Jonah's Great God

text

Jonah 1–2 BSB

1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. 4 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart. 5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” 7 “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?” 9 “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?” 12 “Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more. 14 So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.” 15 At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him. 17 Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. 1 From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, 2 saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice. 3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. 4 At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’ 5 The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God! 7 As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple. 8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion. 9 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!” 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

PRAY

Introduction:

One of the great things that the Bible does for us is to reveal to us the character of God. We need to know God. Jesus said in John 17:3 that the essence of eternal life is to know God through His self-revelation in Christ. God has revealed Himself to us in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we are to have eternal life, we must know Him.

But knowing God is not the same as knowing about God. Having your head full of information about God does you no good if you don’t trust Him and love Him. James tells us in James 2:19 that the demons also have that kind of knowledge - they probably know more about God than we do, but they do not trust Him or love Him. That kind of knowledge does not lead to eternal life.

Rather, knowing God means entering into a relationship with Him by faith, growing in our knowledge and understanding of who He is and what He does, loving Him for who He is and what He does, and submitting our lives to Him in obedience.

John tells us in 1 John that if we claim to know God but don’t obey Him, love Him, or love other people, our claim is false. If you truly know God, it will change the way you live and the way you treat other people.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that the moment you trust Christ now you love God perfectly and always obey Him and always perfectly show love to everyone around you. Rather, it is a gradual process of growth and transformation. The Bible tells us that God’s purpose for us as His children is that we would be conformed to the image of Christ (who is the perfect image of God). In other words, God wants us to become more like Him.

Some attributes of God are unique to Him and we will never share - His eternity, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Independence for example. We can never possess these qualities in the way God does, because we will always be finite, and God is infinite.

But other attributes of God are characteristics that He means for us to share and imitate - for example, love, mercy, kindness, justice, holiness, & patience. These are all qualities that describe God and qualities He means for us to imitate as well.

So today as we observe the character or attributes of God in Jonah today, keep these things in mind - some qualities are ones that we can imitate, and others are unique to God.

God Is Present Everywhere

“And everywhere that man can be, Thou, God, art present there.”

God’s Omnipresence in Jonah

God was present when He commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2)

God was present when Jonah tried to run away (Jonah 1:3-4)

Jonah 1:3 BSB

3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

God was present when Jonah was thrown into the sea (Jonah 1:15-17)

God was present when Jonah was in the fish’s belly (Jonah 2)

God was present when the fish spit Jonah back onto the land (Jonah 2:10)

God was present when He commanded Jonah a second time (Jonah 3:1-2)

God was present when Nineveh repented (Jonah 3:10)

God was present when Jonah got angry (Jonah 4)

All throughout the book we see evidence of God’s presence in all the different places with the different people (and animals!) through His words and actions. God is present everywhere. You cannot escape the presence of God.

God’s Omnipresence in Other Scriptures

Psalm 139:7–12 BSB

7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea, 10 even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”— 12 even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

Jeremiah 23:24 BSB

24 “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

Hebrews 13:5 BSB

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

Isaiah 41:10 BSB

10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

God’s Omnipresence in Our Lives

Acknowledge God’s presence - believe that He really is present everywhere as He says.

Give thanks for God’s presence - whether you’re going through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) or on a joyful mountaintop, remember that He is with you.

Take comfort from His presence - when you’re going through a hard time at work, at home, on the road, or wherever - remember His promise of His presence and be encouraged by the fact that He is with you. Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Let His presence keep you from sin - if you are mindful of His presence, it will keep you on the right path; it will keep your eyes from looking at things they shouldn’t; it will keep your ears from listening to things they shouldn’t; it will keep your tongue from saying things it shouldn’t; it will keep your mind from thinking things it shouldn’t; it will keep your feet and hands from doing things you shouldn’t - if you are aware of His presence with you.

Live courageously on mission because of God’s presence - when Christ gave the Great Commission - “Go and make disciples of all nations...” He ended it with the promise, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As you live in obedience to His mission, take courage knowing that He is with you wherever you go for Him.

I urge you to consider taking one of these passages (or another one that is meaningful to you) to remind yourself daily of God’s presence. Write it on a card, set a reminder on your phone, or in some way be intentional to remind yourself regularly of this truth.

I have a program on my computer that I use every day to remind me of certain truths about God and some specific verses to meditate on. If you’re like me, you’re sometimes forgetful or get busy or distracted, and it’s good to have some system to help you establish a habit.

God Is Sovereign Over All

God’s Sovereignty in Jonah

His right to command Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2, 3:1-2)

Jonah 1:1–2 BSB

1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

Jonah 3:1–2 BSB

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

God’s power over creation

The storm (Jonah 1:4)

Jonah 1:4 BSB

4 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.

The fish (Jonah 1:17, 2:10)

Jonah 1:17 BSB

17 Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Jonah 2:10 BSB

10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The plant (Jonah 4:6)

Jonah 4:6 BSB

6 So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

The worm (Jonah 4:7)

Jonah 4:7 BSB

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

The scorching east wind (Jonah 4:8)

Jonah 4:8 BSB

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

His freedom in showing mercy (Jonah 4:2, 4:9-11)

Jonah 4:2 BSB

2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

Jonah 4:9–11 BSB

9 Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!” 10 But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night. 11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

God is not obligated to show mercy to anyone; but He is free to show mercy when He wants to, and we do not have the right to oppose His freedom.

God does not show the same mercy to everyone in the Scripture, but He is free to do so and has the right to show mercy when He chooses to.

God does not choose to save everyone, though He could, and the reason for this is not man’s freedom but God’s.

God has the right to show mercy or withhold it, but we do not. Jonah wanted to be sovereign, to play God. God says to him in essence, that’s not your job. And it’s not ours either. We don’t know whom God is going to save or how and when He wants to show His mercy, but He wants us to work with Him rather than against Him and trust His sovereign freedom in showing mercy.

God’s Sovereignty in Other Scriptures

God does what He wants to do

Psalm 115:3 BSB

3 Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.

God is free to show mercy and compassion or withhold it

Exodus 33:19 BSB

19 “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

People’s hearts are under God’s control

Proverbs 21:1 BSB

1 The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.

Chance events are under God’s control

Proverbs 16:33 BSB

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

Jesus, as God, demonstrates the same sovereignty and power over creation.

Mark 4:35–41 BSB

35 When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him. 37 Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” 39 Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm. 40 “Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?” 41 Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

God’s Sovereignty in Our Lives

Believe that God is in control

Take comfort from the fact that He is sovereign over every detail of the universe and history - everything that happens is under His control - life and death, giving and taking away, good times and bad, nothing is outside His control.

If we submit ourselves to His control, it is a very comforting thing to know that He is sovereign, because He has promised to make all things work for our good - both when you get a promotion and when you lose your job, when a baby is born and when a loved one dies, when you have lots of friends and when you feel all alone, when you’re in great health and when you get sick or have cancer - all of it is within His control, and if you belong to Him, He has promised that He is using it for your good. So be encouraged.

Trust Him - He is God and you are not, and though you don’t understand what He is doing, He commands you to trust Him.

Give the glory to God rather than taking credit yourself - for your salvation, for your growth in holiness, for anything good you accomplish in your life - don’t forget that the glory belongs to God, not you.

Salvation belongs to Him (Jonah 2:9), your spiritual growth is a result of His grace in your life (Hebrews 6:3), and He is the one who enables you to accomplish anything good, because He gives you life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25). From Him are all things, so to Him be the glory. (Romans 11:36).

Summary:

God reveals His character to us in this book:

God is Present

God is Sovereign

(next week)

God is Just

God is Merciful

Application

Meditate on the character of God

Trust that God is who He says He is

And if you haven’t already, receive His mercy.