here is a brief film clip from a 30-year old movie (released in 1983) koyaanisqatsi is a hopi indian...
TRANSCRIPT
Here is a brief film clip from a 30-year old movie (released in 1983)
Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi Indian word meaning “crazy life” “life in turmoil” “life out of balance”
When you read the newspaper or watch the news, do you (or people you know) ever feel the world is just spinning out of control? What events or trends lead people to feel this way?For those who acknowledge God’s sovereignty in all things, what issues/questions do we face?
Jonah’s First Call(Jonah 1:1-3)
Quick Review of Week 6 ….
What was the Purpose of Jonah’s Mission?
• To stir up the people of God• To declare the message of salvation to the
nations beyond Israel• To foreshadow the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ
Why did God want him to go to Nineveh and preach to the very people who, some sixty years on, would be responsible for the total destruction of Israel?
• Jonah was from Gath-hepher, a small town in the Galilee region near Nazareth
• Jonah was directed by God to “arise, go to Nineveh” which is Northeast of Israel
• But Jonah went down to Joppa which is Southwest of Israel in the opposite direction
Gath-hepher
To N
ineveh
• Normally prophets protest their inability to speak– Moses protests that he is not a man of words– Jeremiah fears that he does not know how to speak– Isaiah insists that his lips are unclean– But Jonah goes the opposite direction – without
saying a word!
What did Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah do after the LORD called them? What did Jonah do when the LORD called him?
Divine Interruption• Put yourself in Jonah's shoes and try to imagine what this divine
interruption was like• You are enjoying a successful ministry among God's people• You are well known and well appreciated for your celebrated
prophecy about restoring the borders of Israel• You feel settled, fulfilled and contented, but now the Word of God
disturbs your comfortable 'Christian' life• God is calling you to leave the people you love, move to a new
location and venture into an uncertain future• Your assignment is to serve people of another race, who regard you
as an enemy, and you are to do this by speaking 'against' the great city of Nineveh
• Instead of prophesying blessing on God's people, your new calling is to pronounce judgment on God's enemies
• Nothing in this new calling is attractive to you; it all seems like an overwhelming loss
God-Centered Life?• Nothing is more disturbing to our comfortable faith or
our comfortable church than God's passion for the world• Jonah was happy serving people of his own race, but
when God called him to serve people of another race, in a country hostile to his own, the selfishness of Jonah's heart was exposed
• The prophet known and acclaimed for his fruitful ministry had lost touch with God's heart and God's mission to the world
• Jonah was a long way from navigating a God-centered life, but no one, not even the prophet himself, would have known it until God stepped in
How God Interrupts Your Life• God's Word came to Jonah with such force and directness that there
was no doubt in Jonah's mind that God was speaking and that God was sending him to Nineveh
• Being a prophet meant that Jonah received direct revelation from God
• It's different for us. God speaks to us through the Scriptures, and since the Bible does not contain individual instructions on where you should live, whom you should marry, or what work you should do, God's interruptions in your life will usually come through secondary means
• An interruption may come through unwelcome decisions by other people, or through circumstances beyond your control
• Something unexpected happens and your whole life is completely different
• You lose the life that you love and you face a future that you fear• So let's look at some examples of what God's interruption might
look like in your life today
God Interrupting Our Ministry
God Interrupting Our Job
God Interrupting Our Family
Placing your Dream on the Altar of God• When God calls you to something new He may expose a thinly-
veiled selfishness at the heart of your devotion to Christ• That's what happened to Jonah• It happened to Jim and Julie in their ministry, to Michael in his
business, and to Angela with her family• It could happen to you• The pattern is always the same: You pour yourself into work,
family and ministry, then something unexpected happens and you discover that the work you are doing, the family you are raising, the ministry you are leading has become more important to you than the God you set out to serve
• You fall in love with your dream, the dream becomes an idol and God brings the idol down
• Our culture says “live your dream,” but God calls you to place your dream on His altar and to keep it there at all times
… Now Week 7
“Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began. Consider all this; and then turn to this green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!”
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Jonah 1:3But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
The idea expressed by the Hebrew in this verse is that Jonah purchased the ship and its crew for himself, not that he paid a fare for space on the ship. It was not until Roman time several centuries later that the concept of a fare came into practice.How was Jonah able to charter a vessel and its crew for his personal use? What does this information add to our picture of Jonah as a court prophet to King Jeroboam II?
If You Want to Disobey, There Will Always Be a Ship Prepared to Take
You to Tarshish
Ships of Tarshish• 1 Kings 22:48 – “Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for
gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.”• Isaiah 23:14 – “Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste.”• Ezekiel 27:25-27 – “The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your
merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas. “Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas. Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your crew that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall.”
• Psalm 48:7 – “By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.”
What do these texts say about ships bound for Tarshish? Based on these verses, what should the reader of Jonah conclude about the prophet’s plan? • “A ship bound for Tarshish” would translates culturally as
“the Titanic going out on her maiden voyage”• This means that at the outset of his scheming to flee from
God, Jonah was doomed to fail!
Israelite View of the Sea• For Israelites the sea was a fearful and threatening realm, the habitation of
the primordial serpent of chaos (Isaiah 27:1; Psalm 74:13-14)• The sea was so hostile that God set explicit boundaries for it (Jeremiah
5:22; Job 38:8-11)• One reason for Israel’s fear of the sea is that the country was landlocked
– During the conquest the people of Israel did not succeed in conquering coastal districts– While tribes were allotted portions of land that reached the Mediterranean Sea, Israel
never completely establish itself along the coast and was confined to central areas• With no access to the sea and no experience of it, for most Israelites the
sea was “the great unknown”
What can we say about Jonah from the fact that he was willing to risk sailing across the Mediterranean Sea in order to reach Tarshish? • He must be mad in his determination• This, coupled with Jonah chartering the entire ship for
himself, portrays a man who will do anything to escape God’s word and call
Jonah 1:3 ChiasmA But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
B He went down to Joppa C and found a ship D going to Tarshish. C’ So he paid the fare B’ and went down into it,
A’ to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
How do A and A’, B and B’, and C and C’ balance each other?What is the central idea of this chiasm? What does the chiasm show graphically?• Jonah is trapped! The irony is that “the presence of the Lord”
surrounds Jonah, even in his flight to Tarshish … he cannot escape
The Presence of the Lord• What was Jonah thinking of in attempting to run away
from God? • He was a believer and a prophet, and for all that he was
being disobedient• He must have known that he could not have escaped
from the omnipresence of the Lord … he knew very well that the living God was present everywhere
• He would have known the words of the psalmist, when he said,
“Where can l go from your Spirit? Where can l flee from your presence? lf l go up to the heavens, you are there; if l make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8)
• What then, was in Jonah's mind?
The Presence of the Lord• When Cain, for example, “went away from the Lord's presence”
(Genesis 4:16), what is clearly signified is that Cain, as a rebel and a fugitive, was no longer in the service or the favor of God
• On the other hand, to “stand before the Lord” is always, in Scripture, equivalent to serving him (1 Kings 17:1; 18:15)
• To be banished from His presence is to be rejected as his servant (Jeremiah 23:39)
• The person who chooses to flee from the presence of God, therefore, is refusing to serve God in the task he knows that the Lord has given him to do
• The matter is primarily spiritual and only secondarily geographical• This is what we see in Jonah's case … by fleeing to Tarshish he hoped
to make it impossible to serve God as His prophet • When someone turns away from the will of God for his life, then he
is willfully putting himself out of God's presence and denies himself the blessing which is attached to happy obedience
Why is Jonah Running Away?• Josephus suggests that fear motivates Jonah: “But he went [to Nineveh],
out of fear; nay he ran away from God to the city of Joppa.”• But Josephus is wrong; the text never states that Jonah is afraid• Nor does it indicate that the prophet views his task as too difficult or
beneath his dignity• Unlike Moses, Isaiah, or Jeremiah he does not express feelings of
inadequacy• He does not object that the message is too difficult for the people to hear• Thus, while other prophets draw back at times from the call of God, and
some run out of fear, no others flee from God’s presence simply because God is too merciful
• The reason for Jonah’s flight is delayed in the narrative; it is not revealed until Jonah 4:2
• The author thus holds back on the real reason until his audience is fully identified with Jonah and is brought along to the point where the truth of the matter can have its sharpest impact
• This delay causes us to pause to consider …
Is Jonah afraid?Is this task too hard?Is it beneath him as a prophet of God?Does Jonah think he is inadequate for this task?Is the message too hard for the people to hear?
Why are we running from God?
The Structure of the Book of Jonah Scene 1: Jonah’s First Call (1:1-3)
Scene 2: The Storm at Sea (1:4-16)
Scene 3: Jonah’s Deliverance & Prayer (1:17 – 2:10)
Scene 4: Jonah’s Second Call (3:1-3a)
Scene 5: Jonah’s Preaching Converts (3:3b-10) Nineveh & Yahweh Changes His Verdict
Scene 6: Jonah’s Response to Yahweh’s (4:1-3)Change of Verdict to Save Nineveh
Scene 7: Yahweh’s Provisions and (4:4-11)Jonah’s Response
Demonstrating Love
He slipped his arm round her shoulder as they looked out over the thundering waters of the Niagara Falls. The moon was shining and on this perfectly romantic evening, he hugged her close and whispered in her ear, "I love you."
She looked up with doubt in her eyes. "Really?" she asked. "I sometimes wonder."
"All right," he said, "I'll prove it."Climbing over the protective fence, he stepped to the edge of
the falls. With one huge leap he threw himself over and, as he was falling into the abyss, he screamed out "I love you."
For the bemused girl this would surely be an unforgettable experience, but the fact is that the boy's action, in this fictional scenario, would not be a demonstration of love at all.
It would be a demonstration of stupidity.
Propitiation
• God demonstrates his love for us in the death of His Son Jesus; but for many people the connection between God's love and the death of Jesus is not obvious • Without further explanation, Christ’s death may appear like the
boyfriend making a grand gesture that is without value to the one he professes to love• The death of Jesus can only be a meaningful demonstration of
God's love if it achieves something for us• God presented Jesus as a propitiation, through faith in His blood
(Romans 3:25)• A propitiation is a sacrifice offered to placate wrath, and Jesus
became our propitiation on the cross … The wrath of God was poured out on Him as He carried our sins• By becoming our sacrifice, He delivered us from the storm of
God's judgment
Picture of Christ• I've met many people who believe that Jesus died
and rose, but they don't feel that God loves them• Since they claim to believe in the cross it would
be easy to assume that the answer to their problem must lie elsewhere • You experience the love of God by grasping what
Christ has accomplished at the cross, and by discovering why this is good news for you• God often teaches us through pictures, and in
scene 2 of the book Jonah we will follow the story of the ship's crew, who found themselves facing a judgment from God and were delivered from it by the readiness of one man to lay down his life• They faced a storm and they were saved by a
sacrifice
… But it doesn’t
Jonah 1:4-16 4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16
Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
SCENE 2
Jonah 1:4-164 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on
the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
Throughout this scene, a lot of things are being "thrown around." Look at the following verses and identify what is being "hurled" or "thrown"1:41:5
Throughout this scene, a lot of things are being "thrown around." Look at the following verses and identify what is being "hurled" or "thrown"1:4 – A great wind by the Lord upon the sea1:5 – The ship’s cargo by the sailors1:121:15
What do the things thrown in 1:5, 1:12, and 1:15 have in common? Why were these items being hurled? How might this affect our understanding of 1:4?
Jonah 1:4-64 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and
there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”What did God do as a result of Jonah’s disobedience? Why?
There is a Hebrew custom of attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects. The Hebrew in verse 4 is literally, “The ship considered/thought itself to be broken.”Describe the ship's desperate situation.What is the irony here?
We expect Jonah to “consider” his actions and their consequences, but he does not. It is left to the ship to “think” about what will happen next. How ironic that the inanimate manmade object is more responsive to God that the animate man He created, who is His very own prophet!
Jonah 1:4-64 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and
there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”How did the crew react to God’s action?
What are we told about their religious views?In what way was their reaction correct and appropriate? In what way was it wrong?
• The sailors’ gods were false and their beliefs were misguided, but their actions were thoroughly correct• They knew they were dependent on something greater than themselves; they knew how to express that dependenceBased on what we already know about Jonah, how do you think he feels about these sailors?
• The sailors’ action may be designed to lighten the ship and so help it ride out the storm
• The only other biblical passage that deals with the concept of lighten is found in:
1 Samuel 6:5 – “So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land.”
• The parallels between 1 Sam 6:5 and Jonah 1:5 strongly support the idea that the cargo was intended as a sacrifice
• Thus, in Jonah 1:5 the sailors are attempting to appease the angry sea or another offended god
Lighten Up
Jonah 1:4-64 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon
the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
The sailors are in a tizzy, shouting prayers and throwing their cargo overboard; the noise and tumult of sea and sailors is deafeningWhat does Jonah do in response?What does sleep often symbolize in the Bible? Why do you think Jonah fell asleep?
• Jonah fell into a deep sleep similar to what God caused to fall on Adam so he could create Eve; like the deep sleep of Sisera just prior to his death at the hands of Jael• By going down to the bottom of the ship and by falling into a deep sleep, Jonah is completed disconnected from the action on deck. He has cut himself off from God and also from the needy people in the boat and in Nineveh
• What kind of a person would go down to the bottom of a ship to sleep during such a storm at the same time others are scrambling for their very lives?
Jonah 1:3-63But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the
LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
What direction did Jonah go in verse 3? What direction did Jonah go in verse 5? What is the significance of Jonah’s continued progress in this direction?
Jonah 1:66So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
• Let’s focus on the captain’s words recorded in verse 6. What did the captain tell Jonah to do? Why are his words ironic? • Compare the verbs the captain used to stir up Jonah to those God used in verse 2 to call Jonah – “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it …”What do you think might have gone through the prophet’s mind when he heard the captain speak these words?
What did the captain hope might happen? Why did he have this hope? How did Jonah respond to the captain’s words?
Silence is Golden?• Jonah knew the Lord, but how could he call on
God for help when he was in the act of rebelling against Him? • Locked into an unresolved conflict with the Lord,
Jonah could neither pray nor prophesy • Surrounded by unbelievers who desperately
needed to know the Lord, Jonah had nothing to offer• His ministry had been silenced by his secret sin
Asleep In the Light• It's worth pausing for a moment to let the world's rebuke to the
church carry its weight to our hearts: “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God!” • Think about the unbelievers in your life. If you don't pray for
them, who will? • The world cannot pray for itself. Only the church can intercede
for a lost world and, if we are asleep, no one else will do this work.• The captain did not need Jonah's help to run the ship, but he felt
a need for his prayers. • The world never wants believers to have their hands on the
wheel of the ship but, when trouble comes, even hardened unbelievers look for our prayers. • Your unbelieving friends may not be looking for you to give
direction to their lives, but when they are in a storm, they will want you to pray and they will sense that something is wrong if you don't.