Adding To Your Faith
Adding to Your Faith is all about helping you understand biblical principals and workshop biblical practices in a way that shapes and forms us into the image of Jesus Christ.
Adding To Your Faith
Row Harder Or Trust God? Spoiler: Bring A Life Jacket ("2 Questions" Day 4)
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Confronted with a seemingly impossible choice, the sailors look in vain for another way. But when they finally surrender to God's direction, the storm calms. In today's episode, Matt and Rachael offer observations about the the futility of seeking our own way, and questions about sacrifices and vows.
Click Here for week two homework sheet
BEFORE this episode: Complete DAY FOUR Homework (Jonah 1:13-16)
AFTER this episode: Complete DAY FIVE Homework (Jonah 1:17)
Longing For A Fruitful Life
SPEAKER_02Do 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.
Promise Of Effectiveness In Christ
SPEAKER_02The good news is that Scripture gives us a promise, a life that's never ineffective or unproductive in knowing Jesus Christ.
Adding Virtue To Faith
SPEAKER_02In 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 kingdom.
Meet The Hosts And Mission
SPEAKER_02I'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 Setup And Method
SPEAKER_01Welcome, I'm Rachel, and I'm here with Matt, and we are in week two of How to Study Your Bible, an in-depth look at studying scripture for yourself for um just change and application and to see more of the glory of the Lord in your life. So we are in the book of Jonah and we have been walking through our first method, which is just a statement and two questions. And we are on day four of our study together. So we will be reading today Jonah 1, verses 13 through 16. And again, this is a working podcast. So if you have not done the work, stop the podcast and go do the work. So we really want you to spend time in the word with the Holy Spirit for yourself and see what he wants to show you. So if you haven't done that, please pause a minute and do that. If you have done that, then you know, spend some time asking the Lord to show you some truths from his word, some ways to apply it. If there are verses out of that that you can be praying for yourself or
Context: Jonah Confronted
SPEAKER_01for others, or just back to the Lord in praise. And then are there things from that that you want to meditate on or things out of the passage that you want to memorize? So really be thinking about those things. Those, you know, those are kind of the practices that really help us kind of help us apply God's word, help us to hide it in our hearts, and really are the tools of change. And so kind of walk through that process. And so we're really excited that you're that you're joining us today. And Matt, before we begin in these verses, do you mind to open us up in a word of prayer?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, glad to do it. Lord, thank you so much for what you're doing through this study and through this work. Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in me, just teaching me how to use this method to hear your voice speaking more clearly through your word. And so, Lord, I pray for those who are listening today and those who are part of the class that we've been teaching as well. And I pray that you'll just just illuminate your word by the power of your spirit, that this that this practice that we're going through this week would be just a way for people to learn to recognize and respond to your to your voice and to your spirit in their own in their own hearts as it as it shares and helps us to understand better the purposes behind your word, and this, but in this case, specifically in the book of Jonah. And so I pray, Lord, that you'll help us to see what you have for us today in the book of Jonah, and that as we do that, you'll just show us how to how to recognize those timeless truths and ultimately to respond to that with personal application so that we can be changed. Lord, we love you and we thank you for what you're about to do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, where we left off yesterday,
Reading Jonah 1:13–16
SPEAKER_02of course, we were in Jonah 1, 8 through 12, and this was where the men on the ship confronted Jonah and they said, Hey, what is going on with you? We have we have cried out to all of our gods, all of their false gods, but they've cried out to all of their gods. Nothing was happening, and this is where Jonah comes clean, and he says, I'm a Hebrew, I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, and they recognize that this is bad news for them because this is a mighty and powerful God that Jonah has been running away from, and they understand that they're between a holy God and a rebellious, sinning person right now. And so that's a that's a tough spot to be in. Jonah has an answer for them, and the answer that he has is that you're gonna have to throw me overboard. It's the only way to do this. And of course, we discussed some questions yesterday and some statements around that. We we recognize that that the uh the men understood when they understood the power of of the one true God, that they were afraid, they were angry with Jonah, and that they and that they responded accordingly. And and that and that ultimately we had questions. Questions like, why would Jonah offer a sacrifice of his own life? Why would God even even do these things in this order or in this timing? And all of those are questions that we've really kind of worked through over the last few days, and that leads us to this place today where we heard yesterday the response of the men and today, or I'm sorry, the response of Jonah, and today we're gonna hear the response of the men as we pick up in verse 13. So, Rachel, anything to add in terms of context for that, or you want to just dive right into the text?
SPEAKER_01I think we can dive right in. So Jonah has said, It's my fault that this storm has come upon you, and if you will throw me in, the sea will become calm. And so that's where we pick up in verse 13. Is that what 13 says, 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 out to the Lord, Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased. Then they took Jonah and they threw him overboard, and the raging sea calmed. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
SPEAKER_02So when we hear this, we get a strong sense of where of where these men are coming from, how they respond when Jonah says, Look, there's only one way here, you're gonna have to throw me overboard. And
Obedience Versus Self‑Sacrifice
SPEAKER_02and of course, one of the things we talked about yesterday that I just can't help but touch on again, because it's really stayed with me, Rachel, is why did Jonah believe that his only play to sacrifice his own life when obedience was always an option. Like obedience was an option from the beginning. It's what he was called to. He rebelled against it, but but you can always respond with obedience, but instead, this was the answer. Now, it could be that that's what the Lord, I mean, he was a prophet. The Lord may have shown him. This is it, this is what it's gonna take, this is where you are, and so you have to be honest with these guys about it. We don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us that, but what it does tell us is what happened next. And in this case, what happened is these men weren't terribly excited about that option. Like they wanted to do something else, right?
SPEAKER_01Right. I mean, they asked, What do we have to do to you so that yeah, this doesn't come on us? And Jonah told them what they needed to do to get the sea to calm down for them, and they're like, You got anything else? So they're like, How about we try to row back to land?
SPEAKER_02We'll roll harder, we'll row harder and see if we can get there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Which is, you know, and it and it doesn't tell us that, you know, obedience for Jonah at this point might be going into the the sea. It might be, you know, that that may be what what the next step of obedience looks
Sailors Seek Another Way
SPEAKER_01like. But in these verses, the men are are not wanting to do that. And I I think it's kind of interesting that they don't want to do that because they don't want to be held accountable to God for Jonah's life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, they're like, do not let us die for taking this man's life. And I think it's interesting, one of my statements was that they call him innocent when they plead to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Yeah, what do you think is going on there? I mean, that's that's a statement, right? They they call Jonah, they call Jonah innocent. What I mean, what do you make of that? He's just confessed to them that he's been running away from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I I don't I don't know necessarily what what to make of that. You know, I mean, I have, I guess, some some thoughts on that, that that without a a great view of God and a and a correct view of God, sins against God don't seem very weighty to us. So I don't I don't know, but that was one of the kind of statements that stood out to me is that they they were angry with him earlier in the in the chapter. He tells them this is his fault, and then when they are really ready to to throw him overboard, they're calling him innocent.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, I mean it's one thing to be angry at someone for putting you in a difficult spot. It's another to say, are you going to be responsible for for their death? You know, which is I mean, you you can I mean it's like these guys were saying, Hey, justice needs to be done here, and they and they just got appointed as the executioner, and they have second thoughts about that. Yeah. I noted that the the men clearly wanted another way. It's kind of another way of just describing what you said. They didn't they didn't want God's wrath, but they also didn't want to be a part of Jonah's demise. Like they didn't want either one of those things. And so they really wanted and were looking for another way, whether that's rowing harder or just hoping that there's a that there's that maybe it'll die down a little bit or something, which whatever, and it may not have made it probably didn't make any sense, but they just really wanted a different way. What questions come to your mind as you think? Or did you have another statement?
SPEAKER_01Well, I did have kind of another statement of just the the men's response.
Innocent Or Guilty? Weighing Jonah
SPEAKER_01So when kind of in this situation, the men they ask for forgiveness, they they fear the Lord, they're they're starting to understand the the power of the Lord, and so they asked for forgiveness, and then they sacrificed to him and they made vows. So when they saw the sea calm and they see that that God is the God of the land and the sea, that he is who Jonah said he is, then they sacrificed to him and they made vows. And so that was one of my statements, was just their response.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I had one on that too.
SPEAKER_01Which led into my question was that lasting repentance? Did they come to to know the Lord through this? You know, because in the old testament, asking for forgiveness, understanding the fear of the Lord, asking for forgiveness, sacrificing, and then vowing was was the process, was the the way of the Israelites. That that was the process. And so I wonder if this is a if this is a lasting change
Fear, Sacrifice, And Vows
SPEAKER_01in the lives of these sailors.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, I have questions around this too. One of my one of my questions is, you know, what sacrifices did they make and what vows did they take? And and how did they know, with Jonah not there to tell them what to sacrifice or what to vow or or whatever? We just we're just not told. And then to your point, we also don't know if it stuck. And maybe did, maybe didn't. We just don't know. We never hear again from these guys.
SPEAKER_01Right. And this may be a good, a good time, you know. Sometimes when I have questions like that, that's something that I note for further study, you know, to say like what is the word being used here for sacrifice or vow? And is it is it the same word? Is it something that would indicate that they are coming to faith? And so those may be things that that I would spend some time doing kind of a word study on to see if I can get a better understanding from from other resources on on what that sentence means and what's what's happening there. So so sometimes my questions lead me into a whole other side study. Yeah, into kind of further say, you know, you and I kind of call it chasing rabbits because sometimes when we come to bed late, we're like, sorry, I got started chasing a rabbit, and that's how it happens. I'll, you know, you'll read something like that and and want to know what what exactly is happening there, because it it doesn't seem expressly clear, but that doesn't mean that it that it's not indicated.
SPEAKER_02I'll just take a moment here and just share kind of in that in that vein. If you as you go deeper into the Lord's word and as you start to get greater sensitivity to the movement of the Holy Spirit as you as you read his word, you he may
Chasing Rabbits And Word Studies
SPEAKER_02lead you at some point to teach this. And I think it's one of the things we talked about earlier. You should always be thinking about who you can teach and share what you've learned. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're standing in front of a class on Sunday morning, but it might. I wouldn't rule it out, and and whether it's that or whether it's just teaching to someone else, the accountability of of sort of being in that place of of sharing the word of God and and trying to you know to expound on it accurately, to the extent that that humbly we come before it and are able to just be led by the Spirit, that does that does lead you to a place where you're just kind of going to chase some of those rabbits because you don't want to, you don't you you shouldn't want this in any time in your word, but you definitely don't want to be in a place where you're where you're giving something that might be any bit of error to someone else, right? To another follower of Christ, whether that's your kids or whether that's something you so I mean we kind of get in the habit of chasing rabbits, but I think in part because you feel a responsibility to do it, you know, I mean that's just part of it. And also you just fall in love with the word and you just you just can't get enough. So when when you when you look at that and you start asking questions like that, you know, one of the one of the statements that that jumped out to me in the observing this this part of the story was that all these men who
Teaching What You Learn
SPEAKER_02had had followed many false gods now are all turning to the one true God. And we talk about how these statements point to timeless truths and and there's a there's a there's an eternal timeless truth right there that's coming one day, which is that all of the all of these men, everybody who has made who anybody who's spent all of their life following many false gods one day will all turn to the one true God. Either either uh because they choose to or because they're they're brought to their knees just in recognition at the end that they were on the wrong path. But but either way, all these who followed many false gods now all turn to the one true God. So and I sure hope it's stuck. We don't know, like to your question, we don't know the answer, but I sure hope it does it did.
SPEAKER_01I mean, at the very least, we know that these sailors have a better understanding of the God of the Hebrews and his power and his might and his authority than they had before Jonah stepped on their boat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no question, right? They their lives were changed by this encounter.
SPEAKER_01And I guess And by God's pursuit of Jonah, right? As God's pursuing Jonah, he's also pursuing other people, he's also pursuing the sailors, and so that's the beauty of the Lord, that even in those things, he's he's as Roman says, right, he's working all things out for good and for his glory. And you you see glimpses of that all throughout scripture.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's I mean, you just see you see that theme over and over and over again. And you know, when you when you encounter when you encounter God, you're changed forever. And I believe these these guys were. I mean, they they encounter the living God. So I mean ultimately we can wonder whether it's stuck or not, but we know they encounter the living God. Whether they whether they persisted
When Idolaters Meet The Living God
SPEAKER_02to the end or not, their lives were forever changed, that's for sure. So um as we take a look at that, are there some any other sort of observations or takeaways you make about that text from today before we turn our eyes to tomorrow?
SPEAKER_01I think we're we're ready to to move on to to Jonah uh one verses uh verse 17 tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02So if you think you had questions today, just wait until we get into verse 17 where this great fish is appointed to come. Well, spoiler alert, if you didn't know, this great fish is appointed to come and swallow up Jonah. And we'll take a look at that one tomorrow. But Rachel, would you maybe just take a moment and go to the Lord on behalf of those who are who are listening and who are working through this study and workshop together, just that the Lord would continue to do a thorough work.
SPEAKER_01Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we just come to you and we praise you because you are the God who pursues men, that you pursue sinners. Father, we see your pursuit of Jonah in his word, and we also see, Father, your pursuit of these sailors, that they tried
God Pursues Jonah And Sailors
SPEAKER_01to disobey, they tried to row against against the storm, but they couldn't do it because your power is greater. And so, Father, I know that often, that often we try to kick against what we know you're calling us to do, that we try to row against the waves. But as you said to Paul to Saul that it's hard to kick against the goads, Father, and you're calling us into yourself even in that. And so, Father, we we just praise you for those things that are eternally true about you, that you are a that you are a pursuer of God and that you are always at work. And so, Father, we just praise you for that. We praise you that you didn't leave Jonah where he was, that you wouldn't allow him to stay in disobedience, that you love the world too much to do that. And Father, we also thank you for just the echoes of sacrifice for for redemption that that show up in the story of Jonah, that that without without sacrifice, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. And so we thank you for for just the echoes of that that show up in this and call out to a greater savior, which you sent in the form of your son. And so, Father, we just praise you and thank you and ask you to just do a work in our hearts and lives. Show us the ways, Father, that you want us to be pursuers as well.
SPEAKER_00Show us ways, Father, that you want us to point people to your power. And to your glory, and to your character, and your nature. And Father, I pray that you help us to be obedient to do that. We ask that in Jesus' name. Amen.
SPEAKER_02Amen. So tomorrow you're going to come back to the podcast after having read Jonah 1.17, one verse, two sentences, but I can promise you you're going to observe things that will be statements for for your study, and I promise you'll have questions. So let's uh let's go ahead and uh sign off for now, and we'll pick it up right there again tomorrow.