Jonah 1 Jonah, A man on the run Running from God

Famous Bible duo’s -

Adam and _____ Noah and ________

David and _______ Martha and _________

Jonah and _______

But the truth is while it makes a great story, these people were more than one they are partnered with. And the lessons God want’s us to learn from their lives is much deeper and richer than the single famous story.

David is much more than the story with Goliath

Noah is about more than the flood

The story of Jonah is about more than a fish.

In fact in this case, the fish is hardly even a subcharacter – mentioned in only three verses in the book. It only has two roles – to swallow an to vomit.

Perhaps its greatest contribution is stand as a tool of God – something obedient as oppose to the main character – Jonah.

The story of Jonah is about a man on the run and the God of justice and mercy who is pursuing him. It is this God who is the real focus of this story.

The book is full of irony, humor, and a continual contrast between the prophet Jonah who mostly gets it wrong, and everyone and everything else that gets it right. It is a story of the justice and mercy of God. Of a God who seeks all people to turn to Him – not just the elite few. It tells of a patient God who works to cause people everywhere to turn to Him. One who desires to give mercy rather than deliver justice if people will respond to Him.

It has little to do with a fish

I. Running from the Lord: The call

A. A call from the Lord Jonah 1:1a

(ESV) Jonah 1 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

1. The sovereign Lord

2. The merciful Lord

3. Aware in the world

4. Active in the world

B. A personal call Jonah 1:1b

(ESV) Jonah 1 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

1. A faithful man

a. From Gath Hepher (NW Israel near Nazareth)

b. Name means ‘dove’

c. Father’s name means ‘truthful‘ or ‘loyal’

2. Insight about Jonah from other scripture

(NKJV) 2 Kings 14 23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 25 He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher. 26 For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel. 27 And the Lorddid not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

a. Jonah a Godly man

1) A servant of God 2) A prophet - Spoke for God – prophesied the retaking of large portions of land Restored previous country boundaries during his reign to that of Solomon in the North including large parts of Syria

b. A man who saw God’s grace

1) God blessed Jeroboam II in spite of his sin – though he personally does not repent – – an act of mercy as Jeroboam sinned 2) Demonstrated mercy to the people – helping the in their affliction through Jeroboam

C. A specific response demanded Jonah 1:2

(ESV) Jonah 1 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

1. Take immediate action

2. Go regardless of recipient

a. A great city

1) 2ndlargest in the world 2) not respect Jewish prophet

b. A wicked city (Note Jonah 760 BC)

Nineveh was the capital of one of the cruelest, vilest, most powerful, and most idolatrous empires in the world..

Shalmaneser II (859-824) boasted of his cruelties after one of his campaigns: ”A pyramid of heads I reared in front of his city. Their youths and their maidens I burnt up in the flames“ (ibid., 1:213). Sennacherib (705-681) wrote of his enemies, ”I cut their throats like lambs. I cut off their precious lives [as one cuts] a string. Like the many waters of a storm I made [the contents of] their gullets and entrails run down upon the wide earth. . . . Their hands I cut off“ (ibid., 2:127). Regarding one captured leader, he wrote, ”I flayed [him], his skin I spread upon the wall of the city . .

Ashurbanipal (669-626) described his treatment of a captured leader in these words: ”I pierced his chin with my keen hand dagger. Through his jaw . . . I passed a rope, put a dog chain upon him and made him occupy . . . a kennel“ (ibid., 2:319). In his campaign against Egypt, Ashurbanipal also boasted that his officials hung Egyptian corpses ”on stakes [and] stripped off their skins and covered the city wall(s) with them“ (ibid., 2:295)

1) not likely to listen 2) A dangerous place 3) A nation who would invade Israel and would be unspeakably cruel

Hosea specifically delineated the ravaging captor as Assyria: ”Will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?“ (Hosea 11:5)

3. Speak God’s Word

II. Running from the Lord: But Jonah rejects the call

A. Choosing not to respond Jonah 1:3a

(ESV) Jonah 1 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshishfrom the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, … to go with them to Tarshish,

1. Arose as expected – Reader expects the prophet to obey

2. But - surprise

3. Move rapidly away

4. Headed the wrong way

5. Going the opposite way as far as he possibly can – furthest know city

6. Map

B. Seeking to leave God’s presence Jonah 1:3b

(ESV) Jonah 1 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. … to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. …

1. Walk away from God

2. Can’t stay in the conscious presence of God

C. Moving continually away from God Jonah 1:3, 5

(ESV) Jonah 1 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppaand found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. … 5 … Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

1. Later down in the ship – down in the sea - descend to the gates of the grave / to the edges of Sheol

D. Why do people say no?

1. Bitterness and hate

2. Fear

3. Inconvenient

4. Comfortable with what God is currently doing

5. Preoccupation with self

III. Running from the Lord: But the Lord intervenes

(ESV) Jonah 1 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea …

A. The Lord brings chaos and confusion and destruction

(ESV) Jonah 1 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.

But Jonah had gone downinto the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

1. The Lord acts decisively

2. Impact On things

3. Impact On others

4. Impact On self

B. The Lord exposes sin Jonah 1:6-7

1. Callousness exposed – don’t you care about us

(ESV) Jonah 1 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.”

So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

C. The Lord reveals Himself Jonah 1:8-9

1. Even through a disobedient servant

(ESV) Jonah 1 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

IV. Running from the Lord: God draws people to Himself

See the characteristics that should be true of Jonah in the lives of those around him who are without God – great irony – shameless rebuke

A. Recognized the power of God Jonah 1:10

(ESV) Jonah 1 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

B. Understood the consequences of sin & need to make things right Jonah 1:11-12, 15

(ESV) Jonah 1 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” …

15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

C. Demonstrated compassion toward others Jonah 1:13

(ESV) Jonah 1 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

D. Recognized the character of God Jonah 1:14

(ESV) Jonah 1 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”

1. Prayed

2. Recognized the unusual request – this is not the norm for gracious God

3. Submitted to Him

E. Embraced the Lord themselves Jonah 1:16

(ESV) Jonah 1 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

1. Feared the Lord – words that imply an active belief in Him

2. Made sacrifice to Him

3. Committed to Him

F. Found peace Jonah 1:15

(ESV) Jonah 1 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.