Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Jonah 1: The Great Storm

Episode Date: June 9, 2022

Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis starts a new short-series teaching through the book of Jonah. Although many have a level of familiarity regarding the story of Jonah, the book is far more than a children’s felt-board story. It is a marvelous depiction of the heart of God. Have you ever wondered what the heart of God is really like? Towards sinners? Towards you? The book of Jonah reveals succinctly, yet powerfully the heart of God.Jesus in Matthew 12, identifies as the greater Jonah, therefore understanding Jonah’s story and person carries great significance.

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. Question for you. Have you ever asked the question, what is God like? Does he begrudgingly bestow his mercy on those who need it? Is he hesitant to offer hope to those who have none? How does God view you? Now the answer to these questions can only be answered if God answers that question or those questions himself. Meaning that if you want to know what the heart of God is like, God himself must reveal himself to us. It would be one thing for us to assess and determine that this world is not the product

of accident or chance and to say there must be a God. but it is another thing for us to ask, has God revealed what he is really like? Thankfully, in the words of Francis Schaeffer, God is there and he is not silent. He reveals himself. Let's dial in. Now, over the next four weeks, we are going to see God reveal his character in the book of Jonah. Jonah is in a section of the Old Testament known as the Minor Prophets. And these 12 books are known as minor, not because of their significance, but because of their size.

Jonah on the surface might be familiar to you, but there is far more to it than the felt board veggie tale story you are familiar with from Sunday school. This is a story that reveals the heart of God. This book contains only 48 verses and a Hebrew sermon that consists of five words, but within this short story is the single greatest evangelistic event recorded in human history. The story is about far more than a great fish. It is the story of a great God, a great God whom we will find within the story has a heart of profound mercy. That is this small book's great theme. God is rich in mercy towards those who are least deserving and towards those whom we would least expect. As we turn to Jonah one, I am reminded of the words of R.C. Sproul. I remember hearing him and listening to him teach as I would drive in my car when I was working in Nashville, Tennessee. And I remember as he would teach through the Old Testament, he would tell his listeners that in every story we

look at in scripture, we need to find the drama. There is truth being communicated here in God's word, but the truth comes to us in a form of a story. So we as God's people need to do more than just briefly survey the context. We need to find the drama. So let's do that. Now in the old Testament, the way that God revealed himself was through prophets. They were nearest to the plan purposes and promises of God. They relayed to the people all that God was saying and all that God was going to do. Prophets didn't just know about God. They knew God.

They had a deep intimacy with this person, an awareness of his plan, and they experienced and employed his power. Now, two of the most prominent prophets in the Old Testament were Elijah and Elisha. Elijah was the one who would stand with Jesus in Mark 9 at the transfiguration. He was a figurehead of faithfulness and boldness. He was that central figure, if you remember, in the face-off with the false prophets of Baal. And he stands on Mount Carmel declaring that only Yahweh was God. Elijah was Yahweh's man. He prayed that rain would not fall from the sky. And for three years, not a single drop fell from the heavens.

He confronted Ahab, the wicked king. He was a highly respected and admired man of God. It was understood that Elijah would ascend to heaven. And when he arrived at the Jordan River, his assistant, Elisha, asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit. Essentially, Elisha is asking and saying, I want God to work in me and through me the way that he has so powerfully and influentially worked through you. Elijah consents and immediately he ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire with horses of fire. And Elisha then takes his place

as the premier prophet of God. He was the guy now. And when mocked for his baldness, it says two female bears mauled 42 young men. When Naaman was leprous, Elisha healed him. When a child died, Elisha raised him up. But like Elijah before him, Elisha also would meet his maker. And the question in the mind of everyone in Israel is who would God raise up at this important time? Who will stand in the gap? Who will communicate God's message to God's people? Well, then we read in 2 Kings 14, 25, that the boundaries of Israel were restored to their Solomonic borders, to the north and to the south. And then it says, just as Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet of Gath Hefer had prophesied. This is a massive deal. Maybe just ask yourself, consider this. How important is the land of Israel to the Israelites? Well, turn on the news and there's your answer. This

is no small matter that the land is being restored. And then it says the people pause and they ponder and look around and say, Hey, isn't this exactly what Jonah, the prophet had told us would happen. He surely must be a man of God. He can be trusted. He is near to God. God is with him and he will be next. He is a leader. He is an influencer. He and he will be an agent used by God. Now, turning back to Jonah, we looked at Jonah one, one, and it, the word of the Lord came to this very prophet, Jonah, the son of Amittai saying, arise, go to Nineveh, the great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me. Now, the first thing we need to read is that there's a command to go. I want to talk about Nineveh though, for a moment, because this is a real city, a powerful and large city at a real point in

history. Nineveh is a substantial city in the ancient Assyrian empire and finds its location in modern day, Northern Iraq, near the city of Mosul. Now this city that God had commissioned Jonah to visit was a wicked place. Absolutely brutal. In the Old Testament book of Nahum, we will read that Nahum pronounces a woe to the city. He says, woe to the city of blood, full of plunder, many casualties, many dead stumbling. And it says, I'm against you. Now that's God talking through Nahum and God is saying, I am against you, Nineveh. The great king of Nineveh at one point was Asher Banipal, the grandson of Sennacherib, who was said to tear off the lips and hands of his victims. And they were also known to burn children alive and torture adults by skinning them alive and

leaving them to die in the scorched sun. They would then hang their skins on the city gates. I mean, this was a wicked people. In addition to that, Nineveh was full of temples that were dedicated to the gods Nabu, Asher, and Adad. And they worshipped Ishtar, a goddess of love and war. God is enraged over the circumstances of Nineveh. He hates their murder and idolatry and evil. But he calls Jonah to cry against their wickedness because it is always in the heart of God that those whom he pronounces his coming judgment against, that they will be stirred to repent. Now, what is Jonah's response? I mean, think with me,

this is a man of God. Does he take the opportunity then with great gladness and declare God's love and eagerness to extend mercy? No. Listen to verse three. It says, 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 and went away to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Instead of obeying God, Jonah runs to the other side of the known world. But the question is why? Why was Jonah fleeing from God? Was he afraid? Well, yes, partially. But the answer to why Jonah ran is clarified for us in chapter four, verse two. Jonah flees from God's will because he refuses to proclaim God's mercy to those who he

doesn't think deserve it. In verse two of chapter four, Jonah responds to God and says, please, Lord, was this not what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish for I knew, I mean, listen to this. I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness and one who relents concerning calamity. Jonah is running from God because he cannot handle the thought of God extending mercy to people that Jonah believes do not deserve it. Jonah wants nothing other than for God to bring the full cup of his wrath down on Nineveh. Jonah says, these people are pagan. They are hostile. They deserve judgment. Jonah doesn't want to throw the pearls of God's mercy before the swine

of the Ninevites. So he runs to the other side of the known world. What we see in Jonah's response is the very description of sin at its core. Number one, we see a rejection of the word of God. In verse one, it says that the word of the Lord came to Jonah. We need to understand what this means. This phrase, the word of the Lord came, is used a hundred times in the Old Testament, and it always means the same thing. It indicates that the Lord comes with such force and clarity to his messenger that God is in a way grabbing them and gripping them and giving his message to them where it cannot be confused or misunderstood. The hallmark of it is stark simplicity.

God says, go to Nineveh and preach. He cannot make it any more clear. You don't need any commentaries or academics to understand this simple command, but that's just it, isn't it? I love what Sinclair Ferguson says. He says, the problem with the Bible isn't the bits that are hard to understand. It's the bits that are the most simple to understand and no one wants to submit to. And that's what we see here with Jonah. God comes and gives a clear direction to Jonah, but Jonah does not listen to the voice of his God. In verse three, it says, but Jonah rose up to flee from 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 get away from God. Everything about the wording here in Hebrew is showing the continued flight from God's plan and God's command. Unbelief always finds what it seeks. And with the burning conscience, with miserable anxiety, Jonah buys a one-way ticket away from God. Question for you, how many times have you run from God's word? Answer, every time you sin. Every time you sin, your heart is not aligned with God's word. You reject what God has spoken. And you get on that boat and run from God every single time.

And the devil will always have a ship waiting for you. You pay the fare, he'll provide the boat. So first we see not only a rejection of God's word, but secondly here, we'll see a running from God's presence. Notice the wording here. It says that Jonah went down, down, down and he's running from the presence of the Lord because rejecting God's

presence always brings us down. In verse three, it says from the presence of the Lord. Verse four, from the presence of the Lord. Verse 10, from the presence of the Lord. Something is becoming clear here. Jonah knows the presence of God in his life. It's a reality, but he is not only rejecting the clear word of the Lord, but he is trying to run from the sense of God's presence in his life. God's presence is the greatest comfort to those who are walking with him, but to the disobedient, to the rebellious, God's presence becomes an itchy garment that you long to rid yourself of. And this is exactly what Jonah does. Instead of going 500 miles east to Nineveh, all aboard to Tarshish, 2,500 miles west, Jonah rejects the word of the Lord and he flees from the presence of the

Lord. And this is sin at its most fundamental core. This is what we see in the opening pages of the Bible. God gives a clear command and the serpent tempts Adam and Eve by saying, did God really say? And Adam and Eve reject the clear command of the Lord and they sin. And then what do they do? They run, they flee from God. Why? Because the ongoing presence of sin in your life causes you to flee from the presence of the one who has no sin within himself. Now we will look at the remainder of this chapter in three scenes. First, we will look at Jonah's guilt is pursued by God. God is gracious to those of you who are in sin. God pursuing us in our sin is the most gracious thing

that God can do. Jonah deserts God, but God doesn't desert Jonah. Jonah had earned the right for God to say, you run from me, I'll run from you. You turn your back on me, I'll turn my back on you. The worst thing that can happen for a sinner is that God would allow them to go their own way. One commentator says, the worst thing for a sinner is to find success in escaping from the presence of God in this life, only to meet the inescapable one in judgment. But God pursues Jonah in his guilt. And it says in verse four that the Lord hurled a great wind. And then in verse five, it says the sailors became afraid and begin to pray to their God and throw everything overboard. Now think with me,

these are experienced sailors. They had surely sailed on turbulent seas before, but they had never seen a storm quite like this. They were afraid for their life. If you have ever been on a bumpy flight, all is well when you look to the flight attendants and they are calm and composed. But when those flight attendants start screaming along with the children, you know that you are in no ordinary turbulence. These sailors begin to cry out on their gods because they were expecting to die. But where is Jonah in all of this? Well, the end of verse five tells us,

Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship. He had laid down and fallen sound asleep. How can this be? How can Jonah be sleeping in the midst of a great storm? Well, the answer is because sin is exhausting. It drains, it saps, and it sucks the life out of those who are running from God. Well, the answer is because sin is exhausting. It drains, it saps, and it sucks the life out of those who are running from God. Jonah's conscience is running a million miles an hour and he's exhausted because the race

that he is running from God is tiring. Have you ever felt this way? Jonah is sleeping while all around him is chaos. He is hibernating because sin produces a sedative that makes life exhausting. It might seem exhilarating, but it drains and dries you of all strength and vitality. Sin is not only exhausting, but sin is blinding. Jonah cannot see what is happening all around him. He doesn't recognize that peril is surrounding him on all sides. He doesn't hear the howling of the winds, the men screaming, the rustling of the ship.

A thousand anxieties are piercing his soul as he seeks to quiet his own conscience by taking a nap below the ship. In verse six, the captain comes to him and says, 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. Perhaps your God cares, the captain says. The irony of this, oh God, how much does he care? This is the reason that Jonah was sent to Nineveh in the first place, because God greatly

cares about the lost. This storm had reached a point where they thought, surely gods must be the one who are inflicting this severe storm upon them. So they cast lots. Well, let me just read it. It says, come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. The drama of this line is read far too quickly.

Picture the scene with me. They're going to roll some die to determine who was to blame. And the whole time Jonah knows, he knows in his heart that this was his sin. He was the one running from God, but he is too stubborn at this point to let go of his rebellion. He is still running and rejecting God. But it says the lot falls on Jonah and he can no longer shield himself. And in the next verse, a flurry of questions are thrown at Jonah from these sailors.

In verse eight, it says, tell us now on whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you? Every single question would have been a prick to his own conscience. Beaky says, that's what happens when the Holy Spirit comes to you. He asks you probing questions. Who are you? Where are you going? Why do you flee?

Well, first we looked at guilt pursued. Secondly here, guilt is confessed in verses nine and 10. Jonah responds to these sailors and says, I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. And verse 10, then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, how could you do this? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told

them. Jonah responds here and his practice contradicts his profession. He says, I serve the one true God, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who ordained and upholds these very seas we sail on. Oh, I serve the great king, not a mall cop, not the mayor of Bakersfield. I serve the sovereign king of the universe. And the men respond in verse 10. Listen to this. They respond and say, how could you do this? Why could you disobey this God? We don't understand who in the right mind

would defy, dismiss, and despise the great God. Has he ever been unkind to you, Jonah? Has he treated you unjustly? Has he ever sinned against you? Is his plan not for your good? Has he broken your trust? They ask him probing questions because it makes no sense why Jonah is running and rejecting God. How could you sin against such a God like this? Ultimately, we need to ask these same questions when we disobey God. Why would we despise a holy God?

Why would we reject and run from a God who has never done us any ill, but who instead has declared and demonstrated his love towards us? And there in that boat, Jonah is facing judgment. He knows that God doesn't grade on a curve like my old professor Powell. God is a righteous judge. Nothing makes sense in scripture until you understand this, that God is absolutely holy. So first we saw that guilt is pursued. Secondly,, guilt is confessed. And third here, guilt is surrendered. So in verse 11, they say to him,

what shall we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. And Jonah said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that on my account, this great storm has come upon you. Then in verse 15, so they picked up Jonah, they threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Jonah's confession of sin leads to a surrendering of guilt. He says, I alone am guilty. Although he has tried at this point to hide from

God, Jonah can no longer hide from his guilt. And this is what makes it to such a point where God can begin to restore Jonah. God extends judgment to those who defend themselves, but he extends mercy to those who condemn themselves. And Jonah says, I am guilty. Throw me overboard. Now at this point in the story, Jonah has no anticipation or expectation that a great fish will swallow him up. The only expectation Jonah has is judgment. We'll pick up the rest of our story in the next episode. But before we finish, ultimately, we must remember that the Bible is a story about Jesus Christ. So we read in Matthew 12, verse 40 and 41, listen to the words of Jesus.

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Indeed, something, someone greater than Jonah is evidence for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

This greater Jonah was exhausted as well, and he fell asleep on a ship in a great storm, and his disciples being alarmed came to awaken him. And there are so many similarities, but so many great differences. Jonah, our prophet, fell asleep because of prolonged disobedience. The greater Jonah fell asleep from being weary in sustained obedience. One slept under the frown of God. The other slept under the favor of God. One could not calm the sea until he was thrown over. One proved to be Lord of the wind and the sea.

One rejected the word of the Lord and ran from the presence of the Lord. The greater Jonah obeyed his father perfectly in all things. Do you know this greater Jonah? We are all breakers of God's law. We all have fleed from his presence. We all have rejected his word. And the greater Jonah bids you to awake, O sleeper, your soul is at stake. Let Christ shine on you. Stay dialed in.