Jonah Chapter 1 Part 1

Jonah And The Mariners

Jonah 1:1 – Now: a specific time, for such a time as this (Ester 4:14), the fulness of the time was come (Galatians 4:4)

Jonah 1:1 ¶ the word of the LORD came unto Jonah

·      “the word of the LORD came unto” is seen in the Bible 63 verses (variations in at lease 10), only in the Old Testament. This word came unto the prophets and they passed on verbally and inspired scripture.

·      In 2Kings 14:25 Jonah is called a prophet the words of the book of Jonah are inspired scripture to be believed and studied.   

V1:2a Arise and go an urgent task.

V1:2b The cry against the city was the sins of people of the city. Their wickedness came up before the LORD.

·      Before the throne of God

·      Genesis 13:13; Ezra 9:6 The knowledge of sin is not earthbound.

·      Genesis 18:20-21 Sin is not silent before the Lord.

·      The same Hebrew is used for cry against in 1:1 and cry and preach in 3:2. Cry against: would be publicly proclaiming the specific wicked things that God held against them. When he preached unto, he delivered specific words God told him to say. “Thus saith the LORD”

·      The delivery of the word of the LORD by His prophets was seen as a burden to whom it concerned. [Zechariah 9:1, 12:1; Malichi1:1]  (Naham 1:1-2)

·      Isaiah 30:27-28 describes the LORD the prophet represented when. Note the heavy burden of His voice. The prophet spoke His words.

·      Declaring wrath of the LORD upon the wickedness of men is not a task for the faint hearted. [Jeremiah 1:16-18 He had to gird himself as a warrior and God had to protect him as “defenced city”.

V1:3 He rose up, but to flee from the presence of the LORD in Tarshish?

·      Genesis 3:8, 4:16; Job 1:12; Revelation 6:16 These instances were all when the LORD appeared face to face. Fleeing from His presence was not just to hide from Him but to not to see the face of the LORD.

·      Many believe Tarshish was a great sea port on the coast of Spain. They traded in goods from all over the world. Every three years ships would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks to Solomon. 2Chronicles 9:21)

·      The voyage to Tarshish would have been 2000 miles From Tarshish Jonah could have sailed to ports all over the world.

Vs4-5–This was no ordinary tempest. Seasoned mariners cried to their gods. These little “g” gods could not calm the great tempest from the capital “G” God brought upon their ship. Lightening the ship was no help.

[Psalm 11:6, 55:8, 83:15; Isaiah 30:30]

V5b Jonah was fast asleep (see Mark 4:36-38). Why or how? A picture of Christ or was he at rest because he felt the Lord was done with him?

V6 With the use of “thy God” and “that God” by the shipmaster showed he did was not aware of who Jonah’s God was, at that time. He thought Jonah had a “g” god like the others on the ship.

*O sleeper: Jonah gets a nickname. (Proverbs 6:9, 19:15)

V7-10a The casting of lots was used often by God to make His choice known to men. When the lot fell upon Jonah the mariners wanted to know about Jonah and why the tempest upon brought upon them.

·      Their questions made Jonah confess just who he was and what he had done.

·      His answers brought exceeding fear upon them. When they learned Jonah’s God was the God of the Heaven, the creator of the land and the sea, and he was fleeing from Him (V10) their fear (V5) became exceeding fear of HIM. Why?

They used the stars in Heaven to guide their ship, they read the sky for the weather (Matthew 16:2-3). The sea was their livelihood, their loved ones were on the land. They were confronted with the God of every area of their lives. {Also They likely knew of the history of this God and the Jews was known.} See Joshua 6:27; 1Samuel 4:8

Two more questions

V10b Why flee from the presence of your God, the God of the Hebrews?

·      How many times have we asked a similar question of the Jews, “why choose to reject the God that parted the Red Sea and showed Himself in so many mighty ways to them?”

V11 What must we do, unto you, to calm the storm?

·      Matthew 8:23-25

·      Acts 16:30 What must I do to be saved?

·      One question to be saved alive unto a temporary longer life, one to life eternal. The difference between two concepts of salvation.

V12 for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

·      For my sake: “My sin brought this tempest upon you”

·      For my sake: God was not through with Jonah. The storm was used to chasten the LORD's prophet. Proverbs 19:18-19; Hebrews 12:5-6

·      The questions asked were not for the mariners’ sake but Jonah’s. He needed to remember and admit who he was. He also needed to confess his sins to God and to the men he placed in danger.

·      Something else Jonah needed to be made to remember                        Psalm 139:7-10; Hebrews 4:13

·      Also Jonah found out you can not hide from God. Isaiah 29:15; [Psalm 94:7, Psalm 10:11