The Disobedient Servant

Believers are given a Commission by God to share the Good News Jonah 1:1-2)

Explanation: Jonah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom and he was well aware of the call of God on his life. God gave this servant a message of judgment, and told Jonah to take it to the capitol city of the Assyrian nation. This is the only occasion in the OT when God sent one of his prophets with a message outside of the nation of Israel.

The Assyrians were the rising power in the Ancient Near East at the time of these events. They were not nice people at all. They took great pleasure in destroying other civilizations and torturing their people. They were feared and hated by all of their neighbors.

Argument: It can be easy to write off certain individuals and even people groups as a whole. We can make the mistake that some folks are so wicked and so far gone, they are beyond the reach of God’s grace. That is not our call to make - that is entirely up to God. We are the message carriers, we are not the ones who craft the message.

The message of God’s judgment on sin is the first part of the Good News. If people are not made aware of their state of rebellion against a Holy God, why would they even consider the need to repent? A message with God’s judgment on sin is incomplete

Application: Just like Jonah, modern believers have been given a mission to go and tell (Matt 28:19-20). Jonah was specifically sent to Ninevah, we are commanded to go into all the world.

God’s servants can disobey His command (Jonah 1:3)

Explanation: Jonah flat out refused to honor God’s command to go to Ninevah. This prophet of God made a conscious decision to go in the complete opposite direction. Jonah was not the poster child for Prophet of the Year. Instead, Jonah earns the Prejudiced Prophet and proud of it award. Jonah did not want to go to Ninevah because he hated everything about the Assyrians.

Example: We can display the same disobedient spirit of Jonah when we refuse to obey God’s call to take the Gospel. When we tell God something along the lines of, “well, I will go here or go there, but I will not go to this group, we are showing our own prejudices.

Argument: God is the commander in Chief, the Ultimate Authority. He is the One who writes out the assignments. We are the privates who are supposed to carry out the assignment.

Can you picture what would have happened in WW II if a group of soldiers just refused an assignment at Normandy? At that point I don’t think the commanding officers would be overly concerned about the reasons for refusal, but consider the absurdity if the soldiers said something along the lines of “well, we don’t care for the French people and we really don’t want to risk getting killed trying to liberate them from the Germans.” What nonsense!

Applications: We are privileged to be in the Army of the Lord. We are to remember our humble position and to follow orders.

God will intervene when His children are disobedient (Jonah 1:4-6)

Explanation: Jonah got passage on a boat headed in the opposite direction from Ninevah, and he thought he was safe. The reality is that there is nowhere we can go and escape the notice of the Lord God of the Universe (cf Psalm 139;7-12). God knew exactly where His disobedient prophet was and He sent a storm to get his attention. In a sovereign display of power, God sends a storms that catches Jonah’s boat and threatens to sink it.

The incredible fact to notice is that Jonah is asleep in the depths of the boat while this incredible storm is threatening to sink the boat with him in it. Everyone else is busy on deck trying desperately to keep the boat afloat - some are probably in the sails, others are bailing water, and others are probably wrestling with the wheel to steer a course to safety. This is definitely a ALL HANDS ON DECK emergency, and yet Jonah is asleep down below. When his absence is noticed, the captain goes down to wake him up. The captain is put out that this chump is not helping at all, so he wakes him up and tells him the least he can do is pray for divine assistance.

Argument: Notice the callous disregard that Jonah has for his fellow travelers. He isn’t trying to do anything to save them. This brings up a few insights to the sin of disobedience:

No one sins in a vacuum. Our personal sin endangers others (cf Joshua 7:1-5). The sin of Achan cost the lives of 36 people, and the reputation of God’s people took a serious hit.

Disobedience promotes selfishness. When we willingly and knowingly disobey God, we turn inward. There is internal guilt that we can suppress, but it is still there. And because of it, we isolate ourselves and our actions towards others becoming uncaring.

An important note about discipline - it is a sign that you are part of God’s family. God will chastise His children when they sin (Hebrews 12:5-11). God will bring the consequences of sin into our lives to get our attention. He will discipline us, including punishment, to serve as a corrective. The scary thing is when we can sin freely and not suffer any consequences - when that happens you may want to check on your spiritual status because God doesn’t discipline the devil’s kids, only His own.

Application: Realize that it’s not about you. You are not the center of the Universe - God is. Understand that your disobedience is going to have a negative effect on others, including those you really do care about.

Believers are to be cautious in resisting God’s disciplinary measures (Jonah 1:7-12)

Explanation: Once Jonah rejoins his crew-mates they cast lots to see who among them is at fault for this unprecedented storm. Once again we see the Sovereign Hand of God when the lot falls on Jonah. Notice that Jonah lets the sailors go through the casting of the lots - he could have saved all of them some time by confessing, but he holds out until he is exposed

Illustrate: Brigette Rhyne (Brigette’s Staffing) tells me of folks who come in for jobs and go all the way through the process - right up until the reality of the drug test. When faced with that reality, they simply leave knowing they will fail the test.

Argument: Realize the magnitude of Jonah’s sin of bigotry and prejudice against the Assyrians. He has already endangered the crew, and now he is refusing to voluntarily help them out. Only when he is exposed does he admit he is the reason for the storm. And even at this point Jonah displays no remorse for what he has done. And, more importantly, he is still defiant and unwilling to repent of his prejudice.

Don’t miss the importance of his actions in this regard. The sailors have been told by Jonah that he is a servant of the Lord God, the One who is the True and Living God, the Creator of the land and sea. The sailors are very, very scared because now they know who they are dealing with. This is not some local deity with limited power; no they are dealing with the One who holds ALL the power.

Knowing this, they ask Jonah what to do to make the storm stop. His answer reveals the depth of his sin and hatred for the Assyrians when he tells them to throw him overboard. This is not some loving, sacrificial measure he is making on the behalf of the crew. He has already shown that he doesn’t care about the crew by sleeping through a storm that threatened the kill them all. No, Jonah is very much aware that the storm is God’s attempt to get him to go to Ninevah. Instead of repenting, Jonah shows his true colors with a suicide attempt. Jonah would rather die than take God’s message to the Assyrians!

God can and will achieve His purposes, in spite of our sin (Jonah 1:13-16)

Explanation: The pagan sailors show more concern for Jonah than he had shown for them. Even when Jonah offers them a way out, they refuse to take it. They aren’t willing to simply cast Jonah overboard to what would be certain death in the storm. Instead, they try to save him. In v. 13 the reader is informed that the sailors “rowed hard” to get the boat back to land.

Fighting against the Lord God is not possible, regardless of the effort and they discover they are incapable of thwarting God’s plan for Jonah. So they reluctantly throw Jonah overboard and when they do the storm is immediately gone and the sea is at peace. This is yet another sign of the Sovereign Hand of God in the book of Jonah.

Argument: Jonah’s actions from the moment he boarded the ship were entirely selfish. He never once displayed any compassion towards others. He had no interest in the lives of these sailors, but God even used Jonah to reach these pagans.

Note who the sailors cried out to: they cried out to the Lord - they are now using the covenant Name of YHWH, not the generic name for the little gods of idolatry. Jonah’s disobedience brought negative consequences. Because of who God is, He was able to use those negative consequences in a positive way to bring about good. Through God’s disciplinary actions on Jonah, the sailors were introduced to the Living God. That their faith was real is noted by v. 16 which states the sailors “feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.”

Application: This point is to highlight the magnificence of the Lord God, not to make a case for sinning in the hopes that God will bring good out of it. Just because God is able to work good out of sin (cf Gen 50:20), we are not to presume upon His goodness. Paul points out the foolishness of such an idea to the church at Rome when he states, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid” (Romans 6:1)