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. 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. Jonah 1:9-10
An Hebrew he said. Hebrew means stranger, alien, sojourner, one who is not in their home place. God gave the dominion of the Palestinian lands to His chosen people. He had promised it to Abrahm and fulfilled it through Moses and Joshua. They were a people without a homeland. Yet the land of Israel was still a temporary place. Heaven is the intended home place for God’s chosen people. Still they were a people known far and wide for their reverence to Jehovah. Jonah claimed to fear Jehovah. He proclaimed Jehovah as the creator of all things. Jehovah had all power of the seas and the waves. He could calm the winds or stir them up as He chose. Jonah believed Jehovah was all powerful. He believed the promises of the scriptures. He believed the chastisement of the Lord and acknowledged God’s authority over himself. He not only believed it, he expected to be the object of God’s wrath because he had fled from the Lord’s presence.
Believers usually seem to know what God desires. They usually know the consequences of disobedience. They also are aware of the benefits of compliance. And I think to a great extent unbelievers do as well. They pretty much know right from wrong. Overall they attempt to live by a basic moral code loosely based on God’s Word. For the most part they constrain themselves for their own benefit and the benefit of those they care about. And they tend to have a healthy fear for the consequences of upsetting God.
But when Jonah informed the sailors that he had turned his back on the creator God of the earth and seas they were stunned. Exceedingly afraid seems to mean more than just a bit of mild concern. They immediately understood the source of their dire situation. The prospects of making it through their current difficulty were not looking very promising. They surely understood who to blame but were even more afraid to perform the justice the circumstances demanded. They turned to the one person who knew the word and will of God enough to provide their only way out. It is always good to turn to the one who knows the Word of God even if you don’t like what you hear. Knowing the truth gives you options instead of speculation.
They were not willing to add the crime of another man’s blood on their hands so they tried everything else. Then they came back to the truth and reality. They did what had to be done after asking God for forgiveness. They acknowledged His power and authority to do as He desired. They obeyed the necessity of the circumstance dictated to them by His plan. Then offered sacrifice and worship.
But it doesn’t appear that their question was answer. “Why hast thou done this?” Why indeed would a prophet of the true and living God be disobedient unto death? What conflict could he have that would be worth that cost?
It has been suggested that the Ninevites were a particularly despicable group of people and treated Israel especially poorly. There may even have been a racial hatred between the peoples. Perhaps Jonah himself or his family had been the victim of their hatred. Perhaps, but whatever the case, why would the man of God stand in opposition to the known will of the creator of the universe even if it meant certain death?
I think the answer may lie in Jonah’s response to the Lord after God’s forgiveness and restoration allowed the Ninevites to become a Godly people worshipping as He had always intended. In chapter four and verse nine it reads: And God said to Jonah,” Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?” And he said, “I do well to be angry, even unto death“. Jonah felt the need to be right. He could not get his mind around the grace and mercy God was showing and as a man of God He needed to be right. Nineveh deserved something other than what they were getting just as Jonah had said would happen. Everyone always expected him to be right and now he expected himself to be right. Nothing else mattered. He just needed to be right. In fact I believe that he needed to be right so badly that he was willing to be in a wrong relationship with God so he could be right. Often when men and women cease to maintain a heavenly perspective they lose sight of the view from God’s house. In Stones and Ripples, I tell of the chaotic mess observed by the passerby. Yet when viewed from the home of the Stone caster, it was a lovely sight.
We tend to do that. We get so bent out of shape and sideways with the way God is working out His plan according to His desire, that we actually oppose the good that He would have us to do. He would crown us with glory and blessing if only we would allow Him to be God. If only we would allow Him to be right. And He always is you know. Always right and we are a lot better off agreeing with Him.
I would like to add one final note of caution. The Scripture does not say what transpired between Jonah and God after these things. We walk away from this account with Jonah mad at God. Perhaps mad is a good description. I have seen an evil in some folk’s lives where they so desperately need to be right in their understanding of a thing in spite of God’s truth, that they quite literally drive themselves insane to the point of rejecting a life of experience with God. It is a madness afflicting those who would be their own god.
thanks for share!