Jonah 1:11-17 Number 7
Notes
Transcript
THE FIRST COMMISSION OF JONAH
THE FIRST COMMISSION OF JONAH
JONAH 1:11 - 17 Number 7
JONAH 1:11 - 17 Number 7
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Turn to any children’s bible in the world and you can almost guarantee there will be a picture and story about Jonah and the whale.
Unfortunately, that approach has carried over into many sermons about Jonah.
The problem is: there is not much serious reflection upon what happened to Jonah and it is often forgotten that this book is a prophesy – it is not a story to entertain us or even a parable with a moral lesson. It’s real history and it’s prophesy!
Well, you will be pleased to know that we have finally made it to the end of Jonah Chapt 1 and to what many see as the pinnacle of the book: Jonah being tossed overboard and swallowed by a whale! (Friend who keeps asking!)
But again, I’m going to have to disappoint you. The Hebrew does not use the Hebrew word “whale” but simply a “fish”. God appointed a big fish to rescue Jonah! So even that details is often portrayed wrongly.
You’ll recall that the servant of Yahweh and the prophet of Israel, Jonah, was in trouble with his God because he decided to try and flee from the presence of Yahweh and disobey His sovereign command.
Instead of going to preach against Nineveh, whose sins had become so bad that that it had come up before the Lord, Jonah decided to flee to Tarshish – in the opposite direction.
And the result was God disciplined His servant whom He loved.
We have seen that as part of that process, God put the thumb screws on Jonah to bring him to repentance:
- First the storm that was destroying the ship and threatening their lives.
- Then the captain: who rebukes Jonah for sleeping and exhorts him to prayer.
- Then the lot falling to him, identifying him as the culprit.
- And then the sailors’ inquisition of verse 8.
Last time we focused on Jonah’s answer to the inquisition.
How did Jonah answer all their questions?
He simply says in Jonah 1:9:
“I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
He focuses on the Lord and only briefly mentions the fact that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord in verse 10.
- He didn’t try to cover up the facts.
- Nor did he distort the facts and put a spin on them.
- He admits them briefly and fully.
- But he focused on the God he said he feared!
And I suggested to you, that this is the beginning of Jonah’s repentance:
- He confesses he had sinned against His Creator “who made the heavens; the sea and the dry land”; the God who is revealed in and through all He has made.
- And he confessed he sinned against the special relationship he had with God. He says, “I am a Hebrew”, and therefore part of God’s covenant people and given many special and great privileges. Effectively saying, “I should have known better.”
- And thirdly he confesses that he is special and precious to God Himself and therefore he feared Yahweh. All he had come to enjoy, came because of what he meant to God Himself.
And we closed last time by noting 3 Rs from verse 10:
1. The Response of the sailors was one of great fear.
Suddenly it has struck them that this storm was not some freak of nature. It had come about by the Creator, who was dealing with His servant for his disobedience.
Now they were truly afraid, not at the storm, but at the power and righteousness of the One true God!
2. The Rebuke of the sailors to Jonah.
Verse 10 says they asked Jonah:
“[e]How could you do this?”
What a rebuke!
Could anything be more humiliating than that?
It is one thing to be obedient and to suffer for righteousness’ sake at the hands of unbelievers. It is altogether something else to suffer for our own folly and our own blatant sins!
And finally we noted:
3. The Result: The storm did not abate.
Despite the honesty of Jonah’s confession, nothing removes the Lord’s anger. The sea becomes rougher and rougher.
And so, we noted an important inference to draw from this:
It is not the depth of YOUR repentance which pacifies God’s anger and satisfies His justice!
The only ground, my dear friends, is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who has paid the price of sin.
- Only by His death, is God’s anger appeased and His justice satisfied.
- Only by His act of redemption and mighty propitiation, is our forgiveness secured.
Well, this morning we are going to look at verses 11 - 17. And we will do so under three headings starting with “C”:
1. Jonah’s confession.
2. The sailor’s conversion. (most time)
3. The Lord’s compassion.
1. Jonah makes another Confession
1. Jonah makes another Confession
Look at verse 11:
So (the sailors) said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm [f]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
And what is Jonah’s response - verse 12?
He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm [g]for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”
There are three things that stand out from Jonah’s words to the sailors in v12:
i) He unreservedly surrenders himself to death as the means of solving this appalling affliction they were in – the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. God was heaping on the pressure.
ii) There is a renewed confession of his own sinfulness and responsibility for what was happening. He says, “I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” He holds himself responsible. He confesses his sin to them all over again. He humbles himself before them.
iii) He utters a prophesy: he predicts what will happen and his prediction becomes true: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you…”. And again, we find Jonah to be a true prophet, because what he predicts actually comes to pass; the sign of a true prophet.
What’s happening here?
Is it not true that Jonah has become his own judge, in his own case, affirming God’s own judgement upon himself?
- He is righteous and stern
- There are no half-measures
- No compromise
- No delay
- He sees no alternative but submit to the discipline that God has visited upon him.
The truth was clear:
- Jonah had fled from the Lord
- He has lost the light of God’s countenance upon him.
- God had pursued him relentlessly, until he finally and fully surrendered to God’s purpose.
My friends, this is no easy path to choose when we have sinned, and God has exposed that sin – to submit to His discipline goes against our human nature.
- It requires us to surrender ourselves to the Lord.
- It requires a humble heart.
- It requires honesty and sincerity in our reflection as to what has happened.
Jonah remembers the Lord from afar! And far from trying to evade God’s justice, he answers God: “I’m guilty; I have sinned against heaven and earth; I deserve death, not life.”
- When he entered the ship there was a storm in his soul, but the sea was calm.
- Now there is a storm on the sea, but in repentance and submission, he has peace with laying down his life that the sailors might live.
Apply:
I wonder, dear friends, if you are prepared to accept the justice of God in His dealings with you, especially if He chooses to discipline you for unrepented sin?
We readily accept:
- His grace
- His mercy
- His love
But what about His discipline? What if He gives you a taste of His justice? Are you prepared to submit to that?
I put it to you that this is remarkably hard to do. Isn’t it true that we human beings’ rebel against God’s sovereign hand when it takes away my choice and afflicts me with pain or even death?
Isn’t it true that many so-called Christians cannot tolerate the thought of God being angry and punishing sin?
We relegate the God who is angry and pursues justice to the OT and conveniently forget He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever”!
So are you willing to submit to His hand of discipline or even punishment if He sends it upon you? Do you have a submissive spirit?
Are you like David who confesses in Psalm 32 that “You are justified when You speak and righteous when You judge”? Do you have that humility?
I want to put it to you that you can only do this by the grace of God and the work of His Holy Spirit that causes you to focus on the great atonement of Christ.
The truth is you and I can’t face all God’s righteous judgements unless we flee to the cross of Christ, can we?
- He has suffered under the hand of Divine Justice and satisfied it FOR US!
- He has descended into the depths of the earth under the hand of God’s righteous judgement against sin, so that our penalty is atoned for.
- He submitted to the punishment you and I deserve. That is the wonder of the cross, is it not?
- And so therefore, when He disciplines us, we know it is for our salvation; a salvation He has already secured for us!!!
And so I ask you this morning:
Have you been to the righteous Judge, through the work of His Son, and settled your sin account with God?
Have you got peace in your heart that allows you to submit to God, no matter what, through the hope of the gospel?
Jonah confesses he is worthy of death and submits to it because that is what he knows he deserved.
“Take me up and throw me into the sea.”; to die, that the sailors might live.
That was Jonah’s confession. But…
2. But what about the sailor’s conversion?
2. But what about the sailor’s conversion?
This is so exciting! So incredible!
Jonah is sent to Nineveh, but he flees and disobeys God, and yet, look, even in his disobedience the Lord still uses him – lives are changed; God’s work goes on!
How do we know that these sailors have truly been truly converted?
Well, there are three symptoms that surely testify to a changed heart.
1. Their procedure with Jonah
2. Their prayers to the Lord
3. Their praise to Yahweh.
i. Their procedure in dealing with Jonah showed a certain righteousness.
They consult with Jonah concerning the steps they should now take; steps that are now necessary to save lives.
Surely, something needed to be done:
- The storm continues and gets worse.
- The ship is about to break up and cannot hold out much longer.
- The cause of the storm has been revealed, not only by God when He points the finger at Jonah by the drawing of lots but also by Jonah’s own confession to them.
- But now they consult Jonah: “Jonah, what is to be done?”
Does that not show something of a more righteous character than we have seen before from these men.
Jonah had been nothing but a problem to them.
- They did not know Jonah before all these afflictions came upon them.
- They did not worship his God.
- They had no ties of friendship.
- No link by country or relations.
- They simply had him on board as a fare- paying passenger.
Surely, you would expect these pagan sailors to take matters into their own hands and get rid of this perfect, troublesome stranger, especially when they were out there on the high seas by themselves without any witnesses!
That’s what you would expect, is it not?
So why didn’t they?
What constrained them from taking this man’s life?
i) Does it not show, again, something about human nature made in the image of God?
God has put within every human being a horror of shedding innocent human blood.
That is why there is horror and a repulsiveness when we hear of heinous murders and drive-by shootings and mass killings, is it not?
Human life has become all too cheap.
Genesis 9:6 gives us the foundation for the sanctity of life that is written into every heart and it does so by taking us all the way back to our creation in God’s image:
- The context was the great flood which God bought upon the earth because the earth was full of violence. That is what we are told in Genesis chapter 6.
- Bloodshed had become the norm and God determined not to allow that to continue.
- And so He bought a flood that wiped out all human beings except Noah and his family. He was determined to start again.
And immediately after coming out of the Ark, when the flood was over, God made a covenant with Noah and part of that covenant is set out in Gen 9:6:
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.”
- God issues the death penalty for murder, not because God has a low view of life, but because He has the highest view of life you can imaginable.
- He commands the ultimate sanction!
- AND He grounds that in a Creation ordinance – being created in His image.
- And the point is: when you commit murder, you attack the very image of God in which you are created.
- Our abhorrence to murder stems from being created in God’s image.
- Paul talks about God’s law being written in our hearts. This is part of it!
Was not this one of the reasons why the sailors were hesitant to pick Jonah up and throw him into the sea? And why they pray about shedding innocent blood before they did it?
Apply:
My friends our society has sunk to a new low, has it not?
- Not only do we hear of the shedding human blood by murder almost every day on every news bulletin;
- But we now have State sanctioned, State funded, murder of unborn children – 62 million in the USA alone since Roe v Wade; and a similar per capatia here in New Zealand; over 13,000 a year.
- And if that isn’t bad enough, more recently NZ has introduced legislation that allows individuals to choose death rather than life by introducing the right to euthanasia for the terminally ill.
- We’re guilty, are we not, of attacking the image of God in which we are created by attacking the most vulnerable in society: the unborn, the sick and the elderly.
I put it to you: We are doing what these sailors were NOT prepared to do – take the life of another human being as a solution to a social problem.
Oh how we need to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves – as Proverb 31:8 instructs us.
Oh how we need to be a father to the fatherless and mother to the motherless, and fight for life; the life God has given us and that is precious in His sight.
The sailors did all they could to avoid taking Jonah’s life. That was their procedure.
But there is more. Their righteous procedure was also driven by:
ii) A fear of God himself, was it not?
God had demonstrated His greatness to these sailors:
- He has shown them His great power in the storm.
- He has shown them His sovereign providence in providing them with a lot that pointed to Jonah.
- He had provided His servant and prophet to bear testimony as to who He really is: the One who MADE the heavens, the sea and the dry land. The God who made everything!
And the result was, a real change in heart that now caused them to start to fear Yahweh for who He is, in and of Himself, and not just for what He had done to them.
Did you notice that three times now in this chapter it talks about these sailors “fearing” God:
- In verse 5 their fear is driven by the terrifying storm; the wind and the waves. At that point, God was nothing more than an impersonal Being; a remote Deity. But they feared His power.
- In verse 10 they start to fear the Lord Himself after Jonah tells them his God is the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land and that he was fleeing from Him. That terrified them more than the wind and the waves as we have seen.
- But the greatest proof of a changed heart comes in verse 16, after they have thrown Jonah into the sea, we are told they feared Yahweh greatly because the sea immediately becomes still!
God’s greatness; God’s holiness; God’s omnipotence; God’s righteousness, was impacting on their lives.
Now they shook with fear – the response of every single human being that has ever been exposed to God’s holiness.
- Think of the disciples with Jesus in Mark 4. (Expound)
I want to put it to you that God was awakening in these sailors a new heart; a heart that started to truly fear the Lord.
Apply:
My friends, the Scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And that Christ is our wisdom, if we look only to Him for our salvation.
- You cannot truly know God if you don’t fear Him.
- You cannot truly relate to God unless you honor Him.
- And when you start to fear Him, then you will start to see the state of your own heart and you will cry out for mercy.
- And to your utter amazement, just when you think there is no hope, you will find this God you now fear, is also the God who “so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son” so that we should not perish if we believe in Him.
- He has clothed us in His righteousness and holiness, bridging the gap so we can draw near!
- That’s the amazing thing about salvation.
So these sailors righteous procedure is not only seen in upholding the sanctity of life, but also in fearing God Himself.
And what is the result of that?
iii) Well they started to reverence God’s servant: Jonah.
They could see that:
- Jonah is a true prophet.
- Everything that Jonah confesses to these sailors rings true and comes true.
- They can see that even though he was running from the presence of the Lord, he still feared his God.
- And because of his honest and open confession, they came to respect him and wanted to take care of him.
- Revering his God, they respected God’s servant.
And that is always the way it is with people whose lives God has changed.
Before conversion, the unbeliever ridicules, laughs at, derides or perhaps even persecutes God’s servants.
After conversion all that changes. There is respect, honour and a humility to accept what you previously rejected (e.g. my grandfather up to age 99)
These sailors’ procedure with Jonah was one that shows the work of God’s grace in their hearts:
- There is a meekness of heart you don’t expect to find in rough sailors.
- A subdued spirit
- A willingness to submit to what God’s servant says.
And so instead of rushing to judgment upon Jonah, they exert all their human effort to deliver Jonah. They row with all their might for land.
Apply:
What a warning that is for us, dear friends!
You might know of a brother or sister who is just like these sailors are to you:
- Your family or friends are rowing hard to rescue you.
- They pray and intercede for you every single day.
- They counsel you.
- Rebuke you.
- They use their love to try and rescue you from sin and give you solid ground of Jesus Christ to stand on.
But, oh dear friend, if you don’t embrace such love and cast yourself on the Spirit of God and the work of Christ and repent, then the opportunity may come to an end.
Remember the word that says, “Every man shall bear his own burden.”
- Others can’t believe for you.
- You must come and fear the Lord for yourself and trust the Saviour He has sent to save you from perishing.
- That’s the message we have here is it not?
The sailors showed a changed heart in the procedure they adopted in dealing with Jonah.
But there is more that shows their changed hearts, is there not?
ii) What about their prayers to the Lord?
We can be brief here, but did you notice a different type of prayer offered in these verses?
In verse 5, they prayed to their pagan gods. There was not just one God, but each had his own god and they were utterly useless because they were idols. Their prayers were a complete waste of time.
In verse 6 the captain urged Jonah to pray to his God in the hope that “maybe” his God could save them from perishing.
- It was not true prayer, was it?
- It was not the prayer of faith.
- It was wishful thinking at best, and unbelief at worst.
- It was a prayer of desperation.
- It was self-effort to save their own skin.
- And treated God like a bellhop to come at their bidding.
They could not pray truly because they did not know the living God and did not know the terms of how to come to that God.
- They knew nothing of Christ.
- They had no Mediator or Intercessor with the Father to plead on their behalf.
- Everything they were doing was in their own strength.
But NOW look at their prayer in verse 14:
14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
Is that not true prayer?
Have not their hearts been changed from where they were at the start of their journey?
Notice, they are crying earnestly to the Yahweh. They are not crying out to pagan gods or idols.
- Now they know there is a living God.
- Now they know there is but ONE God. The Lord; the maker of heaven and earth.
Jonah has clearly told them the Lord’s name and shown them He is not only a great God but a personal God and so they cry out earnestly, “O Yahweh, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life…”.
And not only is their prayer directed to the living God, but they show in their prayer that they truly fear Him as the righteous Judge.
The logic is this:
If He holds Jonah, His own servant and prophet responsible for his actions, will He not hold us, as mere sailors, responsible for what we do to this man’s life by casting him into the sea?
They are fearing God.
And further, their prayer shows they acknowledge God’s sovereign hand.
“ … for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
Now they are confessing in prayer that they are not in control of their own lives, but they are living their lives in the hand of the living God.
- He is the One who decrees whatsoever things come to pass.
- In Him we live and move and have our being.
- He works all things together for good for those that are called according to His good purpose.
Oh dear friends, this is true prayer:
- It is humble prayer.
- It is earnest prayer.
- Sincere prayer.
- It is a prayer of faith.
- It is prayer that commits lives into His sovereign hand and let’s God have His way.
Do you pray like that?
When did you cry out to God with such earnestly?
When did you submit the outcome of your prayers into His sovereign will?
These men’s lives surely have changed:
- Not only in their Procedure with Jonah
- But in their Prayers to God for Jonah
One last thing, shows their conversion is genuine:
iii) Did you notice their Praise to Yahweh?
Look at verses 15 and 16:
15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
What do these sailors do?
- They sacrifice to the living God, not to dead idols.
- And they make vows for the future.
Are not these symptoms of a changed heart?
We could doubt their conversion if they made vows for the future to try and manipulate God into stopping the storm…
- That is how many make vows when they do not know God, is it not?
- “I promise to become a missionary if You, O God, will do xyz for me”.
But none of that is true of these sailors. They make a sacrifice and make vows AFTER God has saved their lives!
They offer a sacrifice of praise!
They instinctively know their need for a substitutionary sacrifice to stand between Holy God and their sinful state.
- Atonement was needed.
- Blood needed to be shed to cover their sins that deserved death.
- That’s what they are acknowledging, is it not?
- Surely, Jonah had told them move than we have recorded here.
- Surely, he told them that Israel’s sacrifices pointed to the Sacrifice of the Messiah who would make atonement and appease the righteous wrath of God that they were all experiencing.
- And right now, having just taken a man’s life, (at least that is what they thought), they wanted their foul sins to be covered with a sacrifice to take away their sins!
And far from thinking they could add anything to salvation after He has saved us, they turn to Him in praise, thanks, and glory – they vow to serve him and render their lives as thank offerings to Him.
Have you come to that place, my dear friend?
Have you:
- Trusted Him alone for the sacrifice He has made for you?
- And having done that, have you vowed to die to self and live for Him?
“What can we render unto the Lord for all His benefits to me?”
The least we can do is:
- Vow to serve Him for the rest of our lives
- Die to self and live for Him
- Give our lives as a thank offering.
- Take up your cross and follow Christ.
Well we have seen:
1. Jonah’s confession.
2. Sailors Conversion – in their procedure; their prayer; and their praise.
But we need to finish with just one more observation, and that is:
3 The Lord’s great compassion
3 The Lord’s great compassion
Just put yourself on board the ship for a moment before Jonah is thrown into the sea:
- It is reeling back and forth in the sea.
- Its bow reaches up to the height of heaven and then sinking into the depths of the sea.
- The noise is terrific as the ship is almost to break up.
- Standing on the deck is the man of God, the offender, but one who has now confessed his sin and now submits to God’s sentence to go to his certain death.
- And around him are the mournful, frightened sailors, who with regret look upon their passenger.
- Above them all is Sovereign God who acts with justice and power. Even though He said, “Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm”, yet He continues to afflict them until they carry out His divine sentence.
- And so they do it. They throw Jonah into the raging sea!
But look! We are told two things happen that show the Lord’s compassion:
i) The sea immediately stops its raging.
ii) And God sent a big fish to rescue Jonah.
Oh my dear friends, do not both of these things speak of the absolute sovereignty of God and His great grace? Do they not show His great compassion for both the sailors and Jonah?
For the sailors, as far as they can see, Jonah has gone to his watery grave but suddenly the sea stops its raging:
- If they doubted for a moment that the living God was behind this storm, NOW they could doubt it no longer!
- What greater evidence was needed?
- It was a compassionate answer to their prayers.
- Their lives are saved!
And what about Jonah?
- It appeared to the sailors that he had died: a criminal pursed by divine justice.
- Yet, it was the death of a repentant and righteous one in the eyes of God.
- Like the thief on the cross – apparently perishing for his sins, yet Jesus says, “today you will be with me in paradise”.
- Even in death, Jonah triumphed over death.
- Relying on Divine pardon and protection, he committed his body to the sea and his soul to the God he feared.
Is not this the story of every believer who dies?
- We have all sinned.
- We have all fallen short of the glory of God.
- We know we deserve death.
- The wages of sin is death.
- And yet we entrust ourselves to God, knowing that He has sent His Son to die for us, but equally knowing that He was raised on the third day to secure our resurrection!
- The free gift of God is indeed eternal life!
- Beneath the surface there is salvation for repentant sinners from God!
- Beneath the surface, God carried on the marvelous story of redemption, bringing His own work of life in the midst of death!
- And so the chapter ends,
“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”
- That shows the Lord’s great compassion!
Apply:
Oh, my dear friends, how we need to trust and fear the Lord!
- There is no deliverance except that which He gives! That which He has prepared!
- Even when we have sinned greatly against the Lord, we need to trust Him, love Him, fear Him, trusting that He will give life to the dead!
You might say: how can we?
Well, my friend, I ask in return:
- Is anything too hard for Him?
- Does not His faithfulness reach to the heavens?
- Has not His work of redemption been accomplished by the Greater Jonah who stayed 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth to satisfy Divine justice and then rose again?
On the surface, at ship level, there may be the appearance of a dark frown of displeasure against your sin.
But beneath the surface, “the Lord prepared” a mighty deliverance for Jonah and He has done the same for you and me too!
- Oh see His protecting, redeeming, life-giving love!
- Surely, “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
What hope this gives to all who fear, trust and love the Lord, does it not?
We may sin greatly against the Lord, yet in His grace and power, death is not the end for the believer – He has saved us in His great compassion and mercy.
I finish with the hope the Apostle Paul holds out to believers in 1 Thess 4:13-14:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [k]in Jesus.
Jonah’s life did not end, and neither will your life end if you fear Him and trust the Greater Jonah who was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth for your salvation.
- Not for His sin – for He had none.
- But for your sin and my sin.
PRAY