Yahweh Intervenes

Intro

Last time I spoke, we were introduced to a Rebel Prophet. To Jonah. Jonah who was no stranger to the tasks of God when it was easy or benefitted him. Jonah who was told by God to go to Nineveh, Israel’s enemies, and proclaim the truth: You are wicked and God will judge.

He fled.

We find ourselves, today, on a boat. The rebel prophet is sleeping below deck while the storm rages and souls are about to plunge into Hell. God’s wrath is upon them.

Yet, Jonah rests.

Jonah rests in the midst of God’s judgement. He has become complacent in his sin.

Today, as we look at Jonah 1:7-17, though Jonah ran, though he is sleeping in the midsts of God’s rath while lost souls are dying around him, we simply see Yahweh intervene.

Jonah 1:7–17 KJV 1900

And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

They Knew of Yahweh

Jonah sleeps below deck, and the sailors are fighting for their life.

These are experienced men of the sea, they have seen storms often, but nothing like this.

This storm was so bad, they knew that a divine being of some sort was sending out their punishment upon them.

Jonah 1:7–8 “And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?”

So they cast lots.

What does that mean?

Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Revelation: We Will Learn that We Have Real Problems (Jonah 1:7–10)

The mariners have been calling on false gods. Now they are going to turn toward Jonah because a lot is going to fall on him. 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.”

This is an indication that God was in full control of this situation. It was not some sort of “chance” that the lots would fall on Jonah. This was God showing the sailors, and Jonah, that his disobedience led to God’s wrath.

They woke Jonah up and confronted him.

Jonah 1:9–12 “And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.”

They asked Jonah who was his God and he told them, it is Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews.

The men trembled. They knew of YHWH. They had heard the stories of this great and mighty God.

But, just because they had heard of YHWH does not mean they knew Him personally.

They were as lost as the Ninevites, and Jonah was complacent, lazy, and did not seem to care about their eternal state.

Church, Jonah was looking for an easy way out.

Jonah did not ask to be thrown into the sea so that he could swim to shore! He was banking on the odds that the seas would kill him. That God’s wrath would end his life and he would not have to share God’s word.

This is the state of the world today.

Many are willing to do whatever it takes, and whatever cost, to save their reputation, to save earthly hardship, in order to avoid sharing the Gospel.

Sharing the Word of God is not always easy. Sometimes it feels painful, harsh, awkward even.

But, the Word of God is the one and only authoritative Word from the Creator of the Universe.

Believe it. Love it. Share it.

Many today in our world are like the sailors. They know of God, they have heard the stories of Jesus. Yet, they are still calling out to their idols to save them in time of need.

They are calling on their own logic and experience. They are calling on their emotions. They are calling on Google, the Dr’s, their parents. They are calling on pornography, drugs, addictions.

They are calling on idols when they should be calling on God.

Dr’s and parents can be good. Google has some answers.

But, they cannot become the idols on which we cast our cares.

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Cast your care, your worry, your pain, your circumstances on the Savior. For He cares for you.

He cared for Jonah and the Sailors.

The Sailors knew who God was, but they did not follow Him as the One True God. They called on their idols.

Group Rebellion and Group Surrender

They called out to their idols and begged Jonah to call out to his.

When Jonah gave them the answer “Cast me into the sea” he wanted to end it, but he also knew that this storm was caused by God’s wrath against him.

When he responded, listen to what the sailors did.

Jonah 1:13 “Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.”

They rebelled with Jonah, seemingly for his good!

Church, so often we help our brothers and sisters run from God for we see God’s discipline in their life and think “life is just dealing them a bad hand.”

In our independence from God and our ignorance, we rebel with our brothers and sisters and say it is for “their good.”

Running from God’s call to go to Nineveh was not good. And it was not for Jonah’s good. But, the sailors in that moment were ignorant to the workings of YHWH and they helped him run.

We don’t really know how long they tried to get back to dry ground, but we know that their attempts led to more wrath from a Holy and Just God.

“The sea grew more and more tempestuous agains them” this verse tells us.

When we ignore God’s warnings and discipline, then in essence we are blaming God for the pain in our lives when in reality, God’s discipline has a glorious plan and purpose.

We cannot run from it and expect God to relent.

We, like Jonah, cannot try to take an easy way out either.

We must accept God’s discipline and run to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

And, even harder than this, we have to help our brothers and sisters do the same thing.

When we see the discipline of God in someone’s life, we cannot look at them and say “Oh, you poor thing, you are right, let’s try to run from this.”

We must maturely look at them and with every intention of helping restore them to Christ, must say “Friend, God is trying to get your attention. Where in your life are you running? Can I help you? Can I pray with you?”

We must not be afraid to be vulnerable with our brothers and sisters for the sake of the Savior.

The sailors must have realized this. Because as they once knew who YHWH was, they then knew Him as God.

The group rebelled. Then the group had to surrender.

They Knew Yahweh

Jonah 1:14–16 “Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.”

Many believe that the Sailors did not come to accept God as their Savior in this passage.

Yet, I would disagree.

Yes they feared, but they saw the mighty work of God and responded with vows, with devotion.

Now, with no discipleship, we won’t know how they progressed through sanctification. But, we know that they feared the Lord, offered sacrifice, and made vows.

They did not just see the power of God in fear of the sea. They saw the power of God as the sea ceased its raging as well.

They, from what we read, believed, surrendered, and devoted themselves to God.

They turned from their idols and turned to YHWH God.

In other words, we see an act of repentance.

This is what God asks of you and I, of the world in which we live:

To see the power and work of God through different circumstances and ultimately His Word, and make a decision to turn from our idol worship, from our devotion to anything other than God, and turn to Him in repentance.

Jonah’s disobedience led to God’s wrath which led to the salvation of souls.

Jonah was not concerned with this. God had gotten part of Jonah’s attention, but not all of it.

There was still work to be done.

Jonah Saw Yahweh

Jonah 1:17 “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

The sailors knew of YHWH, they helped Jonah rebel against YHWH, they then knew YHWH … now Jonah is seeing YHWH

Jonah, remember, did not plan on getting swallowed by this great fish. Jonah surely believed that he would die when he was thrown overboard. He thought of it as a win-win. He would not have to go to Nineveh and God’s wrath would be satisfied.

Jonah was just as surprised as you were when you first heard this story.

Jonah was seeing God’s plan continue, though He did not like it. A plan that would lead to a nation of lost enemies coming to know YHWH.

This reminds me of another scenario in Scripture.

Listen to how one author words it:

Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Rescue: We Then Will See the Real Savior (Jonah 1:17)

Jesus did perfectly what Jonah also (if temporarily) accomplished: both were from Galilee; Jonah struggled with his call to preach, Jesus struggled to do the will of the Father (in the desert, at Gethsemane); both preached God’s message of judgment and reconciliation to the marginalized and to sinners; both chose death forsaken by others; both bore and removed the consequences of sin from others; both caused the storm to cease after sleeping through it (Jonah through repentance, Jesus through his divinity); Jonah entered the jaws of the fish, Jesus entered the jaws of the grave; both were kept for three days; both were raised up again by the Father; Jonah’s obedience in preaching led to the conversion of a great city, and Jesus’ obedience led to the conversion of many cultures of the world. (Jonah, 63)

For the forgiveness of many and to appease God’s wrath, we see Jonah perfected in Christ.

Sent to share a message, struggling with the call, being cast into the belly of death, raised again on the 3rd day for the forgiveness of many.

The nation of Nineveh, though real, symbolically shows the sin of the world, your sin and mine, bought with a price.

Jonah saw YHWH at work in the fish. Jesus saw YHWH at work on the cross.

And today, you need to see YHWH at work in your life.

Stop running from Nineveh. Stop roping in others to help you. See the glorious work of God in your life, see YHWH’s plan, and do what you can to follow it in obedience.

Because, just like for Jonah, the plan God has for you is always without a doubt for your good and His glory. Don’t run, rather embrace it, and you will see beautiful results.

SONG

Conclusion

However, some of you may be like the sailors and struggle to see God for who He is, the God of the universe, your Creator.

Maybe you need to lay your idols down and trust in Jesus.

Maybe this morning you feel that guilt for your sin and sense that you need to change.

Would today be the day?

*salvation plea*

Maybe this morning you are struggling with keeping your idols down. You laid them down, but you really like picking them back up. You need to spend some time with the Lord this morning.

Maybe you are running fro God’s really good plan for you for whatever reason. Don’t look at the speed bump between you and God’s plan. Just keep your eyes on the Savior and let Him guide you.

Would you come pray?