Untitled Sermon (2)

Jonah Week 2: Jonah 1 – The Reluctant Prophet

I want to begin with just a word about The Word, a word about God’s Word,

A word about what generations of Christians believe about this book…

· We live in a time where many voices outside want to attack and teardown the Bible.

o They would scorn the Christian for believing this account of Jonah as a true historical account

o But I say, if God can create the universe out of nothing except the power of his will

§ then even the most amazing miracles recorded in the Scripture are simple matters to God

· We must not sit as judges over his word, but as humble hearers to the Word of the Living God

· God’s word, is alive and active, it is a powerful gift he has given his people…

o It was for Jonah, and remains true for us…

o I believe this book is inerrant, it is infallible,

§ this book is breathed out by God, it is the Holy/ Authoritative/Word of God

§ And everything in it is profitable for our salvation, sanctification,

· equipping us in our walk rightly with him

If we reject the absolute steadfast reliable authority of God’s word then we have lost our footing, we will lose our way, and would surrender the faith…

Our Baptists brothers/sisters, throughout history, have been a Bible believing, Bible professing, Bible loving people…

· And praise God!

o It’s still true of us today a Grace, that’s why we are here

§ And thank the Lord for that!

o Let us as the men of Grace drink deeply at the well of God’s word all our days

§ So that we may carry the truth contained in it out into the world

· and forward in the Spirit’s power, to the next generation

Now we look to our text:

Jonah 1:1–17 (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.”

a. The Word of the Lord came to Jonah

o This was not fuzzy sensation of possibly feeling led to do something for God

b. But what we have here, is Jonah…the Prophet of God,

o with a divine appointment as a chosen instrument of God

§ to relay God’s divine/authoritative message

o The very words and command of the Living God are

§ being entrusted to Jonah as God’s messenger…

c. The message is simple and clear… in 3 parts:

o #1 “Arise”/Get Up!....

o #2 “Go to Ninevah”

o #3 “call out” or preach “against it”

d. Why? Because their “evil”, their “wickedness”, their “iniquity” has come before me…

o The language here, “there evil has come up before me.” is like a court case being brought before the judge

§ Ninevah was:

· A massive city, capital of Assyria, about 550 miles to the north east of Israel

· Estimates are of a population of perhaps a million people at its height

· It was so large, It would take 3 days to walk from one side of the city to the other

o The wickedness of the Assyrians was in the extreme

§ They were notorious for their depravity

§ They were known for skinning people alive

· Impaling their enemies on poles

· Burying them alive up to their necks and leaving them to die

§ They would also burn their victims alive

§ I read about how they were feared for beheading their victims and stacking the heads at their city entrances

· Just a cozy little “Welcome to Ninevah” sign

o Honey, look, let’s move here and raise a family! No, thanks!

· Violence was in the DNA of the culture

o It reminds me of God’s judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah,

§ When the outcry because of that city’s sexual immorality had come before the almighty judge to face divine justice

o Now, Ninevah’s case has come before the judge

§ And they are guilty, convicted, it is time for sentencing

e. But God, in his compassion, desires to call them to repentance

o He desires to hold back his wrath and allow them to turn from their sins…

o So he tells Jonah…Get up Jonah, Go to Ninevah, and “call out against it”

[3] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

a. Jonah got point #1 only… He arose… and RAN AWAY!

b. His destination of Tarshish is significant

o He was supposed to go Northeast toward neighboring Assyria

o Instead he runs west toward Tarshish which was 2500 miles in the wrong direction

§ This was as far as Jonah could run, Tarshish was the outer edge of the known world at that time

c. We should ask here, and it is important for our understanding of the whole book… WHY did Jonah run?

o 1st, it could be that he was afraid of becoming another entry gate decoration

§ These folks were brutal, this was a dangerous mission

§ This ministry call was not to teach Sunday school to pre-k

o This was a serious occupational hazard for the prophet…

· I would be scared, I bet you would too…

o Think about this…

§ If God called YOU right now

· Get up, and you… just you go to Afghanistan

o And “call out against” the evils of those wicked Taliban to their face…

§ I’m guessing you might suddenly find a strong desire to relocate the family to Anchorage Alaska!

§ This thought was probably there, but I think it doesn’t really fit when we study the book as a whole…

o 2nd I think the reason Jonah really ran…is simply that, Jonah did not want to see Nineveh saved….

§ Nineveh is the superpower of the world, and they are an enemy and a threat to Israel

· Only 50 or so years after Jonah’s call, the Assyrians will conquer northern Israel and take the people away into captivity

o 20 years after that, the Assyrians, led by Sennacherib will conquer their way to the very gates of Jerusalem

§ Jonah doesn’t want them to repent, he wants them DESTROEYED!

§ If he goes down there and preaches God mercy/compassion to them, they might repent of their sins and NOT end up an ash heap like Sodom and Gomorrah

· Jonah, himself, has judged them worthy of destruction

· Jonah holds deep opinions about who is worthyand who is not worthy of God’s salvation

o And it will take God getting his undivided attention before he admits ch2:9 “salvation is of the LORD” (KEY VERSE)

§ and God send him back out on his renewed mission

We should also ask, What did Jonah run from?

[3]… away from the presence of the Lord.

a. The OT Jews associated the presence of God with the Temple of God

o Which was in Jerusalem…. Tarshish was as far away from what they understood as the presence of God that he could go… to the end of the known world

o Perhaps it was far enough to be out of God’s readh

b. Perhaps if he got far enough away, God would give him another/easier task

o Maybe God would just choose someone else

o maybe God would give him another work there… Ya, mission work in Tarshish! That’s the ticket!

§ I think we all do this sometimes

· We are called to plug in and serve him in one place, but things get difficult and we run…

o maybe it will be easier or less messy over… there

o or we just refuse to heed his call running to distractions of our own making

c. Or we get overwhelmed with the responsibilities of life and we just want to quit/withdraw

o We think, maybe a change of scenery will remove the responsibility God has given me

o We think…

§ If we run far enough we can escape our problems

· Escape a difficult marriage, I’ll just cut and run

· Escape problems with the kids, I’ll just ignore it

· Escape the boss that is difficult to deal with, I’ll just quit

· Maybe escaping by falling back into a serious sin habit

o We think we can leave the church/we can run/disconnect from God

§ and no body will see, no body will know, know body will call me out on it

d. We, in our ways, often run to Tarshish… We run… where we think that God can not see us…

o We run to where we think we could escape his presence

o We run to a place where no one knows us.

§ We seek to just be anonymous,

· For we think we can get away with our sin in that place

§ That God wont see, he wont hear… he wont know

· Maybe I can get so far out of his sight that he wont even notice the secret sins, committed in the dark…

o when no one is watching

o Brothers, that’s a lie we tell ourselves…

e. v2/v3 both say Jonah ran from the “presence of the Lord”

o But deep down Jonah knew, the Bible teaches it, and we SHOULD know that you can not escape his presence

§ God is spirit, God is everywhere at all times

§ His is in all/over all/and throughout all creation

§ Psalm 139:7–12 (ESV) [7] Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? [8] If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! [9] If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [10] even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. [11] If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” [12] even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

We deceive ourselves when we think we can run from God’s presence

· that we can reject our responsibility and duty and turn our backs to God

f. In this Christian life, you are either walking WITH God

o Or walking AWAY from God

§ When you are walking away from God,

· your life can only go in one direction, brothers,

o AWAY from God is a downward spiral,

For you see, in v3

[3]…Jonah went downto Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went downinto it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presenceof the Lord.

V5… Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain downand was fast asleep.

· Ultimately he will go down into the depts of the sea

o Ch2 down to the root of the mountains

o Down to where the sea weed wrap around his head

o Down to where the bars and chains of death… the pit of sheol lock him in

g. Jonah, in his disobedience and rebellion, in his rejection of God’s calling

o His life went down/Down/down/down to the pit of despair

§ until he had nowhere else to look but up,

· no where else to turn but to God

You can not run from God but you can give up the blessings of obedience and receive instead his stern but loving discipline on your life

a. Like a good father, disciplines their wayward child, it is for their own good, to teach and train them to live rightly

[4] But the Lord hurled (threw)a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

b. Jonah may not be obeying God, but nature is

o The wind and the see obey at his command

o So much so that the ship is about to break up

[5] Then the mariners were afraid (these men were professional sailors, they had seen a storm or two in their day, but this one was unlike the rest and they were terrified), 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.

c. It’s amazing, the pagans knew enough to crying out to their pagan gods… They don’t know any better! But at least they are trying!

o They are doing their best to hold a prayer meeting upstairs

§ And Jonah, the preacher, the only one on this boat that really knows the one true God… He’s asleep…

· He didn’t show up.

o He is so lost in his rebellion, he is so wrapped up in his rejection of God’s command that he is indifferent to the suffering of those around him

d. Could it be, that we here in the church are “spiritually asleep” so to speak…

o Did you know that many in the church are:

§ Asleep/unconscious to the spiritual realities of the world around us

· Unaware of the fact that we are in a pitched spiritual battle that is happening around us and to us

o A battle for the control of your mind towards or away from God

· A spiritual battle to the death, and the spiritual sleeper is relaxing in their pajamas

o When what is called for is for us to arise

§ “And put on the full armor of God”!

§ Asleep to the world that is perishing

· The wind, and the waves, and the storm of God’s wrath threatens damnation for those outside of Christ and we have the answer…

o God has entrusted us with the salvation message (the Gospel message)

§ but we are asleep in our distractions…

§ and indifferent to their eternal fate we don’t bother telling them….

· Who God even is…

o Spurgeon “When I speak of a wakeful man, I mean one who does not take the soul to be a fancy, nor heaven to be a fiction, nor hell to be a tale, but who acts among the sons of men as though these were the only substances, and all other things the shadows. I want men of stern resolution, for no Christian is awake unless he steadfastly determines to serve his God, come fair, come foul.”

There is a kind of poetic irony in v6:

[6] So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? (He’s saying: Don’t you see we are all about to die! Why are you sleeping!) Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

· God uses this pagan captain, this gentile… this lost person to remind Jonah of his duty

o Even using the same command to Jonah that God used earlier “Arise”

· Its as if God is sending this captain as a messenger to the Reluctant Prophet…

o Look Jonah, stop running from me and turn and face me

§ Repent and look up instead of down!

§ Call out to me Jonah!

· We God’s compassion, his heart for his people in this moment

But Jonah, does not turn and repent, he does not call out to God

[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.

· The situation is so obvious that a god is angry with them that they cast lots (which are a kind of dice)

o And even the dice obey the sovereign will of God

o Proverbs 16:33 (ESV) [33] The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

o Jonah, this is your opportunity, the gig is up man, call out on God!

§ Repent! Ask him for forgiveness!!! Turn to your God Jonah!

· Can you not see you error?

So imagine, now they are asking him these questions, rapid fire, trying to discover why this misfortune is coming to them:

[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.”

Finally, he admits who he is, I’m a Hebrew, I fear the Lord!

· Which is kind of ironic because he isn’t acting like he fears God

· The fear of the Lord is an awesome respect and recognition of God in his beauty, power, sovereignty

o And authority… there is a sense of actual fear for displeasing him and disobeying him because

§ As a good father he will discipline his children

· One of the joys in my life is being a father

o My own children are not afraid of me what-so-ever… and they have no reason to be….

§ unless they are up to no good!

o Then they have reason to fear a loving correction on their back side… so to speak

· Proverbs says

o the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

o the fear of the Lord is godly instruction

o It is by the fear of the Lord that one turn away from evil

o So at least, in this moment… Jonah is not acting like he truly fears the LORD….

But in another bit of irony, the sailors “feared” God… And were showing more respect for the LORD than the wayward prophet

[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.

· These pagan mariners quickly made the connection

· They were terrified:

o Jonah! How could you do this?

o Jonah! Why oh why would you try to run from the God of the Sea… on a boat?

[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.”

· With the sea growing more and more angry

· Jonah knows the answer, it is his fault they are in this situation, it was because of his disobedience that has put them at risk

o Maybe out of an obligation to try and save them he tells the mariners to throw him in the sea

o But I think Jonah in that moment, he is just that stubborn…

§ That he would rather die, than see Nineveh live

· He would rather be cast into the sea than to turn to God in this moment and confess his wrong,

o and head back in the direction of God’s calling to Nineveh

[13] Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land,

o This is a kind of gentle rebuke

§ These pagan mariners showed more compassion/more care for Jonah life than he had shown toward theirs

o They also showed more respect and fear of the Lord in their desiring and effort to save his prophet

§ They did not want his death on their hands

[13]…but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

· The harder they rowed, the more fierce the storm became

o They could make no headway against it

[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.”

· Again, it is the pagan mariners to recognize and confess the absolute sovereignty of God

o Incredibly, it is they NOT Jonah who now turns and “called out”/ they cry out to God by name…

§ They do what Jonah would not

§ They turn and face God

· “Oh LORD”, O Yahwey! Let us not perish

· “O Yahwey!

o We tried to save him, its clear that you will not allow us

§ We see that it is your pleasure, it is your will to prevent us

The Lord had “hurled” the storm after the fleeing Jonah

· The mariners had “hurled” the cargo overboard

· Jonah had told them to “hurl” him over as well to calm the storm

Out of options, they give him to you LORD:

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

· Now, if you have ever watched a storm roll in and roll out over the sea

o You know that long before the storm hits, the waves grow large

§ And the sky grows dark

§ And the storm rolls in

§ This takes hours usually

o As the storm passes over and leaves the area, it takes a long while before the waves calm back down

· That is not what happened here

o As soon as Jonah hit the water, BAM!

§ FLAT CALM… A Supernatural peace came over the sea…

Again, the wind and waves obey him, God is sovereign over nature…

· This fact was not missed by the mariners and they were terrified

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

· They were amazed and worshipped the LORD God in sacrificial offerings and promises to follow him

o This was the way Old Testament believers worshipped God

§ These men had converted from pagans to God-fearers

· And confessed the Lord as God

· The Prophet had refused to witness to them…

· But God even used Jonah in his disobedience to bring sinners to repentance

Finally v17

[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.

a. The God of all creation, in his kindness, and compassion and mercy… When by all account, Jonah would have died that day…

b. God performed a miracle and sent this great fish to rescue the stubborn and rebellious prophet…

In closing here, we see our LORD --Jesus— in the life of Jonah

Jesus spoke of Jonah as a pointer, a likeness to, a prefiguring of himself

· Jesus spoke of himself as one greater than Jonah but

· Matthew 12:40 (ESV)[40] just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

o Jesus said that this three days and three nights for Jonah in the great fish

§ Have Gospel significance…

The fierce storm of God’s wrath is threatening to destroy not a tiny merchant vessel:

· but the Bible tells us that there is a day of reckoning coming

o where God will judge the wicked and cast them into the eternal fire.

· But God in his mercy/compassion/and love

o sent his Son to come and preach repentance,

§ to make a way of salvation to Ninevites like you and me…

Jesus, unlike Jonah didn’t run from this calling…

· But he humbled himself, taking on flesh

o and living a perfect sinless life where we fail at every point…

· He pointed everyone to the Father as he went…

As Jonah was hurled into the sea, and it quieted the storm of God’s wrath for his own disobedience

· Jesus willing went to the cross

o where he died to take away God’s wrath on behalf of all of OUR disobedience

Jonah’s three days in the belly of that fish, are a kind of death…in the pit/depths of the sea:

· His raising from that watery grave was a miraculous symbol to the Ninevites to bring them to repentance

Jesus’ died on the cross and spent three days in the pit of that tomb,

· With his rising from the grave, we now have a miraculous symbol of God’s acceptance of his sacrifice for our sins

o The Gospel of Jesus Christ goes forth calling everyone/everywhere to repent

§ To turn and face God

§ To confess their waywardness and wanderings

§ And receive forgiveness through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus

We sang a song in 1st service this past Sunday, and its been in my head as I was thinking about Jonah – called “Run to the Father”

· Thinking about turning to face him…

· And when we do, we don’t get what we deserve,

o we deserve condemnation…

§ What get instead is his embrace…..

§ Like the Prodigal Son returning after trying it his own way

· and finding nothing there but pain and loss,

· When he turns to the Father and the Father welcomes him with open arms….

The song goes:

I run to the Father I fall into grace I'm done with the hiding No reason to wait My heart needs a surgeon My soul needs a friend So I'll run to the Father Again and again

Are you running from God today? Is there something in your life you are keeping from him…

Is there something he has called you to…. but you are resisting…

Is there some indwelling sin that has gotten your attention and you are clinging to it… and your life is going down/down/down…

Can I remind you today, that God, in his love and mercy is running after you…

· In his great love and mercy, he is calling you to turn and face him

o He is ready to forgive, he is ready to help you

§ He wants you to be right with him

§ His heart longs to help you, to comfort you

o And to send you out again with his Spirit to walk with him instead of run from him

§ Glory be to God! We praise him!