Jonah 1[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on 24 Oct 2010
Today's message is named, "You can Run… and you can finish the rest, I'm sure. We're beginning a study through the book of Jonah, pages 774-775 in your pew Bibles (ESV).
Jonah 1
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me."
3 But Jonah rose 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 on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish."
7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
9 And 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, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
12 He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you."
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you."
15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Prayer.
About Jonah. We aren't told very much about this man. His name means dove, and Amittai means my truth. He lived and prophesied during the reign of the Jeroboam II (782-753 B.C.). It was in 722 B.C. that Assyria attacked and over-ran Israel, the nation that was at that time the ten northern tribes of Israel. So this is roughly 50 years before Assyria became the deadly destroyer of the northern tribes. Some key things we need to hold on to about this book and this person…
He is not a fictional character. He was a real prophet referred to both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, in 2 Kings 14:25, and by our Lord Jesus in Matt 12:38-41.
This is not an allegory or a parable. Certainly there are truths we could learn from Jonah as from an allegory. It is not a parable either; it is far too complex and detailed to be a parable written to teach a single point.
This is a true story. It rather is a true and phenomenal story, one that is beautifully written. (I'm not going to preach through this outline; I'm going to preach through by chapters). Jonah demonstrates God's grace; being a disobedient, bipolar prophet who was nevertheless used by God, and who enjoyed God's good patience and kindness.
About Nineveh. (Map, location). If you were Jonah, how would you have felt about Nineveh? After all, it was a great city that happened to be the capital of the (at this particular time) threatening, antagonistic nation of Assyria to the east of Israel. It was an ancient city even then; it was built back in Genesis by Nimrod (Gen 10:11), and it was condemned to destruction by Nahum in his book; that came true, as Nineveh fell to a coalition of Medes and Babylonians in 612 B.C. It is an important city in the Old Testament, but it is desolate now. So there's a bit about Jonah and Nineveh; but this book is really…
About God (for He is the central figure of this book). Here is what the central story of the book is:
He is a gracious God, abounding in steadfast love. God is compassionate: He relents of His wrath when people repent of their sin. (Jonah 4:2).
He is sovereign: over the affairs of men, nature, and over all events on earth. He called Jonah, chased his disobedient self, and then used him. He displayed His sovereignty in His work with the wind on the sea, the fish, the worm, the plant, and the hot east wind. He sent a messenger from His own people to Gentiles, those not of the covenant neither of Abraham nor of Moses, out of compassion for them.
He is persistent and patient with His servants: this was also displayed with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was evident with David, Samson, and Elijah and Elisha. God's patience was confirmed with this bipolar prophet, and it is evident with you, and with me.
A Good Outline of Jonah. If you wanted a good outline for the book, the best I've seen is in The ESV Study Bible[2].
Jonah and the pagan sailors, 1:4-16
Jonah's grateful prayer, 1:17-2:10
The re-commissioning and compliance, 3:1-3a
Jonah and the pagan Ninevites, 3:3b-10
Jonah's angry prayer, 4:1-4
Jonah's lesson about compassion, 4:5-11
Hopefully that helps you as you read through this book; now back to chapter one. When I say, 'You Can Run...', the rest obviously is, '… but you cannot hide'. This man had no desire to go speak God's words to the Ninevites. We're not shown why in chapter one, but we learn that in chapter four; he didn't want God to save them(4:1-2). He wanted wrath on the enemies of Israel, and mercy for Israel. This is typically human; good for us, bad for the enemies. A Chinese emperor once heard of an insurrection in a distant province, and he said to his officers, "Come, follow me; and we will quickly destroy them." He marched, and as he neared them, the rebels submitted to him. Surprisingly, he treated his enemies kindly. His officers were surprised, and reminded him of his promise to destroy. "I promised", he said, "to destroy my enemies. I have fulfilled my word; for you see, they are enemies no longer; I have made friends of them[3]. God's prophet was not even as kind as a Chinese emperor; he didn't care to even offer the enemies an opportunity to repent! So Jonah flees from having to speak truth to a bunch of pagan Ninevites; and look where he winds up. He winds up having to speak truth to a bunch of pagan sailors! God displayed His sovereign power over the wind and waves, and these sailors knew something wasn't right. Casting lots showed Jonah to be guilty, and he had to tell the story. Now look at this; the heathen sailors even had more compassion than Jonah! How hard-hearted we can become, Christians! If Jonah were here, I would have to ask this question of him; how did that whole running thing work out for you? Not that good, I think he would say. He's running from his work and God gives him more work to do, because he couldn't run from His God. He also couldn't run from God. Perhaps Jonah would answer me with a question; how can one run from Almighty, All-seeing God? Exactly. Perhaps Ps 139:7-10 would come to mind… Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
If Jonah wouldn't think of it, maybe it's good for us to think of it today. There is no place you can go where God can't see you. There is no place we can go where God cannot find us. So we have to have done with this notion of, "OK, He won't find me here." Yes, He will; He sees us all, all the time. So God has him tossed over-board, and a fish swallows the prophet. And here is what I want us to see about this part of the story…
The fish is God's mercy to Jonah and to Nineveh.
Jonah is saved from drowning.
Nineveh get to hear the good news.
Doesn't seem very merciful to be swallowed by a fish and kept in digestive juices and slime for three days, does it? But does it beat death? Not only that, but we have something else here…
Jonah in the fish portrayed Christ in the grave. Matt 12:40-41
For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
It was Jonah's suffering that led to the mercy of God being shown to lost people in Nineveh. And it was through Christ's suffering on that cross, and taking the punishment for our sins – death! – that enabled us, the lost Ninevites, to hear of God's good compassion for us. He would love for us to believe His warning of wrath and to repent of our sins; God relents when we repent of our sin. Christ in that grave was the mercy of God.
You can run… but you cannot hide. Not from God's plan nor from His mercy. But I wonder…
Are we resistant to take truth of Christ to the lost?
Maybe it's not hatred of an enemy like Jonah's motive, but – what holds us back?
Is it more about us, or about them?
And do we desire to see God save those who are far from Him?
Let's pray.
[1] All Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved
[2] Page 1685-1686, Introduction to Jonah, in The ESV Study Bible, published by Crossway Publishing, Wheaton, IL, © 2008 Crossway Bibles
[3] from 6000 Sermon Illustrations, edited by Elon Foster, © 1992 Baker Book House
No comments:
Post a Comment