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Sunday Sermon Outline
STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF JONAH-part 4
CHAPTER ONE Verses 9-10- Jonah has identified himself
as a Hebrew and that he fears the LORD, who
made heaven & earth. This answer
made the men more fearful as they further inquire (“why
has thou done this” has the nature of ‘What have you
done?’ NIV). Their fear rises
as they see Jonah, not as a mere man who provoked some god’s anger, but as a
prophet who has transgressed his high calling to serve the true LORD and
God. In their minds, it is no wonder the
storm is fierce. Jonah had sinned
against “light”- see Lk.12:48. Verses 11-12- They then ask Jonah what they
should do as they observe the sea becoming more dangerous. Jonah responds that they should cast him into
the sea. The principle that must be
understood here is found in Prov. 28:13. “Confess and forsake” is the
key! As Jonah is the individual sinner that has caused
collective danger to all, it is he that must be “forsaken” to
God’s judgment. He admits, “that for my
sake this great tempest is upon you.”
Jonah has begun the road of recovery by admitting responsibility. This made be seen in I John 1:9 where we
begin by admitting our sins to God in personal confession. This involves our agreeing with Him about the
sin and admitting we are responsible for our conduct. This brings the application of the cleansing
from the defilement of sin restoring fellowship with God. In our daily lives, we should then repent by
changing the behavior that displeased God. Verses 13-15- apparently it goes against the
mindset of these sailors to throw someone overboard (observe
“innocent” in vs.14). They
attempt to reach land and cannot. Now they cry
unto the LORD and seek Him not to hold them responsible for Jonah’s
death. They acknowledge the power and
sovereignty of God in the words “as it pleased
thee”. Psa.115:3. So they cast
Jonah into the sea and it calmed down. Verse 16- as a result of this action we
see an OT conversion take place with these mariners. “feared
the LORD exceedingly”- this may be consistent with conversion
(Prov.1:7, 29; 3:7, etc). Then, they “offered
sacrifice unto the LORD”- which is expressive of their recognition of His mercy and
last of all, they “made vows”. see Psa.
14:11,76:11. Later, Jonah will make vows
as well- 2:9. Page 2 Vows are indicate of a sacred
obligation or commitment that is made unto the Lord. Verse 17- very directly, we are told that
“God had prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah”. We note that
God might have allowed Jonah to swim to land and thus survive, but He chose not
to do that. We may ask,
“Why?” The answer may lie
in the manner in which Jesus would refer to this incident- see Matt. 12:39-41
where Jesus characterizes this as a the ministry of proclamation going
to the Gentiles ( like God’s
preparation of a great fish brings our attention to divine providence. I. DEFINITION: The agency of God wherewith He makes all the
events of the physical and moral world fulfill the original design for which He
made it as it has been purposed in Jesus Christ in bringing glory to Himself. This agency calls
to mind several expressions: 1) Omnipotence of
God- His irresistible
power to accomplish His plan- Job
42:2, Isa. 44:24, Psa.
115:3, Eph. 1:11, Matt. 19:26 2) Divine Decree-
the original plan of God’s omniscience and justice devised in eternity past and unfolding in human history-Isa.14:24,
26,27; Eph. 1:4, 3) Immutability-
the unchanging essence of God’s Person; and descriptive of His unchangeable plan- Malachi 3:6, Heb.13:8 II. Matt. III.In respect to the good acts of
men, providence embraces all those natural influences of birth and environment
that prepare men for the work of God’s Spirit which accomplishes motives
to obedience. Phil.3:5-6, Heb. 11:23-26, I Sam.17:33-37 II. |