to the light that He gives us, He will gives us more light. And in His light He will make us into instruments of His rescuing grace.
One of the essential marks of a Spirit-filled Christian is that they hear from the Lord, that God speaks to them by the Spirit and through the scriptures. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Moreover, the Apostle Paul wrote,“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:16)
Concerning the critical nature of hearing God’s voice and responding in faithful obedience, the author of Hebrews wrote: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,” (Hebrews 3:7-8)
Do you hear God’s voice? Jonah was a man who heard from the Lord. He was someone that God spoke to, that God revealed His plans to. Notably, in Jonah 3, the bible says that God spoke to Jonah a “second time” (Jonah 3:1).
But between the first time that God spoke to Jonah in this particular season of his life and the second time, Jonah had a whale of a time. While he ran from the presence of God, the ship he traveled on encountered a severe storm. When the sailors traveling with Jonah discovered that his disobedience was the cause of the storm, they eventually threw him overboard. But God in His mercy appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And later, after Jonah cried out to God in his distress, the Lord “spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” Jonah 2:10
It’s important to note here that Jonah was in this predicament because he turned a deaf ear to God’s voice. Specifically, He did not want to go to Nineveh and speak to its sinful inhabitants on behalf of God. The Ninevites were the enemy of his people.
But unlike Jonah, the great fish listened to God and became God's gracious instrument to get rebellious Jonah back on the path of obeying God. God has other ways of getting our attention even after we harden our hearts to His voice. When we don’t make time to hear from the Lord or we choose to disobey His word, in His mercy, He may choose to use other means to get a hold of us.
Warren Wiersbe put it this way:
“Jonah had turned his back on God’s word, so the Lord had been forced to speak to him through thunder and rain and a stormy sea. But now that Jonah confessed his sins and turned back to the Lord, God could once again speak to him through His word. One of the tests of our relationship to God is, “Does God speak to me as I read and ponder His word?” If we don’t’ hear God speaking to us in our hearts, perhaps we have some unfinished business that needs to be settled with him.”
The great fish that swallowed up Jonah was God's mercy running interference in Jonah’s life. During this nightmarish experience, Jonah finally cried out to his God and was heard. As a result, the great fish became God's vehicle to get Jonah back on course, albeit God still had much work to do in Jonah's heart—a heart that lacked the compassion of the Lord. (Jonah 4:1-4)
Jonah, as a prophet of God, was a good theologian. He knew that God was merciful, and slow to anger. But somehow His theology didn’t get transferred from his head to his heart. His self-righteousness and pride was blinding him to the mercy and longsuffering that God abundantly bestowed upon him.
We too will have a hard time showing mercy and patience to others when we take God’s abundant mercy and relentless love in our own lives for granted. The more we see how merciful God has been to us in Christ, the more willing we will be to serve God by serving others in sacrificial and selfless ways. We must daily remind ourselves and declare like Paul:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10
Jonah was in the belly of the great fish because of his woeful indifference, which by grace led to God’s wonderful interference. Because he cried out to God, the great fish became His salvation, which not only kept him from perishing in the sea, but helped to get him back on course to running with God.
Jesus also referred to Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish as a picture of His work of redemption (Matthew 12:40). Jonah’s whale of an experience pointed to the greatest and most important way in which God ran interference for us—namely Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross and resurrection.
James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote:
“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:17-20
One of the great blessings of our salvation is that we can hear from God through His indwelling Spirit, who makes God’s word come alive in our hearts. And as we continue to draw near to God, behold His glory, and listen to His voice, we will take on His heart. We will have compassion for others, saved and lost, as Christ has had compassion on us.
Again, like God used Jonah, even through He was a work in progress, and like God used the great fish to run interference on Jonah, God wants to use us, His redeemed people.
As the great preacher Charles Spurgeon so insightfully observed:
“Most persons have been convinced by the pious conversation of sisters, by the holy example of mothers, by the minister, by the Sabbath-school, or by the reading of tracts or perusing Scripture. Let us not therefore believe that God will often work without instruments; let us not sit down silently and say, ‘God will do his own work.’ It is quite true he will; but then he does his work by using his children as instruments…It may not appear so brilliant a thing to bring back a backslider as to reclaim a harlot or a drunkard, but in the sight of God it is no small miracle of grace, and to the instrument who has performed it shall yield no small comfort. Seek ye, then, my brethren, those who were of us but have gone from us; seek ye those who linger still in the congregation but have disgraced the church, and are put away from us, and rightly so, because we cannot countenance their uncleanness; seek them with prayers, and tears, and entreaties, if peradventure God may grant them repentance that they may be saved.”
Are you hearing from the Lord? If not, perhaps you have some unfinished business that you need take care of, something that God has already spoken to you about that you need to obey. Don’t run from the voice of God, run to it. Run to it daily, and obey His word without delay. Obey the first time. When we respond to the light that He gives us, He will gives us more light. And in His light He will make us into instruments of His rescuing grace.