Stick To the Plan

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.”

Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

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.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

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.

PRAY

Jonah Runs in Disobedience

Who is Jonah? When did he live?

Historians place Jonah as living and preaching under the reign of Jeroboam II. We see this in 2 Kings 14.

English Standard Version Chapter 14

24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.

Here we see God using Jonah to speak his Word to the people of Israel who are wicked under the reign of Jeroboam II.

Where is Nineveh? What/Where is Joppa? Where is Tarsus?

Nineveh is in the Assyrian Empire (600-800 MILES EAST). The Assyrians are currently ruling but they are occupied elsewhere so Israel is under no direct threat from the Assyrians.

Joppa is a port city on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

It is roughly 2,400 miles from the Israeli side of the Mediterranean, to the Spanish side of the Mediterranean… which is where Tarsus is.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Jonah Flees the Presence of the LORD

Jonah is already preaching to the wicked people in Israel and seems to be perfectly comfortable doing it.

Then God calls him to preach redemption to people who are wicked somewhere else, he runs from God’s command.

He doesn’t just sit still or avoid Nineveh, he tries to go thousands of miles in the opposite direction out of blatant disobedience.

God Uses Jonah’s Disobedience to Save Pagan Sinners

English Standard Version Chapter 1

The other men don’t worship Yahweh.

Praying to their gods is not working.

Earthly means (throwing cargo overboard) is not working.

While the other men are trying to survive, sound asleep in the heart of the storm.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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.”

Naturally, the other men are displeased when they find Jonah being useless in the bottom of the ship. They’re all trying to survive and the other guy isn’t even conscious.

It sounds like Jonah and I are similar types of sleepers. As parents of an infant, my wife understands this very well.

But I would hope that if I was directly disobeying God, I would be a little less comfortable with my sin than Jonah is. I would hope I wouldn’t be comfortable enough to sleep in the bottom of a ship in the middle of a nasty storm.

Now that Jonah is awake, the men do what pagans do when they don’t know what else to do.

Revert back to earthly means: casting lots.

A game of chance. (Dice, Drawing Straws, Flipping a Coin, etc.)

God can use worldly means to work out his plan. It wasn’t really a game of chance, the winner (or loser depending on how you look at it) has been chosen before they ever started the game.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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.

Once the lot falls upon Jonah, the men immediately begin questioning Jonah to find out how they can survive this storm.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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.

After they establish who Jonah was through the questions, they become fearful.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? THE GOD OF ISRAEL?!?”

They are fearful because they know who the God of the Hebrews is and what he has done.

Another place we see this is in the book of Joshua where Rahab hides the Israelite spies.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

The God of Israel is know for his works, his power and the deliverance of his people…so when Jonah tells the men he disobeyed God, they are fearful!

Now the hearsay has become real world experience as they see the power and wrath of the God of Israel.

We continue to see them fear. In the face of the wrath of Yahweh, the men know they will perish unless something changes.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

The men are persistent. They do everything in their power to get out of this situation…but nothing works.

And when nothing works, they do what Jonah has told them must be done.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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.

“God, we’re doing what the man is telling us to do, please don’t punish us like this man.”

So they throw him overboard…and after they throw him overboard, something strange happens. The sea calms…and the men began to fear and worship the Lord.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

Their encounter with Yahweh because of Jonah’s sin, brings them to the Lord. The Lord wants our complete obedience, but even in our disobedience He proves prove He is still God of the universe.

And before you start thinking “So I can disobedient and God will still do his thing, it’s fine.” Jonah still ended up in Nineveh, the road was just much longer and less pleasant.

And as we see these men worshipping the Lord, it shows us what God’s true desire after our disobedience: repentance. Which is the last thing we’ll look at:

God Seeks Repentance

Jonah leaves the sailors with two options.

Keep me and die.

Throw me overboard and live.

Jonah doesn’t even think about door number three as a viable option.

He doesn’t even think about repenting.

We see all over scripture (and up to this point) that God forgives those who repent.

God renews the covenant with his people in Moab.

English Standard Version (Chapter 30)

30 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.

and so on and so forth.

But Jonah hated the Ninevites so much that he waited three days in the belly of a fish before he started praying.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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.

Jonah’s Prayer

2 Then Jonah prayed

Now I’ve never been in the belly of a fish, but I would think I would would like to think I would pray before it got that far.

Jonah is so stubborn, he’d rather sit inside a stomach (full of acid and other things this fish has eaten) than repent and just go to Nineveh.

Finally, in chapter two he will thank God for saving him.

In chapter three, scripture will show us a great example what happens when sinners repent and follow the one true God.

The people repent, and when God sees their repentant hearts he relented his judgement.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah’s eventual obedience to God’s call (the second time he commanded it) led to the salvation of an entire city. Just imagine what our obedience and our repentance could do for the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion

When God calls us to something, we often want to view it as an option.

As we see in Jonah, he really only had one option: God called him to preach to the Ninevites, so he was to preach to the Ninevites.

What is God calling you to?

Big: A life of service in ministry or mission. Rededicating your life to your faith and committing to take your walk with Jesus more seriously.

Smaller: Talking to your neighbor or friend at work about Jesus and the Gospel/

Maybe God is calling you to repentance and into a relationship with his Son, Jesus.

If you’re thinking “I don’t know who this Jesus guy is but I don’t want to end up like Jonah.” Let’s talk.

Jesus wasn’t like Jonah. He didn’t disobey God or sin, he was perfect. His sinlessness brings us into an eternal relationship with God (the same God of Jonah) through a relationship with Him.