Series: Simply Complex
Message: Complex Expectations
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Daily Walk: Japhet De Oliveira

Refresh: Open with prayer. Ask God for the understanding through the Holy Spirit.

Read: Jonah 1-4 (ESV). Re-read in the English Standard Version for new insights or questions.  

Reflect: When you read the Bible, it is always good to see if you can find another story that has a similar tone or reference. Contrasting can help develop the character and draw new insights. Our friend Jonah, in this case, is quite similar to Noah. Not least because both have to share an unpopular warning message with a hostile people: Repent or things will change for the worse! They both refer to nature, (wind, fish, plants, animals, earth) being under the control of God. In both cases, dry land was seen as a sign of hope. Jonah has also been compared to be Jeroboam II since both men were unrepentant. The book of Jonah has been compared to the book of Nahum because both deal with the Assyrians (albeit in different ways), take place only 100 years apart, and end with a question. The book of Jonah is also sometimes compared to the book of Joel because of their similar themes: God wants to forgive more than we understand.

There is a single thread through all of these comparisons that helps us understand the story of Jonah more and that one word is responsibility.

Jonah did not wake up one morning expecting that his responsibility was to help his enemies find a way to be saved. Jonah did not expect to get on a boat and be confronted with a raging storm and have to confess his faith before a crowd. Jewish tradition held that on that boat were all 70 nations—the “outsiders”—and Jonah, who was an “insider,” was forced to show his hand, to admit that he was in fact an “insider.” John 3:16, “For God so loved the . . .” does not continue on to say “insiders or outsiders or Christians,” but de- clares that God loves the world! Everyone. The story of Jonah is the Gospel, and God was teaching it nearly 3,000 years ago. He has responsibility for everyone. He wants to save everyone.

Deep down, Jonah knew this about God (Jonah 4:2), and it made him deeply unhappy. God wanted Nineveh to repent, but He also wanted Jonah to repent in the process. God’s plan all along was to have Jonah and all the people he represents (the “insiders,” the “privileged”) to embrace the truth that their purpose is to bring more people with them, and to not live exclusively. If we are not open to our neighbors, if we are not open to strangers, if we are not open to colleagues, if we are not open to acquaintances, then we have not understood the complex expectations that God has for our lives.

Recalibrate: ​​​Who have you avoided? Who do you need to belong to and allow to belong to you?

Respond: Pray for willingness to be open to new people.

Research: What does the name “Jonah” mean in Hebrew? What insight does that bring to his character?