Jonah 1

Jonah 1:1-3

In this chapter we have, 1. A command given to Jonah to go preach at Nineveh, ver. 1, 2. 2. Jonah’s disobedience to that command, ver. 3. 3. The pursuit and arrest of him for it by a storm, ver. 4—6. 4. The discovery made that his disobedience was the cause thereof, ver. 7—10. 5. The calling of him into the sea, for the stilling of the waves, ver. 11—16. 6. The miraculous preservation of his life in the holy of a fish, ver. 17.

NOW the word of the LORD came unto + Jonah ’the son of + Amittai, saying, 2. Arise, go to Nineveh ’that great city, and cry against it; for ’their wickedness is come up before me. 3. But Jonah rose up ’to flee unto Tarhish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to ‘Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarhish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarhish, ‘from the presence of the LORD.

We have here, 1. The prophet’s name and parentage: Jonah, a dove; God’s prophets being harmless as these, and, like the dove of Noah, Vol. II.

bringing the olive-branch of peace, the tidings of mercy and salvation to perishing sinners: his father’s name is Amittai, my truth; for prophets must be sons of truth, faithful to their office, and steady to maintain the truths of God.

2. His mission. The word of the Lord came to him, bidding him arise, and go to Nineveh, that great city, the metropolis of the Assyrian empire, where wickedness abounded, as in great cities it usually doth, the multitudes of sinners serving to embolden and stimulate each other to commit iniquity. It was now ripe for vengeance, and he must go and cry aloud in the streets, to give the inhabitants warning of their approaching doom, unless they repented.

3. His disobedience. He rose up to flee from the presence of the Lord, from the land of Judra, where God in an especial manner appeared between the cherubims; to Tarhish; either Tarfus in Cilicia, or the sea, determined to ship himself in the first vessel, and fly any whither rather than go to Nineveh. Either he dreaded the dangers of the service; or rather, as he suggests, chap. iv. 2. he knew God’s compassions, that the Ninevites would be forgiven, and himself be counted a false prophet. A ship was ready to sail as soon as he arrived at Joppa, and he instantly paid the fare and embarked: Providence seemed to concur with his desires: but the ready way is not always the right way; and they who flee from duty, whatever present relief they may gain, are only treachering up for themselves greater sorrow.

4 K 4. ¶ Before Christ Bri. A Affix exi. 18, 19. B Rom. xii. 11. I Jod ii. 14. A Prov. xvi. 31. I Affix exi. 13. I Hab. With great list.

4. ¶ But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempell in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship, unto the sea, to lighten it of them: but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6. So the ship-matter came to him, and said unto him, ‘What meanest thou, O deeper? arise, call upon thy GOD, if so be that GOD will think upon us, that we perish not. 7. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whoever cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whoever cause this evil is upon us: what is thine occupation? and whence cometh thou? what is thy country? and of what people are thou? 9. And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the GOD of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. 10. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hath thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.)

5. 4—10. They who think to fly from God will soon perceive the folly of the attempt.

6. God sends a mighty tempell on the ship in which the prophet sailed, so that it seemed ready each moment to founder. Such shares doth sin raise in the conscience, and the poor soul in despondence is ready to give himself up for self, little suspecting that the very tempell, which he imagines will be his vain, is only designed to drive him to the haven of it.

7. Jonah alone seemed unconcerned about the danger. The mariners, affrighted, ran to their prayers, and cried to their idols for help: for the imminent views of death will sometimes bring those to their knees who never thought of bowing them before; and, life being dearer to them than all besides, they readily pass with their merchandize, and cast it into the sea, to lighten the ship. Worldly goods are nothing worth when death flares men in the face: what fully then, for the sake of them, to make shipwreck of faith and a good confidence, and hide an immortal soul, infinitely more precious than the dying body! When will men be wise? The roaring bellows, that terrified the heathen seamen, served but to rock Jonah asleep: he, of all that company, appeared the only person in infallible, though none had so much cause to be alarmed: into such slumped death, the sometimes lull the conscience of the buckslore: he hath lost all apprehension of danger; and even the judgments, which make others tremble, he palles over unaffected. From such blindness and hardness of heart good Lord deliver us!

8. The ship-matter rouses him from his flumbers, and upbrands him with his insensibility. What meanest thou, O deeper? Strangely, that a prophet of the Lord should need reproof even from the mouth of a heathen! Arise, call upon thy God: delay is ruinous when danger urges. They had cried to their gods in vain; perhaps his was more able to help them; if he be that God will think upon us, that we perish not, as, without immediate help, they knew they must. Note, (1.) Even gracious fouls need sometimes to be quickened, and stirred up from their sleepy frame of spirit to cry unto God. (2.) No danger is to great, but, if God think upon us, he is able to save us to the untruth.

9. The storm increasing, notwithstanding all their endeavours and prayers, they began to suspect that there might be among them some atrocious sinner, on whose account the divine displeasure pursued them; and, as was usual with the heathens, they rejoined to enquire which of them it was, and to refer the decision to the lot; and so God ordained it, that the lot fell upon Jonah, v. 7. Thus is the iniquity of the sinner often found out by means he never suspected, and when he thought himself most secure and concealed from detection.

10. They hereupon strictly interrogate the prophet. The lot had said this is the man, and he is called upon to acknowledge his crime, that they might know for whole cause, or for what cause, this evil was upon them: what he had done to provoke God; what was his occupation; whence he came; and to what country he belonged. Note, In order to get our troubles removed, we must search diligently into our sins, which are the cause of them.

11. Jonah, without reserve, makes confession of his crime; and probably, now convicted in his own conscience, desired to take to himself all the shame and punishment which he felt he had deserved. He declares himself by nation and religion a Hebrew, which was an aggravation of his guilt; his suspicion was that of a prophet of the Most High, I fear the Lord, Jehovah, the God of heaven, which had made the sin and the dry land, which, though it added to his sin, yet he owns to God’s glory, and in order to the instruction of the heathen mariners, who blindly worshipped gods many, instead of the one true and liv-

ing Jehovah. His crime he owns: he told them that he fled from the presence of the Lord, rebellious to his command, and running from his duty; for which this judgment was sent. Note, When we have sinned, nothing remains but to justify God in his judgments, and with penitence to bow into the dust.

7. The seamen appear exceedingly affected with his narrative. Probably they had heard what the God of the Hebrews had done of old, and this increased their terrors. With just upbraiding therefore of the prophet, who by his wickedness had brought them into this imminent danger, they expounded with him, Why hast thou done this? why dust thou in such light attempt to fly? and why embark with us, to involve us with thyself in danger? Note, (1.) They who protest religious, and act unfaithfully, deserve to be reproached. (2.) None know how extensive and dangerous the consequence of but one sin may be.

8. ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? (for the sea wrought and was tempestuous). 12. 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 tempell is upon you. 13. Never, theleth the men § rowed hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14. 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, hast done as it pleased thee. 15. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. 16. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 17. ¶ Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the § belly of the fish three days and three nights.

9. 11—17. The criminal is detected by his own confession; the question is, what is to be done with him?

10. They refer the matter to himself. Since he was a prophet of the God of the Hebrews, he best could inform them what was the likeliefs means to appease his angry, and thereby obtain deliverance from the storm, which raged more furiously than ever. Note, When by our sins we have raised a storm of wrath around us, it highly imports us to enquire how it may be appeased.

11. Jonah pronounces his own doom, v. 12. He well knew himself to be the troubler, and that, till he was cast into the sea, there could be no hope of the storm’s abating; and therefore he bids them throw him overboard: he would not be his own destroyer; yet, conscious he deserved to die, he offers himself for execution; and checks rather himself to perish, than involve the innocent in destruction. Note, (1.) They who truly know the evil of sin, and are deeply humbled under it, are ready to submit to any shame or suffering, whereby God may be glorified, and reparation be made to the injured. (2.) When sin hath raised a storm, we may never hope for peace till the accursed thing is removed.

12. Very unwilling to execute this grievous sentence, the mariners rowed hard for land; but the more they drove, the more the sea wrought, and was tempestuous; so that despair took place in every countenance, and nothing remained but this last experiment, with which they felt the more reluctance to comply on account of the noble simplicity and deep humiliation which now probably appeared in the penitent prophet. Note, (1.) When a gracious man, overtaken with a fault, with frank acknowledgement takes shame to himself, he is entitled to our greatest compassion; nor should we ever by severity aggravate his distress. (2.) There is no striving against God’s counsels: his will must be done.

13. Before they execute the dread decree, they present their importunate supplications to God, that he would not impute to them innocent blood, nor cause them to perish for taking away this man’s life; when they had desired to know his will, and seized now, according to the best of their light, in conformity thereto; it appearing to be his pleasure that Jonah should be cast into the sea. Note, (1.) In all our emergencies we must have recourse to God in prayer. (2.) When we follow, according to our best knowledge, under the guidance of Divine Providence, what appears to be God’s will, we are bound with falsehoods to trust him with the issue.

14. Jonah is cast into the sea, and, to the astonishment of the mariners, instantly the storm cealed. They feared the Lord exceedingly, amazed at the sudden change, and filled with thankfulness, offered an immediate sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, and made vows of future oblations whenever they should reach the shore. Thus sometimes our greatest loss proves our greatest gain. The acquaintance they hereby gained with Israel’s God amply

Hab. 1. Per. viii. 2. Or goes over our pain: you prison. § Hab. Vapor. 31. The following table is a simple formula:

6. By a miracle the prophet’s life is preferred. God, who designed not to destroy but save him, had prepared a fish, a whole, our Lord calls it, Math. xii. 40, which swallowed him alive, and by almighty power he was preferred three days and three nights, at least part of three days, unhurt in the fish’s stomach, a monument of divine mercy, and an illustrious type of him, who, when he had given his life a custom for others, lay to long in the grave, and rose again the third day, Math. xii. 40.