{Wind, Whales, and Worms ~Do Not Disturb} Part 1

 Jonah. 

We all know him.  That infamous prophet who ran from God, hid in the belly of a ship heading in the opposite direction, only to be one-upped by God by finding himself in the belly of a whale instead, being reduced to fish vomit, of all the incredible things, and living to tell about it! 

Can you imagine? 

You see, the Lord and I have this … understanding.  When I read His Word, I don’t just want to read it, I want to be there.  I want to feel what the characters feel, see what they see, and get a little glimpse into their thoughts so as to better understand why they do what they do.  I want my feet walking in the dirt next to theirs.  Or in this case, slipping and sliding on the hull of a ship in a raging storm. 

With an imagination like mine, this story is a feast for the senses. 

Let’s join Jonah on his ill-advised, not-so-little adventure, shall we?  


Part I: The Wind

Here we have a friend who is called of God for a great work, just as all God's children are, but who makes the unfortunate choice to try to "hide" from God.  Another one.  Let's just add him to the list.

Before we get too hard on him, though, let’s dig into a little history. 

Nineveh was the enemy. 

It was the largest city in existence at that time, and a serious threat to the existence of Israel.   In verse 2 God says, “…Their wickedness is come up before Me.”  Their heathen ways were well known far and wide, and Jonah clearly thought they should be destroyed. 

He hated the Ninevites. 

So much so that he repeatedly made it clear that he would rather die than go and preach to them that they might be delivered. (1:12, 4:3 & 8-9)  They didn’t deserve such mercy. 

Raise your hand if you can relate.  {Raising my hand.  High.} 

Al Qaeda, anyone? 

THAT was the magnitude of what he was up against.   I’m beginning to empathize a little.  Who’s with me? 

It says he “rose up to flee.”  I’m pretty sure I’d be more than a little tempted to high-tail it out of there myself! 

Twice in verse 3 it states he was fleeing “from the presence of the Lord.”  Think about this for a second.  Jonah had an audience with the King of heaven, and had the audacity to tell him no with his actions. 

I’ll be honest; that scares me a little, but it's one of the purposes God has preserved Jonah’s and so many others’ stories for us, to instill a healthy fear of God into our hearts.  He's got my attention!  {Upon reflection, I've found myself guilty of this very thing.  I've argued with the Spirit when He's prompted me to witness to a passing stranger, and said no.  Let me just say it's a humbling and hard repentance.}

As we’ve mentioned, Tarshish was in the opposite direction of Nineveh.  Jonah was more than happy to pay the fare to get away from God and what He had called Him to do.  

Or so he thought.  

How like us.  God wants to pave and pay our way, He longs to do so, and even plans on it, but how many Christians do you know who are sitting on the shelf doing nothing, except maybe bringing shame to the cause of Christ because they refused to say yes to God at some point?  Their only option is to go the other way.  We call it backsliding.  Repentance signifies an about face change in direction.   It’s the only way to get back into the will of God. 

We cannot expect to live in God’s blessing when we are living outside of His will. 

Jonah wholeheartedly forfeited God's blessing on His life and invited God's judgment.  He knowingly chose it.  He's the a perfect example of sin "costing more than you're willing to pay."

And it wasn't just his loss.  Sin never is.  The people on that ship paid a pretty hefty price themselves with probably thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of goods thrown into the sea for his sake, and those agonizing, never-ending hours spent fearing for their lives.  

“But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.”  

Jonah boards the ship and promptly hunkers down in his bunk to sleep.  

Surely, he didn’t think he’d get off the hook that easily.  His mantra seems to be “no fear.”  He didn’t fear the Lord to begin with, so he is not fearful of His storm. 

Oh, the parallels!   Where to begin? 

Not all storms are chastisement.  Some are testings, and for the express purpose of refining us.  But this storm is clearly for chastening.  In our hearts, we will always be able to differentiate between the two.  Our Heavenly Father is too loving and kind to chasten without our clear understanding of the reason.  We know.

Different personalities have different responses to storms.  Some have an unhealthy fear of storms.  Some get angry at them.  But I daresay most people who find themselves under the chastisement of the Lord feel sorry for themselves when the storm comes, and ask God why He’s always picking on them.  It may also be a combination of all these emotions as we process what is happening.  The bottom line though is that our attitude toward God before the storm will likely determine our attitude toward God in the storm, for good or evil.   

Luke 23:31 alludes to this when it says, "For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall they do in the dry?"

If we see God as a tyrant ruling callously from His perch in the sky we will have an unhealthy fear of His storms. 

If we harbor anger in our hearts toward God for allowing bad things to happen in our lives, we will be even more furious at His storms. 

If we see God as an indispensable genie, obligated to making the world revolve around our wishes and preferences, we’re going to have a pity party when the going gets tough. 

I'm beginning to understand more fully why the Lord delights in those who glory in understanding and knowing Him.  (Jeremiah 9:24)  

Proverbs 19:3 says, “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.”

In Jonah we see yet another option. 

Apathy. 

”Apathy” ~ a lack of interest or concern; indifference; lack of emotion or feeling. 

I think we can safely say this was his attitude toward God when he turned away from His call without a word. 

The mariners had more sense.  They had more fear of their gods than Jonah did for the One true God.  

This is sadly typical.  

The Bible says they cried out unto their gods because of the great wind that God had sent for the purpose of waking Jonah out of his apathy.  As they are frantically throwing supplies and cargo overboard in a frail attempt to appease the gods and at least get back to land alive, Jonah lay happily fast asleep in the belly of the ship … until the captain of the ship came and woke him.  Can’t you just hear his disbelief as he says “What meanest thou, O sleeper?” 

In modern English he’s saying “What is the meaning of this, you lazy bum?”  Our actions have meaning.  To man and God alike. 

Jesus slept in a boat in the midst of a storm once. 

The disciples’ response was similar. “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” 

There’s a difference between disbelief in the Master of the wind and disbelief in the face of apathy towards Him.   Even the heathen ship captain knew this.  If we're apathetic towards God, we can expect the reproach of others, saved and unsaved alike.  

There is also a difference between quietness and confidence of spirit and apathy.   Don’t fall prey to confusing the two.  When things seem out of control, and your heart doesn’t seem to match the chaos, ask the Lord to show you why and act accordingly.  If you are right with God, go back to sleep.  If you are not, there is no time to waste!  Make it right! 

The captain then begs him to call upon his God for their lives.  But, you’ll notice, he doesn’t do it.  He isn’t exactly on speaking terms with God right now.  He knows the only effective prayer to that end would require surrender ~ a surrender of his will to God’s ~ something that he still, despite the intensity of the storm, remains unwilling to concede.  

He instead goes up and joins the men on deck where they cast lots, and it naturally falls upon Jonah.  This is such a beautiful picture to me of the steadfast trustworthiness of the justice of God.  Of course it did!   God’s justice is still as sure and true today. 

As might be expected the mariners want answers.  Yesterday.   It’s like “twenty questions.”  Why, what, where, when, and how?  

I find it ironic that while it was for lack of the fear of the Lord that Jonah dared to attempt to flee from God’s presence, that he chooses to introduce himself to the sailors as one who “fears the Lord the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.”  This ended up causing the unbelieving mariners to fear the storm *exceedingly, and later to direct that exceeding fear to God Himself, more even than Jonah did!  Proof that God can use anyone and anything to lead people to Himself.  And further, proof that He doesn't need us, but in His great goodness chooses to use us in spite of ourselves, even when we're right with him.  

(*Exceedingly has the connotation of “great of magnitude and extent.”   It implies an insufficiency to be put into words.  Remember, God never exaggerates!) 

I can hear their disbelief at his actions as they say, “Why hast thou done this?”  At least Jonah was honest enough to tell them the truth.  Most backslidden Christians are not honest enough with themselves to admit to being backslidden let alone honest with others.  They want to sugarcoat and excuse their actions.  Jonah may have been a coward, but at least he was an honest one. 

I can only imagine the mariners' quandary.  “What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought and was tempestuous.”  God wasn’t letting up.  Not even a little bit. 

“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.” 

This would be the point in the journey where I would be standing next to Jonah wanting to admonish him about there being a fine line between perceived bravery and stupidity.  “You seriously are more afraid of the Ninevites than you are of God?  What is wrong with you, man?  Be reasonable!” 

“Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them.”

What a shame that they as heathens cared more for his well-being than he cared for theirs as a child of God.  They did everything they could not to have to throw him overboard, while as far as we know he stood by doing nothing for them.  The least he could have done would have been to lend a hand, or cast himself into the sea.  

But he did nothing. 

What a shame he was to the name of the God he claimed to fear! This is what sin does to us, and apathy is one of the greatest sins because it is a close kin to pride, which is the source of all sin. 

“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, has done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.” 

If he wouldn’t pray to his God, they would, and they’d do a right good job of it, too.  That prayer breathes sincerity.  

Their faith in an Unknown God puts Jonah’s faith in his Known God to shame.

As Jonah will soon find out, God knows what it will take to get our attention.  

Don't make Him do it!