Jonah chapter 1. I'm going to read the whole chapter starting from verse 1 all the way through verse 17.
As you hear me read this, remember, this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.
Once I'm done reading Jonah chapter 1, I'll say this is the word of the Lord and the church will respond, thanks be to God.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Verse 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.
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 harder to get back to dry land, but when 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, and lay not on us innocent blood.
For you, O 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.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
Would you pray with me?
Oh God, you are a God whose word goes forth.
And with your word is the presence of God himself.
We pray, Lord, that you will speak to us by your word and by the presence of your Holy Spirit to your people today.
Amen.
Quote,
This little book of Jonah is a highly complex and artistic short story.
In order to take in the kaleidoscope of lessons found in this book,
the reader must approach the text with openness and humility,
keep a teachable attitude, listen calmly, proceed slowly, and ponder meditatively.
This is not easy for us moderns.
It is like climbing a mountain.
It takes painstaking effort and self-discipline,
but the rewards at the end are worth the effort.
That's how Brian Estelle introduces the book of Jonah.
And his PhD is in the Semitic languages and literature of this region in the ancient world.
He's a professor at Westminster.
The message I want to show for you today out of this kaleidoscope,
I want to try to draw your focus to one theme,
and it's simply this.
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
you can't escape the presence of the Lord.
You can't escape the presence of the Lord.
Look at verse 3.
We're told in verse 3 that Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord.
He was going away from the presence of the Lord.
Now look down at verse 10.
The men knew that Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord,
because he told them.
That's the truth I've been praying about for you and for me today.
You can't escape the presence of the Lord.
I want to simply walk through that theme.
We're going to go verse by verse through this chapter.
First, I need to give a little bit of context,
because you see how it starts.
In verse 1,
We get a few clues here from this first verse.
This is Jonah, son of Amittai, so to not be confused.
The clue that we can then trace back,
if you look up that name Jonah, or even son of Amittai,
we can search the Bible,
and it takes us to 2 Kings 14, verse 25.
2 Kings 14.
And this is what 2 Kings says,
that Jeroboam II was king in Samaria.
Samaria is the northern part,
the ten tribes of the north.
And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
When the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter,
and why was that?
Well, who was the oppressor of King Jeroboam II?
It was Assyria.
It was their neighbor to the east,
taking over the land back from Egypt.
God raised up Assyria to judge Israel.
Israel was taxing them very heavily.
They had taken over several of those cities
on those major trade routes.
They were cutting off their trade.
They were cramping them economically,
and politically, and militarily.
So the Lord let that wicked king, Jeroboam II,
push back the borders of Israel.
Even though he's a wicked king
that had done evil in the eyes of the Lord,
during his reign,
the Lord let him push Assyria back a bit.
This happened, 2 Kings 14 says,
in accordance with the word of the Lord,
the God of Israel,
spoken through his servant,
listen, Jonah, son of Amittite.
That's our Jonah.
And we get a clue here.
He's the prophet from Gath Hefer.
So that situates him on the map as well.
All of this, I believe, is significant.
So bear with me.
And why did the Lord allow this wicked king
to push Assyria back?
Because the Lord promised to not blot out
the name of Israel from under heaven.
So you get the context of the book of Jonah.
In that first verse, it's Jonah, son of Amittite.
The word of the Lord comes to him.
Now the context tells us,
okay, Israel has wickedness in their land.
And we can look at the timeline.
Jonah would have come a little bit after Elijah and Elisha.
So a little bit after the great prophet Elijah.
Well, what do we know about Elijah?
This was a time of wickedness in the northern tribes,
wickedness in Israel.
They rebelled against the Lord.
Remember the prophets of Baal rising up,
trying to kill off all of the prophets of God.
Jonah comes on the heels of that.
And even though the next king, Jeroboam II,
was very, very wicked,
God still remained faithful.
He was long-suffering toward Israel.
And that's the context in which the word of the Lord
now comes to a known prophet,
Jonah, son of Amittite,
the prophet representing all those
through whom God was ministering his word
at the time of this wicked king.
So my first observation is simply that
you know the holy presence of God
through his word.
When the word of the Lord comes,
you're getting the presence of the Lord
through his word.
That's the pattern we see in all of the scriptures.
Think of Isaiah.
The word of the Lord came to Isaiah.
He knew he was in the presence of a holy God.
The word of the Lord came to Moses.
He had to take off his shoes.
He's on holy ground.
The word of the Lord came to the apostle John
in the book of Revelation,
and he saw a great vision.
So the word and the presence of the Lord
are tied together.
You know the holy presence of the Lord
by his word.
Have you ever heard the word of the Lord?
Maybe in private,
maybe with the people of God,
you've heard the word of the Lord,
and you just have that sense
that sweeps over you.
You can't explain it to someone
who's never experienced it.
The Lord is here with his people.
Have you ever experienced that?
So verse one, we're told,
the word of the Lord came to Jonah,
son of Amittai.
Well, Jonah, his name means dove,
and the root also means oppress.
This is interesting because, you know,
a dove is a very,
it's a creature that's liable to oppression,
and it can very easily become prey of others.
The prophet Hosea, Hosea 711,
he uses that picture of a dove,
the root word is oppression,
and he says this of Ephraim.
Ephraim was like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt,
going to Assyria.
Israel was like a dove.
Israel was liable to be oppressed
by these kingdoms of the world
that they keep chasing.
So you could say in that sense
that even the name Jonah
is making him a representative
of this rebellious, fickle,
wandering Israel.
And he's from Gath Heifer,
we're told in 2 Kings 14.
I'll place this with some points of reference
that you know,
again, I believe this is significant.
So where is Gath Heifer?
It's very close to Nazareth.
We'll start with that.
So it's north of the,
you know, northern part of Israel.
That's where the 10 rebellious tribes are.
And more specifically,
let's go all the way back
to the Mediterranean Sea.
Picture yourself on continental Europe.
You travel south.
So you're on, you know, Italy.
You travel across the Mediterranean,
past the Greek islands
until you stop.
The very eastern border
of the Mediterranean Sea,
that's Israel.
The port city there is,
today would be Tel Aviv.
From Tel Aviv, you'd cross,
you'd keep going inland,
you'd go over Mount Carmel
remember that's where Elijah stood.
You go over Mount Carmel
and then you're in this region of Gath Heifer,
not too far away from Nazareth
before the Sea of Galilee.
So that's where Jonah came from.
Now we saw back in John chapter 7, 52,
remember how they mocked Jesus
that never a prophet came out of Nazareth?
Well, here we've got Elijah and Jonah
as examples to the contrary.
Now look at verse 2.
The word of the Lord came to him saying what?
saying, arise, go to Nineveh.
Nineveh.
And how is Nineveh described in your Bible?
That great city.
Even by modern terms,
Nineveh was a great city.
Where is Nineveh located?
It would be in present day Iraq,
about 200 miles north of Baghdad,
on the eastern bank of the Tigris River.
Was it a great city?
The word great is used 14 times
in these four little chapters of Jonah.
It was a great city.
Yes, it was 60 miles long.
Think how far you could drive in all directions
60 miles from right here.
That's how big the city of Nineveh was.
And it had a wall that was 100 feet high.
Kids, you know how many feet is a basketball hoop?
10 feet.
So stack up 10 basketball hoops.
That's 100 feet.
That's how tall the walls of Nineveh were.
And that wall of Nineveh
had a series of towers
that, 1,500 towers all around it
that went up 200 feet.
So twice the size of the wall.
It was so wide that three chariots
could ride on it all at once.
Nineveh was indeed a great city.
God tells Jonah,
go to Nineveh,
to that great city,
but cry out against it.
Can you imagine Jonah walking up
to these overwhelming walls
and crying out against that city,
that great city?
Why was he to do this?
Verse 3 says,
for their evil,
their disaster,
their wickedness,
nine times that word is used
in the book of Jonah,
it has come up before me.
So there's the Lord God
enthroned over all his creation.
And this great city especially
is known for the wickedness
that rises up to his holy court.
And he tells little Jonah from Israel,
go cry out against them.
What was it about Nineveh
that was so wicked?
Do we know anything about them today?
We know a lot about this Assyrian army.
The worst displays of their violence
were happening in the capital city.
I know we've got children here.
We want children here.
I'm going to use some terms
that they don't need to understand.
But some of them are inevitable.
That's the Bible, right?
So Nineveh was so wicked,
they would flay the teenagers
of those they conquered.
They would mock their victims
that they had taken over
by cutting off just one of their arms
so they could tease them
by shaking the other hand.
As you would enter Nineveh,
there were, you know,
like we have beautiful lamps
and lights that kind of mark
the main entrance.
The main entrance to Nineveh
were spikes
and they would decapitate their victims
and that's what they would display
as the trophies on their spikes
as you entered this great city of Nineveh
whose wickedness came up to the Lord.
That's why the prophet Nahum
in Nahum 3.1 said,
Woe to Nineveh, the bloody city.
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its victim praise never departs.
If you go into Nineveh as a weakling,
you're never coming out of there alive.
A particular Baptist commentator,
John Gill said,
the measure of their idolatry,
bloodshed and oppression were full.
They were filled up.
They committed sins so openly, boldly
in the sight of the Lord
as if it were against him,
a heavy-handed sin against God, the creator.
And that's what made Nineveh now ripe
for destruction.
Now the Lord sees all,
Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount,
even a hair can fall from your head.
And, you know, look at the birds
and the lilies.
The Father knows them all.
But the evil of this city
has come up before God's holy court
in a special way.
And now God's judgment,
because he is just.
His just wrath is coming against
this wicked city of Nineveh.
Now, if you put yourself in Israel at this time,
the judgment of God against your oppressor
should be good news.
It means you're going to get salvation
through judgment.
God's judgment is coming
and through his judgment,
he brings salvation.
That's how we always see,
he always brings salvation through judgment.
But Jonah's reaction is surprising, right?
The presence, the presence,
the word of the Lord came to Jonah.
But look at verse 3.
Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah didn't want to go cry out
to the city of Nineveh.
And that's surprising to us.
Instead, when the holy presence of God
comes to this man,
he reacts the same way Adam and Eve reacted
after they had been proud
and thought they knew better than the Lord.
Listen to how similar this language is
in Genesis 3.8.
They heard the voice of the Lord God.
See, they heard the voice of the Lord God
walking in the garden.
There's this presence tied to his word
in the cool of the day.
And Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord.
Isn't that what we always do
when our sin is exposed
in the presence of the holy God
by his word?
We do the same as Adam and Eve,
the same as Jonah.
But the author of this little book
goes a long way to prove to us
that you can't escape
the presence of the Lord.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Why was Jonah, in this case,
why was he fleeing,
going the opposite direction of Nineveh?
I'm going to argue that it was
because of his pride.
He wanted to see judgment for Nineveh,
not long-suffering toward Nineveh.
That's why he didn't go cry out to them.
And turn with me back a couple pages
to Jonah chapter 4.
I want you to see this for yourself.
Jonah chapter 4, verse 1.
When God was long-suffering toward Nineveh,
we read in chapter 4,
this displeased Jonah exceedingly.
He became angry,
and he prayed, verse 2,
Lord, this is what I said back in my country.
So before he left to go to Tarshish,
this is exactly why he's angry.
That's why I fled to Tarshish.
I know that you're a gracious, merciful God.
I know you're slow to anger,
abundant in loving kindness,
one who relents in doing harm.
That's why Jonah's so angry.
I knew he would be long-suffering toward them.
I knew that God desires that none should perish.
Verse 3, we're told,
and now pay attention to the language here.
Jonah went,
what's the next word?
He went,
everybody say it,
down.
Oh, I'm sorry,
I'm back in chapter 1.
Let's try that again.
So turn back to chapter 1.
In his pride,
he's angry,
and he said,
back in his country,
I knew you would be long-suffering toward them.
Now chapter 1, verse 3,
Jonah then went down.
I want you to pay attention every time he says,
or creates that picture of Jonah going down,
and down,
and down.
Jonah went down to Joppa.
See, God is above and thrown,
looking out over all.
It's the court of God that this wickedness rises up to.
God is above,
and Jonah's going down,
away from the presence of the Lord.
And he found a ship going to Tarshish,
so he paid the fare thereof,
and went down into it.
There he goes further down,
into the ship now.
He's tucked in,
enclosed,
away from God's earthly kingdom,
and national Israel.
Another commentator said,
in order to be cleared of any fresh order from the Lord,
and to not have to go speak to the Ninevites,
that's why he keeps going down.
And he went with them,
to Tarshish,
away from the presence of the Lord.
It's our pride,
ultimately,
it's our pride that hates the presence of our holy creator God.
Your pride and mine,
we want to escape the presence of the Lord.
That's what we want.
But we're going to see here,
how the Lord makes his presence undeniable.
The Lord makes his presence undeniable.
Look at verse 4.
The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea,
and there was a mighty tempest on the sea.
John Gilligan said,
God took a wind out of his treasury,
and hurled it into the languages,
into that sea.
That part of the sea where Jonah was specifically.
The winds,
the very winds are at God's command.
He raises the winds to God's pleasure,
to fulfill his will.
And the storms are the servants of God,
that obey his orders.
That's the end of Gill's quote.
God did that so that the ship threatened to break up.
See that in verse 4?
The ship threatened to break up.
Another way of translating that from the Hebrew
is to say that the ship expected itself to crack.
It's personifying the ship.
That the ship became a nervous wreck.
So here we have children
who were part of our discipleship toward baptism.
Here we have again a picture of what?
The waters of judgment.
The waters of judgment and salvation
through those waters of judgment.
Just like the flood,
just like the Red Sea
that crushed Pharaoh and his army.
Just like the disciples in the storm
with Christ on the ship.
You can't escape the presence of the Lord, Jonah.
The Lord owns the seas.
He hurls the winds
to whichever part of the sea he wants.
The Lord makes his presence undeniable.
Now, it's salvation through judgment.
God is getting Jonah's attention,
but he's long-suffering toward Jonah,
just like he's long-suffering toward Israel,
in the same way that the Lord
is long-suffering toward wicked Nineveh,
and he's long-suffering toward you and me.
So I read to you that context of Jeroboam II
and 2 Kings 14.
Just one chapter before,
gives you a little bit more insight
into what's going on in Israel at this time.
This is that chapter right before Jonah,
son of Amittai, is mentioned.
We're told this,
the Lord was gracious to them.
Yes, wicked, idle-serving Israel.
The Lord was gracious toward Israel
and had compassion on them.
And the Lord turned toward them
who were rebelling against him
because of his covenant
with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob.
His promise to send redemption,
a covenant of grace
through the seed of Abraham,
the seed of Jacob,
the seed of Eve.
God would not destroy Israel,
nor has he cast them out
from his presence until now.
2 Kings 13 says,
now look at verse 5,
the mariners were afraid
and each cried out to his God.
There's another theme
of the book of Jonah's fear.
Right now they're afraid.
Jonah says later,
I fear the Lord.
And they say they were exceedingly afraid.
And in the Hebrew,
the word afraid means afraid.
The word fear means fear.
He fears the Lord.
That's exactly what it means.
And they hurled their cargo
just like God had hurled a storm
at their ship.
They hurled their cargo
that was in the ship into the sea
to lighten it for them.
Listen to how Ezekiel 27, 25 describes.
He says,
the ships of Tarshish traveled for you,
Israel,
with your merchandise.
So you were filled
and heavily laden
in the heart of the seas.
Your rowers have brought you out
into the high seas.
The east wind wrecked you
in the heart of the seas.
The day of your fall.
Israel,
you want to put your hope
in these surrounding nations?
You want to put your hope
in getting wealthy through trade
and using Tarshish
to export all your goods
and bring back more
and build your own little kingdom on earth?
I will wreck your ships
going to Tarshish,
Ezekiel says,
declaring the word of the Lord.
We read that Jonah had gone down.
There it is again.
Jonah going down deeper and deeper
into the,
what part of the ship?
The inner part of the ship.
The insides.
Yeah, like the ribs.
The ribs of the ship.
He's down in there,
tucked in.
And he laid down,
went even further down.
And he was fast asleep.
This is a man who's been
in the presence of the Lord.
This is a man who has
the word of God
fast asleep.
One pastor helped point this out.
In the presence of the Lord,
the trees clap.
Isaiah 55, 12.
In the presence of the Lord,
the stones cry out.
Luke 19, 40.
Nahum 1, 5 says,
the mountains quake before him.
The hills melt.
The earth heaves before him.
The world and all who dwell in it
in the presence of the Lord tremble.
Psalm 93, 3 says,
the floods have lifted up
their roaring voice
in the presence of the Lord.
And the proud,
religious,
professional
sleeps.
Someone pointed out,
Jonah is asleep
in the midst of this storm.
He's soundly asleep.
One translation says,
he snores.
And he continues to snore
and sleep.
When he had such a guilty conscience,
how could that be?
And the conclusion
this person at least made
is that this shows
Jonah was asleep
in a spiritual sense
as well as physically.
So for those of us
who have God's word,
who have tasted
and seen that the Lord is good,
who have experienced
the presence of the Lord
by his word,
we need to be
extremely careful
to not be like Jonah,
to be like a religious,
proud person
who snores
in the presence of God
and his word.
In verse 6,
the captain came
and said to him,
what do you mean,
you sleeper?
Arise,
cry out to your God.
Perhaps God
will give a thought to us
that we may not perish.
This pagan sailor,
the captain,
is preaching
salvation through judgment
and repentance
to Jonah.
Do you see the irony?
Who is it here
that's reflecting
the heart of the creator God,
desiring that none
should perish,
but that all should repent
and respond to the Lord
and worship him as king?
The Lord is long-suffering
toward Jonah,
even in his pride,
but he makes himself
undeniable
because Jonah
cannot escape
the presence of the Lord,
even there
in the ribs of the ship.
I want to show you
where else Jonah
can't escape
the presence of the Lord.
Perceiving that the storm
was not an ordinary storm,
but a supernatural one,
look at verse 7,
they said to one another,
these are the pagan sailors,
come,
let us cast lots
that we may know
on whose account
this evil
has come upon us.
To cast lots
could have been
drawing straws,
whoever gets the shortest
straw is guilty,
you know,
any form of that,
and it shows God's providence
even using something
like that
in this ancient world.
John Gill pointed out,
in the ship,
it seems,
were men of different nations
who worshipped
different gods.
Even in the uncertainty
of pagan polytheism,
in a time of trouble,
God's image bearers
still know
the light of nature,
don't they?
Doesn't that remind you
of Romans 1?
Without the law,
they do by nature
the things contained
in the law,
showing the law
written on their hearts,
Paul wrote,
in the light of nature.
It's their conscience
who bears witness
to them
what is right,
what's the right way
to respond.
They know there is
a creator God,
but we need to pray
to the creator God
and call upon him
for help.
This was a time
where in the ancient world
they would have had
a number of different gods,
and even as God's people
through the centuries,
even as they're conquered
next by,
you know,
by, you know,
Assyria,
and then eventually
the Greeks,
and then the Romans,
this would have been
so true.
Why do you look
to all the gods
of the other nations?
Is there a God
you can call out to
who will listen to you?
For the Greeks,
would it be Poseidon?
Would it be the god
of the seas?
Would it be Zeus
who can send storms?
They're crying out
to any pagan gods
they can,
and they're inviting
Jonah to cry out,
ask God to save.
Now look at verse 8.
Then they said to him,
Tell us on whose account
this evil has come upon us.
What is your occupation?
Where do you come from?
What is your country?
Of what people are you?
Isn't it amazing how,
even though this is
in a very different setting
than we live in today,
it's so ancient,
they're out at the sea,
you know,
in the middle of a storm
in the Mediterranean.
How do you get to know someone?
It's the exact same questions.
Where do you come from?
What do you do?
Who are your people?
Tell us about you.
We get to know you,
your story.
Maybe it's something
you have done
that has caused
all of this for us.
In verse 9,
he said to them,
See, Jonah the prophet
is giving them the truth.
He's revealing to these men
in darkness
the truth of God.
It's just how we started
our service.
Our help is in the name
of the Lord
who made heavens
and earth.
Jonah tells them
of the true God
and look at their reaction.
In verse 10,
the men were then
exceedingly afraid.
So you have sinned
against the God most high?
Well, no wonder
we're all going to die here.
What is this you have done?
He said.
Well, the irony
is set up for us here.
Here's a man
who has the word of God,
who knows the presence of God,
yet his behavior
falls so far short
of what his beliefs
should produce.
And here are these pagans.
They live in darkness.
They pray to all these
false gods
with a lowercase g,
yet they're acting
and speaking
in a way that's way better,
way more righteous,
way more correct
than their beliefs
should produce.
Do you see that same thing
happening at work
in your life?
There are these people
who don't know the Lord.
They'll be the first one
to say that,
yet they seem
to be acting
in a way that's
more pleasing to God.
And I look at my own life
or, you know,
it's easy to point the finger
at fellow Christians
whose lives are so messed up,
so much worse
than their beliefs
should make them.
And we can go back
to Genesis 1, 2, and 3
and have the answer to this.
The Bible teaches
that all were made,
Adam and Eve
and all who come after them,
made in the image of God.
That's why pagan,
sinners who don't know God
still bear his image.
They still have that
common preserving grace,
that law written
on their hearts
that they respond to
because the Holy Spirit
preserves them
so they won't be nearly
as sinful or destructive
as they would be
without that preserving grace
of being made
in God's image.
So our doctrine
of Imago Dei
accounts for why
those who don't know
the Lord
can act so good
so much of the time.
And then,
once you're saved,
we still have
remaining sin.
Paul wrestles with sin,
Romans chapter 7,
until the last breath.
All of us,
even after Christ
has made you righteous
before God,
we wrestle with
remaining sin,
which explains why
we still,
not making excuses for sin,
but that's why
it's still such a battle.
And when we do fail
in sin,
our behavior
and our words
fall short
of what our beliefs
should produce.
So Imago Dei
and remaining sin.
Those are the doctrines
the Bible gives us
that explain to us
why we see that.
Now the beautiful thing
is the response to both
is the same response
that God wants of Nineveh
and the same response
God wants of Jonah.
And that's this,
that the presence
of the Lord
demands
a right response.
When the presence,
the word of the Lord
comes to you,
it demands
the right response.
Look at verse 11.
They said to him,
what shall we do to you
that the sea
may quiet down
for us?
Clearly God
has made his presence
known even here
in the dark depths
of this scary storm.
We must respond somehow.
For the sea grew more
and more tempestuous.
Their false gods
had no power.
Their cargo
and material things
could not satisfy
the wrath
of the only true God,
the creator.
Look at verse 12.
Jonah said to the sailors,
pick me up
and hurl me
into the sea.
Well now Jonah
is about to go down
to the very roots
of the mountains.
He says,
then the sea
will quiet down
for you.
The presence
of the Lord
demands
the right response.
And sin,
the wages of sin
deserve death.
The Lord
demands
satisfaction.
Jonah says,
for I know
it is because of me
that this great tempest
has come upon you.
Verse 13,
nevertheless the men
rode hard
to get back
to dry land.
Here's the pagan sailors
again doing all
within their power
that not even
Jonah should perish.
Surely there's got
to be another way
for all of us
to survive.
But they could not
for the sea grew
more and more
tempestuous
against them.
In verse 14,
therefore they
called out to the Lord.
Listen to how
the pagan sailors
pray.
O Lord,
let us not perish
for this man's life.
Lord,
if you're the creator
of all,
you created life.
You don't want us
to die because
of this man's sin.
But listen to their
compassion as well.
Lay not on us
innocent blood
for you,
O Lord,
have done
as it pleased you.
And if it pleases you,
Lord,
that we throw Jonah
into this sea,
don't hold us
guilty for killing
this man.
We're doing this
to satisfy you,
what pleases you.
They understood
that the holy
presence of God
will be undeniable.
It requires
satisfaction
and it requires
the right response
from everyone.
Verse 15,
so they picked up
Jonah and hurled
him into the sea.
The thought here
is it's really
similar to
John chapter 11
that we saw.
1150,
remember how
the high priest
prophesied
without even knowing.
He said,
it's better
that one man die
than that all
should perish.
The presence
of the Lord
demands
satisfaction.
And when they
hurled Jonah
into the sea,
the sea,
what's the next
word you see
there?
The sea
ceased.
That's the same
word used
in Genesis
chapter 8
verse 1,
the waters
of the flood
ceased,
subsided.
It's the same
word used
in Exodus
chapter 9
verse 33,
when the Lord
sent a storm
with thunder
and hail
as a plague
over the Egyptians,
then the Lord
made it to cease
from its raging.
Each step
that Jonah
takes going down
further and
further away
from the holy
presence of the
Lord is a step
toward death.
And the wages
of sin is death.
And when Jonah
is hurled into
the sea,
the very picture
of the waters
of judgment,
the wrath of God
against sin,
the Lord
is satisfied.
Sin has been
punished.
The waters
ceased.
In verse 16,
then the men,
these pagan sailors,
what's their
reaction now?
They feared
the Lord
exceedingly.
And they
offered a sacrifice
to the Lord
and made vows.
See,
first the sailors
experienced the storm
of God's judgment,
then through God's
judgment of Jonah,
the sailors
experienced their
salvation.
See the beauty
of God's word?
Is that the end
of it for Jonah?
Well, no.
We're not going to
spend much time
on verse 17,
but I did want
to end with this.
The Lord
had appointed,
had prepared
in His providence
a great fish
to swallow Jonah.
And Jonah was
in the belly
of the fish
three days
and three nights
and he does
not die there.
Jonah experienced
the storm
of God's judgment
as well.
And then,
through God's judgment,
Jonah experienced
salvation,
which God
had providentially
prepared.
He had tried
to flee from God
by hiding
in the ribs
of the ship.
God in His providence
took him down
to the very pit,
the depths of the ocean,
and hid Jonah away
in the ribs
of a great fish
to show his
long-suffering patience.
And Jonah,
even there,
you can't hide
from the presence
of the Lord.
And the Lord
is saving you.
He is saving you
and He will use you
for His purposes.
I want to apply
this now to us
if I can.
So we saw
how the proud,
like Jonah,
like Adam,
the proud want
to escape
the presence
of the Lord.
But the Lord,
He's the one
who draws
repenting sinners
into His
holy presence.
The Bible says
that even when
you and I die,
you can't escape
the omnipresent Lord,
the Lion of Judah,
the Lamb of Heaven.
You can't escape
the holy presence
of God.
Revelation 14,
verse 9,
those who proudly
refuse the Lord Jesus
will be tormented
with fire and sulfur.
Where?
In the presence
of the angels,
in the presence
of the Lamb.
You can't escape
the presence
of the Lord.
And the Lord
draws sinners
into His holy presence
so that you will
respond rightly to Him.
I see a powerful
connection between
Jonah in the
old covenant
and Peter
in the new covenant.
You could say
Peter is a
new covenant
Jonah.
Do you remember
even after Peter
was saved
and the Lord,
the Holy Spirit
is teaching the church
how to be the new
kingdom of God
on earth now?
And Peter
is slow
to want to
release the regulations
upon Gentiles.
Gentiles.
So you could say
even in the beginning
of his ministry
Peter was a proud
nationalist
like Jonah.
But then the
Word of God,
the presence
of the Lord,
the Spirit
with His church
transforms Peter.
Now here's a cool
connection.
Listen to this.
Remember how Jonah
traveled from
Joppa?
He was traveling
away so that
those Gentiles,
those Ninevites
would not hear
God's Word?
Listen to
Acts 10,
verse 32.
Peter travels
from Joppa
so that the Gentiles
will hear
God's Word.
Cornelius,
the Greek,
he says,
send therefore
to Joppa
and ask Peter
by the sea.
And when Peter
got there,
Cornelius says,
you have been
kind enough
to come.
Now therefore,
listen to what
he says next,
we are all here
in the presence
of God.
To hear all
that you have
been commanded
by the Lord,
give us God's Word.
We are in His
presence.
Yes,
Gentiles,
hearing from
a prophet,
a man of God,
traveled from
Joppa so we
could receive
the Word of God.
We are in the
presence of God.
Give us His Word.
That's what
Cornelius says.
So Peter says,
and this is
Acts 10,
verse 34,
truly,
I understand
that God
shows no
partiality.
But in every
nation,
anyone who
fears Him
and does what
is right
and acceptable
to Him,
that's why
we are preaching
the good news
of peace
through Jesus
Christ,
Lord of all.
If you respond
rightly,
the waters of
judgment cease.
It's Jesus Christ,
the one who God
providentially prepared,
and He would bring
salvation through
judgment.
Jesus Christ bore
the wrath of the
Holy God on the
cross,
so that all
who would be
in Him,
the one who He
provided for
your salvation,
if you respond
rightly,
you are saved.
You have peace
with God
through Jesus
Christ.
And listen to
what Peter wrote
to the churches
in 2 Peter 3,
9.
The Lord is not
slow to fulfill
His promise.
He draws
sinners into
His presence.
Peter says,
He's not slow
to fulfill
His promise.
The Lord is
long-suffering
toward you.
desiring
that you
repent,
not desiring
that any
should perish.
Peter got it.
He's a new
covenant Jonah.
When you see
God's loving
kindness
toward you,
His patience,
you repent.
You respond
to Him.
My prayer
for you all
along has
been this.
Not only
that you
would understand
that you
can't escape
the presence
of the Lord,
but that you
would not
want to
leave
the presence
of the Lord.
That you
would not
want to
escape it.
When you
have the
presence
of the Lord,
the word
of the Lord
with the
people of
God,
that you
would want
to stay
there.
Not leave
that.
Romans 13,
11 says,
You know
the hour
has come
for you
who were
asleep.
Just like
Jonah asleep,
trying to
escape God.
You who
were asleep,
the hour
has come,
for salvation
is nearer
to us
now than
when we
first believed.
You don't
want to
escape the
holy presence
of the
Lord,
because the
Lord is so
long-suffering
and patient
toward you,
desiring that
you not
perish.
He will
keep coming
after you.
He will
make himself
undeniable
in your
life.
Now listen
to this
sermon,
how Peter
preached this,
a saved
sinner,
this new
covenant,
Jonah,
who's been
transformed by
the cross and
by the Holy
Spirit.
This is how
you need to
respond.
How do you
have peace
with God?
Well,
Peter preaches
in Acts
chapter 3
verse 19,
in light of
everything you've
heard,
repent,
therefore,
turn back,
that your sins
may be blotted
out,
listen to this,
that times of
refreshing may
come from
where?
From the
presence of
the Lord,
and that he
may send
Christ who he
appointed for
you,
just like he
appointed a
fish to
save,
Jonah.
He appointed
his own
son for
you,
whom heaven
must receive
until the
time for
restoring all
things about
which God
spoke by the
mouth of his
holy prophets,
even that
proud Jonah.
Do you want
to be in the
presence of
the Lord?
Do you want
to stay there
with him and
find refreshing,
then repent,
turn back,
abide with
God through
Jesus Christ.
Peter could
now sing by
the work of
the Holy
Spirit,
Psalm 16
verse 11,
with a
newfound joy.
The Psalm
says,
you, O
Lord, you
make known
to me the
path of
life.
In your
presence there
is fullness
of joy.
and at
your right
hand,
right there
with you
by your
side,
are pleasures
forevermore.
You don't
want to leave
the glorious
presence of
the Lord.
As a
closing prayer
and response,
I simply want
to read for us
as a prayer,
my prayer for
you, for
myself, and
I hope you'll
join me in
praying these
words as you
hear them.
Psalm 139
verses 1
through 12.
O Lord,
you have
searched me
and known
me.
You know
when I sit
down and
when I rise
up.
You discern
my thoughts
from afar.
You search
out my path
and my lying
down and
are acquainted
with all
of my ways.
Even before
a word is
on my tongue,
behold, O
Lord, you
know it
altogether.
You hem
me in
behind and
before,
and you
lay your
hand upon
me.
Such knowledge
is too
wonderful for
me.
It is high.
I cannot
attain it.
Where shall
I go from
your spirit?
Or where
shall I flee
from your
presence?
If I ascend
to heaven,
you are there.
If I make
my bed in
Sheol,
you are there.
If I take
the wings of
the morning
and dwell in
the uttermost
parts of
the sea,
even there
your hand
shall lead
me,
and your
right hand
shall hold
me.
If I say
surely the
darkness shall
cover me,
and the light
about me
shall be dark,
even the
darkness is not
dark to you.
The night
is as bright
as the day,
for darkness
is as light
with you.
egen