Jonah 1.14-16-The Crew Worships The Lord After He Silences The Storm And After Praying For Him To Deliver Them From Death
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday October 10, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 1:14-16-The Crew Worships The Lord After He Silences The Storm And After Praying For Him To Deliver Them From Death
Lesson # 22
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1:1.
This morning we will study Jonah 1:14-16 and in this passage the crew worships the Lord after He silences the storm and after praying for him to deliver them from death.
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.’ 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, ‘How could you do this?’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, ‘What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?’—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.’ 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, ‘We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.’” (NASU)
Jonah 1:14 presents the result of the crew being unable to row successfully to dry land and presents two prayer requests that the crew offered up to the Lord.
This first prayer request “do not let us die on account of this man’s life” expresses the crew’s desire that the Lord would not kill them along with Jonah with this storm.
It expresses the fact that they believe that the Lord intends to kill Jonah for his disobedience, which he has just admitted to them.
They are suffering because of Jonah’s sin against the Lord and they are begging that the Lord would not punish them along with Jonah.
The circumstances appear that the Lord was intending to kill them along with Jonah because the storm was growing increasingly worse.
This petition also reveals that the crew has become believers in Jonah’s God, which is indicated by the fact that unbelievers never address God in the Old Testament as Yahweh, only believers and also these men no longer are praying to their gods but rather to Yahweh.
This terrible adversity has led to their salvation, i.e. deliverance, not only from the storm and death but also eternal condemnation.
The irony is that the crew who knew nothing of Yahweh prior to their experiencing this storm and meeting Jonah, are exercising faith in Him by petitioning Him to deliver them from death whereas Jonah does not pray.
This second request “do not put innocent blood on us” makes clear that the crew has decided at this point in the narrative to heed Jonah’s advice and throw him overboard.
However, it also reveals that they possess a moral conscience by respecting the sanctity of human life since it acknowledges that murder is capital crime worthy of death.
This second request does not indicate that the crew thought Jonah was innocent or expresses their uncertainty that he was since Jonah already acknowledged to them he was guilty of running away from his commission from the Lord as noted in verse 10.
Also, indicating that this is the case is that they knew he was guilty since he admitted that the storm was because of him as noted in verse 12, his lot was chosen as noted in verse 7, and Jonah told them to throw him overboard as recorded in verse 12.
This second petition expresses the crew’s desire that the Lord would not hold them accountable for Jonah’s death and would not consider this act of throwing him overboard and drowning him as cold blooded murder and worthy of death.
They are in effect saying to the Lord with this request that by throwing Jonah overboard they are carrying out His will, which is indicated by the causal that follows this request, “for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
Further indicating this is that the Lord who controls the weather prevented them from reaching the shore as recorded in verse 13.
“For You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased” presents the reason for the previous request that the Lord would not judge the crew as guilty of murder because they take Jonah’s advice and throw him overboard.
This causal clause at the end of Jonah 1:14 indicates that the crew’s act in throwing Jonah overboard is according to Yahweh’s will or desire and expresses the crew’s faith in Yahweh and that they now recognize Him as superior to the idols they formerly worshipped.
Jonah 1:15, “So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.” (NASU)
Jonah 1:15 records the crew throwing Jonah into the sea in response to the prophet’s instructions to do so recorded in verse 12 but only after praying to the Lord to spare their lives and not hold them accountable for murder.
This action resulted in the Mediterranean Sea ceasing from its raging, which is personified expressing to the reader the Lord’s righteous indignation against Jonah indicating that the prophet is being disciplined by the storm.
In Jonah 1:15, the calming of the sea was an answer to the crew’s first prayer request recorded in verse 14 that the Lord would spare their lives.
The fact that their prayer was answered by the Lord indicates that the crew prayed in faith, which appropriates the power of God (Matt. 8:10; Luke 7:9; Matt. 9:22; Mark 5:34; Luke 8:48; Matt. 9:29; 17:20; Luke 17:5; Mark 9:29; Matt. 21:22; Mark 11:24; 1 John 3:21-22; James 1:5-8; 5:15).
Jonah 1:16, “Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” (NASU)
“The men feared the Lord greatly” expresses the fact that the crew had reverence and respect for the Lord, or in other words, they worshipped Him because He commanded the storm to cease immediately.
This worship of the Lord by the Phoenician crew was the appropriate response by these men to the manifestation of the Lord’s omnipotence and sovereign rulership over creation.
The crew’s response to the Lord silencing the raging sea was to possess an attitude of deep respect and awe for Him and to esteem the excellence of the Person of God as manifested through His personal qualities or attributes such as His omnipotence and sovereignty.
The crew’s response to the Lord silencing the raging sea was to possess an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration for the Lord and was one of being filled with admiration, amazement and awe.
It reached right into their hearts and shook them up and enriched their lives and overwhelmed them with an emotion that was a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear and love for the Lord.
“They offered a sacrifice to the Lord” was a collective act of worship of the Lord and undoubtedly took place once the crew reached land and did not take place on board the ship.
“Made vows” refers to making a binding promise to the Lord and was an act of voluntarily and verbally dedicating and devoting oneself to the service of the Lord.
Vows were not contracts or limited agreements but rather they were verbal and voluntary acts of submission to the Lord and the reorientation of one’s life to meet the Lord’s standards.
Therefore, we see that this Phoenician crew will reorient their lives as a result of this encounter with the true and living God.
The crew left home as heathens worshipping vain idols and now after this encounter with the Lord their lives have taken on a whole new different meaning since the Lord has revealed Himself to them in a mighty way.
Since the Lord has revealed Himself to this crew by exercising His omnipotence and sovereign rulership over creation and the storm the crew has committed themselves to living according to the standards of the living God.
Therefore, we see that the crew collectively has had a life changing experience.
