JONAH 1:7-16 - Lot Casters and the Idol-Smashing God

Introduction

Years ago I was living in Jersey City NJ, I was part of a church-planting team working with the caste Hindu immigrant population. The church we were based out of, Trinity Baptist Church, would often host different events or outreaches connected with the ministry, and several of our Hindu friends made regular visits to the church and the parsonage next door.

The church sanctuary was (and still is) set in the beautiful old turn of the century style, very similar to ours--hand carved wooden pulpit and pews, polished brass rail around the choir loft, antique wooden wainscoting around and between the twenty-foot high stained glass windows all around the room. One of the most notable features of the sanctuary is directly behind the pulpit--there is a seven-foot tall stained glass window depicting Christ’s ascension in the clouds.

There came a day when one of our Hindu friends (who was still a very new believer) stopped by the church to speak to one of the team members and came into the sanctuary--the moment her eyes fell on the stained glass window of Christ, she fell to her knees and began to worship the image as a Hindu would before one of their idols. To her, this was the most respectful and worshipful thing she could do upon seeing an image of Christ; she thought she was giving proper reverence to Him by doing that. She had not yet gotten past the patterns of idol-worship that she had been brought up in.

Our Hindu friends will say that by attending to an image of a god or goddess--feeding it, clothing it, waking it up in the morning and putting it to bed at night, and so on--they can have a real experience of that god’s presence, and we can have a real influence on the way that god relates to them. Do you want to get a good grade on your A-level exams? Go and offer fruit to the god Ganesha--the god of wisdom and education. (If you really want to get on Ganesh’s good side, bring him gulab jamun--deep-fried dairy balls spiced with cardamom and rose water!) Do you want your business to flourish and make money? Have a shrine to Laxmi, the consort of Shiva and goddess of wealth, in your store, and make sure the incense in front of her tajburi (painted image) is always burning.

Now, you and I may not have been brought up in a religious atmosphere that taught us to relate to God through an image of wood, clay or stone--I daresay none of us have a “god-shelf” in our houses where we have little figurines that we pray to or offer incense to every day. But every one of us still has a human nature that is “a perpetual factory of idols” (as John Calvin wrote in his Institutes--1:11.8). Our own idolatry may not be found in elephant-headed gods or blue-skinned flute players, but we still have those things that we appeal to in order to manipulate the way God relates to us.

As one commentator puts it, our idols are

...the works to which we run rather than running to God alone—works that tire us out and do not change the situation in which we find ourselves, but often make us feel like we are surviving or are in control. We feel this way because we are putting forth a good effort and giving it that ol’ college try. These works, too, give us a false sense of being able to control God’s severity by making Him happy with us. (Redmond, E., Curtis, W., & Fentress, K. (2016). Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk (p. 16). Holman Reference.)

Our attempts to manage God’s demeanor toward us--make sure He’s really happy with us--might be seen in our meticulous church attendance or Bible reading, our unrelenting commitment to homeschooling, listening to all the right podcasts, polishing that stellar reputation at work, making real sacrifices in our lives for the sake of ministry or evangelism or discipleship, pouring ourselves out in every kind of sincere Christian endeavor we can find. Because then God will really love me! When I do those things, then He will bless my life and my family and my work!

Because we are by nature such idol-mongers, it can be hard to see when our pure and direct devotion to Christ alone has begun to be displaced by our own attempts to please God through our works. But since God loves us too much to allow our devotion to Him to be diluted by our idolatry, He will reach down to smash those idols in our lives. And when those trials come; when (as we will see in our text this morning) He hurls the winds and storms into our lives, those idolatrous hearts in us begin to be exposed. When you hear yourself saying things like “Why is God letting all this happen--look at all I’ve done for Him!”--that’s the moment your idolatry is exposed.

You thought that all you had “done for God” meant that somehow He owed you; that you sacrificed and spent yourself in His service and in return somehow you should be given special treatment. “I have served Him so faithfully, this shouldn’t be happening to me!!! If I have given all of this to serve Him and this is how He repays me???” That is a sign that you have made your service to Him and idol in your mind--you believe that this thing you have made will determine God’s course of action toward you, that His love for you or His blessing in your life is contingent on anything except the work of Jesus Christ for you!

So here is the way I want to summarize the message of this text from Jonah this morning:

God DISTILLS our DEVOTION by DESTROYING our IDOLATRY

God aims to purify your love for Him, to make sure there is “nothing between your soul and the Savior”. He will see to it that you do not trust anything of your own work to gain His favor; that your hope for His love and delight to be set on you is found in Christ alone.

We began our study of Jonah last week by examining his relationship to God; his failure to obey YHWH’s command to preach to Nineveh and the consequences that his rebellious disobedience brought upon him--and on the crew of the ship he had booked passage on. Today we’ll turn our attention to the sailors themselves--God intends to make them into His worshippers, and we will see how He does that by the end of this chapter. But as our text opens, they are still in the middle of “crying out to their own gods” (v. 5) and hurling their cargo into the sea.

The sailors are trying to find a way to save themselves--throwing their lives overboard, appealing to any and every god, goddess, superstition or magic they can think of to try to get the supernatural world to grant them some kind of reprieve from death--even asking Jonah if the god of the land he came from could work any power here on the sea.

But no matter what the sailors did; no matter how they rowed or how much cargo they jettisoned or how many prayers they shouted into the gale, nothing was working:

Jonah 1:13 LSB

However, the men rowed desperately to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy against them.

This is the first step in God’s plan to turn those sailors from pagans into worshippers--and this is what will happen when you and I begin clinging to our idolatrous attempts to control Him with our works--

I. You will see your idols RUINED (Jonah 1:5-10)

No matter how hard you try to please God by your own righteous works, those deeds will never work--

Your WORKS cannot STEER God (cp. v. 5)

Jonah 1:5 LSB

Then the sailors became fearful, and every man cried to his god, and they hurled the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them...

They cried and shouted and begged, they sacrificed everything they had, but the storm did not let up at all--in fact, it just got worse. Before God made these men into genuine worshippers, He had to smash their idols; He had to show them that those things can never steer Him into showing them favor.

Beloved, we need to learn this over and over again, don’t we? It doesn’t matter how faithfully you’ve attended church; it doesn’t matter how many people you’ve shared the Gospel with, it doesn’t matter how much time and energy you have poured into leading Bible studies or teaching Sunday School or youth group or young adults--none of those things make any difference in God’s opinion of you. None of those things represent a “get out of suffering free” card, none of that is protection against calamity or loss or grief, none of the works of your hands gains you a single favorable glance from God Almighty! And when He hurls the winds of disease or grief or hardship onto your life, it is not because you haven’t done enough for Him. And when He spares you from calamity or loss it is not because of all the good things you have done for Him. And He will do whatever it takes for you to stop trusting in those things to earn His favor!

God will distill your devotion, Christian, by destroying your idolatry--you will see all those idols ruined; you will never be able to steer God’s favor through your own deeds. But even as those idols break in your hands--letting you down when you tried to trust in them,

God will WORK in them to DIRECT you (vv. 7-9)

The sailors had nothing--their prayers had failed, their attempts to lighten the ship hadn’t worked; they were still in danger of losing their lives. And so they tried one last desperate attempt to get the attention of the gods--find out why the gods were so angry at them. Look at verse 7:

Jonah 1:7 LSB

Then each man said to the other, “Come, let us have the lots fall so we may know on whose account this calamitous evil has struck us.” So they had the lots fall, and the lot fell on Jonah.

“As best we can understand historically, casting lots consisted of tossing rocks of multiple colors (Baldwin, “Jonah,” 2:559). If a certain color fell toward somebody or if all the colors but one fell toward everybody else, they would say, “Aha! That’s the person whom the gods (or God) has picked for what we’re asking.” (Redmond, E., Curtis, W., & Fentress, K. (2016). Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk (p. 17). Holman Reference.)

See here God’s absolute control over this situation--those little colored stones could have landed any which way, but they landed in such a way as to point out Jonah. The sailors thought that the lot was controlled by one of their gods (or if they were Greek, by the Fates). In fact, the way those stones fell was under the absolute control of YHWH

Proverbs 16:33 LSB

The lot is cast into the lap, But its every judgment is from Yahweh.

You see, you may believe that your faithful years of ministry or longstanding habits of evangelism are the way that you improve God’s opinion of you, that because of your excellent service record He will preserve you and shower His favor on you, what is really happening is that He is working His will in you! You have only had any success in evangelism or seen fruit in Bible teaching or built a godly home because He has made it possible!

Consider the foolishness of trying to impress God with deeds that He made possible through you! “God will love me more because of all of the years I’ve spent soul-winning”--when He is the One Who made all of it possible; from the Holy Spirit regenerating the hearts of the people you evangelize to the very breath in your lungs that you use to share John 3:16 to them (to the fact that there even is a Bible to read to them!)--and everything in between! You think God loves you more because you did work that you couldn’t have done unless He had made it possible!

See it here in the way the lots fell--once Jonah had been identified as the reason for the storm, he was forced to give glory to YHWH!

Jonah 1:8–9 LSB

Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamitous evil struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Jonah thought he could avoid preaching to the pagan Ninevites, but now he is forced to preach to the pagan sailors--he tells them that the God he worships “made the sea and the dry land”. Which is important for the sailors, isn’t it? Because if Jonah’s God made the sea, then He has authority over the sea!

And it is at this point that the sailors realize that everything they have done up to this point is utterly worthless--the prayers to their own gods, throwing the cargo overboard--nothing will work to save them from drowning because Jonah has offended the Maker of the sea!

Jonah 1:10 LSB

Then the men became greatly fearful, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh because he had told them.

God has utterly smashed every attempt these men have made to coerce or manipulate Him; they have seen their idols ruined. None of their works could steer God; instead, He was directing and superintending their actions the whole time. There was nothing they could do to earn or deserve His favor; there was no work they could perform that would convince Him to allow them to survive the storm He had hurled upon them. They were completely undone.

Christian, when God has smashed every idol out of your hands; when He has shown you convincingly that there is nothing that you do that will earn you His favor or protection, that no ministry or sacrifice or good work done in His Name will change His opinion of you or preserve you from hardship--only then

II. You will know real REPENTANCE (Jonah 1:11-16)

Consider that, up to this point, the sailors had been afraid of the sea--afraid enough of the storm that they were throwing everything overboard in a desperate attempt to survive. But now, verse 10 says, “they became greatly fearful...”--not of the storm; but fearful of the wrath of God.

This is what God graciously does when He breaks our idols in our hands. When you really understand what it means to have earned the wrath of God,

You will truly SEE your GUILT (v. 10)

Their fear of the storm paled now in comparison with their fear of offending YHWH. “Jonah--you’ve doomed us all!” They were complicit in Jonah’s offense against the Creator of the sea and the dry land--there was nowhere they would be able to go to escape His wrath. Even if they got through this storm, they were still as good as dead if they stepped onto shore.

When God’s severe mercies finally bring you to understand that there is nothing you can do to earn His favor, that none of your good godly habits, none of your excellent track record of fighting sin, none of your ministry successes--nothing will distract Him from the fact of your sin--it is only then that you will realize that there is nothing between you and His wrath except for Christ’s work. And this is the severe grace of God that distills your devotion--when you truly see your guilt,

You will truly CRY for MERCY (v. 14)

The sailors now come to Jonah with the greatest question that anyone can ever ask on their lips: “What must we do to be saved?” (cp. Acts 16:30)--

Jonah 1:11 LSB

So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become quiet for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.

And Jonah found himself--even though he had been refusing to do it--found himself speaking the truth about YHWH:

Jonah 1:12 LSB

So he said to them, “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become quiet for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”

In other words, the wrath of YHWH can only be appeased by the death of the guilty party. The storm would not stop until the wrath of God had been appeased by the death of the one who had committed the offense.

But this news appalled the sailors; they were terrified of the prospect of spilling the blood of a prophet of YHWH. Verse 13 says that they desperately tried to row to shore rather than killing Jonah--there had to be another way; the idea of human sacrifice to appease the wrath of God was horrible to them; they still wanted to find any other way to be made right with God through their own efforts. But rowing harder made no difference; the storm just increased its intensity.

And so finally in Verse 14, they gave up. They accepted the terms of surrender and begged YHWH for mercy:

Jonah 1:14 LSB

Then they called on Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, we earnestly pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Yahweh, as You have pleased You have done.”

They had gone from superstitious, idol-worshipping pagans trusting in their own strength and ability to rescue them to broken, helpless, guilt-laden sinners begging God not to count their sins against them. They have come from the darkness of their false gods into the light of the true God.

God will distill your devotion by destroying your idolatry. When you see your idols ruined, then you will know real repentance--and you will never be tempted to go back to those idols of your good works to gain you favor with God again, because

III. You will behold your REDEEMER (Jonah 1:17)

The sailors had absolutely, utterly come to the very end of themselves. Everything they had done to try to rescue themselves; everything they had done to try to “fix” their situation; everything they had done to try to get on God’s good side and get Him to help them had been blown apart by the storm. And so they gave up trying to find their own solutions and obeyed the word of YHWH spoken through His prophet:

Jonah 1:15 LSB

So they lifted Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stood still from its raging.

As soon as Jonah hit the water, the storm ceased. The guilty party had been sacrificed; the wrath of God had been satisfied. The sinner was drowned in the depths of the sea, and the sailors lived to see another day. By sacrificing himself as a sinner, Jonah saved their lives.

Can you see it, Christian? A man sent from God, who suffered as a sinner in order to save others. See here in Jonah the foreshadowing of the One

Who SAVED you from the WRATH of God (v. 15)

You and I were as doomed as those sailors on the deck of that foundering ship; the storms of God’s wrath were bearing down on us, and He would have been utterly justified in drowning us under the tidal wave of His fury. Whether you had lived a long life of sin and rebellion and hatred of God or whether you had grown up in a “good Christian home” that went to church every Sunday and said grace over every meal. All of our good deeds and attempts to make God happy with us; all of the self-justifications for our sins, telling ourselves that “God will understand that ‘nobody’s perfect’; all of the things we do or don’t do or say or don’t say that we think will please Him and cause Him to show us favor--none of them are anything but filthy rags in His sight.

The only way to be delivered from the storm of God’s wrath is to trust in the Substitute that died in your place. Jesus Christ alone has earned God’s favor; He alone turned aside God’s tidal wave of fury; He alone will give you favor with God:

Romans 5:1–2 LSB

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

There is no other way to gain God’s favor but through the work of the Redeemer--He is the only One Who can save you from the wrath of God, and see in verse 16 of this account that He is the only one

Who TURNS you to the WORSHIP of God (v. 16)

As soon as their deliverance was accomplished, the sailors immediately turned to worship YHWH:

Jonah 1:16 LSB

Then the men greatly feared Yahweh, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.

Now consider something here--the text says that these sailors did two things: They “offered a sacrifice” and they “made vows”. In some ways they are doing very similar things here at the end of the account as they were doing at the beginning, while they were in the midst of the storm.

Jonah 1:5 LSB

Then the sailors became fearful, and every man cried to his god, and they hurled the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them...

They were “crying to their gods”--surely part of that crying out would include vows and promises to their gods of how they would “serve those gods if only they would survive this storm...” And consider also how they were throwing their cargo overboard during the storm--sacrificing their cargo, throwing away what was important to them--in a desperate bid to gain their lives.

So what has changed between verse 5 and verse 16? What is the difference between idolatrous vows and sacrifices and true vows and sacrifices? One person can be coming to church and making an idol of their worship, while the person sitting next to them in the pew can be singing the same songs, reading the same Scriptures, attending to the same sermon--and be worshipping rightly.

So what is the difference? The one does it to try to impress God, and the other does it because he has been rescued by a Redeemer.

Why are you here this morning? What is your motivation for attending this worship service? Why did you sing the hymns? In order to be seen singing, in order to show God that you deserve for Him to answer your prayers? Or did you sing this morning out of the overflow of gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ that saved you?

Why did you put money in the offering this morning? Because you want God to bless you financially and you believe that by giving Him something He will return the favor? Or because you are so overwhelmed by all of His generosity and blessing to you that giving back a portion to Him is the best way that you can think of to express your joy in Him?

Why do you spend time reading the Scriptures in the morning? Because you feel like your day will just “go so much better” if you give God “His time” in the morning? And then if you have a rotten day anyway, is there some small part of you that says, “Well, those devotions were a waste of time...”? Or do you begin your day in His Word because a glimpse of your Savior within these pages is worth it no matter what kind of day you wind up having?

Let God’s Word do its work in your heart, Christian--let the sharp two-edged sword pierce through to your inner motives and attitudes towards your Christian life. Do you share the Gospel with others out of guilt that you should be doing more, or out of delight in what Christ has done for you? When you face illness or sorrow or hardship, is your first reaction to be frustrated at God for not taking into account all of your work for Him? Then recognize it for what it is--idolatry--and smash those idols before He does it for you.

Repent of your attempts to steer God by your good deeds; turn away from your secret conviction that God loves you more because you do more for Him. There is nothing that you can do to increase your favor with God; Christ has done it all. And there is nothing that you can do to diminish your favor with God; Christ has paid it all. Let go of all of your performance anxiety; let go of all your secret belief that God is impressed with you because of what you have done for Him. There is only one means by which you have gained the favor of God Almighty, the maker of the sea and the dry land; there is only one Way to be secure in His favor in this life and the next--the work of the One sent from God to rescue you by suffering as a sinner under the tidal wave of the Father’s fury--your Redeemer, your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 LSB

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

In what sense might some of your experiences have created “idols,” as defined in the sermon? What could you gain in your relationships—parent-child, work, sibling, and schoolmates—if you exchanged idols of self-effort, self-protection, and/or self-preservation for trust in the mercy of God?

How does God reveal His sovereign control of all of the lives on the ship via the lots? How might a better understanding of God’s sovereignty in all things fuel a great passion to be obedient to what seem to be His hardest truths for us to follow?

What acts in the story demonstrate a process of real conversion on the part of the sailors? Is it unreasonable for churches to expect believers to demonstrate evidence of conversion? Do you think the sailors’ experience agrees with what the New Testament teaches about conversion?

What are some ways in which Jonah’s account resembles the account of Christ? What might the resemblance say about the plan of God for all mankind? What might the resemblance say about the character of Scripture?