Running From God

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The sovereignty of God is displayed through all of creation by the physical manifestation of His will.

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Sometimes in life, we find ourselves in the midst of circumstances that we certainly would not have chosen for ourselves. Although we may not always see a direct correlation between circumstantial events in our lives and the choices we have made, we can know that our choices are successive and consequential. What’s that mean? It means, every action and choice we make in life builds upon the previous (choice). We endeavor to navigate life in way that feels purposeful for us and yet when were honest, we often take the path of least resistance and then can’t understand why when things begin to fall apart. It’s like the concept of the butterfly effect, the most seemingly insignificant of actions can set off a domino effect of cataclysmic proportions and not see the first warning sign till it’s far to late. The butterfly flaps it’s wings and sets off a series of weather and oceanic events that results in a tsunami cresting the shores of a continent an ocean away.
There is a force guiding the undertow of life and that force is the purpose and will of God almighty. Often times, the results of our decisions take a considerable passage of time to reveal the wisdom of our choices. Other times we can know with near immediacy whether or not we have made a wise choice. One miss step at the edge of a sheer face cliff will absolutely inform you that you should not have ventured so close to the edge; and still at other times our choices may still hold dire consequences but we foolishly just fail to see our need in the absence of immediate urgency.
And so it is with the salvation of souls and matters of Godly pursuit. If it were not for God’s loving pursuit of us, I fear we might have never pursued to love him. Entwined in my opening statements is the ongoing tension between implicate determinism and Man’s libertarian free will. Although I am certainly not a scholar, nor am I a theologian, I know for certain God is absolutely sovereign and we are absolutely accountable to our every action because his word says as much. I believe we lack the depth of intellect required to grasp, and therefore properly reconcile these seemingly competing forces as they are understood to the sovereign mind of God in His economy.
This evening I’d like use to take hold of two certainties in this life:
God is sovereign and is in absolute control of his universe.
Every choice we make is our own and we alone are responsible for the outcome of our free choices, of which some will be eternal.
Let me repeat those - God is sovereign, in absolute control of his universe and every choice we make is our own, we alone are responsible for the consequences of our free choices, some of which will be - - - Eternal!
I want to introduce you to Dr. Thai Lee. Dr. Lee is the author of a book titled, “Boundaries of Freedom”: The Quantum Proposal of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. Dr. Lee has had his own personal experience and struggle with the sovereignty and providence of God in his life and although it was no fault of his own, he found himself an a set of circumstances that were decidedly less than desirable and yet God’s sovereign hand was guiding the events to provide Mr. Lee with an opportunity to freely choice Him. An opportunity I believe the Lord provides to all of mankind. Here is the account in Mr. lee words.
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Excerpt from “Boundaries of Freedom: The Quantum Proposal of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility” Thai Lee
A story of God’s sovereignty.
I was born in South Vietnam and raised as a Buddhist. My family and I often went to pagodas to beg favors from the deities (Buddhism is not a monotheistic religion). We also worshiped our ancestors as they surely would want to help their descendants “live long and prosper.” Furthermore, to hedge our bets, we occasionally visited Hindu temples with their cornucopia of gods and goddesses to keep everyone happy. After all, hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned! In 1972, at the age of seventeen, I went to America to pursue my college studies. Sadly, South Vietnam fell to the communists in April 1975. My dad passed away during the debacle (my mom died when I was young). Overnight, I became an orphan without a country and with no source of income. Alone and despondent, I sat in the dormitory over Christmas, starving since the cafeteria was closed and my bank account was empty. My desperate cries to the gods went unanswered. The thought of jumping out of the window to end the misery crossed my mind. While I was mulling the decision, an American friend came by and kindly invited me to his home. Hearing about the lavish holiday spreads, my gurgling stomach overruled my morbid brain, causing my spindly legs to hustle me to the benefactor’s car. After many sumptuous meals, my friend asked if I would like to read the Bible. Sure, why not? What had my gods done to help me? I learned that Jesus, the only true God, promised to love and care for me in this life and the one to come. With my friend’s blessing, I became a Christian in January 1976. In all honesty, had my dad been alive, I would not have changed religion. That was a clan decision in Vietnam, not an individual choice. Family conversion,” reflecting an Eastern culture, was the norm in the New Testament (e.g., the Philippian jailer “and all his family” were converted in Acts 16:33). Looking back, I am still amazed by God’s omniscience and omnipotence. The compassionate Lord called a destitute kid across a vast ocean, saved him from certain death, and appointed him to eternal life! However, was I predestined to salvation by the sovereign God or did I exercise my “free will” to accept Christ? What exactly is “free will”?
Thai, Lee. Boundaries of Freedom: The Quantum Proposal of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility . Resource Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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Jonah Flees the Presence of the LORD

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 down into it, 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.”

Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

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.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

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.

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Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord

Jonah 1:1-2 By the sovereignty of God, Jonah receives the divine decree to go to Nineveh.
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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.”

Honestly, this is mind blowing. That God would condescend to speak to anyone is quite remarkable; and for those who have heard the discernable voice of God speak to their soul , their lives must be forever changed. Seriously, if God speaks to you, how could you remain the same? God has a job for Jonah and issues two back to back commands. Get up, and Go To Nineveh.

WORD OF GOD. The word of God in the OT is both a word about God and a word from God. It is a word about God, however, only because it is a word from God, that is, it is a word in and through which God discloses himself.

From this we can deduce that God intends to reveal himself to the Ninevites, and with this being God’s sovereign will, we can be sure his purposes will be accomplished. Of course, anyone familiar with the story of Jonah know’s the outcome, but it is the nuances of the story I would like to look at this evening. There is something remarkable taking place in this story and I think it is often overlooked. Though the face value reading has its immediate impact, there’s an implicit truth underpinning the entire narrative and that is - What we intend for evil God can and will use for good. Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Gn 50:20) & (Ro 8:28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)

Word and Situation

God’s speaking is always a temporal event. Every word of God has its time, and God knows the proper time for a given word. The word expresses the will of God with respect to a particular moment in the life of the world. The word of God always arises in a specific situation, is spoken into that moment, and is designed to make a difference in that situation. The word of God thus always fits the situation is some particular way; it consists of words of judgment, promise, instruction, command, and blessing as they are pertinent to the moment and in consonance with the will of God for that moment. Therefore, if a word no longer seems applicable in view of changes in the situation, God can repent of that word

as he does in Jonah 3:10, spoiler alert - Nineveh repents, but that is not our focus this evening. Jonah 3:10 says, When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. God in his omniscience has a sort of middle knowledge of things that would be “if”. This is God’s counter factual knowledge. Nineveh’s destruction is the counter factual knowledge of what would happen if Nineveh would not repent. Of course, as we have already established, God is sovereign and what the sovereign wants the sovereign get’s. But it is how god chooses to accomplish his purposes that is so remarkable. We have been created in God’s image and have the privilege of taking part in God’s redemptive plan throughout the course of history. Our free choices were charted and employed before the foundations of this world. There is no free action of man that God has not already accounted for. Proverbs 19:21  Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jon 3:10) & (Pr 19:21). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
There’s a plan forming in Jonah’s mind but God already has a plan to deal with him with a few bonus converts along the way.

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 down into it, 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.

The plan in Jonah’s mind is to RUN FROM GOD! What? He just heard the voice of God tell him to get up and go preach against Nineveh! He’s a prophet of God, chosen to speak oracles from God and he says - No! Jonah’s the prodigal prophet; he chooses to run from God and so God hurls a great wind upon the sea to chase Jonah down.
Jonah 1:3-4 In God’s Sovereignty, He apparently allows Jonah to flee so that He, God, might later display mercy and grace to new believers. By God’s sovereign will, the wind responds and creates a tempestuous storm at sea, a direct result of Jonah’s free choice to disobey God’s sovereign decree.
We have to ask the question: Why is he running from God? He knows it can’t be done, in chapter two as he prays to the Lord he quotes from the psalms. David declares in the psalms that God is omnipresent and therefore inescapable. But, nonetheless, Jonah is running. What was it? Was the idea of going to Nineveh too frightening? Too dangerous? The Ninevites are know to be a brutal people with the inhabitants of the city numbering around 600,000 and at the entrance to the city was a pile of skulls on either side of the gate from a demonstrable beheading campaign. This is certainly not a place someone would want to walk into and announce its impending doom - I’m sure Jonah feared his own impending doom. But why is he not fearing the Lord? Where is his fear of disobeying The Almighty? This is a prophet of God? Whatever is going on with Jonah, serving God is currently not his top priority. God says go to Nineveh, about 500 miles by land. Jonah devises a plan to head 2,500 miles South West by sea. This is about as far from Nineveh as you could physically get at that time. The problem for Jonah, is no matter how far he tries run, God is always there. And this should comfort us, Proverbs 16:9 says, The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. We can take comfort knowing that even in our disobedience, God loves us and actively seeks reconciliation, orchestrating the events of our lives in a way that we might come to know Jesus and receive salvation from sin.
Dr. Thai Lee, did not know when he came to America that in the midst of his anguish and turmoil, while his country had fallen to communism and he found himself a young-man with no food and no country, that he would take part in divine appointment, that would lead to salvation, seminary and a life’s pursuit to seek and serve the Lord. We may not see what the sovereign sees in times of political upheaval and times of war, but we can be sure despite the evil choices and actions of man, God is good, he purposed his creation for good and creation reflects his glory. It is impossible to know, this side of heaven, how many lives will be effected and souls saved as a result of Thai Lee being introduced to the gospel. Interestingly, we do know that in the late 70’s and early 80’s The United States did see an influx in immigration from the Veitnam, thailand, Cambodia, resulting from the Vietnam war which introduced various cultures to the saving knowledge of the grace of Jesus Christ and the blood he willing shed for us on Calvary.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
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Tarshish as a geographical location is mentioned in several places. Three verses speak of it as a source of precious metal (Jer 10:9; Ezek 27:12; 38:13). The exact location of Tarshish, or even its direction in relation to Israel is not univocal. Its association with the West and the Mediterranean is best known from Jonah’s flight toward Tarshish from Joppa on the W seaboard of Israel (Jonah 1:3; 4:2). Its further association with the “islands,” mainly a designation of maritime areas W of Israel, also points in the same direction (Ps 72:10; Isa 23:6, where it is also associated with Egypt and Sidon; 66:19, associated with Asia Minor and Greece). There are also weaker links with the S in the literary connections of Tarshish and Sheba, Seba and Dedan (Ps 72:10; Ezek 38:13).

Extrabiblical sources and cognate terms have been used as evidence for locating Tarshish. Tartessus in SW Spain, a Phoenician colony on the Guadalquiver River, has received some attention (Herodotus 1.163; 4.152; Albright 1961: 347). The area is known for its metals

Because of the ambiguity regarding the identification of Tarshish, we are not able to say with confidence where Jonah was heading when he set sail from Joppa. All we can be sure of is that he was going west, and that he thought he would be leaving his God behind.

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Jonah 1:5-6 By God’s Sovereign will, He uses the storm at sea to strike fear into the hearts of the sailors which will later result in these men seeking God for salvation.

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.”

Jonah 1:5 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. NIV

WE are told, before this fact is mentioned, that the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea to overtake the bark in which Jonah was sailing for Tarshish. The great wheels of providence are continually revolving in fulfilment of God’s purposes concerning his own people. For them, winds blow, and tempests rise. It is a wonderful thing that the whole machinery of nature should be made subservient to the divine purpose of the salvation of his redeemed.

Yet, though he was a believer in God, he was in the sides of the ship, fast asleep. O Christian man,—a real Christian man, too,—if you are in a similar condition, how is it that you can be slumbering under such circumstances? Should not the privileges and the honour, which your being a believer has brought to you by divine grace, forbid that you should be a slumberer, inactive, careless, indifferent? I may be addressing dozens of Jonahs, those who are really God’s people, but who are not acting as if they were chosen of the Most High; but are forgetful of their election, their redemption, their sanctification, the life they have begun to live here below, and the eternal glory that awaits them hereafter.

Beside being a believer, or as a natural consequence of being a believer, Jonah was a man of prayer. Out of the whole company on board that ship, he was the only man who knew how to pray to the one living and true God. All the mariners “cried every man unto his god.” But those were idle prayers because they were offered to idols; they could not prevail because they were presented to dumb, dead deities. But here was a man who could pray,—and who could pray aright, too,—yet he was asleep. Praying men and praying women,—you who have the keys of the kingdom of heaven swinging at your girdle,—you who can ask what you will, and it shall be done for you,—you who have, many a time in the past, prevailed with God in wrestling prayer,—you who have received countless blessings in answer to your supplications,—can you be, as Jonah was, sleeping in the time of storm? Can it be possible that he, who knows the power of prayer, is restraining it;—that he, to whom God has given this choice privilege, is not availing himself of it? I fear that this may be the case with some of you; and looking at Jonah, a praying man sinfully asleep, I cannot help feeling that I may be speaking to many others who are in exactly the same condition.

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Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

Jonah 1:7-9 By the sovereignty of God, the men were permitted to discover Jonah’s disobedience which is a sin against God, and through Jonah’s confession the men were introduced to The One True God of Israel.

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.”

Lots, Casting of. Practice common in the OT, less common in the NT prior to Pentecost, and absent in the biblical narrative after Pentecost.

In the Bible the practice was used in a variety of circumstances, including (1) the selection of the scapegoat (Lv 16:8–10); (2) the allocation of the tribal inheritance in the Promised Land (Nm 26:55, 56; Jos 14:2; Jgs 1:3; etc.); (3) the determination of the families who had to relocate to give a proper distribution of the populace or of those warriors who had to go to war where only a percentage was required (Jgs 20:9; Neh 11:1); (4) the order of the priests and their duties (1 Chr 24:5–19; Neh 10:34); (5) the determination of an offender (Jos 7:14–18; cf. Prv 18:18).

According to biblical usage lots seem to have been used only when the decision was important and where wisdom or biblical injunctions did not give sufficient guidance. One of the advantages of the casting of lots was the impartiality of the choice. It was held that the Lord directed the lots (Prv 16:33). The method of casting lots is not specified or described and seems to have varied according to the need of the situation (cf. Lv 16:8; Nm 26:55, 56; Jgs 20:9).

The practice of casting lots was never condemned by God and in fact on several occasions was sanctioned by him (Lv 16:8; Prv 18:18; Is 34:17). The principle behind the procedure is set forth in Proverbs 16:33, which affirms that the disposition or result of the lot is determined by God; therefore, the theory was that the lot pronounced the will of God.

In the NT the soldiers cast lots over Jesus’ garments (Mt 27:35), and the disciples cast lots when they selected Matthias to the apostleship in place of Judas (Acts 1:26). After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church, the practice of casting lots ceased. Some hold that there was no further need for the practice to continue, as the Holy Spirit guided the church in its decisions.

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Jonah 1:10-11 The sovereignty of God is now assumed by the men as they display fear knowing Jonah has disobeyed his God which has placed them in the direct path of His wrath.

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.

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Jonah 1:12-13 The sovereignty of God can not be escaped

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.

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Jonah 1:14 By the sovereignty of God, what Jonah meant for evil, God used for good. A result that is seen in the narrative when the men begin to pray to the sovereign God of the universe, previously they each prayed to their own gods; this is an implication that suggests they will bring news of this sovereign God back to their respective peoples.

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.”

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Jonah 1:15-16 The sovereign will of god can not be withstood; the men yield to the will of The Almighty, and remove Jonah from the ship, then proceed to worship, pray, sacrifice and make vows before their newly discovered God.

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.

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A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

Jonah 1:17 The sovereignty of God causes a great fish to swallow Jonah where he’ll stay for three days and three nights, a display of God’s sovereign power to do miracles, an example of His saving grace and a foreshadowing of Christ in the tomb.

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.

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