JONAH AND GOD!
THE HIGH COST OF DISOBEDIENCE
JONAH 1
Sunam 1/27/02
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." 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. 4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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. 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, and we will not perish." 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. 8 So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" 9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." 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.) 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?" 12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." 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 to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." 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. 17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
1 Tim 1:18-19 - Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked (To lose the ability to navigate) their faith.
I. BACKGROUND:
A. Jonah – a very powerful and very popular evangelist!
1. He was the Billy Graham of his day!
a. Was accustomed to hearing the “Word of the Lord”.
b. Had obeyed as far we know.
c. Was effective and trustworthy – We know this because Jonah was commanded to go to a great city filled with evil!
d. The message? God was entrusting Jonah with a great responsibility!
B. Heard the word of the Lord – got into a boat going in the opposite direction!
1. God said, “Go to Ninevah” and Jonah sailed for Tarshish from Joppa!
TARSHISH - was famous for its ships which carried gold, silver, iron, tin, lead, ivory, apes, and monkeys (1 Kings 10:22; Jer 10:9). Because the ships of Tarshish carried such great riches, they became symbols of wealth, power, and pride. When God judged the nations for their sinful ways, He destroyed their "ships of Tarshish" to humble them and to demonstrate His great power (2 Chron 20:35-37; Isa 2:16-17).
a. Tarshish – the city of self-sufficiency!
b. Wealth – and pride in wealth was commonplace in this great seaport city.
c. Jonah was interested in living comfortably –
d. No more rattling the cages of sinners far and wide.
e. No more calling kings and princes to repentance!
f. Jonah was ready for a rest, beside God could do it Himself couldn’t He?
Summary: God commands Jonah to go to Ninevah, and Jonah gets into a boat in his rebellion and sails for Tarshish in the opposite direction – a place that needed to repent just as much as Ninevah!
II. JONAH WAS RUNNING FROM GOD!
A. Before we are too hard on Jonah let’s examine this for a minute:
1. Prior to this command – we have every indication that Jonah was a God fearing man who loved to obey God, preach repentance, and see many come to God with tears sackcloth and ashes.
a. In truth – Jonah WAS running with God! He was running the race set before him! He was running the race so to win the prize!
b. His attitude was right, his heart was right, he was pliable and teachable!
c. But then he ran in the opposite direction!
Summary: Jonah was either running WITH God, or running AWAY from God! He made a decision to run AWAY from God!
B. It is the same with us! We are either running WITH God, OR we are running AWAY from God!
Gal 5:7 - You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
1. The question is what are the conditions where we will often run from God?
a. Are the challenges of life pulling at you to run the wrong way?
b. Are your finances such that you are considering running the wrong way?
c. Is your home life so poor that you would consider running the wrong way?
d. Is your job so difficult that you would consider running the wrong way?
e. Is your spiritual life drying up such that you would consider running the wrong?
Summary: There is nothing that should be so enticing to us that we would ever decide to run AWAY from God!
Heb 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
2. I am running the race with God the HS running alongside of me!
a. I am running the race of faith! I am staying there since there is no real alternative!
b. I am running the race of faith! I have my eyes fixed on Jesus! I do not have my eyes fixed on the world, I do not have my eyes fixed on people, I don’t even have my eyes fixed on God’s people!
c. I have taken off every weight, and the sin that so easily entangles me so I can run free!
d. I am not chasing the Devil! I am not chasing my flesh! Am not chasing the temptations of the world! I am running the course already laid out for me by Jesus Christ!
III. THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR RUNNING THE WRONG WAY!
A. Your life become so unbalanced, so out of God’s will that you can’t navigate anymore!
1. The ship starts to sink – but like the crewmen on the ship to Tarshish, we look for someone to blame!
a. Who is to blame for our calamity! Who did this!
2. Jonah humbly acknowledges who he is and Whom he serves – He actually request to be thrown off the ship!
a. He is thrown over board after much deliberation over treating one of God’s anointed with such cruel treatment.
3. God used the disobedience of Jonah!
a. The seas grew calm – and the entire unbelieving crew worshipped God and offered sacrifices!
b. God provided a place where Jonah could think things over and come to his senses again!
Summary: I am glad that God will not easily let us go on to a life full of disobedience! I am glad that He gives season to think about where we are and what we are doing!
CONCLUSION:
We know the rest of the story – Jonah goes to Ninevah – He preaches to them – they repent – and Jonah gets mad!
Tonight: The God of a second chance – the sequel!
