Jonah; Psalm 134; Proverbs 30:1-4
Have you ever seen someone getting ready to do something stupid? If you have, have you ever tried to warn them or prevent them from going through with their stupidity?
Why is it that when I warn a friend about stupidity, it’s perceived as a warning, but when I warn a friend about sin, it’s perceived as a judgment? Shouldn’t it still be considered a warning? Yet people so quickly throw out the line, “Stop judging me.”
Sometimes it is right to judge. And sometimes it is wrong. How do we know the difference?
In the story of Jonah, God tells his prophet Jonah to go preach against the wicked city of Ninevah (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1). What message does Jonah end up preaching?
Forty more days and Ninevah will be overturned. – Jonah 3:4
Is that a judgment? Or a warning?
From God’s vantage point, it’s both. It’s a judgment because God had already condemned the wickedness of the Ninevites, and it was only a matter of time before God destroyed Ninevah for their wrath. But it’s a warning because God wouldn’t have had Jonah preach this message if there wasn’t still time for the Ninevites to repent. If God’s judgment had been final, He would simply have wiped the Ninevites off the face of the map. So it’s a judgment (in the sense of a decision) against their behavior, but it’s not yet a final judgment where the punishment has fallen upon Ninevah. It’s just a warning.
And the Ninevites took advantage of the warning. They repented—all of them, even the king (Jonah 3:5-9). And God had mercy on them (Jonah 3:10).
But what about from Jonah’s view? Was his message a judgment or a warning?
Jonah intended it to be a judgment. In fact, he knew that God meant the message as a warning, and that’s precisely the reason Jonah ran away from delivering the message at first—Jonah didn’t want God to have mercy on the Ninevites! So from Jonah’s perspective, the goal was judgment, not warning. He said to God,
O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. – Jonah 4:2
So Jonah knew that the judgment coming from God was really a warning. But Jonah meant it as a judgment, as a final condemnation and punishment on the people of Ninevah.
Final conclusion? What’s the difference between a judgment and a warning?
Answer: The difference is probably not the words that are used. Jonah spoke God’s words, when he finally spoke. The difference is found in the heart of the person speaking. Are the judgmental-sounding words coming from someone like Jonah, who can’t wait to see you get what you deserve? Or are the judgmental-sounding words coming from someone like God, who can’t wait to see you stop sinning so that you can escape punishment?
The judgment (decision) about what will happen to those who continue to sin is final: they will be punished. But that doesn’t have to be the final decision about you, me, or anyone else. Our God, the Judge, is a God who warns. He’s a God who wants people to live. May we His people have His heart.
Can you share a time when someone’s judgmental-sounding warning helped turn your life around for the better?
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2 comments:
What about all the times that I remain Silent when I could speak out, but I do not because I have that attitude of Jonah that I don't really want God to help these certain people because I've been hurt by them or I have an unforgiving spirit towards them because they have done things that hurt me?
I've had the experience of People who have stood up to me and told me what I did not want to hear and it has definitely born fruit in my life, but not when they said it in a hateful and mean way. I totally get the point because I can also think of times when people spoke Judgment on me in a hateful way and it did not help that I know of. I mean I did always remember what was said even though it hurt me deeply I always tried to make sure that Statement did not come true in my life. Generally for me it does not help when it is spoken as a personal attack against me and I feel like the person is only seeking what they want, however if a person speaks a word from God that does not single me out, but says you as a group have a challenge ahead of you that is very perilous and almost impossible that word makes me want to succeed and make it through, whereas the previous attack on me makes me want to Quit and give up. I think it matters who the word comes from also because if that person bears good fruit then I tend to give more heed to their warning.
Good question, Mark, about "what if we remain silent when we could speak out?" To me, that's a form of judgment because then, like Jonah, it means we'd rather see those people get hurt than warn them and give them a chance of safety. That's worse judgment than speaking up!
And thanks for sharing about how confrontation has worked in your life. It's definitely easier to take a warning given to a group. Sometimes I need a personal warning, but the attitude and reputation of the person warning me really make a difference, even then. Good stuff, Mark!
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