Jonah 1:7-17

 

Five truths that will transform your lives: 

  1. Remember your true identity (vv. 7-9). … The sailors decided to cast lots to decide who was the cause of this storm. The lot fell on Jonah. They asked him who he was and what he did for work and where he was from. Jonah answers with the powerful truth. He is a Hebrew who worships the Lord, the God of Heaven who made the land and the sea. He remembered who he was and who he worshipped. Jonah remembered that his identity is based on his relationship with God. No matter what you or anyone else claims, your identity is based on your relationship with God. 
  2. Own your failures (vv. 10-12). … Jonah realized this storm was because he ran from God. There are four ways we can respond when we know we did something wrong: 
    1. Ignore it. … But you never get better or move forward. 
    2. Blame others. … Pass the buck and say you wouldn't have done it if so-and-so hadn't also done it or made you do it. You don't grow or move forward. 
    3. Justify it. … Reasons for why you do the wrong thing. You don't grow or move forward. 
    4. Own it. … This is what Jonah did and it's the only way to grow and move forward. 
  3. Recognize your need for a substitutionary sacrifice (vv. 13-15). … Jonah had told the sailors to throw him overboard, but they didn't want to, so they tried rowing to land but couldn't make progress. Eventually they prayed for forgiveness of what they were about to do and threw Jonah overboard. Once Jonah was in the water, the storm ceased. Jonah had determined he would die and instead of taking these innocent sailors with him, he'd sacrifice himself so they could live. It's a mirror image of the cross. When you look in the mirror, everything is flipped from one side to the other. In this case, the part that is flipped is that the guilty one was sacrificed to save the innocent. When Jesus was put on the cross, the innocent one was sacrificed to save the guilty. 
  4. Worship in response to God's rescue (v. 16). … The sailors offered sacrifice and loyalty to God in an act of worship for saving them from the storm. We have also been rescured, rescued from an eternity of torment by the sacrifice and grace and mercy of Jesus. 
  5. Trust in his sovereign plan (v. 17). … God had a plan. He rescued Jonah by sending a great fish to swallow him and transport him to his mission field, to Nineveh. God was never caught off guard by Jonah's responses and attempts to run. He always had a plan in place and would get Jonah to where he needed to be while teaching him what he needed to know. 

 

For Further Study/Resources Used to Prepare This Message

  • The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy by Tim Keller
  • Exalting Jesus in Jonah (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) by Eric Redmond
  • Man Overboard!: The Story of Jonah by Sinclair Ferguson
  • A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah by Daniel Timmer
  • ESV Study Bible