Jonah: Running From God!
SERMON OUTLINE:
God calls Jonah (vs 1-2)
God watches Jonah run (vs 3)
God sends a storm (vs 4-8)
God is resisted (vs 9-13)
God shows mercy (vs 14-16)
God provided a fish (vs 17)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Elderly man who had a growing suspicion,
• That his wife was becoming hard of hearing;
• Of course, his wife said that her hearing was perfectly okay.
• So, one morning he decided to try out a small test.
• He was in the kitchen,
• His wife was in the front room and the door was open.
• So, he shouted;
• “Ethel, would you like tea or coffee with your breakfast?”
• And just as he suspected there was absolutely no reply.
• So, he moved to the door way and tried again;
• “Ethel, would you like tea or coffee?”
• Once again there was silence.
• So, he actually went into the room;
• And stood right behind the chair where his wife was sitting,
• Once again, he said: “Ethel, would you like tea or coffee?”
• His wife replied.
• “For the third time Albert I’ll have coffee!”
• TRANSITION:
• Our God is a God who speaks,
• Primarily he speaks to us through his word, the Bible,
• I trust this morning we will be more receptive than Albert!
• Now, never forget that our God is a missionary God,
• Quote: Jürgen Moltmann
“It is not the Church of God that has mission
But the missionary God who has a Church.”
Quote:
• God is a missionary God,
• And the Bible is his missionary textbook.
• We see this in three ways:
• He has a mission field,
• He has a mission message, and,
• He has a mission method.
• Our God is a missionary God.
• His heart from Genesis to Revelation,
• Is set on reaching the lost,
• e.g. Think back to the beginning,
• And Abraham, in Geneses.
• God chose one man and one family,
• In order to bless all the families of the earth.
• (Genesis chapter 22 verses 18).
“And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
• e.g. The Christ of the gospels is a missionary Christ,
• His last words to the church, go out to witness.
• “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”
• (Matthew chapter 28 verses 16-20).
• e.g. The Holy Spirit given in the book of Acts,
• Is a missionary Spirit,
• (Acts chapter 1 verses 8).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
• The New Testament church is a missionary church,
• e.g. Just read the book of Acts or even the N.T. letters.,
• There are so many examples of how they prayed,
• And also gave financially to support mission.
• (Phil 1:5; 2 Thess 3:1; Col 4:3; Eph 6:19).
• e.g. The end of the book of Revelation is a missionary end,
• A countless number of people from every nation.
• “from every nation, tribe, people and language.”
• (Revelation chapter 7 verses 9-10).
• TRANSITION: Mission is not an optional extra,
• It is the normal Christan life.
• Questions:
• Who are you following?
• Who are you praying for?
• Who or which organisation are you giving to?
• In this Church each month,
• We will continue to highlight a missionary,
• Or a mission organisation,
• But please don’t just leave it in the service,
• Carry on praying and giving & showing an interest,
• And if we show you to many options,
• Then just choose one!
Ill:
• That is what we do with the young people at, ‘BodyBuilders.’
• We choose one missionary or organisation,
• And we follow them every month.
• TRANSITION:
• Question: What has this got to do with Jonah.
• Answer: Everything!
• After the book of Acts in the New Testament,
• Jonah is perhaps the greatest missionary book in the Bible.
(1). God calls Jonah (vs 1-3)
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a son of Amittai.
“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah rand 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.”
When God told Jonah to go and preach,
• There should have been no problem,
• After all he was a seasoned prophet.
• We noted last week this was not his first assignment,
• God had used him before to deliver, to preach a message.
• (2 Kings chapter 14 verses 25-27).
• Jonah was no novice prophet. he was no amateur,
• He was an experienced prophet,
• Who had already been used by God.
Ill:
• Roy Keane is an Irish football pundit,
• Former coach, & former professional player for Manchester United.
• For United he won.
• 3x Footballer of the Year
• 1x Champions League winner
• 7x English Premier Titles.
• 4x English FA Cups
• 4x English Charity Shields
• Roy Keane DVD Clip.
• As a pundit he has a very well-known saying.
• If a goalkeeper makes a great save and everyone is praising him.
• Keane calmly just says, “That’s his job!”
• In other words, “why the fuss, that is what he is supposed to do!”
• TRANSITION:
• Jonah, “That’s your job!”
• You don’t say, “No,” instead you just go!
• So, there should have been no problem when God said,
• "Arise and go":
The problem for Jonah:
• Was not the call to go,
• The problem came when he heard WHERE,
• The place that God wanted him to go!
• (Verse 2):
"Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it
because its wickedness has come up before me".
Ill:
• Nineveh was the capital of Assyria,
• Notice how God refers to it – “a great city.”
• It was called great for three reasons.
• Reason #1: because it had a great population.
• i.e. in chapter 4 verse 11 we are told that,
• There were 120,000 people,
• Who didn’t know their right hand from their left.
• That was a way of referring to young children,
• So the population of Nineveh,
• Could easily be about 600,000 people.
Reason #2: It was also considered great from the standpoint that it was a military strong-hold.
• Nineveh was surrounded by walls,
• That were a hundred feet high,
• And thick enough,
• That three chariots could ride side by side on top of them.
Reason #3: It was great in terms of their reputation for being a wicked city.
• They had a reputation for being the cruellest people alive.
• They were horrific in how they tortured their enemies.
• Nineveh was also the centre of paganism,
• Their religion was depraved.
• I won’t sadden you with the degrading details.
Now, Jonah must have thought to himself:
• "Preach and save a city that could go to war with us?"
• “A city that may well destroy us!”
• " Preach to Nineveh that wicked city"
• "They more than anyone deserve to be punished.”
Jonah:
- Didn't mind preaching, just as long;
- As he could choose the pulpit & congregation.
- And when God chooses Jonah's pulpit for him,
- Jonah is not impressed.
ill:
Some of us read the Bible with a pair of scissors.
Application:
Ill:
• On a hot sunny day, a dad was fixing his car,
• As he was working under the bonnet (hood),
• His young son walked by.
• He looked up and said,
• “Could you please get me a glass of water.”
• His son said, “Of course,”
• And a few minutes later returned with an apple.
• The dad said,
• “I really like apples but what I need is a glass of water.”
• Off the son went and a few minutes later,
• He returned with a bar of chocolate.
• Once again, the dad said,
• “I really like chocolate but what I need is a glass of water.”
• TRANSITION:
• Now what the son did was good but…
• It was not what his dad had asked!
• So often we can do that with God,
• He asks us to do something and we so something else instead.
• What we choose to do is not sinful or evil,
• But…it is not what God asked us to do!
Note:
• The word 'obedience,' comes from the Latin obaudire,
• Which means 'to hear.'
• By contrast the Latin word for 'deaf' is absurdus,
• From which we get our word 'absurd.'
• To truly hear Christ is to obey him.
• And not to hear and obey,
• Is the way of absurdity, or very foolish living.
Get personnel and ask you:
- When God speaks to you this week, how will you react?
- With or without a pair of scissors, or ear plugs?
The reason God told Jonah to go to Ninevah is in verse 2:
"Its wickedness has come up before me".
There is a principle in the Bible:
- "What you sow is what you reap".
- Galatians chapter 6 verse 7.
ill:
Many christians who are planting the wrong seeds and then praying
for a crop failure.
- We may get away with things for a while,
- But sooner or later they catch up with you.
ill:
Credit cards.
- Great: fun, excitement & bring us many good things.
- Problem: bill, debt, action against us.
Sin is never ignored by God:
- So in verse 2 God tells Jonah the reason he is to go:
- "Its wickedness has come up before me".
Two things to note:
(1). God is concerned about all nations.
- God could have just destroyed Nineveh without giving them a warning:
- But he does warn them, because he is concerned about them.
- Whenever there is a warning, it is a sign of concern as well as danger
- ill: Motorway sign: Concern for you & for other drivers.
- God is not just concerned with Israel, but with all nations.
- His warning is a sign of his concern.
ill:
Does not speak with a Hebrew accent!
ill:
His concern is like a loving parent not an angry head-master.
(2). God's concern results in action.
- God sends a messenger to Nineveh to warn them,
- "Watch out", because judgement is coming.
- He still does that with you and me today;
- Wether we listen to him or not, only you (I) can answer.
Verse 3: God may have been concerned about Nineveh, but Jonah wasn't:
"But Jonah ran away".
Please notice that:
- Jonah didn't try to argue with God:
- He didn't even try to reason with God, he just ran away!
Jonah was deliberately resisting and disobeying the will of God:
- Hold on, Prophets didn't do that!
- That's what the people did, that the prophets were sent to.
- But the prophets were always obedient.
- All except for this chap Jonah.
Jonah's reason for running away:
- Wasn't just that he was frightened of taking bad news,
- To these Ninevites, though he probably was.
- But chapter 4 tells us his main reason was that;
- He didn't want the Ninevites to be forgiven.
- He couldn't care less if they were destroyed,
- He had his own people to worry about,
- Forget the others,
- Especially the enemies of Israel.
Many of us:
- Believe God's way is best in our theology.
- But we live and practice our lives as if our way is best!
- Many of us think we know better than God?
- Our ways & plans often seem a better idea and make more sense to us.
ill:
"Way that seems right to a man".
ill:
Foundation: Wise& foolish builders.
So in verse 3 Jonah tries to out manoeuvre God:
- Jonah runs hard and fast,
- And ends up 60 miles away in Joppa.
Maybe Jonah's thinking was:
- If he could end up in Tarshish,
- God could never get him back to Nineveh within 40 days,
- So God would have to use a different prophet,
- Or destroy Nineveh, which is exactly what Jonah wanted.
Notice verse 3: Jonah's disobedience is one of perpetual descent:
- He went down to Joppa (vs 3).
- He went down into the ship (vs 5)
- And he's about to go down into the sea (vs 15 & ch 2).
- And down into the belly of the fish ( vs 17).
The language used is a constant emphasis that Jonah is heading in the wrong direction.
- If we are not running with God,
- Expected to spiritually be going down, away from God,
Personal questions: Where are you this session?
- Of course you cannot run with God,
- Until you have run to God, become a christian!
But to those who say you are christians;
- I am asking you the question;
- What direction is your life going, up or down?
- Are you trusting God to lead & guide you.
- Are you still saying; "Your will be done".
Back to verse 3b: Jonah is on board this ship:
- It sets sail,
- And so far, so good.
Jonah thinks has out-smarted God:
- After all here he, is on a fairly large ship,
- He is with experienced crew men,
- He's getting further and further away from Nineveh,
- His plan is working and he's quite content,
Verse 5b:
- Jonah's falls fast a sleep,
- Not a worry or a care in the world,
- Everything is perfect in Jonah's selfish little world.
- Jonah is quite content in his disobedience.
ill:
Don't realise you are asleep until someone wakes you up:
- 5 minute nap;
- Can turn out to be an hours sleep.
- Best thing that can happen to a disobedient christian,
- Is for God to wake them up!!! (sign of his love)
Then suddenly in verse 4 "Then the Lord sends a great wind":
- Despite Jonah's rebellion & disobedience,
- God does not give up on Jonah.
- And I'm glad to say this session,
- He does not give up on us!
A great wind and a violent storm erupts:
- So violent even these experienced sailors,
- Had never experienced a storm like this one.
- "They were afraid".
- They could read the situation, they knew the dangers.
Verse 5: Informs us the storm just grows worse and worse:
- In desperation they cry to their Gods.
- Interesting who we call to when we are in trouble.
ill:
God like a spare tyre.
Spiritual RAC or AA (and it's not just the world who do it).
When you stare death in the face you do what these sailors do in verse 5:
"They cried out to their gods".
- But the storm just got worse,
- Because idols can't help anyone, religion is empty.
Interesting to note:
- The sailors soon realised that,
- So they devise other ways of remedying their situation.
They first of all take emergency measures:
- Verse 5b: they get rid of the excess.
- They threw their cargo overboard into the sea.
- Raising the ship up in the water,
- Making it more manoeuvrable to ride out the storm.
But again the storm just got worse:
- As they are throwing overboard the last bit of cargo,
- And baggage they discover Jonah,
- Jonah's not panicking,
- In fact the opposite he's sleeping!
The captain is furious verse 6:
- It should be all hands on deck,
- The very least you could do, is call on your God,
Kind of ironic:
- Here is a pagan seaman,
- Telling a Prophet of God, he ought to be praying.
Pause:
- Ask how's your prayer life?
- Not out to lay a guilt trip on you,
- So often these pagans,
- Out pray us, out worship us, out serve us!
ill:
Hippy traveller.
In fact the captain tells Jonah to do exactly what God had told him:
- Verse 2: "Go........ and preach".
- Verse 6: "Get up.... and call".
The captains reasoning is simple:
- He believed in many gods,
- So the more people praying,
- The better chance one of the gods,
- Might hear and answer.
After all he didn't know which god was causing their desperate situation.
- Good logic if their are many Gods,
- But bad theology, because their is only one God!
- And the person who knew him and represented him,
- Should have been praying to him.
But when you disobey God:
- And you just do your own thing,
- The first thing that disappears is your prayer life,
- Then your Bible readings, desire for church,
- Then your witnessing, your desire to share.
ill:
Get out of going to school by being ill.
- Convince my mum by not eating.
- Same is true spiritually: we are sick, lose your appetite.
Verse 7:
- Again all there efforts seem to be in vain:
- As a last chance, verse 7 says;
- They decide to cast lots,
- Just in case it's an individuals persons fault.
If they find out Who is to blame:
- Maybe they could get the problem sorted.
- So they decide to cast lots.
ill:
This would not be drawing straws.
- You rolled the dice & when it landed on you, you told your story.
- Then they carried on to the next person.
In verse 8 the lot falls on Jonah:
- So they start to investigate him,
- By asking him 5 questions,
Verse 9: Jonah's answer is short and to the point:
- He gives them his nationality,
- "I am a Hebrew".
Then he tells them which God he worships:
"I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and
the land".
Now the sailors become fearful because:
- The method for finding out the facts,
- Had worked more effectively than they expected.
Jonah worshipped the God who made the seas:
- Note that the word sea is mentioned,
- 11 times in these 13 verses.
- The chapter emphasises its overpowering presence,
- Its continual threat to their existence.
Not only was Jonah:
- A worshipper of the God who made the seas,
- Not an idol, a god limited in power or nationality (like their gods),
Jonah's God:
- Is directly related to their situation.
- He is the "God who made the seas".
- And Jonah was running away from him.
- Verse 10 tells us:
- They knew it! They put two and two together,
- And came up with the answer they were looking for.
In verse 13: They come up with a plan:
- They try to row back to Joppa,
- Figuring if they can get Jonah back to point one,
- Back to the starting point, they can try again.
- But all their rowing is in vain.
Jonah in a rare moment of compassion for these heathens:
- Having put there lives on the line in the 1st place,
- Says, "Throw me overboard and you'll be alright".
Jonah didn't have to do that:
- He could have remained silent,
- He could have said, "It's not my fault".
But Jonah owns up at last to his position:
- As well as putting at risk the city of Nineveh,
- He was putting at risk the sailors on board ship.
Jonah does three things here:
(1). He justified the anger of God.
- Verse 12: "I know that it is my fault".
- Jonah didn't blame God for his situation:
- He actually says to the sailors,
- "I am getting what I deserved".
ill:
Naughty kids put some smelly cheese under their
grandfather's nose:
- When he woke up he said:
- "This bed stinks".
- He got out and walked around the room as he breathed,
- He said, "This room stinks".
- He walked into another room and took a deep breath,
- And again said, "This room stinks".
- He went into another room, took another deep breath,
- And said, "The whole house stinks!".
- He walked outside, took a deep deep breath,
- And said, "The whole world stinks!!".
It's easy to blame everyone or everything else:
- When really we are the one who are to blame,
- But often we don't look beyond our own noses.
God was absolutely right:
- In the way he dealt with Jonah.
- Jonah knew the rules when he took on the job as prophet
- Jonah admits God is acting fairly.
(2). He accepted the consequences of his actions.
- Verse 12:
- "Pick me up and throw me into the sea".
We don't know but maybe God had told his prophet Jonah:
- That this was the best course of action,
- Jonah didn't try to bargain with God:
- "If you still the storm I'll go to Nineveh",
- How many of us try to do that;
ill:
"God if you do.... or get me out of this mess, I will...."
It is never wrong to ask or to plead for forgiveness:
- But we cannot pull off deals with God,
- After all we have no bargaining power,
That attitude displays a lack of knowledge concerning God's character:
- God's standards and justice are not negotiation-able.
- All we can do is show dependence on the Lord,
- But if we ask God for mercy;
- Bible says; "He is rich in mercy.... delights in mercy".
(3). Jonah anticipated God's grace towards the sailors.
- Verse 12:
- "Throw me into the sea.... and it will become calm".
- Interesting Jonah is not taken up with himself,
- But with the plight of the sailors.
Had Jonah obeyed God in the first place:
- Had Jonah been really concerned,
- About the thousands of people who lived in Nineveh,
- Like he was over the sailors on board ship,
- This situation need never have arose!
Again the story-line takes a twist:
- Instead of the sailors doing what you would expect,
- Grabbing hold of Jonah and slinging him overboard,
- They try to row there way out of the problem.
- Verse 13 is very telling of human nature:
- They know what they problem is,
- They know what the solution is,
- But they still have to carry on their way.
- Instead of obeying God.
Personnel questions:
- Does that parallel your life?
- You know you need Christ,
- But your struggling on your own (Proverbs 14:12).
- Christian you know Christ should be Lord,
- But he's been relegated to a lower position.
The sailors:
- They know what they problem is,
- They know what the solution is,
- But they have to carry on their way.
- Question: What about you?
When they fail in there attempts to ride out the storm:
- Verse 14: They pray to the living God,
- They don't want the blame for the killing of a man.
Ironic:
- These pagans are concerned for the life of Jonah,
- ONE solitary life.
- But Jonah is full of indifference for human life.
- He didn't care about Nineveh (size of Glasgow).
Verse 15:
- Jonah is picked up and thrown overboard,
- Then the sea calms down again.
ill:
Silence can at times be as frightening as noise and chaos:
- When these sailors saw the power of God,
- They feared him,
The Hebrew words:
- Translated "Greatly feared" in verse 16.
- Is exactly the same as in verse 10 "Terrified".
But the difference this time is,
- It's no longer the sea they are frightened off.
- But the God who made it, the Lord.
Verse 16:
- Right here is when I think these sailors got converted!
- Converted to the God who made the seas.
Verse 16 is again ironic because:
- Here are these heathen sailors,
- Making sacrifices & making vows to a God they don't yet know,
- While Jonah is refusing to fulfil his vow,
- To the God he does know!
Personal questions: Does that describe you?
- Refusing like Jonah to fulfil your promise,
- To God concerning living for him each day?
- Or are you like the sailors,
- Your not anti-God, you just don't know him?
Listen the theme at the end of chapter one, running over into chapter two is 'conversion':
- The sailors conversion to the real God,
- Jonah's conversion from disobedience to obedience.
Why not add:
- Your conversion to those two?
- Get sorted out with the Lord.
- It's not optional, it's essential,
- Both for this life and for the next one!
We will leave chapter one here and pick it up tomorrow at chapter 2.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=OZJmF77eN7iwiZEAZOkmHi9KtLZ5wPwc
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/6T0r1fS17n4
