Thursday, September 3, 2015

EmmDev 2015-09-03 [Jonah's Journey] Pious Sailors - Pouting Prophet

Pious Sailors - Pouting Prophet

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?"
12 "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."
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 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." 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.      (Jonah1:11-16)
Jonah's track record is pretty dismal thus far...
God calls, Jonah runs.
God warns, Jonah hides in bed.

And now when the sailors cast lots and Jonah is identified clearly as being the one that God is looking for, Jonah's spiteful rebellion reaches it's peak: "Throw me into the sea."

Jonah's not going to repent.
He's not going to submit.
He'd rather take his chances with the big angry sea.
Rather that than turning to God!
(Bear in mind that the Israelites were very very very scared of the sea and the monsters that lived in it...)

In contrast the sailors (who we would assume are a cut-throat lot who would happily toss some crazy Jew overboard if it saved their skin) try their very best to avoid this finality. They beg for mercy and as a last resort reluctantly and remorsefully give Jonah what he wants...

When the sea calms, they make sacrifices and vows to God. They don't wait to get to land or fix the boat, they make vows and sacrifices then and there.

It's scary what religious haughtiness and pride can do. It's scary how we can put God in a box and then be furious when He jumps out of that box. Jonah is very bitter over his "god box" which hasn't kept God in line. Although his behaviour seems extreme, it's just a picture of where a god-caging-theology takes us.

Sometimes the raw unsophisticated faith of the sailors is where we need to be...