Jonah 1: 4-17 Where are you going Jonah?

When he left off Jonah was heading in the opposite direction that God told him to go.

Jonah 1:4  But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Jon 1:5  Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

So here is Jonah sleeping in a ship that is tossing about so much that everyone aboard thinks they are going to die.  Does this remind of a story at all?  Lets turn again to Luke.

Luke 8:22  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. And they launched forth.
Luke 8:23  But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

Do you see the correlation?

Luke 8:24  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Luke 8:25  And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

Christ, of course, is upset because they didn’t have faith.  Let’s head back to Jonah a minute.

Jonah 1:6  So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
Jon 1:7  And they said every one 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 Jonah.
Jon 1:8  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?

Who are you and what are you doing here?

Jonah 1:9  And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
Jon 1:10  Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Think on this, these men are not Israelites, but when they heard Jonah was a Hebrew they knew not to cross the God of Israel.

Jonah 1:11  Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

What can we do Jonah to stop the storm?

Jonah 1:12  And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

Now look at Jonah’s faith here.  He is not trying to save his own neck and he knows that as soon as he is out of the ship their lives will be spared.

Jonah 1:13  Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

These men were not about to toss a guy overboard so they tried to get back to shore.

Jonah 1:14  Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and 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 pleased thee.

Now what God are they crying out to?  You think these men are going to forget this?  Also they don’t want to have Jonah’s blood on their hands.  I’m sure Pilate comes to mind.  But also think of what this is to symbolize.  Didn’t Christ perish for all of us?

Jon 1:15  So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Jon 1:16  Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

People don’t change.  You get them in a bad situation and they promise anything.

Jon 1:17  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.

We will be returning to Luke before we are done with Jonah, because we are going to look at what Christ did immediately after he calmed the seas.

2 thoughts on “Jonah 1: 4-17 Where are you going Jonah?”

  1. Really good insights I haven't thought about. when I talk about this story with other christians, most don't even remember the fact that the men in the ship didn't want to throw jonah overboard but jonah insisted. jonah could have been like… dude I don't know what's going on either…but he stepped up and told the truth of the matter.

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