(Study No. 2) Chapter 1
The Disobedience of God’s Prophet
(Vs.1) “The Word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:
Jonah was the son of Amittai whose name meant “the truthful one,” or one who was “true to God.” In 2 Kings 14:25 we learn that Jonah’s home was in Gath Hepher, in Galilee. The prophecy of Messiah in Isaiah 9:1-2 also referred to the Lord Jesus as preaching in Galilee of the Gentiles because Israel was under the heel of the Roman Empire (Isaiah 9:1-2) (Matthew 4:15-23). Like all of the true prophets of the LORD they in various ways were all types of the Messiah to come.
We also read that “The Word of the LORD came to Jonah.” We know from the gospel of John that the Word was the eternal pre-existent Son of God before His incarnation as a man being fully human and fully God in a flesh and blood body (John 1:1-5, 14-15).
When the Word of the LORD came to a prophet with a specific message it is quite reasonable to assume that it was the pre-incarnate Messiah Himself speaking to them face to face. There are cases of this in the Old Testament (Genesis 16:13; 32:30) (Numbers 12:8) (Judges 6:22) (Exodus 33:11) (Deuteronomy 34:10) (Deuteronomy 5:4).
Samuel’s case as a boy hearing God’s call is an interesting one where we are told that “the LORD came and stood there (at the foot of Samuel’s bed) calling as at other times” (1 Samuel 3:10). Today we have the Word of God, the Bible, through which He speaks to us by His Spirit. As we read; “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130). The “simple” are not those who are intellectually impaired but those who approach God their Heavenly Father with a simple child- like trust in Him who holds their whole life in the palm of His hand (John 10:28-30). Let’s continue…
(Vs.2) “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
When God issues a command He expects it to be obeyed. He knew that Jonah had a rebelliousness and prideful attitude and did not want to go to Nineveh and to preach against it. Not only was it a rather daunting task, given the wickedness in the city and the terrible violent reputation of the Assyrians, but more so for Jonah who did not want to go to a people that hated Israel. One of the problems for any Jew was to think that God did not want to show favour to Gentiles. This was a problem for Israel as a nation, especially the religious leaders who thought they were a cut above others, not only towards the secular Jews, but more so to the Gentiles.
Now in the time of Jonah God wanted to reach the Gentile nations with His salvation not only in Jonah’s case but also through the Jewish nation but they were not willing to do this. Jonah had the same attitude. Even in the prophet Amos we see God’s eternal plan for the salvation of the Gentiles and affirmed by the apostles at Jerusalem after Peter had seen God do the same spiritual work in the household of Cornelius where the Gentiles had gathered to hear the word of God (Amos 9:11-12)(Acts 15:8-21).
Jonah was to learn that the safest place in God’s economy was to serve Him according to His will and to obey His Word even though it might cost something to Jonah by way of ease and comfort and compromise. So he decided to run away from the presence of the LORD, however where could he run to in light of the omnipresence of the LORD? (Psalm 139:1-13). And so we read…
(Vs.3) “But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.”
It is interesting to note in the Book of Acts Chapter ten when the LORD wanted the apostle Peter to go down to Joppa to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the Gentiles gathered in the house of Cornelius, Peter was reluctant. While he did not have the same attitude as Jonah had, Peter, like most of the New Covenant Jewish believers in the New Testament, found it difficult to see God’s salvation being extended to Gentiles.
God of course rectified this situation and Peter and the other apostles at Jerusalem realised that according to the prophets God’s eternal plan was to bring Gentiles into the Commonwealth of Israel. Tarshish went west instead of east, and in his rebellious attitude against the will of God he would rather end his relationship with God rather than obey Him.
Often in our walk with God when we rebel in pride and think that we can do things better than He can do, we are like Jonah fleeing from the presence of the LORD. We in fact are going in the opposite direction that God is going in. We are in fact running away from His presence, His intimacy, His blessings, His wisdom, His guidance and from His power.
Notice also the phrase “He went down to Joppa.” He started to feel sleepy and most probably to try to ease his troubled conscience. When we walk in pride it is “a downward call,” not for blessing, but for chastisement if we are a son or daughter of God, not to destroy us but to correct our walk in order that we might be blessed, and become a blessing to others (Deuteronomy 8:5) (Hebrews 12:9-12) (Proverbs 3:11-12) (1 Corinthians 11:32) (Psalm 94:12) (Lamentations 3:31-33).
In scripture when we see the term “to go up” it signifies that we are going upwards to meet with God. Such as we read where one “goes up” to Jerusalem to worship the LORD. The Word of God is chocked full of spiritual principles and are taught in both Testaments. They actually dovetail in. Many of the commands and spiritual principles in the Old Testament are reiterated in the New Testament (Hebrews 10:6). Well Jonah paid the fare and went down into the boat to sleep unaware of the storm about to hit the boat. He had finished with God or so he thought, but God had different plans for his reluctant disobedient prophet. It was more important to Jonah to do things his way and not God’s way. Of course disaster was looming. Let’s continue…
(Vs.4) “Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.”
When the LORD sends a storm it will have great effect on the one upon whom He sends it. This is why obeying the Word of the LORD as we have it in scripture is vitally important to our spiritual survival in this fallen world. This great wind from the LORD sprang up on the sea and it was so violent that the ship threatened to break up. In scripture the tossing sea is a picture of nations in turmoil and adversity (Luke 21:25), which will be a conspicuous mark of the last days in which we are now living.
This storm was violent and the pagans on board were being tossed about in a situation that was way beyond their control even though they were seasoned sailors. Their security in their possessions and cargo for their livelihood in the ship were being threatened. In a time of God’s storm material possessions, human plans and ambitions and the enterprises of man are shaken to the very core. When God’s judgement comes it will shake every level of society (Isaiah 24:1-3).
In relation to Israel, when they were disobedient to God He sent His violent ‘wind’ of adversity and chastisement, being the sword, famine and plague to reveal to them that is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God (Hebrews 10:31). Even though Israel at present is back in their Land by and large they are still aliens and strangers to their own covenants of promise and estranged from the Messiah our Lord Jesus.
However, a storm is brewing from the presence of the LORD that is going to cause the nation to be abandoned by all the nations and to look only to Him for their deliverance and salvation which they will experience (Zechariah 12:10-13:1). It will be God’s great wind of affliction that He will use to purify and refine His covenant people (Zechariah 13:8-9). This will be “the Time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble, but he will be saved out of it when the Messiah comes back and after they are saved they will cry out “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!”
After this we are told that they will serve the LORD their God and David their king whom God will raise up for them and in that day no one will make them afraid (Jeremiah 30:1-10). However just like Jonah did, Israel will have to face God’s violent wind, not to destroy them as a nation, but to correct their attitude of a rebellious spirit towards Him and towards the Messiah in order for the nation to fulfil God’s will and to become a light to the Gentile nations under the Messiah, the King of the Jews, being our Lord Jesus sitting on David’s throne at Jerusalem (Luke 1:32-33).
Jonah thought himself secure in the presence of the seasoned sailors, however, his whole world was about to be shaken and his realization that to go down to the “Egypt of this world” for safety and security is an allusion. When God determines to do something with us that He has planned for our lives from eternity He will bring it to pass even if He has to use the violent wind of adversity as we sail our lives on the tossing sea of the pagan nations needing to hear about the salvation of God found only in the Messiah our Lord Jesus (John 14:6) (Acts 4:12).
God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable where Israel is concerned, and I might add where we are concerned as those branches spiritually grafted into the Olive Tree being the nation of Israel (Romans 11:17-18, 29) (Ephesians 2:11-22).
This is a lesson that the leaders of Israel today need to take on board in their thinking. God is going to have to correct their thinking in order for the nation to fulfil His will for Israel that they might fulfil their destiny as a nation in a Gentile world which will come to fruition in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom to come. And then we read…
(Vs.5) “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.”
When pagans are in dire straits and faced with a dire situation they can’t control they very quickly lose heart. This storm was most likely more terrible than they had ever faced. It brought them sheer terror. They called out to their ‘gods’ but there was no answer. So desperate were they to save themselves these men in the cargo business threw their cargo overboard. In such a time of crisis these business men who owned the cargo ship could do nothing to change their dire situation. Their possessions, business acquirements, plans and ambitions were being washed away in God’s great stormy wind threatening to sink their ship. Jonah’s sin had affected them inadvertently.
When we disobey God and sin it will adversely affect others around us, whether in business, in family relationships, or in the assembly we attend. It will also hinder God’s will in our lives. When we obey God it will affect others around us for the better and bring God’s blessing on them in some way, even if they are not saved. In a time of crises as a New Covenant believer walking in step with the Holy Spirit, you will be the one they will turn to.
In the case of Jonah where was he when the storm hit? Well we are told “But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.” The Modern Hebrew word for “a deep sleep” is the word used to put one to sleep before surgery. God was going to do spiritual surgery on Jonah alright, but His disobedient prophet would not be sleeping but wide awake during the procedure.
The harvest of souls was over ripe in Nineveh and ready to be harvested and God wanted to save them but His servant was asleep down below deck and on the run from God’s will. Furthermore, Jonah had no witness to those in the ship with him. He had no testimony that was honouring to the LORD.
Sadly many today within wider Christendom are spiritually asleep and not involved in the harvest of souls for God’s Kingdom. As we read in the Book of Proverbs; “He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son” (Proverbs 10:5). We cannot all be evangelists or missionaries or pastors nor in full-time work but we can all be involved in harvesting souls by handing out tracts, financially supporting those on the front line and even using eschatology in evangelism, as everyone wants to know the future. In their terror these pagans on board the ship with Jonah were crying out to their ‘gods’ but to no avail. If Jonah had been in fellowship with God he would have been able to call upon the one and only true God to save them all.
Rabbi the apostle Paul was shipwrecked and when he was on the ship during the storm God told Him this would happen, however, God also told him that they would all get to safety if they stayed on the ship and left the results to God. Hence everything including the ship was lost but everyone on board survived because Paul was walking in the will of God. In this wild storm facing Jonah God was seeking to bring His disobedient prophet to a place where He would be able to deal with him. What happened next? Let’s look at this…
(Vs.6) “The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe He will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”
Jonah was oblivious to the circumstances around him because he was rooted in sin and disobedience. Sin will always make us unaware of the dangers that are all around us. Unbelievers may see it but a disobedient man of God does not see it as we see in Jonah’s case. When we walk in obedience to God’s Word and in step with the Holy Spirit He will give us spiritual insight when it is required to perceive His presence, His help, His assistance and His guidance in all of the changing circumstances of our lives down here.
God was calling Jonah to mend his broken relationship with Him. The unbelievers around Jonah woke him up and beseeched him to call upon the LORD to deliver them all and berated him for sleeping when he should have been awake. They were saying perhaps your God will do us a favour and spare our lives? Jonah had no comfort to offer them as he had no witness to them as God’s disobedient prophet. Let’s continue…
(Vs.7) “Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.”
These pagans knew intuitively that somehow this violent wind storm was a supernatural occurrence that could not be defined. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. He was the cause of their dilemma.
(Vs.8) “So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
They wanted to understand the identity of Jonah and how he could have brought this terrible trouble upon them. Jonah knew the answer and he told them.
(Vs.9) “He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
Jonah was testifying to the fact that he knew the real one and only God in the heavens who made the sea and the land and transcends all things and that all things are possible with Him (Matthew 19:26). Jonah’s response was rather a reluctant one knowing that he was in rebellion against God and on the run from Him. Of course this only added to the sailors fear and apprehension of coming destruction.
(Vs.10) “This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)
Initially when Jonah had told them that he was running away from His God those in the ship thought nothing of it. They had been through storms before but when this one hit them hard they became alarmed and remembered what Jonah had said to them after he had first boarded the ship. Their thinking was the God Jonah was running away from was expressing His anger towards all of them. In the deep fear fermenting down on the inside of them, they were thinking that Jonah’s God was the one who was buffeting the ship putting all of their lives in danger. And then we read…
(Vs.11) “The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
The sea was getting rougher by the minute and getting worse and in their extremity the unbelievers surrounding Jonah asked him what they should do? In a time of great adversity and in a life or death situation the unsaved will always ask a saved New Covenant believer, if there is one present, what they should do? A man or God who is walking in step with the Holy Spirit in obedience to God will always have the answer given to him by the blessed Holy Spirit in a crisis when the unbelievers around him have no answer. In Jonah’s case he wanted to end everything.
After all Jonah would have rather died than to live with the guilt of a rebellious spirit. Well God granted his wish. However, Jonah would die but be resurrected to fulfil God’s will. In the case of Jonah the answer was clear in that he was the problem and those around him wanted to know how to deal with the situation. Jonah had the answer. “Throw me overboard.” And so we read…
(Vs.12) “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Jonah was facing his disobedience and he was even prepared to die in order not to serve God. We will find out later in these studies that Jonah did die and went down into Sheol the place of departed spirits of those who had physically died.
(Vs.13) “Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.”
No matter what the unsaved do they cannot save themselves from death. It is a God ordained fact that all of us must physically die one day and then after that face judgement. As we read in the Book of Hebrews; “Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). The saved believers will stand before the judgement seat of Messiah, not to be judged for sin, because their sins were judged at the cross and atoned for by the blood of Messiah. However, they will be judged for their works when they were alive on earth (2 Corinthians 5:10). They have, through repentance and by faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus, availed themselves of this so great salvation God has provided in Him. By His blood they have been justified, redeemed and have had all of their sins forgiven according to God’s unmerited unearned favour, and are protected from the coming wrath of God upon a Messiah hating, Messiah rejecting world (Ephesians 1:7) (Romans 5:9).
The unsaved after they have died at the end of the Millennial Reign of the Messiah will be physically resurrected to stand before the Great White throne to be sentenced. They will have already been judged because in their previous life they refused to believe in and to obey the Son of God (Revelation 20:11-15) (John 3:18; 3:36 NASB). Let’s continue…
(Vs.14) “Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.”
These men became believers in the one true God. It took the violent storm to awaken them spiritually. If God could use even a rebellious disobedient prophet such as Jonah then He can use us with all of our spiritual deficiencies. If we desire to be obedient sons and daughters of the One and Only Triune God, and desire to have Him mould our lives according to His infinite, wise and loving will, there is no limit to what He will be able to achieve in and through us.
Jonah was a disobedient prophet but still God’s chosen vessel to convey His message to Nineveh. God had to deal drastically with Jonah to bring him to the place where He would obey Him. Jonah still had an attitude of bitterness towards Nineveh but despite that in the end He did what God asked him to do. See also (Matthew 21:28-30). Now these men on board the ship turned to the LORD saying to Him you do what you want to do, you are sovereign and we want to participate in doing what you want. And so we read…
(Vs.15) “Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.”
These men on the ship threw Jonah overboard and because of their obedience the LORD calmed the storm instantly, something that He did in and through the Messiah centuries later when the Lord Jesus calmed the raging storm threatening the very lives of His disciples. Even though Jonah was God’s disobedient prophet he sacrificed his own life to save those in the ship. Hence we read…
(Vs.16) “At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.”
Even in that disastrous situation God’s sovereign purposes stood firm and through this situation those who were not believers became believers, sacrificed to the one true God of heaven, and made vows to serve and to follow Him. It was an experience they would never forget for the rest of their lives. Now God had not finished dealing with His disobedient prophet but put him through a death and resurrection experience that empowered Jonah to be the obedient prophet, to see those on the boat saved and brought to God, and to see the salvation of the people in Nineveh. And so we read…
(Vs.17) “But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”
There is no doubt that in the belly of that huge fish Jonah actually died physically but his body was not digested however his spirit and soul left his physical body and went down into Sheol the place where all who died went to after they had physically died. It is interesting to note in Matthew chapter 12:38-41 that the Lord Jesus used the example of what happened to Jonah when confronted by the contentious Pharisees. They were not really interested in knowing who He really was and sort to bait Him to perform a miracle.
The Messiah answered them by saying “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:39). He then went on the say that just as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the huge fish so the Son of man would be three days and nights in the belly of the earth. In other words His body would physically die but not decay and His soul would go down into Sheol.
His message for those Pharisees was that after three days and nights He would be raised from the dead just as Jonah was brought back to life and resurrected. The Lord Jesus was pointing them to the fact that He would die, be buried and resurrected and that this act was sufficient to declare to the whole world that He was indeed the eternal Son of the Living God, He who was God the Son. He, who through the Spirit of holiness fused with His inner spirit man, was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus the Messiah our Lord (Romans 1:4).
These Pharisees like many others in Israel were into signs, miracles and wonders and sought to see the Lord Jesus do them. He knew what was in the hearts of men and that His fellow Jews by and large who clamoured for His miracles would at the end clamour for His crucifixion and even bring down a curse upon themselves and their offspring (Matthew 27:25). God’s answer was 70AD when the city of Jerusalem was ravaged and the temple completely destroyed by the armies of Rome.
In fact in His discourse with the Pharisees He actually referred to the people of Nineveh and said they repented when threatened with the judgement of God and would rise up in the last day to condemn these Pharisees who would incite the people in Jerusalem and orchestrate them to call for His crucifixion. He went on to say concerning Himself that He who now stood before them was greater than Jonah.
As for Jonah the prophet, even though he saw the repentance of Nineveh he still harboured a bitter spirit towards them. The Messiah our Lord Jesus was different in that He loved all men without partiality especially those who would call for His crucifixion and for those who would orchestrate it. Jonah’s resurrection pointed to the Messiah’s resurrection.
The main point He was making to these Pharisees is what really counted was the salvation provided by His death, His burial and His resurrection, and that signs, miracles and wonders were not important or even beneficial when it came to saving the soul from Hell. The main theme of the Lord Jesus to men and women was “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” Without repentance the people of Nineveh could not be saved and no one can except they first repent in order to receive eternal life.
After the apostle Peter had preached the gospel of the kingdom to the Gentiles gathered in the home of Cornelius the Roman Centurion, Peter went back to Jerusalem to report to the other apostles and leaders what he had witnessed. We read what Peter told them; “So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?” When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life” (Acts 11:17-18).
As it is also written; “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Godly sorrow leads to repentance which is not a feeling of remorse or just feeling sorry but a willingness to have one’s mind changed from a Messiah hating, Messiah rejecting way of life to a Messiah loving and accepting way of life. It includes the action of the will. Once our will has been surrendered to God He will empower the will to change (2 Corinthians 5:17).
A story has been told of a Sunday school teacher who was teaching the Bible to a class of small children and he asked them the question “what is repentance?” A little boy put up his hand and said “It means being so sorry for doing something wrong that you stop doing it!”
Jonah could only fulfil God’s will after he had passed through a death and resurrection experience. The Messiah our Lord Jesus had to pass through a death and resurrection in order to fulfil God’s will. Israel as yet as a nation must pass through a death and resurrection experience as a nation in order to fulfil God’s will. The Body of Messiah corporately must also pass through a death and resurrection spiritually speaking in order to fulfil the will of God in the last days. This is God’s divine pattern for all who would love and serve Him in Spirit and in truth.
If we would see God’s will in our lives fulfilled then we must learn to die to self and to live for God. In the spiritual life the way up is down. We must die to self-determination to have things our way and desire to have things done according to God’s way. Doing God’s will is hard at times in this self-centred, self-pleasing world with its passions, with its pursuits, ambitions and self –aggrandisement and its passion for fame and fortune.
Every day, we have to contend with the world, with the sinful desires of the flesh, and with the devil and his cohorts from hell. Only after we come to the realisation that our mind, our emotions and our will with their passions and desires were crucified with the Messiah at the cross to have these dealt with, can we, with the Spirit’s help, continue to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires in order to succeed in fulfilling all of God’s will for our life (Galatians 5:24-25). Jonah was God’s disobedient prophet who through a death and resurrection experience became God’s obedient prophet which we will see in our next study.
