JONAH CAUGHT AND INTERROGATED BY THE HEATHEN
Jonah 1:7-15
Morning Meditation 4/30/2013
Jonah 1:7-15, "And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging."
There is much to be learned in this passage. I will just touch on a few.
THE CAUSE OF THE STORM
These mariners were sure that this storm was not a natural event. They believed that someone on board was the cause. They were determined to find the one whose fault it was.
When the church loses it's power to win the lost, and reclaim the backsliders, do we seek God and find out whose fault it is? When Israel failed in the battle with Ai, a small town, one in which they should have had no problems, Joshua sought the Lord and the Lord told him that there was sin in the camp. One man's sin caused some of Israel's fine men to die when they shouldn't have. The sinner had to be discovered. When Achan was discovered and Israel dealt with it according to God's will, Israel could go forward with God as the victor. This was a serious sin where one man caused the blessing of God to be held back until the sin was corrected.
Joshua 7:24-26, "And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day."
The punishment was severe. But it is exactly what God ordered. Israel was not a fighting people at this point. They had come out of Egypt with a great deliverance. The only One that could possibly get credit for what had gone on in the process of deliverance was God. He parted the waters of the Red Sea. Many other miracles He did for Israel when they were utterly dependant upon God.
When Israel went up against the enemy, defeat was certain. Israel had to depend on God. Joshua and the spiritual leaders of Israel put their necks on the line over and over again. They would have to pray, "Lord, you know we have no horses and chariots. We are ill armed for the battle. Lord, we are completely dependent upon you for the victory." With this attitude Israel followed the will of God into the battle and won a victory they were sure to lose.
If we are not undertaking tasks that we are sure to fail in, we do not need God. God wants us to undertake things we are sure to fail in. When we do this we become completely dependent upon Him. This dependence is called Faith. God puts us in impossible situations so that we have to trust Him.
How many times have you felt in your heart that God wanted you to do something and you didn't do it because you felt inadequate? When you undertake the impossible, you go to God in prayer and pray something like, "Lord, you know I can't do this. However, I believe that you are directing me in this way. Lord, I can't do this by my self. I need your wisdom, I need you power, Lord, I just need your strong hand all the way." And suddenly you have peace from God. So you stepped out and began to do the impossible. Then some of your friends come along and compliment you and say, "It is amazing what you have done here." In your heart you know that you had a very little to do with the success of the work. All you did was become a helpless dependent upon God.
When you give that kind of a testimony the response is usually, "O yeah, I know, but tell me how you really did it?" You answer, "I prayed. I could never have done it. God did this in answer to prayer." The guy says, "would you please come over to my church and tell us how you did it?" You answer, "You can tell them as well as I. Call your church to prayer." A very few people will believe you, and so they go off thinking that you are just avoiding the issue. Very few will accept that it is faith alone and therefore they think you are some kind of a fanatic when you give this testimony.
The Lord wants us to abandon ourselves to Him and trust Him all the way.
A MARKED MAN
Jonah 1:7, "And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah." Proverbs 16:33 says, "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD." So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Jonah was a marked man. The men began to say, "This storm is because of him." So Jonah became a marked man. It was his fault.
Jonah was not surprised at the out come of the lots being cast. He was not surprised that he was a marked man. He knew the storm was his fault. I believe that there are people in the church who know they have sinned against God and they know that their sin has affected the Church's outreach. They know that their sin, though no one knows about it, is keeping the Holy Spirit from working freely in the body. You are a marked person with God. He knows and He has a whale just for you if you do not repent.
A TRUE WITNESS
Jonah 1:9, "And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land."
Jonah takes advantage of his opportunity. He probably thinks that is the last testimony that he will ever give. I think Jonah knew what he was going to have to tell them. So he said, "I am an Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land." About that time he caught a glimpse of a whale just off the bow.
He continued to tell them about the God of heaven and that you cannot successfully flee from Him. I tried and have caused nothing but havoc to myself and you.
A CONSCIOUS OFFENDER
Jonah 1:12-15, "And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging."
Jonah knew it was for him the storm raged. He was conscious of his disobedience. Jonah came clean regarding his sin. He said, "Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you."
He made his confession to the mariners. He knew why what was happening was happening. The mariners were stricken with fear and tried to get to land to cast Jonah upon the shores. If God could cause this kind of a storm, what would He do if they mistreated His prophet?
That is good thinking. I wish more unsaved people had more respect for the man of God than they do today. I knew personally a young preacher, who in his first pastorate, was confronted with a deacon who did not like the way he was leading the church. What it was, was an associational split. The pastor wanted his church to stay where it was. The deacon wanted him to lead the church out of the old association into the new. The pastor held his ground and the church remained where it was. The deacon met the pastor walking down the road visiting homes and the deacon pulled up beside him and got out of his truck. He approached the preacher and told him he was going to whip him. The young pastor, "Isn't there some other way this can be handled?" The deacon said no (with some language I will not include here). The deacon took a swing at him, knocked his glasses off, and never recovered from the swing. He died on the spot. To say that this sobered some of the people up regarding the man of God is putting it mildly.
A TYPE OF CHRIST
Jonah 1:16-17, "Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."
Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Many so-called Bible scholars do not believe that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the whale's belly. According to the inspired record he did. That same crowd do not believe that Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So much for good Friday. It is good Wednesday. To me it is good-everyday. I celebrate the resurrection every day. Jesus in not on a cross dead. He has since been received as our high priest sitting at the Father's right hand.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
