Jonah 1:1-17

     The first chapter of Jonah shows God’s prophet spiritually declining further and further away from God, as he went down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the ocean, and down into the belly of the great fish. The chapter opens with God’s call to Jonah to go and preach in Nineveh, a great Assyrian city located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River (Jon 1:1). He was to preach against their wickedness and to warn them about God’s judgment (Jon 1:2). But Jonah ran in the opposite direction to Joppa, a coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea, located about 35 miles southwest of Samaria. The text informs us that Jonah was fleeing “from the presence of the Lord” (Jon 1:3), which meant he was avoiding God’s directive will to preach. The omniscient Lord knew Jonah would run away and chose him in spite of his rebellious and uncompassionate heart. Furthermore, Jonah’s rebellion did not cancel God’s call, for the sovereign Lord of the universe would have His way; rather, it introduced an element of divine discipline that could have been avoided had his prophet submitted rather than rebel. God began His discipline by sending a great storm against the ship so that it was about to be destroyed (Jon 1:4). The pagan sailors sought deliverance by praying to their gods, but Jonah did not want God to intervene, but to leave him alone; for this reason, he went down into the ship and fell asleep (Jon 1:5). The captain noticed Jonah’s strange behavior and approached him and asked him to pray, with the hope they would not perish (Jon 1:6). In the meantime, the sailors cast lots as a means of determining which of their polytheistic gods had been offended and sent the storm, and the lot fell on Jonah (Jon 1:7). In the OT God permitted the occasional use of lots among His people to determine His will. Lots were used by Aaron to determine the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:8), by Joshua to divide the land among the Israelites (Jos 18:10), and by the apostles to select Matthias as the twelfth apostle (Act 1:26). Though practiced by unbelievers (Jon 1:7; John 19:24), God sovereignly used this method with the sailors to identify Jonah as the reason for the storm (cf. Pro 16:33). Today, believers are guided by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit, not the casting of lots. The sailors questioned Jonah (Jon 1:8), who told them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon 1:9). Then they became afraid, for they knew he was fleeing from God’s call, for he’d told them (Jon 1:10). The sailors asked what they should do to make the storm cease (Jon 1:11), and Jonah said, “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” (Jon 1:12). The believer out of fellowship brings discipline upon himself and the lives of those around him; but the one who stays in God’s will proves to be a blessing. Jonah probably lacked the courage to jump into the sea himself, so he advised the sailors to do it; but they were repulsed at the idea of throwing him overboard and desperately tried to row to land, but could not (Jon 1:13). So, they prayed to God, recognizing His sovereignty over their situation and asked that He not hold them liable for Jonah’s death (Jon 1:14); then they threw the prophet overboard and the sea instantly became calm for them (Jon 1:15). The sailors feared the Lord and made sacrifices and vows (Jon 1:16), which could be an indication of their salvation. God then appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, which served both as a means of discipline and protection (Jon 1:17). In His infinite wisdom and sovereignty, God could have chosen a number of ways to save Jonah, but He chose the fish, intending to use it as a sign of the burial of Christ (Mat 12:39-41).