Jonah 1
December 31
Reading: Jonah 1
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me."
3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish."
7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us."
So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
9 And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
12 He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you."
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you."
15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah is a fun story, a true story, and the most well known and loved of all the minor prophets. Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 and was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. In order to understand the book, you need to bear in mind that the people of Israel in Jonah’s day hated and were terrified of the violent Assyrians. The capital of Assyria was Nineveh.
The literary features in the narrative of Jonah 1 are fascinating and serve to illustrate important lessons that Jonah will learn in this book, and we through him.
First, “the Word of the Lord came to Jonah.” This is typical of the way that the Bible speaks of God telling a prophet what to say. God has appointed Jonah to be a prophet to Nineveh. Jonah disobeys. God commands Jonah, “Arise, go to Nineveh…” (vs. 2) Jonah “arose to flee to Tarshish,” (vs. 3) which is in Spain, the opposite direction. He goes “down” to Joppa, “down” into the ship, and “down into the inner part of the ship.” This is a picture of Jonah fleeing from the Lord.
But a person cannot flee from the Lord. This, of course is the second lesson of Jonah 1. Jonah cannot get away from God. He thinks he can, but even the pagan sailors who know nothing of God realize the futility of his effort. Jonah is disobedient. Now Jonah is a fool.
The third lesson of the chapter only serves to emphasize Jonah’s foolishness. We see this in the contrasts. Every sailor is praying to his god. Jonah does not pray to his, who “made the sea and dry land.” The sailors are astounded and frightened that Jonah has such a God. Jonah wants to die. The men on the ship want to live. Jonah never prays to the Lord, though he knows Him. He doesn’t want to talk to God. The sailors pray to the Lord for mercy even when they know almost nothing about Him. (vs. 14) Jonah does not fear the Lord. The sailors “feared the Lord greatly.” (vs. 16)
The storm obeys God. The sailors obey God. The great fish obeys God. Jonah does not obey God. The point of Jonah 1? Don’t be like Jonah.