Jonah 1:3-10

GOD'S MESSENGER RUNNING FROM GODTHE CONTRARIETY OF JONAH

TEXT: Jonah 1:3-10

3

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.

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But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

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Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.

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Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

QUERIES

a.

How did Jonah think he could flee from the presence of Jehovah?

b.

How could Jonah sleep through the storm upon the sea?

c.

Why did the mariners want to know so much about Jonah?

PARAPHRASE

But Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh so he decided to go far, far away to Tarshish hoping thereby to relieve himself of the obligation of serving God in this special task. He went down to the great seaport of Joppa and finding a ship there bound for Tarshish, he paid his fare and went aboard and climbed down into the inner-most part of the ship and sailed with them in order to be free of the responsibility of this particular task God had given him. But God sent one ofHis servants to bring a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea which threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors cried to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard in order to lighten the ship. All this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold of the ship. So the captain went down after him. What do you mean sleeping at a time like this? he said, Get up and cry to your god and perhaps he will have mercy upon us and keep us from perishing. Then the crew decided to cast lots to see which one of them had offended the gods and caused this terrible storm; and the lot fell upon Jonah. You, who have brought this displeasure of the gods upon us, tell us, they said, Who are you? What is your occupation? Where are you from? What is your countryand your nationality? Jonah replied, I am a Hebrew; I worship Jehovah, the God of heaven, who made the earth and the sea. Then the sailors were terrified and yelled at him, Why have you done this? They knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

SUMMARY

Jonah, thinking to relieve himself of the prophetic responsibility if he gets away from the place where this commission was given, flees toward Tarshish. But God arrests him in the middle of the ocean by a storm and the falling of a lot upon him. Jonah then confesses his failure to the ship's crew.

COMMENT

Jonah 1:3 JONAH ROSE UP TO FLEE UNTO TARSHISH FROM THE PRESENCE OF JEHOVAH. Was Jonah foolish enough to think that he could hide from God? Destructive liberal critics of the Bible say that the phrase from the presence of Jehovah indicates a tribal concept of God. That is, the liberal critics think the Hebrews of Jonah's day had the same concept of their God as the heathen did of theirseach ethnic group of people had their own localized godsand when they got away from their homeland the local gods had no power over them. This attack upon the supernatural character of the Bible is too absurd to be given much credence by anyone who has ever read the Bible at all. Long before Jonah ever lived the Hebrew people knew that Jehovah God was the Only True God and that He was Creator and Sustainer of the whole universethat His presence was everywhere (cf. Psalms 139:7 ff). What then is the meaning of this phrase from the presence of Jehovah? The Jewish commentator, Kimchi, says, He imagined that if he went out of the land of Israel, the Spirit of prophecy would not rest upon him-'.-' In other words, Jonah was simply trying to rid himself of the responsibilities of his official status in this one particular task of going to Nineveh. The phrase ... presence of Jehovah is often used to indicate some official capacity (cf. Genesis 41:46; Deuteronomy 10:8; 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:15; 2 Kings 3:14; Luke 1:19). Jonah's intention was not to hide himself from the omnipotent God, but to withdraw from the service of Jehovah. So Jonah acted, as men often do today who do not like God's call upon their lives to special service, by removing themselves as far as possible from being under the influence of God, and from the place where he could fulfill God's command. All the circumstances which weighed upon Jonah's soul causing such disobedience we are not told. However, he gives us one reason himself near the end of the book (Jonah 4:2). Fairbairn supposes Jonah to have rationalized thus: Alas! what can I hope to accomplish as the bearer of God's message against the crying sins and abominations of Nineveh? I, a solitary individual, a poor and unknown stranger, in the midst of a proud, overgrown city, reveling in wealth and wantonness! What success have I had at home even among the people of my own tongue and nation? Here, with every advantage on my side, I have borne the testimony of God in vain, and have seen the hand of the Lord stretched out to save from impending ruin, with no other effect among the people at large than of giving new wings to profligacy and corruption. My soul is already sick with looking at the things which have been proceeding around me; my hands hang down nerveless and enfeebled; and yet I am the man to be sent to deal with that mighty mass of pride and unrestrained wickedness! Is there the least likelihood of their listening to my voice?. And, whatever success might attend my labors when transferred to that distant field, will not He who has so long spared Israel under so many provocations, much more spare them? Why may not matters, then, be allowed to take their course? Or, if the call to repentance must be proclaimed, let it be at least committed to one better prepared for the toils and difficulties of the undertaking. Discouragement, the devil's sharpest knife, has stabbed the heart of Jonah and many a preacher of God since, weakening their faith and prodding them into fleeing from the presence of Jehovah. Jonah had seen no visible success from his ministry and so he was ready to quit. He had seen enough in the past to believe that all his preaching to Nineveh would not bring the judgment of God upon them but mercy which would be but another failure. His faith was not strong enough yet to accept at all times that the ways of men are not always the ways of God (Isaiah 55:8). When Isaiah was warned many years later that his preaching would not be listened to, Isaiah cried out, How long, O Lord? The Lord answered Isaiah and all preachers who have ever asked the same question, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste. (Isaiah 6:9 ff). Lack of apparent success, unresponsive listeners, discouragement blinded the eyes of Jonah to the power of God and he went with haste to the city of Joppa, one of Israel's greatest seaports, and paid his fare on a ship bound for Tarshish.

Tarshish is probably Tartessus, in Spain, about 2000 miles west of Palestine, and one of the most western points of all the Phoenician trade. Jonah was fleeing in as opposite a direction from Nineveh as he could go, as Nineveh is almost directly east of Palestine about 500 miles. Joppa is the city where Peter was when God called him to take the Gospel to the Gentile army captain, Cornelius (Acts 10:5 ff).

Jonah 1:4-5 BUT JEHOVAH SENT OUT A GREAT WIND UPON THE SEA. THEN THE MARINERS WERE AFRAID. BUT JONAH. WAS FAST ASLEEP, His going out from the presence of the Lord did not ensure his escape from the government of the Lord. All the forces of nature are at the command of God, and are pressed into His service when need requires. The ship started on course, but God sent out a wind (cf. Psalms 104:4; Hebrews 1:7). The mariners were heathenthey were polytheistsmen who worshipped many gods. This tempest was so severe that even these experienced seamen were terrified. When prayer to each one's deity did not avail they hurled their cargo overboard, but even this did not help. The ship was groaning and creaking, tossed about, and in immediate danger of breaking apart. And Jonah was fast asleep! It is hardly justifiable to attribute his ability to sleep through the storm to a perverse stupefied, seared conscience. He was probably so exhausted from the long trip from Gath-hepher to Joppa (a distance of some 60-70 miles) and from the psychological wrestling with his soul (which causes physical exhaustion) that he simply fell into a deep sleep which the rocking and rolling of the ship might even have helped, as we ourselves have experienced drowsiness induced by the rolling of a ship under our feet,

Jonah 1:6-7. WHAT MEANEST THOU, O SLEEPER?. COME, AND LET US CAST LOTS. AND THE LOT FELL UPON JONAH, The chief-sailor (shipmaster) remembered the passenger who had boarded at Joppa and probably had been informed that he was asleep down in the hold. Jonah had told them (exactly when, we are not told) that his purpose for buying passage was to flee from the presence of Jehovah (Jonah 1:10). So the chief rope-puller (the literal word for sailor) awakened Jonah shouting, over the noise of the storm and in incredulity that he could sleep, What do you mean sleeping at a time like this? Get up and call upon your God in hope that he will look with favor upon us all that we do not perish. These ploytheists had tried calling upon every god represented by every other man on board all to no avail. They had thrown the cargo overboard. Now, they will try Jonah's god. The record does not indicate whether Jonah prayed then or not, but the crew decided to take further action as a last resort. These sailors were at their wits-' end when it occurred to them that this violent storm was the expression of the gods-' anger with someone on board. Although many of the ancient and contemporary heathenistic concepts of God and natural phenomena are utterly false yet the Bible reveals very plainly that there is a relationship between man's sin and natural calamity (see our comments on Joel and Special Studies on Prophetic Philosophy of History and The Day of Jehovah).

The Arabic word which corresponds to the Hebrew word lot is translated stone, pebble, etc. Stones, pebbles, dice, colored balls, pieces of wood of different lengths, and so on, were used for the casting of lots. Because men of old believed that the will of the powers which ruled over man's destiny could be known in this way, it was a common practice to cast lots for important decisions. We also read that individual Israelites and the entire nation made use quite frequently of some sort of lot. The Urim and Thummim, placed into the breastplate fastened to the ephod worn by the high priest in his official duties served to reveal God's will, the exact manner of such revelation being unknown to us (cf. Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; Joshua 9:14; 1 Samuel 22:10; 1 Samuel 22:13; 1 Samuel 22:15; 1 Samuel 23:6-13; 1 Samuel 30:7 ff; Nehemiah 7:65). The Lord commanded the casting of lots only in important matters (Leviticus 16:8; Numbers 26:53 ff; Numbers 33:54; Numbers 34:13; Joshua 7:13 ff; chs. 14-21). Saul's use of the lot (1 Samuel 14:37-45) was an act of a king rejected by God (1 Samuel 13:13 ff), an example illustrating Prov. 13:33, without giving permission to resort to casting the lot. In the New Testament there is no divine command to cast lots and only one example of such being done (Acts 1:26). Neither the deacons (Acts 6:1-6), nor Paul and Barnabas as missionaries to the heathen (Acts 13:1 ff), nor the delegation sent to Antioch by the congregation at Jerusalem (Acts 15:22 ff), nor the evangelists placed in the newly planted congregations (1 Timothy 4:14; Titus 1:5) were chosen by casting lots. We do not think it would be sinful if a congregation or individual Christians resorted to the lot in order to decide certain details in carrying out a work in which they are agreed in general. But the outcome of the lot is not to be regarded as a divine decree. God has made know His will through which he has granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through a knowledge of Him (Christ) (2 Peter 1:3 ff). God has given us minds to make intelligent decisions and when our decisions are in accord with His revealed word we do not need to cast lots.

In the Old Testament times God revealed His will in divers portions and divers manners (Hebrews 1:1). In the case of Jonah here it is very evident that God controlled the outcome of the casting of the lots. The lot fell upon Jonah. It was God's way of saying, Thou art the man!

Jonah 1:8-9. WHAT IS THINE OCCUPATION? AND WHENCE COMEST THOU?. I AM A HEBREW; AND I FEAR JEHOVAH. They inquired about his occupation, because it might be a disreputable one, and one which excited the wrath of the gods; also about his parentage, and especially about the land and people from which he sprang, in order that they might deal with him according to his position, or influential friendships, They would not want to deal severely with a man whose influence might get them into trouble later.

We cannot but admire the frankness of Jonah's confession of guilt, and his willing surrender to the claims of justice, when he was tempted sorely to take an opposite course. This certainly shows that Jonah's conscience was not seared over. He answers their questions truthfully and at the same time finds an opportunity to bear witness to the One True God. His testimony resembles a great deal that made by the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 14:14-18; Acts 17:22-31).

Jonah 1:10. WHAT IS THIS THAT THOU HAST DONE? Now if Jonah's claims were true, it was Jonah's God who had sent the storm. How then could Jonah rebel against such a god? The sailors were amazed by what Jonah had told them. It was as if they said, Jonah, if your god is the god of heaven, sea, and land, how could you dare disobey him and run away from his command to you? They also wanted to know why he had involved them in his troubles with his god!

QUIZ

1.

Was Jonah foolish enough to think he could hide from God?

2.

What does the phrase ... from the presence of Jehovah mean?

3.

Why did Jonah flee from the presence of Jehovah?

4.

Where is Tarshish?

5.

Why was Jonah asleep?

6.

Should we try to determine God's will by casting lots?

7.

Why did the sailors question Jonah about his occupation, country, etc.?