Jonah Runs Away

The first two chapters of Jonah open by dealing with Jonah’s rebellion and God’s grace in saving Jonah from certain death.  

The Word of the Lord (1-2)

Jonah had become a famous prophet in Israel, having predicted favorable events. He became popular as he painted a positive outlook for Israel’s future (2 Kings 14:25). His prophecies brought fortune and a season of peace to Israel, so Jonah would have been basking in the ease of popular opinions. 

Jonah heard and received the word to arise and go to Nineveh. Prophets of Israel were rarely sent to foreign cities with a word for the city. They would usually do their prophesying of other places and people from within the boundaries of Israel. This time, however, Yahweh called for Jonah to rise and go not only to a foreign city but to a great and evil city.

Nineveh was becoming a central city to the Assyrian Empire and would someday become its capital. The city had become so prematurely wicked that it had to be dealt with. We know the Assyrians were a cruel, oppressive, and inhumane people.  

What they were doing to men and women alike was so bloody and brutal that it was going to need to be stopped one way or the other. Jonah was being sent with the word of Yahweh: repent or be judged (1-2).

Jonah Flees (3)

Instead of obeying Yahweh’s directive, Jonah went AWOL and secured passage in Joppa for a ship sailing to Tarshish. Tarshish would have been a Phoenician colony on the southwest coast of Spain, 2,000 miles to the west of Joppa. He was fleeing from Yahweh’s presence, going about as far as one could go from Israel. Jonah was essentially resigning his post. He was abandoning his place of prominence in Israel, but was seeking at the same time to hold onto his celebrity. He refused to face a tarnished image in Israel by going to Nineveh and risking their repentance. The fact that Jonah could pay for passage to Tarshish proves that he likely had been paid handsomely for his efforts as a prophet in Israel (3).

God’s Storm Exposes Jonah (4-10) 

Yahweh whipped up such a tempest that the ship Jonah was sailing on was on the verge of breaking up (4). The storm was hurling around the ship with such strength that even the mariners were afraid—all were calling out to their gods. They began hurling cargo overboard to lighten the ship and buoy it up higher in the water. 

While the men were hoisting cargo overboard on the deck above, seeking to save themselves, Jonah was below, fast asleep. His hasty and stealthy fleeing from home in Gath-hepher to Joppa probably exhausted him, so he slept (5).

While going below to fetch cargo for dumping overboard, Jonah was found. The captain was frustrated with Jonah for not helping by praying to his god for mercy. The captain had hoped that one of the gods of someone on board, maybe even Jonah’s god, would have mercy on them. No doubt, at that moment, Jonah was facing his own alienation from Yahweh and may not have felt like praying anyway (6).

Eventually, the captain concluded that one of the men on board was responsible for the storm. He assumed someone had made a god angry, and they needed to discover who the person was and do whatever was necessary to appease the gods. They cast lots to find out who the guilty man might be, and the lot fell to Jonah. We are not told how the lots were cast, but some have conjectured that stones were marked and placed in a container (7).

The sailors immediately threw a barrage of five questions at Jonah. They asked Jonah to explain how he was responsible for the “evil,” the tempest they were experiencing. They were particularly interested in his occupation, likely wondering if he was in some kind of profession where he could be cheating others. They also wondered if he came from a place, a people, or a country that was particularly in the disfavor of the gods (8).

Jonah revealed himself to be a Hebrew, a term the Israelites used to describe themselves to foreigners. The term was largely dropped during the monarchy period in Israel. Actually, only Jeremiah and Jonah used the term biblically after the monarchy began. The term “Hebrew” or “eber” meant “from the other side.” They were like Abraham, a people from the other side of the river. 

Jonah confessed to the sailors that he held Yahweh in deep reverence and then bore witness to Yahweh’s being the Maker of the sea and dry land (9).

As Jonah began to bear witness to Yahweh with deep emotional conviction, the sailors fell into terror. There was no doubt in their minds that he was fleeing from the very presence of God, the presence they were experiencing. In a form of rebuke, and assuming Jonah had sinned, they demanded that Jonah explain what he had done (10).

Storm Calmed (11-16)

The sailors then sought the counsel of Jonah, the prophet and servant of Yahweh. They wanted to know what they should do as the storm was raging and becoming even more threatening. 

In a moment of courageous compassion, Jonah told those Gentile sailors that the only way to quiet the irate storm was to throw him in. Jonah confessed that he was accountable for the turbulent sea. Curiously, Jonah did not hurl himself into the sea; he wanted the sailors to throw him in (11-12).

Jonah was willing to sacrifice his own life to save these Gentile sailors. No obfuscating or seeking to bewilder the sailors with confusing facts—they needed to throw him in. 

The sailors had morals; they would not consider throwing their passenger overboard. They sought to fight the storm by rowing for shore against the waves, but the more they sought to save themselves, the greater the tempest (13).

The sailors then began praying, calling out to Yahweh, Jonah’s God, to save them. They finally landed on three prayers:

• They asked Yahweh not to let them perish for Jonah’s disobedience.

• They asked Yahweh not to judge them for shedding the blood of a man who was innocent in regard to them. 

• They then acknowledged that Yahweh was behind what was going on. 

This was an amazing prayer for a group of Gentile sailors (14).

The sailors then took the place of Yahweh’s servants, doing what He was guiding them to do, and threw Jonah overboard. In their minds, it was not an act of murder but justice. As soon as Jonah was in the water, the sea calmed (15).

The sailors, right then, began to honor and revere Yahweh. They offered sacrifices and committed their lives to Yahweh. Their conversion was not emotional and momentary but genuine. Their conversion became so well known, so deep and genuine, that Jonah eventually reunited with them and found out what had happened to their lives. He preserved their great faith for his prophetic book (16).

The Fish Prepared (17) 

Jonah should have died, but Yahweh had sovereignly provided a chosen great fish. We do not know what kind of fish—a whale, perhaps, or even some extinct species. We know Jonah was swallowed and spent one 24-hour period in the big fish and parts of two other days. The phrase “three days and three nights” here does not necessarily mean literal days or nights (17).