Shabbat Shalom everyone. I would like you to turn in your Bibles please today to the book of Jonah. In Hebrew we call him Yonah. Yonah chapter 1 please. Yonah chapter 1 and I'm going today to continue to read in that chapter, the first chapter. I'm going to read from verse 7 where we have stopped in our last meeting together, and I want to read the rest, the remaining verses of this chapter, Jonah chapter 1 and verse 7, and we read the statements of the mariners or the sailors, they said, everyone to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.

So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Yonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us? What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou? And he said, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the man knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may become calm unto us?

For the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea become unto you. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not. For the sea was wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and they said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee. Let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, O Lord, hast done as it is pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and they cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. I stop with the reading here today. In the first chapter of the prophet Jonah, we were just singing that song that is always moving my heart when I sing that song. Concerning the holiness of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is a song that's taken from the prophet Isaiah concerning the holiness of the Lord. And if you remember, we sang in the last stanza, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, all thy works shall praise thy name in earth, in the sky, and in the sea.

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three-person, blessed Trinity. The songwriter, I'm sure, taking these words concerning the holiness of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah, and he shows us that God is in full control of everything here in this world. Over the sea, over the land, over the air. God is in full control over everything in this universe, which he created for his own pleasure. And we can see it in this book of the prophet Jonah, how God is in full control, the sovereignty of God, who is in full control. and in this case in connection with the prophet Jonah while the elements of this universe have obeyed the word of God yet we find out that his own servant is in a state of disobedience and instead of following through with what God have commanded him to do Jonah the prophet of Israel have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have gone astray gone away from the God of Israel And if you remember, in the first six verses of Jonah chapter 1, we have heard the command of the Lord to Yonah.

Yonah, you go to Nineveh, and you cry against Nineveh. And why? Because the wickedness has come up before me, Jonah. You go and cry against that city. But Jonah, Yonahanavi as we call him in Hebrew, instead of going to Nineveh, he fled from the presence of the Lord. And as he was fleeing, you remember he went down to Yafo. And then he took a ship that was going on the way to Tarshish. He went down into the ship. And as he was continuing and he began his journey towards Tarshish, God had sent a storm into the sea. And there was this great storm in that sea and while every mariner every sailor was crying to his own god you'll now find himself going down into the lowest part of the ship and he fell asleep and you remember how it says where we ended last time the ship master the captain came down to him where he was and he said to him what do you mean you sleeper what are you doing You are sleeping while there is that storm that is going on raging and beating the winds and the waves are beating against the ship.

What are you doing and sleeping there? You sleeper, he calling him in Hebrew, it's called that word nirdam or rise you the one that is nirdam, that is asleep. Get up.

That takes us to remind us from a New Testament passage in the book of Romans where the apostle Paul have said to the believers at Rome who were sleeping spiritually they were believers like Jonah was the child of God they were believers and they needed to be awakened from their sleep as well and sometimes brothers and sisters you and I need to be awakened from the sleep that we are in and in Romans chapter 13 and verse 11 the apostle said knowing that the time that now it is nigh time or high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believe it was the apostle Paul Shaul

who was challenging the Roman believers who needed to be awakened from their sleep spiritually like Yonah needed to be awakened from his disobedience to the God of abraham isaac and jacob who sent him to nineveh and instead of going to nineveh he disobeyed the lord and he has gone to tarshish i wonder if you and i do not need this challenge in our life as well when we as believers are being away from the lord and the lord need to use someone to wake us up and in the case of jonah yonah hanavi it was the unbelieving sailors who were not from among the people of god who were crying to their god for mercy

to their own gods for mercy and nothing happened and it was the ship master the captain who coming down to jonah and he said to him what meanest thou O sleeper verse 6 of Jonah chapter 1 arise call upon thy God if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not and for here we now moving on to the next verses beloved brothers and sisters and here in this first chapter of this book of Jonah we find the fact that these sailors wanted to know the reason for that storm there is a reason that this storm came upon them now mind you brothers and sisters storm comes for on one way by

nature the natural situation at sea might bring the storm we have storm like this in the sea of galilee in israel we have storms coming by natural way but that was not a natural storm that was storm that we read earlier that the lord sent this storm upon yonah and upon the ship there on the sea on the way to tarshish it is a sent out storm by god the hebrew word hetil as i mentioned earlier it is God casting that storm into the situation in that sea in a time when Jonah was on the way to Tarshish and he sent this storm for a reason and just to make an application we as believers

in Yeshua the Messiah sometimes we experience storms in our lives because of our own disobedience to the Lord but sometimes there is a storm that coming because the enemy send storms to the lives of the believers but here beloved brothers and sisters it was a God-sent storm in the life of the disobedient prophets of Israel by the name of Yonah Hanavi and so here we find out now that after the master, the ship master, the captain, telling him, get up.

Why are you sleeping? Cry to your God. We have already cried to our own God. This one cried to his own God. This one cried to his own God. The idols of the Gentile world. But you cry to your own God. So then, look at this. They did something that today it is very unusual, or we don't do it today. But in order to find out who is the guilty for that storm, because they knew it was a very unusual storm. It was not a normal storm. And so they wanted to know who is guilty of this storm. And so what did they do? It says here in verse 7 now, it says here, And they said, everyone to his fellow, Come and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.

So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Yonah. The Hebrew word for lots is Goralot. The single one is Goral. And in the biblical time, prior to the beginning of the church age, which started in the Feast of Shavuot, after the resurrection of the Messiah, and the ascension of Yeshua the Messiah, When the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, was descended and formed the body of Messiah, prior to the church age, to the beginning of the church age, it was a biblical custom to cast out lots. And there is a difference between the lots that God commended our people Israel to cast out and the lots that the Gentile world had been cast out.

And there is a verse that maybe we should really read in Proverbs. If you turn for a moment to the book of Proverbs chapter 16, where Shlomo HaMelech, Solomon the king, said in this verse that was written for the people of Israel, he said in Proverbs chapter 16, these words, Proverbs 16 and verse 33. The last verse of Proverbs chapter 16, he says, the lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the lord in other words it is the lord who is giving the answer to the casting of the lot it was not gambling like some we are thinking that some people going to gamble and they think that if they're going to gamble the lord going to bless them and going to give them to gain something out of it no beloved brothers and sisters God does not sanction gambling but what does the Bible teaches us that there was in Old Testament time in biblical time when our people were under the law that God had given instruction to our people concerning getting the mind of God about certain situation Let me just show you for a second in Leviticus chapter 16 in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Look at this. Turn back to Leviticus chapter 16 for a moment. And there you will notice that God gave instruction to Aaron, the high priest. And look what he told him in chapter 16 and verse 8 of the book of Leviticus. And I'm reading this verse. he said to him in verse 8 Aaron shall cast lots now remember this is the instruction that God had given the high priest of Israel Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the azazel or the scapegoat in other words Aaron will cast lots. God instructed Aaron, and then the lot will be found.

One of them will be found, one of the goats will be for the Lord, and the other goat will be cast into the wilderness. It was a clear instruction by the God of Israel to our people of all. And I'm not going to go through the many other passages that we have in scripture concerning casting lots.

Joshua chapter 18 that's how Joshua found out which land belonged to which tribe by casting lots and God gave in Joshua chapter 18 an instruction to Yehoshua Joshua the leader of Israel which tribe will receive which portion in the biblical land that God had given to our forefathers Israel in first Samuel there was a casting of lot concerning Saul or Jonathan 1st Samuel chapter 14 Nehemiah in chapter 11 Nehemiah he as well used the casting of the lots and in fact even in the Psalms Yeshua the Messiah prophetically spoke about himself in Psalm 22 and I think I'm going to read that verse as well psalm 22 david is speaking but prophetically he was really

speaking the voice of the messiah there in psalm 22 and verse 18 where we read they part my garments among themselves and casts lot upon my vesture you remember when yeshua was on the way to the tree to the cross when the romans were going to hang him on the tree and he prophetically from tehillim 22 psalm 22 was speaking already of what's going to happen in a future day and how truly they cast lots when a messiah was ready to be crucified by the romans who cast lots in order to take as it says in verse 18 they cast lots upon my vasture upon his garments they were casting lots and it is interesting

that old testament the tanakh already spoke concerning what's going to happen to the messiah yeshua in the day of his rejection so the casting of the lots it is something that was done in biblical time in accordance with the word of the lord but also the gentile pagan world have used the casting of lots as it is here found to us in Jonah chapter 1 and verse 7.

Just one more thing by way of casting lots it is also mentioned in Acts chapter 1 if you remember when Judas who betrayed the Lord needed to be replaced by another the early disciples Hebrew disciples apostles of the messiah cast lots that the lord will choose which will be the one that will replace yehuda the one who sold the messiah and if you remember it was matityahu who replaced him but it was not their own idea it was the word of the lord as they were casting lots and then the lord show them which will be the one who will replace judas as we call it in english but in hebrew the one who betrayed

yeshua the messiah and it is so interesting that they have cast lots up to that time the time of act chapter 1 when act chapter 2 came and the body of messiah was built the holy spirit came down from heaven there is no more need for casting of lots if one need guidance about something it is the holy spirit of god who will guide the believers through the written word of god that we have in our hands so here they are casting lots they want to find out who is that guilty one the storm came our way the raging of the wind and the waves are beating upon the ship and they cast out lots

that we may know who for whose cause is this evil that came upon us so what they found out as they were casting lots the lot fell upon jonah the lot came upon jonah men cast lots but the disposition of it is of the lord and the lord have pointed out those sailors to this one rebellion servant of his who went down to the lowest part of the ship who fell asleep instead of going to give the message of god to the people of Nineveh and so they found him in verse 7 after that the Lord fell upon him now in the next verses verses 8 9 and 10 here there was the challenge to

Jonah the challenge to this servant of the God of Israel who was disobedient and then the fact that he confessed that the whole situation there was because of his disobedience to the Lord so look at this the question in verse 8 we have five fall questions that the sailors were asking Yonah five fall questions look what they asked then they said unto him tell us we pray thee number one for whose cause this evil is upon us number two what is your occupation number three whence comest thou number four what is thy country number five of what people art thou five questions they ask you now they ask him those five four questions because they

really wanted to know the detail concerning this person who their lot fell upon him and they really wanted to know who this person was in hebrew it sounds very well they ask him and then finally they ask him those five questions beautiful statement to read it if you read the hebrew text in chapter 1 and verse 8 they really wanted to know the detail about this man that this storm unique storm came upon them because of him because the lot fell upon him now notice that in the question that they wanted to know is first of all the first one is kind of very interesting because they said for whose cause is this evil came

upon in other words they wanted to know the cause what have you done what have you done that this storm came upon us then they ask him what is your occupation what is your job now let me ask you a question if you are a believer and you serve the lord and somebody can ask you what is your job and you're going to tell him hmm i'm a bible preacher i'm a preacher of the gospel i'm telling people about jesus the messiah but somebody going to immediately going to think something is wrong with this guy you know something is wrong with this person but really really in a sense beloved brothers and sisters you and

i are servants of the lord we are to present the person of the messiah to the world around us and when the world is asking us concerning who we are what do we do we can have an opportunity to present who we are before the persons around the people around us then they ask you where did you come from and then the fourth one what is your country they saw something different about this man by the name of yonah and finally they asked him for which people are you what nation are you coming from the hebrew word am when it says a people the hebrew word is am the hebrew word for am simply means

the nation the am israel the nation of israel and so they wanted to know these five questions they asked jonah the prophet and look how he's answering to them i think it is very precious because in verses 9 and 10 really jonah or yonah in a summary way he answering those questions in verses 9 and 10 he tells them his identity and how does he say it the first thing that he's telling them is the fact that he is a hebrew notice what he says in verse 9 he said unto them i am a hebrew ani or anochi evri the word for hebrew was first given to our forefather abraham in genesis chapter 14 the

word avar in hebrew is a crosser over it was avraham or avraham avinu avraham our father who was crossing over from mesopotamia to come into the promised land and he was the first one that was called the Hebrew in fact if you read it in the book of Genesis you will find out in Genesis chapter 14 in verse 13 he was called Abraham Ha'ivri the Hebrew that's the title that was given to all those who are descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and therefore Abraham the Hebrew it's mentioned in Genesis chapter 14 and then again it's mentioned in the book of Genesis twice at least more in Genesis chapter 39 in connection with Yosef Joseph

do you remember Joseph who was sold by his brethren who was taken by the Ishmaelite, the Midianite into Egypt, into Mitzrayim and there he became a slave you remember he entered into the house of Potiphar and Potiphar used Joseph Yosef and gave him so much to be over all his house and one time, you remember Potiphar's wife came to Yosef and she wanted to beguile him to fall into sin with her and Yosef said no I'm not going to do that and then because she pressed him and pressed him and he didn't want and you remember what happened that at the end she was accusing him for something that he have not done and you

remember how she said what is it of this Hebrew come to do to us here she knew very well, that he was Evri, that he was a Hebrew, that is the way whereby the nation, the people who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that's how they communicate to the world around them, they were known as the Evriim, as the Hebrews, but it's not only that, beloved brothers and sisters, in Genesis chapter 40, we find out that it's not only the descendants of abram isaac and jacob and joseph and so on are hebrews but even the land is called the land of the hebrews in chapter 40 it is very clear there where the land

itself is mentioned to be the land of the hebrews i'm going to read that to you in chapter 40 and verse 15 it was Yosef who mentions that he says for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews and there also have I done nothing that they should put me into this the dungeon and he called the land that God had promised the forefathers as the land of the hebrews and if you go on throughout scripture that's the way the jewish people or the descendants of abraham isaac and jacob were known as the hebrews exodus chapter 1 when our own nation the hebrews were in egypt as slaves they were called

the hebrews and throughout scripture we find that title or that name that we're giving to our forefathers to our people of all exodus 1 verse 15 and 19 exodus 2 verses 7 and 13 exodus 3 verse 18 and exodus 5 and on and even later on in the brit achadashah in the new testament i just want to elaborate allow me on this it was when the early believers in the city of jerusalem had friction we read in the book of acts in chapter 6 that there was a conflict between the hebrews and those who were jews from the diaspora from the dispersion there were both of them were believers in the messiah but there are

some who were jewish believers from the diaspora and some were local jewish people and those who lived in the land were called hebrews evrim act chapter 6 and verse 1 in 2nd corinthians chapter 11 and verse 22 the apostle paul says are they hebrews i am also hebrew in other words paul himself called himself a hebrew in fact in philippians chapter 3 he called himself that i am a hebrew of the hebrews Paul was a Hebrew Philippians chapter 3 Paul was an Israeli Romans chapter 11 Paul was a Jewish man Acts chapter 21 and 22 and so what we learn from here beloved brothers and sisters that when he told them I am a Hebrew

when Jonah said when Jonah said to them I am a Hebrew they understood of the people to whom he belonged because the hebrews had one living god not many idols not many gods with a small g so they understood when he said i'm a hebrew secondly look at the answer that he gave them in verse 9b he said i fear the lord the god of heaven which has made a sea and a dry land he confessed before them that not only that he is a Hebrew part of this nation but he was fearing he had a reverence to that God and by the way when we read capital L capital O capital R capital D

is the name of God the name of Jehovah that we often don't use it from the time that I was a little boy in israel i was taught and every jewish person is taught by our own rabbis by our own people that we are never to use that name why because it's so sacred and every time we see that name we replace it by the word adonai we don't use that word with the capital l capital oh capilla r capilla d that we use it in the english here but we simply use the word adonai and so he said and i fear the lord the god of heaven which has made the sea and the

dry land i'm a servant you see they asked him those five questions what is your occupation where you come from what is your country what is the people that you are from and the first one what is the reason that this thing happened and jonah now had to confess his state i'm a hebrew and i'm here as a servant of the lord i feel the lord the god and he does in verse 9 the god of heaven he has made the sea and the dry land you see he told him i have the reverence to the one who is the creator who is the sustainer who is the upholder of all things and yet he

violated his word he disobeyed his command and he found himself in rebellion away from him in the bottom part of the sea away from where he was supposed to go to instead of going to Nineveh on the way to Tarshish that the storm on the way to Tarshish have caused this question to rise up by these sailors whom he used their ship to go on the way to Tarshish.

So here we find out in verses 9 the confession of Yonah. I am Hebrew and I serve the one that created the heavens and the earth. And it's kind of, in a sense, it is a contradiction, you know, because on one hand, I'm Hebrew. You see?

i am the one that is part of the nation of either and i serve this living god who created everything well if you do so what are you doing here why are you where you are today look at the cause look at the problem if you serve him look at what's happening because of you that sometimes happen when a child of god when a believer is in a state of rebellion and disobedience why because in a state of rebellion of a servant of the lord then the lord has to discipline his servant as we read it in the book of hebrews whom the lord loveth he chastens and he scourges every son whom he received

and that's how he disciplined the only problem here that in additional to the discipline of yonah there are others are suffering and others experiencing this trial at that time on the sea and they are in fear they do not know what is going to happen to them and so here jonah finally confessed before those sailors who he was and whom he served and so brothers and sisters the next verse here look at the reaction of the sailors they reacted they now in verse 10 they react and they were exceedingly afraid they had fear now and it seemed to be that the lord revealed to them at that moment something concerning himself because remember just a

little bit earlier they were worshiping or they were praying to their own gods idols now all of a sudden he says in verse 10 the men were exceedingly afraid and they said unto him look what they say to Yonah they say why has thou done this why did you do this Yonah if you are Hebrew and if you are claiming to be the servant of this wonderful God, wonderful Lord, who is the one who made the sea and the dry land, why did you do what you did?

Why do you run away from him? Why is it? Question that is really important. Why is it sometime that we run away from the Lord and we disobey his word? Why is it? We are, just like Jonah of old, have the same old sinful nature that directs us away from the ways of the Lord. Because we have a sin nature, rebellion, disobedience. And we think that we're going to run away from the Lord, but the Lord has a plan, the Lord has a purpose for each and every believer in Yeshua the Messiah as well. And He is going to bring about a turning away should a person will truly be repented and confess and so they ask him here's the sailors the idol worshipers asking the one who's supposed to serve the lord the god of israel the god of the hebrews they ask him why have you done this and then it says gives us an answer how come they knew that jonah was not right because it says for the man knew that he fled from the presence of the lord because he had told them jonah probably was sharing with them you know what he said god told me to do something to go to nineveh but i really didn't want to go to nineveh and therefore i wanted to run away from him because i didn't want to obey what he told me to do and therefore all this happened because of my disobedience so even the mariners the sailors who were worshipping idols could tell the servant of God why have you done that challenging him why have you done this as it is mentioned here in verse 10 so he told them the issue he told them the situation and so in the last verses of this chapter brothers and sisters we have the answer to the troubled sea.

Those last verses, actually 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, we have the answer to the situation of the troubled sea, that all the mariners and Jonah finding themselves there. And so it began now in verse 11, the question to Jonah again, they ask him another question. They said to him, in verse 11, Then they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought and was tempestuous. In Hebrew the word is soer, sarah, means stormy sea. Unusually stormy sea. And I ask him, Jonah, what shall we do in order that the sea may be calm upon us? And of course, you can just visualize.

Now, brothers and sisters, listen. They're in the middle of the storm. You and I are sitting here together. We're discussing it. We're talking about it calmly, peacefully. Thank God for the opportunity to sit under the sound of the word of God. But they were at their wit's end. The storm is raging. The wind is blowing. The waves are beating. They are fearful because of the state that they are in, in the midst of the sea. So when they were asking this question, they were so eager to get an answer to settle the problem. So they asked Jonah, the same one who told them who he was, the same one who told them why this storm came upon them.

So they come to him and they ask him, what shall we do? How are we going to deal with this problem? Jonah and Jonah give them an answer. An answer that one might say, well, how can he answer like this? He said unto them in verse 12, take me up, cast me into the sea. Verse 12, so shall the sea become unto you. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Here's a period of time when Jonah realized and really came to confess before the sailors the reason for the storm. He says, I know that it's because of me that this problem came upon you.

You know, do you feel sometime in area in our lives that because of sin that creep into our life, that so many others have suffered the consequences of that sin, the rebellion, that the thing that we do wrong, that others pay for that.

others that have done nothing have nothing to do with this whole issue is that we are the cause of the problem at sea we are the cause of the problems somewhere in our life because we don't obey the word of the lord and you know how it grieves the hearts of god and how there's no blessing and no joy when there is that rebellion in the life of the believer god cannot be pleased we are not happy the people around us are suffering the consequence of what we are doing and that's why it really should speak to us and should really stimulate us to ask from the lord to really help us lord whenever i've

gone in a way that is not pleasing to you lord help me so instead of bringing discipline and punishment and judgment upon others because of my action help me that my action will bring blessing upon others that you will be pleased lord that i will be blessed and that others will benefit for my obedience to thee well here jonah came publicly and said to these sailors he said to them take me cast me into the sea and then he said they will be calm for you for i know that for my sake this great tempest came upon you jonah knew that he was not right and the only way to answer to the sea to

the storm that is going on that raging there at sea is casting him into the sea and so that was beautiful to see that he came to this realization at this point.

You remember earlier he went down into the ship and he slept. Now he is no longer asleep. He was caught, if you will. He was awakened, if you will. He was brought to be before the mariners, before the sailors, and now he was told, tell us the reason. What shall we do? If you are a Hebrew and if you serve God, tell us what to do.

So he told them, just cast me into the sea for I know that it is for my sake this great tempest came upon you and so in the next verse brothers and sisters these sailors had some dignity in them they had some value in their thinking they do not want to throw him into the sea they do not want to throw anybody into the sea they know what's going on in a raging storm such as this as a person have not a chance to come out alive and so the men wrote they try harder to continue on and go to land so they can come to shore and they will not have to cast Jonah

into the sea they wrote hard to bring the ship into land but they could not because the sea rot and it was tempestuous against them because it was a abnormal storm sent by God to discipline the servant who were disobedient to God and so they couldn't they try and they try and it didn't work because God was involved in this he was not ceasing from pushing that storm upon that ship because Jonah his servant needed to learn a lesson and so these sailors in the last verses here of our chapter they asked and they were praying for forgiveness from the lord because they were going to throw jonah into the storm and now notice brothers

and sisters that they became believers in the god of jonah now they began to pray now you asked me what happened in between i don't know it is the work of god first of all they are crying to their own small g gods now they are not anymore talking to their own gods it seems to be that they had a revelation of the god of jonah the god of the hebrews because right now they cried unto the lord capital l capital o capital r capital d this is the god of israel this is the god of the hebrews they are now crying to him and they said we beseech thee oh lord let us not

perish for this man's life and lay not upon us an innocent blood for you oh lord has done as it please thee i often marvel when i read such a verse where is that salvation time come here on the sea on the storm or where is it all of a sudden that they trusted this god of the hebrews how is it happening you know the ways of god amazing we do not know the ways of the lord one time one walk in a worldly life unbeliever atheist i don't need god at all and then another time life is changing for that person he or she all of a sudden their life has changed now they

become they want to pray to the true living god they want to read their bibles they want to pray now you might say maybe they were not believers here they just this one verse just tell us that something happened for the moment and we don't know what's going to happen after i do not know but i can tell you that something did occur here to cause them to change from worshiping and praying to their own idols and they now began to pray to the god of jonah and they asked him first of all they said we beseech you we beg you we beseech you twice it is mentioned here in verse 14 let us not

perish for this man's life because they are going to do something and they don't want this lord this god of jonah the god of the hebrews to now accuse them or cause them to perish because of what jonah have done then he said let not apply us the innocent blood because they are going to throw jonah into the sea and he will die they assume that he will die they didn't want to take that guilt upon themselves so they were asking the lord for forgiveness and they were repenting and then they told the Lord in prayer that you have done as it pleased thee you know God is not limited to what we want or

what men want you know the Lord does what pleases him he is not subject to anybody's opinion anybody commend he's in control of everything he is the god of the universe the creator of heaven and earth he is not subject to our opinion and our thinking he does as he pleased and it was pleasing to him for that moment to send the storm in order to speak to his disobedient servant who was going away from submission to his call and so now after their prayer in verse 15 they cast jonah into the sea as jonah had said to them he said to them you cast me into the sea the sea will become and lo

and behold it says in verse 15 they took up jonah and the hebrew word is very interesting because it's the hebrew word vayatilu who is the same word that we find earlier when god have verse 4 when god the lord sent out a great wind into the sea the same thing casting it into the sea lehatil to throw to put in to the sea that is exactly the same word they now took jonah and they cast him into the sea and guess what happened beloved brothers and sisters once they listened to the counsel of jonah who told them because of me this thing came upon you and they said okay we'll have to do that

they confessed before the lord they cast jonah into the sea and the bible teaches us that the sea ceased from her raging it's beautiful to see the Lord is in control over everything you remember what we sang again in the song that we are saying holy, holy, holy Kaddosh, Kaddosh, Kaddosh Lord God Almighty all thy works shall praise thy name in earth in sky and in the sea and here we see how the sea, as it says here in verse 15, ceased from her raging.

Who can do such a thing? Only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Only the God of the Bible can do such a thing as causing the sea to cease from its raging. Now, if you please bear with me, turn with me to the Gospel of Luke, in the Brit HaKadasha, in the New Testament, to Luke chapter 8 for a moment. And we will see this wonderful person by the name of Yeshua, the Messiah, who has this power to cause the sea to be calm because of who he is. If he was just an ordinary man, he could have never done such a thing. Luke chapter 8 and verse 22, where we read about the Messiah Yeshua in the land of Israel on the Sea of Galilee in the north of Israel.

It says in verse 22, now it came to pass on a certain day that he went into a ship with his disciples and he said unto them, let us go over unto the other side of the lake. This is the Lake Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee. And they launch forth. And as they sailed, he fell asleep. And they came down a storm of wind on the lake. And they were filled with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to him and awoke him. And they say, Master, Master, we perish. and he arose, and he rebuked the wind, and the raging of the water, and they seized, and there was a calm.

Here we see Yeshua, the Messiah, on the Kinneret, on the Sea of Galilee, telling to his disciples, let's cross over to the other side. Now, I believe, beloved brothers and sisters, that he wanted to teach them a great lesson, a lesson that many need to know. And this lesson is concerning the divine nature of the Messiah. His humanity, you see, he's asleep. They're crossing over. And he's just laid down and slept inside the boat. And the wind came, the storm came. And he's asleep. You would think, why don't he get up?

they were in much fear as Luke tells us this in this verse 23 they sailed he fell asleep they came down a storm and wind on the lake and they were all filled with water and were in jeopardy and they came unto him and they say master master we perished they were afraid and he wanted to teach them very important lesson and I think you and I need to learn that in our lives as well there are troubles that are going to come our way in life there are many challenges that the believers in yeshua the messiah are experiencing whether they are jewish believers or whether they are non-jewish believers but the lord is teaching

us a lesson that as we cross over to the other side symbolically with the lake with the sea of galilee and we are all experiencing problems home problem family problem health problem financial problem job problem all kinds society problems that we all experience and the lord want to show us that even though he's seemingly to us asleep he's in full control over the situation that we experience in our life and so they cried to him for help and here we see not only his humanity he was a man he was born in Bethlehem raised in Nazareth lived a life a perfect life here but we can see that his divine nature that he has power

and authority over the elements and they ask him to wake up and he arose as it says in verse 24 he rebuked the wind and the raging of the water and they ceased and they were calm you know the same yeshua who was sleeping because he was tired is the same yeshua who had power over the elements he can rebuke the raging water he can rebuke the wind and they will obey his word now i would like to suggest brothers and sisters that the yeshua of the new testament that we have here in luke chapter 8 is none else but the god that we read of him in the prophet yonah is none else but

the very one that had the authority over the elements whom he the moment the sailors obeyed the suggestion of what John have said which is really the word of the Lord cast me into the sea and the moment you're going to cast me the calm will come the elements will obey and there will be calm the moment that they have done that it says here in verse 15 the sea ceased from her raging the power of God the ability of god to have control over the elements of this world the wind the seas the storms he is in full control over the elements of this world because he is the creator he created all things

and so we read the casting of jonah into the sea in verse 15 which brought about the seizing of the raging of the sea and in conclusion dear brothers and sisters look when we read that now those sailors which we were not quite sure in verse 14 whether they were really became believers in the God of Jonah the God of the Hebrews well in verse 16 it says then the men feared the lord you read in the psalms where we read the fear of the lord the importance of the fear of the lord the proverbs the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom the fear of the the reverence to the lord the

yirat hashem as we say it in hebrew the fear the reverence to the lord they feared him as it says here in verse 16 psalm 99 tells us concerning the fear of the lord then it says they exceedingly feared him and they offered a sacrifice unto the lord and they made vows the hebrew word here now here we see in the occasion of the rebellion of the servant of the lord that god have used this occasion on the one hand to discipline his servant we're going to see it in the next ministry meeting but on the other hand to lead others to come to faith in the god of the hebrew the god of the

bible here we find these men no longer worshiping their own gods but now they end up fearing the lord and they offered him sacrifice now i don't know where did they learn all these things now to offer sacrifices where they have done it on the ship where they have done it and then to make vows to make vow to make commitments to him and to accept what he is and to accept the fact that he is the true and living god i mean this is a change that happen in the life of these sailors in spite of the failure of the servant of the lord that the lord used this occasion to bring about the

salvation of these sailors well i'm going to stop here brothers and sisters because the next verse verse 17 let me just read it now the lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up jonah and jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights that verse actually belonged to the following chapter two and they should really be together in order to get the full picture and so i'm going to leave verse 17 for the next ministry meeting but for today brothers and sisters if i'm going to sum up what we have in chapter 1 here, the disobedience of the servant of the Lord brought discipline upon him.

Others have suffered, but when others have recognized the true and living God, they themselves turned to him. And by turning to him, they benefited. And now the Lord is now dealing with his own servant in order that he will restore him and will use him for the ministry to which he had called you now may the lord just help us as well that we will learn from this and seek to be an obedient servants of the