Jonah was a proud man, a selfish man, an impatient man. What numbers of Jonahs there are among the saints of God to-day, alas! He could not bear to have his reputation touched. If he prophesied the overthrow of the city, it must take place, so that his reputation should stand. What mattered it to Jonah that one hundred and twenty thousand irresponsible lives would have to be sacrificed to please him! (chap. 4:11.) The people must not be allowed to repent, and God must not allow Himself the joy of pardoning them and withholding the threatened judgment, in order that Jonah's character should stand! It is really an awful picture as one looks at it.

Then, again, Jonah was a Jew, and a proud one, and he could not bear the thought of mercy being shown to the Gentiles of Nineveh. Were not they (the Jews) the chosen people ? Why then should mercy be shown to those heathen ? Moreover, he knew that if he carried the message and they believed it, God would not do it, and thus his reputation would suffer ; he would therefore run away, rather than carry the message to them. Poor, proud, foolish, self-willed Jonah! Fortune too seemed to favor him; there was a ship all ready, just about to sail to Tarshish; he would book a passage in her and flee there!

Moreover, he was independent; he could pay his fare! Why should he not go ? He would do it, rather than carry that message for God and imperil his character as a prophet; so "he fled from the presence of the Lord," and went down to Joppa. What a striking word that is, dear brethren, "he went down"/ The start was easy enough, but the end was sorrow and disaster. He went down to Joppa (ver. 3, chap. i). He went down into the ship (ver. 3). He went down into the sides of the ship to sleep (ver. 5). He was cast forth over the side of the ship and went down to the bottoms of the mountains (chap. 2 :6). Jonah was running away, and God was running after him. Ah, brethren, in such a case it is always "down."

What folly to try and flee from God! Far better do His bidding, whatever the consequences. How infinitely better to "serve the Lord with gladness," assured that His service is wisest and best, and brings "great reward." If otherwise, then, like Jonah, we find the path is "down" and it ends in humiliation and sorrow of heart. See Jer. 2:17-19.

It was only when Jonah had reaped the sad fruits of his own self-will and tasted death and resurrection, at least in figure, that he was "prepared and fit for the Master's use." Then it is we again hear the command, "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee" (chap. 3:2). And "Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord."

It takes some of us a long time to reach the point where the Lord can be with us and bless us, and use us in His service. It is sometimes a long road down to death. Yet it is the saint who has accepted death, and seen the end of self in the death of the Lord Jesus, who rejoices in the joy of a new life, energized by the Holy Ghost dwelling in him-in a word, who has learnt deliverance in a practical way- that can serve the Lord "with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart" (Deut. 28:47). It is one thing to speak about it; it is quite another to have traveled the road in our own experience, and reached it. It brings all our pride and selfishness and impatience into the dust of death. It molds and mellows the heart and affections after a divine pattern, and enables us not only to show grace, but rejoice in every display of it, whenever and however seen.

This murmuring and grumbling at the Lord showing grace to outsiders reminds us of that New Testament Jonah in Luke 15 – the prodigal's elder brother. He too could not bear the thought of the Father's heart going out to his prodigal brother. He would limit the affections of his Father to the miserable and narrowed extent of his own; while his pure, unadulterated pharisaism would claim blessing on the ground of human merit, and refuse it to those who, as he thought, could not advance such claim. Ah, the absence of grace within our own hearts soon displays itself in the refusal of it to others. The heart must be "established in grace" to rejoice in its display to others.

The photograph of these twin brothers, if we might so call them, is certainly not an inviting one, and may well exercise our hearts and preserve us from following in their steps. There is another view of them, however, which puts them before us in a different light, and shows what a change grace can work. The action of these two men, Jonah and the elder brother, is simply the characteristic conduct of the Jews as such, who cannot bear the idea of grace going out to Gentiles. But in psalm 67 how great the change! Grace is at work. Hear it! "God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us," they say. But why? Is this the miserable, selfish prayer of those who have made self their center? Far from it. It is the prayer of those whose hearts go out for the blessing of others, but who know that the others cannot get that blessing till they have got theirs :hence their prayer in verse i, and the reason given, in verse 2-"that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations."

How delightful to hear them asking the Lord to " Let the people praise Thee, O God. . . . O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; " and " Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him." What a contrast is this-praying for their own blessing, but in order that others may get theirs ! The Jew must be blessed first; then it will be, "Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people." May we each and all cultivate more the spirit of the Master, and have our affections constantly going out for the blessing of others, till we reach our journey's end, and find ourselves at home forever. Wm. Easton
New Zealand