The Selfish (Or Fearful) Rebel

Intro

One of the more familiar stories in the Bible is the story of Jonah. We know the story. Jonah was called by God, he ran, God sent a large fish to eat him, he gets regurgitated and listens to God, but with no joy.

We see a rebel run from God and a God who not only refuses to give up on His child, but on the lost souls of an enemy nation. We see a Rebel Prophet and a Merciful God.

For the next few weeks, this is what I want to discuss with you. I want to walk us through the narrative of Jonah and pull good application for each of us.

I believe through this series you are going to find much to relate with, so I encourage you now, when you see yourself in the rebel prophet or maybe a little of the rebel prophet in you, seek the Lord. Don’t run from His presence. Come to Him in repentance. You will find great joy and blessing in this way.

As we read today, you are going to find the beginnings of this story. A story of a selfish (or fearful) prophet).

Jonah 1:1–6 “Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.”

Some Context

Before we get into the text today, there is some context we have to work through.

First, it is important to understand what is going on with Jonah.

Many times, we read Jonah and think this is his first call from the Lord. We see him run from his call to preach, as we so often say. However, this is not the case.

By this point, Jonah was already a prophet of God. He has already spoken prophecies and helped God’s Kingdom.

2 Kings 14:23–25 “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.”

Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Jonah Also Is an Important Piece of American Church Culture

It was through Jonah’s preaching that Jeroboam II fixed Israel’s border that had been weakened during early conflicts with Assyria. This kept Israel from being blotted out as a people.

By this point in Jonah 1, he has seen God’s goodness and mercy.

Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Jonah Also Is an Important Piece of American Church Culture

He already knows the kindness of the Lord; he already knows His power to save, comfort, heal, and judge. He already understands that the Lord is Israel’s protector and strong tower, her King of Glory who is worthy to be praised. Therefore, when the word of the Lord comes to Jonah, he is less like someone who does not want to answer the call to stand behind the pulpit and more like someone who does not want to talk to people in this evil generation about the goodness of our God. He is not the pastor only a few of us can identify with; he is the person who has experienced the grace of God but fails to tell others about it. All of us can—and must—relate to him. He is a rebel against the Lord’s word, which calls everyone to tell others about a great and loving King.

He was not running from a call to preach. He was running from God entirely. He had beat up on the school yard bullies around his friends, He has prophesied with God’s people, but not he was being asked to go stand up to the bully face-to-face. He was fearful. He was selfish. He knew they needed salvation, yet he fled.

God is Willing to Use a Rebel Heart

However, God is willing to use a rebel heart for His glory and the fulfillment of His will and purposes.

Reread Jonah 1:1–3 “Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

Immediately off the bat we see God call Jonah to go to Nineveh to prophecy. To tell them of their wickedness, their sin.

God Knew His Rebel Heart

God knew his rebel heart though. He knew what Jonah would say.

Yet, God was going to use him nevertheless. To teach Jonah a lesson and to use him to bring about the salvation of a nation.

Another good term for rebellion is “sin.”

This is what plunged us into a sin nature to begin with, rebellion against God’s instructions in the Garden of Eden. This is why we sin, this is why sin needs a sacrifice, this is why Jesus had to die — because of our rebellion.

We are rebels. Jonah was a rebel.

Jonah heard what God asked him to do, and he fled.

However, God still called His prophet.

God knows your rebel heart, yet He will still call you. I wonder, will you listen? Will you answer? Or will you flee?

When we flee, we are not just fleeing a call, but a presence, God’s presence.

Rebellion leads to Rejection

Because rebellion against God leads to a total rejection of God’s will.

Jonah was not just fleeing God’s call to go to Nineveh. In his decision to flee, he is attempting to run from God altogether.

Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Rebellion Leads to Complete Rejection of God (Jonah 1:1–2)

The phrase “[away] from the LORD’s presence” is a Hebrew idiom that indicates Jonah is in full rebellion against the Lord. Jonah is trying to do more than escape going to Nineveh. Jonah is trying to reject the temple choirs, the sacrifices and offerings, the holy of holies, the ark of the covenant, the law, the priests, God Himself, and everything about God! This all started, however, with disobedience to the word of the Lord to go preach to evil, Gentile Nineveh.

He was not running from a call to preach. He was not running from a call to evangelize. No, he was running from God Himself.

We see this in our culture. God asks us to do one hard thing and we attempt to leave Him, some are even successful.

We rebel. And when we do, we are inviting God’s wrath.

A Rebel Heart Invites God’s Wrath

Jonah 1:4–5 “But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.”

We aren’t given a timeline of how long Jonah was on the boat before God’s wrath ignited. But, we know that Jonah had already taken intense steps to run from God.

Historical estimates say that Jonah ran nearly 3,000 miles from Nineveh in the opposite direction to flee.

And, God saw.

We Serve a Jealous God

Exodus 34:14 “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:”

We serve a jealous God, meaning a God who longs after His creation. God loves you and wants you, so when we flee God, we cannot be surprised when He tries to get our attention, no matter how He does it.

A rebel heart invites God’s wrath because He is jealous.

But also because rebellion is serious!

Rebellion is Serious!

You may think “Why was God’s wrath so harsh?” You may even think “I sympathize with Jonah in thinking this way!”

If you think that Jonah didn’t know why God’s wrath was upon them, you would be mistaken. We will see that next week.

Jonah knew what was happening, because rebellion is a serious thing!

Remember, when you trace Scripture from beginning to end, rebellion is what led Christ to the cross and rebellion is what casts souls into Hell.

Rebellion is serious, Jonah knew this, that is why he ran so far in his foolish attempt to flee God.

Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Rebellion Invites the Wrath of God (Jonah 1:4–5)

William L. Banks comments:

Rebellion never escapes God’s notice, and it is foolish for men to think they can resist God’s will with impunity.… The Lord may let a man go to a certain point before He steps in, but when He does move, He moves with no uncertainty. (Jonah, 2)

Your rebellion is serious. But thanks be to God, we serve a Lord who is faithful and just to forgive. That when we see our rebellion, we have the opportunity to let is God and cling to God rather than flee.

But, Jonah isn’t there yet. Jonah is still being selfish, foolish, and fearful.

And we see that a rebel heart finds comfort around lost souls.

A Rebel Heart finds Comfort in the Midst of Lost Souls

Jonah 1:6 “So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.”

This should never be the case. We should not find any comfort around lost souls.

I don’t mean we should be uncomfortable being around them, no. The Scripture is clear that our souls should grieve over their sinful state, over their eternal state.

Our souls should grieve, our souls should be burdened by the sins of those around us, which should plunge us into action, not into sleep. James 4:9 “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”

Jonah 1:6 sounds a lot like Matthew 8:23–24 “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.”

But there is a key difference: Jesus slept trusting in the Father. Jonah slept trusting in himself and his rebellion.

Now, we know Jonah was physically tired from his running, but he was also spiritually weak. So, he slept under the guise of “I have done it. I have run from God.”

When this was not the case.

He slept in a boat full of pagans, full of lost souls. He was resting comfortably when a ship full of men were about to plunge into Hell for eternity.

He was comfortable in the midst of lost souls.

Isn’t this why he fled to begin with? To avoid lost souls?

Your rebel heart will find comfort knowing that souls around you are going to hell.

Your pure heart which longs after God simply will not.

Your heart after God will weep and mourn the lost around you, which will spur you to action.

Jonah wept not, not for others at least. Jonah we find to be the selfish and fearful prophet.

The one who ran, not from God’s call, but from God Himself. The one willing to trade his relationship with God for some worldly comfort. A rebel at heart. Though God was willing to use Him, we see Jonah run, we see Jonah face God’s wrath, and we see Jonah still yet finding comfort amidst a lost people.

We see sin in Jonah in these first 6 verses.

And truly this morning, you may see yourself.

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Conclusion

Maybe you are Jonah in these first 6 verses. Maybe you are called by God and are trying, not just to flee your call, but your God.

Perhaps you are someone who loves what God asked you to do at one time, but now His callings are becoming to scary.

Maybe you are fleeing.

Are you running?

How do you know if you are running from God’s will?

See that last point again.

Your rebel heart will find comfort knowing that souls around you are going to hell.

You may say “Pastor, I am not comfortable with that!” Then ask another question, are you leading them to Jesus.

Maybe we could all spend some time in prayer this morning asking our Lord to encourage us to good works, to strengthen us to evangelism.

Maybe this morning you have never made the decision to follow Jesus to begin with .

*salvation plea*