Jonah 1:10-16
Jonah is fleeing from God, and as the sailors suffer from the storm, he starts to see the ripple effects of his sin.
“Then the men became extremely afraid, 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. So they said to him, ‘What should we do to you so that the sea will become calm for us?’—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
“And he said to them, ‘Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.’ However, the men rowed desperately to return to land, but they could not, because the sea was becoming even stormier against them.
“Then they cried out to 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, Lord, have done as You pleased.’
“So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men became extremely afraid of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” – Jonah 1:10-16 [NASB]
This is no ordinary storm.
The sailors ask, what have you done? They want to know what Jonah did to God that would cause Him to inflict His power over them.
I think they’re a little frustrated because not only is Jonah’s life in danger, but their lives are in danger too. Jonah doesn’t answer the question.
Jonah tells them to throw him overboard and that the seas will stop its violence because it is his fault.
Jonah is so close. He takes full ownership of what has happened. But again, pride stands in the way. He is not willing to change and follow God. Instead, he wants the sailors to throw him overboard.
Embrace the Futility
Is God calling you to something that maybe you’ve been ignoring?
Has God got your attention, maybe through a storm, but you haven’t answered yet?
Perhaps God’s called your attention through family members and friends like the sailors here, but you haven’t responded yet.
Jonah stopped running, but he did not start obeying. He didn’t repent. He wanted to be thrown into the sea. He rather die in the ocean than go to Nineveh.
Don’t wait for God to throw you into the sea.
Relent and repent today; we’ve already seen the futility of fleeing from God– to relent from running. You have to stop sinning and repent. Jonah’s heart would not let go.
You need to turn away from sin. Change your mind about that sin and go a different direction, not for your sake, though it will help you, but also the sake of others like in Jonah’s case.
If you’re in dark sin, the overflow of your disobedience will eventually harm others. If you are sinning today, you might not believe it. You might think sin only influences you. That’s one of the reasons you haven’t stopped the sin. But it’s a lie.
It will splash over into the lives of your friends and your family. So many sins are like this. A drunk driver endangers lives when he steps into the car. A spouse destroys their marriage and family when they give into lustful sins.
The Better Option: Don’t Run, Instead, Relent and Repent
If we find ourselves in a sinful situation, we need to take ownership and repent. Only then will we begin our restoration process.
Eventually, the sailors do what Jonah should have done. They relent, and they repent. They’re an example not only to Jonah but to pagans. They’re an example to us today. It seems that they relent and repent from their sinful pagan lifestyle.
We learn a lot from their prayer and actions. They say, “We earnestly pray, Oh, Yahweh, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us for you. Oh, Yahweh, the personal God of the universe that Jonah knows, and you have done as you have pleased.”
I believe their prayer indicates genuine repentance and the budding of what I would call true faith.
Repentance means to change your mind— and that change of your mind means lasting life change in action. They changed not only what they thought but also their hearts, which was reflected in their lifestyle.
Today, you can repent and start clean again, but you need to repent, and forgiveness is only found through the blood of Christ.
Though Jonah’s heart was not where it needed to be, his actions still showed him as a willing substitute, his body was thrown overboard, and the sailors were saved.
We can’t miss the Christ connection to this story.
Jesus draws our attention to this very point in the text to look at Him as we look at Jonah in Matthew Chapter 12. The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign to prove himself. Jesus responds,
“for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea, so the son of men will be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth.”
Look to Jesus for Strength
Jesus is drawing our attention to His substitution of free love through the story of Jonah. Jonah reluctantly put his life on the line, resulting in the benefit of others. In contrast, Jesus willingly substituted his life for us on the cross to benefit all humanity.
God is showing you ways that you can now sacrifice for the benefit of others or that you would obey that today.
