Chapter 1
(Ninevah is on the east bank of the Tigris river. Today, across the Tigris on the west bank, is the city of Mosul, where so much destruction occurred during the Iraq war and its aftermath.)
God calls Jonah to Ninevah, he pays the fare on a boat to Tarshish. A very specific call ignored. The storm this causes upset many around Jonah, but he himself was found asleep, unaware of the danger. Choosing to go in another direction than God chooses for us can make us comfortable with wrong choices. So comfortable that we don't even feel guilty about it for some time. But here's the thing. When life throws you overboard, as it eventually will, and you hit that cold water, then you will have to pray for a miracle, not just for a nudge back in the right direction. Guess which is most likely to get answered?
Possible FB post, noted 9/1/20. Need a verse though.
They wake him up and ask what to do, and he tells them to throw him in. He doesn't jump. And they refuse to throw him overboard! Even once they know it is on his account that their lives are in danger, they row even harder. But they cannot overcome God's will, though they don't believe in Him...yet. So they ask forgiveness, and then do as the prophet has told them. And the sea calms. And they fear God, and believe, and make sacrifices and vows. Jonah also is rescued, by a fish appointed to the purpose. Not a random fish.
2023 - This: 6 So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish." [Jon 1:6 ESV]. Does this remind at all about the line from Dune that says "The sleeper awakes"? Wonder if that is where Herbert got it?
How about this phrase: 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. [Jon 1:10 ESV]. Another recognizable phrase.
7/23/23 - On the way to church this morning Alistair Begg was preaching on Jonah. This is kind of what he said, that really hit me, and which had never occurred to me before. In his words, as best as I can remember:
Let it not be true that Jonah, below the ships deck, is a picture of the modern church. Let it not be that the church is sleeping away, unconcerned, as the storm rages all around. Let the church not be sleeping while those above are fearful of their very lives. Let it not be that the church is sleeping while those all around it are trying anything they can to save themselves, from throwing away whatever they can to praying and sacrificing to any god they can think of. And let it not be that when these people come down to where the church is asleep that they should have to ask who we are and what we are here for. Let them not ask us what our purpose might be, and most of all, let them not have to ask us if we have a God and if so, might he be of some help at this time.
What a picture. What a statement. What a preacher!
2024 - This verse:
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. [Jon 1:16 ESV]. Here is an interesting thing. In books and movies, people always make a deal with God BEFORE he will help them. Often as not, once free and clear of danger, such promises are conveniently forgotten. This shows us that the Biblical example is otherwise. The sailors on this ship first tried the physical - they threw the cargo overboard to lighten the load. Next, they tried praying, each to his own god. Then they set about making sure everyone in the storm with them was also praying. They recognized that Daniel's God was unlike their own, and that none of their efforts or their own gods had stopped the storm, so Daniel's God was the one in control. They did as God's prophet recommended, and the storm ceased. THEN, they offered sacrifices and THEN they made promises. I would suggest that we too ought to make our vows after God has delivered us rather than trying to "cut deals" with the living God. I think we'd be a lot more likely to keep such vows, made in good weather rather than bad, and I think God would be more likely to honor them.
Possible FB post.