We read in Jonah 1:10, Then the men were terrified. They knew that he was running away from the LORD, because he had told them. They asked Jonah, "Why have you done this?" (GW)
The prophet Jonah who received the word of God to go to Nineveh, disobeyed God, and undertook a voyage on a ship in the exact opposite direction towards Tarshish. God sent a furious storm over the sea, and the ship that Jonah travelled in, was caught in this unmanageable tempest. Somehow the people on board that ship understood that this tempest they faced was sent by God, and that there was someone on that ship who was also responsible for their calamity. They cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah, following which they made enquiries about Jonah’s identity.
Here’s Jonah’s reply in Jonah 1:9, Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew. I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the land and the sea." (ERV)
Jonah revealed to the men on the ship that he was a Hebrew, and one who worshipped the true and living God who made the land and the sea. I am sure when Jonah told them he was a Hebrew, the men might have recalled that Jonah belonged to the God who delivered His people from the cruel powers of Pharaoh in Egypt, and also parted the Red Sea to rescue His own.
The next thing that Jonah revealed to them about himself in found in Jonah 1:10, Then the men were terrified. They knew that he was running away from the LORD, because he had told them. They asked Jonah, "Why have you done this?" (GW)
Jonah had to confess to the people on that ship that he was indeed running away in disobedience from the presence of this Almighty God. This filled the men with dread as they realized that the God whom Jonah believed in was the true and living God. They also realized that this God is the creator of everything, and there was no place that one could run and hide from His awesome presence. They might have asked Jonah, why he had taken such a decision, and had chosen to sail in their ship, thereby placing all of their lives in jeopardy.
They then asked Jonah a very pertinent question, ‘Why have you done this?’ which is what we will meditate on in this study.
There are many like Jonah who after having known the Lord, are still choosing to walk away in rebellion and disobedience to Him. Let me highlight a couple of reason to you in this study.
1. Satan’s deception
• In the Garden of Eden
God too asked this question for the first time as found in Genesis 3:13, The LORD God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it."(GNB)
This was the heart-rending question that God posed to Eve, after she chose to disobey God and ate the forbidden fruit. God had created man and woman in His own image, endowed them with every blessing, and He could not comprehend how they chose the path of disobedience. Eve passed on the blame to the Serpent whom she said tricked her into disobeying God.
There are those who when they make mistakes will pass the buck on to others for their sinful actions. There are only a minority who are willing to accept that they are responsible for the wrong choices that led them into sin.
Eve used the word deceived or tricked by the Serpent. The word ‘deception’ means to make one believe a lie as though it were the truth. Similar words to deception are cheating or fraud. Even today many believers are being deceived by Satan in various ways. If one has to run this race of faith, we must do so giving no room for any sort of deception from the enemy.
There are many things in this world that are alluring and deceptive. For instance, there are many who are addicted to alcohol, and enslaved by it. Most of them probably started off with the thought that alcohol would give them some temporary relief to the problems they encountered. Satan actually used this temporary pleasure to deceive them, and ultimately makes many of them slaves to this habit. Satan is a liar and he masters the art of hiding most of the truth, and deceives people with his lying schemes. As children of God we should be aware of these deceptive ploys of the enemy, and be cautious to escape from the traps set by him.
David’s experience
The Psalmist described his experience this way in Psalm 41:6, And when these “friends” come to visit me with their pious sympathy and their hollow words and with hypocrisy hidden in their hearts, I can see right through it all. For they come merely to gather gossip about me, using all they find to mock me with malicious hearts of slander.(TPT)
Some have the habit of visiting those who are not well or are down in some way. They will feign concern, and speak sympathetically to the person who is ailing. The person who is sick and weak will share all their woes, and the one who came to visit them will take the information, add their own opinions to it and spread it far and wide. This can also be termed as deception. This also happens a lot over the phone where a person will call to enquire after someone. When the person opens up and shares all that is in their heart, they will take this information and gossip with others about the person.
This exactly was the experience of David as mentioned in Psalm 41:6, who had these so called ‘friends’ who visited him, expressed pious sympathy with their hollow words, and later went out to gossip about him, slander and mock him.
If someone has been hurt this way, don’t let this get you down. Ask God to grant you wisdom to know whom to share what with, and not to fall prey to the deceptive schemes of men. The Holy Spirit of God is our counsellor who is with us to give us discernment to handle every situation wisely. Only the Spirit of God can give us strength and grace to live a life of wisdom in a world filled with deception.
Eve engaged in an unnecessary conversation
Eve by getting herself into an unwanted conversation with the Serpent, lost the presence of God, and all the blessings and authority that God had so graciously endowed on her and Adam. At the very outset Eve should have shunned the Serpent, and refused to engage in a dialogue with him. It was this engagement with the Serpent that resulted in them being deceived.
Oftentimes, it is those unnecessary conversations we engage in that cause much problems. Every conversation that we choose to get ourselves involved in either over the phone or in person, let’s be wise to not get ourselves entangled into any form of deceptive speech or cunning schemes of men.
2. The sinful nature inside of us
• Balaam is stopped in his tracks
We read in Numbers 22:32, “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. (NLT)
The background to this incident is that Balaam is a prophet of the Lord. The king of Moab, whose name was Balak, invited Balaam to curse the people of Israel. As the people of Israel advanced towards entering the Promised Land, the king of Moab was filled with fear. He knew that the Israelites were a mighty lot whom he could not contend with. Balak therefore decided to do something in the spiritual realm which would cause them harm. He called the prophet Balaam to speak a curse on them, knowing that the prophet of God had the power and anointing, so that the ones he cursed remained cursed, and the ones whom he blessed were blessed.
Initially this was Balaam’s response as found in Numbers 22:8, Balaam said to them, "Stay here for the night. I will talk to the LORD and tell you the answer he gives me." So the leaders of Moab stayed there with Balaam that night. (ERV)
He told the messengers who came from Balak that he would first wait for the instruction of the Lord, and then reply them accordingly.
God’s command was clear-cut
This was the word that came from God to Balaam in Numbers 22:12, But God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. You must not curse those people. They are my people." (ERV)
God’s command was crystal clear. God forbade the prophet from going with the men sent from the king. God has cautioned Balaam that he was not to curse the people of Israel, as they were God’s people. When Balaam conveyed this to the men who took this word to King Balak, he was not willing to give up.
Balaam insisted to have his way
In Numbers 22:18-19, we read, And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will speak unto me more. (ERV)
When Balaam was informed that the king was willing to honor him in a big way, he refused to accept the bribes. Initially Balaam was certain that his obedience to God’s command was of utmost importance, more than all the treasures that the king could give him. Nonetheless, Balaam wanted to check again with God to see if he could still go ahead and satisfy Balak’s request. God’s command was forthright that the Israelites were a people worthy of the prophet’s blessings only. However, the prophet was still not sure, and was wanting to please the king as well. When Balaam kept on asking God, the Lord gave him permission to go ahead with his plans, though He did not approve of them.
Isn’t this like a lot of people who have already decided on some things, and then go to God with a fervency, simply seeking His approval to their plans. Whenever, we have to know the will of God, let us know that God’s will has already been revealed to us in His word. If God does not approve of something, we too should not desire to have it, and must be willing to let go of the same.
The angel of the Lord stopped Balaam
This is what happened to Balaam when he went ahead with his own plan.
We read in Numbers 22:22, God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the LORD stood in the road to bar his way.(GNT)
God was so angered with the prophet that the angel of the Lord stood in the path of the prophet, to stop him from proceeding on his journey.
We know this verse in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”(NLT) but the contrary is also true that if God is against us, no one can stand with us and help us. When God says ‘no’ to something, we must be willing to accept it, and go with it all the way with no questions whatsoever. This incident teaches us that for those who receive the word of God, but choose to deliberately disobey, the Lord will turn against them.
The angel of the Lord reprimand’s Balaam
It was at this point in Balaam’s journey we read in Numbers 22:32, “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. (NLT)
The angel of the Lord stood with a drawn sword before the prophet and his donkey. The donkey saw what the prophet did not, because the bribe of gold, silver and wealth that the king promised Balaam had blinded him. Balaam could not see the angel of the Lord, but his donkey could. As the donkey pressed itself against the wall, and refused to budge the prophet was angry with the donkey. As Balaam beat his donkey thrice, the angel of the Lord spoke to the prophet, and cautioned him that he was being resisted only because he was going forward stubbornly against the command of God. Here again was the question to the prophet by the angel of the Lord was, ‘why did you beat your donkey these three times?’
When we as children of God do those things that God does not approve of, those outside will sometimes have to question us like they did to Jonah, ‘why did you do this?’ We looked at two probable reasons why one could walk in disobedience to God. One is when we fall prey to the deceptive schemes of Satan, and the other is when we walk in our own sinful ways, and are unwilling to listen to the commands of God. In order to overcome this willful disobedience, we must seek the Lord fervently in prayer.
Jonah too had received the clear word of God and chose to disobey. The consequence was that he landed himself is untold trouble, and put everyone on that ship in confusion and chaos.
We read in James 1:14-16, But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.(ESV)
The word of God is explicit that each man is tempted because of the sinful desires that are lurking inside of us. If we look at Balaam, he may have been allured from outside, but deep within him was the desire to possess more and more. He wanted to please the king more than he desired to please God. Only the Lord can give us the strength to overcome these desires, and not get entangled by them.
These enticements don’t happen overnight, but happen over a period of time. First there is a lust or desire we have for worldly things or sinful inclinations deep inside of us. The next step is that we get enticed into it. It then conceives and gives birth to sin, which when is full grown leads to death. In James 1:16 we are warned not to fall into this kind of deception.
There are two main reasons why we are unable to accomplish the will of God in our lives. Firstly, it is the cunning and deceptive schemes of Satan who is seeking whom he may devour. Also deep inside of us there is lust, and other desires that allure us to go after things of this world instead of the things of God. In order to overcome and be triumphant, we need to spend time with God in His presence, and receive His strength. We must ask the Holy Spirit of God to strengthen us every day so we can be victorious over sin and Satan.
The ones who asked the question to Jonah, ‘Why have you done this?’ were those who did not know the true and living God. May we not be a hindrance to those outside, but ask God to grant us help and grace to run this race of faith set before us with perseverance and accomplish His purposes for our life.
Let me conclude with this verse from Hebrews 12:1, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,(ESV)
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
