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| Sperm whale (Physeter microcephalus) illustration by Uko Gorter |
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| To Part 1 |
Nevertheless the men rowed hard
to return to land (Jon 1:13a).
These heathen men were doing for Jonah what he was unwilling to do for the Assyrians! Jonah was convinced that the
Assyrians had no pick of the litter in the bunch worth saving. As a prophet of God, he knew better; it is Yahweh’s decision alone who lives or dies. What
these mariners didn’t know was that Yahweh prepared for them to throw Jonah
over the side because He had appointed a creature to prevent his
wayward prophet from drowning in the sea. Jonah is about to go from bad to worse.
but they could not, for the sea
continued to grow more tempestuous against them (Jon 1:13b).
These men were bound and
determined to find another solution to their dilemma. This speaks volumes from
a human perspective. Unlike the Assyrians, these men valued life. At their
peril, they were willing to attempt to pull free from the grip of this storm in
order to save everyone aboard, but no matter how hard these mariners rowed, they struggled in vain; they were not making any headway. Unknowingly, they were
attempting through human effort to break free from the will of Jonah’s God;
that wasn’t going to happen. Salvation through any human means apart from His
will would utterly fail…
Jonah was going to learn a very tough lesson that Yahweh was going to hold him to the vow he made during his commission to Nineveh back in Jerusalem (cf. Jon 2:9). Oh, the troubles we bring into our lives whenever we renege on
doing God’s will (cf. Rom 15:4)! “O, LORD, when will we ever learn that being pigheaded
and foolish is a troublesome combo (cf. Psa 119:67)! Read the lyrics of Robert Robinson, 1758,
O to grace
how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy
grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to Thee;
Prone to
wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my
heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above
(Robert
Robinson, 1758)
Therefore they cried out to the
LORD and said, We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man's
life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as
it pleased You (Jon 1:14).
This was a great prayer coming
from heathens! The recounting of this moment gives the impression it could only
come from an eyewitness on board; it did if the author of this book was Jonah. Under
inspiration, Jonah associated their prayer with Yahweh! I am not suggesting
they became believers, but then again, they may have; they were no longer talking
to their deaf, dumb, and dead gods anymore (Jon 1:5) but to the One and only true God, Yahweh (Jon 1:14).
They lost their cargo, and their lives were dangling from a threadbare, but they may have gotten Someone infinitely better in return if they truly turned from their Phoenician gods to Yahweh that unforgettable day or night! We will know for sure in glory, yes? Let's take a quick peek at their prayer to Yahweh,
They lost their cargo, and their lives were dangling from a threadbare, but they may have gotten Someone infinitely better in return if they truly turned from their Phoenician gods to Yahweh that unforgettable day or night! We will know for sure in glory, yes? Let's take a quick peek at their prayer to Yahweh,
We
Everybody was on board with what they were about to do.
O LORD
What happened to their deaf, dumb, and dead gods (it is so awesome)?
please do not let us perish for
this man's life
They were not ready to die and
recognized that their lives were in his hands. Do you think we lost that
concept along the way that our lives are not in our hands?
do not charge us with innocent
blood
They prayed for leniency for
they realize Jonah’s solution was the last option, the “nuclear” option. If
Yahweh charged them with Jonah’s death, they realized that they were dead men
for sure for throwing an innocent man over the side.
for You, O LORD, have done as it
pleased You
They acknowledged His
sovereignty! That is something else we may have lost sight of along the beaten
path. God will not be overruled; the will of God will not be rowed out of or
run from. These sailors figured this out quicker than Jonah.
I bet you that they never prayed
to their gods like that before; they didn’t know Yahweh before Jonah came on board. The next thing that happened was something each man will never forget until the day he died; it probably took only two men to throw Jonah over the side, and
the rest consented to tossing him overboard as their passenger recommended (Jon
1:12),
So they picked up Jonah and
threw him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging (Jon 1:15).
So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea
God’s prophet was officially enrolled in the Great Fish Institute for lower learning (literally, the fundamentals). The sailors have been relieved of their duties in Operation Great Fish. This organic submarine has picked up its package successfully and will continue with the operation per Yahweh (v17). Again, we have seen that it is impossible
to run from God, but we can run from obedience; the lost do it all the time, ignoring
the command to be saved (Acts 17:30-31).
We are getting an illustration here of why it doesn’t pay to elude God’s will for whatever reason, valid or not. When will we ever learn that the heart gestures of raising the fist toward heaven or putting the hand to the face are brazenly blunt, rude, disrespectful, and foolish, but there is another term for it: s-t-u-p-i-d; there is no fear of God to be found in such a word.
We are getting an illustration here of why it doesn’t pay to elude God’s will for whatever reason, valid or not. When will we ever learn that the heart gestures of raising the fist toward heaven or putting the hand to the face are brazenly blunt, rude, disrespectful, and foolish, but there is another term for it: s-t-u-p-i-d; there is no fear of God to be found in such a word.
and the sea ceased from its raging.
The men on board were amazed;
their passenger was right (Jon 1:12a)! The sea went from raging to calm, as soon as he went over the side! Since this storm was a supernatural one, it didn’t have to wind down; it dissipated as soon as Jonah hit the water. How in the world did Jonah know that (Jon 1:12)?? Imagine if you were one of the crew members and
what must have been running through your heart and mind at that very moment: the sea conditions went from raging to tranquil, instantaneously. “Nobody is going to believe this back home,” the mariners may have thought!
I am inclined to think this happened during the night to make it that much more intense, but I could be wrong. They knew Jonah’s God was satisfied by the calming of the storm (cf. Jon 1:10b). I wonder if these seafarers ever allowed another Hebrew on board? In retrospect, these sailors did a very smart thing, and now this,
I am inclined to think this happened during the night to make it that much more intense, but I could be wrong. They knew Jonah’s God was satisfied by the calming of the storm (cf. Jon 1:10b). I wonder if these seafarers ever allowed another Hebrew on board? In retrospect, these sailors did a very smart thing, and now this,
Then
the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and
took vows (Jon 1:16).
Do you think that v16 would have
ever happened to these men if Jonah had never stepped onto their boat in Joppa?
This is not to offer any kind of excuse for Jonah’s disobedience to the LORD by
any stretch. Nor should we justify any rebellion on our part that something
good may come of it! That is simply asking for trouble!
Jonah should have been nowhere
near that ship to Tarshish but on his way to Nineveh; instead, he found himself
in the middle of Nowheresville out in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea or
Great Sea. God can take even our disobedience and bring forth praise to Him
because we don’t have the last word. Rest assured, sinning to bring about an
unexpected spiritual blessing is not recommended; that is a warped worldview. We will never have a peaceable ride or a joy of the LORD moment while on the lam from God’s will until repentance happens.
This crew got a good healthy
dose of the fear of Yahweh and then some,
Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly
(emphasis mine)
We do not know if these men came to faith in Yahweh or not because we do not have any further data, but the fear of God is a great starting point (cf. Psa 111:10; Prov 16:6; Mk 4:41)!
We do not know if these men came to faith in Yahweh or not because we do not have any further data, but the fear of God is a great starting point (cf. Psa 111:10; Prov 16:6; Mk 4:41)!
And offered a sacrifice to the
LORD and took vows
How this sacrifice was conducted is unknown. We can only hope they did a better job of keeping their
vows to Yahweh than Jonah did (cf. Jon 2:9a). If so, it would indicate that their prayer on the ship was not a foxhole conversion!
The timing and trajectory of
that huge beast would be impeccable! This humongous whale cannot turn on a dime
like a small fish, darting here and there. Yahweh was involved with the whale’s
final approach. It is not a strain to say that Yahweh was communicating with
the whale in picking up the package at the precise point and time (cf. Jon 2:10).
Transporting cargo across the sea was the crew’s livelihood; a dramatic and memorable experience tends to make one never forget such a thing on the high seas. Throwing a man overboard to
make a sea cease from its raging was a first! And if these men witnessed a
great sea creature taking Jonah away, well, that would be another first, too! All of
this made for a tall tale of the sea, indeed, a mariner’s yarn. Do you think
they remained silent when they arrived back at the port? They all had a license to lip.
Would their fellow mariners,
friends, or family members ever believe them or just laugh and accuse them of
too much strong wine or tales of the sea? But tell their yarn they will in
every port of call with passion. It stands to reason for it was truly a great sea
story to tell!
Question the account, the hearers will, but it was a true happening the day
the God of the Hebrews paid them a visit on the Great Sea, whether or not those
who heard bought into it. On that God-given day/night, they truly believed that they
were all going to die because of Jonah. Next, one of the most controversial
verses in all of Scripture. <><
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| End of Jonah 1:12-16 |
