Jonah 1.1-16 Running From God
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New Church. New People. Lady comes into my office. Told me off. “There’s the door. Use it”
Lynyrd Skynyrd- Three Steps Toward The Door.
I was cutting a rug
Down at place called The Jug
With a girl named Linda Lou
When in walked a man
With a gun in his hand
And he was looking for you know who
He said, "Hey there, fellow
With the hair colored yellow
Whatcha tryin' to prove?
'Cause that's my woman there
And I'm a man who cares
And this might be all for you"
I said, "excuse me?"
I was scared and fearing for my life
I was shaking like a leaf on a tree
'Cause he was lean, mean
Big and bad, Lord
Pointin' that gun at me
"Oh, wait a minute, mister
I didn't even kiss her
Don't want no trouble with you
And I know you don't owe me
But I wish you'd let me
Ask one favor from you"
"Oh, won't you
Gimme three steps, gimme three steps, mister
Gimme three steps towards the door?
Gimme three steps, gimme three steps, mister
And you'll never see me no more"
For, sure
Never been in the situation.... but I’ve been with plenty of boards, committees, well intentioned hurch members, ill intentioned church members where I wanted to say… give me three steps toward the door.
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
How did that word come? We don’t know. God communicated his will… but how is not told. Probably just a certainty, a know that you know situation.
Why was Jonah picked? Don’t know. Why, when he ran, did God not pick someone else? Because this story that appears to be about Jonah is really about God...
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
great city=the number of inhaitants.
preach against the city- God talls Jonah to inform Nineveh that their wickedness has gotten God’s attention.
Jonah announced God’s judgment coming- not why.
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.
Jonah knew that if he did not go, others would. Their is no notion in the Bible that anyone is indispensable or irreplacable.
Additionally, Jonah did not want to escape God’s power over sin, he wanted to escape the stage on which God was working.
If you don’t want to deal with the problems God wants to deal with, then you should easily identify with Jonah.
Now, a storm...
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.
God controls all of creation, and he hurled a wind upon the sea...
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.”
The captain commands Jonah to pray, because in a polytheistic system, no one knows which God is angry and needs to be appeased...
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.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 7: Daniel and the Minor Prophets C. Jonah’s Responsibility (1:7–10)
The lack of result from prayer and the rarity of such storms in the sailing season (cf. Acts 27:9) made the sailors conclude that someone on board must be responsible for their plight
The lot said Jonah!
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?”
A thousand questions....
Did Jonah deserve this?
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.”
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.
“What have you done?” is not a question… it is an exclamation. The god who made the sea and the dry land has been offended.... that was ew to them.
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.
These soldiers had a great respect for ANY one’s god.... and they valued a culture which said you had to serve your god correctly, it was essential. So they asked Jonah, what needed to be done to him.
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.”
Jonah’s answer.... hand me over to God.
Jonah was a theologian. He knew God would not punish the sailors for being innocent. God was not like other gods, randomly making people suffer. Jonah knew that his absence would calm the sea for those left in the ship. Jonah had a deep understanding of God.
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.
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.”
The sailors would not have seen the ocean as naything but a remnant of the original chaos on earth. To throw Jonah overboard would be the equivalent of murdering him.
So, according to verse 13, they rowed as best they could to get close to shore… risking the ship… they could not get close enough, so they prayed they would not be held accountable for Jonah’s life.
Calling Jonah “innocent” did not mean God was unfair.... it meant no court had declared him guilty.
15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
The sailors would have felt that Jonah was being held by his angry god and master.... and the stopping of the storm when they threw him overboard means they really had control of the sea.
These men feared their neew found god, Yahweh. they threw their “sacrifices” or promised them....
The story today is not about Nineveh. It is not about Jonah. It’s about God.
Even though so much of this story is about a disinterested prophet going to a disobedient city to call them to account for wrongs he did not know with a devastation news that he did not create.
Jonah did not know, to the best of our knowledge, about prophesying against an entire population.
Jonah did not know why he was called.
Jonah did not know the details of what Nineveh’s disobedience was.
Jonah did not know what exactly the punishment would be- just that it would be destructive beyond measure.
Jonah actually knew very little- God was holding all of the cards.
And so, as we humans often finding ourselves doing, Jonah became disinterested, discouraged, distraught, disenchanted, something happened in Jonah.
And often the unknown can make us run- can’t it? That’s what Jonah did. He ran.
He ran from God’s call, he ran from God’s purpose for him, He ran from God’s calling and direction fof him.
And that’s a very dangerous place to be.
He headed for Tarshish.
Look at what I’ve done… I’ve gotten you back to thinking about Jonah- and the story is about God. Silly me.
I’m going to quote a new testament gospel verse this morning that is going to be so out of context. It is going to have nothing to do with Jonah, Nineveh, the sailors on the boat to Tarshish. It’s just going to appear that I’ve pulled this rabbit out of a hat- and that’s not what I’m doing. There’s a principle to be learned, so listen closely.
39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
If the people didn’t praise Jesus on that Palm Sunday, someone or something else would have.
Tarshish. Jonah does not go to Nineveh. He heads for Tarshish.
Church. If Jonah never goes to Nineveh, someone else would have. And this principle holds true this morning. God’s will will be accomplished with or without your cooperation or mine.
I am not saying God doesn’t need you- but God doesn’t need you. (Or me.)
silence.
I am not saying God doesn’t need you- But I am saying God loves you.
I know that because when Jonah’s comfort zone took him out of God’s will, God’s love for Jonah took him to the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean.
When I Step Out Of God’s Will God Steps Into Mine
When I Step Out Of God’s Will God Steps Into Mine
Comfort Zones keeping us from God’s best for us.
Meat Loaf- I would do anything for love but I won’t do that.
Jonah would not go to Nineveh for God- but God would go to the depths of the ocean in the belly of a whale for Jonah. Please note the difference.
At the end of the day, Adam and Eve could not and would not follow God’s will. And death andweeds and trials and troubles and disease and everything else is a result of that deciaion.
But God chased Adam and Eve down. Adam and eve are us. In time, God chased Adam and Eve down… and He chases us down. in Christ.
When we stepped out of God’s will. Jesus stepped into ours. … It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar augustus that all the world should be taxed.