00:00:00:09 - 00:00:20:27 Clint Loveall Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I hope you're doing well on this Tuesday as we continue. Monday sorry, Monday on this Monday, as we continue through the book of Jonah. About halfway through, a little better than halfway through the first chapter. We're in verse 11. Quick recap. Jonah has fled from the presence of the Lord. That's the text. 00:00:20:27 - 00:00:43:27 Clint Loveall The way the text puts it. God has sent a storm to chase the ship. The sailors believe themselves to be in Paris. They've drawn lots. The lot fell on Jonah. They've asked him who he is, what he did. And the last thing the book tells us is that Jonah had told the sailors he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord. 00:00:43:28 - 00:01:03:47 Clint Loveall So we pick up the story in verse 11 of chapter one. Then the sailor said to him, What shall we do to you? That the sea may quiet down for us? For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. And he said to them, Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. 00:01:03:52 - 00:01:25:34 Clint Loveall For I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you. Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not. For the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Then they cried to the Lord. Please. Lord. We pray. Do not let us perish on account of this man's life. 00:01:25:39 - 00:01:48:30 Clint Loveall Do not make us guilty of innocent blood For you all, Lord have for you all, Lord have done as it pleased you. So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. And the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Yeah. 00:01:48:32 - 00:02:19:24 Clint Loveall Let's stop there, Michael. So the continuation of the story, they. They asked Jonah in saying that he's in Hebrew, in saying that he's running from the presence in the context of the story. Jonah is suddenly kind of the one who has expertise, or at least who the soldiers, the sailors excuse me, assume to have some insight into what would what was is happening and how to stop it. 00:02:19:24 - 00:02:47:53 Clint Loveall So what should we do to you or with you that this would stop and Jonah says, pick me up. And we've had a conversation about the use of up in this story already picked me up and throw me and remember that the word throw here is exactly the same word hurl. God has hurled a great wind. Now Jonah says, Raise me up and hurl me into the sea. 00:02:47:58 - 00:03:15:06 Clint Loveall And the sea will quiet down for I know it's because of me. That is a very interesting thing that Jonah says. I know it's because of me. He accepts responsibility, but he doesn't repent. And he says it to the sailors. But there's no word from Jonah to God yet. And I think that's a very interesting moment. Jonah understands that he is, in fact, the reason. 00:03:15:10 - 00:03:39:45 Clint Loveall But rather than address the one who is pursuing him, he would prefer to be thrown into the sea. And there are Bible scholars who say, well, he's afraid this. I mean, I think this I think there is a temptation to overinterpret here. I think this is how much Jonah doesn't want to go to Nineveh. I think he'd rather go into the ocean. 00:03:39:50 - 00:04:01:49 Clint Loveall So he tells them, you know, again, he and God are in this standoff, and I think he'd rather die than lose. You know, there are there are people who have studied much more than I and know more than I do. And they would try to suggest there are multiple ways to read that. But I think that's the historic way it's been read. 00:04:01:49 - 00:04:11:34 Clint Loveall And I don't really see any reason to divert from that. Michael, I think the clear message here is Jonah would rather go into the ocean than do what God has wanted him to do. 00:04:11:36 - 00:04:27:12 Michael Gewecke Well, so, Clint, towards that point that you're making here, we got to remember that as we study this book, we are going into a little bit of a slower pace. And the perk of that is you get to pick up some of the details as you go along. That's a great gift. Well, the downsides of that is you miss some of the larger context. 00:04:27:13 - 00:04:48:52 Michael Gewecke You can easily sit down with Jonah this afternoon. This evening, you could read through this entire book and you could do it in one sitting and it would be no problem at all. And if you're going to do that, then when you come to a section of the text like this one and you begin to see the personality of Jonah being lived out in the way that is in this moment, you have to add to it all of the stuff that's going to come later. 00:04:48:52 - 00:05:09:28 Michael Gewecke There's going to be a prayer. There's going to be going into Nineveh in a very interesting and half hearted proclamation there. And then you're going to have to see him get up on the hill looking down on Nineveh, hoping for a certain outcome. And in the midst of all of that, you're getting interpretive guides or help as to exactly how you should read the section. 00:05:09:28 - 00:05:33:27 Michael Gewecke And I think it will only bolster your point. If you look at Jonah as a whole, if you look at this book, what you're going to discover is that Jonah is incessantly committed to the task that he took from the beginning. And when he puts his money where his mouth is, when he gets into the boat going in the opposite direction of where God told him to go. 00:05:33:37 - 00:06:00:45 Michael Gewecke And when you have this encounter, as we've said it before, this kind of chicken with God type construct in this story at the end of the day, Jonah is not going to flinch. He seems to and we don't know how he knows this, by the way. I think that's one of the really interesting details of this text is he says so clearly here in verse 12 for I know it's because of me that this great storm's upon me. 00:06:00:45 - 00:06:20:30 Michael Gewecke So he has the answer. Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Well, we have no clue. The test gives us no gas as to why Jonah would know that that's the case. That that if he was to do that, other than this awareness that the one thing that God has demanded is the one thing that Jonah's unwilling to give him. 00:06:20:34 - 00:06:43:01 Michael Gewecke What is that? His faithfulness? His his response to God's call? God wants Jonah and Jonah doesn't want to go and do what God has called him to do. So at the end of the day, Jonah says, Well, give God me. And what's fascinating, I think, is as I read this text and I think, like you've said, others could read it differently. 00:06:43:06 - 00:07:06:10 Michael Gewecke There's a coldness in Jonah's response here that is chilling, a kind of is it apathy? I don't think it is apathy. If I had to describe it, I would call it a kind of almost burning desire to prove to God how far he's willing to go, to not proclaim the good news to people who shouldn't hear it in Jonah's estimation. 00:07:06:21 - 00:07:08:55 Michael Gewecke And that extent is to the edge of life itself. 00:07:09:00 - 00:07:38:48 Clint Loveall Yeah, he's he's clearly willing to risk death or maybe even to seek death verses to allow God to sway him and change his mind. And so throw me into the sea. And this is I think this is where we see some of the depth of Jonah's. You could call it disobedience, Maybe you could call it bias or hatred. 00:07:38:52 - 00:08:15:02 Clint Loveall But this path that he is on in fleeing from God. Jonah is willing to walk that path to his last breath. And I think we under I think maybe we undervalue that in the presentation of this story oftentimes. And to the to the sailors credit, they're they're unsure of this. So it says never the less they rode hard to bring the ship back to land, which is not a thing you would do in a storm. 00:08:15:07 - 00:08:40:39 Clint Loveall But those kind of details, you know, the sailors don't act like sailors in this whole chapter. They they always do the opposite of what you would probably want to do in a situation like this. But again, Jonah's not about naval procedures. Jonah is a is about a story of a man running from God. So they they are unwilling to do this. 00:08:40:44 - 00:09:09:56 Clint Loveall And when it when it seems clear that there's no way they will be delivered, they cry out. And this time, interestingly, we we read in the earlier, they each cried out to their own God. This time they cry out to the Lord capital. They cry out, Please, Lord, and they literally use God's name. Here we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man's life or make us guilty of innocent blood. 00:09:10:01 - 00:09:39:07 Clint Loveall For you all, Lord have done as it pleased you. And so now, while Jonah has yet to address God, right now we have the sailors praying to God in their own anguish, in their own decision, one moment in their own choice, and don't make us guilty of of his blood. Don't make us accountable before you for for you have done this. 00:09:39:07 - 00:10:16:32 Clint Loveall And they picked Jonah up and they threw again, the word is hurl. They hurl him into the sea and the sea ceased. It's raging, which, you know, in the course of the story makes it clear that Jonah is exactly right. This is because of him. And in those moments, Jonah probably thinks, well, at least I won't have to go to an end of a I mean, I don't know if you count this as a win as Jonah's going over to the side of the boat, but this seems like checkmate. 00:10:16:37 - 00:10:19:23 Clint Loveall But of course, we know better. 00:10:19:28 - 00:11:04:14 Michael Gewecke So the fascinating turn that's happened in this story and we really, I think, are tempted to read to the children's story part of this text, which is the part at the very end where once Jonah lands in the sea, we know what's going to happen there. But on the way to it, it's so easy to read pass this that it is the men who literally just moments ago, just a few verses ago, are praying to their gods lowercase g, and now they're praying to the god of Israel, the very one that has called Jonah to this task. 00:11:04:19 - 00:11:32:25 Michael Gewecke They're calling out to this God, not just for the sake of resolving this storm, but also for the sense of guilt that they have in sacrificing this man because of the storm. And what's so amazing about this text is that at the end they're saying here ultimately don't make us guilty of his blood because this is a thing that we can't control. 00:11:32:25 - 00:12:05:28 Michael Gewecke This is a thing that we're doing because we're responding to this thing that you've chosen to do. It's a kind of act of faith which goes far beyond what you would expect of even hardly an Israelite yet alone for and sailors who have a mishmash of gods on the boat. And this is even a small measure when you get to the end of this and we see in verse 16, then the men being the sailors feared the Lord Capital L that the name of God even more. 00:12:05:33 - 00:12:32:27 Michael Gewecke There's this amazing conversion moment that's happened for these men, and I think it has to be part of the interpretive framework for this story. We have to keep the sailors on one hand and you have to keep Jonah and the other. When you look at both and you see the power of God displayed to the sailors results in humble praise and prayer to God in the other's case. 00:12:32:27 - 00:12:58:57 Michael Gewecke In Jonah's case that seeing the power of God leads him to want to give up his own life for the sake of not following with that, God has called him to do what is a very surprising place to see Faith and the others, a very surprising place to see not just a lack of faith, but a denial of that faith, a rejection of what God calls Jonah to do that this is the amazing scene that happens on that boat. 00:12:58:57 - 00:13:21:09 Michael Gewecke And for an adult disciple, for someone of some years of faith and scripture, this is, I think, one of the key parts of this story. We're going to see it repeated in in future characters. It's an amazing contrast. And within this contrast is a I think, a very harrowing question. If we're going to be honest. It's a question about for each of us. 00:13:21:14 - 00:13:35:06 Michael Gewecke When push comes to shove, if we both encounter if all of us encounter the same God, how do we account for very different responses to that God? And this text illustrates that in unbelievably powerful ways. 00:13:35:11 - 00:14:14:30 Clint Loveall Well, I think if you look at the four chapters of Jonah, in three different instances, you get an experience of a person or group of people who are delivered and then rejoice because of that. And the first instance here is the sailors. They respond to being deliver. The sea quiets and they worship, they fear, they offer sacrifice. They make vows so that God provides deliverance is a catalyst for these men to move toward prayer and faithful response. 00:14:14:34 - 00:14:48:36 Clint Loveall We will see the same thing from the invites. We will see the same thing from Jonah, though Jonah's has an asterisk on it, but there are three different cycles of deliverance and gratitude that happened in this book. And we close the first chapter with the ending of the first cycle. The sailors make vows and worship only verse 17 because that really, I think, fits with chapter two perhaps better than this ending of chapter one. 00:14:48:41 - 00:15:20:02 Clint Loveall So we'll make that the line for today. But it's a two really interesting part of the story. And I think at this point, Michael, the sailors really cease to exist from the story. They've had their moment, They've stepped up in scene one. They've said their lines and done their part. Now they fade into the background and we see Jonah going into the water again with the question hanging over that who gets their way, Jonah or God? 00:15:20:02 - 00:15:32:40 Clint Loveall And and it would seem strongly likely that that's going to be Jonah as he goes under the water. But as it turns out, God is not finished responding yet. 00:15:32:45 - 00:16:03:20 Michael Gewecke I think an important word here to not pass by before we leave here is in verse 14, this idea of perish, do not let us perish. That theme is woven throughout this book. The question that began this book, where God tells Jonah to go cry out against Nineveh that's the world and cry out against it is really not directly attached to the the perishing or the thriving of that city, but it is clearly going to become that is this story goes along. 00:16:03:25 - 00:16:36:50 Michael Gewecke And I think that these sailors have been spared. They will not perish because they have responded and now they even make vows to this God that has saved them to the Lord, to Yahweh, that that the God of the nation of Israel. So in response, they have been saved. And the question that I think we see in this text already is maybe surprising for some of us because we we might initially think of the fish that swallows Jonah as as the first saving act that Jonah's been saved. 00:16:37:04 - 00:16:59:46 Michael Gewecke But the first saving act is God has saved these sailors, that God has responded to their prayers and supplications, that Jonah was right when they threw him in. That would be the end. They would be spared. Their lives would be taken. And there's going to be several people. There's going to be several moments here where salvation or being saved happens. 00:16:59:51 - 00:17:14:06 Michael Gewecke They are kept from perishing. And I think it's it's interesting to me to say it more simply because it happens before Jonah goes in the water. And that's, I think, a thing that might be surprising for some of us. 00:17:14:11 - 00:17:52:12 Clint Loveall Yeah, I think one of the one of the pressing questions of this book is how does God respond to people who disobey? And I don't know that it's fair to put the sailors in that category, but certainly that's the focus on Jonah right now and bracketed on both sides of that is God's treatment of the invites. And so that in a wonderful, beautiful way, the author, even as we've only gotten through one chapter, is beginning to draw these threads together and beginning to bring this picture together, you know, in a really interesting way. 00:17:52:17 - 00:18:21:06 Clint Loveall Chapter two is fascinating. Maybe in some ways the most interesting chapter in the book of Jonah in terms of poetry and some of the language. I hope you can join us as we'll get into it tomorrow. Don't know that we'll get all the way through it tomorrow, but we'll certainly take a look at it. And I think it's worth it's a chapter that's not generally a part of the when you learn this story in Sunday school or when you hear it. 00:18:21:10 - 00:18:36:46 Clint Loveall Jonah's prayer is often or Jonah's psalm is often not focused on it's not often not highlighted. And it is one of the more interesting parts of the story, I think. So I hope you can join us as we get into that. 00:18:36:54 - 00:18:58:07 Michael Gewecke Yeah, we're at the eve of chapter one here. We have three chapters to go and this is not the only chapter that's full of nuance and complexity and interesting twists and turns. In fact, it continues chapter over chapter to bring the same. So we would love to have you join us for those conversations. The easiest way to do that is to subscribe. 00:18:58:12 - 00:19:14:18 Michael Gewecke That gives you the quickest access to studies as they come out. Of course, we'd love for you to like the video if it's been helpful for you and your own faith in discipleship, we would really appreciate if you would share with others who might also find it helpful in their own faith. Walk and leave us a comment, questions, thoughts. 00:19:14:18 - 00:19:22:01 Michael Gewecke And we would love to engage with you down there. Hope you're well, and we look forward to seeing you as we continue you on this study tomorrow, 2:00 Central. 00:19:22:03 - 00:19:22:44 Clint Loveall Thanks to everybody.