Jonah 1: 7-17

Preview

Remember where we are here

The word of the Lord comes to Jonah - that He is to go to Nineveh

That he is supposed to cry (preach) against it, call the city to repentance and faith as it were

And we saw how wicked the city of Nineveh was - a city of great wickedness

And we saw how Jonah did not do this

He instead goes to Tarshish, the complete opposite way, trying to escape the presence of the Lord

We know there is no escaping - this prophet of God must know there is no escaping the presence of the Lord

Yet he gets up and goes the opposite way

And remember why he did this

Jonah 4:2 KJV 1900

And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness

Jonah didn’t want these disgusting and wicked Ninevittes to be saved - He knew God was gracious and is slow to anger, merciful

He didn’t think the Ninevittes worthy of such mercy

So he gets up, and flees

We also saw as Jesse preached the last time the beginning of the storm that encompasses the ship that Jonah is on

How every man begins crying out to their fake god to deliver them

How they start throwing things overboard to save themselves - lest the ship sink

And through all this we see how Jonah is simply sleeping

And we think, What in the world...

Everyone else is engulfed in this fear and anxiety - Jonah is there sleeping alone

And the shipmaster, the captain of the ship goes to Jonah and says “what meanest thou, o sleeper?”

Basically saying what are you doing - do you not realize what is going on

“Do you not see how everyone else is wrought with worry - how can you sleep?”

Then he says “call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not”

Basically - none of these other gods are working why don’t you try out yours

There’s this almost, nominal, or even agnostic spirit here that we see

It’s kind of the customary belief in all ages, we see in our day today, and we see here in Jonah’s day

This general apprehension that there is a god, probably, somewhere, we don’t really know.

It’s just this general principle

Whatever suits your fancy - if you don’t like your god why don’t you try my god sort of mentality.

Did you know that Christians in the second century were referred to as atheists

Not because people thought they didn’t believe in a god - but because they only believed in one God

They said no, actually, all of your gods are false, they’re pagan

In fact, unless you profess faith in Christ, you’re lost

you’re completely outside of salvation

there is no salvation for you outside of Christ

Remember what Christ Himself said - “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me”

He is the only way, and Christians were saying, unless you see this and believe this, there is no salvation

So they were called atheists

And truly this idea that whatever suits your fancy is okay - that whatever god you choose

Its Completely devoid of reality

The problem with this is that all of these people

in their day and ours, believe these gods come out of the created order

that they are apart of creation itself

These gods that aren’t really gods - that don’t really have power - that can’t really help them

We will see in a little bit that this isn’t the case with Jonah’s God, with our God

Our God is not a created being - no - He is the creator - we will see Jonah mention something like this in verse 9

Basically saying - no, my God created all of this - He is the one that controls this

We also see the reality of mankind in this verse

When the rubber meets the road - that every human being - whether regenerate or unregenerate

Whether a Hebrew, as Jonah is, or a pagan as the captain is

That every single human being realizes - deep down - that the world is governed by the providence and power of God

And not only this, but that safety is to be sought from Him

And that brings us to our text today

And it’s important to note here that what we will see in this is a perfect example of the gospel itself

And I’ve broken this down into three points

Guilt

Justice

Mercy

Guilt (7-10)

Verse 7

We see here that this is no ordinary storm that they are compassing

You have to think - these are seasoned sailors

if this were regular strong winds, or a sea storm

it would have been something that they’ve seen before

No - there is a realization that this is something extraordinary - something supernatural is taking place

And they say - “Come, let us cast lots”

Casting Lots - mentioned 70 times in the OT and 7 times in the NT

Despite the many references that we have of casting lots in both the old and new

nothing is actually know about the actual lots themselves

This could have been done using sticks with varying lengths, or coin like material, or something like a modern dice that we have

But the actual nature of the lots are unknown

A close modern practice to casting lots would likely be like doing a coin flip

And what we see here is they are casting lots - trying to figure out exactly who is at fault

“Whose cause this evil is upon us”

Their minds were alarmed

They are incredibly conscious that God was present - and that His wrath was upon them

That He is there, as an avenger

And this is common, is it not

For even the ungodly men to recognize that the vengeance of God in extreme circumstances - in extreme dangers

That is the only time some people look to heaven - when trouble, and despair fall upon them - again, back to Romans 1

There is this keen awareness imbedded within us

that we know the circumstances can only be the wrath of God Almighty being poured out

And we see that it falls on Jonah

Even in this practice of casting lots, that even the pagan cultures do

God, in His sovereignty, in His providence, identifies the culprit

What does Proverbs 16:33 say

Proverbs 16:33 ESV

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

Again, there is no escaping God

Jonah is trying to flee the presence of the Lord

But God, in His sovereignty, still is going to accomplish His purposes

Verse 8

“Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation, and whence comest though? What is thy country, and of what people art thou”

Or to put it another way

who are you?

why are you here?

why did you bring this upon us?

What have you done, to merit such a vengeance from the hand of God?

Verse 9

Here we might be tempted to think that Jonah is in some way trying to evade the question

The only account given to us by Jonah is that he is a Hebrew

That he is a worshipper of Jehovah - the God of the heavens - the God that made the sea and the dry land

But from all accounts this is the way the hebrew language works.

This is the way of speaking that is common amount the Hebrews

Specifically in writing - it’s not that this was the only thing he said

But this is telling us the content of his explanation

We also know just by the next verse that it says that he had told them

So, Jonah does not evade the question, he answers it plainly

“I am a Hebrew”

Meaning, I am a worshipper of the true God

He’s admitting His fault or crime, not excusing it

Listen to what John Calvin says at this point

“When therefore Jonah says that he was an Hebrew, and worshipper of the true God - this tended to aggravate his fault or crime rather than to excuse it: for had he said only, that he was conscious of having done wrong in disobeying God, his crime would not have appeared so atrocious; but when he begins by saying that known to him was the true God, the framer of heaven and earth, the God of Israel, who had made himself know by a law given and published - when Jonah made this introduction, he thereby removed from himself all pretenses as to ignorance and misconception.”

Meaning - he had been educated in the law, from childhood most likely

He had been taught who the true God was

He was not, as others were, worshipping these fake or fictitious gods

He distinguishes the God of Abraham from all of the idols

He worshipped the true God

The one who had appeared to their father Abraham

The one who made a covenant with him, and given a law to Moses

And this was known, even by the pagans

Deuteronomy 4:7–8 ESV

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

The gentiles know this

through word of mouth they had heard of this God that was so near to His people

That had covenanted with His people

And now, this man, Jonah, who was standing in their midst, had been disobedient to this God

the true God

the one to whom all creation obeys

Verse 10

And we see that here, in verse 10

They were exceedingly afraid

They were exceptionally.… tremendously… immensely.… greatly afraid

They are experiencing, in real time that the God of Israel is a righteous judge

Now what does that mean - if the God of Israel is a righteous judge, that means that He must enforce justice

Justice (11-15)

Verse 11

the sea is tossing, it’s turbulent

We see here that God is not satisfied with Jonah simply being disgraced

It isn’t enough that Jonah is found to be running

or in other terms that Jonah has been called out for running from God - even from the pagans

No - God must punish Jonah for his offense

It is necessary for Jonah to be led to punishment for his disobedience - he deserves punishment

And truly we can say

We deserve punishment

Again, we must remember - Jonah is not the main character in this story

God is the main character

It is important for us to acknowledge the fact that God is Holy, Holy, Holy

And disobedience, or to put it another way, sin, in any form, in any variation, is egregious in the sight of the Lord

Do you remember the story, of Nadab and Abihu?

How they go in, in Leviticus 10 to make an offering, and they offer “unholy fire”

You’ve most likely heard it called strange fire

And they make this offering

And what ends up taking place

Fire comes down from the Lord and consumes them

And there are all sorts of liberal scholars that try to say that it wasn’t truly fire from the Lord

that they could’ve just misunderstood the chemistry in that day and age - that it could have just been a combustion of natural gases

No, absolutely not

God was enforcing punishment upon them

Why?

Because they were disobedient

they did not follow the commands of God

they did not worship God the way He prescribed

And so we look at the life of Jonah and his disobedience and God should have reigned down fire upon Jonah

But what do we see here instead?

Chastisement

Remember, as we’ve been going through the WCF when it is speaking of Providence

And that’s what we see here, in the life of Jonah - providence

The WCF says “The most wise, righteous, and gracious God does often times leave for a season His own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, (why) to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption (the strength that sin has in our lives even today) and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled, and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends”

God does, for seasons, leave us in dry and desolate lands

He chastises us (punishes or reprimands)

revealing to us

our sin,

our corruption,

our deceit

And ultimately, we know that God does this for our Good

That it is ultimately to make us look to Christ

Yes, I am a sinner - look to Christ

Yes, I am corrupt - look to Christ

Yes, I am deceived - Okay, I am glad that you see it - beloved, look to Christ

And that is precisely what we see here in the life of Jonah

that he is being chastised for his sin, his disobedience to God

Verse 12

He’s clearly desperate

“Just throw me into the sea”

He is a man in despair

“Just kill me”

He No doubt, at this point - after he has confessed and yet still the storm persists, knows that he is a man doomed for punishment

So he gives himself up for death

“So shall the sea be calm unto you”

Jonah not only is declaring that God’s wrath would be pacified by this

but he is also acknowledging that his death would suffice

Jonah is not only speaking with a prophetic spirit

Not only is he here again acknowledging that the God of Israel was the supreme and only God of heaven and earth

But, we see here, Jonah acknowledging that by the death of one man, many would be saved

Do you see it?

This idea of substitutionary atonement

That by the one mans death

Jonah

the multitude of sailors would be saved from the wrath of God

And we see, around 800 years later

That by the death of one man

Christ

the multitude of sinners are saved from the wrath of God

That Christ died as a substitute for the ungodly

That Christ bore the punishment for our sins

Verse 13-14

We see here, that the men on the ship were already, at this point, persuaded

Jonah was truly, a worshipper of the true God

Not only this but they must at this point, believe that Jonah was truly a prophet of the true God

that he had truly tried to flee from the presence of the Lord

We see a reverent fear here in the eyes of the men

And Knowing that Jonah is a servant of the true God

they are trying to restrain themselves from throwing him into the sea

trying to preserve his life

And yet,

Verse 15

Justice

Nothing can overcome the will of Almighty God

And we also see here, “the sea ceased from her raging”

Can you imagine - being encompassed by this supernatural storm

And as you throw the culprit into the sea the storm immediately ceasing

This is also highlighting the validity of Jonah’s God

Remember, he had just prophesied that the storm would be pacified by throwing him in.

And we see exactly that take place

That Jonah’s God is the one that brought this storm upon them

and that He is the one that’s in control

What does this lead to?

Verse 16

What do we see here first?

That they “feared the Lord”

And if you notice this is in stark contrast to the way this section of scripture started

Remember, each man was crying to his god to save them

But here, we see, they have all, in a sense, abandoned their false god, and now fear the true and living God

And it’s not just a general fear that we see here

What does Jonah go on to say?

That they “Offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and made vows”

They are testifying, making a public declaration that they are now worshipping the God of Israel

They are devoting themselves to this God

Making a vow, that “I am to worship this God”

“the God of heaven”

“which hath made the sea and the dry land”

“I am to worship this God alone”

And notice this

That even in the life of believers, we go through these seasons of distress and chastisement

But God is always using this for good

In the providence of God, God allowed Jonah to step onto the ship, to begin to journey with these men

And yet, at the same time, in His providence, bringing judgement upon him in the presence of these people who may have never even heard of Him

All of it, is working to the glory of God

Do not think that God was not in control here, that God was unsure of what would come about

And in your life, do not think that God is not in control

God is working all things according to the counsel of His will

And whether this is a true confession - a true turning to God

We have no way of knowing

And we see that all the time don’t we

But it is important to note

Even in your infirmities - even in your trials and tribulations

He is working all things for His glory and for the good of those who love Him, those who are called according to His purpose

He brings salvation to His people - He saves to the uttermost

Thanks be to God

Mercy (Verse 17)

We just saw the wrath of God, but what do we see now?

Mercy

Although Jonah deserved to sink in the abyss

God does not condemn his soul to sheol

Instead, God shows a tremendous amount of grace

God appoints this great fish

what the fish is we don’t know

but most likely something like a whale

And He appoints this fish

not as an instrument of final judgement

but as a means of preservation

God preserves the life of Jonah

And just as He preserves the life of Jonah, this unworthy, disobedience man

God has preserved your life

Do not think that you are any better than Jonah

Do not believe that you have been obedient

You have not

All have sinned - all have fallen short of the glory of God

But all who are in Christ

All who are in Christ

God has preserved you from the final judgement

God has preserved you from the abyss

You are no longer found in your unrighteousness

You are found clothed in the righteousness of Christ

Conclusion

We see an amazing amount of mercy from the Lord in Jonah’s life

That’s what’s wrong with people

We don’t have a healthy fear of the Lord

People think that it’s not fair for God to have Jonah cast into the sea

Or, even more-so, it’s not fair for God to cast someone into hell for all eternity

They don’t get it

What’s not fair is that God would have mercy upon your soul

That God would pour out His righteous indignation and wrath upon Christ, instead of you

That isn’t fair

What would be fair is for God to have Jonah thrown into the ocean and let him drown in his sin

What would be fair is for God to strike Jonah dead for disobedience

And think about your life

Think about just this last week

All the times you were disobedient to your parents

All the times you were quick to anger with your children

All the times you failed to love your spouse

If you could open up my mind and see the thoughts I have had in my life

If you could have a camera follow me around and track everything I do

You would understand

It would only be fair for God to condemn me

And if we don’t see that, then we don’t truly have a right understanding of the Holiness of God

God has tremendous mercy on the life of Jonah here

And God has tremendous mercy upon us

But, If you aren’t in Christ

This is bad news

That the God of heaven - the creator of sea and dry land

That this God, who is sovereign

The one who brings this supernatural storm upon these men

A storm so extreme that even these skilled sailors tremble

That this is the God - who you will stand before

That you will have to give an account to

Do you understand the gravity of such a thing?

That you will have to stand before the God that all creation obeys

And you must understand

God is not obligated to show mercy or compassion to the wicked

And you are the wicked

But God is, as we saw, merciful, and slow to anger

God is abounding in steadfast love

God desires that none should parish

that all should be saved

And that is the call

If you are not in Christ, to turn to the merciful God

The one who has sustained you another day

The one who has not yet cast you into the pit of hell, but who would be just to do so

Turn to Christ, who bore the wrath of God on our behalf

And rest in His mercy

1 Timothy 1:17