Sermon Tone Analysis

How many of us have been praying for God to use us in some capacity, but then have second thoughts when God presents us with His plan and will for our life?

Oftentimes, we are searching for God, but then we run from Him when we find Him.

This can happen to devout Christians, as well as new believers who are searching for God’s will.

As we look at Jonah these next few weeks, In 2 Kings, we find a prophet who will succeed Elisha, serving during the time of Jeroboam II reigning in Israel.

It was a time again of evil rule, and were still tormented by the Syrian threat of war.

Jonah promised that the victories promised to Jehoash by Elisha on his deathbed would continue for his son Jeroboam II.

Through Jeroboams reign, God, through compassion, would allow Israel’s boundaries to be restored in spite of a sinful King and the nations sin.

Now, we see a prophet who God used mightily to both prophecy what would occur and would see the nation come closer to restoration during his time.

But in the book of Jonah, we find the faithful prophet…unfaithful…and as a result, he flees from God’s will for him.

Running from God

While Jonah was going about the business of the Lord, God changes his direction with two imperatives and a destination.

“Arise, go to Nineveh”.

Nineveh was an Assyrian city that had become the poster child of evil, and had been threatened by God to completely destroy the city if it did not repent.

Not only was it evil, but the Assyrians were considered an enemy to Israel.

Why would God call His prophet into the middle of an evil, enemy territory?

That more than likely was the question Jonah would have raised.

Jonah despised Nineveh, and as we will later see was disappointed when the people repented.

This stance may have been the result of Assyrian dominance throughout the area.

Both Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah (southern kingdom) were subject to Assyrian rule and experienced the harsh treatment with which Assyria maintained control.

For whatever reason, Jonah did not want to travel to Nineveh.

Yet God told him “their evil has come up before me”.

God recognized the sin in Nineveh, but in His mercy, he saw the need for salvation even to the Ninevites, regardless of how debased they were.

Jonah was to point out their sins, call them out, point out their shortcomings.

In Nineveh were people who simply ignored God, and they assumed He ignored them, too.

Instead, we find a God who set a plan in motion for them to hear the Gospel Message.

They may not have been worried about their sin, but God was.

Instead of doing God’s Will, Jonah ran the other direction.

Not only did he run, he tried to outrun God.

Nineveh was only 500 miles from Israel, while Tarshish was 2,000 miles…in the opposite direction.

He was trying to separate himself from God’s work with 2,500 miles.

Determined to not do God’s work, Jonah found himself in direct conflict with God.

Oftentimes, we may not like where God may be taking us when He asks us to do His will.

Where would we be uncomfortable witnessing?

What if God called this church to minister to those in the federal prison?

How many of us would be willing to stand up and go into a max-security lockup?

Think that’s scary, how about listening to God and taking on a: Sunday school class, youth class, children’s ministry, prayer group, the list can go on and on.

Unfortunately, many sit in pews today in the same manner as either the Ninevites or Jonah, ignoring God or running from Him. Don’t let us get away from the presence of the Lord as Jonah did.

Caught, Guilty, Red-Handed

Jonah may have tried to outrun God, but God is always one step ahead.

Talk about the dumbest thing that could be done - this man knew God could find him and would speak to him directly at any time, any place, any where, yet he tried to completely go against God.

He thought he could walk away from a divine assignment.

God was about to teach him otherwise.

Isn’t it amazing how God gives us those “teaching moments”?

Jonah was about to find out that he couldn’t just “resign” from God, because God was not done with him yet.

God placed a storm in his path so fierce that it was threatening to tear the ship to pieces.

Notice that the disobedience of God’s man threatened the lives of all those with him.

The storm was so intense, these seasoned sailors were throwing everything unnecessary out of the boat to keep it from capsizing.

We see a picture of the prophet snoozing, apparently oblivious of the danger around him.

It makes me wonder, was he THAT oblivious or did he think he was just so close to God he could do whatever he wanted and not face any correction?

In contrast to the disobedient prophet, the wind, the sea, and even the ship were tuned in to the Lord’s purposes

Makes me think we need to guard against thinking we are so close to God we can never get out of His will for our life.

When the captain found him asleep, notice what he said to him “Arise, call out to your god!”

In the previous verse we read that the rest of the sailors were praying to “his god”.

Reminds me of the Jerry Clower joke where John Eubanks climbed a tree searching for a raccoon, but found a lynx instead.

As they were urging John to knock him out, he was hollering out in a fight of his life.

Finally, John screams back for someone to shoot up in the tree amongst him and the lynx.

Of course, those on the ground didn’t want to do that for fear they would accidently hit John.

But John hollers back, “Shoot up here amongst us, because one of us needs some relief!”

These old boys on he boat were trying to find some relief!

Unfortunately, they were praying to something that had no control over the chaos THE God of the universe had created.

Since their gods were not listening, maybe the God of Jonah would keep them from dying.

Isn’t it amazing that a pagan outshined Jonah in understanding of divine truth.

Have we ever been so heavenly focused that we are of no earthly good?

Listen close, can we fool ourselves into thinking we are so close to God, and we know His will and direction for our lives that we forget to consult Him?

While we really don’t know WHAT Jonah was thinking, we see what his ACTIONS brought in the form of correction.

It took a heathen sea captain to fuss at a prophet to pray in a time of great peril.

Don’t ever let us lose sight of God, His will and direction for our lives, or the situations that need fervent prayer.

Consequence of Disobedience

The sailors hadn’t seen any result of the prayers to their gods, so they went to a further pagan skill to find out WHO caused this evil to befall them.

They were desperate enough to start rolling dice to see who was guilty!

In this case, stones or pebbles were painted or colored.

If two light sides landed up, it meant yes.

A light and dark meant throw again.

Tow darks meant no.

Who is guilty was it you?

(rolls dice) no.

You (rolls dice) no.

You…and it goes on and on until they come to Jonah.

The lots are cast.

You are the one.

Can you imagine the thoughts going through his head at this time?

Can’t you hear him in his own mind?

It can’t be me, I’m God’s prophet!

He forgot that he was God’s prophet OUT of God’s will.

Then the questions no one want’s to answer who are you, where did you come from, what’s your job, and who’s your family?

These sailors were ready o take things into their own hands.

Their lives were at risk and they demanded answers.

For the first time in the story Jonah speaks.

But he responds to all their questions with only two answers, which are simple and relatively short.

“I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

I find it ironic that the man who defiantly disobeyed God by running as far away as possible from God’s assignment was not acknowledging his God as the Creator of the sea and dry land.

“Yes, I worship the one who is causing this storm”.

When they realized the magnitude of the sin Jonah had committed, the sailors were scared to death, asking what they should to to make HIS God stop this stormy sea.

Again, these were seasoned sailors, who had weathered many storms at sea.

But this one was different.

When they realized the source of the storm their fear turned into a “holy” fear, a reverence to the Supreme God Jonah served.

The New American Commentary makes this observation “To run away from a god was foolish; but to run from “the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land” was suicidal.

Their question, “What have you done?” was not a question about the nature of Jonah’s sin but an exclamation of horror.

They were frightened to the depths of their beings.”

Do we have a holy fear/reverence for the God that created all we see, feel, hear, touch, etc.? At times I think we don’t realize until we find ourselves running away, when we may find ourselves out of God’s Will, or when we find ourselves caught in sin and having to confess it all.