God’s Disciplinary Love Sunday School Lesson, May 7, 2017

The reasons for the dilemma (1:7–9)

1:7. While the captain attempted to arouse Jonah (v. 6), the sailors concluded that the tragic storm was the result of divine wrath on the wrongdoing of some man on board. The casting of lots to determine a decision, in this case, to find a culprit, was common in Israel and other countries in the ancient Near East (cf. Lev. 16:8; Josh. 18:6; 1 Sam. 14:42; Neh. 10:34; Es. 3:7; Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:26). Perhaps marked stones were put in a container, and one was taken out. God expressed His sovereignty over Jonah’s affairs, causing the lot “fall” on His disobedient prophet.

1:8–9. Though rebellious against God’s command (cf. vv. 2–3) Jonah responded to the sailors’ barrage of five questions by stating with no uncertainty his nationality (I am a Hebrew) and the worth and power of His God. Though disobedient to God, Jonah at least knew what He is like. Jonah said that God is the Lord (Yahweh), the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God of Israel. The prophet also said his God is the God of heaven (cf. Gen. 24:3, 7 and comments on Ezra 1:2), the one true Sovereign, in contrast with the sailors’ many false gods (cf. Jonah 1:5). Jonah also affirmed that Yahweh is the Creator, the One who made the sea and the land (cf. Ex. 20:11; Ps. 95:5). As Creator of the world, He can control nature, including storms on the sea (cf. Ps. 89:9). The sailors clearly acknowledged this fact in their question (Jonah 1:11). It may seem strange that Jonah claimed to worship this God when he did not obey Him, but this is often true of believers

d. The calming of the sea (1:10–16)

1:10. Hearing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, and knowing that Jonah was rebelling against his God, the sailors concluded that the upheaval of the sea evidenced God’s displeasure with him. This brought fear to the sailors, for they felt helpless in appeasing someone else’s god. Perhaps too they sensed, superstitiously, that Jonah’s God was holding them responsible as accomplices in Jonah’s “crime.” By their question, What have you done? the seamen chided the prophet for his senseless action. This question affirmed emphatically that he was responsible for their predicament. It was more a statement of horror at Jonah’s disobedience than a question of inquiry. The pagan sailors seemed to grasp the seriousness of his disobedience more than the prophet did!

1:11. The sailors’ perceptiveness is again evident. Believing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, as he had told them (v. 9), they appealed to Jonah for a resolution to their heightening dilemma. They sensed that since he was responsible for the storm, they needed to do something to him. Only then would the storm be abated.

1:12. Jonah’s response was penitent. Recognizing the gravity of his disobedience that resulted in the great storm, he was willing to endure punishment, even death. So he told them to throw him into the sea. Only then, when he was overboard, would the sea be calm. Perhaps Jonah also thought this would be a way out of his assignment (cf. 4:3, 8). But God had another plan!

1:13–14. The sailors, however, were not anxious to take a human life for fear they would be held accountable for murder. This contrasts sharply with Jonah’s lack of compassion for the Ninevites (cf. 4:1–2). So the men on the ship (except for Jonah) tried again to get back to land. But against the sovereign God, the sailors’ meager efforts brought no relief. In fact, the storm intensified. Recognizing the futility of their efforts, and believing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, they realized Jonah’s instructions had to be carried out. Yet those Gentiles, not having the Law of God, instinctively recognized the worth of human life and pleaded for His mercy on them for killing an innocent man. By their words, You, O Lord, have done as You pleased, the sailors were acknowledging His divine sovereignty and providence in the storm (1:4) and in the casting of the lots (v. 7).

1:15–16. Following the prophet’s instructions (v. 12), the sailors threw Jonah into the raging sea and it became calm. This showed them the reality and power of the God of Israel. They stood in awe of (feared) the Lord. He had done what their gods could not do. The sudden calm was an answer to the sailors’ prayers (v. 5). The calm also revealed that the storm had resulted from Jonah’s disobedience and that an innocent life had not been snuffed out in casting him overboard. Utterly amazed at the sudden calm, they offered a sacrifice in praise to the Lord (Yahweh, Israel’s God) and promised (made vows) to continue their praise. Again the sailors are seen in contrast with their former passengers. Whereas Jonah was disobedient to God, they were praising Him!

2. the great fish (1:17–2:10)

a. The swallowing of Jonah (1:17)

1:17. The prophet’s expected death did not occur. The sovereignty and centrality of God as the major figure in this historical narrative are evidenced in His providing a fish to swallow Jonah. This is the first of four things in this book He provided (cf. 4:6–8). The great fish was possibly a mammal, a sperm whale, or perhaps a whale shark (see “Authenticity and Historicity” under Introduction). God controls not only the sea but all that is in it. By means of the large sea monster, God preserved Jonah alive and later deposited him unhurt on land. The phrase three days and three nights need not be understood as a 72-hour period but as one 24-hour day and parts of two other days (cf. Es. 4:16 with 5:1 and comments on Matt. 12:40, where Jesus said His burial would be the same length of time as Jonah’s interment in the fish’s stomach).

Hannah, J. D. (1985). Jonah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 1466–1467). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

JONAH’S DISCIPLINE Jonah 1:4–16

The first of a series of supernatural events in the book is now related. Yahweh “hurled a great wind on the sea.” This produced “a great storm on the sea.” The Tarshish bound ship was “about to break up,” i.e., be dashed in pieces. Even the experienced seamen (lit., salts) were afraid. Every man cried out to his god. When prayer is not a way of life it becomes a last resort. At the same time, the crew jettisoned the cargo so as to lighten the ship in the hope they would be able to ride out the storm. They tried to counter the storm which God had thrown against the sea by some throwing of their own. Works, however heroic and sacrificial, cannot save from God’s judgment (1:4–5a).

Now comes the third surprise in the book. Throughout this violent storm, Jonah was asleep in the hold of the ship. The word used here implies a deep, even supernatural sleep such as Adam experienced when God took the rib from his side. Apparently, the spiritual stress of his disobedience to God and the hasty trip from Gath-Hepher to Joppa had drained all the energy from the prophet. He was exhausted! (1:5b).

In the process of bringing up the cargo, the ship’s captain discovered Jonah. He was aroused and rebuked for sleeping during the crisis by means of a rhetorical question: “How is it that you are sleeping?” He was ordered to “arise and call on your god.” The verbs used by the captain (qum qera’) are the same as those used by God in his original commission to Jonah (cf. 1:2). Those words have now come back to haunt Jonah, to remind him of his present estrangement from Yahweh (1:6a).

The captain had by now concluded that none of the various gods worshiped by his crew could or would rescue the ship. He thought perhaps Jonah’s God might be behind this unusual storm. “Perhaps,” he suggested, Jonah’s God might show compassion on all those whose lives were in jeopardy. Though an idolater, the captain had the correct perspective on prayer. Even many believers think of prayer as a mandate, as furnishing an agenda for divine action, which they have every right to demand and expect that God should follow. The captain’s humble submission to the sovereign decisions of the deity stands in stark contrast to Jonah’s arrogant refusal to submit to that will (1:6b).

Did Jonah pray? Not likely. Prayer and other religious exercises cannot cancel the effects of deliberate disobedience. Jonah was smart enough to understand that. He was now learning, however, that his disobedient actions were placing many other lives in jeopardy.

The sailors concluded that the storm must have been sent against them to punish someone on board. They decided to “cast lots” to determine the guilty party. Casting lots was practiced by Israelites as well as by the heathen. From time to time God graciously condescended to declare his will through visible, external means. The Lord commanded lots to be cast only in matters of great importance. In order to prevent confusion and quarrels the lot was quite frequently utilized in Israel without divine command in matters of minor importance (e.g., 1 Chr 24:5, 7, 31). The only New Testament example of casting lots is the selection of a candidate to replace Judas (Acts 1:26). The important thing here is that Jonah knew he was the guilty party, yet, like Achan at Ai, he did not confess until God directed the lot (Prov 16:33) to fall on him (1:7).

Once his guilt was exposed, the sailors fired questions at Jonah. They did not wish to condemn the man until he had had the opportunity to present testimony in his own defense. First, they urged him to tell them on whose account the calamity had befallen them. They wanted to know what there was about Jonah that made him so offensive to the sea god. Then they asked in rapid succession about his occupation, his town and country, and ethnic origins. From his answers, they would be able to deduce what God he served since in those days most nations had their own set of deities (1:8).

Jonah then told the sailors that he was a Hebrew. This term is frequently used when Israelites describe themselves to foreigners (e.g., Gen 40:15). Jonah told the crew that he “feared” (i.e., worshiped) Yahweh. Compared to the genuine fear of the sailors (cf. vv. 5, 10) Jonah’s “fear” of Yahweh was a mere formality. The prophet identified Yahweh as “the God of heaven.” This title for God can be traced back to the age of the patriarchs (Gen 24:3, 7), but it became more popular toward the end of Old Testament history (1:9a).

Jonah described Yahweh as the one who had “made the sea and the dry land.” In spite of his reluctance to preach to Gentiles, Jonah, under the pressure of the moment, was bearing witness to the claims of Yahweh to a group of pagan men. His confession of faith in God is at the same time an admission that Yahweh is responsible for the storm. The reluctant missionary also told them that he was fleeing from the presence (i.e., service) of Yahweh (1:9b).

The sailors became frightened when they heard Jonah’s explanation. They rebuked the prophet with a question: “How could you do this?” The greatest humiliation in the life of any believer is to experience a justly deserved spiritual rebuke from those who have made no commitment to the Lord (1:10).

When the sea became even more boisterous, they pled with Jonah to tell them what they could do that the sea might become calm. They assumed that if he was a prophet of Yahweh he should have some wise counsel for them in this respect. Jonah directed them to throw him into the sea. Only then would the sea become calm. Jonah must have been acting on some prophetic impulse here. His repentance was complete and sincere. He would not allow these sailors to suffer any longer on his account. Jonah was acting out of compassion for these Gentiles. Jonah committed himself to the will of God. He demonstrated heroic faith. Here is another surprise in the narrative (1:11–12).

Now comes the fourth great surprise in the book. The Gentile sailors were reluctant to throw Jonah to the sea in order to save their own lives. They had high standards. The sixth commandment was written upon their hearts. They rowed desperately to return to land. They could make no progress, however, because the sea was becoming still more tumultuous. They then turned to Yahweh in prayer. First, they prayed that they might not perish in the storm. Second, they asked that they might not be held guilty of shedding innocent blood. Third, they acknowledged that all that had befallen them had been the will of God—that God had the right and privilege of doing as he pleased. These heathen men experienced a kind of conversion. The very thing that Jonah did not want to happen at Nineveh was starting to happen on board that ship (1:13–14).

Viewing themselves as agents of divine justice, the sailors picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. Immediately the sea stopped its raging. This is the second great miracle in the book. When the sailors witnessed the instantaneous calming of the water, they “feared Yahweh greatly,” i.e., they worshiped him. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows of allegiance to him. The irony here is that Jonah fled because he did not want to preach God’s word to a Gentile city. Now inadvertently he has been the instrument to bring the knowledge of the true God to a number of Gentiles (1:15–16).

JONAH’S DELIVERANCE Jonah 1:17

Now comes the third great miracle of the book. Yahweh “appointed” (minneh) a great fish to swallow Jonah. This word never appears in the sense of prepare or create as the KJV translates. The Creator of the sea is also the Master of its creatures. They do his bidding. Here the great fish became the instrument of God’s grace. The good Lord saved this rebellious prophet from certain destruction in the water of the sea (1:17a).

Jonah survived three days and nights in the stomach of the fish. Those who take the parabolic approach to the Book of Jonah have great difficulty suggesting a significance for the three days and three nights. The fact is that Jonah actually spent that amount of time in the sea creature. God left the prophet in the fish long enough to establish the fact that his survival was totally a supernatural event. It was a miracle (1:17b).

The credibility of the fish account in Jonah has been discussed thoroughly by several writers. That God used a special creation to produce the fish which swallowed Jonah is certainly possible, although nothing in the Hebrew text points in this direction. Any one of several sea creatures known today could have been the agent appointed by God for this mission. A sperm whale, for example, has a mouth large enough to swallow a man. This animal has the habit of swimming rapidly near the surface with its mouth hanging open. Several writers recite the details of the celebrated case of James Bartley. In 1891 this seaman on the whaler Star of the East fell overboard. According to reports published at the time, Bartley survived two and a half days in the belly of a sperm whale. The fact that sperm whales do not inhabit the Mediterranean Sea today in no way precludes the possibility that they did so in ancient times when the number of ships on the sea was far less.

Sharks are more common in the Mediterranean. At least two species of sharks seem to have the capabilities of swallowing a human being. The great white shark, in spite of its terrible teeth, might be a candidate for the sea creature of Jonah 2. Smith’s Bible Dictionary cites one report of the whole body of a man in armor having been found in the stomach of a white shark. The same source mentions a report of a white shark that swallowed a horse. The huge Rhinodon shark—as much as fifty feet in length—has also been known to have swallowed a man.6

The fish event occupies only three of the forty-eight verses in the Book of Jonah. Obviously, the author did not see this as the main emphasis of his book. G. Campbell Morgan observed that “men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God” which is the main burden of the book.

“Then Jonah prayed.” It was about time. He prayed “from the stomach of the fish.” A believer cannot come to a place so abnormal that he cannot pray to God there. The belly of the sea monster became Jonah’s prayer closet.