Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet-5

Introduction: Jonah made his choice to depart from the Lord. Providence seemed to be in Jonah’s favor, but shortly Jonah would discover differently. The Lord in loving kindness reaches out to Jonah by causing a tempest in the sea. As we continue through chapter 1 we are given the reactions of all the parties involved. In the midst of the storm, what do you do?

Text: Jonah 1:3-12

“3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.”

A. The Word of the LORD Came v1,2

B. The Prophet Rose Up To Flee v3-7

The Mighty Tempest v4

The Mariner’s Fear v5

Verse 5 “Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.”

We see here first the mariners response. The Bible says, they were afraid.

They Were Afraid

This tells us certainly that this was no light storm. The assumption is that these were men of the sea, if they were afraid, indeed there was certainly trouble.

“If these sailors were Phoenicians, then the storm must have been terrible indeed. The Phoenicians were legendary for their seamanship and navigating skills.” - Faithlife Study Bible

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jon 1:5). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

See Boat Illustration

Fear very often in the Bible is put in opposition with faith as it concerns the Christian.

We are not speaking here about a reverential fear of God, but rather a fear that has no

Fear itself is an emotion that manifests itself in response to danger. (In the secular world they might term this “fight or flight syndrome.” This theory was first put forth by by American physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon (1915) is a perspective that deals strictly our physical bodies and their reactions. It has since been revised to a more complex series of choices called the “defense cascade.”)

A Christian’s reaction in the midst of fear reveal their faith.

Let me give you a biblical illustration:

Turn over to Mark 4:35-40

Mark 4:35–40

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

In this account we notice that the Lord Jesus Christ is with His disciples. The Bible explicitly tells us of the Lord’s presence in the ship (verse 38). Even though He is down below and asleep on a pillow, they have the Lord of glory with them.

Verse 39 tells us that He has power over all things, and specifically we see here theLord demonstrates His power over the wind and the storm.

Notice the probing question directed toward those that have the Lord Jesus with them:

“Why are ye so fearful....”

“How is it that ye have no faith?...”

These questions are probing questions by the Lord Jesus Christ intended on getting the disciples to think through this situation and discover, why am I really having fear at this moment?

The answer is given to us by the Lord in respect to the second question which is rhetorical and instructive to these that are his. That question, “How is it that ye have no faith?”

In prior chapters in the book of Mark:

The Lord had cast out a demon. (Mark 1:21)

The Lord had healed Simon Peter’s Wife (Mark 1:30)

According to Mark 1:32 the Lord many that had diseases and were possessed of devils and the Lord healed them and cast the devils out.

The Lord healed a Leper. (Mark 1:40)

The Lord had healed the paralytic man borne by four. (Mark 2:3)

He had at that time demonstrated the fact that He knew the thoughts of man without them having spoken them. (Mark 2:6,7)

The Lord knew the internal thoughts of man without them speaking (Mark 2:6,7)

In Mark chapter 3 the Lord had healed the Man with the withered hand.

Mark 3:10 we are told again that he healed many of sickness and disease and those that had plagues.

The Lord had healed many of sickness and disease (Mark 3:10)

And so this question we find in verse 40 is purposeful, How is it that ye have no faith? (Thinking about all that had taken place prior to us).

And for you and I as we look at this by way of application, there should be a growth in our faith toward God.

These mariners, being heathen had every reason to be fearful. They reacted as only they could.

But for the Christian, we have different choices before us.

Our perspective on the events of this world ought to be a little bit different.

We are reminded of two cardinal truths for the Christian:

The Lord Jesus Christ holds us in His hand. (John 10:27-29)

The Lord Jesus Christ is working in our lives to bring about good (we are being conformed to the image of Christ). And likewise our perspective of such difficulties is different because of our God’s sovereignty and our ultimate end as a child of God. (Romans 8:28)

If Jonah were to be asked in the beginning moments of this Tempest, is this a good thing? What would the answer be?

The Word of God tell us that the chastening of God is for our good and yields the fruit of righteousness when we are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 12:11 states, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

If the mariners were asked in the beginning about this Tempest, is this a good thing? What would the answer be? (Compare Jonah 1:5-7 and then vs. 16. They had an entirely new perspective)

If the Shipmaster were asked about this Tempest in the beginning moments is this a good thing? What would the answer be?

Notice secondly in your notes that not only were they afraid, but

They cried every man to his god

The Gentiles of this day worshipped all kinds of gods. (Of course, we understand they were no gods.) They were broadly polytheistic. They may have one personal deity that they worshipped in times of trouble.

“At this time, individuals often had their own personal god that they worshiped above all others.” - Faithlife Study Bible

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jon 1:5). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.”

In a way, this an indictment to us as followers of the Lord, that these prayed instantly every man to his god. You and I are to be instant in prayer.

Instead of the prophet Jonah praying, we see these heathen mariners were instant in prayer!

Unfortunately, these men prayed to themselves (Luke 18:11), or even worse they prayed unto devils (Deuteronomy 32:16,17; Revelation 9:20).

They would be found as those prophets of Baal. Crying out, cutting themselves, jumping around for no reason. (I Kings 18:25)

But you and I as a Christian should be instant in prayer. This should have been what was seen of the prophet Jonah.

How often it is that when we find ourselves in precarious situations we act as the heathens did after they prayed. (We put the cart before the horse.)

Notice with me again the verse, “Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them.”

We begin to do all we can to correct the situation without any respect to our wonderful Savior. We begin to cast all the “wares out of the boat” so to speak.

We fail to be instant in prayer to the one true Living God.

But though these mariners may have had the right method, they certainly did not have the right god.

The question as we close is this, where do we turn to in the midst of the storm? Are we found to be instant in prayer?

We will look at the another reaction next week, which is found by looking at Jonah. This is another typical reaction that is discovered in disobedience and that is to ignore the problem.

The Messenger’s Sleep v5

The Master’s Question v6

The Manner of “gods” v6

The Mystery Known v7

C. The Cause of this Evil v8-12