Jonah 1:1 ( ESV )
·
Word of the Lord-Constant
phrase used of the prophets letting the reader know the authority of the
message. (examples: Hosea
1:1, Micah 1:1, Zephaniah 1:1).
·
Jonah-His name meant Dove.
(Jonah was a messenger from God.) He was from Gath Hepher from the Northern
part of Israel. Due to his location he had a good understanding of how wicked
the Assyrians lived and their reigns of terror. Majority of commentators
believed that he lived during the reign of Jeroboam II in II Kings 14:23-26.
·
Amittai-One who is truthful.
Jonah 1:2 ( ESV )
2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it,
for their evil£ has come up before me.”
·
Go-Much like the calling that we have all
received. Matt. 28:19 and
Acts 1:8
·
Nineveh-Not only for the city of Nineveh
but would also be a rebuke to Israel that a heathen city would repent even
before they would. This city would have been near the modern city of Mosul,
Iraq.
·
Great city-A three day’s journey in
circumference, its walls were reported to have been 100 feet high and was so
broad that 3 chariots could go upon them. A possible population of up to 600,000
may have lived there.
·
Evil-The word has the idea of to break into
pieces. Even the king of Assyria knew
how wicked they had become by his own admission in Jonah 3:8.
·
Before me-Gen. 6:13 and 18:20-21
Jonah 1:3 ( ESV )
3But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a
ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them
to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
·
Flee-The word has the idea of to escape
with swiftness and fear. It is used 2xs in verse 3 and also in verse 10. (ESV
second time in 1:3 is away.) Cross references used in Gen. 3:8, Hosea 7:13 and esp. Ps. 139:7-12. Where shall
I flee? We can’t run away from God.
·
Joppa-This was a harbor city known to exist
as early as Solomon’s time. The city was about 35 miles from Samaria and
Jerusalem.
·
Tarshish-Modern day area of Spain.
Jonah 1:4 ( ESV )
4But the Lord hurled a
great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the
ship threatened to break up.
·
But-Note the contrast between verse 3 and
here in verse 4. Both of these verses start with the word, “But.” Jonah had a
plan on how he would respond to the Lord’s will but the Lord had other plans
for Jonah.
·
Tempest-Has the idea of to violently toss
about. The ship was literally being torn apart.
Jonah 1:5 ( ESV )
5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And
they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.
But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and
was fast asleep.
·
Mariners-The storm was so bad that these
hardened sailors were afraid. (Reminds one of the disciples on the sea when the
storm hit the waters and Jesus walked on the water towards them.)
·
His god-All of these men were calling out
to their false gods who did not control the seas.
·
Hurled the cargo-The goal was to lighten
their load.
·
Fast asleep-In contrast to all that was
going on with the boat a deep sleep had fallen upon Jonah. Jonah had sought out
his own comfort compared to the others who were suffering around him because of
his actions. We like Jonah might be clueless to how our sin has affected the
lives of those around us.
Jonah 1:6 ( ESV )
6So 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.”
·
Captain-The sad part of this story among
other things is that this pagan man had to awaken Jonah to pray.
·
Call out to your god-This is still the
world’s attitude about prayer. It does not matter to whom you pray to, just
pray. At the same time though I am always amazed at how the unsaved world will
ask believers to pray for them during a time of crisis or how they truly are
appreciative that we would pray for them and their needs.
Jonah 1:7 ( ESV )
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may
know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the
lot fell on Jonah.
·
Lots-This was often done by mixing small
stones in a container and they would roll one out. They figured someone had
sinned on board.
Jonah 1:8 ( ESV )
8Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has
come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your
country? And of what people are you?”
·
Jonah is now questioned by the mariners and
he will answer many of their questions but will not bring up that he is a
prophet of God.
Jonah 1:9 ( ESV )
9And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the
sea and the dry land.”
·
Hebrew-Tells them about his nationality.
·
Fear-An apprehension with trembling. His
profession spoke louder than his actions at this moment in time.
·
God of heaven who made the sea and the dry
land-This was important in light of the situation that they were now going
through. God could calm the storm. Mark 4:41 “And they were filled with great fear and said to one
another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” ESV
Jonah 1:10 ( ESV )
10Then 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.
·
What is this-Even though they were lost
they realized that you cannot hide from God. What a rebuke. He had told them
that he had feared the Lord and yet he was not living in light of this truth.
Jonah 1:11 ( ESV )
11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may
quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
·
What shall we do?-They knew that God needed
to be appeased.
·
Quiet down for us-They just wanted the
storm to cease.
Jonah 1:12 ( ESV )
12He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the
sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great
tempest has come upon you.”
·
Some
commentators believe that Jonah at this moment would act like the Messiah and would
voluntarily offer himself up for their lives. I believe that this was not the
case at this moment for Jonah I think that he would have rather had died then
to do what God had told him to do. (Just let me die would be the cry of others
as well. I Kings 19:4
Jonah 1:13 ( ESV )
13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard£ to get
back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more
tempestuous against them.
·
Rowed
hard-Life was precious to these mariners and they would try to save Jonah even
if it might cost them their lives. Contrast this to Jonah’s attitude toward the
city of Nineveh.
Jonah 1:14 ( ESV )
14Therefore they called out to the Lord,
“O Lord, let us not perish for
this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”
·
O
Lord-They now cry out to the Lord for forgiveness.
·
Innocent-To
be clean or blameless.
·
Pleased
you-They recognized God’s plan and were willing to obey Him more than Jonah
did.
Jonah 1:15 ( ESV )
·
Idea
is that at the very moment they hurled him into the sea the sea desisted from
being tossed about.
Jonah 1:16 ( ESV )
·
Then-After
they saw the power of God displayed before them they feared him.
·
Offered-Apparently
the sailors became convinced that the Lord was THE true God. Jonah was reaching
even more Gentiles whether he wanted to or not.
·
Made
vows-Contrast Jonah’s disobedience to God to the Gentiles praise for God.
Jonah 1:17 ( ESV )
17£And the Lord appointed£ a great
fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and
three nights.
·
Appointed-To
order.
·
Great
fish-Word is “dag” and refers to a great sea monster.
·
3
days and 3 nights-This will become important to the resurrection passage as
quoted by Christ in Matt.
12:40.
APPLICATIONS
AND QUESTIONS TO ASK:
1. ARE YOU AT THIS
MOMENT TRYING TO FLEE FROM WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE YOU TO DO?
2. ARE YOU TRYING TO
HIDE YOUR SIN FROM GOD AND OTHERS?
3. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE
PREJUDICES THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE IN YOUR LIFE? ARE THEY TOWARDS A CERTAIN RACE,
SOCIAL STATUS?
4. ASK YOURSELF, “AM I
REALLY WILLING TO SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH ALL OF MANKIND OR ARE THERE CERTAIN
PEOPLE I DO NOT WANT TO OR REFUSE TO?
5. HOW HAS MY SINS
AFFECTED THE LIVES OF THOSE AROUND ME?
6. DO I JUST WANT TO
GIVE UP ON LIFE?
7. AM I WILLING TO GO
WHEREVER HE LEADS?
8. LIKE DAVID HELP ME TO
REALIZE THAT I CAN’T HIDE FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
9. DO I USE
OPPORTUNITIES TO PRAY FOR MY UNSAVED FRIENDS AND REALTIVIES FOR THEIR NEEDS?
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