Jonah: A Man on the Run
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Jonah: A Man on the Run
Jonah: A Man on the Run
This week we begin a four week sermon series and study on the Old Testament’s book of Jonah. If we know the book of Jonah at all it’s likely that we know about it from children’s Bible’s. There is a big fish (or whale) that swallows him up. But it’s more than a family-friendly fairy tale. Though it’s only four chapters long it’s one of the most unique and fascinating texts in the whole Bible, maybe even western literature. My hope is that in ruminating on it over 4 weeks, in hosting it in worship and in our hearts we might discover just how interesting and how insightful it is. So get your spiritual wet suit on, ‘cuz we’re heading into the belly of the fish.
Traditionally, the book is considered to have been written by the prophet Jonah, mentioned in 2 Kgs 14:25. The personal nature of the book, especially the psalm in chapter 2, suggests this connection for some readers.
Brenda Heyink, “Jonah, Book of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Jonah 1:1-16
Jonah 1:1-16
Jonah 1:1-16
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Jonah, Book Of
Named after the main character, Jonah, who is swallowed by a great fish. The book shows God’s concern and grace to all peoples. Repentance and forgiveness are significant themes. These come through in Jonah’s relationship with the Lord, in the repentance shown by those living in Nineveh, and in Yahweh’s response to their repentance.
Jonah: Sometimes called the “reluctant prophet”. His name means “Dove”.
Served the Lord and the nation of Israel as a prophet in approximately 750 BC. Mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25
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.
Gath-hepher is actually a region of northern kingdom: near Galilee!
Nineveh: Capital city of Assyria. Assyria is a terrible enemy to Israel and many other nations.
Jonah begins with divine communication. “Now the Word of the Lord,” it says. “The Word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Ammitai.” This isn’t particularly special. Jonah is counted as one of the prophetic books in the Old Testament. The prophets are tapped on the shoulder by God to speak “from a perspective of God. So the fact that this book begins with a “Word from the Lord,” is nothing out of the ordinary.
The fact that Jonah receives a Word from God isn’t unique. What is unique though, is the content of this Word from God. Where it sends him, and what it asks of him.
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
The Word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” Nineveh doesn’t mean much to us, but it sure would means something to Jonah. Nineveh’s a great city of 120,000 people. Which for its time—8th century B.C.—is massive. It’s so big because it’s the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians are known for their brutality, murdering and pillaged their way throughout the middle east. So Nineveh is basically the symbolic home of everything evil, hateful, and idolatrous. Black smokestacks and human sacrifices. It’s the last place anybody would wanna be sent to.
And to top it all off, Jonah’s people (the Hebrew people) were some of their worst victims. The Assyrians sacked both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, wiping out ten out of the original twelve tribes. The great Hebrew scholar and Bible translator Robert Alter compares God sending Jonah to Nineveh sending a Jew to Nazi Germany, Berlin 1940. So Jonah’s not only one single person being sent to a place of wickedness, he’s being sent to the belly of the beast to prophesy to his people’s worst enemies—the victimizers of his own people—to let ‘em know God’s giving them another chance to turn their lives around.[5]
God may ask you to do things that you don’t want to do.
It’s insane. Nineveh’s the last place anyone would wanna go. And the Ninevites are the last people any Jew would wanna go speak to. It’s basically an impossible request.
Seeing that task as impossible, Jonah does what any sane person would do. He flees. Jonah’s name remember means “dove.”[6] And this dove flies the coop. Jonah, it says, goes down to Joppa. It’s a seaport on the east side of the Mediterranean. And he buys a ticket on a ship headed for this place called Tarshish. “Away from the presence of the Lord.” The best guess is southern Spain—on the exact opposite side of the Mediterranean.[7] Really, it’s the end of the known world. The kind of place you go to get away. It’s the exact opposite of Nineveh. Both geographically and spiritually.
God says go East, Jonah goes west. God sends him to Nineveh, the dark place of terror, and instead Jonah books his literal getaway at an all inclusive resort. On the other side of the world.
God is asking Jonah to do something that Jonah sees as impossible...
It’s like Jonah is saying “God, I still believe in you, but I’m not going to do what you ask me to do.”
I’ll still go to church, I’ll still pray and worship, I’ll give— but
Like Jonah, we often run to odd and unsafe places.
No wonder he hops a boat without a single hesitation.
As I’m reading this, and thinking— Jonah, why get on a boat? Stay in a safer place!
We do that too don’t we? We often have the deepest regrets in life, when we were running away. We look back and ask, “what was I thinking?”
If you want it, you can always find a boat sailing in the wrong direction.
3 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.
I know that few of us have received a direct, prophet-style Word from God. Let alone a word directing us into the heart of a bloodthirsty empire. Even so, we all have our Nineveh’s. Though they are probably far less dramatic, there are places in our lives we’re called to, situations and people that the Spirit nudges us towards, but we just can’t bring ourselves to go to.
Maybe it’s someone who’s hurt us, caused us deep pain and grief who we can’t imagine ever forgiving. Or maybe it’s someone in our lives who needs to be confronted but we’re too scared to do it. Or maybe it’s even something about ourselves. Some sin, some fault, some failure that we hide from everyone else. Regardless of what it is—like Jonah—we’d much rather put all of our energies and resources into escape. Either through literal avoidance—running away. Or metaphorical avoidance. I mean, as a society we’re all eating, drinking, and Netflixing our way away from God’s call on our lives. For every Nineveh in our lives there’s a ticket to Tarshish in our hand.
Maybe you are like me---We all have our Nineveh’s. We all have our zones of extreme discomfort, things that God is calling us to, but we all have our Tarshish, our preferred methods of escape too. We just can’t bring ourselves to go there or do it because we see it as impossible. So we run away. Literally or otherwise.
You can run from God, but you can’t outrun God.
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
God may send a storm to get your attention.
But no sooner is the crew setting sail that God sends a storm so strong that it’s liable bust the ship back to lumber. Jonah thought he could run, but God’s in hot pursuit, threatening to tear the ship apart to get Jonah back on track. The crew’s terrorized, and tries everything to stop the storm or escape it.
When we run, life begins to unravel.
There’s so much going on in this text. I love it. There’s a sermon in just about every verse. The thing I found most fascinating about it, though, is the sailors. The sailors start out as non-believers— they are lost. And by the end of this storm they’re converted. They’re transformed into full-blown believers.
How does it happen?
5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
There are about two key things that happen as life unravels:
We stop hearing God’s voice.
While the sailors are trying everything they can to save the ship, Jonah’s hiding below deck. This crew prays to multiple gods, hoping one of them can put a stop to the terror. They even sacrifice their precious cargo, tossing it overboard to lighten the load. Meanwhile Jonah’s in his cabin, quilt pulled over his head, hoping he can dream the whole thing away. He stops listening. It’s no longer the “words” of God that Jonah is listening to. So what does God do— he uses HIS WORKS… instead. The wind, the rain, the storms, the hurdles and roadblocks...
Have you ever felt like the whole world was against you? I have. But do you know that if you have stopped listening to the words of God— God may use the Works of God to get our attention.
6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
The captain has to toss him out of bed and yell at him to get back on deck to help out. God came calling again, and Jonah ran, again. These sailors surely aren’t converted to become believers because of Jonah’s courage!
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
Not only that, but they figure out that the storm’s all his fault. So they cast lots to figure out who.
8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
This information clearly freaks them out. “WHERE ARE YOU FROM?!” they ask. “WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?” “WHAT DID YOU DO TO BRING THIS ON US?”
9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
This God called him and sent him on a mission, but he ran away. So not only is he a coward, he’s a coward that’s brought this tsunami on all of them and brought them a heartbeat away from a watery grave. They don't convert on account of his virtue, or his personal integrity either.
There isn’t much about Jonah that inspires the soul, really. He flees and hides from a problem that he's the cause of. And yet, the pagan crew became believers in God. Why?
The answer comes to us in the final scene of the interaction. But it’s a bit unexpected.
10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
A second thing that often happens when Life is unraveling:
We hurt the people who are close to us.
When someone is running away from God— those around them will often suffer the consequences.
These sailors are throwing cargo overboard, breaking ropes, seeing sails being torn up— they are taking losses, and possibly drowning— why? If they get to the port of Tarshish— they won’t have the cargo they were supposed to deliver. They might lose their jobs. Why? Because they allowed some dude who was running from God on their boat. Because God has a special assignment for Jonah— and Jonah is running away.
Friends-- let me tell you something. Your family, your coworkers, those close to you-- will be affected by your decisions. Walnut Creek Mennonite— listen to me, when we run from God— and life begins to unravel, we stop hearing from God and we begin to see those close to us get hurt.
11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
Jonah’s worst nightmare was exactly what he and everyone else needed.
Once the sailors know Jonah’s to blame they interrogate him as to how to fix it. They tried everything, and the waves are just splashing higher and harder. “Pick me up,” he replies. “Pick me up and toss me overboard. Feed me to the sea. The whole thing’s my fault, you’re gonna die all because of me. So toss me over. There’s no other way .” He owns his disobedience, confesses, in essence— and faces his worst nightmare.
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.”
Interestingly, they don’t immediately chuck him into the surf right away. They jam the oars into the swelling water in the hopes they can paddle back to shore. It’s because they don’t wanna kill him. First, killing is a bad thing, but they also don’t know what the right thing is. But it’s eventually the only option.
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”
So as they dangle him over the deep, they cry out to God for forgiveness, “do not make us guilty of innocent blood, for you, Lord, have done as it pleased you.” If this guy’s wrong, then there's a good possibility they’re gonna be on the receiving end of a worse wrath.
15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Jonah wasn’t wrong. As soon as he splashes against the surface of the water, The moment when Jonah was finally able to own his sin, and accept the consequences. At this moment that the crew stands in awe of the Lord, offering a sacrifice, and making vows. They dedicate gifts to God in gratitude, and commit themselves to his future service. One commentator describes this moment as one where the boat turns from fearful escape pod to a floating sacred church!
God calmed the storm. The crew is converted, this crew goes from lost unbelievers, to full-blown believers in the God of Israel.
Not because Jonah was brave. Not because he was pious, or impressive, or charismatic in any way. But because Jonah accepted his condemnation. He quit running away, and instead offers himself up to save the ones who he endangered.
And to top it all off, Jonah isn’t punished. He's rescued. God sends a fish who swallows him up in an act of grace.
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.
That’s the tough, hard story— the bad news of Jonah’s situation. But there is good news also. You want to know the good news?
God stays involved in our lives not to pay us back, but to bring us back.
God doesn’t just sit up there above, with folded arms— waiting and watching to punish us. Some of us have gotten this thing a bit twisted up. He is not a harsh, stern cold heavenly father— waiting for someone to mess up so he can strike at them. He’s not a viper God. All of us have made mistakes. But I think someone needs to hear this today— “God Loves you” That’s it.
He doesn’t chase you— but he goes ahead of you.
He’s there for Jonah, and he’s there for you.
So, no matter the storm that surrounds you and me—may we face up to our own faults and failings, resting easy in the sea-stilling knowledge of God’s grace.
In the next few weeks— we’re going to see what coming back to God can look like. Finding his forgiveness, and trying to obey him once again.