WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:12.720 Good evening, my name's Archie, if we haven't met. I'm the pastor in training here and it's my privilege, my pleasure to be opening what I think is one of the most exciting chapters in the whole Bible for you this evening. 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:18.820 I really do love this chapter. I think it's very cleverly written and I hope that we're going to get a lot out of it together this evening. 00:00:19.420 --> 00:00:21.160 As we do that, let me pray. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:33.120 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word, that it is living and active, that it speaks today. 00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:42.519 We pray as we open it together this evening that your Holy Spirit would be at work in each of us, that you would be transforming lives tonight. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.400 We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:51.640 As we begin, I want you to imagine with me a king. 00:00:52.339 --> 00:01:00.399 I think sometime in the Middle Ages, when the British monarchy perhaps was at its sort of absolute pomp, when the king really did rule. 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:03.519 What he says goes. 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:11.659 Now I want you to picture that king's messenger, the man who sends important messages to other important people. 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:14.759 What would that messenger be wearing? 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:19.580 Right. I'd bet that he's got some pretty fancy clothes on. 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:24.640 People need to see in him the power of the king whose message he brings. 00:01:25.580 --> 00:01:28.880 And I'd bet he's got a sort of certain assurance about him, right? 00:01:29.580 --> 00:01:33.580 It's just the way a representative of the king carries himself. 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:40.340 Earlier this week, I bumped into a friend in the gym and there's no two ways about it. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.300 This guy is balding. 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:49.840 And as I walked into the changing room, he was there in the mirror trying to style the little hair that he is clinging on to. 00:01:49.979 --> 00:01:51.019 And so I greeted him. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:52.700 I'm not proud of this. 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:55.959 I greeted him by saying, I wouldn't bother, mate. 00:01:56.479 --> 00:01:57.939 You can't polish a turd. 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:01.159 Now, he and I, we're good friends, this guy. 00:02:01.479 --> 00:02:02.679 He and I are good friends. 00:02:02.679 --> 00:02:05.120 But as you can imagine, he wasn't especially happy with me. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:06.460 And I obviously felt awful. 00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:07.700 I apologize pretty quickly. 00:02:07.820 --> 00:02:08.659 We're all good now. 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:11.560 But that wasn't before he gave me. 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:14.539 And I wonder if you've ever had a line like this. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:16.580 That's not very nice. 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:18.620 You're supposed to be a Christian. 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:23.840 It's absolutely gutting when someone comes out with something like that, isn't it? 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:31.360 Because how we live as Christians, how we represent Jesus to a watching world is just so important. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:34.159 And people notice. 00:02:35.340 --> 00:02:37.719 We represent a king. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:44.819 And who we are and how we live tells people what we think about that king. 00:02:46.420 --> 00:02:48.060 Can he really save? 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:50.840 Transform lives? 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.080 Do we really believe that he is powerful? 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:58.719 Does he really rule? 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:07.420 In Jonah, we saw last week that the sort of big overarching theme of this book is that the Lord saves. 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:13.039 Well, this evening, the emphasis in this chapter is that the Lord saves. 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:18.520 He really does have the power to transform lives because the Lord rules. 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:23.800 We'll see that through these two movements in the narrative. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.120 It'd be helpful to have Jonah open in front of you as we go through it. 00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:31.960 These two movements, firstly, as Jonah flees in verses 1 to 3. 00:03:32.200 --> 00:03:36.420 And then as the sailors come to fear in the rest of the chapter. 00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:38.240 So let's dive into it together. 00:03:38.420 --> 00:03:41.400 We see straight away in verse 1. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.800 And we thought about this last week. 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:44.660 So think of this as a bit of a recap. 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:47.219 But this is a prophetic book, right? 00:03:47.219 --> 00:03:47.859 Verse 1. 00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:51.439 The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai. 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:52.699 It's a prophetic book. 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:55.319 That's how prophetic books start. 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.460 As the word of the Lord is spoken through his prophets. 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:05.479 But if you were here last week, we know that this is a very unusual book as far as the prophets go. 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.439 Most of them, the bulk of the text is God speaking through the man. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.060 But here it's mostly narrative. 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:14.800 There's a poem prayer in chapter 2. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.180 But it is mostly narrative. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.040 And then you get the shortest word from God. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.339 The shortest evangelistic talk of all time, if you like. 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:25.399 It's just five Hebrew words in chapter 3. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:29.740 This is a very unusual book for one of the prophets. 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:34.879 And Jonah is a very unusual prophet, a very unusual man. 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:39.840 We saw again last week that Jonah was a prophet in the court of Jeroboam II. 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:44.439 And Israel was incredibly prosperous under the reign of this king. 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:50.740 And through Jonah's work as a prophet, Jonah had an incredibly comfortable job. 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:54.439 He was proclaiming prosperity to Israel. 00:04:54.439 --> 00:05:00.740 And so see then in verse 2, see the job that Jonah is given by God. 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:10.680 Go to the city, the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:15.000 It's not an attractive job, that, is it? 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:17.300 I mean, you might think of it a bit like this. 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:20.159 I don't know if you saw it last week, the woman on the Russian news channel. 00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:23.279 She was an editor, I think, of Channel 1 in Russia. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:30.799 And she comes on to the live broadcast in the background with a big sign protesting against the war in Ukraine. 00:05:31.599 --> 00:05:35.279 And in some ways, the job that Jonah's been given is a bit like that. 00:05:35.379 --> 00:05:38.679 Go and call out against the wickedness of this great city. 00:05:39.459 --> 00:05:45.459 And of course, just like the woman on the news, Jonah must have felt a certain inevitability about the outcome of that job. 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:55.399 These evil people, God's enemies, surely the only way they could possibly respond is by having him arrested, probably even having him killed. 00:05:56.539 --> 00:06:01.560 From the perspective of his comfortable court profit job, not so attractive. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:08.459 And maybe Jonah was worried, too, about the implications of God's message going to a foreign nation. 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:13.599 Not just because he was racist, but because of the implications for Israel. 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.279 Remember Israel under this king, Jeroboam II. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:23.099 Israel had continued to persist themselves in this calf-worshipping, idolatry sin. 00:06:23.599 --> 00:06:28.019 And in 2 Kings chapter 14, as we read last week, God describes that as evil. 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:40.620 And so as Jonah is given the job of going to Nineveh and calling out the evil there, Jonah's got to be thinking, what does that mean for the evil here in Israel? 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:46.919 What does that mean for Jonah, considering the evil idolatry that he seems to be engaged in himself? 00:06:48.479 --> 00:06:51.799 And I think we might just pause here and see a warning in this for ourselves. 00:06:51.800 --> 00:07:02.540 As we seek to share the gospel of Jesus with our friends and our families, helping them to see their sin and recognize their need for this mercy. 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:09.259 Isn't it just so vital that we see and recognize our own sin as we do that? 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:15.160 And friends, can I just say that this actually should be the normal Christian experience. 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:16.780 It's one of tension. 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:17.900 Why? 00:07:17.899 --> 00:07:23.959 For we know that we ought to be progressing and growing and becoming less sinful. 00:07:25.579 --> 00:07:33.779 And yet the more we progress and grow, the more aware of our sin we become, the more sinful we feel. 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:39.479 And so if you're here this evening and you feel the guilt and shame of your sin, 00:07:40.599 --> 00:07:44.199 well, that is a very good sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in you. 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:50.659 And as you look to Jesus, as you trust in him, that you are forgiven. 00:07:52.039 --> 00:07:56.240 For even as we hold out this good news of the gospel to the world around us, 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:00.519 we live daily reliant on the mercy of Jesus ourselves. 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:08.459 Just as we saw that the Israelites in two kings were reliant on the mercy of God. 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:11.599 That's the context that Jonah is in. 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.199 And so let's see how he responds to this job that he's given. 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:16.539 In verse three, what does he do? 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:17.479 He flees. 00:08:17.799 --> 00:08:18.620 Have a look at verse three. 00:08:18.779 --> 00:08:22.620 Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed to Tarshish. 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:24.740 It's repeated, I think, at the end of the verse. 00:08:24.919 --> 00:08:27.919 Sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:30.399 A little bit of geography for you. 00:08:30.459 --> 00:08:31.759 Hopefully you can see that map. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:34.100 Nineveh is up there in the northeast. 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:40.720 And we're not exactly sure where Tarshish is, but elsewhere in the Bible it's used poetically. 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:45.340 A sort of city over there, way across the sea, in the west. 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:48.019 And that's exactly where Jonah heads. 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:52.779 He heads down to Joppa to board a ship and out onto the sea. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:58.800 I don't know if you noticed as we read this chapter, but the sea is a really big deal here. 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:02.259 Nine times the sea is mentioned explicitly in this chapter. 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:04.200 And it's not so obvious to us today. 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:08.379 I don't know about you, but when I think of the sea, I tend to think of childhood holidays, 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:11.319 beach trips, sand in my sandwiches, that sort of thing. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:17.960 But for the ancient Israelite, the sea was just full of symbolic freight. 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:22.439 And that might seem strange, but if you think about it, we do exactly the same thing today. 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:26.120 We load things with symbolic freight in our culture, don't we? 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:33.179 For us, a red rose is just an obvious symbol of love, a four-leaf clover, a symbol of luck. 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:39.620 For the ancient Israelite, the sea was a symbol of anti-God chaos. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:44.600 Back in Genesis chapter 1, right at the beginning of the Bible, 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:49.419 the Spirit hovers over the formless, empty, dark, chaotic waters. 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:53.419 And in creation, the Spirit brings order to that chaos. 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:58.079 And ever since, despite the sea being part of God's good creation, 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:06.479 it becomes this image in Hebrew poetry of chaos and darkness and death. 00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:11.679 Very often, actually, maybe if you think back to our series in Job, if you remember it, 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:16.319 but also in the Psalms, the sea, as an anti-God image, 00:10:16.359 --> 00:10:20.239 it is paired with a great watery swimming monster. 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:22.819 Keep that in your back pocket for later. 00:10:22.979 --> 00:10:25.779 But for now, this is the direction that Jonah heads in. 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:30.679 It's a movement towards death and destruction. 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:34.120 But of course, Jonah is a prophet. 00:10:34.819 --> 00:10:36.620 He's not a theological idiot. 00:10:36.620 --> 00:10:40.059 He knows that you can't just run away from God. 00:10:40.059 --> 00:10:45.019 This isn't obvious in translation, but literally, the end of verse 3, 00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:48.559 it reads, Jonah flees from before the Lord. 00:10:49.819 --> 00:10:54.179 Before the Lord is a phrase used to describe prophets in the Bible. 00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:55.719 It's a sort of job description. 00:10:56.859 --> 00:11:00.339 And so here, it's his prophet job that Jonah is running from. 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:05.779 He's called to go to Nineveh with a life-bringing message. 00:11:06.219 --> 00:11:09.259 And he heads in precisely the opposite direction. 00:11:09.259 --> 00:11:18.480 Notice in the context that that is precisely what Israel, 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.399 who were the original readers of this book, have done. 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:25.659 They are called by God to be a light to the nations, 00:11:26.340 --> 00:11:29.720 to represent him to the watching world. 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:37.160 And in their calf-worshipping idolatry, all they've done is exactly what the nations around them are doing. 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:40.139 They're just not representing God at all. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:44.060 And again, I think there's a challenge in this for us. 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:49.739 The Bible says, doesn't it, that we are right at the start created in the image of God, 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:52.399 that we're made to be something like him. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.799 But we don't live like that. 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:58.220 All of us fail, don't we, to reflect that image perfectly. 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:00.579 If you're here this evening and you're not a Christian, 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:05.879 understand this, that that brokenness is true of all of us. 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:11.100 And the message of Christianity is not that we would try and restore that image ourselves, 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:20.779 but that in Jesus, the one man who, being God, reveals that image perfectly as a human being. 00:12:20.939 --> 00:12:24.620 And in what he has done for us in dying on the cross in our place, 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:28.679 that we are freely given a new identity. 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:32.959 Not that we are now perfect, but that he is perfect for us. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:39.159 And so as Christians, having wonderfully been given this identity in Christ, 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:44.719 we're called then to be disciples of him, making disciples of him. 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:49.779 Called to be light in a very dark world. 00:12:51.239 --> 00:12:55.379 And so the challenge for us this evening, are we striving to live like that? 00:12:55.379 --> 00:13:02.980 Are we really carrying God's life-giving message to a needy and desperate world? 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:08.100 Or are we functionally fleeing from before the Lord? 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:14.799 We've got to be prepared to put ourselves into places where there are people who don't know Jesus. 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.379 And when we're there, we can't just check out. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.899 It's so tempting, isn't it, to lead a sort of double life when you head to work 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:26.439 or you're hanging out with your friends who don't know Jesus 00:13:26.439 --> 00:13:29.539 and you just keep him in your church box. 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:33.000 Do they even know you're a Christian? 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:39.159 It's much more comfortable to slide into the shadows, 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.079 to stay out of trouble. 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:47.519 But friends, to do so is to flee from before the Lord. 00:13:48.079 --> 00:13:51.879 It is to avoid doing the job that he's given every Christian to do. 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:59.019 It's a movement away from his life-giving message towards the chaos and death of the sea. 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:02.840 That's the movement Jonah makes as he flees. 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:09.799 But see in the rest of the chapter, even as the Lord who rules remains the main character, 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.519 the emphasis shifts now to the sailor's fear. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.519 The other day, forgive me if this seems really random, 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:21.960 but the other day I was Googling what happens when you mix milk and blue Fanta. 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.860 What happens when you mix milk and blue Fanta? 00:14:24.939 --> 00:14:27.279 If you'd like to know why I was Googling that, come and ask me later. 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:28.679 But what happened? 00:14:28.779 --> 00:14:34.740 I only got as far as typing what happens when a bunch of suggested searches came up, 00:14:34.779 --> 00:14:35.659 as it does on Google. 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:39.579 And I think they were really revealing of what we're really afraid of. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:41.980 Maybe you can guess what they were. 00:14:43.280 --> 00:14:46.600 What happens when you die? 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:50.540 What happens in the afterlife? 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.480 See, for most, and I guess particularly without the gospel, 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:02.580 what greater uncertainty is there than the question of what lies beyond the grave? 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:10.900 Certainly for the sailors in Jonah, three times we're told of their fear. 00:15:11.940 --> 00:15:16.460 And each time they come closer to grasping who this God is, 00:15:16.560 --> 00:15:21.460 but it begins in verse five with their fear, essentially of death. 00:15:22.420 --> 00:15:25.080 We see why they're so afraid of that in verse four. 00:15:25.160 --> 00:15:26.139 Have a look at verse four. 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:37.899 Firstly, just notice who is in control here. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.600 It is the Lord who rules. 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:43.759 He's the one who sends this wind. 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:49.620 He has the power to control even the anti-God image of the sea. 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:53.360 And see the power of this storm. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.940 It's so violent that this ship might actually be torn apart. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:00.820 Picture that with me. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.259 This is almost 3,000 years ago. 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:04.960 Imagine being on that boat. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:07.759 Picture the sort of rough wooden boat. 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.120 Imagine being on a boat like that in a storm like this. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:41.100 Imagine being on a boat like this. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:49.000 And yet Jonah, in the rest of verse five, Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:51.419 Notice that the movement. 00:16:51.779 --> 00:16:59.860 Jonah goes down to Joppa, to the sea, and now down again below deck, closer and closer to the watery grave he goes. 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:04.480 And he doesn't seem to care about the storm as he sleeps, does he? 00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:10.180 He'd rather die than do the job that the Lord has given him. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.919 See in verse six, as they wake Jonah, what they ask him to do. 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:17.959 Call on your God, they say. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.279 At this stage, I think it's not that they think that Jonah's God might be especially powerful. 00:17:24.459 --> 00:17:27.019 But they're still just terrified of dying. 00:17:27.699 --> 00:17:29.039 And they'll try anything. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:33.700 I mean, they cast lots, don't they, in verse seven, to see whose fault this is. 00:17:34.059 --> 00:17:36.279 That's essentially just rolling the dice, right? 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:41.319 Just a really normal way to work out divine will in ancient cultures. 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:49.279 Again, just recognize who is in control here, who rules, as the lot rightly falls to Jonah. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:55.359 And then the sailors, they sort of lose it, don't they, with all those questions in verse eight. 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.799 But they're essentially all asking the same thing. 00:17:57.859 --> 00:18:02.099 Who are you that this storm might have been caused by what you've done? 00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:05.799 And Jonah's answer comes in verse nine. 00:18:06.379 --> 00:18:07.419 Have a look at verse nine. 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:15.879 I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. 00:18:16.879 --> 00:18:18.019 You see what Jonah is saying? 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:21.179 This is just a very orthodox profession of faith. 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:24.519 It's the answer that any good Israelite prophet would give. 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.680 And yet we have to ask, don't we? 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:29.500 Is that really true? 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:33.460 Or at least is it really lived out? 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:36.759 Rico Tice, you might have heard of Rico Tice. 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:38.500 He's an evangelist down in London. 00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:42.119 He tells this story, and forgive me, I can't remember where I read this story, 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:43.819 and so I'm not going to get all the details right. 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:44.859 But it goes something like this. 00:18:44.879 --> 00:18:45.839 He was at university. 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:48.799 He was a Christian at the time and a rugby player. 00:18:49.660 --> 00:18:52.559 And he'd given one of his teammates a sermon to listen to. 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.500 And so this guy from his rugby club, he hears all about Jesus. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.119 He's blown away by the gospel. 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:02.240 And so he then starts to share this sermon with some of the other guys from his rugby club. 00:19:03.259 --> 00:19:06.799 But one of them, he gets really angry at Rico. 00:19:08.399 --> 00:19:09.799 Why didn't you tell me? 00:19:11.059 --> 00:19:12.619 I mean, you believe this is true? 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.899 You really believe that this is true? 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:17.579 And it took one of our other friends to share this with me. 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:19.740 Am I really your friend? 00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:22.500 Do you really care about me at all? 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:24.579 It's heartbreaking. 00:19:26.159 --> 00:19:29.819 And as Rico tells it, this was a pretty foundational moment for him. 00:19:29.919 --> 00:19:32.940 See, if he really believed the gospel to be true, 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.359 surely he'd desire to tell it to anyone who would listen. 00:19:38.159 --> 00:19:42.720 As we read Jonah, as we see that very orthodox profession of faith that he makes, 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:46.659 aren't we asking of Jonah, if that's true, why would you run? 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:53.820 Why wouldn't you want to take this life-giving message to Nineveh out into the world? 00:19:55.820 --> 00:20:03.240 Friends, if we profess Jesus to be Lord, and if we really believe that to be a life-giving truth, 00:20:03.320 --> 00:20:05.019 wouldn't we desire to share it? 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:09.319 Or do we flee from before the Lord like Jonah does? 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:15.879 And see what happens in verse 10 as the sailors hear about Jonah's God. 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:17.900 Do you see their response? 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:19.180 Again, they're afraid. 00:20:19.180 --> 00:20:23.240 But they're no longer simply afraid of perishing in the sea. 00:20:23.360 --> 00:20:25.220 That's definitely still there. 00:20:25.840 --> 00:20:30.080 But see in verse 12, they're now asking how to make the sea calm. 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:31.900 They don't want to die. 00:20:31.900 --> 00:20:38.960 But there is now an acknowledgement that this storm has been caused by this God, the Lord, who rules. 00:20:40.300 --> 00:20:43.180 And of course, the solution comes from Jonah in verse 12. 00:20:43.340 --> 00:20:45.920 Pick me up and throw me into the sea. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.160 I don't think that's a sort of heroic attempt at sacrifice, 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:58.220 so much as Jonah's continued willful downward trajectory towards the sea, towards chaos and death. 00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:04.940 He's still saying, isn't he, I would rather die than carry out the life-giving ministry that I've been given. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.660 And though the sailors do their best to save Jonah in verse 13, 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:14.299 they eventually succumb, crying out in prayer. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:17.120 But now it's to the Lord. 00:21:17.360 --> 00:21:22.539 In verse 14, see, it's now the Israelites' God, the God who made the sea and the land. 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:23.900 They name him. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.140 You know the Lord, when you read it capitalized like that, 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:31.380 it's Yahweh, the name of promise, the name that says, 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:33.440 I rescued Israel out of Egypt. 00:21:34.120 --> 00:21:38.920 And in my ruling power, I have the power to save. 00:21:40.340 --> 00:21:44.040 And so the sailors, they recognize that this is the Lord who rules. 00:21:45.020 --> 00:21:46.500 See, at the end of verse 14, 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.600 you, Lord, have done as you pleased. 00:21:51.540 --> 00:21:53.680 It is God who is in control here. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.460 It is his will that is carried out through the sailors. 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:00.320 And as they throw Jonah overboard in verse 15, 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:02.820 the raging sea is calmed. 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.680 For God is God over all creation. 00:22:08.120 --> 00:22:12.539 He has power, even over the anti-God chaos of the sea. 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:14.620 This Lord rules. 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:18.479 And see how the sailors respond in verse 16. 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:20.639 This is the final statement of their fear. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:23.679 As they fear the Lord. 00:22:24.179 --> 00:22:27.919 As Jonah professes faith, but does not live it out. 00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:34.039 So the sailors truly or greatly, as verse 16 puts it, 00:22:34.239 --> 00:22:38.639 fear the Lord, make vows and sacrifice to him. 00:22:39.719 --> 00:22:42.839 We're going to think about this a little bit more as we come to communion. 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:45.699 But I wonder if this is how we respond to this God. 00:22:46.859 --> 00:22:52.000 Very often, the Bible calls for us to fear the Lord like this. 00:22:52.459 --> 00:22:54.679 We've just read this book as a staff team. 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:56.619 What does it mean to fear the Lord? 00:22:56.659 --> 00:22:57.659 It's a very small book. 00:22:57.740 --> 00:22:58.379 You should read it. 00:22:58.459 --> 00:22:59.079 It's small. 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:00.199 It's very digestible. 00:23:00.259 --> 00:23:01.139 It's a great book. 00:23:01.619 --> 00:23:02.399 Super helpful. 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:03.599 Let me know if you'd like a copy. 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:06.559 But one of the most helpful thoughts in that book, I think, 00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:09.619 is that generally we think of fear as a negative thing, don't we? 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:16.000 And I think that's probably because our usual experience of it is a reaction against something. 00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:21.419 But it is true that there is also a sense of fear, a healthy fear, 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:26.319 that draws us towards something or someone. 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:33.079 Not because it is negative, but because it is awesome and beautiful. 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:43.939 Like this, as we respond to the Lord who is absolutely in control, a Lord who saves because he rules. 00:23:45.159 --> 00:23:50.159 And so just as we finish, the elephant, or I guess the fish in the room, verse 17. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:55.059 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah. 00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:59.279 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:06.480 We mentioned earlier that very often that the anti-God sea imagery, the image of chaos and death, 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:11.180 that it is very often hand in hand with the idea of a great fishy monster. 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:14.940 And notice here that the fish is huge. 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:20.579 That word is actually the exact same Hebrew word that's translated great. 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:23.960 The great city of Nineveh in verse 2. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:28.940 And the great wind that the Lord sent on the sea in verse 4. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:32.839 The emphasis of this chapter, the Lord rules. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:35.980 He rules in the great city of Nineveh. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:37.399 We'll see that in chapter 3. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.079 And here he rules the great fish. 00:24:41.180 --> 00:24:45.019 The fish, notice, that he provides to swallow the disobedient prophet. 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:56.200 And he rules over creation, including the sea, that he can whip up a great wind and bring calm to it as he pleases. 00:24:56.200 --> 00:25:02.900 Very significantly, as we think about the theme of this whole book, God saves. 00:25:03.340 --> 00:25:10.500 Notice, even as the disobedient prophet who has been given the job of taking the life-giving message to a pagan people, 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.680 even as he tries to flee from that job, what happens? 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:36.500 Think back to that medieval king and his messenger. 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:38.660 I want you to picture the king. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:42.140 Picture his crown with its many jewels. 00:25:42.339 --> 00:25:45.400 The cloak with the big white fluffy collar. 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:48.279 The gold rings on every finger. 00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:53.859 Everything about that king, the way he looks and what he wears, it shouts, doesn't it? 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:56.019 This king rules. 00:25:56.019 --> 00:26:04.000 Friends, our God, the Lord of the sea and the earth, he rules the great fish. 00:26:04.279 --> 00:26:06.480 He rules the wind and the sea. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:10.639 He has the power to transform lives. 00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:14.639 He has the power to save. 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:18.379 Isn't that just so important for us this evening? 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:25.600 Even when it's very difficult to see, and it can be incredibly difficult to see in this messy world that we live in. 00:26:26.600 --> 00:26:33.760 As we take up the job that we've been given, as we do what we can to share this life-giving message, 00:26:33.760 --> 00:26:36.340 this is the wonderful truth of this book. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.100 Our Lord saves. 00:26:39.800 --> 00:26:43.740 And he saves because he rules. 00:26:43.740 --> 00:26:46.799 Let me pray. 00:26:53.019 --> 00:27:01.059 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this wonderful, this incredible chapter of your word. 00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:10.660 We pray that as we respond to your rule, would you help us not to flee from you, 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:16.519 but would you help us to respond and see you rightly? 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.900 Would you give us a healthy fear that draws us ever closer? 00:27:24.040 --> 00:27:26.720 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:27:29.940 --> 00:27:30.940 Amen. 00:27:30.940 --> 00:27:31.940 Amen. 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:32.940 Amen. 00:27:32.940 --> 00:27:33.940 Amen. 00:27:33.940 --> 00:27:34.940 Amen. 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:35.940 Amen. 00:27:35.940 --> 00:27:36.940 Amen. 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:37.000 Amen. 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:37.060 Amen. 00:27:37.060 --> 00:27:37.100 Amen.