Commentary - Jonah 1:10-14

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, the chickens of Jonah's rebellion come home to roost, and they are flapping about in a hurricane. We see the stark contrast between the terrified piety of pagan sailors and the sullen resignation of a disobedient prophet. The sailors, confronted with the raw power of Jonah's God, are filled with a holy dread. Jonah, on the other hand, knows exactly what is happening and why. He has been caught. The central issue here is the inescapable sovereignty of God. Jonah tried to flee from God's presence, a fool's errand if there ever was one, and has discovered that God's presence fills the seas as much as the land. The storm is a summons, a divine arrest warrant. The conversation that follows is a courtroom drama on the deck of a ship being torn apart. The sailors are desperate for a way to appease this terrifying deity, and Jonah, to his credit, pronounces the only just sentence: his own death. This passage is a powerful demonstration that our sin is never a private affair; it unleashes chaos into the world and endangers those around us. It also shows the workings of God's common grace, as these pagans display more reverence and concern for justice than does God's own prophet.

Ultimately, this scene is a profound type of what was to come. One man's sin brings a deathly storm upon many. That man must be cast into the depths to bring peace. But where Jonah is a sullen and guilty party, offered up to appease a justly angered God, the Lord Jesus is the innocent one, willingly cast into the storm of God's wrath on our behalf, so that the sea might become quiet for us. Jonah is a grim sketch; Christ is the glorious portrait.

Outline

Context In Jonah

This passage is the climax of the first movement of the book. God commanded Jonah to go east to Nineveh, and Jonah immediately booked passage on a ship going as far west as he could, to Tarshish. He was fleeing from the "presence of Yahweh" (1:3). God, who is not geographically limited, responded by hurling a great storm at the ship. The pagan sailors, in their terror, cried out to their various gods and threw cargo overboard. Meanwhile, Jonah, the cause of the whole mess, was fast asleep below deck. The captain roused him, urging him to pray to his God. The sailors then cast lots to identify the culprit, and the lot fell, by God's sovereign design, on Jonah. After Jonah identifies himself as a Hebrew who fears Yahweh, the God who made the sea and the dry land (1:9), we arrive at our current text, where the sailors react to this terrifying new information.

Key Issues

Caught Red-Handed by the God of the Seas

There is a profound irony running through this entire chapter. Jonah, the man with the direct line to the true God, is the one in rebellion. The pagan sailors, who began by crying out to their worthless idols, are the ones who end up acting with a surprising degree of piety, reverence, and moral seriousness. They are confronted with a God they have never known, and their reaction is one of terror and a desperate desire to do the right thing. Jonah, who has known this God his whole life, is the one who has been acting like a practical atheist, believing he could somehow punch out from his divine responsibilities and escape God's notice.

The storm is God's megaphone. God often has to shout to get the attention of his disobedient children. And when God shouts in the wind and the waves, even the pagans can hear it. The sailors' theology is being rapidly and violently sanctified. They are learning that the universe is not run by a committee of bickering, localized deities. They are in the grip of one God, Yahweh, and He is the one who made the very sea that is threatening to swallow them. And the man responsible for offending this God is right there on the boat with them.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 Then the men became greatly fearful, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh because he had told them.

The sailors' fear ratchets up from plain terror of the storm to a holy dread of the God behind the storm. The text says they became greatly fearful. This is the beginning of wisdom. They now understand that this isn't just bad weather; it's a personal, divine pursuit. Their question, "What is this you have done?" is one of utter astonishment. It's not just "Why did you do this?" but "What kind of man are you that you would pick a fight with the God who commands the ocean?" They are scandalized by Jonah's rebellion. Here we see the conscience, given by God to all men, functioning as it should. Even without the Law of Moses, they know that to flee from the Creator is a monumental and terrifying crime. Jonah had apparently already confessed the basic facts of his case, and now the sailors are connecting the dots. The storm is the effect, and Jonah's flight from Yahweh is the cause.

11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become quiet for us?”, for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.

This is a remarkable question. They don't immediately throw him overboard. They don't form a lynch mob. Instead, they ask the prophet of this terrifying God for the solution. They recognize that the offense was against Yahweh, and therefore the remedy must come from Yahweh, through His representative. They are asking, in effect, "What does your God require to be appeased?" They understand the principle of propitiation. They know that a divine wrath has been incurred and that something must be done to satisfy it. Their predicament is getting worse by the minute, as the sea was not just stormy, but was growing increasingly stormy. The Hebrew is vivid; the sea was "going and raging." God was turning up the pressure, forcing the question.

12 So he said to them, “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become quiet for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”

Here, in his moment of utter failure, Jonah finally begins to sound like a prophet again. He doesn't try to bargain or make excuses. He accepts his guilt and pronounces the sentence. He knows his sin is the problem, and he knows that he must be removed for the storm to cease. He says, "I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." This is a full confession. He takes responsibility for the chaos he has brought into their lives. His solution is substitutionary. He must be given over to the raging sea, a symbol of God's wrath, in order for the others to be saved. It is a grim and reluctant foreshadowing of the Greater Jonah, who would willingly be hurled into the storm of God's judgment to bring peace to His people.

13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy against them.

This verse is a testament to the moral character of these pagan sailors. They are hesitant to carry out the sentence. They have a man's life in their hands, and even though he is the cause of their trouble, they are reluctant to perform what feels like a human sacrifice. So they make one last, valiant effort to save everyone, including Jonah. They rowed desperately, literally "they dug," trying to force the ship back to shore. But their efforts are futile. God will not be thwarted by the good intentions of men. The sea raged all the more against them. The storm had a purpose, and that purpose was to deal with Jonah. There was no escaping it. God had cornered them all, shutting down every exit except the one He had ordained: the casting of Jonah into the sea.

14 Then they called on Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, we earnestly pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Yahweh, as You have pleased You have done.”

This is the theological climax of the scene. These pagan sailors, who started out praying to their idols, now offer up a doctrinally sound prayer to the one true God. They address Him by His covenant name, Yahweh. They plead for their lives, but they also plead for moral cleanness. They are deeply concerned not to be guilty of shedding innocent blood. Of course, Jonah is not innocent, but they are afraid of taking a man's life into their own hands, and they appeal to God to not hold it against them. The final clause of their prayer is a stunning affirmation of divine sovereignty: "for You, O Yahweh, as You have pleased You have done." They have understood the lesson of the storm. They recognize that everything that has happened, from Jonah's flight to the raging sea to the casting of the lot, has been orchestrated by the sovereign will of God. They are submitting themselves to His providential rule. They are casting themselves on His mercy as they prepare to do what He has made it clear they must do.

Application

This passage is a bucket of cold sea water in the face for any of us who think our "personal" sins are actually personal. Jonah's disobedience endangered the lives and livelihoods of an entire ship of men. When we harbor rebellion in our hearts, when we flee from the clear command of God, we are not just getting ourselves into trouble. We are bringing a storm upon our families, our churches, and our communities. Sin is never a private matter; it has corporate consequences. We must take responsibility, as Jonah eventually did, for the storms our sins have caused.

Secondly, we should be humbled by the piety of these pagan sailors. They show a greater fear of God, a greater respect for human life, and a firmer grasp of divine sovereignty than the prophet himself. This is a powerful display of what theologians call common grace. God has written His law on the hearts of all men, and sometimes those outside the covenant can put the covenant people to shame with their simple, God-fearing integrity. We must never be so arrogant as to think we have nothing to learn from the world. Sometimes God uses the conscience of an unbeliever to rebuke the callousness of a believer.

Finally, we must see the gospel here. A guilty man is thrown into the sea of judgment so that others might live. This points us directly to the cross. But the parallel is one of contrast as much as comparison. Jonah was guilty; Christ was innocent. Jonah was thrown overboard reluctantly by others; Christ laid down His own life willingly. Jonah's sacrifice saved one boatload of sailors from a physical storm. Christ's sacrifice saves a world of sinners from the eternal storm of God's wrath. The sailors rightly prayed, "do not put innocent blood on us." But at Calvary, we must pray the opposite. Our only hope is to have the innocent blood of Christ put upon us, to cover our guilt and bring us into the calm and quiet of eternal peace with God.