Jonah’s God (3)
[Jonah 1: 11-17]
Pastor AW Tozer, who was called the 21st century prophet, said this: ‘God calls man to worship first and then to worker.’ I cannot but agree with what he said. However, I think we are trying to do something for God like Martha (Lk 10:40), rather than trying to be true worshipers who worship God in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23). Here we must remember the relationship between "being" and "doing". In other words, our actions must come from our being. For example, our good deeds should come from our character that resembles God's goodness. The Bible divides the true worship into two categories:
(1) The first is the people who worship God as they focus on who God is.
These worshipers acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Look at David in 2 Samuel 12:20. When the first baby of King David and the Uriah’s wife Bathsheba died due to the consequence of his sins, David went into the temple and worshiped God. Look at Job also in Job 1:20. He lost all his riches and children, and he fell on the ground and worshiped God.
(2) The second is the people who worship God as they focus on what God does.
They worship God after experiencing God's power. Look at the Gentile sailors in Jonah 1:16. After they threw Jonah into the sea and after they saw the sea stopped its raging (v. 15), they feared the Lord greatly and they worshiped the Lord (v. 16).
I want to meditate on Jonah 1:7-17 under the title of "Jonah’s God (3)" and think about who is Jonah’s God again. In short, Jonah’s God is the God who makes us to worship him. I hope and pray that all of us can be established as a worthy worshiper in the sight of God while meditating on the today’s text.
Third, God is the God who makes us to worship him.
When Jonah was rebuked by the sailors (vv. 8-10) and was questioned by them “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?” (v. 11), Jonah told them “Pick me up and throw me into the sea” (v. 12). The reason is because Jonah knew that on account of him that this great storm had come upon them (v. 12). What were the responses of the sailors?
(1) The first response of the sailors was they rowed desperately to return to land.
Look at Jonah 1:13 – “However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.” Even though God's will was to throw Jonah into the sea, the sailors tried to change God’s will in a way by not throwing Jonah into the sea but trying to save him. It is interesting to note that the sailors fought against the great storm which God sent and tried to turn the ship back to the land God had made to save Jonah (v. 13) even though Jonah confessed that his God had made the sea and the land (v. 9). They heard about God through Jonah, but because they had not yet experienced him, in the ignorance they tried to win God by wrestling with God. This word "return" is also found in Jonah 3:8, 9. Look at Jonah 3:8 – “But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.” The word "turn" here means to give up, that is, to repent. The king of Nineveh proclaimed through the decree to the Ninevites to turn from their wicked way and from their violence which was in their hands because of the word of God heard through the prophet Jonah (vv. 7-8). This behavior of the king of Nineveh is in contrast to Jonah in Jonah 4. Jonah wanted Nineveh to be destroyed (4:5). When the word of God came to the Ninevites through Jonah, beginning from the king, cry out to the LORD in repentance (3:5-9), may be in contrast to Jonah in Jonah chapter 1 in where Jonah fell into a deep sleep (1:5). As the Ninevites prayed hard to God in order to turn the will of God (3:5-9), the sailors did their best to row back to land (1:13). Look at Jonah 3:9 – “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” As the king of Nineveh tried to turn His burning anger (3:9), the sailors did their best to row back to land in order to turn the God’s will of throwing Jonah into the sea (1:12-13). The king of Nineveh did it for his people, and the sailors did it for Jonah. The king of Nineveh and the sailors tried to turn God's will for others, but Jonah seemed to think only of himself. The interesting thing was the sailors’ response. Try to contrast. Jonah didn’t only concern about 120,000 dying souls of Nineveh, but also did not concern about the Gentile captain and the sailors who were in the ship, while the Gentile captain and the sailors in the ship were concerned about Jonah. What is more surprising is that the Gentile sailors fought against the stormy sea in order to save Jonah even though they knew that disobedient Jonah was running away from God. It seems to me that the Gentile sailors’ heart in trying to save Jonah resembled God’s heart than God’s servant Jonah’s heart. What happened when the sailors rowed desperately to return to the land? Look at Jonah 1:13 – “However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.” Although the sailors tried to save Jonah by overcoming the great storm that God threw, they could not. The reason was that the more they did the sea became even stormier against them [Ref.: The sentence “the sea was becoming even stormier” in verse 13 appeared already in verse 11. The interesting Hebrew word in those two sentences is the word "continuing." This word “continuing” indicates that the stormy of the sea is steady and gradual].
(2) The second response of the sailors was they prayed to the Lord.
Look at Jonah 1:14 – “Then they called on the LORD and said, "We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.” What is interesting here is that the subject of the prayers of the Gentile sailors has changed. How did it change? The sailors who were praying to their own gods in Jonah 1:5 prayed to the Jonah’s God in Jonah 1:14. The words "cry" used in Jonah 1:5 and 1:14 are two different words in Hebrew. The word “cry” used in Jonah 1:5 was used to describe that the sailors cried out to their own gods because they were in need. But word “cry” used in prayer to God in the Jonah 1:14 is the same word as 1:2 (“cry against it”) and 3:4 (“cried out”). And this word was used to a prayer of proclamation to God rather than to ask God for help. The more interesting fact is that when the captain of the ship woke Jonah up and said to him “Get up, call on your god” (1:6), here the word “call” is the same Hebrew word as “called” in Jonah 1:14. The question we can ask here is, "How could the Gentile sailors be able to pray to Jonah’s God?" Dr. Park Yun-sun thought: "While they were talking to Jonah, they would have received from him an idea of Jehovah religion more than what is written in this book" (Park Yun-sun). I think the verse 14 confirms what Jonah already told the sailors about who God is in verse 9. Of course, Dr. Park Yun-sun said doesn’t appear in the book of Jonah. But we can speculate that Jonah and the sailors might have more conversations about God and Israel's religion. Whether this speculation is right or wrong, one thing is certain that the sailors prayed to Jonah’s God. This fact confirms that Jonah's message to the sailors shown in v. 9 has been passed on to them. Then what was the content of the sailors’ prayer? It was “do not let us perish on account of this man's life” (v. 14). This means that the sailors were requesting to God not to destroy them because of throwing Jonah into the sea (Park Yun-sun). This prayer tells us that God judges people's behavior by the punishment of crime and that the person can be appealed to the trial (Baldwin). The Gentile sailors prayed for God's justice: "do not turn innocent blood upon us" (v. 14). Here, the word "innocent blood" means that Jonah didn’t do anything wrong to the sailors, so now if they kill Jonah in the sea, they would be killing the innocent man" (Park Yun-sun). Look at verse 14: “for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.” What this verse seems telling us is throwing Jonah into the sea by the sailors was God’s will and his decision. In other words, when the sailors finally threw Jonah into the sea, it was because God had decided to do so.
(3) The third response of the sailors was to throw Jonah into the sea.
Look at Jonah 1:15 – “So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.” Here the word "throw" comes our four times: ‘Then the LORD threw the great wind on the sea (1:4), “they threw the cargo into the sea” (v. 5), “Pick me up and throw me into the sea” (v. 12) and “Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard” (v. 15). Because God threw the great wind into the sea, God eventually made Jonah to be thrown into the sea by the sailors. The interesting thing is that the word “raging” appears only here in verse 15. The word refers to rage and anger. Here the sea is almost personalized and behaves like obeying his Creator. Look at Isaiah 30:30: “And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.” Creator God used the stormy sea so that Jonah might hear God’s majestic voice and obey the command of God. What happened when the sailors threw Jonah into the sea? Look at Jonah 1:15 – “the sea stopped its raging.” When the violent storm (v. 4) swallowed Jonah, it became silent (v.15). The calmness of the sea confirms that Jonah sinned against God.
(4) The fourth and final response of the sailors was to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and made a vow.
Look at Jonah 1:16 – “Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.” The word ‘fear’ in Hebrews comes out four times in Jonah chapter 1: ‘the sailors became afraid’ (v. 5), “I feared the LORD” (v. 9), "the men became extremely frightened" (v. 10) and "the men feared the LORD" (v. 16). Although Jonah confessed to the sailors “I feared the LORD” (v. 9), but it is not easy to see whether he truly feared God when he see his actions. In contrast, the Gentile sailors became afraid when the ship was nearly broken (v. 5) and they became extremely frightened when they heard the Jonah's confession (v. 10). They began to fear God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land (v. 9) and eventually they feared the Lord greatly because when they threw Jonah into the sea, the sea stopped its raging (v. 15). Who truly feared God? Is it Jonah or the sailors? Eventually the sailors worshiped God in true reverence. What a surprise? Through Jonah who disobeyed God's command and ran away from God, God made himself known to the Gentile sailors and eventually they became the worshipers to God.
What was God's response to the responses of these sailors? God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. Look at Jonah 1:17 – “But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.” Here, the word ‘provide’ appears three times in Jonah chapter 4: “God provided a vine” (v. 6), “God provided a worm” (v. 7) and “God provided a scorching east wind” (v. 8). What does this teach us? It teaches us the fact that our God is the God who provides. Look at Genesis 22:14 – “Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.”
Through disobedient Jonah, God has made known who he is to the sailors. Also, God made Jonah to confess his sin in front of the sailors and made him to bear his responsibility for what he had done. By doing so, God calmed down the stormy sea. As a result, God made the sailors to worship God. The sailors who had wrestled with the Almighty God, God made them pray to God. And eventually God made them defeat in the wrestling with God, and made them obedient to throw Jonah into the sea. And the Gentile sailors experienced the power of the Creator God and eventually worshiped God. Who is this God? This God is "the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the land" (1:9). In the end, the Gentiles worshiped Creator God whom they only heard but now experienced him through wrestling with him, prayer and obedience.
We must worship God. The reason is that our God is God who is worthy to receive worship from us. God, who makes us to worship him reminded me the gospel song “The Heart of Worship” and made me to praise God with that song:
“When the music fades All is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth That will bless your heart I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship And it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it When it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus
King of endless worth No one could express How much you deserve Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is yours Every single breath I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear You're looking…