Being in the Presence of God, Jonah 1:1-6, sermon by Ps George Skariah

Being in the Presence of God

Jonah 1:1-6

 Jonah was a prophet of Israel, and a prophet of Yahweh, who prophesied around 800 BC.

 God’s Way for Jonah (v 2)

Nineveh was the capital of the ancient empire, Assyria, and it was situated east of Israel, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River.

God wanted to send a strong message to the city Nineveh for their wickedness and God chose Jonah to go to Nineveh to declare the message of God.

·         It was a privilege to be called by God, Jonah got that privilege of being a mouth-piece of God.

·         Assyria was the super power of that period. To go to such a great nation, and declare God’s message, was a great privilege for Jonah.

>> It is a privilege of knowing God, and being within the will of God.

>> It is a great privilege to be Christians in this world, and witness for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

>> It is great privilege to stand for the truth and declare the gospel of Christ.

>> It was George Whitefield who said I want to preach nothing but the gospel, and preach until the last breath and be buried under the pulpit. And it literally happened.  

Jonah Chooses his own Way (v 3)

Jonah chose to go to Tarshish, which was very far away from Joppa (modern costal town of Jaffa in Israel). It was estimated that Nineveh was 550 miles away from Joppa and Tarshish was 2500 miles from Joppa. Tarshish was situated westward on the Mediterranean Sea (close to Spain), which was a famous port city.

Jonah’s choosing of his way was described as he was fleeing from the presence of God.

·         This is not escaping from a territorial God; Yahweh is not a territorial God, but the God of the universe as He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

·         But this is taking a diversion from God—choosing one’s own path. This is rebelling against the will of God for one’s life. This is blatant disobedience (like the people of Nineveh, described in verse 2).

·         This is intentionally sinning against God. Perhaps, Jonah was concerned with all the negative impacts of going to Nineveh and preaching against the sin of the people.

>> We are very good in doing this—we want to choose our own path in life, convenient, comfortable, and neglecting God’s will for our lives.

·         Last Lord’s Day the Lord’s call for us was to possess our possessions (Obadiah 17).

Diversion from God Leads to Disaster (vv 4-7)

·         A great wind and mighty tempest.

·         Jonah went further away from God—he went down into the sides of the ship and fast asleep (v 5).

Eg. The story of Prodigal son in Luke 15.

>> We can never run away from God.

Solution from Disaster (v 6)

·       “Call upon thy God . . . God will think upon us, that we perish not.”

Conclusion/Application

Psalm 139

·         You know me (vv1-6)

·         You are with me (vv 7-12)

·         You created me (13-18)

·         Your cause is my cause (19-24)