The Jonah In Me

Brandon J. Ray

Jonah: The Wayward Prophet • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Jonah 1:1–17

Disobedience

Jonah is thrown into the sea

Jonah flees toward Tarshish

Jonah disobeys God

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Notes

Transcript

Handout

The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary Purpose

The author’s purpose was “to expose absurdity by the irony of satire,” the absurdity specifically of Jonah, who, as an arrogant isolationist, “holds the God of heaven and earth in [his] pocket, all the while making pious noises about his universal reign and the breadth of his compassion” (p. 54). It is an absurdity into which religious people easily lapse, quite unconsciously, of course. What is said with the lips is not always evident in the life.

Awakening Prayer

The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary Purpose

The author had a profound sense of the absurd, and he used all his literary skills to convey to others his observations on the human scene. Jonah tries to evade God’s demands while at the same time presuming that God will own him and answer his prayers. Jonah believes that Nineveh should be punished, whereas God is prepared to accept Nineveh’s repentance and spare the city. “Jonah thinks he knows God and can disobey—but he does not know God, and ultimately cannot disobey” (Magonet, Form and Meaning, p. 112).

Nathan Jacobi

lkj;lkj

Student Led Scripture Reading

Hayden Peters:

This book serves as a mirror into the human soul.

Jonah 1:1–6 ESV

Jonah 1 ESV

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.” 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. 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. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 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.” 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. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 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. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 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.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Karsyn Miser:

Jonah 1:7–16 ESV

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. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 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. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 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.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Kylee Crawford:

Jonah 1:17 ESV

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Weekly Briefing

Well, here we are a new school year has begun 5 days under your belt. You probably didn’t think you would be able to do it, but you’re still alive…and you aren’t too tired to come to church! Kudos students. You’re probably getting used to your new schedule, finding out who to sit with at lunch and just trying to stay afloat. My athletes in here are probably wishing they would have ran harder, lifted heavier and ate better through the summer - don’t we all. I know I’m wishing I wouldn’t have blown out my ankle at the lock-in - which I take as a sign from the Holy Spirit that lock-in’s may be part of Satan’s plan to ruin Student Pastor’s like myself. Guys, I just want to give you a word of exhortation for school this year - in the midst of adjusting and studying and playing and relationships - don’t miss being on mission for God at Middle School and High School. It is so easy just to get into the drift and flow of things and forget that God has called you to be an ambassador or missionary at IP High or WF George. You may forget that the kid next to you in line for lunch is someone made in the image of God and in need of hearing the bad news of their rebellion against God and the good news of God’s provision for them in the work and person of Jesus Christ. Like keep those eyes open!

Now, for the new 6th graders, tonight is an exercise in what a Wednesday night at Fuel really looks like - you will get the rhythm of Fuel, what we are about, and what we want for you. Guys, we care about your discipleship journey with Christ. My heart for you is to joyfully follow Jesus - and everything that entails. And I believe my calling for you is to help you see and cherish Jesus in order that you can obey him from the heart - what we should call gospel transformed obedience. So we love to get together and sing to God - because He is worthy to be sung to - His name is above all names. We love to come together to pray - and to give you a prayer strategy - so that as a body we can pray in unity for things and see God answer them in our lives. And then we come to sit under the Word - because we believe that God’s word is powerful and effective. It goes out and accomplishes its purpose. When Jesus rose Lazarus from death to life - He just spoke Words and Lazarus came to life. God spoke the world into existence. God’s Word is living and active so we want it to wash over us each week - with the desire that God would use it to transform our desires and mobilize our hands for His glory and His mission and our benefit. So that’s what Fuel is about. That’s what we are up to. That’s why we do the things we do. Lets pray and we will jump into the book of Jonah.

Pray

Introduction

What do you know about the book of Jonah?

Let me begin this way. If I had to make a top 5 list of the hardest things to believe in the Bible - this historical story would not be in there. So many people get caught up in the whole - a big/fish whale swallowed Jonah and he lived in there for 3 days. Really? Is that even scientifically possible? Wouldn’t the stomach acid in this big fish or whale just like dissolve Jonah?

Well, here’s where we need to meet. There are much harder things to believe in the Bible. Like in the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth by speaking. Like all the things around us in nature came from God, who is eternal and the first being and He made it by speaking. Or, take the incarnation. God took on human flesh. Jesus became a man - truly God and truly man. Or, take the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That on the cross Jesus died the death we deserved so that we could have the life we couldn’t live. That He took all the worlds sin on the cross and died then in power He raised from the grave. These are things all Christian’s agree on. They are foundational for our faith.

Look students can we agree that they are a bit more supernatural than a big fish swallowing a guy for a few days and him surviving?

Awesome - the book of Jonah is not a legend, it is not really about surviving in a whale/fish for days, it is not a myth and it is not a parable - it is a historical narrative. We know this because of names, places and events. It reads and was written like a real, historical narrative (fancy word for story). So if you are having a hard-time with this story - like believing it is real - that’s the anti-miraculous worldview that is being pressed upon you from our culture and it runs counter to all the claims of God.

Jonah 1:1–2 ESV

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.”

Okay, so here’s the deal I have some compassion on Jonah. As I was doing my studying Jonah takes a lot of heat. In fact, if you follow the Bible Project (our HS should know about this - it’s the video’s Nathan used to show in SS) well they rip on Jonah hard. He gets no grace. But here is the deal - Jonah was someone who received the “word of the Lord” which meant he was a prophet. In fact, we find out in the book of that Jonah was the type of prophet that when He prophesied those things came true - which was the true test of a prophet.

But if you read much literature on Jonah it’s like he is the worst guy ever. Like the dude can do nothing right - which we will see in detail in this story. But you know what I think about Jonah? I think Jonah was a good prophet - like a Matt Chandler or David Platt or Billy Graham of his day - who just plain told God no.

I mean look back at (v.2):

Jonah 1:2 ESV

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Here are two things to note about Nineveh:

They were great and they were evil.

(1) They were great.

Nineveh was big - lot’s of people lived there. They were also a royal city - so rich and famous and powerful people lived there. Here’s what we know about big cities - that’s where the night life and culture and talent usually comes together. Seriously, historians tell us that in Nineveh you could ride three chariots side by side and ride around the wall of Nineveh! That’s a wide wall! It was a great city.

You want to listen to the best bands in Texas?

Go to the Metroplex not Electra.

You want to see amazing art?

Don’t drive down to Holliday - go to an art museum in Dallas.

You want to hear the best comedian in the US?

Come to Fuel on Wednesday night! Am I right? So see it was a great city with royalty, and culture, and people, and money, and talent. Nineveh was great, but Nineveh was also evil.

(2) They were evil.

The text tells us their evil had come up before the Lord.

What happens when depraved sinnerds, people who have no love for God, no true north for right and wrong all get together?

Wickedness. People do whatever pleases them. We sin in creative and evil ways.

The Ninevites were known as some of the cruelest people in the ancient world. Nineveh boasted in their own histories about how cruel they were... So I heard a theologian talking about a book of pictures (hieroglyphic looking stuff) from Nineveh; the most graphic pictures of cruelty.

When they would conquer another city, they would skin alive a lot of the men women and children, and spread out their skins over the city walls. Then they would bury these skinned people while they were still alive up to their heads in the sand, and pull their tongues out and drive a stake through their tongue into the ground, so they would just languish in pain and dying of thirst. And then at night they would make them watch Teletubbies over and over and over again. I made that last part up, but they were unspeakably brutal.

§ When they would conquer another city, they would skin alive a lot of the men women and children, and spread out their skins over the city walls. Then they would bury these skinned people while they were still alive up to their heads in the sand, and pull their tongues out and drive a stake through their tongue into the ground, so they would just languish in pain and dying of thirst. And then at night they would make them listen to Paris Hilton CD’s over and over. I made that last part up, but they were unspeakably brutal.

They would rape the women and kill them; they even boasted about raping and killing little girls. One account describes how the soldiers would impale some of them alive outside of the city gates. They would behead all these people and make a mountain of heads outside the city so they could say, “This is what happens to people who come against Nineveh.”

And what did God tell Jonah to do?

§ They would rape the women and kill them; they even boasted about raping and killing little girls. One account describes how they would the soldiers and impale some of them alive outside of the city gates. They would behead all these people and make a mountain of heads outside the city so they could say, “This is what

To go and call out against that city for its evil! Hmm…who is signing up for that mission trip - yes, please I’d like my skin peeled of for the glory of God this summer. Yeah, right. So look how Jonah responds:

Jonah 1:3 ESV

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.

He said no and his rebellious downward spiral begins. In fact, when he runs from God he tries to go to Tarshish which was about 1500 miles in the other direction. That’s a long way when transportation during that time needed grass, not gas for fuel. There are two things that we should note from this verse about sin.

(1) Rebellion to God is as simple as telling him no.

Look students Jonah was an upstanding guy. He was a prophet of the Lord. He was the Matt Chandler of his day. He had his t’s crossed and his I’s dotted in all of his life, but in this one thing, this one compartment he told God “no”. Rebellion to God is as simple as telling him no in one area of your life.

I wanted to point this out because I think we tend to judge our “holiness” by looking at each other and saying - “well, I’m doing better than her. At least I don’t cuss. I go to church more. I make better choices in my dating relationships. I read my Bible more.” But here is thing about following God - He doesn’t want you to look around at your neighbor to justify your sin - He wants you to look at Him so that you can surrender and seek forgiveness for your sin.

There are a lot of godly people who look like they are walking with God in every other way... but there’s some area they are saying “no” to Him in.

Maybe, for you, it’s a relationship that you know is not pleasing to God but you won’t quit it...

§ Maybe, for you, it’s a relationship that you know is not pleasing to God but you won’t quit it...

Maybe, for you, it’s your parental authority that you just can’t seem to come under and listen too...

Maybe there is a person God has put on your heart to reach out and love on but you just are too lazy, too prideful or too scared.

§ Maybe there is a sacrifice God has put on your heart to make (money—God has placed a need on your heart but you don’t want to give up the money... or He’s convicted you about your lifestyle... your poverty of spirit is enough to let you know you shouldn’t be indulging yourself the way you are, but you persist on);

Maybe a sacrifice God has put on your heart to make (reputation—like you may need to think less of yourself so that you are able to think more of others.)

Maybe there is a sin you need to confess

§ A sin you need to confess

Maybe a sacrifice of your time He’s leading you to make;

§ Maybe a sacrifice of your time He’s leading you

to make;

Maybe it is to go, like Jonah, to leave family and friends and go somewhere for Him.

§ Maybe it is to go, like Jonah, to leave family and

Students rebellion against God is simply telling Him no.

But look at the second thing we notice about sin from the text:

friend and go somewhere

Jonah 1:3 ESV

(2) If you are on the hunt to disobey God Satan will open that door.

Isn’t it amazing how doors just seem to open up when we are looking to sin?

He found a ship Like if you look hard enough - boys - you will find a girl who will sleep with you. Girls, if you look you will find someone to gossip about. Open doors are not always from the Lord. In fact, I tend to think that too many, easy open doors may be from Satan.

Don’t you think that Satan wants you to feel at ease when you sin? Don’t you think he wants to make it easy and accessible?

If you are on the hunt to disobey God’s call on your life - Satan will open that door. He will link you with some person who will drag you from the life of the church, the friends that build you up and away into secrecy. If you want to run from God students there will always be a ship ready for you. That’s the simple truth. Satan is crafty and he will make it easy.

Jonah 1:4 ESV

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.

Jonah 1:4

So, you can’t run from God’s presence - you try to run from God you are just running where He already is and the truth is He is with you on the journey to get where you are going. That’s what we see here. So the Lord of creation - whom Jonah is running from throws a massive storm upon the boat.

Which teaches us another thing about sin.

(3) God sends storms in our life to break our pride and self-reliance.

CS Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Storms or as Lewis called it “pain” is God’s megaphone to wake us from spiritual sleep.

Look JD Greear the president of the SBC said 1 of 2 things will humble us: our theology or affliction.

Our theology should humble us, but most of us are hard-headed. We’re like Jonah. So it’s usually in the pain that God breaks us of our pride. God sends storms in our life to break our pride and self-reliance. When you are going through a storm and you want to know if it is just providence - like Job - He didn’t do anything that brought on his affliction or it is discipline - my advice would be to ask God.

Jonah 1:5 ESV

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

Spank Kids Illustration - I tell my kids why I am spanking them I don’t just spank them and walk away and leave them to figure them out what is going on and why daddy spank them. No I tell them and I’m very clear.

If you are listening now and are thinking - oh, yes that’s why I’m experiencing this - that’s probably the Holy Spirit making that clear to you. That your affliction is for your good discipline. God does send storms in our life to humble our pride and cause us to rely on Him.

Okay, :

Jonah 1:5 ESV

Okay, here is another thing to note about sin and comes from the beauty of this literature. We don’t see it in English - that is the beauty of the narrative, but I’m told you can in Hebrew. Three times this phrase is used “went down” speaking of Jonah. When he decided to run from God he went down to Joppa (v.3), he went down into the boat (v.3) and he went down into the inner part of the ship (v.5). And his running from God is a visible picture of how sin works in our lives:

Proverbs 4:19 ESV

19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

(4) Sin is progressive - it works like a snowball rolling down a mountain side.

Deep darkness implies the idea of a continuing darkness that gets deeper and deeper. I’ve mentioned this as the spiral of spiritual doom in the past.

Noah Drifting in the Ocean at Florida Illustration

That’s how sin works. Adulterous relationships at 35 begin as addictions to porn at 14. Eating disorders in college begin with jealousies not dealt with in high school. A rock solid, rebellious heart at 50 begins with resisting your God given authority in Junior High & high school. So beware of the drift! Sin is like a snowball rolling down a mountain side getting larger and larger and more destructive.

[2] “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for

Jonah 1:6–7 ESV

Jonah 1:6–8 ESV

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.” 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. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

Jonah 1:6-

So here they are

So they rolled the dice to see who was at fault and guess what - it was Jonah! What’s so interesting about this section is that you see the pagan, godless men trying to save the boat and each other all the while Jonah - the godly man, sleeping not working to save the others. This is what we call irony.

Jonah 1:8–10 ESV

8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Jonah 1:8

So they are like “who are you” and Jonah is like “you see this storm - well I fear the God, who made the sea and the dry land.” Obviously, there is a breakdown from his mind to his heart.

Take note of this students:

(5) Your sin will always harm others.

This is another aspect of sin we recognize in this text. Your personal sin is not a private affair it effecting other people. If you have a younger brother or sister think about how your “bad habits” are showing up in their lives. The bad phrase you use it gets picked up by your siblings. Or, if you have older siblings think about how their “sin” has made an impression upon you.

Showing up with the cops at my house illustration - I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem and a lack of confidence.

But think about this:

Flight Instructions on the way to Florida - put mask on first so you will be able to help others.

The greatest gift I can give to everyone who knows me: my wife, my kids, my co-workers, my neighbors, for you, is being close to God. And it’s the same with you.

(6) Sin drives you from God, not toward Him.

“For the men knew he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.”

Look - Jonah was a prophet of God. He knew that he couldn’t actually get “away” from God. That’s like Bible 101. What his personal rebellion was causing him to do was to hide from the face of God. He didn’t want to be near God relationally. He was “spiritually” running from God. Students sin never drives us toward God - it only causes us to run from Him. That’s what we see in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve sin and they hear God walking in the garden and they…? Hide!

Now, the consequence of sin or the conviction of sin may make us run back to God, but the act of sin always leads us away from Him.

So, what do they do?

Let’s look at the rest of the story.

Jonah 1:11–12 ESV

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. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

Jonah 1:11

They ask him “what should we do” - Jonah’s answer “kill me by throwing me into the sea”. But look at the reaction of the pagan, godless sailors:

Jonah 1:13 ESV

13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

Jonah 1:13

These guys like wanted to save Jonah’s life, even though, it was Jonah who got them into this dangerous situation in the first place! Wow! Here again we see irony. The “bad guys” are doing “good guy things” and the “good guy - Jonah” is doing “bad guy things.”

Let’s see how this ends:

Jonah 1:14–15 ESV

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.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

Jonah 1:14

So, they ask God to keep them innocent because they had done what they could. Then they toss him overboard. And it goes from crazy scary storm that was about to kill them all to a still pond on a windless day.

Have you ever thought about Jonah at this point?

If I were would have been like “guys, okay that was fast, go ahead and throw me the donut rescue inflatable device aka the DRID.”

But after the pagan sailors worship God (which is more irony) - that’s what Jonah should be doing, not the pagans - right at that moment look what happens:

Jonah 1:17 ESV

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Guys, throw me the DRID…and swallowed. Look it is so easy to look at Jonah and think - DUDE come on guy! Get it together - just do what God says - but if we are honest - we are more like Jonah than we’ve ever imagined. Think of the predicament, humanly speaking, he was in. Let’s go into Jonah’s mind:

What would have happened if he would have went to Nineveh?

Well, one of two things. First, he would have went and told them the evil they were doing and based on their character as a people they would have killed him in some brutal way. Or, second, they would have heard the message and repented and God would rescue his mortal enemies. And, though the second option sounds great - mercy - if you’ve ever experienced true loss - like a man murdering your parents or raping a family member - well, your first go to is not mercy it is justice. So, let’s give him a bit of a break and be honest with ourselves. But here is the great thing that we get that Jonah didn’t do - we can turn from our sin. We can run too God.

Are you simply telling God “no” in an area of your life?

Are you noticing the “ship” is ready for you to run from God? Like Satan, himself, has the door open for you?

Are you in a storm because you have been running from God and He is trying to wake you up?

Are you already experiencing the progressive nature of sin - that the rabbit hole of sin keeps getting deeper and deeper?

Have you seen devastation from your own sin? Have you seen how it hurts others?

It doesn’t have to be this way. There is room for you at God’s table. The gospel writer calls us to repent and believe again the good news of Jesus. Wake up from your slumber and run to Christ.

Adulterous relationships at 40 begin as addictions to porn at 20.

Invitation and Prayer

their evil has come up before me.”

o Eating disorders in college begin with jealousies not dealt with in high school

o An impenetrable, rebellious heart at 50 begins with resisting your God given authority in high school

happens to those who dare oppose the

o Beware of the drift!

Assyrians.”2

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