Jonah 1.7-The Crew Discovers Jonah Is Guilty of Bringing Disaster Upon the Ship's Crew (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday December 17, 2025

Jonah Series: Jonah 1:7-The Crew Discovers Jonah is Guilty of Bringing Disaster Upon the Ship’s Crew

Lesson # 10

Jonah 1:7 records the crew casting lots to determine which individual on the ship was responsible for bringing this disastrous, life-threatening storm upon the ship and they discover that Jonah is at fault.

Jonah 1:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” 7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. (NIV84)

Jonah 1:7 presents the next sequential event that took place on board this ship heading for Tarshish, namely the crew decided to draw lots to determine who was responsible for bringing the great storm upon the ship.

“Come” is the imperative conjugation of the verb halak (הָלַך), which indicates that the crew had decided on a particular course of action and is ready to implement it.

“Let us cast lots” refers to the procedure of choosing a particular inscribed shard of pottery with one’s name on it to determine who is responsible for bringing this life threatening storm upon this ship bound for Tarshish.

Lessing commenting on the practice of casting lots in the ancient world writes, “The casting of lots—the throwing of some inanimate object in order to learn the divine will—is well-known in ancient Israelite and Near Eastern cultures. Among the many uses of lot casting in the OT, the technique is used to discover a wrongdoer (Josh 7:10–21; 1 Sam 14:36–43), choose a king (1 Sam 10:20–21), assign a tribe its inheritance (Josh 14:2), distribute booty (Nah 3:10), and settle disputes (Prov 18:18). The theological basis is this: The lot is cast into the lap, but from Yahweh is its every verdict. (Prov 16:33) The practice continued into the NT. The Roman soldiers cast lots for the clothing of the crucified Christ in fulfillment of Scripture (Jn 19:23–24, citing Ps 22:19 [ET 22:18]). The Eleven prayed and cast lots to select an apostle to succeed Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26). In Jonah 1:7 the sailors may have inscribed shards of pottery with the names of those on board the ship; then from among the shards they grabbed the one with Jonah’s name. That the sailors had to resort to this activity shows that Jonah’s desire to remain unknown and escape responsibility was greater than his willingness to alleviate the suffering and even prevent the deaths of others.” (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; page 125)

Sasson explains, “The sailors, rather, probably plucked the one shard that bore Jonah’s name from among the others similarly inscribed. This was definitely the quicker measure and in time of stress, no doubt the most appealing.” (Jonah; The Anchor Yale Bible, volume 24b; page 111)

“To find out who is responsible for this calamity” is a purpose clause indicating that the crew drew lots to determine the individual who not only was the cause or reason for the calamity brought upon the entire crew and its passengers but also the one whom this storm was brought against.

“This calamity” is the noun rā∙ʿā(h) (רָעָה), which means “disaster” in the sense of a hardship in some adverse circumstance and is used of a disaster, which happens to a person, often as the harmful consequences of wrong actions.

Since God is sovereign over all persons and events, these adverse circumstances may be described as coming from God.

“So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah” denotes that the shard with Jonah’s name was chosen.

Jonah has learned the principle taught in Numbers 32:23 that his sin of disobeying the Lord has found him out.

He thought he could hide it from the crew that he disobeyed the Lord and was the reason the storm came upon the ship.

Like Jonah 1:4, this verse emphasizes the Lord’s sovereignty over Jonah’s life, i.e. his circumstances.

It stresses with the reader that the Lord will exercise that sovereignty and omnipotence to change the prophet’s mind about obeying His command to go to the great city of Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants.

Jonah 1:7 also emphasizes the providence of God, which expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God and emphasizes that God is in control of Jonah’s life and the life of the heathen crew.

It stresses with the reader that the Lord controls the circumstances of our lives, right down to the lot that fell to Jonah.

It emphasizes that it was no accident that Jonah’s shard with his name on it was chosen.