Jonah 1:4-16 - The Irony of Jonah

In Jonah 1:4–16, we see a storm sent by God, pagan sailors crying out in desperation, and a prophet of the Lord fast asleep. The irony is striking—those who didn’t know God are shown turning to Him in faith, while Jonah, who claimed to fear the Lord, remained passive and silent. As we walk through this text, we’ll be challenged to consider the state of our own hearts and whether we, too, are asleep while the world around us is perishing. Join me as we dig into this powerful passage and look to Jesus, our true hope!

Transcript

2 - Jonah 1:4-16 - The Irony of Jonah

Intro

• Please take your Bibles and turn to Jonah 1 and find verse 4.
  • If you were with us last week you may recall that we began a new series taking a look at the life, ministry, and the extremely familiar story of Jonah the prophet.
• As we step back into this story let me remind you briefly again this week some of what we know about Jonah…
  • Jonah was a prophet, called by God to go and “call out against” Nineveh for their great sin.
    • Though we learned that he is labeled as a servant and a prophet in 2 Kings, his actions at the opening of this short book seem to bring both of those claims into question.
  • Nonetheless scripture is clear, he was a servant and a prophet and he ministered to God’s people around 750 years before the birth of Christ.  
• Last week we observed this paradox that existed at this moment in his life…
  • He knew God, he heard clearly from God and understood what God required of him…
    • Yet, he tried to flee from God.
  • We looked at this story and these opening verses and marveled at the ridiculous actions of this man who supposedly knew God…
    • We were challenged to consider our own lives and ask if we are not often guilty of the same…
    • Knowing God, knowing what He desires, understanding what His Word has called us to do, yet fleeing from those things and chasing after our own desires.  
  • Today there will be some overlap in our verses from what we read last week as we are challenged again to consider the life of this wayward prophet.
• With that let us read our text and open in prayer…

Jonah 1:4-16

• What a powerful and exciting few verses…
  • We have a storm raging, we have sailors crying out in prayer…
    • Then we have, to contrast that picture, a prophet sleeping, being called to pray by a pagan, then being cast into the sea.
  • I know the story of Jonah is known because he was swallowed by a big fish but that was really a rather small part of his story.
    • Do you realize that Jonah being swallowed by this large fish is only mentioned in three verses across these four chapters?
      • It is mentioned in our very next verse…
      • It is mentioned in the verse following that, Jonah 2 verse 1…
      • Then it is mentioned once more at the end of chapter 2 verse 10…
    • I know it is a fascinating part of the story…
    • I know it is what captures our imagination…
  • However, these verses that we just read are packed full of amazing details that we have got to see.
    • We have a tendency at times to desire to get to the “good part” of the story…
    • What I want you to know from the start is that this is the good part of the story.
  • So I pray and hope that you are excited to step into these verses…
• Our time together today will be spent focusing on…
  • The Situation of the Mariners…
  • The Slumber of the Messenger…
  • The State of Mankind Today…
• Let’s jump right into this first point by examining…

The Situation of the Mariners

• Like we do so often we want to try and place ourselves in the shoes of those who lived this story.
  • Starting with the mariners or the sailors, it was their job to carry passengers and cargo across the waters.
  • This means that they would have been familiar with the water and the storms that could arise.
  • Let us keep this in mind as we begin to make a few observations about these men.
• First, we must consider what the scripture has to say about them from the start.
  • Look again with me at the text, and the start of verse 5, to see the first thing we are told of these men.
    • Vs. 5a - “Then the mariners were afraid…”
  • First time they were mentioned and we are simply told that they are afraid, of course this is not without reason.
    • Consider what the prior verse points out…
      • This was no ordinary storm, for it was from “...the LORD…”, and was meant to remind Jonah that he could not flee from the presence of God.
      • This storm was so great in fact that we are told that the “...ship threatened to break up.”
    • These men were fearful for a good reason.
      • Let us really grab onto this though, we must remember that these men made a living upon the waters, they would have been accustomed to storms.
  • We even see the result of their fear playing out in verse 5, what did they do with their fear?
    • They prayed, “...each cried out to his god…”
  • Here we see just how human these men were, fear will drive many men to their knees.
    • I am sure that many of us have heard the quote…
      • “There are no atheists in foxholes."
    • In this context we could say…
      • “There are no atheists in sinking ships.”
  • I would imagine that all of us could relate to this, fear has a way of driving us to our knees.
• This brings us to our second observation, we learn in this time of prayer that they were pagans…
  • Again, look with me at verse 5 and notice how each man cried out…
    • Did they cry out to the LORD, Yahweh?
    • No, instead they each cried out to their own gods.
  • Our English bibles often differentiate between false gods and the One True God by capitalizing the first letter of the word God.
    • Which means that in this verse these men are praying to a false god…
      • A god of wood or of stone…
      • One that cannot hear and that cannot answer, they are crying out to an empty void.
    • That is such a sad reality, these pagans feared for their lives and I am certain they cried out with all they had and it mattered not.
  • I cannot help but think of the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, do you remember?
    • He challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to call out to their god to see if he would answer by fire.
      • All day they cried out, they cut themselves, the day dragged on and 1 Kings 18:29 says…
        • 1 Kings 18:29b - “...there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”
      • That is a heavy verse, a weighty reality, and it was where these pagans were found.
    • They could have cried out with all they had in them…
    • They could have offered sacrifices…
    • They could have shown true heartfelt and genuine worship..
    • And it would have been utterly pointless.
  • The gods they cried to did not answer, did not pay attention, because they did not exist.  
• They were fearful, they were pagans, and they were desperate.
  • A praying sailor may show desperation enough, but they go further, again in verse 5 we are told…
    • Vs. 5c - “...And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them…”
  • We could read over this detail relatively quickly, but please do not miss it…
    • This was their payment, this cargo was their livelihood, it was the point for which they sailed.  
    • What it shows us is how truly fearful they were for their lives, they sought to lighten the ship as they cast their cargo into the sea.
  • Yet they grew more desperate still, verse 6 shows us the depths of their despair.
    • Look with me at that verse…
      • Vs. 6
    • The captain has determined that any hope they have at their survival is found in calling people to pray to their gods.
      • I do not know about you but I have not spent much time on the waters.
      • I have, however, spent some time in the air…
        • If you do fly often you know that regular turbulence is a thing…
          • Yet for someone who does not fly often it could be a bit concerning.
          • It might even cause you to be afraid.
        • However, there is a marked difference between the panic of a non frequent flyer and the panic of the pilot.
        • Can you imagine the pilot walking the isles of the plane, waking the sleeping passengers and calling them to pray?
      • The guy flying the plane has shown his cards at this point…
        • He is basically saying…
          • “Hey guys if there is any hope in us getting safely to the ground it's not with me…”
          • “I’m not your guy…”
      • Talk about desperate, that is where these men are at…
    • Desperate for a miracle before they perish.
  • Yet what happens next in our story with these men is something that is truly remarkable.
    • We would expect them, after learning that Jonah is the reason for their mess to happily cast him overboard.
    • However, that does not happen…
      • Though Jonah has cost them a lot of money…
      • Though he is the clear cause of their pain and suffering and their fear…
    • They delay in obeying his command.
  • He tells them, cast me overboard, throw me into the sea…
• Yet in an amazing turn of events we find that these fearful, desperate, pagans also valued life.
  • Jump down to verse 12 with me as we see this unfold.
    • Vs. 12-13
  • Though these men had an answer to their desperation, they showed that they valued the life of this fleeing prophet.
    • Ironically these men demonstrated love more than this prophet of God.
    • Jesus Himself said…
      • John 15:13 - “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
    • These men were demonstrating love for Jonah in risking their own lives for the sake of his.
  • What an amazing thing, now as we consider how our verses end we can also see that these mariners…
• Came to know and fear the Lord.
  • Look again at verse 14…
    • Vs. 14-16
  • These are a beautiful few verses that stand in sharp contrast to where these sailors were at the beginning of our text.
    • Here we are told plainly that they are praying to the LORD or to Yahweh as well as offering a sacrifice.
    • Notice also that their fear has not diminished but has actually grown and shifted.
  • Though before they feared because of the storm and the boat breaking apart now they “...feared the LORD exceedingly…”
    • Now their fear is properly placed, a fear that puts all their other fears in perspective.
• These verses that focus on the mariners represent an amazing story of conversion and how God captures the heart of man.
  • As we continue forward we will continue to see the irony in this story  as we consider…

The Slumber of the Messenger

• Now shifting our perspective let’s consider Jonah and what he is doing or not doing across these verses.
  • So what observations can we make of Jonah?
• First, let us consider that he is responsible for this situation they are found in…
  • There is one reason why these mariners were afraid, why they suffered loss of income, and feared for their own lives…
    • It was because Jonah back up in verse 3 decided to disobey the Lord and try to flee from His presence.
  • It is his disobedience that has led to this story, and where is he found?
    • Right at the end of verse 5…
      • Vs. 5b - “...fast asleep.”
    • What a phenomenal scene…
      • We find this uncaring prophet lying quietly asleep while the sailors suffer above him.
      • Though he is responsible you would never know it from this verse, in fact he seems to be resting quite well.
  • Let us keep this first observation in mind as we walk through the rest of these observations about Jonah.
• Second, he is not only responsible but he is shamed by the captain.
  • As we already discussed he was woken up by a pagan captain and what is his request of this prophet of God?
    • It was not to help row…
    • It was not to aid with the sails…
    • Or to help throw the cargo overboard…
    • It was to pray, he woke up Jonah to call him to pray…
  • This is dripping with irony, we cannot miss this…
    • This unnamed pagan captain seemed to be doing a better job at calling people to respond than Jonah.
  • It is shameful, and do you realize what is more shameful than that?
    • We do not find Jonah praying at all in this part of the story.
      • The sailors prayed, they offered sacrifices, they made vows, but Jonah…
      • We do not see any response other than him taking the blame for this situation they are found in.
    • How shameful of a prophet that even when called to pray he did not respond.
  • There is one more observation to make about Jonah as we consider this part of the story.
• Not only is he responsible, not only is he shamed, but he shows himself to be a hypocrite.
  • Look again at verse 9 with me…
    • Vs. 9
  • This is a great response, a great confession, there is just one glaring problem…
    • He states what he believes about God but is any of that present in his life according to this narrative?
      • He claims to fear the Lord, but not enough to obey Him…
      • He claims to fear the Lord, but not enough to lift a prayer to Him…
      • He claims that the Lord his God made the earth and sea but he tries to flee from his presence…
    • His confession does not match his actions.
  • Just in case you think it too harsh to label him as a hypocrite, consider the definition of what a hypocrite is…
    • It is a claim to have a moral standard or belief to which your own behavior does not conform.
    • We find that this fits Jonah perfectly.
  • His actions do not measure up to his confession, there is no denying that in this account.
• I know we are being hard on Jonah so please remember a few things about him…
  • He is called a servant and prophet, his job was to be God’s mouthpiece to God’s people.
  • He would have been familiar with God’s Law, and is even found quoting a portion of it later on in this book.
  • In that regard we are right to be critical of this man who up to this point has shown little compassion and care for anyone but himself.
    • Unfortunately that is not going to change much as we continue to work through this book…
  • However, I do think that it is also important to consider that this is just one story of this man’s life.
    • It is entirely possible that he was faithful in other tasks the Lord had given him and I am sure that none of us want to be known by our worst moments.
    • In that way we can offer Jonah grace…
• That aside though, this is the Word of God and there are some real connecting points we can consider from our text today.
  • As I reminded you last week…
  • We would be falling short of how the Word can be applied if we stop right here, so let us step into our final point as we connect everything together.
• Let’s consider…

The State of Mankind Today

• There are many connecting points that we could make today as we look at these verses…
  • Much like we talked about last week at this point I am going to talk to the Church.
    • To those who are in Christ, the Redeemed that are sealed by the Promised Holy Spirit.  
  • This story is one that should be hard for us to hear, it should leave us wondering how something like this could even take place.
• How can a prophet of God…
  • Who possesses the Word of God, be asleep in the middle of a raging storm…?
• How can a prophet of God…
  • Whose primary task is to be God’s mouthpiece to speak clarity, to proclaim truth, to call people to repent…
    • Lay fast asleep while the world around them is in full panic…?
• Good questions, right?
  • Let’s be sure that these questions are not lost on us today…
    • Church, the world is perishing, the world is panicking, the world is looking for answers…
      • Where is the church?
    • The storm around us is raging, people are scared and fearful and desperate…
      • Where is the church?
  • As much as that is a hypothetical it is also a practical question that all of us should consider…
• There are those who we all know that do not know Christ, who are far from Him, who are fearful of this world, and for good reasons…
  • This world can seem as if it is tearing itself apart…
    • Again I ask…
      • Where is the church?
    • Are we asleep, slumbering peacefully as the world perishes around us?
    • Are we ignoring the mandate given by our Savior to be the salt and light, to make disciples, and to be the light of the world?
  • We could speculate about the church at large all day long, let us make this more personal.
    • Christian, as the world suffers around you, as the world looks for answers, where are you found?
    • Believer, we all have people in our lives that we know…
      • There is someone that you work with or someone that you are related to or a neighbor or a friend that does not know Christ.
        • What are you doing about that?
      • As the world tries to tear them apart, as they are fearful and crying out to the false gods with whom they have placed their trust.
        • Where are you?
    • Are you asleep thinking that because you like that person that they will get a pass before God.
  • Brothers and sisters we know the Gospel, we know the offense that mankind bears before this Holy God.
    • More than that we know the solution, the sacrificial death of the Only Son of God, who stepped into our place.
    • I remind you that none of us are promised tomorrow, neither are those who are bearing the storm without trusting in the Savior.
  • What exactly are we waiting for?
• May we consider these things, as we reflect on whether or not we are awake and active or asleep and passive.  

Closing

• Today as we close we are going to do something a bit different…
  • I will be sharing a story from the life of Hudson Taylor who was a missionary into China’s interior.
  • He would often sail on a small Chinese boat called a “junk” and as we will see in the story it could end up being a dangerous journey.
  • Pastor Taylor was sailing to Ning-Po aboard one of these small boats…
    • One of his fellow passengers was a Chinese man named Peter who had been educated in England. Through conversations with him, Taylor realized that while Peter had a working knowledge of Christianity, the young man had never made a commitment to follow Jesus. So, during the journey, Taylor used every available moment to share the Gospel with Peter.
    • As the junk approached a city, Taylor was in his cabin preparing to go ashore to preach and distribute tracts when he heard a splash and then a cry of alarm. A man had fallen overboard! Taylor rushed to the deck and when he could not find his friend Peter, he asked the captain if Peter was the man who had fallen overboard.
      • “Yes,” said the unconcerned boatman. “He went down over there.”
    • After convincing the reluctant captain to drop his sails, Taylor leapt over the side of the ship and began swimming back to the spot where Peter had disappeared. But with the tide running out, and the featureless shore providing little in the way of landmarks, Taylor knew his chances of finding Peter were slim.
    • Fortunately, Taylor spotted some Chinese fisherman nearby who had a dragnet. Knowing the net was the perfect tool for his life-and-death task, Taylor cried out in Chinese, “Come! Come and drag over here. A man is drowning!”
      • “The fishermen replied. “It is not convenient.”
      • “Come quickly or it will be too late,” Hudson pleaded.
      • “We are busy fishing,” the men said without concern.
      • “Never mind your fishing. Come at once and I will pay you well,” argued Taylor.
      • “How much will you give us?” the fishermen wanted to know.
      • “Five dollars. But hurry!” exclaimed Taylor.
      • “Too little!” the men answered back. “We won’t come for less than thirty.”
      • “I don’t have that much with me, but I’ll give you all I have,” promised Taylor.
      • “How much is that?” asked the men in the boat.
      • “I don’t know. About fourteen dollars,” yelled Taylor.  
    • With the price agreed upon, the men finally brought over their net. On their first cast, the seasoned fishermen pulled up the missing man…but all of Taylor’s efforts to revive Peter failed. It was simply too late. The fishermen’s indifference had cost the young man his life.
• This hard story captures exactly what I am asking you to consider today…
  • We hear it and we wonder, how can people be so callous, how can people be so indifferent…
    • Truly this captain and these fishermen are guilty of this man’s blood.
    • They cared so little about his life that he perished before them.
  • Believer though this story captures an extreme moment in time it is not an extreme thing to consider our fragile existence.
    • As well as the fragile existence of those around us…
    • We have already determined that there are those around us who if they perished today would stand guilty before a Holy God.
  • Therefore I implore you to let the weight of their existence weigh upon you…
    • Let us not be as these were fishermen…
    • Let us not be as Jonah was in our text…
  • Instead let us be sure that we are awake and we are responding to what our God has called us to.
• If today you are found sleeping then I will share with you the call of Christ to the church at Sardis…
  • Revelation 3:2-3 - “Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.”
  • Let us pray.