The NXR Podcast - DAILY TRUTH - When The Pagans See More Clearly Than The Prophets

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00:00:23.480 five-star review on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks. We see that the sailors

00:00:29.520 picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared

00:00:36.880 the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. This is significant.

00:00:43.940 The last thing we'll focus on. The men actually feared the calming of the sea the most. So they

00:00:51.760 fear the storm. Then they fear the God in the storm or over the storm with authority, Jonah's

00:00:58.380 God, the triune God. And then the storm ceases. And this would be the moment for the fear to cease

00:01:05.040 along with it. Typically, once the threat has been neutralized, then the terror would go away

00:01:11.840 along with it. But here in Jonah chapter one is where we find these sailors most afraid,

00:01:20.000 not least afraid. The men actually feared the calming of the sea and the ceasing of the tempest

00:01:25.860 most of all because it proved that Jonah's words were true. There is a God who created all things

00:01:34.320 and will hold each man accountable for his sin. Now, since the ship was a large vessel and bound

00:01:41.360 on a long voyage, the men had livestock on board, which they offered as a sacrifice. And in order

00:01:47.740 to further display their gratitude, the sailors made vows before the Lord. Now notice this.

00:01:55.780 They're afraid of the storm. They're extra afraid when they realize that the storm actually has a

00:02:01.080 deity behind it controlling the storm. And then they're even more afraid when that is confirmed

00:02:06.760 by the storm ceasing. Because now they're no longer have the storm as an immediate threat

00:02:12.900 to their physical bodies, but they know that everything Jonah's just said about this God is

00:02:17.500 true. And although this immediate storm in the physical sense has ceased, there is another storm

00:02:24.020 of brewing. There's a storm of judgment. And that one day they're going to have to stand before this

00:02:30.220 God who causes storms and has authority to cease and still the storms. And they've been pagans

00:02:37.180 their whole life, worshiping false gods instead of the true God. So the fear doesn't go away when

00:02:44.300 the storm ceases. If anything, it increases. And so what do they do? They make vows and sacrifices

00:02:53.120 to the Lord after the threat has been neutralized. Now think about this in terms of genuine repentance.

00:03:00.500 It's one thing when you're sick to cry out to the Lord for healing and mercy.

00:03:04.640 and let's say as a specific example let's say you're sick in a particular kind of way it's

00:03:11.560 the kind of sickness you brought upon yourself right maybe in a past life in rebellion in sin

00:03:20.020 and you are kneeling calling upon the gods kneeling before the porcelain throne

00:03:26.160 i'll never do it again making vows

00:03:29.800 right but it's one thing to cry out and make vows and ask for mercy in the midst of a storm in the

00:03:38.680 midst of pain in the midst of fear it's another though when everything's all done when you're

00:03:45.280 pleased for help have actually been granted and answered to then turn to god and say i make a vow

00:03:52.420 not i'm making a vow in this moment if you help me i'll never do this again but no you have helped

00:03:58.600 me and I'm going to live another life. You have helped me and I'm going to be faithful to you.

00:04:07.360 That's what's happening with these sailors. These pagan sailors, they get it. They're making vows

00:04:14.260 and I think there's no other way to read this but bona fide, genuine salvation. They fear the Lord.

00:04:21.360 They now make vows to the Lord, not just to get out of the immediate threat. They've already gotten

00:04:26.380 And out of that, they're making vows for the future,

00:04:29.160 for the rest of their lives to live in fidelity to the Lord.

00:04:31.920 They make sacrifice to the Lord,

00:04:35.140 knowing that's an implicit acknowledgement

00:04:37.360 that they know they're sinners,

00:04:39.200 that they've sinned against the Lord in a host of ways,

00:04:41.320 but if nothing else, in their idolatry.

00:04:43.320 The fact that, you know, five minutes ago,

00:04:45.520 they were calling out to pagan gods.

00:04:47.800 So they're making sacrifices, seeking atonement,

00:04:51.860 making vows, renewing commitments.

00:04:54.660 meanwhile the Hebrew prophet is still in rebellion still Jonah chapter 2 is the only portion in all

00:05:06.460 four chapters where he appears to repent and I would argue that even then he doesn't Jonah chapter

00:05:12.960 2 is Jonah's prayer he cries out to the Lord but I don't believe it's actually the prayer from the

00:05:17.640 belly of the fish he talks about the waters going over his head I think that it's actually the

00:05:23.600 prayer that Jonah prays in the ocean or the sea as he's sinking in the waters. And even that is a

00:05:31.140 kind of prayer that's precisely the opposite of what the pagan Phoenicians pray. See, Jonah prays

00:05:37.300 as he's drowning that God would save him. And once God does, we pick back up with Jonah three and four

00:05:44.240 and he's got the same bad attitude again. Doesn't want to obey, wants Nineveh to be destroyed.

00:05:51.380 He's complaining about a plant.

00:05:54.540 God's like, you care about the plant?

00:05:56.320 Really, Jonah, the plant?

00:05:57.820 If you care about the plant,

00:05:59.380 what about 120,000 souls

00:06:01.540 that don't know the difference

00:06:02.600 between the right and left hand?

00:06:04.460 And I don't think that's moral ignorance.

00:06:06.460 I think God is literally speaking

00:06:07.840 that in Nineveh, there's 120,000 children so young

00:06:11.680 that even if you're mad at their moms and dads

00:06:14.180 for the violence in their hands,

00:06:15.680 their children haven't committed any violence towards Israel.

00:06:18.540 And there's also much cattle.

00:06:19.880 The cows didn't do anything wrong. This is how the story of Jonah ends, right? If you care about

00:06:24.240 the plant that I sent a worm to destroy, and it's not really just your own comfort, your own

00:06:29.480 idolatry, you just care for innocent living things. Well, you should probably care for the innocent

00:06:34.340 living 120,000 kids in Nineveh or care about the cattle in Nineveh, but you don't. Because at the

00:06:42.620 end of the day, you're not concerned about justice. You're not mad because I'm not being

00:06:48.360 just and punishing Nineveh because of their crimes. You're just, you're angry for yourself.

00:06:53.760 This has all been about your comfort, whether it's the plant causing shade, whether it's you

00:06:58.440 getting to make positive prophecies and them actually coming to pass and being liked by your

00:07:03.020 contemporaries, whether it's you having to travel to Nineveh, whether it's you in the belly of the

00:07:07.740 fish at every level. Jonah, the only thing you care about is not my glory. It's not my justice.

00:07:13.300 and it's not about innocent living creatures

00:07:15.660 like plants or cattles or kids.

00:07:17.680 What you care about is you.

00:07:20.720 Do you do well to be angry, Jonah?

00:07:25.760 And the rhetorical, implicit answer is no.

00:07:30.740 Now, I do believe that Jonah is in heaven

00:07:33.040 and that he did, in fact, repent

00:07:34.520 because somebody had to write the book.

00:07:37.700 And it's not contained in the book, his repentance.

00:07:40.060 but what is contained is remarkable everyone in the story of jonah repents except jonah

00:07:48.480 the phoenician sailors repent and i think it's real repentance nineveh repents we know that's

00:07:57.560 real repentance because jesus even says the men of nineveh on that day will rise up and judge

00:08:02.340 you speaking to israel ninevites will be your judges israel everyone repents in the story of

00:08:09.680 Jonah, except for Jonah. And Jonah, in many ways, we could say as a prophet, an Israelite prophet,

00:08:17.120 he represents the church. And more particularly, not just the church, that would be like Israel,

00:08:22.600 but Jonah being a prophet of Israel, pastors. And that's the last relevant overlap that I see in

00:08:31.660 our day and age. That right now, by the grace of God, because of judgment being poured out,

00:08:39.100 there are a lot of people and a lot of them unsuspected some surprise conversion stories

00:08:45.880 you might say there are a lot of people repenting

00:08:49.000 there are a lot of people i believe by the grace of god who are being converted and born again

00:08:55.700 they're seeing god's judgment they're seeing the error of our ways they're seeing the wickedness

00:09:02.220 behind the veil is being revealed and there are people who are waking up and coming to christ

00:09:09.080 He's recognizing, wait a second, we've got to repent.

00:09:11.940 We've got to call upon the Lord.

00:09:14.380 But there's one character in our current story,

00:09:17.440 like the story of Jonah, who still doesn't seem to get it.

00:09:22.440 Evangelical pastors.

00:09:25.620 Just like the prophet of Israel.

00:09:29.600 Still just doesn't know what time it is.

00:09:31.940 i mean you've got bona fide racist repenting and coming into the kingdom of heaven before

00:09:41.220 evangelical pastors

00:09:42.400 and then you've got a bunch of other people who are called racist but actually aren't

00:09:50.660 aka pretty much everyone in america

00:09:52.820 but the one group of people who seem to be so stubborn and will not relent

00:09:59.600 sadly are the prophets the people who should know exactly what time it is they've been given a

00:10:08.020 message namely this book to preach and to preach faithfully you don't get to ad-lib

00:10:12.840 and yet continually and consistently there's a refusal God says go to Nineveh they'll go to

00:10:20.780 Tarshish God says hey I'm doing a work of revival repentance among people on the right go to Nineveh

00:10:29.080 go to the right we'll be friends with the left we want the high seats

00:10:34.360 right go over there there's a bunch of people in flyover country you know the country bumpkins

00:10:43.040 you've made fun of for the last 30 years they're getting saved go over there but why do that when

00:10:49.600 Russell Moore and David French go hang out with the Atlantic in the New York Times

00:10:53.560 now that's the moment that we're in

00:10:58.800 jonah's the one guy who doesn't get it and notice the biggest way to miss the story

00:11:07.180 is that jonah doesn't get it not because he's afraid for his life jonah refuses deliberately

00:11:14.940 will not allow himself to get it because he's afraid of god's mercy saving the kinds of people

00:11:22.260 he spent his whole career despising.

00:11:26.500 When you're a minister, a prophet of the Lord,

00:11:29.520 who spent your whole life, your whole preaching career,

00:11:32.540 hating on the Assyrians as those bad, dirty people.

00:11:39.060 Right? Fly over country, blue collar country, bumpkins, white people.

00:11:45.840 Rural people, uneducated people.

00:11:49.180 you spent your whole career talking down, punching down on that type of person.

00:11:56.080 And then God says, I want you to go and preach to that city, to that people. I actually plan

00:12:02.820 to save them. And yeah, there are sins that they've committed, but I'm going to relent

00:12:07.160 and send a disaster and send mercy instead. And you're like, wait, the Phoenicians though,

00:12:12.720 I think they, that's a better crop right there. I think there's more potential for

00:12:16.040 revival among the Phoenicians. And God just laughs, I'll save them too.

00:12:22.520 But the one person you should probably be worried about, evangelical pastor, Jonah of our generation,

00:12:28.580 the one person you should be concerned about God saving is you.

00:12:32.920 You. As Nathan said to David, you are the man.

00:12:37.320 and judgment is here and it begins with the house of god and it begins first and foremost

00:12:46.680 within the house of god with ministers of god there are people we've despised we've looked down

00:12:54.320 on right like the priest who would walk by somebody who's laying in the street who's

00:13:00.140 been mugged by robbers but it's the samaritan that actually stops and helps

00:13:03.760 the fact that god's been using jordan peterson is an indictment to the church

00:13:10.500 no more jonah pastors no more jonah prophets

00:13:19.380 we need men who will preach god's word faithfully and that will know the times like the sons of

00:13:27.480 Issachar and be willing to go to whatever people the Lord sends them to.

The NXR Podcast - October 24, 2023

DAILY TRUTH - When The Pagans See More Clearly Than The Prophets

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