… So they took up
Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging…
Part Four
– Man Overboard
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee,
that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12 And he
said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be
calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 13 Nevertheless
the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought,
and was tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto the
LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for
this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast
done as it pleased thee. 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the
sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16 Then
the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and
made vows. 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
(Jonah 1:11-17)
Jonah
was a man very much like each one of us – he was selfish of the riches of God
and did not desire to share them. Knowing god to be a forgiving and merciful
God, Jonah knew instinctively that God would show mercy to the Ninevites after
they repented. That meant that these ‘foreigners’ would also be admitted to the
Kingdom of God. This, Jonah did not want – he wanted that Kingdom reserved for
himself and those of like tribe.
We have observed how Jonah
intended to flee from the Presence of God by going DOWN to Joppa, and DOWN into
the ship, and DOWN into the sides of the ship to sleep. In frustration, the
master of the ship asks Jonah to awaken and help the crew to keep the ship
afloat. Of course, Jonah could not keep the ship afloat. Jonah was the cause of
the great danger that faced the ship and all of its occupants. Having drawn
lots, it was determined that Jonah was the culprit. Learning that he was a Hebrew,
they asked to him to pray to his God for salvation of all. Unbelievers will not
fail to count on the believer when the axe is laid to the root. Now, Jonah, it
would seem to me, faces a grave dilemma: 1) to answer deceitfully to
momentarily save his own hide; or 2) to confess to these men what must be done.
He knows God very well. Now, as a result of the storm, Jonah knows God even
more, and he knows that God will settle for nothing less than Jonah taking a
good bath - he needs it for his soul is soiled with a rebellious spirit. At
least Jonah has the decency to speak the truth, after all, he is a prophet of
God and cannot intentionally lie even if he is prone to avoid the Word of the
Lord. Jonah supposes this to be his last act of decency and fidelity, for he is
sure that, sooner or later, he is going into the sea.
11 Then said they unto him, What
shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought,
and was tempestuous. The
seaman inquire of Jonah of what remedy must they take to suffice in
satisfaction of Jonah's God. They know not this God, but the tempest has given
them a healthy respect for Him. They would like to save ALL aboard, but must do
whatever is required to soothe the deep. These men are a better caliber than
the normal They could wildly disregard any concern for Jonah and simply
dispense with him summarily, but they do not.
12 And he said unto them, Take me
up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I
know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. The
response of Jonah is honorable and commendable. Here, again, is Christ typified
by the self-abnegation of Jonah is giving up his own life to save others. Jonah
is now more aware of his role as a prophet than ever before. He knows that this
storm is of the Lord. He knows that the Lord will not be evaded. The Lord is
more powerfully on the Sea than He was on the Land!
Jonah showed no compassion at all on the pagan folk of Nineveh, but see how the
pagan sailors employ all of their strength to save Jonah. 13 Nevertheless
the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea
wrought, and was tempestuous against them. These
men did not want the blood of another on their hands. They were willing to
fight as best they could the boiling tempest and inordinate winds to save all
aboard, including Jonah. But there is no strength that can avail against the
Hand of the Lord. Our great strength is only childish weakness before God. There
is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. (Prov
21:30)
There is no wisdom against the Lord because there is no wisdom that does not
come from the Lord. We may be called to teach, to preach, or to visit the sick;
but if we do so on our own merits, we are failures. All must be done in the
perfect will of God and in following that Light He gives us.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the
LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for
this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast
done as it pleased thee. I am made to wonder at Jonah's
reticence, in the face of God's wrath, to repent of his actions and to pray.
These rough, weather-worn seaman, who are graced with only a glimpse of the
greatness of God, are in desperate prayer, but Jonah remains sullied and
silent! They know that God's prophet has spoken, and it is the storm sent from
God that must be satisfied. They do not desire to be guilty of the blood of the
very man responsible for their travail. Nevertheless, they recognize the
inevitable. The same was the case of Christ. One must perish for the good of
all. Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die
for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. (John
11:50)
15 So
they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from
her raging. Jonah is going to go down once more,
but not down to Joppa, but into the Sea. Immediately, the sea was calm once it
had its grip on Jonah. The Sea, the waves, the wind, and even the crewman, were
all servants of God to accomplish His will in this matter. This is not such a
pleasant situation for Jonah. He may have slept on the ship, but it is doubtful
that he slept in the sea. Even as he was cast off the ship, he still has
uttered not a word of remorse so stubborn and stiffed necked is he. Some in the
Church, and even in the Pulpit, are likewise stubborn and stiff-necked to do all
things according to their own way and not the way of the Lord.
So what was the response of the seaman when they witnessed the fulfillment of
Jonah's prophecy concerning the calming of the sea? They had, up until now,
feared the tempest, but now their fear is directed to the Lord of the Tempest. 16 Then
the men feared the LORD. If you will remember, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. These men have obeyed God far more than
has Jonah. So the prophet has achieved a part of his mission in awaken a
forlorn bunch of sailors to the reality and power of God. The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his
commandments: his praise endureth for ever. (Psalms 111:10) These men
now have a seed of faith, and if watered nearly as well as Jonah has been
watered, the seed will surely grow. Jonah, in the peril of the sea, may have
uttered the words of the Psalmist: Save me, O God; for the waters are
come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I
am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. (Psalms
69:1-2)
17 Now the LORD had prepared a
great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
days and three nights.
I do not wonder at the kind of fish, for Christ has told us that it was
a whale. In spite of all arguments to the contrary, there are cases in which
men have been swallowed by a whale. But even if there were not, this
particularly whale was prepared by God for the purpose. Do we truly believe
that the maker of the heaven, the earth, the mountains, the sea, and even the
whales could not have created a whale that would not typify those that we know
today? This verse is one of the most profound of the Old Testament because it
is made reference to by Christ on more than one occasion. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights. This is so powerfully symbolic of
Christ who was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. You
may be one of those charismatic's who look about and believe the heart of man
is getting better and better. It is not. Jesus asks, When the Son of Man
comes, shall He find faith on the earth? (see
Luke 18:8) Does this sound like the true Church is going to achieve
dominance in the world? No, but God shall always preserve a remnant unto
Himself. Jesus calls that generation (which is more than a generation in the
chronological sense) a wicked and adulterous generation. That generation has
grown in size even until this day.
Jesus used the ordeal of Jonah as an example of his own ordeal. Jonah was cast
into the sea at his own behest. Jesus was nailed to the cross at his own
volition. An evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of
the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of
Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. (Matt
12:39-41) Can you see that the men of Nineveh, even, were not as
wicked as those who confronted Christ and whose numbers are increasing in our
time. Those numbers are accelerating toward the end just as the Mustard Tree
grew beyond its natural size - so much so that the fowl of the air came to
roost in its proud branches. Those fowl are reproducing much faster than the fruit
of the Mustard Tree. Evil is afoot, not only in society and politics, but in
the church as well. Can you imagine the suffering, anxiety, and trauma Jonah
experienced in the belly of the whale? Do you not think he now has a coming to
terms with his failure to obey God? His experiences are horrific, and we shall
address them more fully in next devotion beginning the 2nd chapter.
