The Relentless Pursuit of God

God on Display The Relentless Pursuit of God

Jonah Ch 1:1-15

Video Intro

Father, thank You this morning that we can come before You in this personal way. Thank You, God, that You love us and care for each one of us personally, that each person here now is known by You.  And, Father, I would pray from my heart that You would begin to grow within each of us a sense that this is an appointed time, that as we would look back on this time, as You would give us days, that this would be a time when things were laid aside and choices were made and victories were won and lives were changed and never the same again.  Now, God, I know You love to do that.  And we just want to invite Your fullest presence here by Your Spirit to do that work in us, in me.  And if you agree with this prayer that I’m praying in Jesus’ name, say “Amen.”  Amen. 

Intro: MY PAST, MY FAILURES, MY REBELLION – yeah, I’m not proud of myself for some of the things I’ve done, I hated those people… those Ninevites like you would not believe.  I mean you would too.  Who can be so evil and wicked to skin people alive and use their heads as lamps to light the walls in the night.  And don’t mention the child sacrifices. And then the audacity of HIM (point upwards) telling me I had to go to tell them to repent… Why should they receive mercy, why should they receive His grace they only deserve God’s wrath.  well I went alright…. in the opposite direction.  Call me coward, call me disobedient but I was not going to go be somebody’s night light….

Mention the story of Jonah and the whale most people will be familiar with it.  But in order for us to fully understand the story of Jonah we have to dig a bit into the background. 

Turn with me to the book of Jonah chap 1 (pg 502). 1 - Jonah is mentioned as a minor prophet, there are 12 minor prophets in the bible and they are called minor prophets because their messages are shorter and more succinct. Only 4 chapters to the book of Jonah | 48 verses all together. Name means Dove. We first read of Jonah in 2 Kings chapter 14:25 which tells us that he was a prophet to Israel under King Jeroboam the second at approximately 750BC.  Which makes him a contemporary to Hosea and Amos. Jonah is fleeing from Joppa to Tarshish (show map). God told him to go to Nineveh (which is modern day Iraq)

Now let’s talk about the theme.  The theme of Jonah, first of all, is not the fish.  When I was a little boy, I was more interested in what was going on inside the fish than what was going on inside Jonah.  The fish is not the theme.  The fish is only mentioned four times.  Nineveh is not the theme.  The city that Jonah was called to preach to is mentioned only nine times.  It’s not Nineveh.  In fact, the theme of the book of Jonah is not even Jonah.  He’s mentioned only 18 times.  The theme of the book of Jonah is God.  God is mentioned 38 times in four chapters, 38 times in 48 verses.  God is the theme of the book of Jonah.  GOD IS ON DISPLAY!

While there is certainly much debate as to whether the story of Jonah is fact or fiction, I believe, without question, that this is a true story.  If God can speak all of creation into existence in six days (Gen. 1), confuse the language of men at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11), send fire and brimstone from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19), and part the Red sea so that the Israelites can escape Egypt (Ex. 14), He can certainly create a fish to swallow a man and keep that man alive in that fish for three days.  To lend even greater support that the story of Jonah is true, Jesus Himself referenced Jonah.  In Matthew 12:39-41 we read, “But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

And what we learn from the book of Jonah is that our God is a loving, merciful, caring, patient, pursuing God.  And when He lays His hand on your life, it’s there for good.  You may run, you may struggle, you may rebel, but when you do, God is coming after you.  And so we’ve titled this series GOD ON DISPLAY.  That’s what we learn in the book of Jonah, that God is a God who loves His children and won’t let them rebel and get away.  He goes after them.  Isn’t that good news?   I mean, that’s a thrilling thing to think that that’s the heart of our God for each of His children.  He loves us and He pursues us. 

Now here’s the coolest thing about the message.  There’s only two points to this message, and the points are made over and over and over in the text.  So I’ve got to kind of find a balance between two things.

1.  The longer our rebellion lasts, the harder it is to get back. 

That point is made over and over in the text.  And you need to know what I mean by rebellion.  Rebellion is not ignorance.  Ignorance is where you don’t know what God wants you to do.  That’s not rebellion if you don’t know.  Secondly, it’s not discouragement.  It’s not where you know but you just need some support and encouragement to get it done. That’s not rebellion, when you know and you’re trying and failing but you just need to be encouraged.  That’s not rebellion.  Rebellion is where you know what God wants you to do but you won’t do it.  Where God has clearly prescribed some things for you to do and you’re like, “I’m not doing that.  I won’t do it.”  Write this down.  Rebellion is a refusal to do what God clearly requires.  Whether that’s in my marriage or with my children or with my time or with my finances or my lifestyle.  God has written a Book, and if you know what it says and you don’t do it, that’s rebellion.  That’s the first point. 

Here’s the second thing: God is relentless in His pursuit.  Make a note of that.  God is absolutely relentless in His pursuit of us.  When we try to run from God, God comes after us, and He never lets up.  And you know what?  For some of you, just give you a little insight, God’s gonna be coming after you this month about some specific stuff in your life.

I’m ready to go to Jonah, chapter 1, verse 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.” (Jonah 1:1-2 ESV)

Now isn’t it interesting the way that this specifically was phrased?  “Arise, go.”  Now let me just tell you, Nineveh (I’ll say more about it in chapter 3) was a very big, ancient metropolis.  It was actually the capital of the Assyrian Empire.  Archaeologists have discovered ruins there.  And it’s estimated that Nineveh was more than a million people.  Think of that.  All these years ago and more than a million people in the metropolis of Nineveh.  Now notice the call.  Now Jonah was a prophet called to the nation of Israel.  And He was focused on that one nation.  He didn’t call them and say, “Hey, why don’t you all go over here now to Babylon and preach to them?  And why don’t you go over here to China and preach to them?”  God wasn’t like that back then.  God was focused in on this one nation.  And so for God to call one of His prophets and say, “Get up and go over there to those heathen, pagan people who have never even heard about Me and cry out,” why did God want him to do it?  What does He say?  He says, “for their wickedness has come up before Me.” IT WAS GOD’S GRACE! Now you’ve gotta know that had to be some rampant, prolonged, perverse wickedness for God to call one of His prophets.  God was like, “This is getting so much in My face, you’ve gotta go tell those people to knock it off.”  And God had already said He was gonna judge them.  And the reason why Jonah, of course, didn’t want to go was because he knew that if he preached that they would repent, and God wouldn’t judge them, and Jonah hated them.  Jonah hated the Ninevites because they had plundered and murdered many of the Israelite people in various battles through history.  And Jonah was like, the last thing he wanted was for those people to get right with his God.  And so, he totally didn’t want to go.  Not to those wicket people who would parade their prisoners of war through the streets by hooks in their noses and jaws, skin people alive and use their skins to decorate the walls of their city.

But look how clear the command was.  First of all, God said, “Go.  Now how many people think you get the “go” part?  I can just hear my wife saying to my children, “Which part of ‘go’ don’t you understand?”  And so, God said to him, “Go.”  There was nothing more specific than that.

Just go!  And secondly, when you get there, do this, “Call Out.”  Interesting, that’s what God wanted.  God wanted Jonah to lift up his voice and cry out--loudly, Bottom line, God wanted Jonah to let the people know how He felt. 

Now all around us are people living in overt rebellion to God, in the streets and in the offices where we live our lives.  So let me just give a little counsel to our fellowship here.  When God opens a door for you to speak for Him, do just that.  And know this.  The message that you bring is going to produce one of two responses.  1.  Either it will bring dramatic life transformation in the person that you’re called to speak to, 2. or you and your message will be rejected and you will be thrown out the door on your ear. When maintaining the relationship becomes more important than speaking for God and confronting sin, the role of spiritual advisor has been compromised. 

Just as many in our day refuse to speak for God, so Jonah also rebelled.  He said, “I don’t want to speak for You, God.  I don’t want to say what needs to be said and I don’t want to pay the price.  It’s too high.” Those people are too wicked and don’t deserve your Grace!

So notice what happens in verse 3, [3] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish.  Now you’ve gotta know where Tarshish is, OK?  It’s not like partial obedience, (SHOW MAP) This is like direct opposite.  Tarshish was like Spain, which was the far border of the known world at the time.  It’s like God told Jonah to go east and he went west, as far as he could absolutely go. 

That’s how far he went.  That’s the plans that he made.  So this is clearly rebellion.  And every step of rebellion that he takes gets him further and further away from the Lord.  Rebelling against God is a very serious thing and it’s a deliberate choice. 

Now notice from verse 3 how much effort it takes.  Notice seven verbs there, seven choices.  When we rebel, it’s because we choose.  Notice, [3] But Jonah roseto 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.

We are all Jonah and we are all running from God in certain areas and in certain matters that we know to be right.  And it says that Jonah “went down to Joppa.”  Well, that was already a different culture.  People were dressed differently.  They ate different foods.  And he was walking through the marketplace in Joppa.  I mean, the clue phone should have been ringing really loud.  He should have been saying, “I don’t belong here.”  If you’ve ever rebelled against God and made some bad choices, you find your feet taking you places you know you shouldn’t be there.  And you find your eyes looking at things you know you shouldn’t be looking at.  And you see your hands reaching out and touching things you know you shouldn’t be touching.  And there’s this overwhelming sense of, “I don’t belong here.  I’m a follower of Jesus Christ.  This is no place for me.”  And yet still he overruled that sense and kept on choosing.  And here’s the sad part.  The longer our rebellion lasts, the harder it is to get back.  And you can rebel against God for a day or a week or a month, but if that becomes a year or a decade, it’ll quickly become a lifetime.  And every day of rebellion is another plank kicked out of the bridge back to God.  Do you hear me?  The longer our rebellion lasts, the harder it is to get back. 

Vs3 “He found a ship which was going to Tarshish, and he paid the fare.”  When you go God’s way, God pays the fare, and it works out great.  When you go your way, you pay yourself, and it works out lousy, as you’re gonna see in a minute.  “. . . [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. Now look at verse 3 and just tell me, what’s the phrase that’s emphasized in verse 3?  Do you see it there?  What’s the phrase that’s emphasized in verse 3?  Right.  “From the presence of the Lord,” two times, “from the presence of the Lord.”  Jonah is running from the presence of the Lord. 

And maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve convinced yourself that you’re running from the presence of the Lord.  Maybe there’s an addiction that’s been eating away at your life.  Maybe it’s a relationship that you’ve allowed yourself to be in and it’s unrighteous and you know it.  Or maybe you’ve chosen a group of friends that are influencing you totally contrary to the things that you would hear here this morning and from God’s Word.  Maybe there’s a lifestyle choice that you’ve been making and it’s not right and you feel convicted about it.  And the spiritual poverty that you are experiencing is proof positive that the choices that you’ve been making are wrong, and you know it!  And you’ve known it for a long time.  But you’ve not made any changes. 

Maybe it’s a positive action.  Rebellion isn’t always doing the wrong.  Sometimes it’s avoiding the right.  And maybe God’s been pursuing you about your walk with Him or your prayer life.  Maybe this is another year where you’ve said, “This is going be the year that I’m going to take those steps in my personal walk with God.”  But listen, you still haven’t done it.  And the longer your rebellion lasts, the harder it is to get back.  And the more years that you walk with God on the fringe and don’t lay hold of His Word and don’t lay hold of a personal relationship with Him and access all the benefits of that for your life personally, the longer your rebellion lasts, the harder it is to get back. 

And what does it say in Psalm 139?  “Where can I go from Your presence?  Where can I go?  If I go to heaven, You’re there.  If I go to the lower parts of the earth, You’re there.  If I take the wings of the morning and fly to the outermost parts of the earth, even there, God, You’re there.” 

Notice verse 4.  What’s God gonna do?  There was Jonah, out on the Mediterranean Sea, headed in the opposite direction.  What’s God gonna do?   Is God gonna just let him go? 

It’s gonna be like, “Just fine then, off you go.  Bye.”  Is God gonna say, “Well, you know what?  You just really have not been the best prophet anyway.  I’ve just been waiting for a chance to get a new one.  Thanks for freeing up the payroll.”  Is that what God does?  No, no, not at all.  Is God done with Jonah?  You better believe God’s not done with Jonah.  Jonah runs and, BOOM, God goes after him and begins to pursue him.  And that’s what you see in verse 4, the relentless pursuit of God.  

2.  God is relentless in his pursuit.

            Notice, it says,    [4] But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea,

(Jonah 1:4 ESV) The NIV says, “Then the Lord.”  New King James says, “But the Lord.”  I love that, ‘cause that’s the whole story here.  God calls, “but Jonah.”  You see in verse 3, “but Jonah”?  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.

I read this week, one commentator said, “The same God who stills the storms in the life of the submissive ones creates the storms in the life of the rebellious ones.”  Listen.  The same God who could speak to the storm in your life this morning and say, “Peace.  Be still.”  Well, notice how this is affecting the people around Jonah.  “The storm was so great on the sea so that the ship was about to break up,” verse 5.  Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god.

Notice what happens.  These sailors, they cry out to their god.  And then I love this.  “They throw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.”

So what I’m seeing in the verses, if this storm is so bad that these guys are throwing everything overboard, they’re like, “OK, dead, with a job, or alive, without a job. 

Now this makes me so mad.  “. . .Vs 5 But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep..” Here’s these people fighting for their lives and for his life and he’s so self-centered and so self-focused and so self-consumed that he goes down into the inner parts of the ship to sleep.  And can’t you just hear his pillow talk before he goes to sleep?  “Stupid Ninevites’ they don’t deserve God’s Grace!

[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.” Now, knowing sailors, I’m guessing there were some additional words that Jonah left out for our benefit. Thank you, Jonah.

Notice in verse 7, [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.

In the Old Testament, they often cast lots as a way of deciding what it was they wanted to do.  Now God supernaturally made sure.  Guess who the lot falls to.  End of verse 7, “So they cast lots and the lot fell to Jonah.  Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, now!  On whose account has this calamity struck us?  (They’re just like all over him with these questions.)  What is your occupation?  Where are you from?  What is your country?  What people are you?’”  “We’re going to the bottom of the ocean for you.  You’re clearly the problem.  Now tell us what it is.” 

            They’re just like all over him.  So he’s like, . . . “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and dry land.”

Now the amazing thing is, notice their response when they know who this God is.  It says they “became extremely frightened.”  Different word than the word for “fear”in verse 5.  It’s like they were going crazy.  “And they said to him, ‘How could you do this?’” 

For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them” (verse 11).  [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.

Now that might seem noble, but I’m telling you, it’s not.  What should Jonah have said?  Jonah should have said, “Just sit tight, boys.”  He should have gone over to another part of the deck, a real flat part, and got down on his knees and said, “God, I’m so sorry.  Why have I resisted You like this, God?  Your ways are best, Your ways are good.  I have no excuse, God.  I’m just so sorry.” 

But do you know what he says in effect instead. When he says, “Throw me into the sea,” what’s he really saying?  He’s saying, “I’d rather die than do what God wants me to do.”  You say, “He’s a prophet of God.  How did he get to that ridiculous place?” The longer our rebellion lasts, the harder it is to get back. BUT GOD is relentless in his pursuit.

“However, the men rowed desperately to return to land.”  Now how sad a picture is that?  How’d you like to be in a rowing contest with God?  The guys are like, “Hey, just leave this with us.  We’re gonna get the boat to shore.”  And God’s just got His little finger on the end of the boat going, “Ha, ha, ha.  Ha, ha, ha.  You tired yet?  BUT They did not want to be accountable for his blood on their hands.

There’s God’s relentless pursuit.  Verse 4, “a great storm.”  Verse 11, “increasingly stormy.”  Verse 13, “even stormier.”  And isn’t that exactly what God does in our lives?  Just keeps churning and churning and churning, till we turn around and go where He wants us to go.  Verse 14,        [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.”

Verse 15, how sad is this, “So they picked up Jonah, and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.”  Now that’s where I would make the break in the chapter.  And we’re gonna pick up with the next part of it next week.  So just look right up here, ‘cause here’s what I want you to see.  Next week we’re gonna learn about Jonah and we’re gonna learn about how he got right with God and we’re gonna go over in great detail how to get right with God.

Let ask you as we close, are you hearing God’s call? Today, let’s run in the right direction.  If there is sin and disobedience, let’s repent of right now.  If we have been less than enthusiastic about the mission that God has given us, let’s get reenergized and recommit ourselves to the proclamation of the gospel.  God really does want us to walk the line and that is only possible when we hear the call and live the call.  Let’s begin living that call today!