From Storm To Surrender ("2 Questions" Day 3)

The sailors confront Jonah and are terrified by the power of the God he serves. As the storm rages on and intensifies, Jonah offers his shipmates an unthinkable escape from their predicament.  In today's episode, Matt and Rachael offer observations about the the condition of the sailors' hearts and questions about Jonah's offer.

Click Here for week two homework sheet

BEFORE this episode: Complete DAY THREE Homework (Jonah 1:8-12)

AFTER this episode: Complete DAY FOUR Homework (Jonah 1:13-16)

Transcript

Promise Of A Fruitful Life In Christ

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Do you ever feel like your life just isn't as productive or effective as it should be? As followers of Jesus, we want our short time on earth to have eternal impact. But often we feel like we're falling short. The good news is that Scripture gives us a promise. A life that's never ineffective or unproductive in knowing Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1, we're told to build on our faith, adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. As these qualities grow, they keep us fruitful and effective for God's

Meet The Hosts And Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:44

kingdom. I'm Matt Morrow, and my wife Rachel and I have spent nearly 20 years teaching God's Word and walking with people in every stage of faith. Our passion is to see lives permanently and radically transformed by Scripture applied. Adding to your faith is here to help you understand biblical truth, practice it daily, and grow to look more like Jesus. We're glad you're here. Let's walk this journey together.

Study Approach And Listener Homework

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Hello and welcome. I'm Rachel, and I'm here with Matt, and we are on week two of How to Study the Bible, and we are on day three of our walk through Jonah, which is Jonah 1, verses 8 through 12. And I do want to remind you that this is a working podcast. This is not for you to listen to Matt and I talk about what we got out of these verses. You will only be changed if you spend your own time working through these verses with the Lord and the Holy Spirit in your own heart and mind. So if you have not yet done that, please pause this and go spend some time in Jonah 1, verses 8 through 12. And this week, we're just asking you to write a statement and two questions. As you kind of prayerfully work through that, just write a statement and two questions. And then ask the Lord, what does this show me about who you are, about timeless truths, those eternal things that are true in your word? And then from there, as you start to see the character and the heart and the truth of God, then ask, so what does that mean for me? How do I, how do I apply this to my heart, to my life, to how I interact with other people, what I think, what I feel. But spend some time doing that because if you are not applying God's word, you will never change. And if you're not wrestling through it yourself, you're going to continue to struggle spiritually. And so spend some time doing that.

Opening Prayer For Guidance

SPEAKER_00 2:49

So, Matt, as we dive into Jonah 8, Jonah 1, verses 8 through 12, would you like to open us in prayer?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Sure, we'll do. Let's just let's just bow our heads and pray, Lord. Thank you so much for your word. Thank you for this remarkable, uh, awe-inspiring story from the Old Testament in Jonah. And I pray, Father, for your spirit to work in uh our hearts and in the hearts of those who are working alongside us through this text. I pray that you'll open our minds and our hearts to the prompting of your Holy Spirit, that we will recognize your spirit when when you move through it, and that as you illuminate the truth of Scripture, that ultimately, Lord, we will seek application so that we can be transformed into your likeness and away from our old flesh self. Lord, we love you so much. We thank you for your word and for what you will do in it today. In Jesus' name, amen.

Recap Of Jonah 1:4–7

SPEAKER_01 3:39

So just a recap real quickly, yesterday we were in Jonah 1, 4 through 7, and this is where the story really starts kicking up a notch because we we see the Lord hurling this great tempest, this wind upon the sea, and this mighty tempest where the ship is just really threatened and starting to break up, and all of this chaos is ensuing, and and the people who are on the ship, the men who are on the ship, are crying out to all of their false gods, all these regional gods, gods who they have asked for one thing or another, and none of it's doing any good. In the meantime, Jonah is under the deck. He's in the inner parts of the ship and he's sleeping like a baby. He's just there asleep. And and so finally the captain says, You need to get out here, wake up, get out here, and you need to help us because we're all gonna die. And do you have do you have a God you can cry out to? Who who could you cry out to? Come and cry out to your Lord. And in the meantime, all of this is going on. The captain and all of the people there are uh terrified that they're going to perish. And then we ended yesterday with them casting lots so that they could know on whose account this evil has come upon us. And so they cast lots, and it says, the lot fell to Jonah. And that's where we left it yesterday at the end of verse seven. And we had some great questions, great statements specific to the to the text, really pointing to some timeless truths about, gosh, you know, how could Jonah sleep? Am I sleeping when there are great needs around me? Am I in that place? And and noticing that that the Lord brought the storm, that he's the one who brought the storm, and he has purposes in that storm, even though it can be terrifying, and we don't, we don't know in the moment what that looks like. And and then for some reason that we don't know yet in the text, Jonah didn't want to cry out to God. He hid in the inner part of the ship and he had to be dragged out. He he didn't immediately own up to the to the fact that he knew he was the cause or the purpose for all of this. He waited for them to cast lots to get to that point. And you can't help but wonder, well, how many false gods were called on before the one true God was actually sought out? And then, and then why did God wait? Why did God choose this particular moment or this particular timing to do this, to bring the storm and to and to move in this dramatic way when he could have done it before Jonah ever even got on the boat or or whatever else? So these are just questions that are that are on our minds as we think through this text, and we come today to the next uh four

Reading Jonah 1:8–12 Aloud

SPEAKER_01 6:07

verses. So we'll be in Jonah 1, 8 through 12. And as Rachel said, if you haven't read it yet and put your own statements and questions down, uh please pause. We'll be here when you come back, but go ahead and do that, come back to us. But we're gonna go ahead and read that text and then work alongside you and share what the Lord has shown us in terms of some statements and questions that may be similar to ones that you have, or you may have different ones as well, and that's perfectly fine. It's good because it's just drawing you deeper into his word. Rachel, why don't you go ahead and start, if you could, with by reading this text for us?

SPEAKER_00 6:43

So here we are, they're trying to figure out who is responsible for the calamity that has fell upon them. They're they have cast their lots and it fell on Jonah. And so verse 8 picks up and says, So they asked him, Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work 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 dry 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? 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.

Key Statements From The Text

SPEAKER_01 7:43

So we we get to see Jonah's response when it becomes evident that he is the cause of all of this. We get to see the men's response to learning this knowledge, to understanding that he serves the God who created the land and the sea, and that's that's a lot bigger than what they had bet on at this point. And so we we get to see that, and we and then we see Jonah's initial reaction to this this conundrum that they are in, what he's what he says, what he tells them to do. Tomorrow we'll actually get to hear how the men respond to that as well. But let's just let's just sit there for a second and maybe talk about what what are some of the what are some of the questions or some of the statements that really stand out for you, Rachel, as you look at that text.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Um I I actually had a a couple of statements. One was the response of the of the sailors when Jonah tells them who his God is, that they were terrified and wanted to know why Jonah had done this to them.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

And so that was my statement that they were terrified and they wanted to know why Jonah w would put them in opposition to this God who is the God of the land and the sea. So that was my first statement.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

What have you done to us, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

So that was my first statement. And then my second statement was that Jonah brought brought this great storm onto the sailors. That this is Jonah's disobedience, I guess would be the Fulson's. Jonah's disobedience brought this storm onto the sailors.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah. So I had a similar observation. I I I noted that when the mostly about the men, the which is more like your first observation, your first statement, is that when the men understood the power of the one true God, they were afraid and they were angry at Jonah, right? But I I love how you describe both of those statements, Rachel, because again, remember, we're hunting, whether it's this method or technique or ones we will study in the weeks ahead, whatever, whatever those, whatever those methods are, the goal is to try to recognize by the power of the Holy Spirit to recognize timeless truths and what my personal response to that's going to be, how I'm going to apply it, that that application that changes, uh, changes me, informs my character in the image of Christ. And so what I what I'm thinking about as you walk through those statements, I want you to say them again, and let's let's think a little bit about what kinds of timeless truths those statements that you observe in this text might point toward. Say them again for us. The statements.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Well, the sailors, when they heard who Jonah's God was,

The Myth Of Private Sin

SPEAKER_00 10:43

responded with fear.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Yeah. So the so the response when they knew the when they better understood who this God is, they were afraid.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Yes, they were afraid. And they wanted to know what Jonah had done to them.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Yeah, yeah. Because they've essentially they've they've they've been put between a holy God and a rebellious sinner. Well, and they didn't do anything for that. I mean, they they didn't do anything to ask for that particular thing. But that leads, I think, to the second statement you made, and that statement holds a timeless truth in it, I think, for all of us.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

That Jonah's disobedience brought a great storm onto those around him or onto the sailors.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

So, how many times do we tell ourselves or or fool ourselves into thinking that there's such a thing as a private sin? That there's a sin that that I'm I know I'm I know I'm committing it. I know I'm in rebellion against God. Maybe someday I'll even repent from it, but right now I'm in it. And and I comfort myself by saying something like, but it's not hurting anybody else, right? It's just, it's, I'm doing this, I probably shouldn't be doing this, but at least I'm doing I'm not hurting anyone else. And that's just a lie because sin always brings a storm on others, right? Our my sin, your sin always brings a storm on others. So that's what I really appreciate about that statement that you identified. And by the way, if you're listening to this and wondering, we we're married, we live in the same house, but we don't do these together. We do them independently, and then we come back and we talk about them. So so we learn from each other at the same time you learn you learn uh from us as well. But but Rachel, that that timeless truth is just is just begging to be dis explored with that kind of a statement. It's just, I mean, it's just I think most of us have experienced that at some point or another.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

And that led me to one of my questions is you know, how how have I experienced that? How has my disobedience brought storms into the lives of people around me?

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

And, you know, to just kind of think through that. And is there disobedience in my life now that's bringing bringing storms in into those that that I'm on the boat with

Why Jonah Chose The Sea

SPEAKER_00 13:04

right now?

SPEAKER_01 13:04

You know, yeah, and I mean that's a really in the boat with, I guess. I think that's a really important way to describe that because I mean, even in the example I used where you might consciously be comforting yourself falsely by saying that your sin isn't bothering anybody else, that that happens sometimes. But sometimes, and maybe more often, you're just sinning and you're just not thinking about other people at all. You're not you're not necessarily thinking that this won't hurt anyone else consciously, you're just not thinking about anybody else at all. You're only thinking about yourself, not even aware of the storm that that brings into the lives of others. I'm asleep in the middle of the ship. That's right, right. Exactly. How can you sleep? That was your big question yesterday is how can you sleep?

SPEAKER_00 13:47

So that was, I think, one of the questions that I had. And then the the other kind of question that that I had was, you know, in verse 11, the sea is getting rougher and rougher and rougher. And so they asked Jonah, what should we do to you to make this sea calm down for us? And I just I don't know what to do with that. So that's kind of a question for me. Like, what what does that like why is that the response? And I know that they were told that he's running from God and this God is angry, and so they're kind of responses so so how do we deal with you so that your God doesn't come after us? Yeah, and I just think that's kind of an interesting response. Like they they want to be made right with this God, and so they're like, What do I have to do to you for to be made right with this God?

SPEAKER_01 14:45

And so And I mean, even in their pagan hearts, there's something in them that knows that they some kind of sacrifice must be made to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Something, right? They something they don't want, you know, and so I don't want to try to go farther than than the text does, but that was kind of my question. What what is that response? Like they don't want to be on the wrong side of Jonah's God. And so their question is how how what do we need to do then to to make this right for us?

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Right. So I had a couple of questions about this that I that I I'll share. And to help help understand my questions, mine are more about Jonah, kind of what he's thinking right now. And if we think about it, Jonah, nobody in this whole story knows what we know now, which is that there's a fish down there, and that fish is waiting to be used by God as an instrument of of deliverance and salvation for Jonah. Nobody knows that. All they know is that they're in this terrible sea, they're barely alive on a ship, they're not going to do any better in the water. And so everybody believes that what Jonas and what Jonah is suggesting here and what he's offering is to is to die. He's offering to sacrifice himself uh for for the sake of everyone's life there. And so the question, a couple of questions from Jonah's perspective for me, why

Questions That Deepen Understanding

SPEAKER_01 16:10

would Jonah offer to sacrifice his own life in this situation, as opposed to, for example, just asking them to turn toward Nineveh? Like, why wouldn't he just say, I mean, if he knows it's his disobedience that has brought them to this place, then why is his answer in this moment, you're gonna have to kill me in order for this to stop, instead of saying, actually, what needs to happen is I need to obey the Lord. So is what if we went somewhere else instead of Tarshish? You know, what if we went to Nineveh instead? And and again, this is just me with hindsight, and of course, when the storm's growing, it's probably hard to think through those things. But you want, you know, I wonder a little bit, and and then, and again, you can only speculate, but you have to think that either he was still in rebellion, like he he just doesn't want to, doesn't want to do what God has called him to, and he'd actually maybe rather die. That was my other question is would he rather die than go to Nineveh? Or or did he or did he it's the other thing, did he actually maybe think that he had strayed so far that there was no coming back? You know, that he's just unredeemable at this point, and so the only answer is to just kill him. And and I I don't know the answer to that, but but if it's either of those things that caused him to go to this outcome instead of instead of just obedience, they're both they're both from an enemy, right? Those are the kinds of things, those are the kinds of attacks we get all the all the time. I have the enemy attacking me either by telling me that I don't need to walk in obedience to the Lord, that my way is still the best, that I can just sort of find a different way than what he's commanded, or the enemy will attack me by telling me I'm so far gone, I'm so sinful, I'm so rebellious, I am so far out of step with the Lord's way that that he there's no hope for me. There's no hope for me. Those are both lies. They're both lies from the enemy, but those are that's to me the question sort of jumped out at me with Jonah was why would he offer to sacrifice his own his own life instead of just asking them to turn the ship around and go somewhere else?

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yeah. I wonder, like, how did he know that throwing him that it would even work? Like throwing him into the sea would call him the storm. So like did God reveal that to him or show that to him that that was kind of the next the next thing that that he needed to do?

SPEAKER_01 18:42

And you know, it certainly could have been because he is a prophet, right? So it certainly could be that he he knew this was what was coming. That also might explain the fact that it that if we look back a couple of verses, when they when they asked him to cry out to his Lord, it doesn't say that he did it, right? He he might have already known the answer to this. He's like, I don't know if I'm ready for this. I don't know if I'm ready for that. But at some point they cast the lots, it's like it's you, buddy. What's it gonna be? And he said, Well, here's what has to happen.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Um Maybe the Lord had been telling him he's gotta get off that ship.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Like the answer to this is you get off this ship.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

And so you can get off it at the beginning. We can get off of it now.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

In this moment, now

Tomorrow’s Passage And Homework

SPEAKER_00 19:20

he's like, I know what has to happen. I have to get off this ship. And here we are now, it's in the middle of this storm, so you're gonna have to throw me into the sea.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

But I mean, that's the thing about questions. We ask the questions because we don't really know. And and again, sometimes the text will later reveal the answer to those questions and it'll be definitive. Other times there's gonna be open questions. But here's what I'll say even if you're just asking, like I just did, there's there's not a way to know the answer to the question I just asked. We we don't really know. We can speculate, and there are some things that would be consistent with what we know about the story, but we don't really know. But here's the thing about coming up with those questions. And asking them and pressing them anyway is that you end up you end up exploring the heart of God in the process of asking the questions. So you end up seeking to better understand what God's heart is in this. And that's good because it drives you deeper into scripture. It gives you if you don't get an answer to that particular question in that particular moment, you're still going to be able to seek biblical principles. You're going to try to understand better what you know what it looks like to follow him well. And and that's one of the things I'm learning to really like about this method of a statement and two questions is it is a really good way to just sort of draw you deeper into this intimate

Closing Prayer And Encouragement

SPEAKER_01 20:41

pursuit of of just knowing God better, just knowing him better. And I didn't really anticipate that with this method. I I I wasn't, again, I was new to it. It's it's it's good. It's good. So, Rachel, as we look at that and kind of think through what's ahead. So we'll we'll tomorrow we'll pick up in in Jonah 1 uh verses 13 to 16. I think I've got that right today. I had it wrong yesterday, but verses 13 to 16. So that's in the homework. You can go in the show notes if you don't have it and download a copy of the uh of the homework. It's it's pretty simple, not terribly complicated. You probably have picked up on that even from the daily podcasts, but but it is daily. You do it is a huge part of this is just building a daily rhythm of doing of doing this time in the in the word and making it productive and meaningful time. So Rachel, any thoughts or advice or or or follow-ups on any of that before before I ask you to pray?

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Nope. I'd say spend some time in uh Jonah and and just ask the Lord to show you those things that are true about him and to show him how he's asking you to apply those truths in your life, because without application, there is no change. So and that's our prayer for for you as we walk through this is that spending time in his word will change, will change you, change your heart to be more like his. So let's pray. We just want to praise you because you are the God of heaven. You are the God who made the sea and you made the dry land, that your power is not limited, that it is not regional, that you are not just the God of some people, that you are the God of all people, that one day every tongue and every tribe and every nation will bow. And so, Father, we just we just want to take time and and first just contemplate your greatness, that you are the God of the land and the sea, that you are the God of the world and its inhabitants. And Father, we we praise you that because of that, that even when things don't make sense, even when we're terrified, even when we feel like like things have come upon us that we did nothing to create in our own lives, that that they're the consequences of somebody else's disobedience, that we know that even in the midst of those storms, that you are at work. And so, Father, I just thank you for the the longing that you put in our hearts to want to be made right with you. And I pray that you'll that you'll just give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear the the cries of the people around us. And so, Father, we just we just ask you to do the work in our hearts that that only you can do. And so, Father, I just pray that that as we study your word together, that you will just change us and grow us and make us more like you. And we ask that in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Amen. Well, today we heard and studied and worked through this this uh response that Jonas had to the crisis that they are facing, and tomorrow we'll hear more about how the men on the ship respond to that crisis, and that'll be in Jonah 1 13 to 16. So we'll look forward to joining you tomorrow with the rest of this story.