"Running from God"

INTRODUCTION

Image

How many of you have ever “ran away” from home? (Share) I have one vivid memory of “running away” from home because I didn’t want to live under my mom’s rules – I didn’t want to do what my mom wanted me to do – so I packed a little bag and ran away from home to have a go on my own. I didn’t think it through, I didn’t have a plan, and so I initially made it to the alley behind my house. I made a lean-to shelter out of some wood and thought I could camp out beside the trash can for the long haul. That didn’t last too long because I eventually walked to by grandpa and grandma’s house because I was hungry. When I got she gave me a snack and I told her I had ran away from home never thinking she would call me mom to let her know I was there – eventually my mom came and picked me up and that was the end of my running away from home. In some states it’s against the law to run away from home.

Need

Our lives can be marked by “running” away– We run way from home, some run away to avoid a fight, some run away in the middle of a fight (go for a drive), some people run away from the scene of a crime, and some people run away from their problems (avoid) – and we try to run away from God and what He wants us to do.

· How many of you have run away from home?

· How many of you have run away from God?

The OT records a story of a man who ran way from God – his name of Jonah – it’s a compelling story that reveals the heart of God and the need for God’s people to have their hearts aligned with His! How many of you have read the story of JONAH in one sitting? Great! I know our time in this book is going to teach us more about the OT book of Jonah but more importantly it’s going to transform our lives!

If you have your Bible, and I hope you do, turn to the OT book of Jonah. Today we begin a new series through the OT book of Jonah – the prophet who ran from God – and in this series through Jonah we’re going to find the answers to these questions and so much more. In this series through Jonah we’re going to encounter the heart of God and have our rebellious hearts exposed in the hopes of having them aligned with His.

One of the great things about God is that He is ultimately after our hearts, He wants to transform our hearts of stone to hearts of clay that He can mold and shape, He wants to love Him with all of our hearts and make us like Jesus. (). This is the essence of the Christian life. The name “Christian” in one sense means that we should be “little Christ’s.” We need our hearts exposed and then transformed so we can reflect the heart of God in this world! And today we’re going to begin a new series through the book of Jonah that will reveal where our heart does not reflect God’s heart, prompting a radical transformation of our hearts in very specific areas, so that they will be more like His!

I) A REBELIOUS PROPHET - RUNNING FROM GOD

I suspect the mere mention of Jonah conjures up childhood memories for those of you who were raised in the church – perhaps you were taught the story of Jonah in Sunday School with someone armed with a flannel graph that had Jonah and the whale (like this one). Interestingly, Jonah is one of the few OT stories that is deemed worthy and appropriate to teach young children. We don’t teach the book of Joel (we should because we could have a flannel graph of locusts & the fires of judgment), we don’t teach the book of Hosea (it’s difficult to flannel-graph God called this prophet to marry a prostitute), we don’t teach Habakkuk to our kids (hard to talk about questioning God) and yet they all have wonderful messages of God’s judgment & grace. There are only a few approved prophets to teach in Sunday school—Daniel & the Lion’s den, Jonah and the whale, and perhaps the parts of Isaiah that talk about the promises of Jesus’ birth at Christmas time. If we’re honest much of the OT remains foreign to us as adults and we don’t spend a lot of quality time reading and learning from the prophets aside what we learned in Sunday School when you were eight years old. Some of you were taught the story of Jonah through the VeggieTales DVD. For some of you this will be the first time you’ve heard, read, or been taught the story of Jonah. Regardless of our history with this book, it’s vital for us to understand the it’s message and application to our lives as followers of Jesus in the 21st century.

Most of the buzz about Jonah is centered on the fish—the fish has all too often become one main character (sole focus) of the story – it’s what people remember about the story because let’s be honest a man surviving being swallowed by a fish is fascinating and yet the fish is also why some people think Jonah is a myth (not historical) because it’s non-sense to the rational mind. We’ll address that as we go. The problem with the fish getting all the press is that we miss the true hero and the life-changing message of the story. The fish is not the point of the story. In fact, the fish is only mentioned 4 times in the book, in constrast the city of Nineveh is mentioned 9 times, the prophet Jonah is mentioned 18 times, and God is mentioned 38 times, just be repetition alone we see the appropriate emphasis of the book. Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan has uttered these wise words “Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God.” The real hero of the book is God! Jonah is a wonderful story, it’s about so much more than a guy being swallowed by a fish, for this story ultimately is about God’s heart towards sinners and the need for His people to possess the same compassionate heart for sinners as His. Its message is relevant and practical for kids and adults alike and I’m excited about rediscovering the wonderful truths in this divine drama together so that our hearts will be changed for His glory! Before we consider the shocking events highlighted in the opening section of his story let’s begin with the Introduction/Background of the book.

Author: God is the author of the book of want us to continually cling to the inspiration of the Scriptures—the Bible is God-breathed—He is the author who used men to record His truth ()

Penman: The story begins with no explicit reference that identifies the penman of the book. The title of the book is Jonah, it’s certainly a story about him but we don’t know with absolute certainty if the story was written by him. Jonah either penned this book or he was the source and it was recorded by someone else. Let’s get to know Jonah.

· Jonah’s name means “dove.” Jonah is “the son of Amittai – a prophet from “Gath-Hepher – a village located north of Galilee (). Jonah predicted the expansion of Israel to its former borders during the reign of Jeroboam II. The OT prophets were men and women called by God to communicate His message to His people and the surrounding nations. We have prophets that ministered throughout the history of Israel. Prophets are classified in two primary ways – Major or Minor prophet - not a reference to their value but in relation to the length of the books. Secondly, OT prophets have been classified as Pre-exilic, exilic, or Post-exilic- defining the period of history they ministered in (before Israel’s exile, during Israel’s exile, or after Israel’s exile).

· Jonah’s ministry as prophet would have been looked on unfavorable by many. God’s choice to use Jonah would have been offensive to some. Jonah’s lineage and upbringing reveals that he was a prophet from the Northern Kingdom. Remember at this time in history the nation of Israel had divided into two separate kingdoms, the northern Kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah). The people in the southern Kingdom of Judah would have questioned God calling a prophet who had split off as a rebel state and cut itself off from Davidic rule.

· Jonah is one of the few prophets mentioned in the NT and by Jesus. Jonah is mentioned three times in the Gospels (, ,, & ). Jesus’ mention of Jonah adds credibility to the interpretation of this book as historical fact and not a mere myth.

Date: Jonah’s prophetic ministry took place during the reign of Jeroboam II, the events in the Book of Jonah occurred between 782-753 B.C. (Eighth Century) but it was written down at a later date. Jonah ministered during the same as Amos and Hosea.

Purpose/Theme: To teach Israel of the Yahweh’s heart of compassion & towards all sinners and remind the nation of her missionary purpose of telling others to repent so they might experience His salvation. Jonah will cause us to see the heart of God – His relentless pursuit of sinners and compassion for sinners who repent (Nineveh & Jonah), and this book will cause us to examine our own hearts to see if they align/reflect God’s compassion for those who are far from Him.

Now with that as a backdrop let’s dig in the opening section that sets the stage for the drama that unfolds in the rest of the story. (READ ) In we find a rebellious prophet running away from God’s call to preach to the people of Nineveh. The opening section of this story opens with “A Divine Commission” that results in “A Prophet’s Rebellion.”

A) A Divine Commission (1:1-2)

The book begins with Yahweh’s “Divine Commission” (1:1-2). We jump right into the plot of this story with Yahweh speaking to His prophet—“the word of the Lord came to Jonah”—God spoke to Jonah in order to reveal His divine will. This is a common phrase (“the word of the Lord came to”) used over 100x in the OT when God called a prophet to deliver His message. It seems foreign to us. In we read that “long ago in many times and in many ways” God spoke to the Jewish people through the prophets (1:1). We are not told how God spoke to Jonah. In the OT we discover that God chose to speak to prophets in different ways. In the past God spoke to people audible, through dreams & visions, in a still small voice (), and even through natural events like a whirlwind or earthquake (). is still speaking today, primarily through His Son Jesus by the presence of the Holy Spirt and through His written Word (Holy Scriptures). Jonah was one of the few prophets in the OT who received direct revelation from God that revealed His divine will. This is not the first time Jonah had received a “word from the Lord.” 2 Kings reveals that Jonah had prophesied to King Jeroboam – Jonah called the king to strengthen the border of Israel that had been weakened during conflicts with Assyria – King Jeroboam strengthened the border in response to Jonah’s message. Yahweh had given Jonah messages to preach in the past and he listened and obeying God’s call.

In we discover “what” Yahweh said to Jonah— “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me”—this is Yahweh’s “Divine Commission” revealed to Jonah the prophet. The urgency of the Lord’s call is sadly lost in the NIV translation but captured in other English translations.

· “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it (NASB)

· “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and call out against it (ESV)

· “Go immediately to Nineveh, the large capital city, and announce judgment against its people (NET)

· “Get up and go to the great city Nineveh and announce my judgement against it (NLT)

· “Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them (Message)

There are three imperatives (commands) in the Hebrews text—“Arise (stand),” “Go (walk),” and “Call out” (announce)—God called Jonah to get up and get going on the way to Nineveh! The call to “arise” doesn’t mean he was literally “sitting down” when he received the word from the Lord but rather highlights the need for an urgent and immediate response! God called Jonah to leave the land of Israel and head to the great city of Nineveh! MAP Jonah’s journey would be over 500 miles NE from the land of Israel to the land of Assyria. When you think of Nineveh think of modern day Northern Iraq.

There are two important descriptions of Nineveh. First it’s called a “great” city. Nineveh was located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River and one of the principle cities of the ancient Assyrian empire. Its greatness was connected to its population and significance. Nineveh became an important city under King Sennacherib’s reign as he fortified this city and for at time made it the capital of Assyria. The term “greatness” also highlights the cities self-exaltation. Sennacherib, the leader of this nation called himself “the great king” and this nation stood for all that was an affront to God. Secondly, we find mention of Nineveh’s wickedness.” The term “wickedness” denotes this was an “evil” nation. The Assyrian’s were well known for their brutality and cruelty, the grandson of king Sennacherib was accustomed to tearing the lips and the hands off his victims. The Assyrian ruler Tiglath-Pileser flayed victims alive and made pile of their skulls.” (F. I. Gaebelein). The wickedness of Nineveh has come up before the Lord—the phrase has been paraphrased their wickedness “smells to highest heaven”—it was a city of disaster and they were going to have to give an account to Him as God! Notice this blows up the ideology of “deism” that says God wound up this world and left it alone, the deistic view of God is One who is distant, aloof, and uninvolved in the affairs of the world, and yet God’s Word reveals that God is actively involved in the affairs of humanity, he knows the wickedness of our hearts, and He is just to judge sinful humanity.

God called Jonah to go to the great city and “preach against it”—the prophet must go to Nineveh to “cry out” the Lord’s pending judgment because of their wickedness—Jonah would announce Yahweh’s pending judgement that would come unless the people repent of their wickedness. Jonah was called to go to the great city as God’s prophetic voice. Jonah couldn’t stay within the safety and comforts of his own border like other prophets! Jonah was commissioned by God to go to this city and tell the people of God’s pending judgment upon them for their wickedness. It’s a very difficult assignment. “Hey Jonah, go tell the wicked people of Nineveh, the extremely evil people of Nineveh, the terribly violently people of Nineveh that God is going to judge them.” This is a tough assignment…this is a difficult mission…there is no guarantee that God’s calling is going to be easy! Jonah was commissioned to go preach against this city—announcing God’s pending judgment that would come unless the people of Nineveh repent—which reveals or at the very least implies that God will not only hold the nation accountable but also cares about these people enough to send a prophet to warn them of His pending judgment. We see in this divine commission the first hint of Yahweh’s compassion for wickedest people who are far from Him. Therein lies the overall message of this book—Yahweh’s compassion on those who repent—and the call for us to possess His heart for the vilest of sinners.

B) A Prophet’s Rebellion (1:3)

In we discover Jonah’s immediate response to God’s commission! Yahweh’s “Divine Commission” leads to the prophet’s shocking Rebellion.

God had called Jonah to go and preach to the people in Nineveh. We expect Jonah to do what prophets do – obey God’s call and go preach in Nineveh - we expect Jonah immediately pack his bags and get on the road to north to Nineveh. And yet in a shocking twist in the drama Jonah immediately backed his bags and booked a ticket to Tarshish. In we read “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”—what a contrast to Yahweh’s commission!

Jonah did “arise” as Yahweh commanded but he arose to go to Tarshish. We find the details of Jonah’s attempt to run away from the Lord. MAP We read that Jonah went “down to Joppa” – he immediately traveled southwest from Gath-Hepher to the nearest sea port of Joppa. The sea port of Joppa would correspond to modern day Jaffa. When he arrived he began seeking out a ship that was headed to Tarshish, a distant port city located in the Mediterranean coast. Bible scholars have speculated on the exact location of Tarshish suggesting it could refer to Carthage Africa or more likely Spain near Gibralter (just south of wear the Scott’s will be ministering with Cadence). Once he found a ship scheduled to depart for Tarshish that day he paid the fare (a considerable expense), boarded the ship, and began the long trek to the distant land of Tarshish (Spain). Instead of going to Nineveh Jonah boarded a Phoenician cargo ship and sailed to Tarshish – 2000 miles west in the opposite direction of Nineveh. Tarshish is one the other end of the known world, he intended to put as much distance between him and the place God had told him to go. Jonah’s “downward” spiral as he runs from Yahweh is traced in this story. Jonah went “down” to Joppa, “down” into the ship to travel to Tarshish, and next week we’ll see Jonah go “down” below deck to sleep during a storm.“

Jonah set sail for Tarshish to “run away” and “flee from the Lord.” Jonah’s rebellious running depicts his unwillingness to serve God. Calvin writes that Jonah’s motivation for running away from the Lord was to “withdraw himself from the service of God.” Jonah was trying to escape from Yahweh’s commission (NET) – one thing is clear – this prophet did not want to preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah is an unwilling servant of Yahweh – he runs away from Yahweh’s divine commission – this is an outright rejection of God’s call to preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah would entrust himself to the ocean vessel and the dangers of the sea than face up to God’s call to preach to the people of Nineveh. Why?

· Fear – Jonah had to leave the comforts of home and preach a message of judgment to people with a reputation of brutality and violence. Jonah might have thought of this as a suicide mission. It’s speculation on my part but Jonah must have been afraid to go.

· The Condition of Jonah’s heart – I don’t want to get too far ahead but we’re going to see later in the story that the driving force behind Jonah’s rebellion is the condition of his heart. As we will see in the weeks to come Jonah’s heart is out of alignment of God’s heart. As the story unfolds we’re going to see that Jonah does not possess or reflect the heart of God – and this is one of the main point of application for us as well.

In we find Yahweh’s Commission and the Prophet’s Rebellion. The Lord called Jonah to preach to the people in Nineveh but the prophet packed his bags and headed in the opposite direction to Tarshish. Yahweh spoke but Jonah did not listen. Jonah ran away because he was unwilling to serve God.

II) A REBELLIOUS PEOPLE – RUNNING FROM GOD

The story of Jonah is a historical account of Yahweh’s calling of Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh. And yet Jonah is much more than a good story – it’s God’s Word revealing who He is and contains time-less truths that are relevant for our lives today as follower of Jesus (the people of God). During our time in Jonah we’re going to hear the story but more importantly we’re going to be transformed by the story as God reveals Himself to us and the condition of our hearts.

Today we’ve been introduced to Jonah - “A Rebellious Prophet” who ran from God. Before you shake your head and point your finger at Jonah in disdain, judgment, and disappointment, you should look in the mirror. You are just like Jonah. We are just like Jonah! The “Rebellious Prophet” reminds us that we are “A Rebellious People.” We are guilt of running from God too!

We are just like Jonah. He was a rebellious prophet and we are a rebellious people. He had a disobedient heart. We have disobedient hearts. Jonah ran away from God’s calling. We are terribly guilty of running away from God’s calling. How?

God calls us to love others (1 John) – we run because there are people who we don’t want to love. God calls us to forgive others () – we run away (disobey) and continue to hold on to grudges God calls us to tame our tongue () – we run from Him by running our mouths, feeding gossip and speaking harsh words, profanity, and slander God calls us to pursue sexual purity - () – we run from Him. Give generously () – we run from God’s calling by living close-handed.

I trust all of us can identify specific times when you ran from God’s calling in your life. The opening of Jonah narrows the focus – like Jonah God has given us Great Commission – and like Jonah we run from His call because if we’re honest there are certain people we don’t want to have anything to do with.There is a timeless truth from the opening section of Jonah’s story that has profound implications for our lives.

God cares for the vilest of sinners and commissions us to share the message of salvation with those who are far from Him.

In the opening section of Jonah we get a glimpse of God’s heart. God cares for the vilest of sinners. Yahweh cared for the wicked Ninevites enough to send Jonah to preach a message of pending judgment upon them if they did not turn from their wicked ways.

God’s Care

God cares for the vilest of sinners. God cares for the wicked and the wretched in this world. The story of Jonah is going to reveal God’s heart – His boundless care, grace, compassion, and love for sinners. God grace, compassion, patience, and love towards sinners abounds! God sent Jonah to preach a message of pending judgment that would include the opportunity to repent to be spared His judgment. God is just – He will judge sin - but He loves sinners and does not want any to perish but all come to repentance (). Perhaps you have been running from God because you doubt His love for you? Perhaps you’ve been running from God because you don’t think He could love you in light of who you are or what you’ve done? Perhaps you’ve been running from God because you don’t think you’re worthy of God’s love? You can stop running! God cared for the wicked Ninevites and God cares for you. God loves you and wants to save you from the power and penalty of sin through Jesus. Stop running from Him and run to Him in repentance to find new life. God cares for the vilest of sinners – you and me – this is going to be one of the primary truths (themes) gleaned from the story of Jonah.

God’s Commission

Now let’s consider that second part of today’s timeless truth – God’s commissioning of us! God cares for the vilest of sinners and commission us to share the message of salvation with those who are far from Him. We see the caring heart of God in His commissioning of Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh.

God’s care for sinners remains the same today – only the commissioning has changed – instead of using prophets like Jonah God has commissioned His church (us – believers – Christians – followers of Jesus) to take His message of salvation to people who are far from Him. The story of Jonah reminds us that Jesus has given us our “Great Commission” - we have been commissioned to make disciples of all nations – and the first step in making disciples of Jesus is to share the message of salvation with those who are far from Him. God cares for sinners and commissions His church (you and me) to make disciples by sharing the good news (message) of salvation in Jesus with others.

God invites us to participate in His plans & purposes in this world! God wants to live in and through us and work in and through us to reach others with the message of salvation from sin and death. He wants to use us for His glory.

Like Jonah we run from fulfilling our “Great Commission?” – we don’t want to serve God by sharing the good news of salvation in Jesus with others – why?

· Ignorance – I didn’t know God commissioned me to make disciples by sharing the message of salvation with those who are far from Him? Perhaps that was true until today because now you know that God’s commissioned you to share the message of salvation in Jesus with others.

· Fear – Certainly! We often run from sharing the message of salvation because we’re afraid of not know the answer or how someone will respond.

· The Condition of Our Heart – Like Jonah – we have a heart problem – the reason we run from the Great Commission is the condition of our hearts. Yahweh’s heart was to go the people of Nineveh but Jonah’s heart was to run away from the people of Nineveh. What does that imply about Jonah’s heart? What does that imply about our hearts? God cares for rotten sinners – do we? God relentlessly pursues rotten sinners – do we?

We are just like Jonah. He was a rebellious prophet and we are a rebellious people. Jonah had a disobedient heart - we have disobedient hearts. Jonah ran away from Yahweh’s divine commission – we run away from Jesus’ Great Commission. We have been commissioned to “make disciples of all nations” which begins by sharing the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ with others who are far from God. We run from God by refusing to share the message of salvation with people who are far from God.

Who is your Nineveh? Who are those who are far from God but you’re unwilling to go and share the message of salvation with them? Who are those you are unwilling to reach because your heart isn’t aligned with the heart of God?

· An estranged family member?

· A friend who hurt you deeply?

· A hardened criminal?

· A terrorist?

· A drug addict?

· A homosexual?

· An atheist?

· A person of a different race?

· A rapist?

The beginning of Jonah’s story reveals the compassionate heart of God – God cares for the vilest of sinners and commissions us to share the message of salvation with those who are far from Him – Are you running from Him by refusing to share the message of salvation with someone? Stop running from God and start sharing the message of salvation with those who are far from Him.

CONCLUSION

Refresh –

Our lives are filled with running – running away from home (tried it), running away from danger, running away from our past, running any from a conflict, and running away from God. In the opening section of Jonah’s story we find “Yahweh’s “Divine Commission” and Jonah’s “Rebellion” – and we’ve come to terms with the fact that we are just like Jonah – He was a Rebellious Prophet that ran from God and we are “A Rebellious People” that run from God. And the beginning of this story we uncover a timeless truth that has profound implications for our lives.

Restate -

God cares for the vilest of sinners and commissions us to share the message of salvation with those who are far from Him.

In the opening section of this story we get a glimpse of the contrast between Yahweh’s compassion for sinners and Jonah’s lack of compassion for sinners – the need for God’s people to have their hearts aligned with His becomes the heart of Jonah’s story and the main point of application to our lives.

Let’s stop running from God – Let’s embrace His call in our lives – obeying the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations by sharing the message of salvation with those who are far from Him by having our hearts are aligned with God’s heart.

How many of you woke up this morning and looked at yourself in a mirror? Is there anyone who did not? How many of you looked at yourself in the mirror and then talked to yourself? (If so I’d like you to meet me in my office for a little counseling after the service) Most of us got up and used the mirror to check our physical appearance—guys we might have used it to help us shave—gals I know most of you used it to do your hair and make-up.

Mirror

What if a mirror could reflect what’s on the inside—what if the mirror could reveal your heart—not the actual blood pumping organ (that would be cool though) but your inner desires, attitudes, thoughts, and characteristics both good and bad. What if mirrors could reflect your heart? Like when you woke up the mirror reflected the lust inside of you as well as the love, the fear inside of you as well as the faith, the hatred inside of you and the hope, the unholy anger inside of you as well as the peace, the jealousy as well as the joy. If we’re honest we don’t want a mirror that can reveal our hearts, we don’t want to see what’s on the inside. The Word of God is like a mirror that can expose our hearts and cut to the depths of our hearts (inner being). Our study of JONAH is going to be the mirror that exposes our rebellious hearts that cause us to run from Him and His calling. Our time in JONAH is going to expose the need for our hearts to be aligned with His so that we can “mirror” His image. Having our hearts aligned with God is the heart of the story of Jonah and the heart of our disciple-making mission.

Pray