Running Away from God | Jonah: Three Days in the Deep Week 1 | Pastor Andrew Cromwell

Matthew 12:40-41 NIV: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.

An Unlikely Messenger and an Unexpected Message

Jonah 1:1-2 NIV: 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.”

1. Jonah’s didn’t prepare him for the message.

2 Kings 14:25 NIV: He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

2. Jonah’s message was contrary to his personal and .

“After capturing enemies, the Assyrians would typically cut off their legs and one arm, leaving the other arm and hand so they could shake the victim’s hand in mockery as he was dying.” —Tim Keller, The Prodigal Prophet

A Surprising Response

Jonah 1:3 NIV: 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.

1. Jonah had a problem with the .

2. Jonah had a bigger problem with the who gave him the assignment.

Two Ways to Run Away from God

1. Run towards .

2. Run towards .

“The way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin”

A Powerful Storm

Jonah 1:4-5 NIV: 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.

1. Every act of has a storm attached to it.

Proverbs 16:5 NIV: The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

Numbers 32:23 NIV: But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

2. Every storm is not a of your act of disobedience.

Job 5:7 NIV: Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

John 16:33 NIV: In this world you will have trouble

Romans 8:28 NIV: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

3. God has tied His to ours and our storms fill Him with pain.

Isaiah 63:9 NIV: In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

4. There is always hidden in the storm.

1 Kings 19:12-13 NIV: After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.