The disobedience of Jonah.
Jonah 1:3 08/31/05
When we think of Bible heroes, we think of Jonah. But we find as disappointing as we may find, we do find that our heroes failed at times. Maybe not as noticeable as did Jonah, but they do fail. But his failures should not discourage us but teach us to follow as we find when Jonah was obedient and not to follow when we see Jonah disobeyed.
There are quite a few points we find in our study tonight we want to investigate. First there is THE SPONTANEITY OF DISOBEDIENCE.
Now Jonah did not waste any time heading to Tarshish once he had received the orders to go to Nineveh. God’s orders come to Jonah we see in verse 2 and we see Jonah heading away in verse 3. But there is something I want you to see in our text here. There is a number of little falls before there is the big fall. Usually there are a number of things that occur before the big fall. Satan sends little temptations that eventually will lead to the biggie. Like in Kind David’s case; there were some things he wasn’t doing to keep on guard before his fall and great sin with Bathsheba. First, it was a time when the armies were battling and David stayed at the palace and that wasn’t the usual thing to do. Now in the case of Jonah, we can only speculate, but according to statistics, most likely his spiritual health was declining. And because of this, he was being conditioned for the great disobedience by inward spiritual decline.
Spontaneity to do disobedience seems more common than to be obedient. It seems today people will disobey with both hands before they would be obedient with one hand. People drawing near to God are done at a snails pace while being disobedient to the will of God for one’s life is done in leap and bounds.
We see not only the spontaneity of disobedience but also THE SEPARATION OF DISOBEDIENCE.
Jonah, in his disobedience wanted to separate himself from the presence of God. There are a couple of things I want to understand and maybe you have some questions as well. Can anyone separate himself from the presence of omnipresent God? I mean we are taught that God can and are at all places at all time. We read in the Bible in Psalm 139:7, 8, “Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.”
Now from the Psalmist seem to be saying that it is impossible to be out of the presence of God. Now how could Jonah even think that he could flee from the presence of God? This is something we ought to really pay attention to because this is something that has happened to more than we could guess; even in the so called Christian circle.
Now we know that it is impossible to get away from the presence of God, for He is omnipresent. That does mean He is at all places at all times. There isn’t a place we can go that there is not God. But when we run Scripture reference that talks about people fleeing from the presence of God, we can come up with something that makes a lot of since.
In Genesis 4:16, speaks about Cain going out of the presence of God after he had killed Able and been rebuked by God. Now what Cain was leaving was not the presence of God as we might say out of the sight of God, but what he did was to leave the place where he had worshipped God. Cain left the place that he had talked to God and the place God had talked with him.
Now from this, we can see that even though we cannot leave omnipresent God, we can flee the presence of God. It has to do with the place where we once worshipped God. It might be the place where we received a Word from God as it was with Jonah. Jonah may not flee the omnipresent God but he could flee the spot where he had received the Word from God to go to Nineveh.
So, we would have to say there is not only the possibility of fleeing the presence of God but also it is practiced and more often than we realize. You see folks, Jonah wanted to separate himself from anything that was a reminder of God. When one disobeys God, he will sooner or later separate himself that is a reminder of God. Now does that seem to answer any questions that you might have about some leaving the church? In most cases, they have never been saved but they will flee anything that reminds them of their lost condition and convicted of it. Sin does not like the presence of God and that is illustrated in Genesis with our first parents.
When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the Bible said they hid themselves from God. God knew where they were of course but they did not want to hear from God. They did not want that fellowship with God anymore. Why? They had disobeyed God. The more the disobedience, the more effort will be the flee from the presence of God.
I want us to see also THE SUCCESS OF DISOBEDIENCE. “He found a ship going to Tarshish.”
I wanted you to notice that it seems that every move that Jonah made to separate himself from the presence of God was without much resistance. That is exactly the devil would have it to be. Did you know that many say because things go so smooth that it must be the Lord’s will? Just because things are going smooth doesn’t mean it is from God. The devil has many ships chartered for the cause of disobedience.
Now when evaluating success, you can do it in one of two ways; the way of the world or the way of the Word. Now since there seemed to be little friction with the choices that Jonah was making, the world and carnal Christians would say it must be alright. Sort of like the leadership we have in North Carolina. Now the lottery has passed and the worldly leaders we have say the people have spoken. I don’t remember having a vote of weather we would accept the lottery or not. We have a few liberals in places of leadership that speak for their own pockets without caring anything at all about yours and the welfare of your children. Mark yesterday, for the state of North Carolina has made another step away from the will of God and it will not go unnoticed by our Lord. There is never success in disobedience; it is just that the devil blinds those into thinking they are alright.
Each step that Jonah took away from the will of God was a step downward. That is the truth that the devil will never have you to learn and understand.
I want you to see, as we continue the points of disobedience is THE SPENDING OF DISOBEDIENCE. Disobedience is not free as we will see.
Two things I want to mention quickly about the spending; the eagerness to pay and the extent of paying.
First of all, the eagerness to pay. You did notice that Jonah paid the fare without hesitation. Today men and women don’t mind paying the fair to be disobedient. I want to tell you that you are in some trouble spiritually when you sharpen your pencil to figure up your exact tithe. There have been people who have come to me and ask what is tithable and not. I usually say that is between you and God and it is, but most of the time they are in spiritual trouble.
Next, the extent of paying for disobedience. You see Jonah paid the fare more than one way. That is the way it is usually when we are paying the fare of disobedience. Usually it will cost us more than we want to pay and take us farther than we wanted to go. But know this; it is always more than the initial cost. Let me just tell you what the cost is most of the time. Disobedience will cost you your peace of mind, your good consequence and your honor before men. You only have to study the life of the prodigal to learn what I have just said is true. Samson is another example and we haven’t been long studied his life.
I want us to see not only the spending of disobedience but also THE STUMBLING OF DISOBEDIENCE. Three things I want us to see in the stumbling of disobedience. Jonah went down physically; he went down spiritually, and he went down continually.
First of all, I want us to think how Jonah went down physically. I know when we read about Jonah going down it is talking about his location. But we can make spiritual application to all the going down of Jonah. It is always a step down when you go outside the will of God. I remember hearing one of my professors saying something that has stuck with me because of the truth that is in it. He said to be president of the United States the world’s highest office, would be a step down if you are out of the Lord’s will.
Next, I want to say that Jonah went down spiritually. You may ask how that disobedience can cause harm spiritually. I guess it would be how you look at it but about any committed Christian would say disobedience would be going down spiritually. Wouldn’t you say that Jonah’s attitude toward God was spiritually sick? Wouldn’t you say that Jonah’s relationship to God would be spiritually sick? Wouldn’t you say that Jonah’s service to God was spiritually sick?
Finally, he went down continually. One sin makes it easier for another and so on. Once you start a downward spiral you continue unless you are rescued by the grace of God. Once you flirt with immorality, it will get easier. Once you start missing church, it gets easier and easier. Once you take the first drink, the next one will be a little easier. No one plans to backslide on God but it is step by step.
I want to bring in another point here that you may have never thought of but it is THE SOCIETY OF DISOBEDIENCE. When Jonah started his downward slide did you notice who he was hanging out with? But most of the time you travel with whom you are most comfortable with. Lot was more comfortable with the sinners of Sodom than he was with Godly Abraham. When people sin, they prefer the world over the church and the people of God. Jonah was more comfortable with the pagans than he was with the people of God.
Finally, I want us to see THE STUPIDITY OF DISOBEDIENCE. In view of what we have mentioned, wouldn’t you say that disobedience is pretty stupid? But listen; one of the most stupid things that Jonah was attempting was to manage his life rather than letting God. He did not want the trouble in going to Nineveh but wouldn’t you say that he probably had more trouble running from the will of God? If nothing else, he would have looked better when he had gotten to Nineveh had he not been threw up by a fish? He probably would have smelled better had he not been three days in the belly of the fish. We would have to say that disobedience to the will of God for your life is stupid. It is always a step down.
