Verse 1. "The
word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,"
The Book of Jonah has come under special
attack through the centuries. Certain other Books have
also been especially targeted by "critics," including the Books
of Daniel and Revelation. It should be noted that ALL
of the Books in the Bible have been attacked by those who would
like to rewrite God's Word into their OWN image, if they could.
Nothing more would be known of Jonah,
except for a reference in 2 Kings 14:25, which mentions "Jonah
the son of Amittai," a "prophet"
from "Gath Hepher." This
was a town three miles north of Nazareth in lower Galilee, making
this man a prophet of the northern kingdom; of Galilee.
When the Pharisees said, "no prophet has
arisen out of Galilee" (John 7:52), they were wrong.
"Jonah," by the way, is the Hebrew
word for "dove," and "Amittai"
means "true."
The critics of Scripture have placed
the writing of this Book as late as the 3rd Century BC and have
called it a "historical fiction." They are as wrong as
the Pharisees. Jesus, who simply KNEW (and knows) the
truth, supported the historical accuracy of this Book in Matthew
12:39-41. Jonah was a contemporary of King Jeroboam II
of Israel (782-753 BC) and this Book was written during his
reign.
Verse 2. "Arise,
go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness
has come up before Me."
"The
word of the Lord came to Jonah"
(see Verse 1) which means that God "spoke" to this man.
How He spoke is not clear. Did God speak audibly to him,
as He seems to have done with Moses in Exodus 3, or did Jonah
just KNOW God's Word in his heart? It really does not
matter, for God can "speak" to us in a variety of ways: through
the Bible, out loud, through circumstances, by answered prayer;
God is "speaking" to us all - right now.
Nineveh was an ancient walled city,
founded by Nimrod (Genesis 10:11-12), and for many years it
had been the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It was a
large city-state at the time of this Book, and it was the enemy
of Israel. It was a place of "wickedness"
as we see in this verse, and Jonah was called to "cry
(prophesy) against it." God
is utterly aware of the wickedness of mankind and He is not
pleased.
Verse 3. "But
Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish,
paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord."
Instead of going EAST to Nineveh to
"cry against it" as the Lord commanded
in Verse 2, Jonah intended to travel WEST as far as he could
possibly go, to the city of "Tarshish,"
a Phoenician city on the coast of Spain. He went to the
port city of Joppa and "paid the fare,"
fleeing "from the presence of the Lord."
There were a number of reasons why he may have done it, but
chief in his mind was that he knew God's nature - those who
honestly repent of their sins before God WILL be forgiven.
Jonah did not WANT the Ninevites to be forgiven.
The Assyrians in Nineveh were fierce
and capable in battle and they were the enemies of Israel.
If the Ninevites repented, Jonah must have thought, God would
spare them, and Israel might then be destroyed. Also,
if they did repent, any predictions he might have made against
them would seem to be discredited and he could be embarrassed.
How many times have we withheld forgiveness from some person
or group because we don't want to give up our anger against
them? And how many times have we failed to serve God out
of a fear of personal embarrassment?
Verse 4. "The
Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm
on the sea so that the ship was about to break up."
When a tornado destroys a mobile home
park, a tsunami inundates a coastal area or hurricane-force
winds threaten a place, we tend to draw back from a belief that
God is all-powerful. Or the tendency is to refuse to believe
in God at all - out of anger. We forget that God not only
has purposes for individuals, but He also has larger purposes
that affect the affairs of nations and the course of history.
Our human lives ARE important to God, and most important of
all is not what happens to us at the moment, but that we are
safe for all eternity.
God intended that an entire people would
turn from their sins, trust in the Lord and be changed.
They were the Assyrians, a group that would have continued to
kill and enslave innocent people and God intended to stop them,
saving the souls of individual Assyrians in the process.
The ship Jonah rode on was in jeopardy, and no doubt other ships
in the area were struggling, but God had the fate of nations
in mind. He would use so-called "natural" events to present
His message and change the future.
Verse 5. "Then
the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and
they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten
it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship,
lain down and fallen sound asleep."
The term "sailors"
here is "mallachim," used for those in that time who sailed
on the SALT sea. Joppa (Verse 3) was the origin of this
voyage, and corn was the major export of that place, or what
was thrown overboard could possibly have been manufactured goods
from Tyre. But whatever it was, it was not only expensive,
but it was also the very PURPOSE, the reason they had sailed
in the first place. It's interesting how much easier it
is to lighten ourselves of so-called things of value when our
lives are at stake.
Notice how fervently the crewmen cried
out to various false gods. They either were from different
Phoenician ports around the Mediterranean Sea, or they were
many nationalities , as suggested by the differing "gods" they
called out to. And note that fervency in religion is no
guarantee that adherents are calling out to the true God.
Jonah was likely upset and depressed because of his decision
to run away from God's call. To think God is gone from
your life is depressing. Jonah fell deeply asleep.
Compare Jesus' disciples in Luke 22:45 - When Jesus went to
them, "He found them sleeping from sorrow."
Lord, enable us to look to and respond
to Your will. You see the real need, Lord, and we often
don't. Let us not run away, but instead trust in You.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Jonah 1:6-10
Verse 6. "So the
captain approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping?
Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned
about us so that we will not perish.'"
Jonah the Prophet was in a ship that
was in imminent danger of sinking, and he was sound asleep!
He was probably the only one on board who looked to the true
God and he was not calling out to the Lord for safety or anything
else. The others were praying to some "god" or another,
but Jonah was "out like a light" - fast asleep, when he should
have been calling out to God. Notice the fervor of others
on that ship. They may have prayed to the wrong "gods,"
but to their credit, they PRAYED with the understanding they
had!
So often, those in Israel and in the
Church have been like Jonah. The world is not unlike a
train that is out of control, headed for destruction, and God's
people are asleep at the switch. Jesus said, "Many
are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 20:16), and
that is because so many refuse to go. You may think that,
unlike Jonah, you have nothing to pray about. But, as
usual, the world is on the brink of war, which affects you personally,
and there is plenty of reason to pray. And so the "captain"
of the ship approached Jonah and reasonably demanded, "What's
wrong with you?" and then shouted, "Get up and pray!"
Verse 7. "Each
man said to his mate, 'Come, let us cast lots so we may learn
on whose account this calamity has struck us. So they cast lots
and the lot fell on Jonah.'"
We like to pretend to ourselves that
we can see, but we are actually a race of blind beings, groping
in the dark. If you think you can see, tell the rest of
us what will happen tomorrow! God CAN see tomorrow, but
humanity can't. We may have opinions about what will happen,
but few really know. Many consult economists, theologians,
philosophers, astrologers, and scientists of various kinds,
attempting to "see" the future, but our efforts, without God,
are like those who "cast lots so we may
learn."
It's interesting that God not only can
see the future, but He is also the One who controls the outcome
of all events, yesterday, today and forever. "The
lot fell on Jonah," but it was not an accident.
It really WAS because of Jonah that the storm had come upon
that ship, and it was God who caused Jonah's "lot"
to be chosen. God has a purpose for our lives, and the
so-called "random" events we encounter are carefully selected
to bring us into His will.
Verse 8. "Then
they said to him, 'Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity
struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from?
What is your country? From what people are you?'"
Have you ever moved to a new place,
or changed jobs, or whatever, and everything seemed just fine
for awhile, but then you began to notice that your old problems
went with you? The neighbor who was so irritating in the
place where you lived before, somehow has a "twin" in personality,
who lives right across the street from your new home!
Jonah had moved away from the call of God as far as he could,
but Jonah WAS the problem and he could not escape himself.
The sailors on the ship were demanding
information from him. When things go wrong, people look
for fault in others and these sailors wanted to know what Jonah
had done. They asked lots of questions about his background,
trying to relate the "lot" that
"fell" on Jonah (Verse 7) to their
present situation. Perhaps, they thought, if they knew
where he was from, they could figure out what so-called "god"
he might have offended.
Verse 9. "He said
to them, 'I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who
made the sea and the dry land.'"
Jonah now simply and honestly began
to answer the questions he had been asked by those who were
on the ship with him. The written words of these verses
seem relatively calm, by the way, but they don't reflect fully
what was occurring. This was a small ship and it was in
a big storm. The words in these verses were shouted, not
merely spoken, and the men were holding on for dear life, while
the boat was turned and thrown by wind and waves.
He called himself a "Hebrew,"
which is how Gentiles of the time referred to Israelites, and
it was what the Jews often called themselves when speaking to
outsiders. Note that there were thought to be many so-called
"gods" by those who lived in the nations that surrounded the
Mediterranean Sea. They looked to "gods" of wind, fire
and just about everything else. Jonah was now shouting
over the storm that he worshipped the REAL "God;"
the One who "made" us all.
Verse 10. "Then
the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, 'How
could you do this?' For the men knew that he was fleeing from
the presence of the Lord, because he had told them."
Jonah had already told them that he
was running away from his God, but they had thought he meant
some idol, one of the many "gods" they paid homage to.
But now they understood that he had offended the REAL God, and
they became "extremely frightened."
It's interesting that they, who ran away from God through worshipping
false "gods," began to criticize Jonah who also ran away, though
he did it for a somewhat different reason.
Romans 1:18 takes a fascinating look
at those who involve themselves with idolatry and/or pretend
that God does not exist - such people "suppress
the truth in unrighteousness," even to themselves.
Everyone really knows that God exists and yet many are in a
state of denial, not unlike the alcoholic who denies even to
himself that he is one. When you are "witnessing" to someone
about the Lord, remember Romans 1:18. Though they may
deny God through the idolatry of atheism or something else;
down deep inside, they already know that He is real.
Father, let the circumstances of
our lives turn us to You. You sent Your Son so we might
see You in Him, repent of our sins and trust in God - forever.
We give ourselves to You right now. Thank You for rescuing
us in and through Your Son. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Jonah 1:11-15
Verse 11. "So
they said to him, 'What should we do to you that the sea may
become calm for us?' - for the sea was becoming increasingly
stormy."
The response of the sailors to Jonah
is interesting. They knew that his God was the true God,
the maker of heaven and earth (Verse 9). Everyone in that
time and place had heard of the rescue of Israel from Egyptian
slavery and they were more afraid of God than they were of the
storm that raged around them. Now that they knew Jonah's
nationality, it may have occurred to them from his clothing
and manner that he was a prophet. Their response was deferential
as they asked him, "What should we do?"
The storm was already great and was
becoming worse by the moment. And so it is with many lives
here on this earth. There are "storms" of illness and
separation that rise up and seem like they will destroy us.
If you are rich and famous, insulated from the "storms" of life,
you have a problem, for no one is prepared for the ravages of
the aging process that is soon to come. Like the sailors
of these verses, we all need the Lord. Only He can bring
you through.
Verse 12. "He
said to them, 'Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the
sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of
me this great storm has come upon you.'"
Jonah had no doubt that his rebellion
against God was the cause of the storm that threatened to sink
the ship they were sailing upon. His response to the problem
was straightforward and simple: "Pick
me up and throw me into the sea!"
He really did NOT want to go to Nineveh and "cry
out against it" as God had commanded him to do (Verse
2), even to the point that he would die rather than go there.
You may wonder how God "spoke" to the
Old Testament prophets. Was it through an audible voice?
Sometimes; yes, He certainly did. But 1 Peter 1:10-11
is clear that the Spirit was "IN"
them, much like He is in believers today. How does the
missionary or pastor KNOW they are "called" by God to some aspect
of service? They just KNOW because of the Spirit in them.
How did Jonah know the sea would "become
calm?" He just KNEW because of the Spirit of God
in him.
Verse 13. "However,
the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not,
for the sea was becoming even stormier against them."
The sailors now knew that Jonah was
an Israelite (a "Hebrew" - Verse
9), and even worse for their understanding, they were thinking
about what it meant that he was a prophet, on the run from God.
It had been revealed that the storm was essentially Jonah's
fault and that the storm would abate if they just threw him
overboard. He would die and the storm would die with him.
If he had just been a Greek or Phoenician
sailor of the time, an idolater like the rest of them, they
might immediately have done it. But he was a prophet of
the Most High God, and God might not feel kindly toward them
if they killed His prophet. So they began to row the boat
"desperately" back toward their
point of origin or any landing place they could find.
But they were in trouble, for the storm was getting even worse
and they made no headway.
Verse 14. "Then
they called on the Lord and said, 'We earnestly pray, O Lord,
do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not
put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You
have pleased.'"
The sailors who were on the ship with
Jonah did not have a relationship with the Lord like he did.
They were idolaters who believed that everyone could look to
a pretend "god" of their own choosing (Verse 6). But Paul
the Apostle, in Romans 1:21, says of people everywhere, "they
knew God (but) did not glorify
Him as God, nor were thankful." Down inside, beneath
the pretense of idolatry, these sailors really KNEW God is real,
as all do.
Times of "storms" in our lives, like
the literal storm of these verses, will cause us to cry out
to the Lord, and it includes even those who ordinarily have
no regard for Him. These men "earnestly"
prayed to the Lord, perhaps for the first time in their lives.
As Solomon, the writer of Proverbs said, "the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs
9:10). For many it takes overwhelming circumstances before
they will finally cry out for help.
Verse 15. "So
they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped
its raging."
They did it! The sailors bodily
picked up Jonah the prophet and "threw
him into the sea," to what seemed to be certain death.
There seemed to be no alternative for them. These were
men who were experienced in the ways of salt water storms, and
they knew the ship itself was about to go down. They could
not reach land to place Jonah on some kind of shore, and so
they did what the man had asked (Verse 12) and threw him overboard!
Instantly, "the
sea stopped its raging." In the Hebrew it literally
is, the sea "stood from its anger." Usually, the winds
from a storm lessen gradually, but the sudden end of this one
would have convinced the sailors that Jonah was correct and
they were right by flinging him over the side. Another
sudden calm would take place hundreds of years later, when Jesus
rebuked the winds on the Sea of Galilee and they were suddenly
quiet (Matthew 8:26). The Lord calms the storms in your
life and mine.
Lord, calm the storms in the lives
of all who read these words. Let us trust in the Son of
God and not be afraid. Save us and fill us with Your Holy
Spirit. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Jonah 1:16-17
Verse 16. "Then
the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice
to the Lord and made vows."
Critics of the Bible have observed Verse
5, where the following words are written: "they
threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea."
They have reasoned that since the cargo was gone there would
be no animal left to "sacrifice,"
as in this verse. But the fact is that a "sacrifice"
to the Lord was indeed given and therefore some animal fit for
sacrifice did remain on board. Whatever animal it was,
its life ended at that moment as they gave thanks to God.
The "vows" they gave would have
included a pledge of more sacrifices to Him in the future.
Even though Jonah was running away from the Lord and had no
thought for the spiritual condition of his shipmates; his life
still brought them closer to God. Your life is important,
too, even when you don't think it is.
God created this world and everything
that is in it (Genesis One). His intention was that all
in the human race would have fellowship with Him. We,
men and women, would be a race of beloved sons and daughters
of God. His judgment on us for rejecting Him was that
trouble would enter our lives (Genesis Three) and His intention
was that our difficulties would bring us back to faith in Him
and His love. Like the men of this verse, we are to realize
that the Lord is God.
Verse 17. "And
the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah
was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights."
The "critics" of the Bible have had
a wonderful time with the verses in Jonah, especially these.
The tendency is to look at it from a merely scientific perspective,
conceding that certain large fish can swallow a man, but concluding
that the event would kill him instantly, or at best, the person
would die in a very short time. Part of the problem has
been that older translations called the creature of this verse
a "whale," which is not correct. The original language
called it a "great fish."
"The Pulpit Commentary"
commented on this incident, discussing the "white shark" of
the Mediterranean, which "has been known
to swallow a man whole, and even (they continued),
a horse." But this incident
in Jonah is more than scientifically possible; it is a literal,
supernatural event, carefully designed to bring God's purposes
into this world. And Jonah did not necessarily continue
to live within that creature. When he cried out to the
Lord, he "was fainting
away" (Jonah 2:7) which meant he
was dying. God brings life out of death. In later
years it would be true for Jesus Christ the Son of God, it was
true right at that moment for Jonah, and at just the right time,
God will provide eternal LIFE for you as well.
Father, though we should die, we
are Yours. You will bring life out of our death, at just
the correct moment. We praise Your Holy Name and thank
You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
