Excuses to Avoid Mission
Lesson 5, 4th Quarter October 28 - November 3, 2023.
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Sabbath Afternoon, October 28
Memory Text:
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” KJV — Isaiah 6:8
“God's message for the inhabitants of earth today is, “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44. The conditions prevailing in society, and especially in the great cities of the nations, proclaim in thunder tones that the hour of God's judgment is come and that the end of all things earthly is at hand. We are standing on the threshold of the crisis of the ages. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another—fire, and flood, and earthquake, with war and bloodshed. We are not to be surprised at this time by events both great and decisive; for the angel of mercy cannot remain much longer to shelter the impenitent. PK 278.1
“‘Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:21. The storm of God's wrath is gathering; and those only will stand who respond to the invitations of mercy, as did the inhabitants of Nineveh under the preaching of Jonah, and become sanctified through obedience to the laws of the divine Ruler. The righteous alone shall be hid with Christ in God till the desolation be overpast…” PK 278.2
Sunday, October 29
Our Excuses: Fear
Read Nahum 1;1; Nahum 3:1-4; and 2 Kings 17:5, 6; 2 Kings 19:32-37. What do these verses reveal about Nineveh and the relationship between Assyria and Israel? How might this relation have impacted Jonah’s decision to go to Tarshis instead?
Jonah's whole experience could be a type of God's people with a message that they were to proclaim to the world. It could be a type of the duties God gave to His people and they, like Jonah, wanted to put it aside and "let George do it," so to speak.
“As the prophet thought of the difficulties and seeming impossibilities of this commission, he was tempted to question the wisdom of the call. From a human viewpoint it seemed as if nothing could be gained by proclaiming such a message in that proud city. He forgot for the moment that the God whom he served was all-wise and all-powerful. While he hesitated, still doubting, Satan overwhelmed him with discouragement. The prophet was seized with a great dread, and he ‘rose up to flee unto Tarshish.’ Going to Joppa, and finding there a ship ready to sail, ‘he paid the fare thereof and went down into it, to go with them.’ Verse 3.” PK 266.2
God had prepared the fish to swallow up Jonah because He was determined that Jonah should be the one to take the message to Nineveh and Jonah, not at all inclined to do it, arranged for his passage to another place than Nineveh. And so the fish swallowed up Jonah to take him where God wanted him to go. The experience Jonah had while he was in the belly of the fish was a good one for him, for it caused him to realize to a degree his need of God. He realized that he was gone without God's immediate help.
Monday, October 30
Our Excuses: False Views
Read Jonah 2:1-3, 7-10. What do these verses reveal about how Jonah started to understand God’s providence?
“In the charge given him, Jonah had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility; yet He who had bidden him go was able to sustain His servant and grant him success. Had the prophet obeyed unquestioningly, he would have been spared many bitter experiences, and would have been blessed abundantly. Yet in the hour of Jonah's despair the Lord did not desert him. Through a series of trials and strange providences, the prophet's confidence in God and in His infinite power to save was to be revived. PK 266.3
“If, when the call first came to him, Jonah had stopped to consider calmly, he might have known how foolish would be any effort on his part to escape the responsibility placed upon him. But not for long was he permitted to go on undisturbed in his mad flight. ‘The Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.’ Verses 4, 5. PK 267.1
“As the mariners were beseeching their heathen gods for help, the master of the ship, distressed beyond measure, sought out Jonah and said, “What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.” Verse 6. PK 267.2
“But the prayers of the man who had turned aside from the path of duty brought no help. The mariners, impressed with the thought that the strange violence of the storm betokened the anger of their gods, proposed as a last resort the casting of lots, “that we may know,” they said, “for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? PK 267.3
“‘And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. PK 268.1
“‘Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. PK 268.2
“‘Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. PK 268.3
“‘Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for Thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.” PK 268.4
“At last Jonah had learned that “salvation belongeth unto the Lord.” Psalm 3:8. With penitence and a recognition of the saving grace of God, came deliverance. Jonah was released from the perils of the mighty deep and was cast upon the dry land.” PK 269.6
Tuesday, October 31
Our Excuses: Inconvenience
Read Jonah 3. How did the people respond to what Jonah had preached? What lessons are here for us about witnessing?
After Jonah came on shore following his experience in the sea, his next step was to proclaim a message to Nineveh evidently to save it or there would have been no need for Jonah to be sent. At the end of the given forty days Nineveh stood. At this Jonah should have taken the position of rejoicing that he was a saviour of Nineveh. But instead Jonah was sick and wished he was dead.
Nineveh, you remember, repented and proclaimed a fast. And even the cattle were aware that Nineveh had repented, but Jonah did not know it. Jonah must have been proud and more concerned with bringing his prophecy to pass than he was with the salvation of the city, for he mourned over the withering of the gourd which is just a plant rather than rejoicing over the repentance of Nineveh!
Know first that God is not interested in your selfish business, but in you and His saving business. There is therefore no need of you serving mammon (self), and at the same time expecting His blessing on mammon’s interests. No man even in the world can work for his own interest and still expect his firm to promote him, or keep him at any post of duty. No employer hires persons because he wants his employee to make a living, but only because he wants his own business cared for. Know that God’s business is of greater importance and of further-reaching consequences than any man’s business, and that God is more particular than any man ever was or ever will be.
Matt. 11:28-30 – “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Always remember that God has not called you to your post of duty in order to feed you or to make you rich, but to save you and to save others through you. Therefore, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Then and then only will He provide “all these things,” the things God sees fit to give. He will see that you earn your needs one way or another. Nothing less than the faith of Noah, of Job, and of Daniel will pay the bill, Brother, Sister, because anything short of this is an insult to God. It is the same as to call Him a deceiver. Doubt in the promises of God completely robs the doubter of all God’s blessings and promises. Only when you learn to trust Him will He be to you “as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isa. 32:2.
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” This promise held good in David’s time, and it will hold good now
Wednesday, November 1
Our Excuses: Uncomfortable Confrontations
Read Jonah 4. What was wrong with this man?
“When Jonah learned of God's purpose to spare the city that, notwithstanding its wickedness, had been led to repent in sackcloth and ashes, he should have been the first to rejoice because of God's amazing grace; but instead he allowed his mind to dwell upon the possibility of his being regarded as a false prophet. Jealous of his reputation, he lost sight of the infinitely greater value of the souls in that wretched city. The compassion shown by God toward the repentant Ninevites “displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” “Was not this my saying,” he inquired of the Lord, “when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil.” Jonah 4:1, 2. PK 271.1
“Once more he yielded to his inclination to question and doubt, and once more he was overwhelmed with discouragement. Losing sight of the interests of others, and feeling as if he would rather die than live to see the city spared, in his dissatisfaction he exclaimed, “Now, O Lord, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” PK 271.2
“‘Doest thou well to be angry?’ the Lord inquired. “So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.” Verses 3-6. PK 272.1
“Then the Lord gave Jonah an object lesson. He “prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.” PK 272.2
“Again God spoke to His prophet, “Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?” And he said, “I do well to be angry, even unto death.” PK 272.3
“Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” Verses 7-11. PK 272.4
“Confused, humiliated, and unable to understand God's purpose in sparing Nineveh, Jonah nevertheless had fulfilled the commission given him to warn that great city; and though the event predicted did not come to pass, yet the message of warning was nonetheless from God. And it accomplished the purpose God designed it should. The glory of His grace was revealed among the heathen. Those who had long been sitting “in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,” “cried unto the Lord in their trouble,” and “He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.” “He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:10, 13, 14, 20.” PK 272.5
Thursday, November 2
Here Am I, Send Me
Read Isaiah 6:1-8. What is the central idea expressed in this passage?
“God's messengers in the great cities are not to become discouraged over the wickedness, the injustice, the depravity, which they are called upon to face while endeavoring to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation. The Lord would cheer every such worker with the same message that He gave to the apostle Paul in wicked Corinth: “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” Acts 18:9, 10. Let those engaged in soul-saving ministry remember that while there are many who will not heed the counsel of God in His word, the whole world will not turn from light and truth, from the invitations of a patient, forbearing Saviour. In every city, filled though it may be with violence and crime, there are many who with proper teaching may learn to become followers of Jesus. Thousands may thus be reached with saving truth and be led to receive Christ as a personal Saviour. PK 277.2
“God's message for the inhabitants of earth today is, “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44. The conditions prevailing in society, and especially in the great cities of the nations, proclaim in thunder tones that the hour of God's judgment is come and that the end of all things earthly is at hand. We are standing on the threshold of the crisis of the ages. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another—fire, and flood, and earthquake, with war and bloodshed. We are not to be surprised at this time by events both great and decisive; for the angel of mercy cannot remain much longer to shelter the impenitent. PK 278.1
“‘Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.’ Isaiah 26:21. The storm of God's wrath is gathering; and those only will stand who respond to the invitations of mercy, as did the inhabitants of Nineveh under the preaching of Jonah, and become sanctified through obedience to the laws of the divine Ruler. The righteous alone shall be hid with Christ in God till the desolation be overpast. Let the language of the soul be:” PK 278.2
Friday, November 3
Further Thought
“Christ during His earthly ministry referred to the good wrought by the preaching of Jonah in Nineveh, and compared the inhabitants of that heathen center with the professed people of God in His day. “The men of Nineveh,” He declared, “shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” Matthew 12:40, 41. Into the busy world, filled with the din of commerce and the altercation of trade, where men were trying to get all they could for self, Christ had come; and above the confusion His voice, like the trump of God, was heard: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36, 37. PK 273.1
“As the preaching of Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so Christ's preaching was a sign to His generation. But what a contrast in the reception of the word! Yet in the face of indifference and scorn the Saviour labored on and on, until He had accomplished His mission.” PK 274.1