Setting – Jonah flees from the Lord resulting in being tossed into the sea
Content – God told Jonah to tell the habitats of Nineveh to stop sinning (v. 2 ESV) “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” So Jonah went the opposite way (v. 3a ESV) “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” God got Jonah’s, and the sailors, attention from a great sea storm (v. 4 ESV) “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 sailors awoke Jonah, who was asleep during the storm, beseeching him to call out to His god also (v. 6b ESV) “Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
They cast lots to see who was responsible for this calamity against them. They fell upon Jonah. To resolve the problem, being that they knew he was fleeing from Jonah’s God, Jonah advised (v. 12 ESV) “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea…for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” The sailors didn’t want to do this at first, but after failing at their further attempts to save the ship (v. 14 ESV) “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.”
The sailors after this (v. 16 ESV) “feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”
A great fish swallowed up Jonah where (v. 17 ESV) “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Application – Many observations occur in Jonah.
God cared for non-Jewish (or non-believers for today). Jonah knew that Nineveh could turn from their evil ways to God and refused God’s order because of this. All creation is from God and God cares for all of His creation. All who were saved turned from being once evil. Some people’s turn was great than others, but all turned- from the robber on the cross, the highly religious (Nicodemus), the basic fisherman (Peter and John), a persecutor of the church (Paul), etc., all turned.
God’s plan doesn’t fit into our rulebook
We don’t always like God’s plan. God’s plan rarely aligns to what we think is the correct human plan. Our savior had to die on the cross at the hands of His creation, God provide a perfect sacrifice, by birthing the savior through a virgin, Christ lineage was from an illegitimate wife (through Solomon who was born from Bathsheba), it was a harlot who helped Israel take Jericho, etc. None of these plans fit into our rule book.
Non-believers eventually turn to God
Non-believers may eventually turn to God once they reach the end of their rope and find that their way of getting help, such as the sailor’s gods, never works. God makes Himself known to those in dire needs, but it’s up to them to accept the reality that only God can save them (v. 16a ESV) “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly”
Our sin can affect others
Jonah knew that the sea storm was because he was running from God (v. 12b ESV) “for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” We need to realize that our sin, whether we like it or not, affects others. Like Achan and the battle of Ai (Jos. 7:1 ESV) “But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban”, (Jos. 7:5 ESV) “The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men”, (Jos. 7:11 ESV) “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived” and (Jos. 7:25 ESV) “Joshua said, "Why have you {Achan} troubled us?” (italic word I added).
Content – God told Jonah to tell the habitats of Nineveh to stop sinning (v. 2 ESV) “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” So Jonah went the opposite way (v. 3a ESV) “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” God got Jonah’s, and the sailors, attention from a great sea storm (v. 4 ESV) “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 sailors awoke Jonah, who was asleep during the storm, beseeching him to call out to His god also (v. 6b ESV) “Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
They cast lots to see who was responsible for this calamity against them. They fell upon Jonah. To resolve the problem, being that they knew he was fleeing from Jonah’s God, Jonah advised (v. 12 ESV) “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea…for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” The sailors didn’t want to do this at first, but after failing at their further attempts to save the ship (v. 14 ESV) “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.”
The sailors after this (v. 16 ESV) “feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”
A great fish swallowed up Jonah where (v. 17 ESV) “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Application – Many observations occur in Jonah.
- God is caring for a non-Jewish nation Nineveh; He wants Jonah to tell them to stop their evil.
- Jonah doesn’t like God caring for this evil nation. He makes this known by running away from God
- The sailors find no help in their gods, and eventually see that only Jonah’s God can help
- Jonah is aware that it was because of his rebellion that calamity struck the ship and risked the life of him and the sailors.
God cared for non-Jewish (or non-believers for today). Jonah knew that Nineveh could turn from their evil ways to God and refused God’s order because of this. All creation is from God and God cares for all of His creation. All who were saved turned from being once evil. Some people’s turn was great than others, but all turned- from the robber on the cross, the highly religious (Nicodemus), the basic fisherman (Peter and John), a persecutor of the church (Paul), etc., all turned.
God’s plan doesn’t fit into our rulebook
We don’t always like God’s plan. God’s plan rarely aligns to what we think is the correct human plan. Our savior had to die on the cross at the hands of His creation, God provide a perfect sacrifice, by birthing the savior through a virgin, Christ lineage was from an illegitimate wife (through Solomon who was born from Bathsheba), it was a harlot who helped Israel take Jericho, etc. None of these plans fit into our rule book.
Non-believers eventually turn to God
Non-believers may eventually turn to God once they reach the end of their rope and find that their way of getting help, such as the sailor’s gods, never works. God makes Himself known to those in dire needs, but it’s up to them to accept the reality that only God can save them (v. 16a ESV) “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly”
Our sin can affect others
Jonah knew that the sea storm was because he was running from God (v. 12b ESV) “for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” We need to realize that our sin, whether we like it or not, affects others. Like Achan and the battle of Ai (Jos. 7:1 ESV) “But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban”, (Jos. 7:5 ESV) “The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men”, (Jos. 7:11 ESV) “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived” and (Jos. 7:25 ESV) “Joshua said, "Why have you {Achan} troubled us?” (italic word I added).
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