"Where do you THINK you're going!" (Jonah 1.1-17)
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The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,
“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”
Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”
However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.
Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Intro:
Freedom......
....as we conclude this Teaching Series on “The Pursuit of Hope” this morning
.......I want to focus on the aspect of “Direction”
(slight pause)
Because....
.......I want to make sure that as we “Pursue”
.......the main concern is that
....we know where we are going!
(pause)
Do you have a sense of direction?
Where does your sense of direction come from?
People of God.....
It is so important that we are not only aware of where we are going......
......but also that we are disciplined to get there no matter what!
(pause)
In verse 1 of the text that we read this morning......
The book of Jonah says....
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,
In the KJV it begins the verse with the word.......
“Now!”
(pause)
And the reason why I want to highlight this is because this word “Now” is a transitional word.....
(slight pause)
It is......
........the beginning of a prophetic narrative
(pause)
....telling the story through which the word of the Lord was made known
......and what is unclear to the reader of this prophetic narrative
....is related to the question,
“How does the Word of God come to Jonah?”
(slight pause)
But.....
......the Assurance of this prophetic narrative is that
“God speaks to him!”
(pause)
Now....
......I don’t know who needs to hear this
......but somebody needs to hear me say,
“God will speak to you........
.......and not have to explain how God’s going to do it”
(pause)
And.......
.....the reason this transitional word “Now” is so powerful is based on the broader context of these 17 verses that Jonah experiences
(pause)
Because what we discover is that.....
......Israel is in Continuous Conflict
(slight pause)
.....and there is a King by the name of King Jeroboam II who is asserting his power in the face of external threat
.....and internal weakness by
.....strengthening Israel’s national borders.
(slight pause)
Freedom.....
......Israel is
Bitterly alone all by themselves
In a place without help
(pause)
And......
In 2 Kings 14 it says......
God has compassion towards Israel to Restore their borders in spite of the Kings wickedness....
Israel is delivered by the word of the Lord through the hand of Jonah in verses 25 and 26.
(pause)
And.....
......then when we look over at Amos 6.14
“For behold, I am going to raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God of hosts,
“And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath
To the brook of the Arabah.”
what we discover is........
........the ultimate ineffectiveness of Jeroboams strategy.
(silght pause)
Because.......
......instead of addressing the spiritual lack of Israel’s faithfulness to God
.....the King’s strategy focused completely on consolidating the national and material greatness of Israel
(slight pause)
But It was not.......
......broadening the national borders of Israel that would make them stronger
(slight pause)
Freedom.......
.......what makes them stronger is;
Returning back to the Lord and following His guidance!
(pause)
And.....
It is laid against this canvas of background info.....
......that we find Jonah receiving this word from the Lord.
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah saying,”
(pause)
And so.....
Jonah’s listener’s have already developed a particular view of him as an encourager.....
......of this horrible King Jeroboam
(pause)
And here’s the bigger picture at the tip of the pen of this biblical writer.......
........because the bible says that Jonah is the “son of Amittai.”
Now watch this.....
“Amittai” means Faithfullness......
(pause)
And so the question becomes.....
Could the biblical writer be inviting us to grapple with the question.....
“Where do you think you’re going?”
(pause)
Because watch this......
There is no difficulty in being Faithful without conflict
and.....
There is little difficulty in being Faithful when everyone is in agreement with the right thing to do
(pause)
But what happens......
.....when doing what’s “Right”
......aint exactly what you think you ought to be doing!
(pause and Optional expound)
Look at it......
“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
The text shows us the artwork of a “Radical God”
Jonah had previously been commanded to Co-operate with God in the salvation of God’s people.
And.....
2. Now in this verse Jonah is being commanded to Co-operate
with God in the salvation of the enemy of God’s people.
(pause)
Now.....
In my spiritual imagination.......
This is a formal curse word in the mind of Jonah.....
This is an Unthinkable action......
(pause)
It was like......
....God asking you to approach somebody who you know can’t stand you
.....and telling them,
“God told me to tell you........
......He loves you
.....and He’s going to give you Victory!”
(pause)
.......that aint really a word for your enemies
.....that sound like something reserved for folk we like!
(pause)
But.....
........when God starts handing out deliverance
.......we got to roll with what God is saying!
(pause)
Watch this.....
the text says.....
“Arise and Go to Nineveh!”
(slight pause)
and this city of Nineveh was a Very Significant City.......
now in my spiritual imagination.....
......because Jonah has been close to the process of the extending of Israels National borders.
......he is somewhat familiar with these newer cities
....and these newer borders like Nineveh.
(pause)
and God tells him.....
“Cry out against this city”
In other words....
Proclaim my judgement against them
and.....
.....the reason is because
“their wickedness has come before me.”
meaning.....
.....their evil is standing directly in the face of God
(pause)
Now look at verse 3.....
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
According to the text.....
......By his actions
.....Jonah proves in the text that he has refused to obey God.
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination......
the question I had for Jonah was,
“Sir, where do you think you’re going?”
(pause)
Freedom.....
......I need you to see this
(slight pause)
Because this conjunction word “But” at the beginning of verse 3...
........paints a clear picture that holds into view the difference between
God’s Command and Jonah’s Action
God’s Command
“Get Up and Go at Once” to Nineveh
and.......
Jonah’s Action
“He Rose Up to Flee” and went to Tarshish
(pause)
Now......
.....God gives Jonah a command with an URGENT emphasis
And......
........Jonah moves with an URGENT response
(pause)
But here’s the problem......
Nineveh and Tarshish..........
.......are 2500 miles apart from each other.
(slight pause)
And so Jonah........
......has made a DECISIVE move that aint nowhere close to what God was telling hime to do.
(pause)
Here it is.....
Because some of us are getting up like we know where we going......
.......but we going in the wrong direction!
(pause)
And......
......the text says
“Jonah is literally running from the presence of the
Lord”
(pause)
Freedom.....
If we are going to Pursue our Hope......
We have to be decisive enough to say,
I will not get up and go in the wrong direction
(pause)
But instead......
I will be more Christlike by spiritually disciplining my life through.....
Biblical Intake
Worship
Evangelism
Service
(pause)
Pastor what does....
Running away look like for me in 2023?
De - Motivated to serve God, and Super motivated to serve self.
Disobedient towards the Word of God, and Obedient to our own will and desires.
Over prioritized on those things that don’t honor God.
(pause)
Watch this.....
......because now the question becomes
How does God respond when we
“Run in the wrong direction”
(pause)
Look at it.....
The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
The bible says.....
“God “Hurled or Sent out” a great wind....”
.......and you can’t get the full gravity of this until you understand that this phrase “Sent Out” means to,
.....Let Loose!
(pause)
And in my spiritual Imagination.....
.....that means that
.....the storm was already there, but God was keeping it from happening before now.
(pause)
And so.....
.......they basically ran straight into a hurricane that they never seen coming!
(pause)
Now watch this....
because the text says....
that the storm was so great that the ship was about to break up.
(pause)
Freedom.....
This is the only place in scripture where an inanimate object is shown in the text.....
“planning to do something”
The biblical writer says,
Because of the storm......
Based on everything that’s happening.....
.....the ship is leaning towards being destroyed.
(pause)
And so my next question is.....
Why did God let this storm loose?
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination......
It has to be because of the fact that,
Jonah is running away from God’s presence.
(pause)
And I hear God saying......
Jonah....I’m not happy at all about you being disobedient
........but you must be out of your mind
......if you think I’m going to sit back and do nothing
.......when you start trying to get out of my presence.
(pause)
Jonah.......
“Where do you think you’re going?”
(pause)
And I came to let somebody in here know.......
......that you must be absolutely out of your mind if you think God is going to sit back and do nothing
.......while you get up and and try to run from his presence!
(pause)
God........
.........loves you too much! [Emphasize]
(pause and expound)
Keep reading.....
Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
At the bottom of the ship.......
.........Jonah is knocked out sleeping slobbing on his
Israelite pillow
And on the top deck of the ship.....
The crew that represents all of these different nationalities are each crying out to their individual gods.....
.......for help!
(pause)
According to the text......
.........they are so terrified that they start
.....throwing stuff overboard to ligthen the ship.
(pause)
Freedom......
.......when you study that phrase “to ligthen the ship.”
.....it literally means,
“to Relieve their anxiety!”
(pause and optional expound)
Keep reading.....
So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
In my spiritual imagination.....
This captain is coming to the bottom of the ship to relieve his anxiety.......
.....and notices that Jonah is missing
.....and starts looking for him only to find out that he’s over there sleeping....
(pause)
And asks one of the most powerful qquestions in the text.....
Jonah.......
“How is it that you.........
......are sleeping?”
(pause)
In other words.......
You’re too comfortable with this much chaos.
Do you not realize the magnitude of danger that we are in?
(pause)
Watch this.....
The captain tells Jonah......
“Get up........
.......and call on your God”
......perhaps your God will be concerned
......about us
(pause)
In other words.....
“We’ve been on the top deck calling on our gods for help.......
.........but aint nothing happening!”
(pause)
Look at it....
Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
According to the text.........
.....since their prayers haven’t been able to fix the storm
.....they come up with a new suggestion to start looking for a new remedy
(slight pause)
So they decided to cast lots........
.......to ask the gods
“What was the reason for the storm?”
(pause)
and the text says......
........the stick pointed towards Jonah.
(pause)
Look at it.....
Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
They started Interrogating Jonah....
First thing we need you to do Jonah is....
.......admit that you are the one to blame for what’s happening.
.....we know the stick pointed to you, but we need you to say it out your own mouth.
(slight pause)
Secondly, what are you doing on this ship?
.......what kind of work you do?
.....where you from?
......where do you normally live?
.......who your people?
(pause)
In other words.....
“Jonah you better start talking!”
(pause and expound)
Look at it....
He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”
Freedom......
It looks like.....
.........this is the first time Jonah speaks in the text.
(slight pause)
Which brings up a very important point........
......because didn’t the captain ask Jonah
.....to get up and cry out to his God for help in verse 6!?!
(pause)
And this boy.......
........aint opened his mouth until now!
(pause)
Now here’s the thing that blows my mind.......
Jonah didn’t forget to pray........
Jonah refused to pray.......
(pause)
And sometimes......
......I believe that we think to ourselves
“I’d rather go through a storm..........
.........than do what I know I should be doing!”
(pause - Preach Baker)
But I hear God saying.....
“Where do you think.......
......you’re going?”
(pause)
In verse 9 Jonah says......
I’m a Hebrew
I’m a worshipper of Yawheh
The God of heaven who created the sea and made the dry land is my God
(pause)
Freedom watch this....
jonah is saying all of the right things.......
.....but instead of buildling on his truth
(slight pause)
Somewhere along his journey........
......he has fallen off track!
(slight pause)
And Freedom God told me to tell you......
Never depend on what developed you into who you are in this season.......
......to automatically develop you in your next season.
(pause)
You got to put in the SAME WORK........
in this new season
.......that you put in that old season
(pause)
Otherwise......
.......one day you’re gonna wake up on a ship like Jonah
........going 2500 miles in the wrong direction in the middle of a storm!
(pause)
Here it is Freedom....
Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
According to verse 10.......
The First move in the right direction is to;
Tell the truth
Jonah confessed that he was running from the presence of God.
......and if don’t nobody else know whey you’re off track
.....you know when something’s off.
(pause and expound - keep it real)
The text says....
These sailors ask 2 questions that moves us closer to our next move.
Q1 - How could you do this?
Freedom, You need somebody around you who can check you when you acting a fool!
Expound.....
........that’s what’s wrong with some of yall now
Can’t nobody tell you nothing!
(pause)
But somebody need to be able to ask you when you’re off track...
“Where do you think
.......... you’re going?”
(pause)
Look at the next question in verse 11.....
So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
Q2 - What should we to you that the sea may be calm for us?
Freedom....
.....I hope yall hear what’s really happening
(pause)
Because....
the lives of these sailors is being impacted by Jonah’s decision to “run from the presence of God”
(slight pause)
What are you saying Pastor?
Whoever is in the ship with you......
.....is impacted by what you got going on?
(pause)
........That’s why I don’t ride with everybody!
(pause and expound)
Look at it.....
He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”
Here’s the next move towards the right direction....
Accept accountability for our actions
.....Jonah takes a very drastic approach to his accountability
.....by telling the sailors to “Throw him overboard”
(pause)
But here’s the main point in my sp. imagination.....
We cannot avoid sacrifice in authentic accountability.
......because if nothing in our carnal mind dies in the process to get back on track
........we never actually get back on track
(slight pause)
.......because you can’t move forward
.....thinking like you did that got you in this storm in the first place!
(pause and expound)
Look at it.....
Jonah 1.13-15 (summarize)
Notice how the process of acountability properly operates within the relationship of Jonah and these sailors.......
(slight pause)
Because
the text says......
These sailors were not willing to throw Jonah overboard
.....until they had no other choice.
(pause)
They know Jonah is completely wrong........
.....completely off track
(pause)
and.......
.......if it was some of us
Jonah would have been swimming
.....before he was done talking!
(pause and expound)
But according to the text.......
They tried their best.......
......to get through the storm with Jonah
........instead of getting rid of Jonah to end the storm!
(pause)
And I don’t know who this is for......
But......
.....you better thank God for your crew
......that would rather
“Get through the storm
....instead of throwing you over!”
(pause and expound)
[Come on Rod and Carlton) - I feel like preaching
And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Here it is Freedom......
The text says....
The same hand that let the storm loose
(slight pause)
turned around and picked out a “Humpback Whale”........
........to keep him safe for a while
(pause)
What are you saying Pastor....
Here it is......and I’m closing!
(slight pause)
I don’t care how bad it gets.....
.....and I don’t care how far we get off track.
(pause)
God will always go to the extreme when it means getting us back on track!
And in my spiritual imagination.....
I hear God saying.......
“Iff I can use a “Humpback Whale” to get you back on track......
.......Just imagine what I can USE
......to ADVANCE you into your next level!
(pause)
Think about..........
......How High I can take you if you mess around here and make up your minnd to;
GROW closer to me!
Increase your Bible Intake
Worship me everyday in Spirit and Truth
Tell others about my goodness and my grace through Evangelism
Serve me with all your heart
(pause)
And so.......
Now when somebody asks you,
“Where do you think you’re going?”
(pause)
Tell ‘em........
I’m going HIGHER
I’m getting CLOSER
(pause)
Moses told God in Exodus 33.15 - 16.........
Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.
“For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?”
Moses basically said....
God if your presence don’t lead us..........
......Call the trip off!
CLOSE and Conclusion