B-A-C
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- Dec 18, 2008
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I know we've done Jonah before, but I was reading it this week and of course there's always something new,
even when you've read it before.
Jonah 1:1; The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,
Jonah 1:2; “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Jonah 1:3; But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Nineveh was a Gentile city. In Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). It's interesting that God sent a Hebrew prophet to a Gentile city in the old testament. Perhaps Jonah was the "Paul of the old testament".
God says "their wickedness has come up before me". What could the Gentiles do that was so wicked?
There must have been some sort of rule(s)... something they did that was against God's righteousness.
But of course as we know, Jonah didn't want to go. Sometimes we don't want to do what God is telling
us to do. In fact Jonah does the very opposite of what God says. He doesn't just ignore God and pretend
like he didn't hear Him. He goes the exact opposite direction that God is telling him to go. It seems sometimes we do the same thing today. Can anyone relate? In fact it says "to go with them to Tarshish, (away) from the presence of the Lord."
The funny thing is, there's no where to run from God. No matter where we go, there He is.
The other thing I notice here, it says "he paid the fare". It seems many times when we are going
against the Lord's will, there is a price to pay. (sometimes before and after, as we will see)
Jonah 1:4; The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
Jonah 1:5; Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
Jonah 1:6; So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
So God does the first of several miracles in the book of Jonah. He causes a great storm to come up.
The storm is so furious "that the ship was about to break up".
The sailors became afraid, my thought is that some of them were experienced sailors and had been through
storms before, but not like this one. So each man cries out to "his god". There are many gods in the world,
but only one God (uppercase G). Asking the wrong god to help you, doesn't really help.
The other thing I notice here, is that they start throwing their cargo into the sea "to lighten the ship".
It's hard to imagine a modern day ship, or truck, or train, or jet throwing out all of their cargo to save
themselves. The cargo is their livelihood. It's how they make money and earn a living.
Sometimes when we go against God, it not only causes consequences for ourselves, but for others as well.
But the sailors are afraid, so they throw the cargo into the sea.
Part of this passage reminds me of Jesus in Matthew 8:24; there is a great storm, but Jesus is asleep
in the boat. So it is with Jonah, he is asleep in the boat.
The captain of the boat comes to wake up Jonah and asks him "call on your god".
This is an amazing part of the story. We saw earlier the sailors were calling on "their" gods. But of course
the storm kept on. So now they turn to Jonah to call on "his" god.
I believe God uses circumstances to sometimes have the world call out to Him. Even if it's through someone
else. Sometimes God puts people in a situation that is beyond anything they can do to fix it. Sometimes those people are wise enough to call on God.
... to be continued ...
even when you've read it before.
Jonah 1:1; The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,
Jonah 1:2; “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Jonah 1:3; But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Nineveh was a Gentile city. In Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). It's interesting that God sent a Hebrew prophet to a Gentile city in the old testament. Perhaps Jonah was the "Paul of the old testament".
God says "their wickedness has come up before me". What could the Gentiles do that was so wicked?
There must have been some sort of rule(s)... something they did that was against God's righteousness.
But of course as we know, Jonah didn't want to go. Sometimes we don't want to do what God is telling
us to do. In fact Jonah does the very opposite of what God says. He doesn't just ignore God and pretend
like he didn't hear Him. He goes the exact opposite direction that God is telling him to go. It seems sometimes we do the same thing today. Can anyone relate? In fact it says "to go with them to Tarshish, (away) from the presence of the Lord."
The funny thing is, there's no where to run from God. No matter where we go, there He is.
The other thing I notice here, it says "he paid the fare". It seems many times when we are going
against the Lord's will, there is a price to pay. (sometimes before and after, as we will see)
Jonah 1:4; The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
Jonah 1:5; Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
Jonah 1:6; So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
So God does the first of several miracles in the book of Jonah. He causes a great storm to come up.
The storm is so furious "that the ship was about to break up".
The sailors became afraid, my thought is that some of them were experienced sailors and had been through
storms before, but not like this one. So each man cries out to "his god". There are many gods in the world,
but only one God (uppercase G). Asking the wrong god to help you, doesn't really help.
The other thing I notice here, is that they start throwing their cargo into the sea "to lighten the ship".
It's hard to imagine a modern day ship, or truck, or train, or jet throwing out all of their cargo to save
themselves. The cargo is their livelihood. It's how they make money and earn a living.
Sometimes when we go against God, it not only causes consequences for ourselves, but for others as well.
But the sailors are afraid, so they throw the cargo into the sea.
Part of this passage reminds me of Jesus in Matthew 8:24; there is a great storm, but Jesus is asleep
in the boat. So it is with Jonah, he is asleep in the boat.
The captain of the boat comes to wake up Jonah and asks him "call on your god".
This is an amazing part of the story. We saw earlier the sailors were calling on "their" gods. But of course
the storm kept on. So now they turn to Jonah to call on "his" god.
I believe God uses circumstances to sometimes have the world call out to Him. Even if it's through someone
else. Sometimes God puts people in a situation that is beyond anything they can do to fix it. Sometimes those people are wise enough to call on God.
... to be continued ...