Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome to this fourth and last sabbath assembly of the second biblical month both those of you here in this assembly and all those joining us online from Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, the USA and elsewhere. If you're wondering why I am dressed up in winter gear once more it's because we are currently being hit by icy winds from the Arctic, having recently enjoyed, albeit it briefly, some very pleasant winds from the Sahara. So if you find me rubbing my hands together it won't be because of any sense of self satisfaction but to keep the blood flowing!

Has anyone here ever tried to run away from home when they were small? "I'm going to run away!" the child cries in anger over goodness-knows-what, and off he (or she) goes down the driveway and out the front gate. Assuming he ever makes it that far, he's in any case soon back and all is well. Most small children, even if they haven't carried it out, at least plan to run away from home several times in their lives, sometimes over trivial things like not getting their own way in some petty matter, but sometimes over more serious issues.

Small children, of course, aren't the only ones who try to run away. Big children - that is, adults - do it all the time, only this time they're not usually running away from father, mother, and the family but from their Heavenly Father and the Messianic Community (Church). Every one of us is running away from something and we always will be provided we make the Old Creation - the flesh - our spiritual home instead of the New Creation which is a life in Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus). What would you like to run away from? What escape routes have you planned over the years? Like I said, we all want to run away and hide, and more often than we'd care to admit.

What are some of things people run away from? Marriage, job, friends, pressure, criticism, responsibility, adulthood, failure, abuse, loneliness, boredom, fear - you name it, there is much in our lives from which we'd like to escape. And you'd be surprised by all the ingenious but sometimes deadly ways that people seek to run away - if they don't do it physically, they will invent all sorts of mental and emotional ways to run away inside and end up creating harmful unrealities which the Enemy is able to exploit.

I don't know if you saw the short video I made a couple of weeks ago in which I gave counsel to people who are troubled by inner voices [1]. Not only is the flesh whispering to us but so are dark spirits - and sometimes they are screaming for attention and a response. People get very confused when they hear inner voices and quickly lose the ability to discern the difference between what's actually them and what's not. My counsel, if you'll remember, was simple - speak with your mouth so that you can hear yourself with your own ears and say something like:

"This voice is the real me. What I say now reflects who I am, the choices I make, the identity I have. All other voices, except the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), I command to be silent in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name."

I never did try to run away from home as a boy growing up in Malaysia though when I went to boarding school, where I was very unhappy at first, I would imagine planning an escape. Of course I knew it was impossible as my parents lived on the other side of the world. In my adult life I have wanted to run away from situations and people lots of time. It's quite natural - quite fleshy for the most part - but that's one of the reasons we are down here living on this earth which is fallen. We're not here because of a cosmic accident. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for wanting to run away - abuse, evil governments, desperate financial situations, and so on but most of the time the reasons are illegitimate. Facing down the challenges of life in a fallen sphere is all a part of growing up and maturing and we can do it the painful way, without Christ, or the healing and edifying way with Christ. Most of the problems people face in life are related to issues encountered while growing up, the way we handle people and the way we approach - or ignore - Elohim (God).

The book of Jonah is the story of a person who ran away from Elohim (God). The group or category of people who do this is unsurprisingly large. What is perhaps more surprising is how many of these people are actually believers - yes, people who have encountered Elohim (God) and sometimes know Him very well indeed! So these aren't just nominal believers, but born-again, spiritually-regenerated believers! The book of Jonah stands alone among the writings of the nevi'im (prophets) with which it is grouped. It doesn't contain any prophecies, except the message of Jonah to the Ninevehites, yet it is placed with the books of Amos and Micah which contain hardly anything else. Yet which of these three books do you know the best? If you were to ask a group of Christian or Messianic children which of these three books they knew the most about, I can pretty much guarantee they could tell you the story of Jonah being swallowed by the giant fish or whale. The Book of Jonah contains the kind of story that is both gripping and not easy to forget.

There are a couple of things about the story of Jonah that particularly interest me because they provide illustrations for the theme that Yahweh has been getting me to work with for several months now, and that is, why we believe what we do and the part played by traditions and our trust in them that contribute so much to our worldview and behaviour. I'll return to that theme presently.

For those of you who may miraculously not have heard the story of Jonah, this was a servant of El Elyon, the Most High God, Yahweh, who was commanded to travel to the wicked capital of Assyria, Nineveh, and preach repentance to the people there. Now these weren't run-of-the-mill ordinary folks, like Sweden's friendly Finnish neighbours, or America's friendly Canadian neighbours, or Britain's friendly Irish neighbours - they were Israel's worst enemies. They glorified in evil and practiced brutal torture. Gouging out the eyes of their enemies was something they particularly enjoyed doing.

Jonah was angry at his assignment not because he was afraid for his own skin - I don't believe he was a coward or he would never have been called to be a navi (prophet) in the first place - no, it was because he hated them so much that he did not want Yahweh to forgive them! He could not imagine the evil Assyrians getting out of the judgment they so richly deserved. He could understand forgiveness supplied in full measure to his own rebellious people, but this was altogether too much for him to handle! In short, he demanded unconditional condemnation. He wanted the Assyrians wiped out - period!

We can only guess at why Jonah had this attitude but you can use your imagination based on what is known about the Assyrians in this period of history. It is easy to imagine that one of his family members or a close relative or a friend may have been the victim of a brutal Assyrian attack or crime. I am sure you can think of modern-day 'Assyrians' who do dreadful things to Christians - we know what is happening them at the hands of radicalised Moslems in the Middle East, Nigeria, and recently in Sri Lanka. You can think of other modern-day 'Assyrians' who do dreadful things to white farmers and other minorities in racist South Africa, to Christians and other religious groups in communist China, and to innocent children in Western countries who are the victims of pedophiles and members of devil-worshipping cults. There are plenty of groups of people we could easily view in the same way that Jonah viewed the Ninevehites. When we think in terms of our own feelings if someone in our family were attacked or molested, we can totally empathise with Johah, I'm sure. So in so many ways, we are Jonah. The giant fish aside, we can easily find ourselves transported into Jonah's shoes and making a close mental or emotional association.

So what did Jonah do when he felt he wasn't ready to deal with the prospect of preaching to a people-group he loathed? He ran away! He tried to sail to Spain. Not only that, he went in the very opposite direction he was supposed to go. And that's exactly what people do when they run away from emet (truth) and emunah (faith) in Yahweh - they head for the land of atheism and convince themselves, through pretty unconvincing rationalisations, that 'God' doesn't actually exist. They think that a 180-degree turnaround will solve their problems.

Of course, it isn't possible to run away from Elohim (God) anymore than we can escape the need for oxygen. When Jonah boarded the ship at Joppa, Yahweh was already there! When he sailed the high seas, he was sailing on seas that Yahweh had created. There, in the storm, he met Yahweh. And even assuming that he had made it to Tarshish in Spain, Yahweh would have been there weiting for him at the dock too. Instead, he met Elohim (God) in the belly of the great fish amidst the stench and airlessness, and in complete darkness. And there, under the most terrifying circumstances, he understood not only the mercy but the tenaciousness of an Elohim (God) who pursues all people with undying love. If you've ever wondered if tenaciousness is a characteristic of our Heavenly Father and of His children, I hope now you will be convinced and learn to be the same if needs be, because that's a qualification of being a parent. Yahweh loves constancy and tenaciousness in ahavah (love) and emet (truth).

Those of you who joined us for a movie about the work of the evangelist Ray Comfort, and of the missionary Bible which we use, during the recently ended Passover Season may remember how he filmed himself witnessing to a Calfornian man of German origins called Jürgen. He spoke to Jürgen many, many times of the necessity of not running away from Yahweh but of repenting and choosing to trust in His Son Yah'shua (Jesus). Jürgen admitted he was a sinner but would not make the choice to follow Him - in his own words, he wanted to 'take his chances' and just carry on the way he was, indifferent and unconcerned about eternity. Ray Comfort urged him not to procrastinate because none of us knows how long we have to live on this earth. You need to watch the interview to get the full impact of the exchange these two man had. The tragedy was this man was knocked down off his bicycle and killed quite close to where Comfort regularly witnessed to him on the beach. He died in his sins stubbornly running away from Elohim (God) even though Yahweh was standing there, right in front of him, many times, in the form of a dedicated evangelist whom He had sent there - to that beach in California - all the way from New Zealand.

Our making a choice for Yah'shua (Jesus) is as simple as identifying who we are by speaking out aloud, as Paul said:

"...if you confess with your mouth, 'Yah'shua (Jesus) is Master (Lord),' and believe in your heart that Elohim (God) raised him from the dead, you will be saved (have chayim/life)" (Rom.10:8-9, NIV).

The writer of Hebrews explains in greater detail what that means in practice:

"...let us continually offer to Elohim (God) a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess His Name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices Elohim (God) is pleased" (Heb.13:15-16, NIV).

Jonah's being swallowed by the fish, his meeting Elohim (God) in its stinking, nearly completely airless belly being burned by acidic digestive juices (as one or two sailors who have in the past experienced when swallwoed by whales and survived), and his preaching to Nineveh leading to the salvation of the city is not the end of the story, however, and it's that I really want to give attention to now. You see, it's good to be obedient to Yahweh but if your heart is unwilling, well, that doesn't necessarily mean that the story of your life is going to have a happy ending. 'He who is convinced against his will, remains unconvinced still' is certainly tue in the general sense.

Was Yahweh right to force the navi (prophet) into complience with His will by such drastic means? Absolutely, because everyone who is called to an office in the Kingdom of our Messiah must give his prior consent. They must respond with a 'yes' or a 'no'. Someone who joins a professional army of his own free will can't just leave the battlefield when he chooses - that's called desertion and leads to a court-martial. And it has a deadly penalty in most countries. When we confess Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and give our lives to Him, it means we don't belong to ourselves any longer. We're like soldiers in an army who are both under command but are also taken care of, an analogy that Paul uses (2 Tim.2:3). Our heavenly Commander-in-Chief is however, no tyrant and we can confidently trust Him to always do right to us. He is a just and loving Parent.

If Jonah hadn't run away, the storm and fish incident would never have taken place. If he hadn't responded angrily after his preaching led to Nineveh's salvation, the story - the Book of Jonah - would have had a different, happier ending for the navi (prophet). He could have obeyed in Part #1 of the story. However, it would not have solved his burning issue of simmering hatred and unforgiveness for the dreaded Assyrians that led to a just-as-unexpected Part #2. Something really strange happens at the end of the book of Jonah and it ends as abruptly as the book of Acts, as though the author got up from his desk to do something before finishing his story and never returned to finish it.

We're going to look at that now so if you'd turn with me to the fourth and last chapter of the book of Jonah, we'll go through that text in the New King James Version (NKJV) - let's include the last verse of Chapter 3 to get some context, namely, verse 10:

"Then Elohim (God) saw their (the Ninevehites') works, that they turned from their evil way; and Elohim (God) relented from the disaster (cancelled the judgment) that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to Yahweh, and said, 'Ah, Yahweh, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful Elohim (God), slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Yahweh, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!' Then Yahweh said, 'Is it right for you to be angry?'

"So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And Yahweh-Elohim prepared a plant ('gourd' - KJV) and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day Elohim (God) prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that Elohim (God) prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, 'It is better for me to die than to live.'

"Then Elohim (God) said to Jonah, 'Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?' And he said, 'It is right for me to be angry, even to death!' But Yahweh said, 'You have had pity on the plant for which you have not laboured, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left -- and much livestock?'" (Jonah 3:10-4:11, NKJV).

End of story. That's where the Bible book ends. Why? Or is it the end of the story? What's going on here? Why is the man so angry? Is it wounded pride that his words are proved false, or indignation that the Elohim (God) of Israel should pity heathen fit only to be fuel for fire. You know, this is how many believers feel the unsaved wicked should be treated - to be tortured for eternity or annihilated. And I guarantee that were some believers, whose hearts are hardened like Jonah's was - if they were to ever be 'God' (Yah forbid!), would unhestitatingly throw the wicked to their version of the lake of fire which either exterminates them or tortures them forever when in reality Yahweh's fire is always corrective and rooted in ahavah (love) and chesed (mercy), not punishment (1 Jn.4:18).

Notice, by the way, how Jonah lies to himself and to Yahweh. He's really angry about Yahweh saving Israel's worst enemies but he later pretends he is angry with Yahweh for killing the vine shelter or gourd. Notice how he subtly transfers his anger from the real issue (the Assyrians) to another one (the gourd), accusing Yahweh of having 'innocent chlorophyll' on His hands! Indeed, Yahweh set up this whole incident to reveal to the navi (prophet) the deviousness of his own fallen nature...if he would choose to see it. Remember the three things Yahweh did:

• 1. "Yahweh-Elohim prepared a plant";
• 2. "Elohim (God) prepared a worm"; and
• 3. "Elohim (God) prepared a vehement east wind".

In other words, Yahweh created a situation that would force his naughty navi (prophet) to confront his own wicked heart. So, in response to Jonah's self-pitying desire to die, Yahweh supernaturally made the vine grow up, then made sure a worm permanently disabled it, and then sent a punishingly hot desert wind to discomfort the navi (prophet). Then Jonah, who was in reality sorry for himself, instead of repenting as the Ninevehites had done (the bad fellows he had led to repentance), instead feigned sorrow for the plant and then blamed Yahweh for being a cruel plant-killer! His ridiculous pity for the gourd was in reality pity for himself - self-pity because he wasn't getting his way.

Yahweh, our Heavenly Father, had to kindly remonstrate with Jonah, asking, "Is it right for you to be angry?" in an attempt to awaken better feelings in him. Jonah didn't reply, did he? Instead, he pouted and went over to his shelter to watch and wait to see if Yahweh would destroy Nineveh as He did Sodom, in the vain hope that Yahweh would change His mind again. But, no, Yahweh's mind is fixed on mercy - on chesed - because that's who He is, not an arbitrary, capricious tyrant who loves punishing sinners. We're back, are we not, to the theme we tackled last week about love and forgiveness?

I am pointing this out to you to reveal a devilish mechanism we often resort to in our flesh to defend sinful behaviour. It's easy to focus on the vine, the worm and the hot wind and blame Yahweh for being mean. But in truth Yahweh was trying to get the man to face the emet (truth) and to stop hiding - to stop running away and shifting the blame which rightfully and squarely belonged to him. The book ends abruptly as it does, I would suggest, because Jonah stubbornly refused to resolve his issue of unforgivenness and made up excuses for remaining angry by poining an accusing finger at the very adverse incidents Yahweh had created to bring the man to repentance and spiritual freedom. Who's guilty of shifting blame for sin the way Jonah did? That, I would suggested, is why the Ruach (Spirit) forbade Jonah to write anymore in the Book of Jonah, to show us, the readers, that if we fail to deal with the real issue and not try to find excuses that our own life issues will remain frustratingly unresolved and our lives incomplete. And we don't want to end up like Jonah, do we? We want to - we need to - we must - move on!

Pardon my language, but the devil is a crafty bastard, so don't fall for his tricks. In the Book of Jonah we get a rare insight into what the heart of our Heavenly Father is like. He's actually very caring and loving but He's as equally no-nonsensensical and tenacious! He's a true Parent! Is that how you imagined Elohim (God) to be, or as some sugar-daddy dispensing blessings but no corrective punishments like modern parents? The result is a generation of spoiled, selfish, self-entitled brats. When Yahweh sends us blessings followed by difficluties, it is often to wake us up to deal with old unresolved issues that are preventing us from moving on. I doubt very much Yahweh used Jonah again after the Nineveh incident, at least not while he was in his angry condition, assuming he remained in it.

Yahweh was very patient and long-suffering with this navi's (prophet's) stubborn stupidity but beyond a certain point our Heavenly Father no longer continued to prod him into repentance and obedience. Instead, He left him to himself - to his own foolish anger and excuse-making. He left him to stew in his own self-made, stinking, caustic spiritual stomach acid. And many of us thus stew, sometimes for years, sometimes for our whole lives until it is too late to do anything more about it. And the interesting thing is that everything boiled down to one thing - an unwillingness to forgive even our worst abusers.

I don't pretend it is easy to forgive such as the Assyrians were all those centuries ago. We have, as I said, our modern Assyrians. Where it gets really insane is when we refuse to forgive our nearest and dearest for the pettiest of things. Clans have been fighting each other in Scotland, Bosia and elsewhere over incidents that happened centuries ago that most people have completely forgotten about. Instead, they have chosen to cultivate anger and unforgiveness. Why? Because anger makes you feel 'strong', 'special', 'unassailable' when in reality it's slowly killing you. It is eating you up alive inside. Satan will make it seem otherwise for a while (because you can't maintain anger and unforguveness indefinitely without supernatural help from demons) but in the end he will demand his 'pound of flesh' and destroy you and your relationships with others, and especially with those whom you love the most.

The incident of the vine (or gourd), worm and hot wind was Yahweh's spiritual medicine or surgery - it was Jonah's opportunity to be free, continue to be useful, and have on-going purpose in his life. When a whole generation becomes like Jonah - not Nineveh - then judgment surely must follow.

Do you remember an incident from the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) that calls Jonah to mind? The religious leaders of the day are addressing Yah'shua (Jesus) in this passage of Scripture:

"'Rabbi, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.' He replied, 'The only sign I am giving this wicked and adulterous generation is the sign of the navi (prophet) Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here'" (Mt.12:38-41).

Moslems, of course, believe Yah'shua (Jesus) never actually died (like Jonah) but was merely resuscitated. The sign of Jonah, while pointing to Yah'shua (Jesus) does not give us details as to whether He would be resurrected or not because it was a sign for idolaters and adulterers, not for believers. Other signs were given for believers to establish His resurrection which Moslems and others ignore even though the Koran commands them to respect the Injil or Gospel [3]. Why is this sign named after Jonah? Because, unlike the Ninevehites, Jonah did not believe in or accept the mercy and loving kindness that Elohim (God) has for the wicked when they repent.

The sign of Jonah is a warning to doubters for they are promised other signs that will establish them in their doubts. Jonah did not relent - he did not quit his unforgiveness, even after the miracle of being rescued from the giant fish, or meeting Yahweh there, and of converting the inhabitants of the capital city of Israel's worst enemies. That would be the equivalent of Yahweh sending a navi (prophet) to Mecca today to convert the entire city and the navi (prophet) refusing to forgive all radicalised Moslems for all the terrorist attrocities they had committed against his own people. Yah'shua's (Jesus') warning is against "this wicked and adulterous generation", ours as well as His, who demand signs without emunah (faith). That is the sign of Jonah. Not very flattering to the son of Amittai, but apparently deserved.

The account of Jonah is not a fish story but a story of trying to run from Elohim (God) to avoid obeying Him. It's a story of finding Elohim (God) wherever we go, no matter how far away or how remote. For Jonah it took a storm and the smelly, putrid innards of a large fish to learn obedience. But it needn't have been that way. For us, Yahweh may use an intirely different classroom where we learn to obey Him. It may be an accident, a near-death experience, a financial disaster, marriage problems, divorce, or a terrible disease. It may be the voice of a preacher, a walk through a mountain meadow, or the advice of a friend. It may be any one of a hundred unexpected things. But whatever it is, we need to be sensitive to the voice of Elohim (God), to listen and obey.

And finally, once we have learned the lesson of obedience, we must learn the equally important lesson of forgiveness, for without that, our obedience will not count for anything in the eternities. Obedience with a forgiving and forgiven heart will ensure a ready and steady supply of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), of ahavah (love) and of chesed (mercy), to make our lives fulfilling and worth living! Until next week, when I intend to take this theme further but in a perhaps unexpected way, may Yahweh bless your Sabbath. We will meet again tomorrow for the Rosh Chodesh message! Amen.

Endnotes

[1] SM014
[2] Obviously things are a little more complicated in those suffering from schizophrenia and DID/MPD where the mind has been fractured from multiple abuse. Nevertheless, even in the case of the latter, there is always a core personality from whom all the others have been 'broken off' and to which all the fragmented parts must eventually be reunited. That 'core' is the 'essential' person and whilst all the other alters, sub-personalities, or parts are real enough, they are only fragments. One thing I learned as a deliverance minister is that Yahweh views fragmented souls as a single person, not many, whose centre or essence is the core 'person'.
[3] See A Moslem Connundrum: Answering Moslem Objections to the Resurrection