Jonah 1:4

John 1:4

I. Apparently with great unanimity, the sailors fall upon a scheme to discover the cause and reason of the storm, or at any rate, the person on whose account it has come. They all pray, and then cast lots. They did not mean it as a desperate chance stroke. In their intention it was a religious act. As such it was accepted, for the lot fell upon Jonah. God uses the honest, although blind, endeavours of His creatures to discover truth and duty, to reveal to them in a measure what they are seeking, and at the same time to go on with the development of His own perfect providence. He takes what there isin the form of worship and service of Him, if it is the best that men can achieve in the circumstances.

II. The lot fell upon Jonah. The words spoken by the shipmaster at his berth, the falling of the lot upon him, the hurried questions of the crew, and the howling of the elements around, "awoke" him in the highest sense. He rose up as from a hideous dream, and stood once more before God and man, in openness, sincerity, and truth. "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." Few scenes in history have a darker grandeur than this confession of Jonah to these heathen sailors, when he knewthat in a very short time he was to be cast into the sea. There is about his conduct a self-abnegation and a moral sublimity which are rarely found, among even good men.

III. Note the several expressions used in Jonah's confession. (i) "I am an Hebrew." The name by which the Jewish people were known to foreigners. The name came to them when as emigrants they passed the great river, the river Euphrates. Passers-byin life, not settlers anywhere on earth. Men of pilgrim spirit, seeking rest and home beyond death. (ii) "I am an Hebrew, and I fear" i.e.serve, not I am afraid of, but, I serve in reverence, and trust, and love, "the Lord" Jehovah, the one living and true God self-existent, self-sufficient, supreme, eternal. (iii) "The God of heaven" a lofty title, often used in the Scriptures, and nearly always by God's servants, in speaking to heathens, signifying the creation, possession, and rule of the whole visible universe.

A. Raleigh, The Story of Jonah,p. 99.

References: John 1:4. W. G. Blaikie, Homiletic Magazine,vol. vi., p. 165.John 1:4. J. Menzies, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 75.John 1:5; John 1:6. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. viii., No. 469; S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit,5th series, No. 2 John 1:6. Christian World Pulpit,vol. i., p. 173; J. N. Norton, Golden Truths,p. 138. John 1:7. W. G. Blaikie, Homiletic Magazine,vol. vi., p. 167. John 1:11. Ibid.,p. 245; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 166. John 1:12; John 1:13. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. x., No. 567.