Remember Jonah

As I watch the response of Christianity in New Zealand to the changes unfurled by the Covid Agenda and the New World Order. I can’t help but be reminded of the prophet Jonah. I don’t know if you know the story but in brief it goes like this. God spoke to Jonah and instructed him to make his way to the city of Nineveh and to warn them of the impending destruction of the city by God.

Jonah did not want to do what God had instructed him and ran from God. He got on a boat and God brought a storm. He ended up in the sea in the midst of the storm and God scooped him up with a great fish. The fish vomited him up on the beach and he reluctantly went to Nineveh and preached about their impending destruction.

The King of Nineveh repented and instructed the whole city to repent including the livestock. No one was to work but all were to cover themselves and their livestock in sackcloth and repent. God forgave them and spared them.

Jonah was beside himself with anger and disappointment over God showing mercy to the inhabitants of Nineveh. He went of into the desert to have a sulk and to whinge about Yahweh being a benevolent and merciful God. This being the reason he didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place because he knew God would forgive them.

So while he sat under the noon day sun dehydrating in the desert. The Lord caused a plant to grow and give him shelter. Jonah loved the plant and then God sent grubs to chew on the plant and it withered and died. Much to Jonah’s consternation of course. Then God discussed Jonah’s compassion for the plant and compared it to his compassion for the people and animals of Nineveh.

Now how does this apply to the Christians in New Zealand in 2022. Well Jonah was a believer in Yahweh as are Christians today. He was given a commission to share the gospel of repentance in his time, as are we. He had a problem with the target audience for that gospel, in this case Nineveh, as do we. He grumbled and complained about what God was asking him to do, as do we. When God gave him the plant Jonah loved the plant but when God took the plant away he was really disappointed with God.

When Christians were a part of the dominant culture in New Zealand life was good. Just like the plants that shaded Jonah but just as Jonah was angry about the loss of the shady plant so Christians in New Zealand are angry that they are on the outside now and aren’t the dominant culture anymore.

So what can we take from this? Well one thing would be that Yahweh is in control. It may not seem so but He is. As Christians we are a part of a royal priesthood in Christ Jesus. We have a job to do just as Jonah did. We may not understand what God demands of us at times or why he allows changes which seem to be to our detriment and to the Church as a whole. Changes which could even be dangerous to us? However, the fact is that He does allow those changes and we can take consolation that they are a part of His plan.

So we can stop complaining about trampled rights and so forth while realising that even Old Testament saints endured the same types of dilemma and persecution that we do and as Jonah did. We may not realise what God’s plans are but we can rest assured that we are his soldiers in the battle for the hearts and minds of the lost. We can also bank his promises and know that he has plans for our well being and hope for a future (Jeremiah 29:11), and that no hand raised against His people will succeed (Isaiah 54:17). Just like Jonah we are the servants and prophets of the Lord and we have a job to do. We are also in the world but not of it. We are to have the mindset of the Kingdom of God not of the Prince of this World.