Fishing for Obedience
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Introduction
Introduction
The Book of Jonah is not about a prophet that rebelled from his God, it is about the limitless, boundless, never-ending, immeasurable love of God. You see, God will go to great lengths for you and for me.
We are going to begin a new series on this book and hopefully you will see how this little 4 chapter book stuck near the end of the Old Testament. Most people seem to think that it was either written by Jonah or someone that was very close to him. Some people think that it is a metaphor and that these events did not actually happen. I totally disagree with that thought and here is why:
Jonah is portrayed in other areas of scripture
describes Jonah, tells who his father was , and what he was about as a prophet.
Jonah is portrayed in other literature as a real person with a flawed character
Jesus spoke of Jonah as described in and in .
Was Jesus wrong in presenting Jonah as a real story?
I believe that the miracles in the book of Jonah are real because the God I serve is big enough to make it happen!
The Book of Jonah has several implications for today:
Prejudice and hatred abound. There is no room for this in God’s people.
Sin always offends God’s Holiness and must be dealt with with drastically.
God is serious about His calling and there is no option but to obey.
God does not redeem some and not redeem others. God’s grace is for all.
Go will accomplish His purpose, with or without us!
Repentance can prevent calamity.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”
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.
So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
The Call
The Call
The very first phrase, “the word of the Lord came to Jonah...” is a phrase that very common in the Old Testament. In fact, it occurs over 100 times in the Old Testament and it denotes a word or commandment is coming forth. Usually, a message follows delivered by the prophet. Here, it introduces specific instructions for the prophet.
It begs the question: How does one recognize the WORD of the Lord? How can you and I know that this is the WORD of the Lord or the word of self or the late night pizza you had before bed?
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
The Call of the Lord is important for us.
God’s word is the real thing.
God’s word is authoritative.
God’s word is recognizable.
God’s word is available.
Henry Blackaby, the author if the great work EXPERIENCING GOD, shows us that there is a pattern throughout scripture of how God used those He has called.
We can see thrht
He came to them.
He revealed His plan activity.
In turn, those God called believed Him and adjusted their lives and activity to Him.
They obeyed Him or suffered the consequences.
They experienced God His will through them.
If you study the men and women of the Bible that received the word of the Lord, one characteristic always stands out: They knew the Lord and were able to recognize His voices. They were able to study the scrolls that contained the word of the Lord. They understood the characteristics of God and they understood what the characteristics were not.
Jonah heard the call of the Lord. Quick question, would you be able to recognize the call of the Lord? Not only do we see the call of Jonah, but we also see the Command that came from that call.
The Command
The Command
“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Nineveh was a major city of the Assyrians. We learn later in the book of , that Nineveh had a population of 120,000. History books tell us that it was a city of cruel and warlike people and they were long time enemies of Israel. Assyrian artwork shows scenes of war, execution, impalement, beheadings and the flaying of skin off prisoners.
Nineveh was not a pleasant place and it had very unpleasant people. God told Jonah to go and “preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before” Him. It was a city of great wealth and power, a city without the knowledge and worship of the True God. It was a city practicing wickedness.
Jonah was given a specific command. It was concise but specific. However, we see that Jonah decided to make a counter offer.
The Counter
The Counter
In , we see one of the saddest phrases in all of the Bible: “But Jonah ran away from the Lord.”
Jonah was called and given a command. However, he decided to counter. He decided to be contrary to the right course and go against what God commanded him to do.
Have you ever been there?
Jonah had the wrong attitude toward God’s will, he thought it was too difficult and too dangerous.
Jonah had the wrong attitude toward witnessing, he thought he could turn his witnessing on and off when he wanted to, however, he did not realize that he was either witnessing against or for the Lord no matter where he was.
Jonah had the wrong attitude towards his enemies. He wanted to see them perish.
Do you notice Jonah’s downward spiral.
Down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the sea, down into the belly of a great fish. Disobedience always leads downward. Yet even though going down, Jonah was so much at peace with his waywardness that he was able to go to sleep in a storm!
Jonah’s decision to go against God had some major consequences. He lost God’s voice and God had to speak to him in a storm. He lost his spiritual energy and went to sleep in the bottom of a ship. He lost his power in prayer and even in hi desire to pray. Even the guys on the ship that had no idea who God was prayed better than Jonah was able to pray. He lost his testimony and he lost his influence. He was the cause of the storm!
Jonah’s disobedience almost lost his life.
But notice though, how patient and long-suffering our Lord is!
Psalm 1
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word.
Hebrews
But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Jonah 1:17
If the first part of verse 3 that says “But Jonah ran away from the Lord” is the saddest part, this chapter concludes with one of the sweetest phrases ever, “But the Lord provided...”
Jonah lost the presence of God, but God never
You see, we are all like sheep that have gone astray. We are lost wandering and trying to make it on our own. We hear the shepherd call us and give us direction, but we seem to think that we can do it on our own. In doing so, we often cause our own demise.
What has God called you to do that is making you run? What is God commanding you to do that is propelling you to go in another direction? What extremes as you going to so say no to God’s plan? How is that downward spiral working for you?
Yet God in His mercy, provides for us a way out!
Which way are you going to go?