The Stubborn Prophet and the Compassionate God
Morning everyone. Good to see you guys. Anyway, the all exciting Sunday where we just finished a series beforehand so everyone wonders, what are we gonna do next? I wanna ask you, what would you say is one of the most, if hands down every kid, every adult growing up, what's one of the books of the Bible that you learn about? that everyone knows, that's got a story from it that no one ever forgets. Yeah, okay, Genesis. Is there any other ones you might think of, maybe like a smaller book, minor prophet that everyone knows, got a real good story in it about a whale, you know? Exactly, right? We all think about Jonah. That's one of those things because it just has that iconic story in it. And it's so interesting because of all the prophetic books in the Bible, Most of them aren't really good for telling children's stories. know, some of them have got a lot of stuff in it, or even just a lot of stories in the Bible. There's a reason we don't talk about in Sunday school the fact that David circumcised 200 Philistines. They just don't go that real well in a kid's head. So, you know, you fill in the blanks as they get a bit older. But Jonah is such a great book because there's so much imagery in it and unlike other prophetic books, we're not actually really given so much, it's not about the message of the prophet. The book of Genre is actually about the prophet himself. The story is about him, which is not usual. Anyway, so before we open up and have a read, we'll just open in prayer. Father, you have given us this day. You have given us breath in our lungs. Now, Father, may you give us open ears too. Let us not be unchanged. Let us not continue to go on into death, Father, but rather let us go into life everlasting. And we know that life is found in Your Word. So let it have effect upon us now, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So, I'll read Jonah 1. There you go. But Jonah rose to flee from 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. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea. There was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 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 laid down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, what do mean you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God, perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. 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. Then they said to him, tell us on whose account has this evil come upon us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? He said to them, I am a Hebrew. And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea in the dry land. 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. 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. And 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. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life. Lay not on us innocent blood, for you, Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 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. So, first, if we're gonna do a story about Jonah, if that's the point, it's about the character himself, we need to know about Jonah. So what do we know about him? Well, look at the absolute wealth of information that's given to us in the first verse. His name is Jonah, and he's a son of Amittai. That's about as much background information as you're given. So, we don't get to know too much about his background, but there is one other reference in the Bible to him. In 1 Kings 14 12, sorry it might be 2 Kings 14 12 actually, says, he, this being Jeroboam the second, he was one of the kings, restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hameth as far as the Sea of Arada. According to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant, Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gareth Hefa. Seems like a random obscure kind of little, and it really is a kind of obscure note. We're not actually really told anything about Jonah, it's just simply that this prophecy was fulfilled that this king of Israel would go and spread the borders of this kingdom. But we do gain a little bit from this. We actually come to understand, all right, Jonah, you kind of get this impression from prophets through the Bible that they just kind of pop on, pop on, pop onto the scene, not pop off, pop onto the scene and then just kind of disappear again, right? They're kind of like these invisible things that just pop up when you need them to. But they had lives, they did things, right? They were walking around the other 70 years that we don't really hear about. And so understand, Jonah was a prophet. before this. He had a whole lifetime as a prophet before we get to this point. And you see Jonah was around the time just after Elijah and Elisha. You get these really interesting little, there's these little things in the Bible you don't really pay attention to a lot of the time. There's all these guys called the sons of the prophets all the way through the book of Kings that you're always reading about. And they weren't actually sons of prophets. What they were was they were schools of prophets that learned under Elijah and Elisha. And so they were the men that eventually followed on after Elijah and Elisha died, and they likely taught a lot of the minor prophets that we have and things like that. And so it is very, and again, this is not, this is just rough background. This is not to say this was a certainty, but this is likely the kind of people that Jonah was raised up in, right? He had been raised around the prophets, the son of the prophets, these disciples, he'd been raised in the way kind of thing. So he would have known the word of God very well. There's even an old, this is again just tradition, they say that they reckon Jonah was one of the raised sons from the widow of Zarephath, which was one of the widows that Elijah raised the son of. But again, really what I want you to get is that here, the man we should be encountering in this book, should be a faithful man of God. He's a successful prophet, all right? If you're a false prophet, you got your head chopped off and he hasn't got his head chopped off yet. So he must be doing a pretty good job. Must be some kind of faithful man. What do we find in the book? Is Jonah a pretty good example of how we should act? Any responses? No, no, no, most definitely, yeah. So you'd think that we would find this faithful prophet of God, but instead you find him at the start of this ministry, the start of these events, pushed in a way he was not expected. And as you'll often find with us, when we are pushed in ways we're not expected, when we may think we're all good, there are actually parts of us that exposed, that show that we're not actually quite as good as we think we are. And so you see, this is the story. The story not about a faithful God-fearing prophet who is used by God. It is about a rebellious, stubborn prophet who is still used by God. And so you see in this story, in this passage today, we're gonna encounter a very ignorant, stubborn man, but an even more merciful and compassionate God. So three points we're gonna look at. One being the ignorance of Jonah and us. The other one, our disobedience in God's sovereignty. And then the third God disciplines those he loves. So let's start with our first point. Because there are two things that we want to do with this book, right? People can go one of two ways, really. But a way that you definitely don't want to go is just say, the whole point of the book of Jonah is don't be like Jonah. Because if that's all this book has to tell you, then all you have to do is go and do something. The Bible is not about people, it's about God. So if you listen to a whole series that I never once mentioned God, I have not done a very good job. And if I just tell you don't be like Jonah, that's just legalism. There is more to it than just that, because you are all like Jonah. Get that one there. Okay, so let's look at this character here. So first, what does Jonah do in response to God's command? God tells him, go off, go to Nineveh. We'll get more into what exactly Nineveh is in a few chapters time, because it's not super important to the start of the book here. But he's given this command. Nineveh was their enemies, and so he say, go and preach to the enemies. And he runs away. He flees in the opposite direction. Specifically, it says, from the presence of the Lord. Nineveh, Israel here, you go east, there's Nineveh. Tarshish, opposite direction. So he just knew, I'm just gonna find the thing that's the furthest way, furthest possible way I can get away west. He just wants to go in the opposite direction, quite literally, to turn and run away. And so Jonah was putting this question to the test. Can one flee and hide from God? What do you guys think? That's a good response. And you see Jonah knew this too, because like I said, he was a prophet, he knew the Word of God. What does Psalm 139 say? You see, you can't run away from God. He knew God was everywhere, but he still thought, if I put enough distance between me and what he wants me to do though, He won't be able to get me if I get away far enough. And so of course all of us think that's just stupid. God is all powerful, he can make you do it, he's probably gonna send some fish or something to come get you. But you see, this is actually a warning for us and we should realize that this is actually us for far more than we realize. And understand that this message, this book is not a message primarily for unbelievers. It's primarily for believers. Because who's the character we're looking at? Not some new Jew who doesn't really know that much about God, not some pagan. Some man who was a faithful man of God. And so. Where do we go from there? So, this truth from Proverbs 5.21, for a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord and he ponders all his paths. This is something that we must be aware of, always, because we love to forget about it. That the eye of God is always watching. He is always there. What does it mean, that passage? God knows every thought, every deed we've ever done and ever will do and are doing at this current moment. Now that fact in and of itself, when you realize who God is, the Holy God, that should terrify us. That should make you quiver and shake on the inside. It should be pretty good reason to stop most sinful pursuits. Just think about it. Do you speed where you know the cop is normally set? No. because you know they're watching. QPS is really good, I've even seen signs when you go around Brisbane they say, anywhere, anytime, you never know where we'll be. Because they want that fear in you. They want you to obey the rules. But this is also a truth of God. He wants us to be aware. He is always watching. But you see, us as people often shove this fact to the back of our minds. You see, we come to such a point where we think God is blind. No one's ever actually said this to me, that they think God is blind. But we act like it though. We go about our days. We think God doesn't really care that much about that sin. He's kind of like, Oh, like he sees it, but it's so like, you know, my sin is thrown as far as the east is from the west. You know, he did that. He's not worried about it anymore. He still hates sin. The cross didn't get rid of the hatred he has for it. It just get rid of the hatred he has against us. And so, we have to understand He knows everything about us, better than we know ourselves. So we aren't to hide from Him. We aren't to act like He doesn't exist. We're out of the bring this truth. God is always there to the forefront of our minds, often, each and every day. And then realize it isn't a curse. I'm not saying this to just like, get the fear of God in you. Because... When we're actually walking in obedience, the fact that God is watching, that He watches over us, that He cares for us is a great blessing. But then we must also understand the flip side, which is that that should cause us and actually grieve us at the fact that God is watching and knows our sin. I don't want Him to have to experience that. But so what else can we learn from Jonah? Second thing, we would rather choose death. So second thing Jonah knows, Psalm 16, 11, in your presence, God, there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So in verse two of Jonah, God tells to him, arise, arise. Get up and go to the mission which I've called you to. And Jonah should know, anytime God calls you to do something, he's not just doing it to be a little dictator that wants to do his own thing. He's doing it for our own good, for our joy. And so he might not be able to see why would God send me to our mortal enemies as some good. But he should know wherever God sends him is a good place. But then from verses three to five, if you read through them, You'll see the word down repeated four times. God first calls him arise, get up, but then what does Jonah do in response? He goes down to Joppa, he goes down onto the boat, then down into the boat, then he lays down to go to sleep. And so you see this continual repetition of this word is because here is God up. He is calling us to arise, to come to him, but instead what does Jonah do? He goes down. down, down, further into the darkness, further down into sin. At every opportunity, He has given a chance to repent, to turn back to head towards Nineveh. But instead, no, He keeps going back on again and again, further from God, further from joy and blessing, further from life itself, because that is God, life and Himself. So what is Jonah warning to us of? Do not sear our consciences. What does that mean? You see, we all have a conscience. That little voice in your head, right, is telling you, don't fall asleep during this arm... No, I don't know. No, I'm kidding. But you know, don't steal, right? Don't gossip. Don't do these things. It tells us right from wrong. But you see, you often hear this line quoted in the movies, how can you sleep at night? You know? When you're just meeting someone real evil, like a mob boss or something like that, how can you sleep at night knowing the evils you've done? Well you see, there's actually a reason he can, because he's done these grievous evils so much, over and over again, that little voice in his head that we think should just be just grating at his soul, it stops talking, because it's not being listened to. And so, it is this warning, and you see it even in Jonah himself. By the time you hit the fourth down, he's sound asleep. When everyone's freaking out that there's a storm, he's, I'm good, I'm happy here, in judgment, in amidst it all. And especially when you look and see Jonah's conscience was seared. He continually rebelled against God, and yet look at the pagans, the sailors on the boat. These men did not know God's law. They knew nothing of God. And yet, when Jonah said, hurl me overboard, then you'll be fine, they refused because their conscience bore witness against them that that was murder. That that would be to send a man to his death. So they refused to, till they had absolutely no other resort. So these men were not as seared as Jonah, the supposed faithful man of God. And so it is a warning to beware of continuing in our sin because otherwise we may find ourselves like Jonah soon to be overtaken by disaster. And so to my final point of this section here, that our lips honor God while our actions do not. Because see, in the midst of the storm, what does the captain do? He comes down, he's probably going to get some cargo, throw it out, and then he finds this fella sleeping on the floor in the middle of a storm. All right? and not kind of peaceful like Jesus sleeping because Jesus rested in his sovereignty when it was in the storm. This guy's just resting because he's just seared his conscience so much. And so here he is, he wakes him up and then the crew's like, who are you? What are you? What's your occupation? Where are from? 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. If he feared the Lord, Do you think he would keep rebelling against him and even be on the ship in the first place? No. So you see, he's saying one thing with his lips, but showing another by his actions. And so this is a small and simple point here. That as we've seen the ignorance that's shown through Jonah, that same ignorance that's in each and every one of us. we understand what is the true marker of maturity, because he should be a mature man of God. But we see it is not measured by one's words, because by all accounts beforehand, all we hear is he's a good prophet, so all we have are his words. He seems to be faithful, but what is the measure of true maturity? Spiritual maturity. Is it because you're really good with your words? is it because you've got seniority in the church or something like that? Maturity has nothing to do with how many years you've been warm in that good old pew. It has nothing to do with being up here up the front and having all the giftings. Nothing. What it is, is obedience to God's will. That is always the case. Because you see, it's not hard to impress people with words. There are people out there that can talk your ear off and you'll just be amazed at them. But frankly, they're as dead as a corpse. bid you see the real difficult thing, to bring your mind and your body under subjection to God's will. To use your life for God's glory is true maturity and is much harder than using your tongue. And so you see here, I have said, yes, that we do not want to make this message all just about Jonah and what not to be like him. Yet here are a few things. We have to look at the character, obviously. But now I turn and I want us to look at God. I want us to see what He is doing amidst the disobedience of what is meant to be this faithful man of God. So to our second point, our disobedience and God's sovereignty. Now, I should have really titled it, Evangelism and God's Sovereignty. Because those two things are often fully pitted against each other. It's meant to be a cage match. You cannot have a passion for evangelism and also believe that God controls all things. Because if God controls everything, won't He just save all the people? You don't really need to do anything then. So you can't have these two things together. You can't wed them together. But the book of Jonah testifies against that completely. You need a sovereign God to have any hope in evangelism. And so you see, some of us will see the need for God's sovereignty in evangelism because we're like, okay, we know the Bible. I know that I can't really save anyone. I need His help. I need someone to aid me, to support me in this. And yes, we do. But that is not the end of God's sovereignty. God's sovereign, saying God is sovereign doesn't mean He helps us. It actually means He doesn't need us. That is the point of God's sovereignty. And so, what does that mean? God desires something, it will happen with or without us. So the encouragement in evangelism is understand you are not the main actor. You are a supporting role, you are a tool that is graciously chosen by God to be used. He gives you the chance to participate, but he does not need us. This is an encouragement especially, because when you get to someone like Jonah, when you look at this person, You realize now he's not just here to help me in the good things I do. He's actually going to use even the bad, evil things I do to bring about glory for him and good for others and for me. You see, this is the sovereignty which goes beyond just helping us where we think we need help. He will bring things out we could never imagine. And so to understand this in the book of Jonah, I want to ask you a question. Was it God's will for Jonah to go to Nineveh or for Jonah to go to Joppa and hop on that boat? Does anyone want to take a stab? What was his will? Nineveh or Joppa? Which one? No one's ballsy enough to take it? We've got to take it. It's both. Didn't see it. All of the above. You see, this is a hard thing to understand and I'm getting into something that is, seem, how would call it, theological up there. This is actually a very important thing to understand. God has more than one will. Though I will clarify, it is still one will, but it appears as more than one to us because it's so beyond our understanding. So here's how I put it. Even look at Jesus' crucifixion. Did God want His Son to be murdered? No, because what does He say in the 10 Commandments? Do not murder. He had given them, that went against God's will. The people of Israel went against God's will when they murdered the Messiah. Then what does it say in Acts 2, 23? This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. So they also murdered him according to the plan and will of God. So you see, there are different names given to these wills. People have their own ways of saying it. I like to call them the revealed and hidden will of God. The revealed will, that is everything that's been given to us in His word, everything He shows us in creation, right? As in, The Ten Commandments, you know do not murder. That is his revealed will. He's shown that to you. The idea that one plus one equals two. The idea that babies come from mums and dads that love each other. All those kinds of things are God's revealed will. He's shown you those things. His hidden will. That is his ordained plan for all history. From beginning to end, everything that he has decreed before the foundation of the world. Those are things like, where am I gonna live? Who am I gonna marry? What car am I gonna buy? Those are the kind of things that God often does not reveal to us. That's why it's called the hidden will. Sometimes He does give confirmation, send us in a way, but most often for things in life like this, circumstances, He does not reveal what He has planned for us. But the thing about this will, unlike the revealed will, which can be hindered, God can tell you do not steal and you go and steal. but with the hidden will, if God decrees it, it cannot be avoided. It is immovable. Because you see the problem, right? If we do not have this will, this will which cannot be avoided, if there's actually something you can do to stop God's will, if there's no will which can get past you, if you can sit there and God wants to do something, but if you say no, it can't happen, God ceases to be God. He is not God anymore. You can have no hope of anything because He is not truly sovereign, right? This is so good, this will, because though God commanded Jonah, go to Nineveh, he had also decreed that some pagan sailors would sail in from Tarshish and pick up a prophet so that they might sail through a storm and be saved. God had a plan for those sailors to be saved by a disobedient, rebellious prophet. God's sin was part... Sorry, Jonah's sin was part of God's plan. And this is so good because you realize our disobedience, the bad things we do, can be used for God's glory. That does not mean that good things, they are still bad and deserving of punishment. But God will bring good out of the evil. This is what really makes Him God. And so really, I want to commend this kind of thinking to you. Because like I said, this idea of God just being a supporter, a helper, that His sovereignty is simply to serve the things we can understand is not God. But this thinking goes beyond what we can understand. That you could go and do something so silly, so stupid, and God is saying, I'm going to use that to further my kingdom. He said, I'm going to use that. This is a God that is truly sovereign. And we can also be freed from the fear that thinking our failures screw up God's plan. They do not. You may step outside of God's revealed will, His commands, but you can never step outside of His hidden will. We often ask ourselves that question, am I outside of the will of God? Have I run away too far? You always have a chance to turn back. And you are never outside of the hidden will of God. You just don't know what it is. And so this is a comfort, such an incredible comfort, unless of course you have so much pride that you cannot handle God being in control. But even for those who are in control, I have a final point for you, which will help out. Even for those of us who struggle to let God have control, there is hope. In our final point, God disciplines those whom he loves. Think about it, Jonah was not someone that wanted to hand over control to God. He did not want to give his life over to serve his purposes. He said, nope, I'm going to sail across the Mediterranean, end up on the other side of the world and sip a margarita on the beach. That is how I want it. That's how I'm going to do it. And if you really think about it, the whole book of Jonah, man, he just copps it the whole way along. He is just not having a good time. He is being bagged out basically. But throughout the whole book, I want you to ask this question. Does God love Jonah? Oh, well, you answered the question. Yes, okay, well, done. There you go, end of sermon. No, I'll explain it. Why? First. Because you'd think he's a liar. He's stubborn, he's disobedient. There's virtually nothing in the book to redeem his character. There's not even a good ending. It almost seems like he's recovering by chapter three. By the time we get to chapter four, he's back and unrepentant again. And so, He's almost everything that you wouldn't want in a man of God. Does God love Him? He most definitely does. Because think about this, for what reason did God send the storm? Hebrews 12, 6 I want to read from. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives. In that moment, that storm, was for the disciplining of Jonah. God made him suffer. Can you imagine spending three days in a whale or a big fish or whatever it was? Do you think it would have been fun? And it's not like Pinocchio where there's like all the space in the world and there's also light in there. It would have been pitch black the whole time for three days. With also no understanding that there would be an end to that. It would have been torturous, but... What would God have done if he did not love him? He would have probably let him, probably would have killed him straight away in judgment. Or he would have let that ship just keep on sailing, no storm, no problems. He would have ended up in Tarshish. God probably would have set up some pension plan for him when he got there and just let him enjoy life. No more worries at all. He would have fully handed him over to his own sinful desires. You see, suffering is not always a sign of God's punishment. It is actually often him keeping us from our sinful desires. It talks about in Romans 1, those who are handed over to their desires, as in God's judgment against them isn't to come with his big scary hands and lightning strike him and smite him. But no, he just lifts off every guard and just says, go for it. Enjoy, have fun and see where it leads you. That is their judgment. But he doesn't leave Jonah there. So we see that God loved him. He sent the storm, He sent the fish that He might teach him and bring him back to Himself, that He might discipline him so he might come back to God. So why did God love him then? I want you to go through the Bible. I would say go and do it for homework, but I'm already going to give you the answer after in a second anyway. But go and look through the Bible. You can challenge me to this next week if you want to. And find the reason why God loves you. Does anyone know the answer? because He chose to. Not all that exciting, is it? There's not really given a reason. All you're really ever told is, God loves you because He chose to. Because that's a really good thing when you read the rest of the Bible and realize there's nothing deserving of love in us. There is no good in us which to love. And so what you get is God saying, I have chosen to love you not based upon yourself, but purely upon my choice. So you realize God's love was never based upon our actions. So when you ask the question now, does he love me? Am I still in the love of God at this very moment? When you look through and you want to answer that question, do not take your actions into account because they did not matter at the start and they do not matter now. The love of God remains the same. God's love meant that Jonah spent three nights in a fish rather than enjoying a boat trip across the Mediterranean. God's love is not found in making our lives easy. It is found in leading us to eternal life. Sometimes that means letting us and causing us to suffer. So to be given over to this good life, to this life of convenience where everything's so great is actually for God to condemn us. Do not wish for such a life. That is to hop onto that famous road made famous by the Bible and by ACDC, that highway to hell, and for God to just say, I'll get rid of all the speed bumps out of the way, you hit that accelerator and go. Do not wish for that. Rather be comforted that when you're in suffering to know it is because you were loved by God that often as a Christians we'll have harder lives than the rest of the world. Because God loves us and he wants to free us from our sinful desires. And be comforted especially. This gave me such comfort as I was preparing this week to know that as a child of God, not only will God protect me, He will never let me be handed over to my own sinful desires because I cannot fight it myself. I would fall away far too easily. So, in conclusion, this book is about man and God. It is about us in all our wickedness, in our stubbornness, in our stupidity, and God in His ever loving compassion, kindness, and endless mercy which swallows up all our sin. You are never too far from God. Like Jonah, you could be at the bottom of the ocean, sitting in a whale's belly, and He is still not too far away. He is right there. God has seen the worst in all of us. still that didn't stop him sending his son. No sin can ever outweigh his endless grace. That is the point of the book of Jonah. So I'll finish in prayer now. Father, thank you that you have given us this gift. That you have shown us through Jonah, Lord, that there is no end to your grace and to your mercy. Father, though we must persevere not to be like Jonah. not to continue to walk in our sin to turn away from you, to realize that we are dull and ignorant, Father, but rather help us to pursue true wisdom which is to pursue you. But let us ever be comforted by the fact that we can never leave your will far, that you are always watching over us, that when we should go too far, you will always pull us back. You will always do that for those whom you love. Father, we pray that you would love us. We thank and rejoice in the fact that you do and it's not because of our actions. From day to day it never changes and it never will. We thank you Father in Jesus' amen.