Genesis 4:7b: Sin is Crouching at Your Door.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 03 June 2012
By Captain Michael Ramsay

Genesis 4:7b: ‘But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.’ According to a number of prominent Biblical scholars, this verse is the key to the whole short story of Cain and Abel;[1] as such I thought that it would be a good one to focus on today. First, however, the text mentions a sibling rivalry for their Heavenly Father’s attention, so I thought I would share a couple of comics about sibling rivalry.

In my own life growing up, I had a sister who was one year younger than I was and I remember a few times that we had some challenges. Like Cain and Abel had some differences in the way their Heavenly Father accepted their offerings, my parents sometimes treated my sister and I a little differently. I can remember my sister’s protests at times and they were often met with the same response: How come Michael has a later curfew than I do? (Because he’s older and he’s a boy.) How come Michael is allowed to go to that event tonight but I can’t? (Because he’s older and he’s a boy.) How come Michael is allowed to use the car tonight and I can’t? (Because he’s older and he’s a boy.) It also worked the other way around. I can remember one evening when I was supposed to bring my little sister along with me to church group and I could go out again afterwards as long as she was home on time. I made sure she arrived close to home – down the street - but I didn’t take her directly in (I was in a hurry) and so she didn’t actually bother to go inside the house until after her curfew. When I arrived home much later that night, my mom grounded me because my sister was late. When I asked why I was grounded because she didn’t come home on time, the answer was, ‘because you’re older and you’re a boy.’ It worked both ways; my protests weren’t accepted any more than my sister’s were.

In the pericope before us today Cain is older and he’s a boy and Cain’s offerings aren’t accepted either. The two brothers here make offerings to the Lord. Genesis offers no specific reason why Cain’s offering is not accepted (but cf. Hebrews 11:4, 1 John 3:12; Jude 11). People like to guess as to why his offering was not acceptable but the Bible here just says, Genesis 4:4b-5a, “The LORD looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favour.”

Cain’s feelings are hurt as his offering is not acceptable to the Lord. Genesis 5b records, “So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast (NIV), his countenance fell (NRSV).” Terence E. Fretheim tells us, “Cain’s response – the downcast face (the external manifestation of the inner feeling) – reveals the idea more of dejection, feelings associated with rejection, rather than anger. Cain must care about what God thinks of him and his offering. But the basic issue becomes not that Cain acts in a dejected fashion, but how he responds to God’s interaction with him about his dejection.”[2]

Cain feels dejected and even angry that God accepts his brother’s offering but not his. How do we feel when it seems that someone else is accepted and we’re not? How do we feel do if we think (rightly or wrongly) that our brother or sister is getting preferential treatment over us? Anyone who is a parent: how many times have you heard the complaint that “That’s not fair!” or “She started it!” How do we feel, any of us that are employed, if our boss always notices what our co-worker is doing right but never seems to notice us? Or if he does notice us at all, he only seems to notice us when we really mess things up? How do we feel if we work really hard and we want to be thanked but someone else always gets the credit? How do we feel if, in our opinion, we invest all of our time and energy into a project for the church or the community and the pastor/officer and/or person in charge never seems to notice? Have you ever been to an awards ceremony where your colleague or your sibling is being honoured and you wonder, ‘why not me?’ Have you ever wondered why your friend, your boss, your pastor or your officer appears to like someone else more than he like you? Have you ever wondered why someone in particular is always asked to help with things but you never are? Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt left out, dejected, rejected, angry? Do you ever feel like this? Cain does. If we ever feel like this, God is warning us, Genesis 4:7, that sin is crouching at our door, just like it was at Cain’s door; sin desires to have us, but we must master it.

I remember once at a science fair when I was in elementary school and probably no older than the eldest of my children are now. I had spent a lot of time working on my project for the fair and I thought it was pretty good. Well, the night before my sister had just thrown something together and – in my opinion – it looked like it. I remember when they were announcing the awards by grade, they announced my grade and I did not win anything. I was feeling a little dejected and rejected and sin was crouching at my door and I said to my friends around me, “well, as long as my sister doesn’t win; if she wins I’ll, I’ll…” Looking around for something, I spot my friend Craig and I say, “If she wins, I’ll… beat up Craig.” You can probably guess the rest of the story. The next name called is my sister’s and I spend the next 5 or 10 minutes chasing Craig around the gym; he really isn’t all that eager to help me fulfill my pledge to beat him up. Does anyone else here ever feel frustrated; sometimes maybe even saying ill-advised things, ready to boil over like that?

God says, “But if you not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” I think He is talking about situations just like this. You have heard it said that vengeance is mine says the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19; cf. Genesis 50:19, 1 Samuel 26:10, Psalm 94:1, Jeremiah 51:36) and you have heard it said, ‘in your anger do not sin’ (Psalm 4:4, Ephesians 4:26; cf. Matthew 5:22). This is exactly the kind of thing that God is warning Cain about in this pericope when He says, “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

This really does seem to be the key to this whole story of Cain and Abel. The story really does focus on Cain and God and God’s desire for Cain to avoid falling prey to sin, rather than on Abel and his acceptable offering. Abel is sort of a passing character. The name ‘Abel’ actually simply means ‘vapour’ or ‘nothingness’;[3] his time is passing. Cain’s name, on the contrary, seems to point to his significance in this scenario; it means ‘to get’ or ‘to create’. Cain is the first-born child of Adam and Eve and Eve even praises and credits God for his birth (Genesis 4:1). The whole story around the death of Abel is told about Cane from God’s point-of-view making the following point about sin crouching at Cain’s door after God doesn’t accept Cain’s offering, Genesis 4:6-7:

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

God is warning Cain; He is giving Cain every opportunity to do what is right and He is warning him as well that there will be natural and logical consequences if he does not do what is right – sin is crouching at his door. Verses 8 and 9:

⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” [Actually the ancient Hebrew doesn’t have this phrase where Cain invites Abel into the field; that is in the LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch but it is not in the ancient Hebrew, the MSS].[4] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

In a sad sort of way, this is interesting; it should be familiar to us. This reply is reminiscent of Cain’s parents reply to God when God questions them about eating the forbidden fruit. When that happens Adam blames God and the woman for his sin – he says to the LORD, “the woman YOU gave me made me do it” and the woman in turn blames the serpent (Genesis 3). Cain here knows that God is his brother’s keeper (cf. Genesis 28:15; 2 Samuel 22:44; Psalms 121:3-8, 34:21, 37:28, 97:10, 116:6, 145:20, 146:9; Jeremiah 31:10; cf. also Exodus 23:20 and Psalm 91:11);[5] so when God questions him, like his father before him Cain tries to deflect the blame back on God.[6] When God rhetorically asks Cain where his brother is, Cain in essence says, “I don’t know; why would I know? Aren’t you the one who is supposed be keeping him and looking out for him?”[7] God doesn’t get drawn into this. He informs Cain that since Cain did not heed God’s warning of Verse 7 that ‘… if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door,’ there are consequences, Genesis 4:10-12:

¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

This is important. There are consequences for giving into sin. It really is crouching at the door, just like God warns Cain before he strikes his brother. Sin is like a house cat. Has anyone ever had a pet cat? Sin is like a cat patiently hiding in the grass waiting for a bird to land in front of it. If you have ever watched a cat stalk its prey, you will know that as the moment of attack comes closer and closer, the cat becomes more and more excited: her limbs start twitching, her ears press back against her head, her eyes grow wide, and then when she can’t control it any longer, her tail starts to wag and she pounces on her unsuspecting prey.

This is what it is like with Cain. In his anger, he is like that bird landing in the cat’s backyard. God warns him not to stay in his anger or he will be caught by sin but Cain is too blinded by his dejection. Like a bird focussing on a worm or some other prey below, he is so focussed on his anger that he ignores God’s warning not to stay in his anger. He instead defies God. God warns him to take flight from his anger and thoughts of vengeance before it is too late. God tells Cain that the cat is about to pounce. God tells him that ‘… if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.’ But it is too late; Cain strikes out at Abel and sin grabs a hold of Cain. Cain seems to feel that striking out at Abel will relieve his feelings of dejection from his perceived rejection; he feels that striking out in anger, releasing his rage will satisfy his urges - but alas that is not true. Sin is crouching at his door, Cain steps out onto the front porch of misplaced vengeance and it is already too late; sin springs into action and Cain is caught.

Do we ever get caught in this trap? Do we ever get so selfish, do we ever get so focussed on our own emotions, do we ever get so focussed on our own feelings of hurt that we have the proverbial blinders on? Do we ever get so focussed on our own selfish feelings that we do not notice that that is exactly what the devil and sin want us to do? Do we ever get so focussed on our perceived rights, rather than our God-given responsibilities; do we ever get so caught up in our own world, becoming angry with others and striking out at them, that in the process we leave ourselves vulnerable to the devil and sin?

This passage, Genesis 4, is warning us about taking our eyes off of our Lord and instead focusing on our own selfish feelings and it is warning us against over-reacting and striking out against our brothers and sisters. Look: Whatever you think she did to you, whatever has really happened to you, even though she said that and even though he didn’t do that -before it is too late, resist the temptation strike out at him. This is what God is telling us. This is what God is telling Cain. Cain feels dejected and Cain feels anger and God loves Cain so much that even knowing what Cain is going to do, God still gives him every opportunity to do something different. God tells him that ‘… if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.’ Cain doesn’t and Cain suffers the consequences. Sin grabs a hold of him.

It is exactly the same with us. If we walk out onto the front porch of selfishness, stewing in our own juices about perceived or even real affronts that we have suffered; if we do not do what is right, sin is crouching at our door. It desires to have us but we can and we must master it. This is called holiness. God calls us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15; Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7; cf TSA Doctrine # 10). That means that we don’t have to blindly fly into sin’s path like an unsuspecting bird focusing only on its own prey. Instead we can open our eyes, pray to God, and master sin rather than being mastered by it.

This passage is warning us against over-reacting and striking out against people – Sin is crouching at our door. This passage is telling us that there are consequences for our actions. This passage is telling us also that with contrite repentance there can be forgiveness.[8] Cain calls on the Lord after falling prey to sin and the Lord spares him a death sentence and even gives him protection as Cain lives with the consequences of his actions.[9] That forgiveness is important and worth celebrating but also important is the fact that Cain did not need to kill Abel. Cain did not need to fall prey to sin.

We don’t need to fall prey to sin (1 Peter 1:15; Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7; cf. Luke 4, Matthew 4:1-11, 2 Corinthians 13, Colossians 1:28, Hebrews 11,12; cf. also TSA Doctrine # 10). Just as the LORD warned Cain, the Lord warns us and will help us to be aware of the sin that is crouching at our door. He will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).  So then, let us remember when we leave here and when we are tempted to walk out on that porch of selfishness, when we are tempted to walk out on that porch of self-pity, when we are tempted to walk out on that porch of retribution and spite, when we are tempted to walk out on that porch of feeling sorry for ourselves, and when we are tempted to walk out on that porch of jealousy and rage, let us remember that sin is crouching at our door and it desires to have us but we don’t need to blindly fly into its path like an unsuspecting bird focusing only on its own prey. Instead we can open our eyes, pray to God, and master sin rather than being mastered by it.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), p. 373

[2] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), p. 373.

[3] Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation: Genesis, (John Knox Press: Atlanta, Georgia), 1982, p. 56.

[4] Zondervan, NIV Study Bible. Full ref. ed. Kenneth L. Barker, gen. ed. Grand Rapids,MI: Zondervan, 2002. Translation note on Genesis 4:8.

[5] Cf. Paul A. Riemann, "Am I my brother's keeper." Interpretation 24, no. 4 (October 1, 1970): 482-491. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 29, 2012).

[6] Cf. Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation: Genesis, (John Knox Press: Atlanta, Georgia), 1982, p. 60.

[7] But cf. Kristin M. Swenson, "Care and keeping east of Eden: Gen 4:1-16 in light of Gen 2-3." Interpretation 60, no. 4 (October 1, 2006): 373-384. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 29, 2012) for a different opinion. She argues that, on the contrary, this could be a legitimate question.

[8] Cf. John H. Sailhamer, The Expositor's Bible Commentary,  Pradis CD-ROM:Genesis/Exposition of Genesis/I. Introduction to the Patriarchs and the Sinai Covenant (1:1-11:26)/C. Life in Exile (4:1-26), Book Version: 4.0.2

[9] Cf. Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1967 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 1), S. 82

Proverbs 1:7,9:10: The Fear of The LORD

Presented to the Nipawin Corps 17 May 2009
and Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 27 May 2012
by Captain Michael Ramsay

Click HERE: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/05/proverbs-17-910-yirah-fear-of-lord.html

Leviticus 25:23b: This Land is My Land.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 20 May 2012.

By Captain Michael Ramsay

Has anyone read Leviticus recently? Rebecca, Sarah-Grace and I have been reading Leviticus together as part of our evening Bible time. Parts of it remind me of a traditional fairy tale. Leviticus, in content, is like a Grimm’s fairytale in that it can be a little bit bloody: It speaks in great detail, among other things, about the sacrifices that people are to offer and the different animals that are killed for those sacrifices. Sometimes the priests will even put the sacrificed animal’s blood on their own ears or toes and sometimes a live bird is dipped in the blood of a sacrificed bird and then let go (Leviticus 8:23-24, 14:6, 14-28, 51-52). Leviticus, in content, in some ways is like a Grimm’s fairytale.

Leviticus, in style, is some ways is like a contemporary children’s book: it can be quite repetitive. Almost every chapter of the 27 chapters in this book begin with the phrase “The Lord said to Moses, (Chapters 6, 8, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 25; cf. Leviticus 1:1)” or “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites…’ (Chapters 4, 12, 15, 18, 19, 20)” or for a change sometimes it says, “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron” (Chapters 11, 13, 15; cf. also Leviticus 18:1; 19:1; 20:1; 21:1, 16; 22:1, 17, 26; 23:1, 9, 23, 26, 33, 24:1, 13; 25:1; 27:1)

One evening Sarah-Grace, Rebecca and I were discussing how, in Leviticus, everyone was supposed to take one day off work a week to worship the Lord – the Sabbath day – except for the Levites, the priests and their families (Leviticus 16:31-32; 19:3,30; 23:3-38): they still had to work on the Sabbath and they didn’t get Monday off in lieu of Saturday as their own personal Sabbath. My girls weren’t so fond of clerical families not getting an extra day of rest; so one night just after Bible time and just before bed time, they presented me with this ‘ancient scroll’ they found, here in Swift Current, written in blue pen ink on lined foolscap paper; this is what it said:

“Then Moses was told to tell Aaron this: “If a female relative of the priest works it is very, very bad!!!!! If the girl is twenty or below [and sins by working] she must watch the priest shave two doves and then sell them. If no one buys them the priest must pay his wife the amount the doves were worth and then cage them and keep them. The girl who sinned by working must set free the doves from captivity after 17 days. Twenty-one and up must shave the birds themselves but the priest must do the selling and just as before if no one buys them the priest must keep them and pay his wife. Then after only seven days the women who worked must set free the shaved birds. After [this] the priest must quit his job and he will be out away from his people. His family may come with him if they choose but they don’t have to. The only way a woman can work is if it’s for learning but if the work is cleaning up or housework, this process must not be done.

To this I replied that we are not priests; we are Salvation Army Officers and as such we believe in the priesthood of all believers, so they still get the privilege of working – especially cleaning up and housework. It was a nice attempt though.

Leviticus is part of the Pentateuch. It tells us the many laws and rituals that the ancient Israelites needed to follow. The Pentateuch teaches us about the Law, Sabbaths, tithing... Tithing has come up a bit this week in various conversations so I have a little quiz for us today generally relating to tithing (answers below):[1]

1)      What is a tithe?

2)      Who can tell me where in the New Testament it tells us to give God 10% of our money?

3)      How much of our income belongs to the Lord?

Pertaining to questions 1&2: Tithing is spoken about a few times in the Pentateuch (Leviticus 27:30-32. Numbers 18:21-28, Deuteronomy 12:6- 17, Deuteronomy 14:22-28, Deuteronomy 26:1,12). But outside of the Pentateuch, accepting 2 Chronicles 31, tithing is only mentioned in the prophets (2 Chronicles 31:5-12, Nehemiah 10:37-38, 12:44, 13:5-12, Amos 4:4, Malachi 3:8, 3:10.). Tithing is an ancient Israelite custom. It is neither a New Testament custom nor an early Christian tradition: God doesn’t just want a tithe; everything is His, God wants more than just 10%; He wants 100%. (Matthew 19:20-21, Mark 10:21-24, Luke 18:22, Acts 2:42-47, cf. Romans 14:1-23, Hebrews 4:1-13).[2] I was going to speak more directly on tithing this week but in the end I thought we would address Question 3 from our test today and look at an Old Testament passage that reflects the eternal principles of financial management instead. Ancient Israelites were herdsmen and farmers. Their primary source of income was the land.[3] Today, we are looking at Leviticus 25:23b where the God, foreshadowing Jesus’ New Testament teachings, says,  “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.”

Leviticus 25: “there are three subdivisions to this section: the sabbatical year, the Jubilee, and the laws of indebtedness. The basis of the land laws God gave to Israel is God’s statement that ‘the land is Mine’”(v.23).[4] How many people here either farm or have farmed or grew up on the farm or had parents who grew up on the farm? Try and relate this passage that we are looking at today to your experiences and knowledge.

Verses 1-7 record God’s command to farmers that for six years they are to farm: planting and reaping and also gathering fruit off their trees. In the seventh year they are not allowed to plant anything in their fields and they aren’t allowed to prune a single tree. You aren’t allowed to reap anything for profit.[5] In year seven the combines aren’t going all day and night. Even if they had combines, they wouldn’t be going at all. The only harvesting that you are allowed to do is to get enough food for yourself, your employees, your animals, and the poor people in town (cf. Exodus 23:11). Nothing else. Now you also have to remember that – as a backdrop to this commandment – throughout the history of ancient Israel, most of the time the people were on the verge of starvation. There were no supermarkets. E.I. wasn’t as difficult to get as it is becoming in Canada today because there was no E.I. and on top of this, every seventh year there was nothing that was to go to market at all. No farmer was allowed to sell anything. The only food that was to be grown was for subsistence.[6]

Why would God do this?  Especially given that historically speaking, Israel was always on the verge of starvation; as Israel was always on the verge of starvation, why in every seventh year would God forbid them from selling, harvesting, or even planting any food?[7]  One reason is to remind us that God says -Leviticus 25:23b- “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.” The Land is not ours, it belongs to God and God wants us to trust Him to provide for us.[8]

Today, sometimes I think we need this kind of reminder. Today, I think that sometimes we get so caught up in our affluent North American lifestyle that we forget that our wealth, our income, our food, our homes, the land and everything in it is not ours. It is God’s. Has anyone here ever rented any land or rented any land out? This is what God is doing with ancient Israel in Palestine. It’s His land. He is simply renting it out to Israel just like He rented it out to the previous tenants, the Amorites (Genesis 15:12-16). Part of the rent that Israel owes God is to let God’s land rest every seventh year and for Israel to just eat what they can glean. The Israelites are simply His tenants and when they don’t take care of God’s land the way He asks them to take care of His land; when they don’t pay this rent, the scriptures tells us -Leviticus 26:33-35- that God will evict Israel from the land and the prophet Jeremiah confirms that indeed He did evict them, just like He evicted their predecessors (Genesis 15:12-16). 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 records: “He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant…The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, … in fulfilment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah”

God, as His rent, wants Israel to trust Him. He wants us to trust Him. Everything in creation belongs to God. In Leviticus 25:25-55, it records that the Israelites are to trust God and that they are not to sell God’s land because it is not theirs to sell. It records that they are not to sell each other into slavery because even they do not belong to themselves; they belong to the Lord. If people do wind up selling themselves or their land, in the fiftieth year the people and the land is to return. The land is to return to the family that God personally chose through sacred lot to manage His land for Him (Number 26:55, 33:54, 34:13, 36:2; Joshua 18, 19:2). In that regard, any sale of property was to be more like a term rental agreement. For an ancient Israelite to sell his property would be like if you were a tenant farmer and/or renting a house in town and then when the owner was out of the province, you decided to try to sell his house. You can’t do that.

Now we remember what we were saying about Verses 1-7 and the Sabbatical year. There is even more to this and in Leviticus 25:23b the Lord reminds us that “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.” Verses 8-22 remind us that you are not to plant or harvest anything in the 7^th year and that you are to trust God to provide for you but one is also not allowed to plant or harvest anything in the 14^th, 21^st, 28^th, 35^th, 42^nd, or 49^th year, … and it also records that in every 50^th year you are not supposed to plant or harvest anything because it is the year of Jubilee.[9] God says this is our rent to Him. We are just tenants and if we don’t trust Him enough to pay the rent, He’ll kick us off the land and give it to someone else. In verse 20-22 is recorded

 “You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.”

This is the key to it. They need to trust God. We need to trust God. Leviticus 25:23b: the Lord says, “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.” Everything belongs to God. We are not paying Him out of our abundance; He is providing for us out of His abundance. Do you see the difference?

I saw a comic once. I think it was a Family Circus comic. A child was looking at a bill in the restaurant and asked, “Daddy, why do you give the waiter 15% but you only give God 10%?”

Do we ever do that treat God as if He is our waiter – just tipping Him the 10% minimum that we think we can get away with, or even less in some cases, instead of recognizing Him as our God. God is not our waiter, hoping that we will give Him a 10% tip from our money. God is our landlord demanding His rent and more than that He is our employer expecting us to do our job that we have already been paid to do and more than that He is our father who loves us and as such everything we think we own –like the ancient Israelites and their land – is really His. We are really just managing all that we have and all that we are for God and if we do not do our job as manager, He might just relieve us of our duties like He did with Israel, leading them off to captivity in Babylon (Cf. Luke 19:11-26; Matthew 25:14-30; cf. also TSA doc. 9).

Everything in this world belongs to God. Look outside: that land is not ours; that land belongs to God; we are just looking after it. Look at this building; it is not ours; it belongs to God; we are just looking after it. Think of your job; it is not yours; it belongs to God; you should be doing it as if you are doing it for Him (Colossians 3:23). Think of your home; it is not yours; it belongs to God; you are just looking after it, managing it for him. Think of even your beautiful wife or your intelligent husband: your marriages also do not belong just to you, they belong to God; you are just looking after them. Everything in this world belongs to God. We are just managers, we are just stewards of it. Leviticus 25:23b: God says, “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.” Everything belongs to God. This is why in the Old Testament people were asked to let the land lie fallow every 7^th and 50^th year and this is why they were asked to not work on every 7^th day. This is why we are asked to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves (Luke 10:27, cf. Leviticus 19:18, Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 5:43). Because, as God reminds us “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.”

Everything belongs to God. Reading from Luke 18:18-23:

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.’”

 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

God says, “the land is Mine and you are but aliens [strangers] and My tenants.” Don’t just tip God a ten percent gratuity for the life He provides you like it is some meal at a restaurant that you paid for. He paid the price, not you. Give God 100% control of your money; Give God 100% control of your time and give God 100% control of your talents. He deserves nothing less.

Luke 12:22-34:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith!  And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In summary, the land is God’s and we are but aliens [strangers] and His tenants; so let us not get tricked into merely tipping God. Don’t only give Him 10% of your finances; don’t only give Him 10% of your time; don’t only give Him 10% of your talents; don’t only give Him 10% of your life. Give God 100% of your life. He wants it all.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] 1) The first 10% of your income, see Leviticus 27:30-32. Numbers 18:21-28, Deuteronomy 12:6- 17, Deuteronomy 14:22-28, Deuteronomy 26:1,12, 2 Chronicles 31:5-12, Nehemiah 10:37-38, 12:44, 13:5-12, Amos 4:4, Malachi 3:8, 3:10; 2) It doesn’t 3) All of it, see Matthew 19:20-21, Mark 10:21-24, Luke 18:22, Acts 2:42-47.

[2] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, “How much of my income belongs to God?” Nipawin Journal. (May, 2009). Available online: http://renewnetwork.blogspot.ca/2009_05_01_archive.html#1627607693776242163

[3] F. Ross Kinsler, “Leviticus 25.” Interpretation 53, no. 4 (October 1, 1999): 395-399. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 18, 2012). P. 396

[4] R. Laird Harris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Leviticus/Exposition of Leviticus/IX. Laws of Land Use (25:1-55), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] R. Laird Harris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Leviticus/Exposition of Leviticus/IX. Laws of Land Use (25:1-55)/A. The Sabbatical Year (25:1-7), Book Version: 4.0.2

[6] Cf. R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1980 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 3), S. 226

[7] Cf. F Ross Kinsler, “Leviticus 25.” Interpretation 53, no. 4 (October 1, 1999): 395-399. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 18, 2012). P. 396.

[8] Cf. Michael Ramsay, Leviticus 25 1-23 in the Context of the Holiness Code: The Land Shall Observe a Sabbath, presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Fall 2006). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./OT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Leviticus 25 1-23

[9] Cf. John E. Hartley, “Leviticus,” in Word Bible Commentary, Volume 4, eds. David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. (Dallas Texas: Word Books, 1992), 422

Jonah 3-4: Get Rid of Your Enemies

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 13 May 2012.

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 21 January 2024.

By Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay

This is the 2012 version. To view the 2024 version, click here:  https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/01/jonah-3-4-but-what-if-you-dont-love.html

I have a couple of questions for us today. Question #1: What do the following have in common: Ghost Busters 2, Blues Brothers 2, Aladdin 2, Gone With The Wind 2, Lion King 1 ½? They are all movie sequels; they are for the most part either not very good or not very popular movie sequels. Last week we spoke about Jonah Part 1: Everything Is Under Control. This week we will look at the sequel, Jonah Part 2: Get Rid of Your Enemies. Hopefully it will be better received than was the first Star Wars prequel.

Question 2: I’ve got another list for us today. You have seen those ‘top ten’ lists before. This is a ‘bottom 5’ list: let’s see if you can tell me what this is a ‘bottom 5’ list of? What do these professions have in common?

5. Telemarketers

4. Lawyers

3. Mechanics

2. Politicians

1. Used car salesmen

This is a list of the least trusted professions in this country. There are many different lists of these least trusted professions actually. They contain many of the same jobs. 1 and 2 often swap places on the lists that I was looking at. Now, we certainly don’t want to further any negative stereotypes of any profession or any person represented on this list or otherwise; however, if Jonah had a ‘top ten’ or a ‘bottom five list’ of least-trusted people, the Ninevites would have been number 1 on his list. Jonah hates the Ninevites more than a Toronto Maple Leafs fan hates the Montreal Canadiens and vice versa. Jonah hates the Ninevites so much that rather than obey God and point them to salvation, he runs in the opposite direction (Jonah 1:1-3).  Jonah hates the Ninevites so much that when the opportunity presents itself, he decides that he would rather die by drowning, than obey God by pointing them to salvation (Jonah 1:12). Jonah does not want to preach to the Ninevites because he knows they will be saved (Jonah 4:2); he hates them so much that he wants them destroyed (Jonah 4:3). He wants no part of their salvation.

Can we ever identify with this? Do we ever hate a person or political party or a hockey team or a country or a leader or a neighbour or a family member or a boss or a colleague or a… so much that we wish that they just didn’t exist or that they would just be wiped off the face of the earth? Jonah feels that way about Nineveh.

Now Jonah is an Israelite. We know what is an Israelite, right? An Israelite was a citizen of the ancient country of Israel. We know that at this point in history, when Jonah’s story is taking place, it is many years since Israel’s civil war had ended and that the country had split into two new countries (1 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10): Judah and the Jews in the south and Israel and the Israelites in the north. The Jews and the Israelites were off again and on again allies and enemies. Jonah was an Israelite.[1]

Nineveh, the city that Jonah hated, was not a Jewish city. It was an Assyrian city. Do we know what role Nineveh and Assyria would later play in the history of Israel? Nineveh was the capital city of the country that would eventually destroy the northern kingdom of Israel (721 BCE; cf. 2 Kings 17). Sargon II (722/21–705/4) writes[2]:

At the beginning of my royal rule … I besieged and conquered [Israel’s capital city of] Samaria, led away as booty 27,290 inhabitants of it. I formed from among them a contingent of 50 chariots and made remaining (inhabitants) assume their (social) positions. I installed over them an officer of mine and imposed upon them the tribute of the former king.

About Ninevah and Assyria, J. Robert Vannoy tells us:[3]

The brutal Assyrian style of warfare relied on massive armies, superbly equipped with the world’s first great siege machines…

   Psychological terror, however, was Assyria’s most effective weapon. It was ruthlessly applied, with corpses impaled on stakes, severed heads stacked in heaps, and captives skinned alive.

King Esarhaddon of Assyria, to show his power, even hung the captured King of Sidon’s decapitated head around the neck of one of his nobles and then paraded him through the streets of Nineveh with singers playing on harps leading the way.[4]

From the Bible, the prophet Isaiah attributes to the Assyrian King, the following. The Ninevite King boasts (Isaiah 10:13,14; cf. Nahum 2:12):

By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.

As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as men gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.

The prophet Nahum says of Nineveh: “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!” (Nahum 3:1; cf. Nahum 2:12) Nineveh rose up to be a Superpower as brutal, as prideful, and as terrible as Superpowers tend to be and Nineveh was to unleash that terror on their enemies.[5] Israel was their enemy. Jonah was their enemy.[6]

Tolstoy said, “To get rid of an enemy one must love him.” The Bible says, “… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you,” Luke 6:27-28; Matthew 5:44: “… Love your enemies, [bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you] and pray for those who persecute you…” Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

We know this and Jonah knows this too (cf. also Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Jeremiah 15:15; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:1-3; Psalms 86:15,103:8,145:8; and Nehemiah 9:17).[7] Jonah 4:2:

He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 

You and I here today, we know that we are supposed to reflect God and we know that, as Jonah says, God is compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. We know that, as Matthew said, if we do not forgive people, God will not forgive us. We know that, as Tolstoy said, “To get rid of an enemy one must love him.”

How do we do with that? How do we do at sharing the gospel and God’s love to see an enemy saved? Are we any better than Jonah? In Swift Current here, if God asked you to go and preach to Graham James so that he would be freed from eternal consequences for what he had done, would you want to do it or would you –like Jonah- head to the coast to catch the first ferry off the continent?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel with everyone you meet, do you love your neighbour’s child that insulted your child or grandchild so much that you want to tell him about Jesus so that he may be saved from hell (cf. TSA docs 6&11)?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love your neighbour who borrowed that thing from you last year and never gave it back so much that you want to tell him about Jesus so that he may be saved from hell?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love your neighbour whom you did so much for and but she never even bothered to say ‘thank you’ so much that you want to tell her about Jesus so that she may be saved? 

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love your landlord who evicted you for no apparent reason so much that you want to tell them about Jesus so that they may be saved?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love your neighbours who made derogatory remarks about your family, your culture, your heritage, and your very own identity so much that you want to tell them about Jesus so that they can be saved?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love the policeman that pulled you over on your way home so much that you want to tell them about Jesus so that they can be saved?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love your neighbours working at Tim Horton’s who gave you a double double instead of a coffee with a single cream for the third time this week so much that you want to tell them about Jesus so that they can be saved?

As God asks you to love your neighbour and to share the gospel, do you love your neighbour who is a Montreal Canadiens or a Toronto Maple Leafs fan so much that you want to tell them about Jesus so that they can be saved? Some of these are examples are silly; some of them are not but you get the point, don’t you?

God is compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. God says “… Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44). “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15).

Tolstoy, reflecting God’s sentiments said, “To get rid of an enemy one must love him.”  It is my hope that none of us here would have any enemies.

In Jonah’s story too there is an interesting ending. Jonah is introduced at the beginning of this story as being on the inside of God’s blessing as a prophet of God (Jonah 1:1 cf. 2 Kings 14:25); he winds up, however, on the outside as Nineveh is saved: stewing in his own juices; his own hatred is eating him up as the worm devours the vine (Jonah 4:5ff). The Ninevites, whom Jonah feels perfectly justified in not wanting saved, are worshipping God and presumably having a great time as they live out their salvation. Jonah, on the other hand, is not having a great time as he stays outside of the wonderful party for Salvation going on inside the city.[8]

Let me tell you one more story. This is actually a paraphrase that I couldn’t readily corroborate but you’ll understand the sentiment even if the details or denominations may not be entirely accurate: Billy Graham was in church or at a crusade with his wife, Ruth, at some time. The offering plate was passed around and he put in his money. Later he was looking through his pockets and he complains to Ruth saying, “I put a twenty dollar bill in the plate by accident. I only meant to put in a five.”

To which his wife, Ruth replies, “Now that you’re complaining about it, not only are you out the twenty but you’ll only get credit for the five that you were trying to give.” God received His twenty dollars from Billy Graham but Billy did not receive the full credit or the full blessing of that offering.

Jonah delivered God’s news of salvation to the Ninevites but he did not get from it the blessing, the credit of the eternal joy. Billy Graham gave God the twenty but only got credit for five. Today it is my hope and our prayer that as God asks each of us to love our neighbours and lead them to salvation, that indeed, we won’t try to hold anything back but instead we will experience the joy of salvation as even our worst enemies come to the Lord because, as Tolstoy wrote, “To get rid of an enemy one must love him;” so then when we see them in paradise, what a day of rejoicing that should be. And if God can forgive even Nineveh when they repent, and if God can forgive even our own personal Ninevehs when they repent, then -when we repent- God can forgive even us; and then, like the hymn says, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Cf, Josephus, Antiquities 9.206–214 (Heinemann, 1937), pp. 109–111; cited in Donald J. Wiseman; T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K Waltke: Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 26), S. 82

[2] ANET, pp. 284–285. Cited from Donald J. Wiseman; T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K Waltke: Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 26), S. 88

[3] J. Robert Vannoy, ‘Assyrian Campaigns against Israel and Judah', in NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002), 550.

[4] James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1955), 291.

[5] Cf. Ralph L. Smith, Micah-Malachi, (Word Biblical Themes: Dallas, Texas, USA: Word Publishing, 1960), 28.

[6] H. L. Ellison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/A. Jonah's Flight (1:1-3), Book Version: 4.0.2

[7] Mary Donovan Turner, “Jonah 3:10-4:11.” Interpretation 52, no. 4 (October 1, 1998): 411-414. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 10, 2012).

[8] Cf. Mary Donovan Turner, “Jonah 3:10-4:11.” Interpretation 52, no. 4 (October 1, 1998): 411-414. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 10, 2012).

Jonah 1:1-3: Everything Is Under Control

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 06 May 2012 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 22 October 2023. By Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay.

This is the original to view the later abridged version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2023/10/jonah-1-everything-is-under-control.html

I must admit that I am a fan of Leo Tolstoy, both his epic novels like War and Peace (probably my all-time favourite book) and Anna Karenina but also some of his religious writings like Confession. I have some quotes to share today from Tolstoy:

q       Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

q       All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

q       It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.

q       Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority shares in it.

q       If you want to be happy, be [happy].

Here are a couple more quotes by Tolstoy and others as well:

q       Tolstoy: To get rid of an enemy one must love him.

q       Shakespeare: An overflow of good converts to bad.

q       Tolstoy: Shakespeare is repulsive and tedious

q       Tolstoy: God is the same everywhere.

q       Nietzsche: God is dead

q       Tolstoy: Nietzsche [is] stupid and abnormal

q       History: God is alive; Nietzsche is dead.

Of the aforementioned quotes the one that most fits with one of the major themes of Jonah is Tolstoy’s, “To get rid of an enemy one must love him.” Next week we will look more directly at the theme of God’s grace in the book of Jonah. This week we are going to look at God’s sovereignty as portrayed especially in the first 2 chapters of Jonah.[1] We cannot thwart God (cf. TSA docs 6&7). Jonah 1:1-3:

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

Picture this: God has told His prophet Jonah to go and do something. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh but Jonah – to get away – runs to the sea and gets on a boat. Nineveh is landlocked. That is like if, when we were living in Vancouver, God calls Susan the girls and I to Saskatchewan and we jump on a ferryboat to Japan. This isn’t just saying were not going to go. This is running in the opposite direction. If we look at the map here, we will notice that Jonah runs to the sea and hops on a ship to get as far away from Nineveh as he possibly can, to the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea.[2]

God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation (cf. TSA doc. 6). Verses 4-7:

Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

Jonah hops on the boat and he falls asleep. He may even have passed out.[3] I’m from an island in the Pacific, Vancouver Island; has anyone here ever been out on the open ocean? Even if you don’t get caught in a storm, it can be really something. You know those little anti-seasickness patches that people put behind their ears? You may have noticed them: sometimes people put them on when they are flying on an aero plane so that they don’t get sick. They didn’t have those back then in the 8^th Century BCE. And in all likelihood Jonah had never been on a sea-going vessel before.[4] And the seas are so bad now in our text that even the experienced crew is afraid. They are scared for their lives. They are scared to death. They are tossing everything overboard that they don’t absolutely need. Jonah isn’t. Jonah is sleeping. Jonah is beneath deck. Jonah isn’t helping at all and this is an ‘all hands on deck’ situation. Everyone is working and everyone is praying – most of these people would probably be praying to the Phoenician gods but if any of the crew is from elsewhere they would be calling on their gods too.[5] You’ve heard the expression, ‘no one is an atheist in a foxhole’ – this may not be true but this is certainly one of those 'foxhole' type situations. Everyone is praying. Everyone is working, everyone except Jonah. The Captain himself comes and finds Jonah and says, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” Presumably Jonah does do this but maybe he doesn’t. Either way God is good. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation here.

The people pray to their gods and roll the holy dice; they cast the sacred lots to try to figure out why all of this is happening: whose fault is it? And guess who the lot names? The lot names Jonah. You don’t think that is a coincidence do you? The sailors don’t; Jonah doesn’t. God reveals to everyone present who and what the problem is. God is good. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation. The pagans on this boat, however, who do not yet know the LORD, are no less afraid. Verse 8-11:

So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

   He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

   This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

These people are worried. These people may even be a little bit angry. God has revealed to them through the lot and Jonah has confirmed to them through a confession, that he is to blame because Jonah is blatantly defying God. Jonah has told them that he is intentionally doing the opposite of what God has told him to do. Even though Jonah knows God, even though Jonah has served God, even though Jonah has worked for LORD as a prophet of God, God gives him this assignment and Jonah says in effect, “No, I quit!” Can you imagine?

Can you imagine if you are a non-unionized worker and your boss, your employer gives you an important task to do and you just say, “No thanks I think I’ll take my holidays instead”? Can you imagine if you are a courier and your boss gives you this package and says, “You need to get this package to Regina in 3 hours or everyone will die”? Can you imagine then if instead of driving to Regina you hop on the next Greyhound bus to Medicine Hat (in the opposite direction). This is in essence what Jonah is doing.

God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation but this is in essence what Jonah is attempting here. He doesn’t want any part of pointing the Ninevites to salvation. The boat -and all of the people on it- it is being tossed around in the storm and people are franticly praying and working to keep it afloat. They are terrified. They ask of Jonah, “What have you done?” The sea is getting rougher and rougher. They ask him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” They are terrified but God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation, neither for the sailors nor for the Ninevites. Though that doesn’t necessarily stop the sailors from worrying, nor does it necessarily stop Jonah from trying to quit his job, from trying to shirk his responsibilities, from trying to avoid at all costs his God-given mission. Verses 12-15a:

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.  

   Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.”  Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard…

Now there are a couple of things worth remembering here. What is the task, the job that God has given Jonah to do? He has told Jonah to go to Nineveh. What does Jonah do in response? He so much doesn’t want to do this job that he runs in the opposite direction. Now, imagine this scene that we are looking at here. Everyone with Jonah asks him, “Since you are responsible for this calamity by not obeying God, what can we do?”

“Kill me” is basically Jonah’s answer when he tells them to throw him overboard. Jonah, if he is anything like most Israelites of his day and age, Jonah can’t swim. Israel is not a seafaring country.  Again, I grew up on Vancouver Island. I am a kayaker and I am a certified SCUBA diver. Susan was a certified lifeguard and I don’t imagine that either of us could and I know that neither of us would want to have to try to swim for safety through a storm of this magnitude and Jonah, in all probability, can’t even swim. The strangers on the boat are asking what they should do to appease his God and Jonah says, “You should kill me.” Now, God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation.

This doesn’t stop Jonah’s request for the sailors to throw him overboard though. Jonah knows very well that God generally discourages human sacrifice (which is basicallly what this would be).[6] At some points in the Bible it even says that God hates human sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21, 20:1-5; Deuteronomy 12:31; 2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31-32, 19:5-6; Ezekiel 16:20-21, 20:31). Jonah would know this. Jonah, who has been born and raised as a child of God; Jonah, who knows the Lord; Jonah, who knows the scriptures; Jonah, even in the midst of this terrible storm with all these other people’s lives on the line; Jonah, I submit, is still here intentionally defying the living God![7] God has told Jonah to go to Nineveh and Jonah hates this commission so much, Jonah hates the idea that God would use him to save the Ninevites so much that Jonah would rather die than do what God has told him to do. Can you imagine? Now, God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation but can you imagine?

This past weekend, many of you know that when we were in Winnipeg for Susan’s convocation, Heather, our baby, had a full seizure. It wasn’t just a little one. She was sleeping in my arms in a pew with Rebecca and Sarah-Grace beside us near the back of the church. All of a sudden she starts shaking for about a minute or more. Her eyes roll back in her head. I grab her and head to the door of the church where I know the ushers will be and I tell my older daughters to come with me. They come with me but not too close; they are scared. I ask one person specifically to get a nurse or a doctor from the congregation; I ask another person specifically –twice- to call us an ambulance. I even hand her my phone. She refuses. She refuses to call for help. I have never seen anything quite like this before. My baby is turning blue and she doesn’t call for help. She even hands me my phone back. Now, I imagine that she panicked; however, at the same time as she is not calling the ambulance someone else is trying to comfort me by telling me not to worry but I am looking down at my baby daughter turning pale; I am looking down at my baby daughter turning blue; I am looking down at my baby daughter gasping for air; I am looking down at my baby daughter unconscious and in those very few seconds it seems like I can’t get this person to even call an ambulance to help her. I can’t tell you the reflexive emotions that were aroused in me as someone –even though I am sure it was just that they were panicking – refused to help someone else in serious need. Now, God is good though. He still has everything under control but picture what I am feeling in that moment.

This must be a similar feeling to what God, the sailors, or even we reading this story centuries later, could have towards Jonah. Here is a man who has been told to help save not only one small child but to bring this news of salvation to a great city of many small children, their brothers, their sisters, their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents, their neighbours; and instead of calling the divine ambulance, Jonah hands the phone back to God, and says, “I’m not going to make the call.” Not only that. Jonah, by asking the sailors to throw him overboard, Jonah says, “I would rather die than to help you save those people, God.” Can you imagine? God’s children in the ancient pagan city of Nineveh are about to die and He asks Jonah to point them to salvation and Jonah says, “I would rather die than help You save them, God.” Now, God is good. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation.

And in our situation from the other weekend, again I don’t attribute any malice to the person who refused to call the ambulance for us. She was incapable of helping; she panicked: she was useless. The point is that God saved Heather regardless of that girl’s inaction. God provided someone else to call an ambulance; God provided someone with some sort of medical training to be with us; God provided someone to pray with me and for Heather; God provided Dusty and Laurie Sauder to look after our older daughters, Rebecca and Sarah-Grace, while we were in the hospital with our baby; God provided Dr. Burke to make special arrangements even for Susan’s graduation. God provided so many great and caring people in that building and that congregation – including that person who panicked, I am sure – God provided so many great and caring people who prayed for Susan, the girls, and I, and who prayed for Heather’s salvation in the here and now.

As God provided for Heather, so God provided also for the pagan sailors on that ship in that storm on that day in our text and, as we will see next week, God also provided for those many small children in the great big city of Nineveh as well. Verses 15-17:

Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him. But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

God saved the sailors. The raging sea grew calm and they were saved and there is more than that to this here as well. You will notice that it says that these men, the sailors, greatly feared the LORD. The word LORD is written all in capital letters. Whenever you see LORD written like this in English, in Hebrew it is YHWH; the tetragrammaton; YHWH; it is God’s Devine name. These sailors aren’t praising the same false gods at the end of this adventure that they were at the beginning. They are now praising YHWH, the one true God: the God of heaven and the God of earth. They are saved and they are praising the LORD. God saved the sailors.

God also saved Jonah but God did not save Jonah from doing the work that Jonah is supposed to do. Jonah still has to deliver God’s message of salvation to the children of Nineveh. You could even say that when He sent the giant fish, God didn’t let Jonah of the hook. The fish, unlike Jonah, swallowed his responsibilities hook, line, and sinker.

In Chapter 2 then - we won’t read all again now - Jonah prays to God for salvation. Jonah, like the sailors now, Jonah knows that salvation is from the LORD. He prays for salvation and salvation he gets. Jonah 2:10-3:3a records this:

And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

   Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.

God did not give up on Nineveh. God did not give up on the sailors. God did not give up on Jonah and God will not give up on us. As bad as everything can get in our lives: when the storms kick up, when everyone around us seems to be panicking, when it looks like all those who are around us are going to perish, when we are caught in the midst of trouble, God is good. He still has everything under control. We aren’t more powerful than God. We can’t thwart God’s provided salvation.  Even after maybe we have disobeyed or even defied God like Jonah did in today’s story - as long as we still have breath in our body there is still time for us to repent, there is still time for us to turn, there is still time for us to dial that phone of Salvation which Christ provided between the cross and the empty tomb (cf. TSA docs 6&7). As long as we have breath in our body, even if thus far we have turned and run the opposite direction from God, as long as we have breath in our body, we can still repent, we can still return to Him and we can still be a part of His salvation both now and forever more.

Let us pray.

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[1] R.B.Y. Scott, "The Sign of Jonah: An Interpretation," Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology Vol. 19 no. 1, ed. Balmer H. Kelly (Union Theological Seminary: Virginia, January 1965): 16. Identifies three thematic movements in Jonah of which God’s sovereignty is the first.

[2] Donald J. Wiseman, T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K Waltke: Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 26), S. 65

[3] H. L. Ellison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/B. The Storm (1:4-6), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4]  H. L. Ellison, Pradis The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/C. Jonah's Responsibility (1:7-10), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] H. L. Ellison, Pradis The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/ B. The Storm (1:4-6), Book Version: 4.0.2

[6] R.B.Y. Scott, "The Sign of Jonah: An Interpretation," Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology, Vol. 19 no. 1, ed. Balmer H. Kelly (Union Theological Seminary: Virginia, January 1965): 16.

[7] cf. Donald J. Wiseman, T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K Waltke: Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 26), S.