Jonah: The Unwilling Messenger
JONAH: THE UNWILLING MESSENGER
Jonah 1
Introduction
The book of Jonah is probably one of most maligned book in the Bible. Why??? Because it has the story of a man who is swallowed by a great fish (or as Jesus said “a whale”). Ray Stedman in his sermon “Jonah: The Reluctant Ambassador” wrote: “There are some interesting historically—verified incidents of men who have been swallowed by fishes, very much like Jonah was. I would recommend Harry Rimmers’ book, The Harmony of Science and Scripture, in which he tells of an Englishman, a salor, who fell overboard, and was swallowed by a fish. A day or two later the fish was seen floating on the surface of the water, and was taken ashore. When it was opened up, the sailors, to their amazement, found their shipmate alive. He survived the experience, but his skin had turned a chalky white and remained so for the rest of his life. Dr. Rimmer talked with him and learned the details of his experience. It was clearly verified. There have been other accounts like this, probably half a dozen altogether. It has happened to others besides Jonah.”
Let’s look at this very interesting book. Not just because of the fact that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish but because of the lessons that we can learn about God and our relationship to Him.
I. The Call of Jonah VV. 1-2
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai”
Jonah—a historical person 2 Kings 14:23-25 “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Josah king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arahab, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai the prophet from Gath Heper.”
“Word of the Lord came to Jonah”: God’s call done in many different ways
Grandpa Grant called to preach on a hot summer night in Southern Missouri
A farming community in which the yearly “Revival” was held during the hottest part of the summer
After all the crops had been planted
Before the harvest
Group of men were standing outside the small country church, waiting for the evangelist to arrive
Word was received that the evangelist had become sick and would not be able to come
Other men turned by my grandfather and asked him to preach the revival
This was the first of many sermons that he preached over the years
Other call’s in the Bible
Isaiah in 6th chapter of Isaiah
Saw God as a Holy, Righteous Being sitting on a throne
Saw the seraphs crying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the earth is full of his glory.”
Isaiah cried “Woe to me! I am ruined: For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord Almighty.”
Heard God’s question: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Responded: “Here am I. Send me!”
Jeremiah 1:4—9
Moses: the burning bush
V. 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
“Go”
Leave your comfortable home
Leave friends and family
Leave the friendly confines of the Northern kingdom
Where: “to the great city of Nineveh”
Capital of Assyria: the monarchy of Assyria lived there
Forty-eight miles in circumference
About the size of Indianapolis inside the belt of I-465
A large population for that day
Wealthy—Nahum 2:8—9
“Nineveh is like a pool,
And its water is draining away.
‘Stop! Stop!’ they cry,
but no one turns back.
Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
The wealth from all its treasures.”
Powerful and dominate (the city that for some time ruled over the Kings of the earth)
Yet, a heathen city
Without the knowledge and worship of the true God
Wicked city
“Their wickedness has come up, that is, it has come to a high degree, to the highest pitch; the measure of it is full to the brim; their wickedness has come up, as that of Sodom, Gen. 18:20, 21. It has come up before me—to my face (so the word is); it is a bold and open affront to God; it is sinning against him, in his sight; therefore Jonah must cry against it; he must witness against their great wickedness, and must worn them of the destruction that was coming upon them for it. God is coming forth against it, and he sends Jonah before, to proclaim war, and to sound an alarm. Cry aloud, spare not. He must not whisper his message in a corner, but publish it in the streets of Nineveh; he that hath ears let him hear what God has to say by his prophet against that wicked city. When the cry of sin comes up to God the cry of vengeance comes out against the sinner. He must go to Nineveh, and cry there upon the spot against the wickedness of if” Matthew Henry’s Commentary
“And preach”: “Webster’s Desk Dictionary”
To deliver (a sermon)
To advocate (moral principles, conduct, etc) as right or advisable
To give advice in an insistent, tedious, or moralizing way
This 3rd definition was what Jonah was to do
Speak what?: “against it” against the way of life in Nineveh
Speak why?: their wickedness had come up to God: GOD NOT LOOK ON SIN
When men’s sin was great during the days of Noah, God sent the flood
When men’s sins were great in Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent burning sulfur on the two towns
THE ESCAPE FROM GOD????
V. 3a “But Jonah ran away from the LORD, and headed for Tarshish.”
“Ran away”: Jonah
Didn’t just try to ignore God’s call
By staying in his home town
By spending some extra time at the Temple worshipping and serving
Ran
As fast as he could
Away from the place where he had heard God’s call
Thought that God only existed in the local area
Psalmist said that he wished that he was back in Jerusalem so that he could worship God for in his mind God could only be heard and worshiped in Jerusalem
“Headed for Tarshish”
City in what we call Spain today
One scholar says that Tarshish was as far west as Nineveh was east from Jonah’s location
V. 3b
“He went down to Joppa”
Now called Jaffa
In the region of the land of the tribe of Dan
Had been a harbor, at least, as early as the King Solomon
“Where he found a ship bound for that port” (Tarshish)
Trying to get away from God
Matthew Henry “But Jonah, instead of rising to go to Nineveh, rose up to flee to Tarshish, to the sea, not bound for any port, but desirous to get away from the presence of the Lord; and, if he might but do that, he care not whither he went, not as if he thought he could go any where from under the eye of God’s inspection, but from his special presence, from the spirit of prophecy, which, when it put him upon this work, he thought himself haunted with, and coveted to get out of the hearing of.
!!!!
V. 3c
“After paying the fare” even though he was running from God, Jonah was going to be an honest runner
“He went aboard and sailed for Tarshish”
Walked up the boarding plank
Prepared himself for a sea journey
Not easy for a Jew
For the Jewish people were
A land people
Who hated the sea
Why else would they hire people from other nations to sail their ships
“To flee from the Lord.” Why
Did not want to go to the city of Nineveh
Did not want to associate with the people of Nineveh
Might have thought that God was just for Israel and the land of Israel
BUT, it wasn’t a common belief for years earlier David had written
“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence”
Ps. 139:7
THE OUTSTRETCHED ARMS OF GOD V. 4—5b
v. 4 “Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.”
A great wind on the sea
Proverbs 30:1—4 “The sayings of Agus of Jakeh—an oracle: This man declared to Ithiel, To Ithiel and to Ucal: I am the most ignorant of men: I do not have a man’s understanding. I have not learned wisdom, Nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?”
Matthew Henry “God...cast forth (so the word is), with force and violence, a great wind into the sea; even stormy winds fulfill his word...he holds them, and whence he squeezes them when he pleases; for though, as to us, the wind blows where it listeth, yet not as to God, but where he directs.”
A violent sea arose
Waves began to rise
Ship began to roll
Here and there
Up and down
So violent was the sea that the ship was in danger of breaking up with all hands being lost at sea
V. 5 “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.”
Fear of the sailors
Sailors had seen storms before but there was something about this storm that was unusual
It was more violent than any other storm that they had ever seen
Which caused great fear in their lives
Pleaded to their gods but to no avail
Took matters into their own hands by throwing their cargo (their livelihood) overboard
BUT TO NO AVAIL
V. 5—6
“But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.”
Jonah felt that
He had outlasted God
He had gotten away from God
He had won
So he was “secure” in his outlook
So Jonah lays down and falls into a deep sleep
As if he had no care in the world
After all he had just ran away from God and had succeeded
But he did not know what was going on up on deck
“The captain went to him...”
The captain of the ship, not the sailors, but the man in charge
“Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice us, and we will not perish.”
“Wake up, Jonah. Can’t you see the danger we’re in?”
Sounds a little like another ship at another time: Jesus and His disciples
Jesus sleeps while the disciples sat awake
Storm arises
Disciples afraid
Criticize Jesus for being asleep
Jesus rises and calms the sea and the wind
Captain
Asks Jonah to wake up
Asks Jonah to call upon his God
SAILORS’ SUGGESTION: “Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.”
“Come, let us cast lots...”
A common practice of the ancient Near Eat
Possible method of casting of lots
Group of market sticks or marked pebbles put (cast) into some type of container
One who draws out a particular marked stick or pebble was considered to be the marked individual
Other examples of the casting of lots
Leviticus 16:6—20 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat.”
Ps 22:18 “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
Proverbs 18:18 “casting the lot settle disputes and keeps strong opponents apart.
Idea—who ever selected the special stick or pebble was chosen as (v. 7b “to find out who is responsible for this calamity.”
Guilty
Responsible for a certain deed
Who had angered their god to cause this great storm?
7c “They cast lots”
None of the sailors suspected himself to be the guilty one: they didn’t say
“Is it I who has caused this storm?”
“Am I the reason for the wind and the wave that are about to destroy this ship and all on board?”
They thought
Is it him (looking at the one to his left or right?)
OR
Is it the captain or one of the passengers on the ship?
It’s not me, so who is the culprit?
“And the lot fell on Jonah.”
So Jonah’s the culprit
Jonah’s the reason for the life-threatening storm
THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN JONAH AND THE OTHER MEN ON BOARD THE SHIP V 8--11
Sailors to Jonah
“Tell us who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?”
In other words
The casting of lots tell us that Jonah is the cause for the danger to the ship and people on board
Asked “who have your angered?”
Who have you upset to the point that they have caused the great storm that is endangering us?
And “what did you do?”
What did you do that is upsetting some god?
Then, “”Where do you come from?”
“What is your country? From what people are you?”
From what country do you belong?
Where is your homeland?
Jonah’s response
“I am a Hebrew.”
A descendant of Abraham
A descendant of Jacob
An Israelite and of their religion
“And I worship
“The LORD”
The sovreign Lord of all
The God of heaven
Who made the sea and the land
The creator of the sea and the land
The only creator
V 10 Response to Jonah’s Revelation
Terror: if the God that this Jonah worships can cause this great storm
What stops Him from snuffing us out
What keeps Him from ending our lives right now
He created land & sea, what else can He do
This storm comes from an offended justice
“That God was angry with one that feared and worshipped him, only for once running from his work in particular instance; this made them afraid for themselves.
‘If a prophet of the LORD be thus severely punished for one offence, what will become of us that have been guilty of so many, and great, and heinous offences?” Matthew Henry
Question: “What have you done?” What did you do to cause this catastrophe?
They knew
That Jonah was running from the LORD
Because he had already told them so
Meanwhile, “the sea was getting rougher and rougher” v 11
The sea: not getting any calmer
The question: “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
Jonah was the reason for the storm
If Jonah
Had not run from God
&
Had not caught a ride on this ship
Then the wind and waves would not have grown up to cause them danger
Storm in an indirect way—the result of sin
Jonah’s answer “Pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm. I know that if is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Jonah
Wouldn’t throw himself into the sea
Had put himself and the other souls on the ship in danger
His reasoning:
If he was sacrificed for them they would be saved from the storm
Could have expressed it like David in 1 Chronicles 21:17 “David said to God, ‘Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These (referring to the men of Israel) are but sheep. What have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.”
THE SALVATION OF THE SAILORS AND THE SHIP
Note first of all, the stubbornness of the sailors V. 13
“Instead”
Of listening to Jonah
By following his advice
“The men did their best to row back to land.”
All grabbed oars
Rowed as hard as they could back to land
“But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.”
Man cannot stop God’s plans
God will use even the mislaid plans of man to get His purpose done
The cry for help V 14 they
Didn’t pray to their many gods as before
Prayed to the one true God, the Creator
V 15
Threw Jonah overboard
Immediately, the raging sea calmed
V. 16 Response of sailors to the calming sea
Greatly feared the LORD
Result of their fear
“Offered a sacrifice to the LORD”
“Made vows to him”
“Then the men feared the Lord with a great fear, were possessed with a deep veneration for the God of Israel, and came to a resolution that they would worship him only for the future; for there is no other God that can destroy, that can deliver.” Matthew Henry
V 17 “But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”
“Jonah’s life, after all, is saved by a miracle...In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy...Though he flees from the presence of the LORD, and seems to fall into his avenging hands, yet God has more work for him to do, and therefore has prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah (v. 17), a whale as our Saviour calls it (Mt. 12:40)...This fish was prepared, lay ready under water close by the ship, that he might keep Jonah from sinking to the bottom, and save him alive, though he deserved to die...It was the Lord’s mercies that Jonah was not now consumed. The fish swallowed up Jonah, not devour him, but to protect him.” Matthew Henry
APPLICATIONS
THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE LIVING GOD
GOD CALLS EACH OF US TO SOMETHING
WITNESSING
LIVING FOR CHRIST BEFORE A SINFUL WORLD
BEING AN EXAMPLE
IN THE WORKPLACE
IN THE HOME
IN THE SCHOOL
WHEREVER WE ARE
SOMETIMES WE TRY TO FLEE GOD’S CALL BY BECOMING INVOLVED IN “CHURCHY” ACTIVITIES INSTEAD OF DOING WHAT HE CALLS US TO DO
GOD USES EVEN THE BEST PLANS THAT MAN MAKES TO HAVE HIS WILL DONE
SENDS STORM TO DRAW JONAH BACK TO THE TASK AT HAND
USES THE UNBELIEVERS TO BREAK US OUT OF OUR COMPLACENCY
OTHER SAILORS ON THE SHIP TO SHAKE UP JONAH
USE UNBELIEVERS TO CONVICT US
IF UNBELIEVERS CAN BE INVOLVED IN THE WORK OF HELPING THE NEEDY
HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD WE, AS BELIEVERS, BE INVOLVED IN HELPING OTHERS
GOD HAS WAYS OF BRINGING TO LIGHT CONCEALED SINS AND SINNERS: NO SIN HID FROM GOD
THE STORM HELPED JONAH TO REALIZE THAT GOD KNEW WHERE JONAH WAS, AND WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO
WHEN SARAH HEARD, AT THE AGE OF 89, THAT SHE WOULD HAVE A SON WITHIN THE YEAR, SHE LAUGHED TO HERSELF (GEN 18)
GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM, “WHY DID SARAH LAUGH?”
SARAH WAS HID FROM VIEW, BUT GOD STILL KNEW THAT SARAH HAD LAUGHED AND HAD SOME UNBELIEF THAT SHE WOULD BEAR A SON WITHIN THE YEAR
GOD WILL USE NATURE AND THE NATURAL AND UNNATURAL LAWS TO LEAD MEN TO HIM
JONAH—STORM AND FISH
OTHER ABOARD THE SHIP—WIND AND WAVES
EVERYONE DESERVES TO HEAR THE SAVING MESSAGE OF GOD
NINEVEH WAS POWERFUL AND WICKED CITY, YET GOD SENT JONAH WITH THE MESSAGE OF MERCY IF THE PEOPLE WOULD REPENT OF THEIR SINS
THERE IS NO ONE ON OUR EARTH THAT DOES NOT DESERVE TO HEAR THE MESSAGE OF THE SAVING GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST