The book of Jonah in the Bible is about God sending a prophet to deliver a warning to the people of Nineveh (the main city of the Assyrian empire). They were some of the most cruel and brutal people in the ancient world, known for their especially fearsome methods of harassing and conquering their adversaries including God’s people. But God loved this particular generation and wanted to provide a last-minute chance to repent from the sin about to cause His judgment and destruction of them. God said their arrogance was caused by ignorance (Jonah 4:11, the people “did not know their left from their right”. This phrase must refer to ignorant adults; there were better ways to describe children). He sent Jonah to them so they could replace their ignorance with knowledge of God, leading to the repentance that would save them.
In the book of Genesis (chapter six) God decides that the ignorance of all the people except Noah was beyond redemption and He must start over. He tells Noah to build an ark to save his family from His impending destruction of the world. Frequently people describing the event include discussions between Noah and his neighbors about what is going to happen, so that the people will have a last chance to repent. The idea is that God is fair (which is true, but by His standards of fairness, not ours), and since the people reject Noah’s warning it is fair for God to destroy them with a flood. The problem is there are no actual verses in the text about God telling Noah to be a prophet (like He did with Jonah), or any specific statements from Noah to his neighbors about the coming flood. The text clearly states that God knew the hearts of the people and that they would never accept Him as LORD over their lives, so there was no need for a warning from a prophet. In 2Peter 2:5 the writer refers to Noah as a “preacher” of righteousness in most English translations. We think of a preacher as a person with a title and job description of educating people about Godly ideas, so God did try to give them a last minute warning. But the original language version translates better into the word “herald”, which is merely a symbol of something with a message (picture the character in old movies bearing the King’s flag carrying a scroll). Noah was a herald, because by not living as the other people did and devoting himself to following his God’s guidance he delivered his “message” of righteousness. He was not a preacher trying to help people avoid God’s declared judgment. If that were true then Noah would have been working against God’s will (like Peter did in Matthew 16:21-23 which caused a rebuke from Jesus), but Noah was a “righteous man who walked faithfully with God” (Gen 6:9). In Matthew 24:38-41 Jesus warns that the end will be a surprise for people then and in our time, “as in the times of Noah when the people knew nothing about what was going to happen until it was too late”.
Are you waiting for God to send you a Jonah before you decide if He and His judgment are real? God’s people during the Old Testament era believed in a concept called “avon”. This refers to the entire three part concept of: 1) Iniquity, which is ANY willful sin including rejecting the truths in the Bible, leading to: 2) Conviction from God, who knows the intent of the heart so no debate to find the truth is needed (Jer 17:10, 1 Sam 16:7), which causes a: 3) Required punishment. Once begun, there are no options to alter the outcome, it is automatic. But in free countries like America there is no such thing as “avon”. We believe in a system that allows for deliberation to help avoid or reduce the charges (even of willful sin), so guilt is never automatic and penalties can be waived or reduced. This causes us to interpret our future in a way that appeals to our carnal nature, with God standing by to give us a warning with a chance to defend ourselves at the last minute if necessary. But if we spend our entire lives procrastinating or living with a casual understanding of our Creator, we may end up being surprised by His rejection of us when it becomes too late to repent. God IS fair, but He has already warned us about judgment in His Bible (now THAT’s a heraldic message!). There is no reason to expect He will offer us another chance at the end just because we think He should. Remember, Jesus warned the end will come without warning like for the people around Noah (Matt 24:36-44, 1Thess 5:2-3). So join God’s family now so your iniquity can be erased by Christ and God never sees it to judge you with the avon that leads to separation from Him forever.
Perhaps you are the kind of person who has figured out their own ideas about God or Christianity and think their future will be fine. Job felt the same way. He was “blameless and upright, revering God and avoiding evil” and enjoyed a prosperous life (Job 1:1-3). But he had a misguided understanding of what his relationship with God was. “Blameless and upright” refers to integrity, and is not the same as “walking with God” as in the active relationship Noah had (and we should have). Job’s pride was convincing him that he could show reverence for God with the legalism of avoiding evil, but that is not the same as “righteousness”. He also believed he could make sacrifices to God to benefit his children if they were committing willful sin (1:5b, but God only allowed such “sacrifice by proxy” for unintentional sin, Job did not know God well enough to understand that). Later in chapter 29 Job describes how much he enjoyed the power and prosperity God enabled for him before his calamities, similar to a modern day “prosperity christian” understanding (he saw the “good life” as a sign that he had God’s favor). Fortunately God loved Job enough to cause whatever was necessary to break him down and be remade into someone with better understanding. After his calamities Job starts off with statements about God’s authority over him, but after enough hardship we see the truth of what Job really believed emerging. Job is upset that God can see and judge him but he can’t see God to defend himself because he thinks he is innocent (13:24, 10:7a, 23:1-17). In chapter 31 he gives a long list of legalistic observations to justify his supposed innocence. He also says if he is guilty God should teach him what to change (10:2b, 13:23) because he wants his sweet and prosperous walk restored (29:1-6). In Job 34:31-37 Elihu (Job’s only friend that understands who God really is) points out the sinful folly of trying to debate with God and think you should win. Finally Job realizes how ignorant his entire understanding of God was, and he was ashamed that he tried to defend himself (40:3-5, 42:1-6).
Consider yourself fortunate if God decides to chasten and prune you with Job-type experiences (or allows the world to do it to you) instead of leaving you to suffer forever without Him. They are proof that He has chosen you and wants to lead your life now and into an eternity with Him (John 15:1-2, Prov 3:11-12, Heb 12:5-11, James 1:2-4, Prov 13:18). But wouldn’t it be better if you took the initiative to study your relationship with Him and develop it voluntarily so you can avoid some of His corrections? In Jeremiah 17:10 God says, “I, the LORD, search the heart, to give to each according to their ways”, so believe Paul when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” Peter warns us in 2Peter 1:5-11 that we must actively develop our relationship with God to avoid becoming blind and stumbling.
If you still see yourself in an equal partnership with God, accepting advice from Him if it suits you, read Reconcile Your Account at the end of this booklet or at PeaceAndGodWill.com. It would also be prudent to carefully study what it actually means if you believe “Jesus is Lord” (get a copy of I Believe In The Lord? or read the letters in it at PeaceAndGodWill.com called So, What Is a “Lord” Anyway? and What Does “Believe” Mean In The Bible?).