Jonah's Sin Catches Up With Him

Jonah’s Sin Catches Up with Him

Jonah 1:7-11

In verses 4-7 we saw God pursuing Jonah. He allowed Jonah to go so far before intervening.

A reminder to all believers. God, in His patience will allow us to stray for some time and for some distance. If we do not respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in repentance, He will pursue us by more drastic means.

That was the case with Jonah. Jonah’s disobedience put others in danger as well. The ship he took toward Tarshish had others on it as well. These were working men. Some things we discussed last time:

These were experienced seamen.

These men recognized this was not a natural storm. They believed it to be the work of one of the many gods they believed existed.

They prayed to their gods for mercy.

The captain of the ship had strong words for Jonah.

Jonah did not help lighten the load of the ship.

Jonah did not pray.

Jonah slept.

By this point of the story Jonah is on the deck of the ship with the sailors.

v. 7 “And they said to one another” There is a discussion, and a plan is made to discover whose god is punishing whom. The plan is to use the system of casting lots to determine.

The casting of lots was used by both pagans and Jews alike. It was a process used to determine the will of God when it was not clear. There seems to have been different methods used by different people. In Scripture we see lots “cast into the lap”. This is the fold of a Jewish man’s garment when he sits down.

Lots were probably small stones or sticks. They were likely painted in a particular color or pattern like our dice are. The casting of the lots might give a simple Yes or No answer or point toward a particular person.

With painted rocks it may have gone something like this: One side would be painted the other not. If the lots were rolled and two painted sides came up it was “yes”. If two unpainted sides came up it was “No”. If one painted and one unpainted came up it was undecided, and the lot was rolled again.

Some of you may remember drawing straws as a kid. The system was kind of like that.

The Book of Proverbs tells us:

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:33

An interesting thing to note is the practice of casting lots is not mentioned after the coming of the Holy Spirit. We have a complete Bible and the Holy Spirit. We have no need for casting lots.

“On whose account” They were convinced someone had upset a god.

“the lot fell upon Jonah” Jonah could have told them this. He knew why the storm was there. But it was clear he wasn’t talking to God and he wasn’t talking about God. Imagine if the lot had fallen on another poor soul. Would the sailors have punished the person? Would Jonah have spoken up for him?

Interesting to note Jonah does not deny it is him. While Jonah is not interested in talking to the sailors, the sailors are interested in talking to him.

v. 8 What we see is a series of questions:

What is your occupation?

Where do you come from?

What is your country?

Of what people are you?

These are basic questions. They would be answered in small talk. They are on a long journey on a boat. The time is passed with small talk.

If you meet someone for the first time what types of questions do you ask them? This is it!

What’s my point?

Jonah hasn’t talked with these people about the most basic of things yet. He’s the guy in the corner. He’s the one on the boat acting like he wants nothing to do with anyone.

These guys should have already known the answers to all these questions. They wanted to know more about Jonah than he wanted to know about them.

The answer to those questions, in order, are:

I’m a prophet

I’m from the city of Gath-Hepher

My country is Israel

I am a Hebrew

v. 9 Jonah recognizing how desperate the situation is answers the men. He tells them two things:

I’m a Hebrew

I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.

He was a Hebrew. In that day geography and nationality said a lot about a person’s religion. When they heard he was a Hebrew that would have spoken volumes:

The Hebrews were monotheistic.

The Hebrews had a history known by other people groups. Specifically, the story of what the Lord did to the Egyptians for the sake of His people was known by many.

What’s clear is Jonah told them more than is recorded. Look at the end of verse 11:

“the men knew he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them.”

It appears Jonah told them his story.

He was a Hebrew prophet.

He was called by God to go to Nineveh.

He refused.

His God sent the storm.

Jonah said one thing that was not true. He said, “I fear the LORD, the God of heaven”. It may be, to Jonah, that phrase was more of a statement of faith about his God. This is a mistake many make. Merely believing in God does not mean you fear Him. If you fear Him, you will obey Him.

“Who made the sea and the dry land”

Many pagans believed gods had jurisdictions. There were gods over the crops, over fertility, over the sea, over air, etc. Jonah says his God is over the sea and the dry land. In other words, His God is over all. Also, from the sea to the dry land is where they needed to go!

v.10 “Then the men were exceedingly afraid”

Why were they so afraid?

1) The God of the Hebrews. He had a reputation.

2) The judgment of Nineveh. If He were about to destroy the inhabitants of Nineveh a few more folks wouldn’t matter to Him!

3) If this God were willing to punish one of His own prophets, what might He do to them?

“What is this that you have done!”

This is the most probing thing said to Jonah. They are saying:

Why would you do such a thing?

Why would you not warn a people God told you to warn?

Why would you put yourself in such danger?

Why would you put us in danger?

They’re saying, “What’s wrong with you man?”

That’s all from a moral standpoint. Perhaps the statement was meant from a logical standpoint as well:

Why would you run from an omnipresent God? There is nowhere to hide.

Surely it must have felt good for Jonah to get this off his chest. But he has not repented yet. He has only admitted his sin. There is a very big difference between the two.

Let’s get back to that probing statement:

“What is this that you have done!”

Said by ungodly men to a prophet. Should be the other way around.

There are people who don’t come to church at all and ask that question about those who claim to know God.

The pastor who cheats on his wife.

The church leader who steals money.

The member who goes to church regularly but gets drunk just as regularly.

It’s sad when the world must call out the church.

The statement is a question we can all ask ourselves when we sin?

Why did I do that?

Jonah did it because he was bitter. He didn’t love the people of Nineveh. He didn’t want God to save them.

His bitterness had caused all types of problems.

If we are going to overcome our sin, we need to ask ourselves probing questions like this one.

Why did I do that?

Why do I keep doing this?

This was probably a rhetorical question. It conveyed their own brokenness. Jonah had put them in a horrible situation. It is true that they were sinners. But they had done nothing to Jonah. His sin put them in jeopardy.

Jonah didn’t respond. He was probably too embarrassed to respond. We would do well to think about these moments before we make the decision to sin.

Every sin leads to shame.

1) The shame of repentance that may be only between us and God.

2) The shame of our sin being revealed to others.

Considering the shame that sin causes may keep us from much sin. It was too late for Jonah this time. He learned that our sin will always catch up to us.

Jonah was in the middle of the ocean.

Jonah was surrounded by nothing but unbelievers.

God used lost men to get Jonah to wake up and pray.

God used lost men to get Jonah to confess his sin.

God used lost men to make Jonah look at his own heart.

You can’t get away from God.

If all He has is a donkey, He’ll use that. Ask Balaam.

If all He has is a rooster, He’ll use that. Ask Peter.

Don’t run from God. You’re not that fast. When you sin just repent. You’re going to one day anyway. You might as well do it while it’s early.