Deadly Silence
Jonah 4:5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and he made a booth there for himself. He sat there under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.
A young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, noisy office. In the background a telegraph clacked away. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man completed his form and sat down with seven other waiting applicants. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. Why had this man been so bold? They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They took more than a little satisfaction in assuming the young man who went into the office would be reprimanded for his presumption and summarily disqualified for the job. Within a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man.” The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and then one spoke up, “Wait a minute–I don’t understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair.” The employer responded, “While you have sat there the telegraph has been ticking out the following message: “If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.”
Like the young man applying for the Morse code operator position Jonah had heard the Word of the Lord, and he was the only one who heard it. Unfortunately several times he had ignored the Word of the Lord. To make matters worse he was designated God’s Messenger and still failed to deliver the message. He chose silence and the death of his neighbors rather than opening his mouth in obedience to the Lord. When he opened his mouth he did it begrudgingly hoping that God would destroy them.
2 Corinthians 3:2-4 [No] you yourselves are our letter of recommendation (our credentials), written in your hearts, to be known (perceived, recognized) and read by everybody.3 You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.4 Such is the reliance and confidence that we have through Christ toward and with reference to God.
What have people been “reading” from your life? Would the apostles be as confident in us as they were in the Corinthians? Is it obvious that we are a letter from Jesus? What needs to change in your life for this to be true?
Jnh.1:7 – Jonah chose to be silent regarding God’s Word, and His judgment of all who rejected Him and His Truth. Was there ever a time in your life you chose to remain silent when you should have shared Jesus? Do you live more for the applause of men or the applause of Heaven? How many lives have been lost due to your silence and mine? What will the history books judge about Christians who remained silent as over 63 million babies have been aborted since 1973?
Jnh. 1:9-12 – Pagan Sailors had more trust in God’s Word, prayer, and messenger than Israel. Do satanists and witches have more confidence in the prayers of the saints? Do Muslims fear the prophecies of the coming Messiah more than you? Do atheists and agnostics have more faith in God’s Word than you? (why are they afraid to have the 10 Commandments posted in public schools?)
