The Sovereign God of Mercy

Right, technology is working. I wanna start with a disclaimer. The sermon you are about to hear was preached to Christ Baptist Church back on April 13th. We first learned about the Gardner Building on April 18th.

So this sermon is not being preached to in any way try to convince anyone about Gardner. That being said, it is a bit providential that the Lord would have us spend this week and next week in the Book of Jonah.

I'm just saying. Take that for what it is. The reason I chose Jonah was I wanted to try my hand at preaching through a book. But since I don't preach often, I wanted it to be something small so it wouldn't take me years to get through it.

The more time I spent meditating on the Book of Jonah, the more the Lord has used it in my heart. And the more I stood in awe of who he is. Melanie actually gave me the idea for Jonah as she had been meditating on it recently.

And as we had been talking about it, I thought it would work well to turn it into four sermons. When you think of the Book of Jonah, everyone always thinks of him being swallowed by the fish. But if you really focus in on God's reasoning for recording this in scripture, you will see the book is much bigger than the story we like to tell our kids.

Jonah’s Timeline and the Book’s Major Themes

Let's start with an overall timeline of Jonah in case you haven't read the book recently. God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophesy against it. Jonah instead flees in the opposite direction to Joppa and boards a ship to Tarshish.

God sends a great storm on the sea to bring Jonah back. Jonah is thrown into the sea and is swallowed by a fish. After three days in which he cries out to God, he is vomited back on land and again told to go to Nineveh.

Jonah obeys and goes to Nineveh and prophesies against it. The Ninevites hear his preaching and repent in dust and ashes. God relents of the disaster he was going to bring. Jonah in response is angry and wishes for death.

And God seeks to teach Jonah a lesson with a plant and a worm. The book of Jonah is an interesting one in the minor prophets of the Old Testament. It is a short four chapters that you can read in six or seven minutes.

It fits on two pages in my Bible. This book, however, is packed with several large themes, several incredible miracles, and is referenced by Jesus multiple times in his ministry as a sign to the Jews.

It shows God as sovereign over the sea, animal life, plant life, over things as small as the casting of a lot or the life and sanctification of one man, as well as over the mightiest and most ancient of civilizations and peoples.

It also shows that God is merciful and his mercy knows no bounds. He is merciful to his people and the sheep of his pasture, but he is also merciful to all peoples, languages, nations, and societies on the earth.

God’s Sovereignty Over Salvation and the Nations

Let's start with God's sovereignty overall. Jeremiah 32, 17 says, Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you.

He is the creator and he's sovereign over it. Ephesians 1, 4 says, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. He is sovereign over salvation.

Matthew 19, 26 says, but Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. He can do all his holy will. And then in Daniel, we read of Nebuchadnezzar's confession.

And at the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation.

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done?

Nobody can withstand him. And then the other theme is God's mercy. What is truly on display in the book of Jonah is God's mercy. He shows mercy to Jonah in sending him. He shows mercy to the sailors as we will see today.

He shows mercy to Jonah in the fish. He shows mercy to the Ninevites by sending Jonah. He shows mercy in sparing the Ninevites. He shows mercy to the animals of the Ninevites. He shows mercy to Jonah in the lessons he puts before him.

He shows mercy to Israel by the lessons he puts before them in the recording of this book. He shows mercy to us, his people, by recording these things for our benefits, 1 Corinthians 10. And he shows mercy through Jesus in highlighting these lessons in the New Testament.

So let's go to our text. My title for today is The Sovereign God of Mercy. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it.

For their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried out to his God and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load.

But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had laid down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said, what do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God. Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish.

And they said to one another, come, let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, please tell us for whose cause is this trouble upon us?

What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and what are your people? So 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.

Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Then they said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?

The sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that this great tempest is because of me. Nevertheless, men rode hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.

Therefore, they cried out to the Lord and said, we pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.

So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. And next week, we'll consider verse 17 along with chapter two.

Jonah, Nineveh, and the Historical Background

So by way of background, we know that the time period of the Book of Jonah is likely during the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, which was approximately 782 to 753 BC. In 2 Kings 14 .25, we read, he restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord of Israel, which he had spoken through his servant Jonah, the son of Amittiah, the prophet who was from Gath Hefer.

The exact date of the writing of the Book of Jonah is not known. As scholars debate whether Jonah wrote the book or it was written by another, although I lean towards thinking he is the author. There is much debate around which Assyrian king was ruling at the time Jonah declared God's judgment.

To them.

But that is also not completely clear. During this time period, Israel and Judah were enjoying a time of peace and prosperity. It began with Assyria beginning to fight with the Arminian Empire, who had been oppressing Israel.

This occupied both empires and allowed the kings of Israel to reclaim territory, with Jeroboam II extending the northern border back to the place it was under David and Solomon. Jonah was a prophet who had success.

He was used by God to speak to the kings of Israel and tell them what God would have them do. He likely loved his nation and was truly bought into the idea that Israel is God's people due to their lineage with Abraham.

With this time of peace, prosperity, and territorial expansion, it was easy to believe that Israel truly was blessed of God. This was on the surface, however. We know that in 722 BC, just 30 years after Jeroboam II, the Assyrians would destroy the northern kingdom of Israel and take them into captivity.

In fact, this had been prophesied by the contemporary prophets to Jonah, Hosea and Amos. Some commentators even remarked on the fact that Jonah likely knew that repentance on the part of the Assyrians could well set the stage for them later destroying Israel.

Now, who is Jonah? As I read earlier, we know from 2 Kings 2, he's from Gathhefer, which is located in Galilee, just north of Nazareth. Say that three times fast. He got to preach victory to Israel during the days of Jeroboam II and saw Israel expand and experience peace and prosperity.

It also becomes clear as we move through the book of Jonah that he is very patriotic and he loves his nation. So let's dive into the text and examine God's charge to Jonah in verses one through three.

The Word of the Lord, Nineveh’s Wickedness, and Jonah’s Flight

Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord. Now, the word of the Lord, this is how the Lord communicates.

These words appear 262 times in scripture. Here is a sampling. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. Now, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyprus, king of Persia.

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, says Isaiah chapter 28. And now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.

Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me, was what God said to Ezekiel. God uses his word to communicate to us and to make his will known. We don't have prophets today because we have the complete word of God in our Bibles.

His word communicates his judgments and most often is given to his people to correct and warn them. This is the first surprising thing about the book of Jonah. We know who Jonah is, he's a prophet. I would imagine he was thinking, a word from the Lord.

Yes, Lord, what would you have me say to your people Israel? Arise, go to Nineveh. I'm sorry, Lord, I must have misheard you. It sounded like you said Nineveh. You meant Nazareth, right? I live right near there.

What would you like me to say to them? No, Jonah, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. Now, why would this bother Jonah? Well, who are these Ninevites?

Nineveh is the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, one of the most ancient races of men. Nineveh was founded by Nimrod. Genesis 10 says, the sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Sheba, Havalah, Sabta, Ramah, and Sabteca.

And the sons of Ramah were Sheba and Dadan. Cush begot Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore, it is said, like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.

And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Arad, and Kalna in the land of Shinar. From that land, he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth, Ur, and Kala. Nimrod was the great grandson of Noah.

He founded Babel, and then after the, he founded Babel, and then after the Lord confused the languages, he went to Assyria and built Nineveh. Nineveh and the Assyrians are one of the first of the major civilizations after the flood.

They also cause a lot of problems for Israel, and as I mentioned earlier, are the prophesied destroyers of the northern kingdom of Israel. They do not fear the God of heaven, but are idol worshipers, and are some of the worst sort of people you can imagine.

One commentator said, Assyria was one of the cruelest and most violent empires of ancient times. Assyrian kings often recorded the results of their military victories, gloating of whole plains littered with corpses, and of cities burned completely to the ground.

The emperor Shalmaneser III is well known for depicting torture, dismembering, and decapitation of enemies in grisly detail on large stone relief panels. Assyrians' history is as gory and blood-curdling a history as we know.

After capturing enemies, the Assyrians would typically cut off their legs and one arm, leaving the other arm and hand so they could shake the victim's hand in mockery as he was dying. They forced friends and family members to parade the decapitated heads of their loved ones elevated on poles.

Those who survived the destruction of their cities were fated to endure cruel and violent forms of slavery. The Assyrians have been called a terrorist state. This is who God is telling Jonah to go prophesy to.

Now what is God meaning behind this? He's planning to destroy them, right? He says, cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. So he must plan on wiping them off the map. Not exactly.

If God were planning to wipe them off the map, he wouldn't send a prophet. He's sending a warning, which means he's giving them a chance. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord said, speaking to Abraham, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to me, and if not, I will know.

Now Abraham knew what this meant. God is going to destroy these cities. That is why he seeks to make intercession for them, because he knows his nephew lives there. Notice in that whole account, God does not send a prophet beforehand.

When the angels get there, they don't walk through the streets and declare God's judgment.

Why?

Because God has no intention of showing mercy. So Jonah knows what this means. If God is sending him to Nineveh with a message of judgment, it is because he's giving them a chance to repent and turn from their wickedness.

Now some argue that Jonah is fearing for his life. After all, the Ninevites are a cruel people, and maybe they kill a prophet sent to declare judgment. At this point in the story, we could believe that, but as the rest of the book reveals, that is not why Jonah runs from God.

But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord. So Jonah runs in the opposite direction from God.

God tells him to go to Nineveh, which is in the northeast, and he goes straight west. Joppa is a major seaport on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In modern times, the city of Tel Aviv surrounds it.

Tarshish is believed to be either a location in North Africa or in Spain, which is on the far side of the Mediterranean Sea. Basically, Jonah could not have disobeyed God more by doing what he did. And the question can be asked, why does Jonah flee?

Where can he go from the presence of the Lord? Look at Psalm 139. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. It could be that Jonah hoped that by fleeing Israel, he was fleeing the prophetic presence of the Lord.

Have you ever done this? Been angry with God and just stopped praying for a season? Trying to escape into worldly pursuits, hoping he might leave you alone for a while? This is the only instance in the scriptures of a prophet flat out refusing the call of God.

Ultimately, we don't know his motives until we get to chapter four, and Jonah reveals it. He knew God would be merciful, and he was trying to prevent Nineveh being shown mercy. It is in these actions that we begin to see the primary message of the book shining through.

God's mercy is beyond human understanding. I mean, do we understand God's mercy? When God declares his name to Moses, he says, and the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty.

God shows mercy in healing a sick person, and even to Paul, for indeed he was sick almost unto death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

When it comes to salvation, it is all of mercy. Who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy, said Peter. Jesus commands us, therefore be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

The psalmist calls on God's mercy for help from trouble. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusts in you, and in the shadow of your wings, I will make my refuge until these calamities pass by.

We also must remember that God decides who he will show mercy to. Therefore, he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills, he hardens, says Romans 9. God recorded this story to show us his mercy, and this will be the major theme of each section of the story.

In this first section, we see God is sending Jonah to show mercy to Nineveh by giving them a chance to repent. He is also showing mercy to Jonah by teaching and sanctifying him. Do we look at our circumstances in life like that?

To look at even the things that happen that we don't like as God's seeking to show us mercy as he teaches us about himself, and displays his glory to us. It is always easy to praise and worship God when things go well, but do we do that when things go poorly, and God gives us a chance to trust him, and have mercy that he will provide, have faith that he will provide?

As you know, I am currently laid off, and having a bit of a struggle finding my next job. Even in the midst of this trial, I see his mercy, but I have to look for it, and it's easy to get discontent. Let us continue on.

The Storm, the Sleeping Prophet, and the Sailors’ Fear

The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. So we see the brash and irrational disobedience.

Of the prophet.

I say brash and irrational, because he's disobeying the sovereign, all-powerful God. What exactly does he think this is going to gain him? Before we think too harshly of Jonah, however, let's turn the mirror of scripture upon ourselves.

How often have you and I willfully disobeyed God? Calvin says of this, I hence think that Jonah disobeyed the command of God, partly because of the weakness of the flesh, was a hindrance, partly because of the novelty of the message, and partly because he despaired of fruit, or of success to his teaching.

Isn't that so often true of us? It is our own sinful weakness, fear, or doubt that causes us to question God when life gets hard, or our pride that convinces us that it's okay to disobey in this situation, or perhaps our lack of faith that causes us to say, did God really say?

So look at the story of Samuel and Saul. Remember when God wanted Saul to go to the Amalekites and destroy them, right? The command through Samuel was, go to war with Amalek and destroy everything living, right?

Men, women, children, sheep, goats, everything, right? They are to kill everything that belongs to Amalek. And Saul goes, and they wipe out the Amalekites, except he doesn't obey. He keeps the king alive and the best of the sheep and oxen.

And so when Samuel comes, he says, look, I have done the will of the Lord. And we know this famous thing, Samuel says, what's this bleeding I hear in my ear? And then Saul makes excuses, right? Oh, well, we thought that we'd bring back the best of the sheep and oxen, the sacrifice to the Lord your God.

And then Samuel's famous saying, behold, it's better to obey is better than sacrifice. And ultimately, Saul admits what he did. He was fearing the people. When we disobey God, there's always an excuse.

We convince ourselves we are right. We ignore God's ways and word. This is probably what Jonah did to convince himself. But we know from the fourth chapter that the real reason was he did know God and his mercy.

Kylen DeLeach says, the motive for this flight was not fear of the difficulty of carrying out the command of God, but as Jonah himself says in chapter four, verse two, anxiety lest the compassion of God spare the sinful city in the event of its repenting.

When the rubber hits the road in the Christian walk, we can think of a thousand ways to make things gray. But when we know that God's command, when we know what God's command is in a particular situation, we need to remember the words of our Savior.

If you love me, keep my commandments. As I said, one of the major themes of the book is God's sovereignty. And so now, so we know that Jonah will not be successful as he seeks to disobey God's command.

God sends a great wind upon the sea and stirs up the waters and creates a mighty storm that is about to sink the ship Jonah is on. As I meditated on this scene, I was in awe of God's sovereign control of the situation.

He was at the same time able to spin up a storm that showed experienced mariners that they were in serious danger, yet keep them safe as the whole scene with them unfolded, and then also keep them from making it to shore, as we'll talk about later.

Have you ever watched your kids play with a toy boat in the tub? They inevitably try and sink it. They splash water, but water's unpredictable. It doesn't always do what they want. They try to fill their boat, but instead they capsize it.

They're trying to make it go in one direction, but it doesn't cooperate. They ultimately just pick it up and they move it where they want it to go. I would imagine this storm and the waters of the Mediterranean Sea were doing exactly what God wanted, splashing the deck with enough, but not too much water, causing the ship to pitch, but not tip over, settling down at the right time for them to cast lots, but not make them think, oh, maybe the storm is passing.

Think about the sovereign control of God over every molecule of H2O around this boat, and causing them to perfectly do his will, doing exactly what he wanted when he wanted it to create the effect he was looking for.

Our God is an awesome God, amen? And I'll zoom in on this ship being pitched and tossed by this great tempest that the Lord has created. Verse five says, then the mariners were afraid and every man cried out to his God and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load.

But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had laid down, and was fast asleep. Jonah has boarded the ship filled with pagan mariners, and so when a storm came upon them, they could tell from their experience at sea that this was a serious problem.

It says they were afraid, and mariners tend to be a hardy bunch. And I would imagine that's even more true before the days of weather reports, radar, and other modern technologies that have made sea travel relatively safe.

In ancient times, the sea was known as something that cannot be controlled, and as much good fortune as skill is the only thing that is going to bring you home safely. The mariners did two things in response to the storm.

They cried out to their gods, and they threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. These mariners were not atheists. They believed in gods. They knew that there is something behind everything that happens to us.

Their problem was they didn't know the God who truly is behind everything that happens, but they're going to meet him today. The text says they cried out to their gods. This was not a quiet prayer on the deck as the storm clouds gathered.

This was a cry. This was, save us! It was then followed by all of the mariners running around and throwing everything they could find into the sea to lighten the ship and maybe prevent their demise. This is what we do when the storms come, and we don't know our creator.

We lean on whatever religion we have for a moment, and when that fails us, as it inevitably will, we move on to trying to save ourselves. We all have a natural fear of death. There's only a couple of exceptions to this, right?

There's some people, they say, have a death wish, but they don't really have a death wish. They just think they're invincible. Some people are suicidal, right, and that's tragic, but they don't want to die.

They want the pain to stop. Most fear death and are not looking forward to it. There is a reason why the greatest gift God can give us is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Now, we must look at the contrast between this and the contrast in this verse that just punches us in the face, but Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had laid down, and was fast asleep.

How can this be?

This is a major tempest. This isn't some gentle rocking. This has veteran sailors fearing for their lives and crying. Matthew Henry says, sin is of a stupefying nature, and we are concerned to take heed, lest at any time our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of it.

It is the policy of Satan when, by his temptations, he has drawn men from God and their duty to rock them asleep in carnal security that they may not be sensible of their misery and danger. It concerns us all to watch, therefore.

We are meant to see this. How can he be asleep? How often, when we are carrying the guilt of disobeying God, do we fall into depression? Do we try and hide in sleep so we don't have to face our God? We are meant to take a lesson from this.

The other thing that is very clear from this is it's meant to remind us of our Savior. There was a time when he was on a ship, and a great storm came up, and he fell asleep. But this is very different, where our Savior was asleep because he perfectly trusted his God, and he knew, I don't care what tempest is outside, I have nothing to worry about because I am in my Father's hands, right?

This was not Jonah, however. Jonah was in sin, and he was trying to escape from God. So be like Jesus.

Anyway.

The mariners, seeing that nothing is working, and their situation continues to worsen, they search for the cause. First, we read, so the captain came to him and said to him, what do you mean, sleeper?

Arise, call on your God. Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish. You can see the thinking. Wait, what happened to our passenger? Let's go check on him. Our gods have not done anything, maybe his will.

He finds him sleeping and rebukes him. What do you mean, sleeper? We see this contrast between these pagan mariners and this prophet of the Lord. They care about their lives, he appears not to. They are trying to do something, and he is taking rest.

They are concerned for him, and he's not at all concerned for them. Matthew Henry again says, we pity Jonah, who needed this reproof. As a prophet of the Lord, if he had been in his place, he might have been reproving the king of Nineveh.

But being out of the way of his duty, he does himself lie open to the reproofs of a sorry shipmaster. See how men by their sin and folly diminish themselves and make themselves mean. Yet we must admire God's goodness in sending him this seasonable reproof, for it was a first step towards his recovery, as the crowing of the cock was to Peter.

So the mariners continue to seek the cause of this disaster. And they said to one another, come, let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lots fall on Jonah.

Daniel Timmer says, their decision to cast lots reveals furthermore that they now suspect that the storm has been sent as a punishment for the sin of one among them. Even though these sailors do not yet know of Yahweh's existence, he uses this means of determining guilt to draw attention to Jonah.

These nonbelievers seem to intuitively know that this storm is not random or by chance. As Christians, we know that nothing is random or by chance. Every single thing that happens to us, good or bad, comes from the good hand of our God to accomplish his purposes.

We also see another example of God's sovereignty. He's sovereign over the sea and the storm, and he's also sovereign over the lot cast, as it says in Proverbs. The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

And so we read, then they said to him, please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and what are your people? The mariners begin to interrogate Jonah, but I would have you notice that it's not in a violent way.

Despite the fact that he has put their lives in danger, he is the cause of their loss of profit from having to lighten the ship, they still plead with him, please tell us. One commentator said, though it was discovered by the lot that he is the person for whose sake they were thus damaged and exposed, yet they did not fly outrageously upon him, as one would fear they might have done, but calmly and mildly inquired into his case.

There is a compassion due to offenders when they are discovered and convicted. They give him no hard words, but tell us, we pray thee, what is the matter? And Jonah is not deceptive, nor does he try to exonerate himself.

He is beginning to act like the prophet he is. He makes a full confession and satisfies the desires of the mariners. So 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.

Have you ever had one of those situations where you got exactly what you wanted, but then immediately regretted getting it? That's what happened to these mariners. Upon learning that this is in fact because of Jonah, and he has angered not just a god, lowercase g, but the god, uppercase G, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land, these men knew about your typical regional gods, the gods of this or that thing, the gods of this or that country or people group.

Those were the gods they prayed to, and then immediately went about lightening the ship because they instinctively knew there is not anything they're gonna do about it. Upon learning about the Hebrew god, that was something to fear.

It says, then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Now you can imagine Jonah's description of God.

I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land, was probably terrifying enough. However, these men came from Joppa. This is a city in Israel. They may well have heard of the mighty God that took his people out of Egypt 600 years earlier, who did great wonders against the mighty Egyptian empire.

So the men at this point are looking for answers and for what to do. They have asked Jonah why he fled from the presence of the Lord, and then they ask him what to do. Then they said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us, for the sea was growing more tempestuous?

Once again, they ask a question and immediately regret it. The answer is to throw Jonah into the sea. And he said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea, that the sea will become calm for you, for I know that this great tempest is because of me.

At last, we see Jonah redeeming himself a little bit. God is accomplishing his purposes for sending the storm. Jonah, who has rejected God's call, thoughtlessly put these mariners' lives in danger, did not own up to it until the lot cast its light on him.

He does the right thing and is willing to sacrifice himself to save these men. There's still a question about his motives around all of this, but we won't address that here. Again, the mariners are not liking the answers to the questions they're asking.

Nevertheless, the men rode hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. They try a final attempt to save their lives by their own efforts. They know that throwing Jonah into the sea this far from land is a death sentence.

Even if the sea goes calm, he will not survive. We see these pagan mariners know that to take a man's life is a serious thing and comes with serious consequences. They row hard, but God will not allow the boat to get to shore without accomplishing his purposes.