Day #165: Jonah 1:4-17

This week's blog is written by Pauline Lo Alker

Background

Jonah disobeyed God's call to go to Nineveh, the great pagan city in Assyria, to deliver a warning message of impending judgment and repentance. He defiantly turned his back on God and headed toward the opposite direction to Joppa where he booked passage on a ship going to Tarshish.

Perils at Sea

So, Jonah boarded the ship manned by pagan sailors heading for Tarshish , "away from the presence of the Lord." (Jonah 1:3 ESV)

Could anything good ever come from defiance of the Lord? Despite his stubbornness, deep down Jonah must have known that disaster was going to happen sooner or later. He should have known that there was no place far enough to go to get away from God.

Sure enough, not long after the ship set sail, "the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea , and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up." (1:4)

The pagan sailors were used to storms at sea; but this was an unusually terrific storm. They started to "hurl" cargo from the ship to lighten the load. But the storm grew so fierce that they feared for their lives. They cried out to their pagan gods pleading for deliverance.

But not our man Jonah! Where was he when this drama at sea was unfolding? Instead of praying to his God, Jonah actually went down to the inner part of the ship, laid down and fell fast asleep.

Oblivious to All

Say what? What incredibly strange behavior! In the midst of a dangerous storm threatening peril to all, Jonah was so oblivious that he could actually fall asleep! Even at this perilous time, Jonah was still trying to "run away" from God!

What was this man thinking? Was he not frightened like others? Was it his way of "mental escape," trying to numb his mind not wanting to face what was about to happen? Was he exhausted from running from God and felt that he had safely gotten away from the call of God?

Needless to say, the sailors' prayers to their false gods couldn't stop the storm; but at least they were not hard-hearted like Jonah. Jonah knew his disobedience had invoked God's anger, yet he did not turn back to God for forgiveness and deliverance.

The sailors were all astonished a Jonah's odd behavior. The captain went down to Jonah's cabin and barked at him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god!" (1:6)

Oh, Jonah!

Did you need a pagan captain to rouse you out of your spiritual stupor? Have you no shame? How this must have put added fuel to God's fury!

The sailors knew or suspected that someone on the ship had done something bad that had caused this calamity; but they didn't know who. So they turned to the ancient world's practiced custom of casting lots to discern the divine will.

Caught? Yes. Mea Culpa? No Choice. Confess? Not Really.

Bingo! The lot fell on Jonah. "So you're the one," the sailors pointed at Jonah. "You'd better tell us the truth. Who are you? What is your profession? Where did you come from? What had you done ....?"

Now pushed to the corner, Jonah confessed: "I am a Hebrew and I am running away from "the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." (1:9)

Did Jonah actually "confessed?" He did tell the sailors the truth of his flight from God, he might even have apologized for causing this crisis, but he still could not bring himself to face God, to confess his sin and plead for forgiveness.

Before we shake our heads and "hurl" our "tsk, tsk" at Jonah, let us remember how many times each of us have (1) disobeyed God's will; (2) run away from Him; and (3) tried every trick in the book to refuse facing God and accept His repeated chances of forgiveness and restoration.

Hide from God? We can either give up right now, or give up later risking added wrath.

"Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" (Isaiah 29:15 NIV)

Man Overboard!

After Jonah's mea culpa, admitting his role in causing this peril, he knew that as long as he stayed on the ship, all would perish. He offered, "You'd better hurl me to sea to save yourselves."

But the sailors were hesitant in throwing him overboard. One must pause to ask "Why?" Perhaps in their hearts, the sailors suspected, if not yet accepted, that Jonah's God might just be the True God. They were afraid to let Jonah die. So they tried even harder to row to dry land, but to no avail.

Finally, in desperation, feared of losing many "innocent blood" because of Jonah's trespass against God, they "hurled" him out to sea. "They cried to the Lord" (1:14) and pleaded for help from Jonah's God. Immediately "the sea ceased from its raging. They the men feared the Lord exceedingly ...." (1: 15-16)

What started out as the sailors' intense fear for their lives grew into reverence and worship after witnessing the power and mercy of the one True Lord! Don't forget these were Gentiles, who only moments ago were praying to their pagan gods!

Herein highlights one of the key themes of Jonah's story: God's compassion is boundless, extended not only to a "chosen few" but to all people throughout all nations.

Devoured!

As Jonah was sinking into the sea, "the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah." (1:17a)

Many of us had heard of the story of "Jonah and the Whale" as children, but the Bible only mentions "a great fish" and not a whale. A large whale, on the other hand, could easily devour a man whole.

"And Jonah was in the belling of the fish three days and three nights." (1:17b)

So What? (What will I do with what I have read today?)

If Jonah's disobedience makes us feel smug and complacent about our own obedience and righteousness, we, too, had better "Arise, call out to our God!"

Why do we disobey God often?

We disobey because: (1) we are self-centered, not wanting to give up our comfort and our pleasures; (2) we fear what we might face ahead; (3) we rationalize that if are doing something "good," though not as God commanded, then God might let us "off the hook"; and (4) we do not fear God and don't care enough about the sinful consequences.

And so we "run" from God.

We can run, but we can't hide. God is in constant pursuit of us.

From the great fish that "devoured" Jonah, we see God's mercy. God could have let Jonah suffer the consequences of his action and drown, but He intervened and spared Jonah's life. We often complain to God about suffering the consequences of our sins, but rarely do we recount the number of times God has spared us from consequences.

Though rescued from the depth of the sea, yet being in the belly of the fish was not what one would call a "picnic." How did Jonah spend those three long days and long nights?

Tune in tomorrow......