📖 Wahusika wa Biblia II — Sehemu ya 1: Yona — Nabii Aliyemkimbia Mungu📖 Bible Characters II — Unit 1: Jonah — The Prophet Who Ran from God

Kila mtu anaijua habari ya Yona na samaki mkubwa. Imesimuliwa kwa watoto kwa karne nyingi, na imechekwa katika mazungumzo mengi ya watu wazima kana kwamba ni hadithi ya uvuvi tu. Lakini Kitabu cha Yona ni mojawapo ya vitabu vinavyochoma moyo zaidi katika Biblia nzima, kwa sababu kwa kweli hakihusu samaki hata kidogo. Kinamhusu nabii aliyemkimbia Mungu, Mungu ambaye rehema yake haikumwacha aende, na moyo uliokuwa mwembamba mno kuweza kuwapenda watu ambao Mungu aliwapenda. Yona ni nabii mtoro, na habari yake inatushikia kioo kila mmoja wetu ambaye amewahi kuukimbia mwito wa Mungu au kuchukia neema ya Mungu kwa mtu tuliyedhani hastahili.Everyone knows the story of Jonah and the great fish. It has been told to children for centuries, and laughed out of many a grown-up conversation as a mere fish tale. But the Book of Jonah is one of the most piercing books in all the Bible, because it is not really about a fish at all. It is about a prophet who ran from God, a God whose mercy would not let him go, and a heart too narrow to love the people God loved. Jonah is the runaway prophet, and his story holds up a mirror to every one of us who has ever fled from God's call or resented God's grace toward someone we thought unworthy of it.

Somo: Yona — nabii aliyemkimbia Mungu.Subject: Jonah — the prophet who ran from God.

Hoja Kuu: Rehema ya Mungu inamfuatilia mtoro na kuwafikia hata wenye dhambi walio wabaya kuliko wote; hatawaacha walio wake wakwepe mwito wake, na hufanya kazi kuipanua mioyo yetu myembamba ili tupende kile anachokipenda — ikituelekeza mbele kwa Yona aliye mkuu zaidi, Kristo, aliyekufa na kufufuka ili kuuletea ulimwengu rehema.Proposition: God's mercy pursues the runaway and reaches even the worst of sinners; He will not let His own escape His call, and He works to enlarge our narrow hearts to love what He loves — pointing us forward to the greater Jonah, Christ, who died and rose to bring mercy to the world.

Tutafuatilia hatua tano katika habari ya Yona.We will trace five movements in the story of Jonah.

I. Kumkimbia MunguI. Running from God

Agizo la Mungu kwa Yona lilikuwa wazi na la moja kwa moja: "Ondoka, uende Ninawi." Ninawi ulikuwa mji mkuu wa Ashuru, dola katili na yenye jeuri iliyoutia hofu ulimwengu wa kale — na zaidi ya wote, watu wa Yona mwenyewe. Basi Yona aliondoka, akaenda upande ulio kinyume kabisa.God's command to Jonah was clear and direct: "Arise, go to Nineveh." Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, a cruel and violent empire that terrorized the ancient world — and Jonah's own people most of all. So Jonah arose, and went the opposite direction.

Alipanda merikebu iendayo Tarshishi, karibu mwisho wa magharibi wa ulimwengu uliojulikana wakati huo. Kwa nini alikimbia? Si kwa sababu aliogopa kuhubiri, bali kwa sababu inayosumbua zaidi sana ambayo hatutaigundua kikamilifu mpaka mwisho wa kitabu: aliogopa kwamba Ninawi wangetubu na Mungu angewahurumia. Alitaka adui zake waangamizwe, si wasamehewe. Kwa hiyo alikimbia. Lakini huu ndio upumbavu mkubwa uliofichika katika kila jaribio la kumkimbia Mungu: hakuna mahali pa kukimbilia. Nitakiri kwamba mimi mwenyewe niliwahi kuangalia kazi nne tofauti katika muda wa chini ya miaka miwili kabla hatimaye sijajisalimisha kwa mwito wa Mungu wa kuingia katika huduma, na hakuna kitu kilicho nje ya mapenzi yake kilichowahi kuniridhisha. Kwa namna yangu ya kimya nilikuwa nikikimbia, kama vile Yona alivyokimbia. Na kama Yona, nilijifunza kwamba huwezi kukimbia mbali vya kutosha wala kwa kasi ya kutosha kumkwepa Mungu anayekuita. Anatupenda mno asiweze kutuacha tuende.He boarded a ship for Tarshish, about as far west as the known world reached. Why did he run? Not because he was afraid to preach, but for a far more troubling reason we will not fully discover until the end of the book: he was afraid that Nineveh would repent and God would spare them. He wanted his enemies destroyed, not forgiven. So he ran. But here is the great folly hidden in all running from God: there is nowhere to run. I will confess that I myself once looked at four different jobs in less than two years before I finally surrendered to God's call to ministry, and nothing outside His will ever satisfied me. In my own quiet way I was running, just as Jonah ran. And like Jonah, I learned that you cannot run far enough or fast enough to escape the God who calls you. He loves us too much to let us go.

Kuna kweli nzito katika kukimbia kwa Yona ambayo ingefaa tuiweke moyoni. Mwamini anapomkimbia Mungu, habaki tu pale alipokuwa; anashuka chini. Maandiko yanaeleza jambo hili karibu kama ngazi: Yona alishuka mpaka Yafa, akashuka ndani ya merikebu, akashuka mpaka sehemu ya chini kabisa ya chombo ili alale, na hatimaye akashuka ndani ya bahari. Kutotii daima kuna mvuto wa kushusha chini. Tunadhani kwamba kumkimbia Mungu kutatufanya tuwe huru zaidi, lakini kunatufanya tuwe wadogo zaidi; hakutuinui juu bali kunatuvuta chini. Kadiri Yona alivyozidi kuukimbia mwito wa Mungu, ndivyo alivyozidi kuzama chini — mpaka njia pekee iliyobaki ya kutazama ikawa juu.There is a sobering truth in Jonah's flight that we would do well to take to heart. When a believer runs from God, he does not simply stay where he was; he goes down. The Scripture traces it almost like a stairway: Jonah went down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the lowest part of the vessel to sleep, and at last down into the sea. Disobedience always has a downward pull. We imagine that running from God will make us freer, but it makes us smaller; it does not lift us up but drags us down. The further Jonah fled from the call of God, the lower he sank — until the only direction left to look was up.

II. Dhoruba na SamakiII. The Storm and the Fish

Mungu aliituma tufani kubwa juu ya bahari, na merikebu ilikuwa karibu kuvunjika. Katika kejeli inayochoma, mabaharia wapagani walimlilia kila mtu mungu wake, huku nabii wa Mungu mmoja wa kweli akiwa amelala usingizi mzito chini ya sitaha. Kura ilipomwangukia Yona, alikiri kwamba dhoruba ilitokana na kosa lake, na hatimaye akawaambia mabaharia waliojaa hofu wamtupe baharini. Akashuka chini vilindini — na Mungu alikuwa ameandaa uokoaji.God hurled a great wind upon the sea, and the ship was about to break apart. In a biting irony, the pagan sailors cried out each to his god, while the prophet of the one true God lay fast asleep below deck. When the lot fell on Jonah, he confessed that the storm was his fault, and at last he told the terrified crew to throw him into the sea. Down he went into the deep — and God had a rescue waiting.

Tuna mwelekeo wa kumwona samaki mkubwa kuwa adhabu ya Yona, lakini kwa kweli alikuwa uokoaji wake; bila yeye angalizama baharini. Ndani ya tumbo la samaki, gizani na katikati ya mwani, hatimaye Yona aliomba, na sala yake ilipanda mpaka kwenye ukiri mkuu, "Wokovu unatoka kwa BWANA." Hapa tunajifunza jambo ambalo hatupaswi kulisahau kamwe: nidhamu ya Mungu si kinyume cha rehema yake; ni mojawapo ya maumbo ambayo rehema yake huchukua. Alimfuatilia nabii wake mtoro mpaka chini kabisa ya bahari, akamtuma samaki ambebe, wala hakumwacha aende. Mungu tunayemkimbia ndiye Mungu anayetukimbilia nyuma yetu.We tend to think of the great fish as Jonah's punishment, but it was actually his rescue; without it he would have drowned in the sea. In the belly of the fish, in the dark and the seaweed, Jonah finally prayed, and his prayer rose to the great confession, "Salvation is of the LORD." Here we learn something we must never forget: God's discipline is not the opposite of His mercy; it is one of the forms His mercy takes. He pursued His runaway prophet all the way to the bottom of the sea, sent a fish to carry him, and would not let him go. The God we run from is the God who runs after us.

Inafaa kuangalia ni nani anayeomba katika sura ya kwanza, na ni nani asiyeomba. Mabaharia wapagani, wakiogopeshwa na dhoruba, wanawalilia miungu yoyote wanayoijua; lakini nabii, anayemjua Mungu aliye hai, amelala. Kuna onyo katika picha hiyo kwa kila mwamini ambaye amepotoka mbali na Mungu. Inawezekana kujua kweli nyingi kuliko watu wanaotuzunguka na bado tukawa tumelala kiroho kuliko wao. Wakati mwingine mgeni, aliyekuja karibuni, yule tusiyemtarajia hata kidogo, yuko macho zaidi kwa Mungu kuliko mwamini mkongwe ambaye ameacha kutembea pamoja naye. Yona alilazimika kuamshwa na nahodha mpagani kabla ya kukabiliana na Mungu wake. Na tusihitaji kamwe dhoruba ili kutuamsha.It is worth noticing who prays in the first chapter, and who does not. The pagan sailors, frightened by the storm, cry out to whatever gods they know; but the prophet, who knows the living God, is asleep. There is a warning in that picture for every believer who has drifted from God. It is possible to know more truth than the people around us and yet be more spiritually asleep than they are. Sometimes the outsider, the newcomer, the one we least expect, is more alive to God than the seasoned believer who has stopped walking with Him. Jonah had to be awakened by a heathen captain before he would face his God. May we never need a storm to wake us.

III. Mungu wa Nafasi ya PiliIII. The God of Second Chances

Samaki alimtapika Yona pwani, na kisha ukaja mojawapo ya maneno mazuri zaidi katika kitabu chote.The fish vomited Jonah onto dry land, and then came one of the most beautiful phrases in the whole book.

Mungu ambaye Yona alikuwa amemwasi waziwazi alimrudishia agizo lake. Neema imejaa nafasi za pili. Safari hii Yona alitii, akatembea katika mji ule mkubwa akipiga kelele, "Bado siku arobaini, na Ninawi utaangamizwa!" Na jambo la kushangaza likatokea: mji wote ukamwamini Mungu. Tangu mkubwa hadi mdogo, tangu mfalme aliyeinuka kitini pa enzi akavua mavazi yake hadi watu wa kawaida barabarani, walitubu wakiwa wamevaa magunia, wakaziacha njia zao mbaya. Naye Mungu, alipoiona toba yao, akaghairi mabaya aliyokuwa amesema atawatenda. Rehema ya Mungu inawafikia hata wenye dhambi walio wabaya kuliko wote wakati ule ule wanapomgeukia kwa kweli.The God against whom Jonah had openly rebelled gave him his commission back. Grace is full of second chances. This time Jonah obeyed, walking through the great city and crying out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And something astonishing happened: the whole city believed God. From the greatest to the least, from the king who rose from his throne and put off his robes down to the common people in the street, they repented in sackcloth and turned from their evil ways. And God, seeing their repentance, relented from the disaster He had threatened. The mercy of God reaches even the worst of sinners the very moment they truly turn to Him.

Toba ya Ninawi inapaswa kutushangaza. Huu haukuwa kijiji kidogo bali mji mkubwa mno wenye jeuri, mji mkuu wa dola iliyojaa ukatili — na kwa mahubiri ya mgeni mmoja aliyesita, mahali pote palimgeukia Mungu, tangu kiti cha enzi hadi mtaroni. Ni karipio la kudumu kwa wote wanaodhani kwamba mtu yeyote au mahali popote pamepotea mno kuweza kufikiwa na neema. Sisi ni wepesi kuwakatia watu tamaa: jirani huyu, ndugu yule, adui huyu, taifa lile. Lakini Mungu wa Yona anawatazama wale wale ambao tumewakatia tamaa na kuona mji unaostahili kuokolewa. Hakuna aliye nje ya ufikio wa rehema yake ikiwa yuko tayari kugeuka — na kazi yetu si kuamua nani ni mwovu mno kuweza kuokolewa, bali ni kuupeleka ujumbe tu.The repentance of Nineveh ought to astonish us. This was no small village but a vast and violent city, the capital of an empire soaked in cruelty — and at the preaching of one reluctant foreigner, the whole place turned to God, from the throne to the gutter. It is a standing rebuke to all who think any person or place is too far gone for grace. We are quick to write people off: this neighbor, that relative, this enemy, that nation. But the God of Jonah looks at the very people we have given up on and sees a city worth saving. No one is beyond the reach of His mercy who is willing to turn — and our task is not to decide who is too wicked to be saved, but simply to carry the message.

IV. Moyo MwembambaIV. The Narrow Heart

Sasa habari halisi inajitokeza hatimaye. Ungetarajia Yona afurahi kwamba mji mzima umeokolewa. Badala yake, alikasirika mno — na sala yake ya hasira inafunua hatimaye kwa nini alikimbia tangu mwanzo.Now the real story finally comes out. You might expect Jonah to rejoice that an entire city had been saved. Instead, he was furious — and his angry prayer reveals at last why he had run in the first place.

Hapo ndipo. Yona alijua tangu mwanzo kwamba Mungu ni mwenye neema na huruma, si mwepesi wa hasira, mwingi wa upendo — na hakuweza kabisa kuvumilia neema hiyo itumike kwa adui zake. Afadhali angekufa kuliko kuona Ninawi ukisamehewa. Basi Mungu akampa Yona fundisho la upole. Akaufanya mmea wenye majani mengi umee na kumtia kivuli nabii aliyekuwa amenuna, na Yona akaufurahia mmea ule; kisha Mungu akatuma funza akaukausha, na upepo wa mashariki wenye joto kali, na Yona, akiwa na taabu, akaomba tena afe. Naye Mungu akasema, kwa maana hii: wewe umeuhurumia mmea ambao hukuufanya wala hukuukuza — je, mimi nisiuhurumie mji mkubwa wenye watu zaidi ya mia na ishirini elfu wasioweza kupambanua mkono wao wa kuume na mkono wao wa kushoto? Kitabu kinaishia kwa swali hilo, likining'inia hewani bila jibu — kwa sababu kwa kweli ni swali kwa ajili yetu. Rehema ile ile iliyokuwa imemwokoa Yona, aliwanyima wengine kwa wivu. Na Mungu bado anafanya kazi leo, kwa uvumilivu akiupanua moyo mwembamba, akiwafundisha watu wake kupenda kile anachokipenda: waliopotea, walio nje, hata adui.There it is. Jonah knew all along that God was gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love — and he simply could not bear for that grace to be spent on his enemies. He would rather die than watch Nineveh forgiven. So God gave Jonah a gentle lesson. He caused a leafy plant to grow up and shade the sulking prophet, and Jonah was glad of the plant; then God sent a worm to wither it and a scorching east wind, and Jonah, miserable, again begged to die. And God said, in effect: you had pity on a plant you did not make and did not grow — should I not have pity on a great city of more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left? The book ends on that question, hanging in the air, unanswered — because it is really a question for us. The very mercy that had saved Jonah, he begrudged to others. And God is still at work today, patiently enlarging the narrow heart, teaching His people to love what He loves: the lost, the outsider, even the enemy.

Lazima tuwe waangalifu hapa, kwa sababu ni rahisi kumdharau Yona na kujisahau sisi wenyewe kabisa. Dhambi yake haikuwa uovu fulani wa ajabu; ilikuwa dhambi ya kawaida kabisa ya kutaka rehema kwa ajili yangu na hukumu kwa ajili ya adui zangu. Tunafurahi kupokea neema, lakini tunachelewa kuitoa. Tunashangilia Mungu anapotusamehe, na kunung'unika anapomsamehe mtu tusiyempenda. Mmea ambao Yona aliujali kuliko mji uliojaa roho za watu ni picha ya starehe zote ndogo tunazozilinda kwa wivu kuliko ustawi wa milele wa watu wanaotuzunguka. Kitabu kinaishia na swali lake bila jibu kwa makusudi, ili kila mmoja wetu alijibu — je, tutashiriki moyo wa Mungu kwa ajili ya waliopotea, au moyo wetu wenyewe tu?We must be careful here, because it is easy to despise Jonah and miss ourselves entirely. His sin was not some exotic wickedness; it was the very ordinary sin of wanting mercy for myself and judgment for my enemies. We are glad to receive grace, and slow to extend it. We rejoice when God forgives us, and grumble when He forgives someone we dislike. The plant Jonah cared about more than a city full of souls is a picture of all the small comforts we guard more jealously than the eternal welfare of the people around us. The book ends with its question unanswered on purpose, so that each of us must answer it — will we share God's heart for the lost, or only our own?

V. Aliye Mkuu Kuliko YonaV. A Greater Than Jonah

Karne nyingi baadaye, viongozi wa dini walipodai kwamba Yesu ajithibitishe kwa ishara, aliwapa jibu la kushtua. Aliwaambia kwamba kizazi kile hakingepewa ishara yoyote isipokuwa moja — ishara ya nabii Yona.Centuries later, when the religious leaders demanded that Jesus prove Himself with a sign, He gave them a startling answer. He told them that no sign would be given to that generation except one — the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Hii ndiyo ishara pekee ambayo Yesu aliliahidi taifa lake: kifo chake mwenyewe, kuzikwa, na kufufuka kwake, kulikoonyeshwa mapema katika siku tatu za Yona vilindini. Mateso ya Yona ndani ya tumbo la samaki yalikuwa unabii hai wa injili. Lakini Yesu alisema jambo zaidi: "aliye mkuu kuliko Yona yupo hapa." Na jinsi alivyo mkuu zaidi! Yona alikuwa mwanadamu tu; Kristo ni Mwana wa Mungu. Yona aliasi na ilibidi asukumwe kwenda kwenye kazi yake; Kristo alimtii Baba yake kwa hiari, mpaka msalabani. "Kaburi" la Yona lilikuwa tumbo la samaki, ambalo alitoka akiwa bado anapumua; Kristo alikufa kweli na kufufuka tena kwa uweza wake mwenyewe. Yona hakuupenda Ninawi — alitaka uangamizwe; Kristo aliupenda ulimwengu hivi hata akautoa uhai wake kwa ajili yake. Yona alibeba ujumbe wa ghadhabu inayokuja kwa mji mmoja mwovu; Kristo analeta ujumbe wa neema na wokovu kwa dunia yote. Yona alikuwa mwokozi wa mji mmoja, asiyetaka na mwenye kinyongo; Yesu ndiye Mwokozi wa ulimwengu, aliye tayari na mwenye upendo.This was the only sign Jesus promised His nation: His own death, burial, and resurrection, pictured beforehand in Jonah's three days in the deep. Jonah's ordeal in the belly of the fish was a living prophecy of the gospel. But Jesus said something more: "a greater than Jonah is here." And how much greater He is. Jonah was a mere man; Christ is the Son of God. Jonah disobeyed and had to be driven to his task; Christ obeyed His Father willingly, all the way to the cross. Jonah's "grave" was the belly of a fish, from which he came out still breathing; Christ truly died and rose again by His own power. Jonah did not love Nineveh — he wanted it destroyed; Christ so loved the world that He laid down His life for it. Jonah carried a message of coming wrath to one wicked city; Christ brings a message of grace and salvation to the whole earth. Jonah was the unwilling, resentful savior of a single city; Jesus is the willing, loving Savior of the world.

Kuna ulinganisho mmoja zaidi wa kushangaza uliofichika katika habari hii. Ili kuiokoa merikebu, mtu mmoja alipaswa kutupwa katika bahari iliyochafuka ili dhoruba itulie na wengine waokolewe — na Yona aliposhuka vilindini, maji yakatulia. Ni kivuli tu, lakini kinaelekeza mbele bila shaka yoyote. Ili kutuokoa na dhoruba ya hukumu ya Mungu, Mmoja aliye mkuu kuliko Yona alishuka mautini kwa hiari, ili tufani itulie na sisi tuwe huru. Yona alitupwa baharini kwa ajili ya dhambi yake mwenyewe; Kristo alitolewa kwa ajili ya dhambi zetu. Tofauti hiyo ndiyo injili yote: Yona alistahili bahari, lakini Yesu hakustahili — na hata hivyo alishuka ndani yake, kwa sababu ya upendo wake kwetu.There is one more striking comparison hidden in the story. To save the ship, one man had to be cast into the raging sea so that the storm would be stilled and the others spared — and as Jonah went down into the deep, the waters grew calm. It is only a shadow, but it points unmistakably forward. To save us from the storm of God's judgment, One greater than Jonah willingly went down into death, that the tempest might be stilled and we might go free. Jonah was thrown overboard for his own sin; Christ was given up for ours. The difference is the whole gospel: Jonah deserved the sea, but Jesus did not — and He went down into it anyway, for love of us.

Kwa hiyo Kitabu cha Yona kinatuacha chini ya msalaba. Mungu aliyemfuatilia nabii mtoro kuvuka bahari ndiye Mungu yule yule aliyetufuatilia sisi tulipokuwa tukikimbia, na anayewafikia kwa rehema hata wenye dhambi walio wabaya kuliko wote — hata adui zetu, hata sisi. Na injili inafanya mambo mawili kwa wakati mmoja: inamwokoa mtoro, na inauyeyusha moyo mwembamba, mpaka tunaanza hatimaye kuwapenda watu wale wale ambao Mungu anawapenda. Aliye mkuu kuliko Yona yupo hapa — na rehema yake ni pana vya kutosha kwa ulimwengu wote, ikitolewa bure kwa wote ambao, kama Ninawi, watageuka na kuacha dhambi zao na kuamini.So the Book of Jonah leaves us at the foot of the cross. The God who chased a runaway prophet across the sea is the same God who pursued us when we were running, and who reaches in mercy even to the worst of sinners — even to our enemies, even to us. And the gospel does two things at once: it rescues the runaway, and it melts the narrow heart, until we begin at last to love the very people God loves. A greater than Jonah is here — and His mercy is wide enough for the whole world, offered freely to all who, like Nineveh, will turn from their sin and believe.

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