The Gospel Of Jonah
"A Story About Yahweh’s Sovereignty"
Jonah 2 by Tim Mullet | Elder for Counseling

 A Story About Yahweh’s Sovereignty

• Who Is Yahweh?

^ESV  Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" ¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. (Exod. 3:13 ESV)

Yahweh is the Divine Name.  In Hebrew it Means “I Am”

It occurs 7000 times in the Bible

When God meets with Moses in Exodus 3 and reveals his name Yahweh, that name, God’s Lordship, reveals to Moses that God, not Pharaoh, rules over the affairs of Egypt and Israel:

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. (Exod. 3:19–20)

I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'” (Exod. 6:7–8)

• Defiintion of Sovereignty

1. Meaning – The right of Yahweh to exercise His ruling power over His creation
2. Aspects

Right to Rule

^ESV  Romans 9:21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (Rom. 9:21 ESV)

Active/Meticulous Rule

^ESV  Daniel 2:20 Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. ²¹ He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; ²² he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. (Dan. 2:20 ESV)

^ESV  Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (Prov. 21:1 ESV)

• Examples of Yahweh’s Sovereignty

1. Yahweh is Sovereign Over The Winds of The Sea

⁴ But YAHWEH hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. (Jon. 1:4 ESV)

¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. (Jon. 1:15 ESV)

Assyrian Gods

Enlil – God of the winds

Tiamat – God of the sea

Marduk – God of thunderstorms

2. Yahweh is Sovereign Over The Roll of the Dice

⁷ And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. (Jon. 1:7 ESV)

3. Yahweh Is Sovereign Over The Animals And The Plants

(Largest Animal)

¹⁷ And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jon. 1:17 ESV)

¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. (Jon. 2:10 ESV)

⁶ Now Yahweh God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

(One of The Smallest Animals)

 ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.(Jon. 4:6-7 ESV)

4. Yahweh Is Sovereign over The Temperature and The Winds of The Land

⁸ When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." (Jon. 4:8 ESV)

5. Yahweh Is Sovereign Over Disobedient Prophets

^ESV  Jonah 3:1 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you."  ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.  ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"  (Jon. 3:1-4 ESV)

6. Yahweh Is Sovereign Over Salvation

⁹ But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to Yahweh!" (Jon. 2:9 ESV) ¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

^ESV  Jonah 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.  ² And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O YAHWEH, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

 (Jon. 3:10-4:2 ESV)