Jonah 1
Notes
Transcript
A Lesson to Learn From Jonah
A Lesson to Learn From Jonah
Good morning my friends, I hope you are well, and blessed today.
Well, we’ve had a week!
This is the first big storm that we have experienced in several years and it was a good one. Lots of snow and some super cold temperatures.
I would suspect all of our heating bills will be up this coming month and we will be sharing more with power company than we would like...
But God is faithful my friends, I do believe that, He will bless and take care of our needs. Marci and I have witnessed the goodness of the Lord over and over again.
So today is the Lord’s day, I am thankful you are able to come and worship today.
Now this morning we are going to the Old Testament for the next few weeks and we will look at the life of Jonah.
Jonah, well he is a reluctant prophet if you will… when God calls him, he is not on board at all.
Jonah wants nothing to do with God mission, And we will talk about that in the days to come. But today we open this book and see what God is doing and why.
Now you might ask why? Why do we need to look at Jonah? I think like Jonah, we are not always on board with what God is doing, but we should be… and I will share with you why in the course of this message.
So lets open the word and see what God would teach us.
1. Jonah’s Calling...
As you open the book, we know who is the central character of the book, it is Jonah. Jonah is one who will be known as one of the minor prophets, even though he is reluctant prophet if you will...
But when did all this take place, well there is a lot of thought about this issue, but we know that he is alive during the days of Jeroboam II, in the mid to late 8th century BC.
We know this because of 2 Kings 14:23-28, where Jonah is mentioned… so most we know that it is before the captivity of God’s people, where it was the 10 Northern tribe or the 2 Southern tribes.
The theme of this book is God has compassion for the world, both Israel and those outside of the nation. And this is not a surprise for us, we understand this because of God’s love and plan that all be saved.
So as we open the text, look at verses 1-2 my friends, in 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.”
As you begin to read those verses you see two crucial points in the text.
First, God is continuing His work in this world, among this people and those outside of Israel and Secondly, the man whom God has chosen to bear His message to those in the world.
Man, I like that.. I like it because it reminds us that our Heavenly Father has always been vested, concerned and cared about ole planet earth.
So the word of the Lord came to Jonah.... God called Jonah, spoke to him with a mission and a message for Jonah to bear... a message to a particular people at a particular point in time.
And who is Jonah, we is an ordinary man, flesh and bone, just as we are. He was the son of Amittai. And the only thing we can say behind this is that Jonah’s name means “dove.” and his father’s name - Amattai means “truth.”
And interesting enough, combining all this we see God calling the dove (Jonah) the son of truth to carry the message of God to a lost nation.
The eternal God, reveals His purposes to have a people turn away from sin and to God that they might be spared destruction. And in his purpose He has purposed Jonah to be there.
God has waited patiently for that day… to use Jonah. And so He called him.
I am reminded my dear friends, I believe without hesitation and without any reservation, that God has a calling for each of our lives as well.
A divine purpose that serves him and glorifies His name. And please know, this doesn’t mean God is calling you to be a missionary in a far away land, but if He did, would that be ok?
I would say Yes! No matter where God would lead your life, it would be ok as long as you put Him first and follow His name.
So God called Jonah…and look where God is sending him Nineveh!
Nineveh is one of the larger city of the Assyrians at the time, it lies just north of Babylon, in what we would know as modern day Iraq. It was a city built by Nimrod, the great hunter. Now if you remember, Nimrod was the son of Cush the great grandson of Noah.
It was a ancient, city and an important for the day....
And it was here that God was sending Jonah, look at our text again, verse 2
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
God’s call was for Jonah to get up, immediately and and head to Nineveh, He was not to delay. And he was to renounce their sin and call for their repentance in front of God for their evil had come up before Him.... and listen to that phrase, it means the stench of their sin smells to high heaven...
Historically, we know that archaeology confirms the Biblical witness of Nineveh’s sin, they were a wicked people, known for their brutality and cruelty…they often skinned their prisoners alive...
Now we know all sin is horrible in front of God, yet in some places it was so bad and so much that God was ready to destroy it.
Now, there is one last thing I want you to see, make no doubt about it, God is keenly aware of man’s sin, our sin. He knows it. And we cannot forget, sin is a terrible thing and we should strive to abandon sin...
Abandon Sin, Forsake Sin, Shun it..... and cling to the holiness of almighty God.
And this brings me to the second thought…
2. Jonah Fled from the Lord....
Jonah certainly didn’t respond positively to the Lord’s message to Him… In fact, Jonah wanted nothing to do with God’s call.
Lets look at verse 3 Jonah 1:3
3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from 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, away from the presence of the Lord.
Wow, what a tragic decision on Jonah’s part...
God had called Jonah, He has commissioned him to carry the divine message to the people of Nineveh, but Jonah had a different plan.
God called him to travel over 500 miles north to Nineveh but he turned and went a different direction, and the the Scriptures say he heads to Joppa, the nearest seaport to find a ship headed to Tarshish.
He did all this in the hope of leaving the presence of God. But what does that really mean, did Jonah hope to escape the eyes of God. Well, not really.
Jonah knew the Lord was universal, the one who was over all things and knows all. To go away from the Lord speaks to the idea we see in Genesis 4:16
16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Cain’s relationship with the Lord was broken, his action of murder brought sin, separation between him and the Lord and the Lord sent him away from his face. He no longer stood in a right relationship and way before the Lord.
So to go away from the Lord is of this idea of Jonah fled in disobedience, His unwillingness to serve the Lord in this endeavor.
So Jonah rose and went, he left and fled in the hopes that the Lord would leave him alone. He did not want to do to Nineveh, and we know why… Like many Israelites of the time, the Assyrians were not liked very well, the two nations were at war at times… (They invaded and stole crops and flocks, herds of animals, carried people away as slaved- so not very well liked…)
So Jonah found a ship going as far away as he could find from Israel and or course Nineveh.. He paid his fare and went down into the ship and prepared to set sail...
Let me stop here and ask you an important question:
How often do we flee from the Lord and from His call?
Now I know what you might say… I haven’t acted like this, we all would confess that.. because we don’t see ourselves like Jonah.... But friends, we are at times.
The Lord calls for us to help, we fill the call, the urge to step up and we push back, we say to the Lord -
I cannot do this..., I am not able, I am too old, I don’t have enough time.. the list goes on and on…
My friends, this is just as much an act of disobedience as it was for Jonah....
Let me ask you a second question… What has the Lord been urging you to do… What has he been calling you to do? Who has he urged you to speak to… You are here with a calling and a purpose.
Now this leads me to a third thought today, Lets wrap up this message....
3. Jonah’s Consequences.....
There are always consequences for sin, it may not be immediate, but sin has consequences.... We can look back in Scripture and see examples of it time and time again.
And we see it in Jonah’s life as well.
Lets look at verses 4-6 right now… Jonah 1:4-6
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 down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 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.”
So picture this, the ship is at sea, it is making its journey toward its destination, and the Bible says the Lord brought forth a great storm. The word here is hurled a great wind or it might be sent in other translations, it has the meaning of throwing a spear… The wind was sent to shake the ship
So Verse 4 says the Lord brought a great wind and the sea was raging, it says it was a mighty tempest at sea.
Now honestly, I cannot imagine. I have sailed in somewhat rough seas, a bad day and you walk going side to side because of the storm… not the best of days.
The end of verse 4 says that it is so violent, the sea is raging so much the ship is close to being broken, torn apart and sunk.
And you know what is happening, the captain, the ships crew and other passages are scared to death, they are fearful of losing their life. Verse 5 says they cried out each to their own god, hoping for help… but there was no help. Not yet...
We might describe the type of fear by comparing it to one of these 737 Max 9’s that recently lost the door and a piece of its outer skil in flight… We would be scared to death..
They tell you about that little mask dropping down, but no one is really prepared for it. The crew of that ship knew any voyage held these dangers, but they are not prepared for it.
The storm is so bad they start throwing cargo over board in hopes of making the ship lighter, so it would stand up a little taller in the water perhaps and not take on water....
And where is Jonah? He is in the ship, asleep… He is asleep as dead to the world and He is to God…
We cannot live alienated and separated from God.. 1 Thess 5:6 tells us.....
6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
My friends we must stay awake, stay alert and in tune with God so that we know His will and His ways.... We must not allow the devil to lull us to sleep… stay on the alert and see his evil...
Now as we move into verse 6, we see the very quickly someone took notice of Jonah’s sleep and the captain comes to him, look at verse 6 Jonah 1:6
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.”
The phrase “what do you mean, you sleeper” is the idea of how can you be sleeping in a time like this, This foreign captain calls for Jonah to participate like the rest of the people and pray, call out to your God, ask for help like the rest of us...
And here is something interesting for you to ponder today.. The call for Jonah to Arise and Call out…is the message he previously heard from God. It is the same words in the test, Get up and speak....
This is really powerful my friends, the ship’s captain was calling for Jonah to get up, arise and speak ..why?
Why was he to speak? The hope was that perhaps his God would hear and answer that they might be saved....
God had called Jonah to get up and speak that the city and its people might be saved, and here the captain reminds him of his mission to arise and call out that people might be saved.
We are to arise, to call out to a lost world that there is only one means, one way under heaven where by people can be saved, it is through the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior.
Questions
My friends, in this moment I want to ask you to prayerfully consider, what is your calling...
You purpose for life?
Your immediate calling, What is God directing you to do in this season of your life?
Now ask, ask God and ask your own heart and mind prayerfully, Am I living and following the Lord in what He is calling me to do?
Right now… would you just bow your heads with me… This morning while we are praying and examining our heart.
1. Let me ask, Who here would say Pastor, I am not close to the Lord right now.. I am not living and following closely.
2. Maybe, i just do not spend enough time in prayer…I am not talking and communicating with the Lord as I should.
3. I feel, I know the Lord is calling me to serve Him… I don’t know how or where, But I know and believe he is calling me.
4. If God spoke to your heart today, here is what I want to ask, would you stand and come to this altar and speak to the Father, ask him for help, for courage and for forgiveness if you have been disobedience,
No one is gonna judge you, no one is gonna think anything but God bless you for being obedient.
