Jonah -- Preacher of Repentance (4): Tossed Overboard to Calm the Storm

Jonah -- Preacher of Repentance (4): Tossed Overboard to Calm the Storm

“Call Upon Your God!”

As the storm intensifies, the ship’s captain found Jonah below deck, sound asleep. The captain screams at Jonah, “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.” (Jonah 1:6) We know that sailors can be a superstitious lot–then as now. After awakening Jonah, the captain insists that the fleeing prophet call upon “his god” as the others had done. We are not told if the captain knew yet that Jonah was a worshiper of YHWH and was aware of YHWH’s great power. Perhaps the captain’s fear was that unless all onboard were praying to one of their collective gods, one of these gods would remain unappeased and cause all onboard to perish. But the irony should not be lost upon us. Jonah is awakened by the captain to pray because the storm truly is Jonah’s fault! Jonah is fleeing from YHWH’s prophetic call which is the reason for the terrible storm which has placed the ship and its crew in jeopardy.

Of course, praying to gods who do not exist does not end the storm. In fear and panic, the crew seeks to figure out which one of the crew or its passengers has offended his god sufficiently for that particular god to bring the storm down on the lot of them. The suddenness and intensity of the storm points to some sort of supernatural peril, since none of the other measures have worked and the ship is about to break up. Pacifying whichever god was angry became paramount to the crew. According to verse 7, “and 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.” YHWH brought the storm to pass. So too when the lot is cast, it falls on Jonah. It is just as the author of Proverbs (16:33) tells us, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” YHWH is directing all things (even the roll of the die) to his appointed end–that his word be preached in Nineveh. The mysterious passenger sacked out below deck is the one who has brought the terrible storm to pass.

Why would the lot fall upon Jonah? Who is this man? What could he have done to bring about such a terrible storm? We read in verse 8 that an exasperated crew begin to interrogate their groggy passenger. “Then 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?’” You can almost see a disheveled and startled Jonah looking back at them, “what?” The crew repeat the question they asked when casting lots (verse 7). Something like this could not have happened unless someone onboard ship angered one of their gods. Now they know who it is–Jonah. The sailors want to know who this guy is, and what he has done to so infuriate his gods so much that they sent such a fierce storm. “What do you do?” “Where are you from?” “Who are your people?” These questions imply that Jonah made some effort to disguise himself to ensure that the crew did not recognize that he was a Jew and a prophet of YHWH (about whom, all in the region had some knowledge).

Jonah’s Identity Revealed: He Is a Prophet of YHWH

For the first time in the story (v. 9), Jonah speaks. “And 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.’” Native Phoenician sailors would have worshiped Baal–the weather god. Jonah identifies himself as a Jew (and an Israelite) and he adds that he worships the LORD (YHWH) who made the heavens and earth. YHWH is not a fictional god like (Baal) who is foolishly thought to manipulate the weather. YHWH made both land and sea. He brings storm. He brings calm. Jonah confesses his faith in the God who made all things. Even the storm about to sink their ship is in subjection to YHWH. Jonah’s words virtually echo Psalm 95:3-5: “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”

The reaction of the crew is both fear and anger. We read in verse 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.” If Jonah was right, and there really is a God who created all things–a God most high–then what had Jonah done to anger this supreme Deity so that he sent a storm to kill Jonah endangering the rest of them? The sailor’s fear increases upon learning that Jonah’s God could send such a storm. They are also angry that Jonah has brought this God’s wrath down upon an entire crew of innocents–men who were in no way complicit in Jonah’s attempt to flee from YHWH. As far as they knew, they had done nothing to anger YHWH. But they now knew that Jonah had angered God, and it was up to their passenger to come up with a way to save them and their ship, or else their blood would be on Jonah’s hands should they all perish in the storm.

Throughout this dialogue, the crew is growing increasingly desperate because the storm continues to grow stronger. According to verse 12, “then 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.” Jonah’s actions brought all this to pass, so it was up to Jonah to tell the crew what to do to turn aside YHWH’s wrath. His answer, throw him overboard. “He 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.’” At last, we see the first signs of repentance from Jonah. He realizes that his act of rebellion has placed the entire crew and their vessel in danger. If it costs him his life to save the others, then so be it. The reluctant prophet realizes that attempting to flee from YHWH was a very bad idea. At least Jonah can sacrifice himself to save the others. Aware of his guilt, perhaps the sacrifice he is willing to offer will gain him forgiveness with YHWH for fleeing his prophetic call. But foxhole religion is almost always filled with theological error even if arising from the sincerest of motives.

Jonah Is Tossed Overboard

But Jonah does not simply jump overboard and sacrifice himself. Instead he pleads with pagan sailors to throw him over the side. The conundrum this raises for the reader is not answered. Either Jonah was too much of a coward to do it himself, or else he is demonstrating remarkable wisdom in allowing the crew to sacrifice him so as to turn aside YHWH’s wrath from them. But is this nature of the Book of Jonah. It is filled with puns and irony, making the reader wrestle with both profound questions and their missing answers.

Even pagan sailors often reflect the demands of a universal moral code (natural law). In the panic and chaos, the crew does not want to cause Jonah’s death by pitching the source of their trouble over the side consigning Jonah to a watery grave. They do not want Jonah’s God to become angrier because of what they might do to YHWH’s prophet. So we read in verse 14, that the crew “rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.” Whatever Jonah had done was bad enough that his God would not be satisfied until Jonah was removed from the vessel.

The scene is one of fear (the suspiciously supernatural storm is growing stronger), the crew’s anger at Jonah (he has brought all this about–why did he not tell them that he was fleeing from YHWH?) and desperation (as the storm was still growing stronger the men begin to row toward shore, probably because their sails and rigging are damaged). We get the sense that the crew knew whatever was happening, it would not stop as long as Jonah remained a passenger on their ship. The time had come when there was nothing else they could do to save themselves except throw Jonah overboard.

The Storm Ceases and the Sailors Hear the Word of YHWH—from Jonah!

Terror gripped them. 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.’ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” The suspected cause and effect of the storm was confirmed. The moment Jonah was thrown overboard the storm ceased, the seas grew calm, and the ship and its crew were spared. Every person on that vessel now knew that YHWH is Lord of the storm as reflected in the words Psalm 107:25, “for YHWH commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.” In this case, YHWH not only commanded and raised the storm, he commanded and calmed the seas. The pagan crew has just witnessed YHWH’s power and mercy. They are now safe.

But another profound irony surfaces. YHWH spared the entire crew because they obeyed his word spoken through the prophet (Jonah), who told the crew to throw him into the sea so as to save themselves–quite an irony for a prophet who is running away from YHWH and only speaks YHWH’s word when it ensures his (Jonah’s) certain death. Yet upon witnessing this mind-blowing event these men immediately call upon YHWH’s name and then offered sacrifices to him, demonstrating their own submission to YHWH who revealed himself to them in the storm and through the words of Jonah. This is a foreshadowing of what will happen when Jonah eventually gets to Nineveh and preaches the word of YHWH there, only to discover that the very people whom he hates (the Ninevites) will repent and likewise believe in YHWH.

When Jonah goes over the side, there is only one possible outcome. Jonah will submerge under the waves and breathe his last, only then to enter YHWH’s presence–hopefully, YHWH’s wrath is turned aside by Jonah’s self-offering to YHWH as a sacrifice to save the innocent crew. Jonah’s thoughts were those of any one of Adam’s fallen race facing immediate and certain death–“Lord have mercy upon me a sinner. Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

But no sooner did Jonah enter his watery grave and the sea began to calm, then the impossible occurred–Jonah was rescued by miraculous means. According to verse 17, “the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” YHWH’s sovereign purpose and his mercies are seen yet again. God sent the storm, but spared the ship. YHWH calmed the storm and showed his mercy upon Gentile sailors who called upon his name and offered him sacrifices (worship). YHWH rescued Jonah–if in the most unexpected of ways. YHWH “threw” the storm and appointed the “great fish” to swallow Jonah, sparing Jonah from certain death. What Jonah is about to endure–three days and nights in the belly of the great fish–prefigures the greatest event in human history, Jesus’ death on the cross as a payment for our sins and followed by his bodily resurrection from the dead.

The “Sign of Jonah: — Jesus’ Three Days in the Tomb

Meanwhile we fast forward about 750 years from the storm and Jonah’s entombment in the belly of the fish. Jesus has begun his messianic mission and is preaching to increasingly larger crowds in the Galilee region–which is, ironically, in the very heart of what was once the Northern Kingdom (before being captured by Assyria). As the crowds grow in response to Jesus’ preaching so does the opposition from the Pharisees. Offended by Jesus’ claim to be a teacher sent from God who spoke God’s words to those listening to his preaching, we read of one such encounter in Matthew 12:38–42. According to verse 38, “some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, `Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’” After all that Jesus has said and done–healing a man with a withered hand, healing two blind men, restoring a young girl to life, along with countless other miracles, the scribes demanding a sign from Jesus was sadly indicative of their lack of faith and open disdain for God in human flesh, who was standing in their midst and teaching them about the kingdom of God. But they refuse to listen and demand more proof.

Knowing the nature of the trick question and refusing to perform miracles on demand (like a Las Vegas magic act), we read that Jesus “answered them, `An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus refuses to respond to the impertinence of those who claim to be the teachers of Israel. Jesus will perform no miraculous “signs” for them on this occasion. Instead, he tells them that his messianic ministry will culminate in one final sign which will answer all their questions and demonstrate once and for all who he is–the Son of God, who cannot be held captive by death or the grave.

Jesus speaks of this forthcoming sign, his death and resurrection, as the “sign of Jonah,” declaring well in advance that on Good Friday Jesus will suffer and die for our sins, and then after three days and nights in the grave, will be raised bodily from the dead the first Easter. The “sign of Jonah” is the confirmation that Jesus is who he says he is (God in human flesh) and that in his death he will save us from our sins.

As for the scribes demanding to see Jesus “perform another one” on their command, Jesus warns them, “the men of Nineveh”–those to whom Jonah preached and who repented some seven hundred years earlier –“will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” Those Ninevites who believed Jonah’s preaching will be called by YHWH as witnesses on judgment day. They will testify that they believed Jonah’s preaching on far less evidence then Jesus has given to the scribes and Pharisees. Here stand the leaders of Israel–in the presence of the greater Jonah who will spend three days and three nights in the grave, only to be raised from the dead–demanding that Jesus perform a trick for their amusement.

They will be given no further sign–except the sign of Jonah. In these words, we too have been given the sign of Jonah, as our Savior suffered and died for our sins and was raised three days and nights later. The words of Jonah and Jesus call us to embrace the same Savior who sent the storm, delivered the sailors, spared Jonah, and then caused Nineveh to repent.

Next time, we will take up to Jonah’s prayer while confined for three days and nights in the prison of the belly of the great fish–a prison which we cannot begin to conceive. We will learn of his trip to Nineveh, where the reluctant prophet will indeed preach the word of God with great effect.

To read the first in this series, Jonah the Preacher of Repentance: Who Was Jonah?

To read the next in the series, Jonah the Preacher of Repentance: Three Days and Nights in the Watery Grave