Jonah 1.9-Jonah Identifies Himself As A Hebrew Worshipper Of The Lord God Of Heaven, Creator Of Sea And Earth
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday September 23, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 1:9-Jonah Identifies Himself As A Hebrew Worshipper Of The Lord God Of Heaven, Creator Of Sea And Earth
Lesson # 14
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1:1.
This evening we will study Jonah 1:9, which records Jonah responding to the crew’s interrogation of him by identifying himself as a Hebrew worshipper of the Lord God of heaven, who is the Creator of the sea and the dry land.
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. 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. 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.’ 7 Each man said to his mate, ‘Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.’ So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’ 9 He said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.’” (NASU)
Jonah 1:9 is the first time in the narrative that we see Jonah speak to anyone whether to God or man.
“I am a Hebrew” is used by Jonah to describe himself as a legitimate and well-known descendant of Shem through Eber who was the progenitor of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The expression denotes Jonah’s nationality distinguishing the Israelites from the Gentiles (cf. Gen. 43:32; Ex. 1:15; 2:11; 21:2).
It was a term commonly used by the Israelites to describe themselves to foreigners like these sailors on this ship to Tarshish.
“And I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land” is a disjunctive clause that explains in greater detail the implication of Jonah being a Hebrew.
“I fear the Lord God of heaven” is composed of the first singular form of the personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי) (an-ee), “I” and the masculine singular qal active participle form of the verb yā∙rē(ʾ)(יָרֵא) (yaw-ray), “fear” and the preposition ʾēṯ (אֵת) (oath) and the masculine singular form of the proper noun Yahweh (יהוה) (yeh-ho-vaw), “the Lord” and the masculine plural form of the noun oun ʾělō∙hîm (אֱלֹהִים) (el-o-heem), “God” and the articular masculine plural form of the noun šā∙mǎ∙yim (שָׁמַיִם) (shaw-mah-yim), “of heaven.”
The pronoun ʾǎnî involves psychological emphasis expressing Jonah’s deep self-consciousness that he worshiped the Lord God of heaven, creator of the sea and dry land in contrast to those questioning him who were heathen idolaters and is expressing his national pride.
The verb yā∙rē(ʾ) means, “to have reverence and respect for, to worship” the Lord God expressing the fact that Jonah had “reverence” and “respect” for the Lord, or in other words, he “worshipped” Him.
Since Jonah is not worshipping the Lord by disobeying Him, his description of himself as a worshipper of the Lord God of heaven, creator of the sea and dry land expresses his national pride.
That Jonah describes himself as worshipping the Lord God of heaven is an implicit acknowledgement of his personal responsibility for the disaster that has come upon this ship to Tarshish.
Warren Wiersbe defines worship, “Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are –mind, emotions, will and body-to what God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience and its practical side in objective obedience to God’s revealed will. Worship is a loving response that’s balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better” (Real Worship, 26).
Psalm 95:6-7, “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.”
Worship is adoring contemplation of the Lord and is the act of paying honor and reverence to Him and affection for Him and flows from love and where there is little love, there is little worship.
It is the loving ascription of praise to the Lord in gratitude and appreciation for who and what He is, both in Himself and in His ways and in His work on the Cross for us.
It is the bowing of the soul and spirit in deep humility and reverence before the Lord.
Jonah is not demonstrating any reverence, awe or respect for the Lord at this time by disobeying Him.
The proper noun Yahweh is the covenant-keeping personal name of God used in connection with man’s salvation and emphasizing God’s authority over Jonah and that he had a personal covenant relationship with God.
The word also reminds the reader of the “immanency” of God meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of men.
Thus, it reminds the reader of the foolishness of Jonah in that he is attempting to flee from the presence of God who is transcendent of His creation and creatures.
It tells the reader that God is intervening in the life of Jonah and the crew.
The noun Elohim, “God” emphasizes the transcendent character of God.
Thus, the word emphasizes that Jonah’s God is transcendent of His creation and creatures and thus superior to the gods of the crew and the Gentiles.
The noun šā∙mǎ∙yim, “of heaven” speaks of the abode of God or the dwelling place of God, the location of His government with the implication that Jonah’s God was superior to their gods.
Like Elohim, it speaks of Jonah’s God as transcendent and superior to the gods of the crew.
Therefore, the expression “God of heaven” emphasizes that Jonah’s God is transcendent and superior to the gods of the crew.
Jonah 1:9, “He said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.’” (NASU)
“Who made the sea and the dry land” emphasizes with the crew that Jonah’s God is the Lord of all creation and thus in control of the weather and the ultimate cause of this storm that has threaten those on board this ship bound for Tarshish.
To summarize, Jonah 1:9 records Jonah’s response to the crew’s interrogation of him recorded in verse 8.
In this verse, he identifies his God as the source of the storm and implicitly that he is responsible for the Lord causing this great storm to come against the ship and thus endangering the entire crew and its captain.
So Jonah’s description of himself in verse 9 coupled with his admission recorded in verse 10 that he was fleeing his commission from the Lord indicated to the crew that the disaster that presently engulfed the ship and threatened the lives of every one on board is the result of his disobedience to the Creator of the sea and dry land.
Thus, Jonah has admitted his guilt.