Jonah 1:17

Jonah 1:17 says, 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.  Jonah hadn't gotten very far in his attempt to run from God. God was already preparing for his rescue.  I always heard that Jonah was swallowed by a whale when I was growing up, and some people now say it wasn't a whale, but a great fish created by God just to rescue Jonah.  Still, in Matthew 12:40, Jesus calls it a whale, so that will do for me.  God can and does use ordinary things and ordinary people every day to bring people to salvation.  If we are running from His will, He is going to call us back and be at work to make a way for us to return.  It may not be an easy way in the eyes of the world, but it will be a way back.   I know all we have to do is repent, and we will be restored, but our attempt to run may have brought about consequences, and God will be at work to help us through those. Jonah was not in the sea because God wanted him there, but God was still at work in Jonah's life to save him.  Jonah had been asleep in the ship, and I wonder what he did for three days in the belly of the whale.  If we are running from God, I don't believe we can run farther than this.  Jonah had plenty of time to consider his actions.  We today may have to be brought very low to quit running from God, but as His followers, we need to realize that He will always be with us.  As Christians, we must remember that wherever we go, the Holy Spirit goes with us.  Even if we were to find ourselves feeling as hopeless as Jonah must have felt, God is with us forever.  After we accept Christ as Savior, not following God's will for our lives when He calls us to a specific task does not mean we are no longer His.  Jonah was still God's chosen spokesman to go to Nineveh, and God was still at work to get him there.

Jonah 1:15

Jonah 1:15 says, So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.  The sailors finally did what Jonah had told them to do, and the sea calmed.  Jonah was a spokesman for God, even if a reluctant one.  When the sailors did what Jonah, a spokesman of God told them to do, the storm passed.  If we, as God's people today, humble ourselves and obey God, we may never know the full extent of the effect it has on those around us. Jonah and the sailors saw the effect immediately.  Verse sixteen adds, Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.  Jonah did not go to witness to those sailors, but the storm and his testimony as to his reason for running followed by the calming of the sea led them to believe in the God.  God may work through us, even if we are disobedient to Him, to reach others if they know we are His followers.  I am not sure how Jonah felt.  The sea was now calm, but he was no longer in the ship.  Regardless, he had to know God was still there.  One thing we can be sure of is that wherever we go, God is there.  Jonah may have been attempting to desert God, but God had not deserted him.  We can never outrun God, no matter how hard or how often we try.  Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we are His forever.  Life may get stormy when we are not following God's will, but He will never desert Him.  Jonah felt that what he wanted was more important than what God wanted, and we may at times feel the same way.  Jonah found that life out of the will of God was dangerous, and the same is true for us today.

Jonah 1:13

Jonah 1:13 says, Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.  Even though Jonah had brought the trouble to them, they were trying very hard to save him.  Jonah still had not agreed to do what God had called him to do.  He was willing to die running from God before going to Nineveh.  We need to pray that we never become so full of hatred that we would rather die than to witness to certain people.  Jonah, one of God's people, would die rather than witness, while those of the world, the sailors, were still risking their own lives to rescue him.  That is a sad situation, and it cannot be successful spiritually.  Lost people today may think they have a way to save others spiritually, but no matter how hard they try, they will never be successful.  If we, the followers of Christ, do not reach the lost of the world with His message, it is not going to happen.  We need to ensure that we reach out to everyone with God's love, or like Jonah, if we are running from God, we will start to be dependent on the world and put them in danger.  If we do not reach them with the only way to salvation, which is through Christ, then we definitely put them in spiritual danger.  I believe had Jonah simply accepted God's call at this point the ship could have gotten him safely ashore.  Verse fourteen says, 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.  The sailors called out to God.  They may still have not claimed Him as their God, though it seems they likely did, but they recognized Him as the One Who could save them.  They didn't demand but pleaded with Him for Jonah's sake and that they not be held accountable for his death.  When the lost people of the world start to be more concerned for our wellbeing than we are for theirs, then there is something wrong with our obedience to God.  We are to reach the lost and not look for their destruction, even if they hate us.  We are called to God's standard and not the world's standard.

Jonah 1:11

Jonah 1:11 says, 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.  They knew now that Jonah was the problem, but they were still trying to be fair to him.  They could have just killed him, but that might not have solved their problem.  I think they wanted to know what would keep God from destroying them.  If we are running from God as His people, we cannot hope to bring others to salvation. We may even cause more problems for those around us.  Jonah had not been fair to them by attempting to run and hide from God on their ship.  Verse twelve adds, 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 tempest is upon you.  At least Jonah accepted responsibility for his being the source of the problem.  If we realize today that our running from our relationship with God is causing problems, for those around us and for us, the first thing we must do is accept responsibility.  We cannot reach others with the gospel when we are not following God, and by that very fact, we put them in everlasting danger.  In one respect, Jonah was giving himself up that others might live as did Christ later on.  There was a big difference though.  Jonah was in this position because of his own sins, but Jesus was in the position of giving His life for us because of our sins.  Jonah did not say that he was the problem and jump overboard.  He put himself at their mercy.  If we today, as followers of God, find ourselves in trouble in the world, that does not mean we are to take ourselves out of the world.  We must accept our responsibility and place our earthly fate in the hands of the earthly rules of law.  If we have hurt others, there is no free pass for us to deny responsibility because God has forgiven us.  We are called to a higher standard, not one that excuses us from responsibility to act with concern for the lost people of the world.  If we are running from God, our earthly purpose has been sacrificed, so we must first acknowledge this before we can hope to help others.

Jonah 1:10

Jonah 1:10 says, Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.  When the world is going crazy today, we need to ensure that we as God's followers are not the problem.  Those on the ship had called to their gods with no results.  Jonah may have been asleep, but the men had been battling to save the ship, and now they were truly afraid.  

Jonah told them he believed in the one true God, Who could save them, and yet he was running from Him. We today need to acknowledge that we serve the one true God.  As the world calls on their gods to save them, we need to point them to God, in our case, through Christ.  Jonah had told them what he had done, and they asked him why he had done this.  If he believed in the God Who created the heavens and the earth, where was he going to run to get away from Him. When the world is full of storms today, and we as God's followers are running from Him or are spiritually asleep, the world has a right to ask us why.  We are called to reach the world for Christ, and we cannot do this by attempting to separate life into spiritual and secular.  As followers of Christ, all of life is spiritual.

They also wanted to know why Jonah had involved them. They had already lost their cargo and were about to lose their ship.  We today may want to believe that our simple act of not doing what God calls us to do affects only us, but if God's people are not obedient to Him, then all those around us, and maybe even some far away, suffer. We have to realize that not only were those on the ship in danger, but those in Ninevah were still living in danger of destruction.  If we decide not to go where God sends us, or do what God tells us to do, we bear the burden for those not reached.  There may be areas today where we really don't feel that people are worthy of salvation, but we have to remember that no one is worthy of salvation.  It is not based on my worthiness verses anyone else's worthiness, but on everyone's unworthiness.  If we, as God's people begin to believe that we should not reach out to those we don't like, then we endanger all those around us.  Now, there are those who believe that some are destined to be saved and some lost, but I do not believe we would have been commanded to go into all the world making disciples if this were true.  There are none worthy of salvation and guaranteed it, nor are there any doomed without hope of salvation because of who they are. The only salvation for anyone is through the sacrifice of Christ.  It is up to us, as followers of Christ, to go wherever God sends us and share the gospel. 

      

Jonah 1:9

Jonah 1:9 says, 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.  Jonah identified himself as one of God's people by birth, a Hebrew.  We cannot identify ourselves as God's by nationality.  We can only become His by faith in Christ.  Jonah said he feared the Lord, but not enough to keep him from running from Him.  We today may live in fear of God, but that is not what we are called to do.  We are called to a loving relationship with God as His children.  We aren't called to act out of fear of God punishing us if we don't do what He calls us to do, but to act out of a sincere desire to please Him. Jonah recognized God as the Creator of all, including the sea they were being tossed about on.  In our storms of life today, we need to understand that we serve an all-powerful God.  He will be with us through the storm and keep us safe, whether in this life on earth or its continuation in heaven.  If we, as His followers, are running from Him, though, the consequences may dire here on earth.  Jonah had not stopped being one often God's chosen people, but he had become a disobedient child of God.  

Jonah 1:8

Jonah 1:8 says, Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?  The ship's crew had some faith in the lots, but didn't rush to judgment.  They wanted to know several things about Jonah.   First, they wanted to know the cause of the evil that had come on them. What evil thing had Jonah done that the gods were after them.  People today want to look for the cause when things go wrong, and as Christians, we need to ensure that we are not the cause.  If God's people are running from Him, then evil will run rampant.  They wanted to know what he did for a living, where he came from, and what group of people he came from.  They at least were trying to get the facts.  We today need to get the facts in any situation before we act.  If we start to believe we are capable of making the best decisions based only on our own knowledge, without the leadership of God, we will often come to the wrong decision.  One reason they wanted to know Jonah's country and people was to determine what god he might serve.   There are regions of the world today associated with a particular god, and if we find someone from that country in our midst, we may figure that evil is going to follow them.  We must remember that the cause of the tempest on this ship was not those who followed a false god, but Jonah who believed in the One true God, but was running from Him.  If we find the world to seemingly be overcome by evil today, we as followers of Christ must first ask if we are at least part of the problem.  If we are not following the teachings of Christ and are surrendering to the evil in the world instead of working to overcome it, then we are part of the problem. Once again, we are called to go into the world, not to withdraw from the world.