Bible Study Notes
Community with a Mission: Jonah 1:1-3
& 3:1-9
The Centrality of
Community
We focus upon the development of communities in biblical times. How did they begin and grow? What were the primary values? What structures of government, family,
economy and religion did they implement?
What role did allegiance to God play in their lives, individually and
collectively? How do those societies and
their understandings of communities differ from ours? Further, let’s examine what the
distinguishing factors of biblical communities can teach us about building
stronger church communities today.
Today, we evaluate the community of Nineveh Nineveh 12:41 ). What enabled the people who live in this
Assyrian capital city to reverse the way in which they were living? How were they able as a nation to understand they
could no longer trample recklessly upon God’s holiness and squander His grace?
Biblical Background
We have another opportunity to consider the quirkiness of Jonah who
does not care to become a member of the Ninevite community. Actually, he relegates God’s first
instruction to being an absolute waste of time.
“The captain of his own soul and the master of his fate,” Jonah proudly
ignores God’s direction and purchases a ticket for a cruise to Tarshish. Immediately, our minds fill with our childhood
images of Jonah’s voyage and imprisonment in the belly of the whale. Perhaps, we now think Jonah rightly deserves
the three days and nights in the darkness of confusion, inertia and failure to
reach his destination because of his categorical refusal to obey God’s
instructions. Yet, concentrating upon
the frightening consequences of Jonah’s defiance eclipses God’s persistent
kindness and mercy. After the whale
vomits Jonah out of his mouth and Jonah lands upon dry land, the Lord
condescends and gives the prophet a second chance “to get it right.” Often, God affords us the gracious
opportunity to correct our mistakes after we have made wrong decisions. Many believers popularly refer to our
Heavenly Farther as “the God of a second chance.” Out of His infinite knowledge, wisdom and
patience, He kindly grants us another possibility to complete a divine
mission. Jonah receives another chance
to preach to the people of Nineveh; thereby assisting them in establishing a
genuinely spiritual, loving, honest and caring community that worships Almighty
God.
Quite possibly, Jonah’s actions mirror our own resistance to following
the Lord’s guidance. Is there any divine
directive you are presently postponing?
Has God put a call upon your life and you selectively choose to disobey
Him with an excuse that you are busy doing other worthwhile things? Have you purchased a ticket to Tarshish by
conveniently making yourself unavailable to God? Perhaps, devoting the lion’s share of your
time, abilities and talents to your spouse, children and job prevents you from
answering the Lord’s call. Nonetheless,
Jonah’s example encourages us to define clearly our resistance to God’s divine
call upon our lives.
Incidentally, the Bible teaches the priesthood of all believers;
practically speaking, that means all disciples, whether clergypersons or laity,
are ministers with a calling upon their lives.
God expects each of us to seek His guidance and discern the exact nature
of our mission and purpose. Then, He
expects us to devote the bulk of our lives to serving Him as we serve other
people thereby accomplishing our purpose and mission. The biblical writer records the vivid
illustration of Jonah to portray the considerable waste of time and talent when
we brush aside the will of Almighty God.
Moreover and most fortunately, the prophet’s life illustrates the
possibility of redemption when we finally accede to the voice of God.
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