“Returning to God”
“Cost and Consequences of Disobedience”
Jonah 1:4-16
Jonah heard God’s call one day. It didn’t sit well with Jonah. This wasn’t what Jonah wanted to hear. The call of God for Jonah was to go over to Nineveh, the great capital city of the Assyrian Empire, a place quite unlike Jonah’s home and certainly not friendly to Jonah’s people. There Jonah was to tell the people of Nineveh that they were wrong. That is likely to get you yelled at, cursed and spit on – or worse killed. So Jonah did just about what most of us would do: he ran. Jonah ran as hard and as far as he could go in the other direction. Jonah set out 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 his fare and went on board, to go to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
He decided not to go to Nineveh but rather to flee from God. The last verse we examined (1:3) stated, “But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the LORD.” This morning I want to resume our study by examining the cost and consequences of Jonah’s disobedience to God; for there will always be consequences for sin! This morning I want to draw four principles from Jonah’s experience.
I. God Loves You Too Much to Let You Remain Disobedient (v. 4)
“But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.” Jonah had chosen the path of disobedience and God would have been within his rights to have said, “Jonah, you have disobeyed me, and as such you have forfeited the right to be called my child. I am letting go!” But he did not do so.
I want us to notice the contrast between the first two words of verse three, (“But Jonah”) and the first three words of verse four, (“Then the Lord”). Jonah expressed his weak rebellion but God loved him too much to let him go. The Bible says that God sent the storm. This was not just an ordinary storm but a storm so “great” that even the veteran sailors were afraid.
We know that the LORD can calm the troubled waters of our lives, but have we ever stopped to think that He is the same LORD who can stir them up into a great frenzy. It all depends on whether He is in the boat with you or not. If He is in the boat then we can call out like the disciples when they found themselves in a storm, “Master save us.” But if He is not in the boat and you are running away from Him in disobedience, then what?
I want you to consider that, God took the call upon Jonah’s life so seriously that He would actually sink the ship on which the disobedient prophet was sailing if necessary, rather than let him continue on the path of disobedience. You see, God is too merciful and too loving to allow His children to drift into open rebellion without disciplining them. The Psalmist David wrote, (Psalm 119:67) “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.” (Psalm 119:71) “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”
Some believers seem to think that they can go on and on in unrepented sin without the discipline of God but that is not what God’s word teaches. The principle concerning the discipline of God is found in Hebrews 12:9-11, “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? (10) For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. (11) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” God cares so much that he disciplines us. This is what happened to Jonah. In fact if I were outside the will of God and felt no chastisement from him, I would begin to examine myself to see if I was indeed a child of God.
In Jonah’s life the Lord sent a storm. When storms break out in our lives we may blame God, when in reality it is our own disobedience that has led us into the middle of the storm. The Lord may use a storm to bring these things upon so that we will stop our defiance and run back to Him. So remember God Loves You To Much to Let You Alone AND…
II. A Believer’s Disobedience Always Involves Others. (v. 5a)
“Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load….” Because of Jonah’s sin, innocent sailors (and I use that term carefully) are about to die. Of course these men are not innocent in that they are sinners, but it is Jonah’s sin not theirs that put them in this situation. We don’t sin in seclusion, sin is like second-hand smoke, our disobedience harms the people around us. The tragedy of backslidden Christians is that they make everybody around them miserable.
But perhaps the greatest damage we do when we disobey God is that we push the lost away from a personal faith in Christ. It is a sad day when a saint of God has to be exposed before an unbelieving world. We see here that Jonah was found out, he had concealed his identity as child of God, but now he was discovered. But before we point a finger of accusation at Jonah, we need to ask ourselves question. Have you worked in the same place for years but yet no one knows you are a Christian?
III. Disobedience Leaves Us Powerless Before the Storms. (vv. 5b- 6) “…. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. (6) So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."
Everyone was praying, except Jonah. Jonah, as far as we know is the only one on the ship who believed in the one true God. And yet he was the only one not praying. There is no evidence here that Jonah called on God. Later, he did but not here, why? I believe it was because he couldn’t. When we live with open and unrepented sin in our lives, we cannot communicate with God. One of the tell-tale signs that we may be running from God is that we don’t pray, read your Bible or go to church anymore. Maybe the reason you don’t do these things is because you’re mad at God. Or most likely it is because you don’t want to give up your sin. Let me remind you of something about tolerating sin in your life. It will take you farther than you ever wanted to Go. It will keep you longer than you ever wanted to Stay and it will cost you more than you ever wanted to Pay. But regardless of the reason why we don’t pray, read the Bible or go to church, the result is the same. Disobedience Leaves Us Powerless Before the Storms and…
IV. You Can Not Live A Disobedient Life and It Not Show. (vv. 7-10)
“And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.” The sailors have been discussing this storm and they have concluded that it was not at all like other storms they had experienced. They had been able to handle other storms but not this one. They had concluded that someone in their number has done something horrible. So they have decided to cast lots to discover who is at fault. We think that we can sin and no one will know it, but God knows and God caused Jonah to get the short straw.
Your sins will find you out (Numbers 32:33). Police in Radnor, Pa., interrogated a suspect by placing a metal Colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The Message "He’s lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy Button each time they thought the suspect wasn’t telling the truth. Believing the "lie detector" was working, the suspect confessed. The scene was San Diego Superior Court. Two men were on trial for armed robbery. An eyewitness took the stand, and the prosecutor moved carefully: “So, you say you were at the scene when the robbery took place?” “Yes.” “And you saw a vehicle leave at a high rate of speed?” “Yes.” “And did you observe the occupants?” “Yes, two men.” “And,” the prosecutor boomed, “are those two men present in court today?” At this point the two defendants sealed their fate. They raised their hands. It was the preacher Billy Sunday who said "Sin can be forgiven, but stupid is forever."
People may think that such things are determined by chance. They speak of “Lady Luck” or work out some mathematical odds. But God tells us that He controls what happens. A verse in Proverbs says: ‘The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD’ (Prov. 16:33)…… The dice were cast into the lap, but God determined the outcome. Donald Grey Barnhouse often paraphrased this verse by saying that ‘man throws the dice; but it is God who makes the spots come up.’ ”
So once Jonah is identified as the cause of the problems, I believe that the men asked Jonah a series of questions just as fast as they could be fired off (verse 8), “Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" (9) So 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, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.”
In verse ten when the men found out that Jonah worshiped the God of Israel they were “exceedingly afraid.” These veteran sailors were more afraid of God at this point than they were of the storm itself. The reason for this fear had to be that they had heard about Jonah’s God. This was the God who had brought the plagues on Egypt. This was the God who had opened the Red Sea. This was the God who had drowned Pharaoh’s army. This is the God who had brought down the walls of Jericho. This is the God who had caused the sun to stand still for Joshua. This God who was pursuing Jonah was a great God, a powerful God! No wonder the sailors were terrified!
Perhaps each sailor had a question that he wanted answered. I don’t believe that we have all the questions recorded, only a few representative examples. But after they learned he was a Hebrew (v.9), in my mind there are at least three crucial questions that they would have wanted the answers to.
1. If Your Fear God As You Say You Do, Then Why Did You Disobey Him? As we will soon see the unbelievers feared God more than the Jonah, the man of God. 2. If He Is The God Of Heaven As You Say He Is Then, Why Do You Want To Run From Him? If we as believers want to spend eternity in his presence why do you not want to be in His presence now? 3. Why did you Drag Us Into This (v. 10)? What you do has the potential to hurt others- especially those that you love and love you. Perhaps even more to the point, the sailors ask Jonah what they must do to appease this “great” God. In verse eleven, they ask, "What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?"-for the sea was growing more tempestuous.”
The state of Jonah’s heart is revealed by his response to the question, “What should we do to make the sea calm for us?” Jonah could have responded by saying, “It is obvious what we must do. God wants me to go to Nineveh, and we will not be safe until I go. Turn the ship around. Let’s go back. Then the storm will stop!” Does Jonah call on His God and ask for forgiveness and vow to go back to Nineveh? No way. He is so determined in his rebellion that he says in verse twelve, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me." Just throw me into the sea!
It would seem that Jonah would rather die than do God’s will. But the sailors are not willing to help him commit suicide for we read in verse thirteen, “Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.”
This verse literally says in the Hebrew, “nevertheless the men digged to bring it to land.” They were unwilling to see him die if it could be prevented.
But even these men had limits and finally the sailors give up and in verse fourteen we read, “Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said, "We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You." (15) So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.” So finally when it became evident that they could not win the battle against the winds and the waves, they asked God not to hold them accountable for Jonah’s death and then threw the rebellious prophet overboard. The storm stopped immediately.
In the last verse (verse sixteen) we are going to consider today we read, “Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.” In an ironic twist, we see God’s purpose was fulfilled in spite of the prophet’s stubborn rebellion. Don’t be misled God’s purpose will be fulfilled with or without you but God would rather have you with Him. These sailors did three things that identified them as new believers; they feared the LORD, they offered sacrifice to the LORD and they took vows. If the sailors had made the vows prior to the end of the storm it would not been nearly so impressive, for how many times have we witnessed people make vows when they were in trouble, but when the emergency passed they forgot all about the vows. But these sailors made their vows after the danger had passed.
Think about it, what started out as a general fear in v. 5, grew into an intense fear in v. 10 and matured into the fear -- that is, the reverent worship -- of the Lord. For those of us that are Christians, this is the exact response that is expected from people who fear the Lord. As Christians we are to revere Him, we are to be in awe of Him because He is a mighty, awesome and powerful God. That is to be what drives us to bow down before Him and worship our Savior.
So as we close, let’s recap what happens when a child of God chooses to run away from the Lord? First, we will be confronted by the power of God. (v. 4) yes we have free will and yes God will let us run but, there will come a time that God will say enough is enough and He will stop us from running. Running away from God is a form challenging the authority of God. God will somehow, some way demonstrate that He is still in charge of your life.
Secondly, we risk the safety of the people around us. (vv. 5-6) Sometimes in the process of disobeying and running from God, we risk the life of the people around us. We thought that our decision to run from God would only affect our personal lives. That is not true. Oftentimes the will of God should be obeyed so he can bless a number of people in the community. And ignoring God and his will deprive them of the opportunity to be blessed by God.
Thirdly, we risk the integrity of the people of God. (vv. 7-10) When the sailors asked Jonah’s background, he actually risked the integrity of the people of God. You can imagine the anger of the sailors against Jonah when they found out he was a child of God. If we say that we are a child of God and that we believe in God then we need to live like it so that others can see Christ in our lives. And fourthly, we face the possibility of being disciplined by God. (11-16) Jonah upon realizing that God was confronting him acknowledged that they must get rid of him in order for the storm to stop. So they threw him into the sea. Why wait to be punished by God for Him to get your attention? Come back to Him now. Quit running!!!! Return now!!! Realize that it’s a privilege to work with God. When he calls us to do something, let us humble ourselves and obey him.
I want to say one more thing as we remember Jonah, a man who was disobedient to God, I want us to also remember God’s only Son, who, when commissioned by God did NOT run, even though He was sent to a planet full of sinful people, people who would despise and reject Him — people who would treat Him so cruelly that He would intimately know suffering. Jesus was the only One in fact who has ever been perfectly obedient to God. Paul tells us that Jesus Christ was "...in very nature God, [HE] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became OBEDIENT to death even death on the cross."
Jesus faced the most difficult command God ever issued. He knew the unimaginable pain and separation He would suffer on our behalf if He were to obey. He even asked God if there were another way, but when the answer was "NO" Jesus was obedient and today, we can enjoy a relationship with God only because of that obedience.
“Returning to God”
“Cost and Consequences of Disobedience”
Jonah 1:4-16
I. God Loves You Too Much to Let You Remain _________________.
II. A Believer’s Disobedience Always Involves _________________.
III. Disobedience Leaves Us ________________ Before the Storms.
IV. You Can Not Live A Disobedient Life and It Not _____________.
