Jonah 1.4-6-The Lord Intervenes In The Life Of Jonah, The Ship's Captain And His Crew By Causing A Great Storm
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 19, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 1:4-6-The Lord Intervenes In The Life Of Jonah, The Ship’s Captain And His Crew By Causing A Great Storm
Lesson # 11
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1:1.
Last week we noted Jonah 1:1-3, which records the first of seven scenes in the book of Jonah.
This passage records Jonah disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants because of their wickedness.
This morning we will continue with our study of the second scene in the book of Jonah that appears in Jonah 1:4-16.
Jonah 1:1, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.”
Jonah 1:4 is emphasizing a contrast between Jonah’s actions and Yahweh’s.
It stresses with the reader that the Lord is also sovereign over the life of Jonah and 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.
This scene that ends in verse 16 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.
The providence of God emphasizes that God is in control of Jonah’s life and the life of the heathen crew and controls the circumstances of our lives, right down to the weather.
In Jonah 1:5, we see each of the crew members crying out to their gods and flinging the ship’s cargo overboard in an attempt to save it while Jonah is sound asleep down below the ship’s deck.
Jonah 1:5, “Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.”
“Then the sailors became afraid” refers to the terror in the hearts of the crew as a result of considering that the ship was about to be broken in pieces by this great storm caused by the omnipotence of the Lord.
“And every man cried to his god” indicates that each and every member of the crew of the ship was crying out to his god for deliverance at the height of this great and powerful storm caused by the Lord.
It speaks of the idolatry of these heathen sailors.
Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
1 John 5:21, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
“They threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them” does not refer to reducing the weight of the ship but rather it indicates that by the sailors throwing the cargo overboard, they were attempting to appease the Canaanite sea god so as to ease the burden upon their souls.
“But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep” presents a contrast between the crew’s frantic actions and Jonah’s lack of action indicating the second stage in Jonah’s downward journey with the first stage being his trip from Jerusalem to Joppa.
“Into the hold of the ship” refers to the area below the deck of the ship or the interior and most isolated part of the ship.
“Fallen sound asleep” is the third person masculine singular niphil passive prefixed imperfect form of the verb rā∙ḏǎm (רָדַם) (raw-dam), which reflects the third stage in Jonah’s descent in his rebellion against the Lord.
“It generally describes a trancelike state or deep sleep, such as experienced by Daniel when he had his visions of the end time interpreted to him by angelic figures.” (Dan 8:18; 10:9) (Concordia Commentary: Jonah, page 104)
Undoubtedly, he must have been exhausted not only because of the journey to Joppa and seeking out a ship going to Tarshish but also he must have been exhausted and thus psychologically depressed by his determination to rebel against the command of the Lord to go to Nineveh.
In Jonah 1:6, each of the crew members cries out to their gods and hurls the ship’s cargo overboard in an attempt to save it while Jonah is sound asleep down below the ship’s deck.
Jonah 1:6, “So the captain approached him and said, ‘How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.’”
“How is it that you” is a rhetorical question that expresses the captain’s contempt and indignation that Jonah was sound asleep during the midst of this great storm that threatened the lives of everyone on board the ship.
The NET Bible has the following comment on this verb, they write, “The imperatives ‘arise!’ and ‘cry out!’ are repeated from v. 2 for ironic effect. The captain’s words would have rung in Jonah’s ears as a stinging reminder that the Lord had uttered them once before. Jonah was hearing them again because he had disobeyed them before.”
“Perhaps your god will be concerned about us” expresses the captain’s hope that Jonah’s god will respond to their life threatening situation at sea and deliver him and the crew from death.
The captain’s words and actions are a rebuke to Jonah.
The ship’s captain’s conduct stands in stark contrast with Jonah’s since the former demonstrates great concern for his crew whereas Jonah has no concern at all.
The storm presented a great opportunity to witness to the heathen crew of this Phoenician vessel.
However, Jonah shows no desire to evangelize them.
He is wasting a great opportunity to tell these men about the Lord.
The captain also recognizes his need for divine intervention in this terrible storm that threatens the lives of himself and his crew whereas Jonah is dead to the world.
The heathen captain uses prayer whereas the man of God sleeps.
The captain’s demand for prayer from Jonah is a rebuke as indicated by the fact that he uses the same language that the Lord used in commanding him to go to the Ninevites and announce judgment against that great city’s inhabitants.
Notice that this passage and the one to follow in verse 7 records Jonah not responding at all to the captain’s suggestion to pray to his god, which indicates that Jonah neither prayed or told the captain why he could not do so.