Bible Study - Book of Jonah Part 3 - Jonah 1:4-17

We begin our study this week with Jonah on board a ship, trying to escape from the Lord and His will that he go to the Gentile, pagan city of Nineveh and share God’s message with the people there. God quickly interfered with Jonah’s plans by “hurling a great wind” and “tempest” on the Mediterranean Sea, so that the ship is in danger of breaking apart (Jonah 1:4).

The mariners, from a number of places and backgrounds, were very frightened by the storm and began to pray to their gods for help. This was a merchant ship, and so they also began to throw their cargo into the sea to lighten the load and keep the ship more stable. Jonah, though, went below deck and had fallen into a deep sleep.

It is not said how much he knew about the storm or why he was sleeping as he was. Some think he was exhausted from trying to run from God and just fell asleep. Others think he finally had some peace, having escaped God, and could more easily fall asleep. Still others think that he was feeling so bad about what he had done that his sleep was an escape from guilt and sorrow. (Jonah 1:5). (See how Luke said in Luke 22:45-46 that the disciples of Jesus were “sleeping for sorrow” in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus wanted and needed them to stay awake and watch and pray with Him.)

The captain of the ship needed the help of everyone, though, and woke up Jonah so that he could at least pray to his own god, too, for help. Maybe someone’s god would help them, so that they would not perish (Jonah 1:6). The sailors also decided that they should “cast lots” to see if they could tell who was responsible for their trouble. (This was a common practice in the ancient world, where people drew out stones or sticks or something else, to see who was the guilty person or the chosen person for a certain responsibility. God even allowed this at times or worked through such a process. See the story of Saul and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14:41-45 and Proverbs 16:33 and even the choosing of the apostle to take the place of Judas in Acts 1:21-26. The Acts passage is the last time that “casting lots” is mentioned in the Bible. That is not the recommended way to make choices, as the Scriptures go on. We pray that God will guide us and then make the best choices we can, using our minds and the advice of others and being guided by the Word of God, above all.) In Jonah 1:7, though, God brought the truth and “the lot fell on Jonah.”

The sailors then began throwing all sorts of question at Jonah. You can read what they were asking in Jonah 1:8. They wanted to know how Jonah was related to this great evil storm that had come upon them. Jonah answered them very honestly and accurately: “I am a Hebrew” (a name going all the way back to Abram in Genesis 14:13, and his descendants, sometimes in a disparaging way, as in Genesis 39:14,16).

Jonah also said, “I fear the Lord (Yahweh) the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land,” and also admitted that “he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord.” This made the sailors “exceedingly afraid.” Most ancient people thought their gods only had power in certain places and ways, but Jonah described a God who had control everywhere - in the heavens and on land and even the sea that was giving them so much trouble. They wanted to know what they could do to Jonah, so that the sea would calm down, as it was becoming even “more and more tempestuous” (Jonah 1:9-11).

The ancients often thought they needed to appease their gods by making some sort of sacrifice to them. What would it take to get this god to make things calm down? Jonah answered, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea… for I know that it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Only then, he thought, “the sea would quiet down” (Jonah 1:12).

Nevertheless, surprisingly, the sailors did not immediately throw Jonah overboard. They tried again to save themselves and Jonah by rowing even harder to get the ship back to dry land. The Hebrew says that they tried to “dig” their way through the sea, but it did not work, for the sea became even more and more stormy “against them” (Jonah 1:13). The next verse, Jonah 1:14, seems to indicate that they did not want to feel responsible for killing Jonah, even if all this trouble was his fault. They called upon Jonah’s God not to hold them accountable for helping take Jonah’s life, for, they said, “You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” Jonah’s God was ultimately responsible for all this, they wished to say.

Finally, “they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea” and immediately, it seems, “the sea ceased from its raging” (Jonah 1:15) and  “then the men feared God exceedingly.” They were likely very afraid of this amazing, powerful God and what he could do. They also seemed to have awe and respect for this great God. “They offered a sacrifice to the Lord,” this God of Jonah, and even “made vows,” promises of some sort to Him (Jonah 1:16).

Many ancient people believed that there were many gods and goddesses, soo it would not be unusual to take in one more god that they respected. However, this was the one True God, the Lord, at work here, and maybe some of these pagan sailors actually came to faith in Him, by His grace, through what Jonah said and God did. Jonah did not want to witness to pagans, but God worked it out that Jonah was beginning to do just that, on this ship. God was going to get His will carried out, even if it was sometimes in spite of Jonah and his rebellious ways. (See Isaiah 65:1, where God had predicted that He would be seeking and finding people who were not seeking Him, including people of other nations. His plan, His desire was to be the Savior for all nations.)

Note also how the Lord’s care for people on the sea was a way of describing His concern, as the Creator of all, for people in other circumstances, as well.

• See Psalm 107:23-32, as part of a whole psalm about God’s steadfast love in a variety of situations.
• Think about how Jesus, in His ministry, more than once calmed the Sea of Galilee and rescued His disciples.
• See Mark 4:35-41. The disciples asked, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Clearly, Jesus was the Savior, God become man to rescue people.
• See also Mark 6:45-51, etc.

Finally, the Lord spared Jonah in a miraculous way, by “appointing a great fish to swallow up Jonah.” The sailors did not have to fear that they had killed Jonah. God still had work for Jonah to do in Nineveh, and so He rescued him from certain death in the sea, by having the great fish swallow him (Jonah 1:17).

Note that the Hebrew does not say “a whale” but “a great fish,” whatever kind God chose. Some have argued that whales cannot swallow people, and that there are very few whales in the Mediterranean Sea. Some whales can swallow people, though, and there are cases of this happening in the last few centuries. Large sharks can swallow people, too. People have survived this sort of thing, also. I can give you sources, if you want to read about such cases.

Also note that in Hebrew, three days and three nights can simply mean parts of three days. There is a story in Esther 4, in the Old Testament, where Queen Esther asks Jewish people to fast and “not eat or drink for three days, night or day.” On the third day, then, Esther approaches the King and is helped by him and fellow Jews are spared, though he could have killed her, for not waiting for him to call her, first. She does not wait three days and three nights. (See especially Esther 4:15-5:1.)

Jesus also refers to the story of Jonah as paralleling His own story. Jesus was only in the grave parts of three days. We will look at this more closely in another lesson. Finally, if God is God, as He is, the only one true God, He can do all things. He could and did provide the right “great fish” to swallow Jonah and kept Jonah safe and well for whatever time he was in the belly of that fish. Could God also provide for us, too, in difficult situations in our lives? He certainly can, if that is His plan and will.

Next week, we will hear what Jonah was thinking and praying about while in the great fish, and the way that God changed his attitude, at least to some degree. As you read Chapter 2, think also about what part of the Scripture his prayer sounds like.