If you would, please take your Old Testament Scriptures and let us turn once again to the book of Jonah. We started the book of Jonah last Lord's Day. We looked at the first three verses, which again acted as an introduction. And again, Jonah is unique among the prophets because it's primarily just a narrative about his story. But he is called, like the other prophets, but in a unique way to actually go physically to preach to the Ninevites. And yet within the first three verses, by verse three, Jonah is running in the opposite direction. So we saw him last time as the prodigal prophet, the runaway prophet called by God to go. And yet what we're going to see today in the Word of God and focus on is the fact, the good news is that Jehovah Himself is the pursuer of His people. He's the pursuer of His prophet, His wayward prophet. He's not going to let Jonah run away from the commission that He has called him to do because, again, as the Lord would tell the Apostle Paul, I have many in this city that I'm going to call to repentance. And as we're going to see today, he even has those on this ship that he is frequenting, trying to run away from the Lord. And so today we come to the Word of God. Again, the primary means that God uses to teach us thy way, He uses many means to do so, but primarily He uses us, uses His Word to do so. And so in the reading of the Word, I'll be reading beginning in chapter 1, verse 1, and read down to chapter 16, but our preaching portion will be verses 4 through 16 this morning, focusing on that. And so, before coming to the reading and preaching of God's Word, let us look to the Lord in prayer. Let us pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we do pray that you would illuminate your Word as we consider the life of Jonah and those among whom he is surrounded by, that you would teach us, your people, that though we may run away, You pursue after us. And we thank You that You do, O Lord, because where would we be if we ran away and could get away ultimately? No, we need You to pursue us in the times when we are fleeing, whether literally or figuratively. from your way, that you would teach us and that you would show us your love and your mercy by coming after us and not giving up on us and even using your severe mercy of sending storms and difficulties and even persecution and tribulation in our lives to steer us back toward you and back to your will for our lives. We thank You and praise You, Lord, and just pray that You bless Your Word to Your people this day and that we might be revived and refreshed through it, nourished by it, taught by it, of who You are, a great, big God who pursues after Your people. And we pray all these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. I ask that you please now stand once again for the reading of God's Holy Word that comes to us from Jonah, beginning in verse 1, chapter 1. I do remind you, Knox Presbyterian Church, these are the words of your God. 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 him 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 that 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 lain down and was fast asleep. 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. 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 of what people are you? 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. And 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 he said, 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. 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, the 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. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God, it stands forever. Please be seated. So children, last time we were here, we talked about running away from that which you are called, that you run away from that which you are called and commanded and required to do. Do you remember that? We talked about running away and we see that's what Jonah does. He runs away from what the Lord calls him to do. And today we want to continue talking about it, except we want to focus upon the uselessness, the vanity, the emptiness of this act of running away, for there is no escape. There is no running away ultimately. Why? Because there is one who pursues after you when you run away. Now, in your experience, it is probably one of your parents running after you and catching you and bringing you back. But ultimately, it is the Lord God himself who pursues after you if you are truly one of his children. So from last time, the Lord called commission, commanded Jonah, his prophet, his messenger, to bring his word of judgment against the wicked city and people of Nineveh. But Jonah responded by running away, of hopping a ship to Tarshish, going in the exact opposite direction away from the Word and presence of the Lord. His running away is described throughout the book as a descent. He's going down, down, down. If you're running away from the Lord, from His presence and His Word, You're going down. It is a descent. And so we read of him going down to Joppa, down to the port, down into the ship, down below the deck of the ship, and then laying down and he falls into a deep sleep. But the Lord will bring him down even further. as we shall see ultimately, so that even the pagan sailors know that he is the trouble, that he is in trouble. He is all their trouble. He needs to get up as the captain tells him. But finally, we see in our passage that he is thrown overboard so that he goes down into the deep waters. And Jonah's downward descent will continue in chapter 2, but the good news in the story of Jonah is that God pursues him. God doesn't let him go and cast him off. Even though the sailors cast him off the ship, God doesn't. He pursues after him. And we are witnessing God's abundant mercy for sinners. That is what we see here in Jonah. Whether it is the pagan sailors, whether it is the wicked enemies such as the Ninevites, but especially his wayward servants and messengers and his people like Jonah himself. And what Jonah will learn is what you and I learn in this passage today, which is there is no escape from the Lord's pursuit. There is no escape from the Lord's pursuit. Jehovah is the pursuer of his people. He will, in his severe loving mercy, uncover us, expose us, bring us to light that we might take joy in the God of our salvation. He pursues after his runaway prodigals using means beyond our ability to fathom or even understand. He has resources everywhere in everything. in His creation to use to pursue us in our flight, in order to bring us back to Himself and back to His will for us. So recognize, beloved, that there is no escape from the Lord's merciful pursuit. And we'll consider three points this morning in our message. And the first one is the Lord's response. The Lord's response, or what is His response? It is a rebuke, is it not? It's a rebuke. In verse 4 is the Lord's response, his rebuke to Jonah's response in verse 3 to the Lord's mission for him that's given in verse 2. That's kind of complicated. But again, Jonah's response is to run away from the Lord's commission of going to Nineveh. And so how does the Lord respond to that? We see that again in verse 4. The Lord flung or hurled a great wind at the sea. That's the idea there. It's not that He just sent it. He flung it. He hurled it at the sea. The Hebrew word sent out a great wind on the sea is the same word used in verse 5 when the sailors grab and throw the cargo overboard. They fling it, they hurl it over the ship into the sea. It's the same word also used when they grab Jonah and throw him off the ship. The Lord flung or hurled a great wind at the sea. And so Jehovah's actions here in verse four begin a chain of events that get his man off that ship. This ship is no refuge for his prodigal prophet. God's going to grab it like a ship in a bottle and just shake it up until everything falls off in order to get Jonah off. Now normally what happens, there are many prophets that disagree with the Lord and His mission, His commission that He sends them on. And normally what they think of Moses, right? I'm a stammering tongue. Please don't send me. They complain verbally to the Lord. That's what normally happens in these kind of situations. And then the Lord responds verbally, right? But we don't see that with Jonah. Jonah doesn't say anything, does he? He merely runs away. And so what we see is Jehovah responds in kind. No words. He just flings this wind, this storm at him. And as one commentator puts it, Jehovah conspires with the wind and the sea to foil Jonah's attempt to escape. Just as Jonah's objection to the commission is non-verbal, so is the Lord's rebuke. It's non-verbal. OK, so here Jehovah assumes the role of what theologically is called the divine warrior. We see him as a divine warrior bringing his people out of Egypt, fighting against Pharaoh, again using the wind to separate the sea and then engulf, let the sea go as it engulfs the Egyptian army. And here we see him flinging the gale of wind at the ship as a warrior flings a spear at an enemy. The wind serves as Jehovah's weapon and expresses his anger at Jonah's rejection of his commission. Wind often serves as a divine weapon, either in defense of the Lord's covenant people, as we see with the Exodus, or as an instrument of their chastisement, as we see here. The wind and the storm provoked here are like a warning shot across the bow. The divine warrior chastises his prophet to get on board with his divine mercy. Right? He's not on board with the Lord. He's on this ship leaving, right? Going in the opposite direction. His flinging the wind toward the sea eventually results in the mariners flinging Jonah into the sea. The point of this chain reaction is that Jehovah is orchestrating a series of events that place both Jonah and now those with him, who are accomplices, unknowingly, the sailors, again, entirely at his mercy. So what we see here is that creation itself conspires against Jonah's escape. Creation itself conspires against Jonah's escape, of running away, of fleeing. Again, this was no ordinary wind that he flings toward the sea. In the Hebrew, it is a great gale. It must have been extremely ferocious since these men are experienced seamen. and would not normally freak out during a storm. The severity of this divine rebuke highlights the severity of Jonah's rebellion and the persistence of the Lord's divine call and commission upon him. The Lord is not going to give up. He will win. Again, a very simple message from Jonah is you can't win against the Lord. It's futile. It's vain. It's empty. You better get on board with what he is doing and who he is and what he's called you to do. Notice the movement in this opening passage. It begins in heaven. Right? That's where the Lord resides in heaven. That's where His throne is. The Lord from heaven flinging the wind to the sea below. Right? Stirring up the storm. Notice the movement. And then we come to the ship. Threatening disintegration. It says the ship was about to be broken up. So we move from heaven, to the sea, to the ship, and then we go to the deck of the ship, where we see the mariners praying and flinging the cargo, this frenzy going on of activity, trying to save themselves, not knowing what's going on. And then we proceed to below the ship's deck, where Jonah is fast asleep. You see the movement? It's a descent. Right? And Jehovah will pursue and even drive Jonah to the very depths of not only the sea, but as we learn, to hell itself. What the Hebrew calls Sheol, the abode of the dead. To the abode of the dead. Jehovah describes this to the prophet Amos in chapter 9. He says, though they dig into hell, from there my hand shall take them up. David says the same thing in Psalm 139. If you go into heaven, if you go down into Sheol, into hell itself, the abode of the dead, you can't hide from Jehovah. He will find you. And He will bring you back, there is no escape. So the fierceness of the storm is meant to sabotage Jonah's escape. The ship is so pounded by the waves that it is threatened to burst apart. You can hear the timbers just shaking and again creaking and about ready to bust open. The Lord not only uses the wind and the storm on the sea, but the ship itself is a vessel used to thwart Jonah's escape. It itself assists Jehovah in sabotaging Jonah's getting away. So ironically, the very means that Jonah employed to transport him turn against him and conspire with Jehovah to bring his flight to an abrupt end. Just as the seas raging is designed to serve Jehovah's purposes, so is the ship's threat to burst apart. You see, all of creation conspires against Jonah. And it fills this episode of the story with irony. Jonah had attempted to escape his prophetic task by means of the wind and the sea and the ship. Right. It was a sailing ship. They needed the wind to drive the ship again to Tarshish. And so he thought to use the wind, the sea and even the ship. But we see that these things again are opposed to him. Thus, creation serves as messenger of divine wrath. Think about this. The creation becomes the messenger of God's anger, divine wrath and model of obedience because it obeys the Lord, not man. It obeys the divine call. Both roles intended for the prophet, and yet he's rejected them. To become the divine messenger and to model obedience by following the Lord's will. Jonah has disobeyed and he is rejected again to being the messenger of God. And here we say that creation takes it up, becomes the medium, the instrument of that very thing. So again, Jehovah's willing, as one commentator puts it, accomplices in subduing his rebellious runaway prodigal prophet. They communicate His wrath, they confirm His sovereign power, and they contribute to Jonah's return to dry land before the Lord's holy presence. The crisis of the storm at sea will be resolved in verse 15 of the passage, as we'll see. So we transition from what's happening to the ship itself to those on the ship, which brings us to the second point. which may sound kind of odd here, but our second point is we're all in the same boat. We're all in the same boat no matter who we are, okay? Note well first, and this is going to sound kind of odd, because there is a contrast. Notice the contrast in verse 5. Between the mariners, frenzied activity, they're running around crying out to their personal gods, trying to find out what's going on. They're grabbing the cargo, they're throwing it over, they're doing everything they are. All this frenzy of activity on the ship deck. And where's Jonah? He's down in the bowels of the ship, fast asleep. There's a frenzy of activity, but his is non-activity. Jonah slumbers while there's seeming chaos unfolding all around him. And what is it that the sailors fear? They fear the unknown. The sailors fear the unknown. They perceive both the supernatural nature of the storm as well as the imminent destruction of the ship. They fear for their lives. They have no idea what God has sent this storm or why, but they think, they know it's some kind of cosmic power. So desperate prayers to useless idols, false gods is followed by desperate and ultimately useless actions of flinging or hurling or throwing their bread and butter overboard into the sea. They're mariners. They're seamen. They are cargo transporters. That's what they do for a business. They're not only transporting Jonah, this man, but part of the cargo. Think about that when he's flung into the sea, like the cargo. There's a connection there, right? But this is their bread and their butter, the very means of their livelihood. The business to carry cargo from one port to another is now being jettisoned in order to attempt to save the ship, in order to save their lives. They're desperate. These are desperate men. Just as Jehovah flung the wind at the sea, creating the storm, now the mariners frantically flung their cargo overboard, attempting to save themselves. And yet, it's futile. It's vain. It's useless. It doesn't work. Okay? In fact, this may have been the very means of locating where Jonah is. They've grabbed the cargo, right? The Lord flings the wind at the sea, causing the terrified sailors to go below deck, where Jonah is, and to remove the cargo below by flinging it away into the sea, thus exposing Jonah. asleep below." Again, Jonah's slumbering as all this chaos goes on around him. Notice in verse 6 that the captain echoes Jehovah's commission in verse 2. Verse 2, Arise, go to Nineveh. Look at verse 6. So the captain came to Jonah and said to him, What do you mean, sleeper? Arise. Arise, call on your God. This is what he's running away from. This is what he's hiding from. This is what he's trying to escape from. And yet he hears arise up, get up. And so Jonah awakes to the sound of the same command that he's trying so desperately to hide and seek to run away from. He can't get away, right? Jonah's attempts to escape this call and ignore Jehovah's revelation are futile. His commission continued to haunt him even below in the bowels of the ship's hold. Also, the captain's words to Jonah here, listen, call on your God, now listen, perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish. He doesn't know Jehovah. They're Gentiles. They don't know the God of Abraham. They don't know the God of Jonah. Perhaps your God will consider. He doesn't know that he's a merciful God. This will later be echoed by the king of Nineveh in chapter three. In verse nine, he says, who knows? Perhaps God may turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish. Let us repent. Let's put sackcloth and ashes on and let us repent. Who knows if he's a merciful God and he will turn from his anger. You hear the echoes. Everything they have tried up to this point has not worked. Praying to their gods, nor throwing the cargo into the sea. And neither was Jonah forthcoming with what he knew about their situation. He knew why they were going through and experiencing what they were. Why there was this great raging storm and tempest. Why? Because he had run away from his prophetic responsibility to offer revelation. They are not in the know. They do not know what's going on. They're trying desperately to seek to find any way to find out what is going on. So given the ineffectiveness of their gods, obviously because they're false, they're useless, they're empty, they're vain, but also because of the unresponsiveness of Jehovah's prophet, what do they go to in verse seven? They cast lots. See, they're driven to this. They're driven to casting lots. It became their only recourse. But again, who's in control? Proverbs very clearly tells us that the lot is cast into the lap of man, but it's every decision, how it comes out, the turning out of it, is from the Lord. It's His decision. He's the one that determines it. And so what is the result? Once again, Jonah is exposed. Jonah is exposed. He is discovered. By the lot being cast, the Lord exposes his prodigal prophet. Although Jonah refused to reveal the reason behind the storm, Jehovah has means and resources. He doesn't need the prophet. He has other ways of revealing his will to man. And so it comes down to the lot. So what do they do? It falls on Jonah, so they come interrogating him with these probing questions in verse 8. And so Jonah finally is compelled in this way to actually serve as the Lord's prophet. He has to bear testimony. He has to bear witness. He can't get away from it. He can't remain silent. Okay? He becomes an instrument of revelation. Here is where the whole episode turns. Everything turns at this point upon the revelation of God's name. He answered them and he said, I am a Hebrew and I fear Jehovah. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Often we say that he created the heavens and the earth. But notice how he says, who made the sea and the dry land. His testimony and witness confirms their suspicion that they are dealing with a cosmic deity of great power. We read in verse 10, and the men feared with a great fear. God sent a great Gael and now the men fear with a great fear and said to him, why have you done this? What have you done to us? Are you crazy? Think about it. Now they know they are in deep, deep trouble. I mean, why in the world would you try to run away from the God of the sea on a ship? Are you crazy? This is the God who made the sea. He owns it. He's the possessor of it. He controls it. And yet you're trying to run away from Him on a ship on the sea? You're a madman. And now we're your accomplices. They know that they're in deep trouble. The men feared with a great fear, and understandably so. And now we come to it. Now we come to it. This is the turning point. Jonah thought he could stow away below, remaining removed and silent from these Gentile sailors, separating himself by remaining down below the deck in the recesses of the cargo hold of the ship. But the Lord has exposed him. He cannot remain hidden. He cannot remain silent. And now the sailors are in danger of losing their lives because of his sin and rebellion. Because of his running away from his responsibility, his call, his commission, the Lord's command. Jonah is discovered. He is exposed. Remember what Moses told the Israelites. Be sure your sin will find you out. Dear believer, know that your sin and mine affects others, even when it seems that it does not. We think it's secret. We think it's hidden. It is not. It affects others. And that's what we see here. Again, your sin is not isolated. It's not isolated to you alone. Although we think it is, it is not the case ever. Again, they were in danger of drowning because of Jonah's sin. They now know it. They know he's the problem. And notice that Jonah's designation for Jehovah narrows, flattens, or equalizes the playing field between Jews and Gentiles. He doesn't say the God of Israel. He says, I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord. He doesn't say the God of the Hebrews or the God of Israel, does he? He says, I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who made the sea in the dry land. How is he describing God? He's describing Him as the Creator of all. He's going all the way back to creation, right? For the Lord Jehovah, the God of heaven, is the Creator of all. He is the one and the only one who alone created the sea and the dry land. And so before this God, The true and living God, the creator of all people everywhere, every nation, every tribe, every tongue, do we stand before. In other words, as we start at this point, we're all in the same boat. Right? Whether Hebrew or Gentile Mariner, it doesn't matter. Whether landlubber like Jonah. Israelites were landlubbers. They didn't like the sea. It was chaos. That shows you how bad he disagreed with the Lord in going to Nineveh. But we're all in the same boat. We're on the same path to destruction, condemned to die. The Apostle Paul makes the same exact point in Romans 1-3. After declaring destruction upon the Gentiles, the unbelieving Gentiles, for going after other gods and worshipping them, and God gives them over to their sins, He then deals with the Jews. Jews, do you think you're better? Do you think you're not under the condemnation of God? Do you think you don't need the mercy and salvation of the Lord? You do. He ends with, in chapter three, for all have sinned, all are on equal plane before God. You are sinners, whether Jew or gentle, all have fallen short of the glory of God. Both Jews and Gentiles, believers and unbelievers alike, we're all sinners. And we all need the merciful grace of God. We are all in the same boat. We all need God to be merciful to us. That's the point. We all need a Savior. We all need the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sin and guilt. Jonah is a runaway believer. I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord. And he's in the same exact boat, same circumstance, same situation, same perilous storm with these unbelieving sailors. And yet they're all about to meet their maker. They are meeting him right now. We're all in the same boat. And so these men inquire of Jonah, the prophet of the Lord, as to what they are to do. What do we do? And specifically, if you're the problem, what do we do with you? Justice, right? What is required? What does justice require? That way we do not perish. And of course, Jonah's shocking response comes in verse 12. And he said to them, pick me up and throw, fling, hurl me into the sea. then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that this great tempest is because of me." Again, Jonah now plays the prophet. He's revealing the truth of what is happening. He's pulling back the veil from the unknown to make it known what is happening. Now they know. He's revealing what the Lord is doing. So you may be asking, Why doesn't Jonas simply repent? Isn't repentance the point? If he would repent and tell them to turn back to Joppa, drop me off, let me go, he doesn't. Why doesn't he simply repent? Well, first of all, we make the first mistake of asking, simply repent. Repentance isn't always simple, is it? It usually isn't. Easy. It's not simple. But also, Jonas still disagrees with the Lord's commission for him to go and preach to Nineveh, that great wicked city. His sense of divine justice may be preventing him from repentance, because he cannot reconcile himself to a commission in which he fundamentally disagrees with. Those people are too wicked. for God to show His mercy to them. So perhaps Jonah expects to die under divine judgment. And he may even have been trying to force Jehovah's hand to that end. Perhaps that is what this flight is intended to accomplish. Jonah knows there is no escaping the Lord. He is the God who made the sea. Rather, his flight invites Jehovah's judgment as a preferable alternative to this commission, even if that ultimately means his own death. Again, he's a contemporary of Amos and Hosea, who both prophesied that God would raise up Assyria to come and judge his people. He can't handle it. He tries to stop it. He doesn't want to be the instrument of that, of showing mercy to these people that are ultimately going to do these horrible things to Israel. Actually, he's going to take her out. The Northern Kingdom will be no more. When Assyria comes and takes them captive, they don't go into exile like the Southern Kingdom, Judah, and then come back 70 years. They're obliterated. In fact, the people that are left there are mixed with other nations, and they become what we know in the New Testament as Samaritans, and the Jews refer to them as half-breeds. The Northern Kingdom is completely destroyed by the Assyrians. Jonah knows this, and so he stays the course of trying to run away. He'd rather die. So Jonah will discover, however, that neither Jehovah's judgment nor his salvation is subject to human manipulation of this fashion. The mariners seem to ignore the proposal in verse 12 as though unwilling to consider at least at this point such a drastic action as flinging Jonah overboard and leaving him to drown. They do not want the responsibility and guilt for taking his life, especially since he's the prophet of the Lord. This is God's man. So one final desperate solution that they've not tried motivates them. Rowing. They row. Right? Verse 13, they attempt to row back to shore, which brings us to our third point. Not only are we all in the same boat, but we are all helpless rowers. Like these mariners, we're all helpless rowers. Notice the result of their efforts. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to return to land, but they could not. Everything they've tried, everything they have tried, all of their efforts are futile, are vain. But they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. The sea continued to rage against them. The mariners take to the oars and strain against the elements in a futile attempt to reach land. And this is where we all are. Put yourself into their shoes. This is where we all are. We all are rowing, trying to row and attempt to row our way out of the storm, out of trouble, out of difficulty, out of our predicament, out of our circumstances, our situation. We attempt to save ourselves by our own hard work and by our own human efforts. When all the while the answer is right before us, right? The Lord has spoken. The Lord has given his word. Right? Through the mouth of his prophet, in verse 12. How were they to be saved from the storm? They must fling, hurl, or throw the prophet overboard into the sea. Now, I'll leave it to you if you want to contemplate why Jonah doesn't go jump into the water. But again, that would take away the connection between Jonah as an instrument and vessel in the hands of the Lord. And that takes away the connection between him and the cargo. The mariners had their cargo that was a means of supplying their needs and getting what they want, right? It was their living. Jehovah had his cargo on board to Jonah by the means of proclaiming his word, of fulfilling his will. You see the connection? And so as Jonah has to be flung overboard, just as the cargo is flung overboard, there's a connection made. Not only that, but obviously trying to commit some kind of suicide would be against the idea of that. Whenever God's men complained about how bad it was, they would say, please take me out of the game. They didn't try to commit suicide, which again is a sin. Okay. But it also raises the idea that God will use the nations to judge and chastise and punish his people. Moses declares it. Here, these Gentile mariners must be the ones, again, God will use as a means to chastise, again, Jonah. And so, they must fling her or throw the prophet overboard into the sea. Jehovah's creational conspiracy permits no human solutions to the problem. It's all futile. It's all vain. their absolute helplessness as rowers to do any good in this circumstance drives them to do what? To join the Lord's conspiracy. Remember, all of creation. God uses all of creation, not only the wind, not only the sea, not only the ship, but also these mariners right in his conspiracy we see in verse 15. But before doing so, they humble themselves, right? Because they think Jonah's crazy, right? Who in their right mind would try to run away from the God of the sea on a ship? That's ludicrous. That's ridiculous. So they plead for the Lord's clemency in verse 14. His mercy toward them and what they were about to do to Jonah. Don't hold us responsible for his death. That's what they pray. And they fling him into the sea. But again, notice what they say. They've been driven to this. They've tried everything else. So they plead with the Lord and they confess Jehovah's sovereign freedom at the end of verse 14. For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. Jehovah's in control. Jehovah is in control. He has orchestrated everything that led to this point. The mariners do the only thing they can in response to his intervention. So these Gentile sailors move from praying to their false gods, their idols, to petitioning the true and living God, the creator of the sea and the land. They move from ignorance to understanding, to knowledge. Notice. No longer are their prayers aimless noise to what are no gods. But they are directed to the one who is the all powerful one who can really and truly save them from their plight. And having made their petition, the crew turn to their somber task. In keeping with Jonah's instructions, again, the word of God from the mouth of the prophet. They lift the prophet up and they fling him into the sea. Again, using the same work in which Jehovah, same word, in which Jehovah flings the wind toward the sea and the crew cast or flings their cargo overboard. So the Lord initiates a series of events here, culminating in this moment of getting Jonah off that ship. And having fulfilled the Lord's word through the prophet, we read, the sea ceased its raging. It's calm. Thus the Lord of the seas' anger relents. The God of the seas' wrath is removed. The Lord here grants divine assurance. by the calming of the sea immediately to these mariners that cry to Him, humble themselves, cry to Him. So the sudden calming of the storm assures the sailors that Jehovah has accepted their plea for mercy. This is their assurance. Jonah's assurance of the Lord's mercy doesn't come until the next verse, in verse 17, that we'll look at next time, and also in chapter 2. So here we see the resolution of the crisis of the storm of the sea. And we'll consider the resolution of the crisis of the Lord's prodigal prophet being thrown into the sea next time. And then we find the result of this whole interchange between the Lord and Jonah, his runaway prodigal, and the seemingly innocent bystanders, these Gentile pagan mariners. These semen. And what's the result? Worship. Right? Verse 16. They worship. We end with them worshiping the Lord in verse 16. Though we might expect all traces of fear to vanish with the calming of the storm, the opposite is actually the case. And this is where we see the parallels, right? With the story of Jesus in Mark 4. It says, then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. Literally, again, the men feared with a great fear Jehovah. That which is originally unknown to them now has a name. The one who controls the sea has a name. Their fear has a name. And the name of their fear is Jehovah. Here we see the ship's crew's fear transformed. They were gripped by a deathly fear, but now it's been transformed by a living fear. A profound sense of awe, respect, honor at Jehovah's readiness to reveal himself as he's done and to respond to their great need. Never before have they encountered a God so forthcoming regarding His will and so ready to deliver those who turn to Him in humble petition. They've prayed to their idols, their so-called gods before, with no effects. Here's another instance. But when they humbly plead and cry out to Jehovah, they see His hand at work. They know He is. the God of heaven, the God who made the sea and the dry land. They believe and they worship. This fear for the Lord is no mere religious sentiment. It finds tangible expression in the crews, grateful and thankful worship. They sacrifice sacrifices to Jehovah and they vowed vows. And it's interesting. The commentators say that their worship is described in the Hebrew. This is this odd way of saying it. They sacrifice sacrifices to Jehovah and they vowed vows. It's described in the Hebrew with surprise, as though shocked that these Gentile mariners would offer acceptable worship to Jehovah. They're doing the very things that Jehovah reveals to Israel, how to worship Him properly. And so perhaps, did Jonah tell them more than they didn't know? They know how to worship Him. And we see this. These Gentile sailors, we see their proper response and actions, and that those proper response and actions are a foreshadowing pointing forward to what will also be the proper response of the Ninevites in chapter 3. Despite Jonah's efforts to escape and hide, God has used Jonah on this ship as a prophet, as his witness, and his testimony to bring about, again, the prayers, worship of these pagans. And it's said that they sacrificed sacrifices and they took vows. They vowed vows. That means they kept on worshiping Jehovah. Again, the same, we see their proper response and actions point forward to the response and actions of the Ninevites to the word of the Lord through the mouth of His prophet. Yes, Jonah is a prodigal prophet. He's a runaway. He's rebellious. But the Lord, that doesn't stop the Lord from using him, and He will use him. And He will use him to bring about, again, the repentance of the Ninevites. But God still has to deal with Jonah. He's off the ship. But here we begin to get a glimpse of how Jonah serves as a portrait and a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we not? Only the sacrifice of Jesus, the one greater than Jonah, will you and I be saved. Will you and I not perish? They tried everything. They tried everything they knew to do to try to deliver themselves. And it was futile. It was empty. It was vain. It was useless. They had to listen to what the Lord said to the mouth of this prophet. And the prophets from old until now have prophesied of the coming one, the Son of God, who would be sacrificed. He is the suffering servant. Jesus is sent to proclaim the mercy of God towards sinners, and yet He is the personification of that mercy. He is the one that has to be sacrificed, like Jonah, in order for the wrath of God to be appeased and to come calm and there be peace. So here we see the gospel in the book of Jonah. Here we begin to see the glimpses of how Jesus can say, one greater than Jonah is here. That Jonah is a picture pointing to me, even though he's the runaway prodigal prophet. And so as we come to a close of our message here, there is no escape from the Lord's pursuit. You may run, But if you are truly one of God's children, you can't get away. And you won't get away. For He will mercifully pursue you and bring you back. And that is good news. That is hope. That's what the Lord has done with Jesus Christ, our Lord. He sent the Lord into the world to bring children, His children that He has chosen, to Himself. Sons and daughters. And just like with these seafaring Gentile mariners, what should our response be to this news? It should be worship. To worship Jehovah. To stand in awe of His power, His majesty, and especially for His mercy. Again, remember what the Apostle Paul says in the declaring in his choosing and in his working out salvation of those whom he has chosen. Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom of the knowledge of God. They are past finding out. But the good news is, is that he reveals things through his prophets in his world. He said, there's nothing that I will not that I have not revealed to my servants, the prophets and his ultimate prophet is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we ought to, again, we ought to worship. We see the Lord's mercy, His persistent, unrelenting, merciful pursuit of His wayward, runaway, prodigal children. Praise Him, right? Praise His name. That should be our response. We'll continue on and figure out what happens. If you want to hear what happens to Jonah, you've got to come back next time, right? Because Jonah's in the water. He's off the ship. That's where God wanted him. That's where God's going to start communicating to Jonah a little bit more clearly of his plan, his purpose. He's got to get on board with these things because he will not be thwarted. Amen. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the message of the prophecy of Jonah. We thank you that you declare your mercy before all peoples. And we know that we're on the same boat and we're all a bunch of helpless again rowers. Help us to cease from rowing and simply to obey you, to humble ourself, to repent and to believe, to get on board Because again, you want to show mercy to those sinners that are outside of your kingdom, that you might draw them in. Use us, O Lord. Do not cast us off. Thank you, and we give you praise in Christ's name.