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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J O N A H.
CHAP. I.
In this chapter we have,
I. A command given to Jonah to preach at Nineveh,
II. Jonah’s disobedience to that command,
III. The pursuit and arrest of him for that disobedience by a storm, in
which he was asleep,
IV. The discovery of him, and his disobedience, to be the cause of the
storm,
V. The casting of him into the sea, for the stilling of the storm,
VI. The miraculous preservation of his life there in the belly of a
fish
(ver. 17),
which was his reservation for further services.
| A Commission against Nineveh; The Prophet’s Disobedience. | B. C. 840. |
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1 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 Tarshish from the presence of
the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to
Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to
go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Observe,
1. The honour God put upon Jonah, in giving him a commission to go and
prophesy against Nineveh. Jonah signifies a dove, a
proper name for all God’s prophets, all his people, who ought to be
harmless as doves, and to mourn as doves for the sins and
calamities of the land. His father’s name was Amittai–My truth;
for God’s prophets should be sons of truth. To him the word of the
Lord came–to him it was (so the word signifies), for God’s word is
a real thing; men’s words are but wind, but God’s words are substance.
He has been before acquainted with the word of the Lord, and
knew his voice from that of a stranger; the orders now given him were,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,
v. 2.
Nineveh was at this time the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy, an
eminent city
(Gen. x. 11),
a great city, that great city, forty-eight miles in compass
(some make it much more), great in the number of the inhabitants, as
appears by the multitude of infants in it
(ch. iv. 11),
great in wealth (there was no end of its store,
great in power and dominion; it was the city that for some time
ruled over the kings of the earth. But great cities, as well as
great men, are under God’s government and judgment. Nineveh was a great
city, and yet a heathen city, without the knowledge and worship of the
true God. How many great cities and great nations are there that sit
in darkness and in the valley of the shadow of death! This
great city was a wicked city: Their wickedness has come up before
me (their malice, so some read it); their wickedness was
presumptuous, and they sinned with a high hand. It is sad to
think what a great deal of sin is committed in great cities, where
there are many sinners, who are not only all sinners, but making one
another sin. Their wickedness has come up, that is, it has come
to a high degree, to the highest pitch; the measure of it is
full to the brim; their wickedness has come up, as that
of Sodom,
It has come up before me–to my face (so the word is); it is a
bold and open affront to God; it is sinning against him, in his
sight; therefore Jonah must cry against it; he must witness
against their great wickedness, and must warn them of the destruction
that was coming upon them for it. God is coming forth against it, and
he sends Jonah before, to proclaim war, and to sound an alarm. Cry
aloud, spare not. He must not whisper his message in a corner, but
publish it in the streets of Nineveh; he that hath ears let him
hear what God has to say by his prophet against that wicked city.
When the cry of sin comes up to God the cry of vengeance comes out
against the sinner. He must go to Nineveh, and cry there upon
the spot against the wickedness of it. Other prophets were ordered to
send messages to the neighbouring nations, and the prophecy of Nahum is
particularly the burden of Nineveh; but Jonah must go and carry
the message himself: “Arise quickly; apply thyself to the
business with speed and courage, and the resolution that becomes a
prophet; arise, and go to Nineveh.” Those that go on God’s
errands must rise and go, must stir themselves to the work cut out for
them. The prophets were sent first to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel, yet not to them only; they had the children’s bread, but
Nineveh eats of the crumbs.
2. The dishonour Jonah did to God in refusing to obey his orders, and
to go on the errand on which he was sent
(v. 3):
But Jonah, instead of rising to go to Nineveh, rose up to
flee to Tarshish, to the sea, not bound for any port, but
desirous to get away from the presence of the Lord; and, if he
might but do that, he card not whither he went, not as if he thought he
could go any where from under the eye of God’s inspection, but from his
special presence, from the spirit of prophecy, which, when it put him
upon this work, he thought himself haunted with, and coveted to get out
of the hearing of. Some think Jonah went upon the opinion of some of
the Jews that the spirit of prophecy was confined to the land of Israel
(which in Ezekiel and Daniel was effectually proved to be a mistake),
and therefore he hoped he should get clear of it if he could but get
out of the borders of that land.
(1.) Jonah would not go to Nineveh to cry against it either because it
was a long and dangerous journey thither, and in a road he knew not, or
because he was afraid it would be as much as his life was worth to
deliver such an ungrateful message to that great and potent city. He
consulted with flesh and blood, and declined the embassy because
he could not go with safety, or because he was jealous for the
prerogatives of his country, and not willing that any other nation
should share in the honour of divine revelation; he feared it would be
the beginning of the removal of the kingdom of God from the Jews to
another nation, that would bring forth more of the fruits of it. He
owns himself
that the reason of his aversion to this journey was because he foresaw
that the Ninevites would repent, and God would forgive them and take
them into favour, which would be a slur upon the people of Israel, who
had been so long a peculiar people to God.
(2.) He therefore went to Tarshish, to Tarsus in Cilicia (so some),
probably because he had friends and relations there, with whom he hoped
for some time to sojourn. He went to Joppa, a famous seaport in the
land of Israel, in quest of a ship bound for Tarshish, and there he
found one. Providence seemed to favour his design, and give him an
opportunity to escape. We may be out of the way of duty and yet may
meet with a favourable gale. The ready way is not always the right
way. He found the ship just ready to weigh anchor perhaps, and to set
sail for Tarshish, and so he lost no time. Or, perhaps, he went to
Tarshish because he found the ship going thither; otherwise all places
were alike to him. He did not think himself out of his way, the way he
would go, provided he was not in his way, the way he should go. So he
paid the fare thereof; for he did not regard the charge, so he
could but gain his point, and get to a distance from the presence of
the Lord. He went with them, with the mariners, with the
passengers, with the merchants, whoever they were that were going to
Tarshish. Jonah, forgetting his dignity as well as his duty, herded
with them, and went down into the ship to go with them to
Tarshish. See what the best of men are when God leaves them to
themselves, and what need we have, when the word of the Lord
comes to us, to have the Spirit of the Lord come along with the
word, to bring every thought within us into obedience to it. The
prophet Isaiah owns that therefore he was not rebellious,
neither turned away back, because God not only spoke to him, but
opened his ear,
Isa. l. 5.
Let us learn hence to cease from man, and not to be too
confident either of ourselves or others in a time of trial; but let
him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
| The Prophet in the Storm; The Prophet Convicted by the Lot. | B. C. 840. |
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4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there
was a mighty tempest 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 into 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-master came to him, and said unto him, What
meanest thou, O sleeper? 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 whose 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 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?
9 And he said unto them, I am a 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
hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the
presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
When Jonah was set on ship-board, and under sail for Tarshish, he
thought himself safe enough; but here we find him pursued and
overtaken, discovered and convicted as a deserter from God, as one that
had run his colours.
I. God sends a pursuer after him, a mighty tempest in the sea,
v. 4.
God has the winds in his treasure
(Ps. cxxxv. 7),
and out of these treasures God sent forth, he cast forth
(so the word is), with force and violence, a great wind into the
sea; even stormy winds fulfil his word, and are often the
messengers of his wrath; he gathers the winds in his fist
(Prov. xxx. 4),
where he holds them, and whence he squeezes them when he pleases; for
though, as to us, the wind blows where it listeth, yet not as to
God, but where he directs. The effect of this wind as a mighty
tempest; for when the winds rise the waves rise. Note, Sin brings
storms and tempests into the soul, into the family, into churches and
nations; it is a disquieting disturbing thing. The tempest prevailed to
such a degree that the ship was likely to be broken; the
mariners expected no other; that ship (so some read it), that
and no other. Other ships were upon the same sea at the same time, yet,
it should seem, that ship in which Jonah was was tossed more than any
other and was more in danger. This wind was sent after Jonah, to fetch
him back again to God and to his duty; and it is a great mercy to be
reclaimed and called home when we go astray, though it be by a
tempest.
II. The ship’s crew were alarmed by this mighty tempest, but Jonah
only, the person concerned, was unconcerned,
v. 5.
The mariners were affected with their danger, though it was not with
them that God has this controversy.
1. They were afraid; though, their business leading them to be
very much conversant with dangers of this kind, they used to make light
of them, yet now the oldest and stoutest of them began to tremble,
being apprehensive that there was something more than ordinary in this
tempest, so suddenly did it rise, so strongly did it rage. Note, God
can strike a terror upon the most daring, and make even great men
and chief captains call for shelter from rocks and mountains.
2. They cried every man unto his god; this was the effect of
their fear. Many will not be brought to prayer till they are frightened
to it; he that would learn to pray, let him go to sea. Lord, in
trouble they have visited thee. Every man of them prayed; they were
not some praying and others reviling, but every man engaged; as the
danger was general, so was the address to heaven; there was not one
praying for them all, but every one for himself. They cried every
man to his god, the god of his country or city, or his own tutelar
deity; it is a testimony against atheism that every man had a god, and
had the belief of a God; but it is an instance of the folly of paganism
that they had gods many, every man the god he had a fancy for, whereas
there can be but one God, there needs to be no more. But, though they
had lost that dictate of the light of nature that there is but one
God, they still were governed by that direction of the law of
nature that God is to be prayed to (Should not a people seek under
their God?
Isa. viii. 19),
and that he is especially to be prayed to when we are in distress and
danger. Call upon me in the time of trouble. Is any afflicted?
Is any frightened? Let him pray.
3. Their prayers for deliverance were seconded with endeavours, and,
having called upon their gods to help them, they did what they could to
help themselves; for that is the rule, Help thyself and God will
help thee. They cast forth the wares that were in the ship into
the sea, to lighten it of them, as Paul’s mariners in a like case
cast forth even the tackling of the ship, and the wheat,
Acts xxvii. 18, 19, 38.
They were making a trading voyage, as it should seem, and were laden
with many goods and much merchandise, by which they hoped to get gain;
but now they are content to suffer loss by throwing them overboard. to
save their lives. See how powerful the natural love of life is. Skin
for skin, and all that a man has, will he give for it. And
shall we not put a like value upon the spiritual life, the life of the
soul, reckoning that the gain of all the world cannot countervail the
loss of the soul? See the vanity of worldly wealth, and the uncertainty
of its continuance with us. Riches make themselves wings and fly away;
nay, and the case may be such that we may be under a necessity of
making wings for them, and driving them away, as here, when they could
not be kept for the owners thereof but to their hurt, so that
they themselves are glad to be rid of them, and sink that which
otherwise would sink them, though they have no prospect of ever
recovering it. Oh that men would be thus wise for their souls, and
would be willing to part with that wealth, pleasure, and honour which
they cannot keep without making shipwreck of faith and a good
conscience and ruining their souls for ever! Those that thus quit
their temporal interests for the securing of their spiritual welfare
will be unspeakable gainers at last; for what they lose upon those
terms they shall find again to life eternal. But where is Jonah all
this while? One would have expected gone down into his cabin, nay, into
the hold, between the sides of the ship, and there he lies, and
is fast asleep; neither the noise without, for the sense of
guilt within, awoke him. Perhaps for some time before he had avoiding
sleeping, for fear of God’s speaking to him again in a dream; and now
that he imagined himself out of the reach of that danger, he slept so
much the more soundly. Note, Sin is of a stupifying nature, and we are
concerned to take heed lest at any time our hearts be hardened by
the deceitfulness of it. It is the policy of Satan, when by his
temptations he has drawn men from God and their duty, to rock them
asleep in carnal security, that they may not be sensible of their
misery and danger. It concerns us all to watch therefore.
III. The master of the ship called Jonah up to his prayers,
v. 6.
The ship-master came to him, and bade him for shame get up, both
to pray for life and to prepare for death; he gave him,
1. A just and necessary chiding: What meanest thou, O sleeper?
Here we commend the ship-master, who gave him this reproof; for, though
he was a stranger to him, he was, for the present, as one of his
family; and whoever has a precious soul we must help, as we can, to
save it from death. We pity Jonah, who needed this reproof; as a
prophet of the Lord, if he had been in his place, he might have been
reproving the king of Nineveh, but, being out of the way of his duty,
he does himself lie open to the reproofs of a sorry ship-master. See
how men by their sin and folly diminish themselves and make themselves
mean. Yet we must admire God’s goodness in sending him this seasonable
reproof, for it was the first step towards his recovery, as the crowing
of the cock was to Peter. Note, Those that sleep in a storm may well be
asked what they mean.
2. A pertinent word of advice: “Arise, call upon thy God; we are
here crying every man to his god, why dost not thou get up and cry to
thine? Art not thou equally concerned with the rest both in the danger
dreaded and in the deliverance desired?” Note, The devotions of others
should quicken ours; and those who hope to share in a common mercy
ought in all reason to contribute their quota towards the prayers and
supplications that are made for it. In times of public distress, if we
have any interest at the throne of grace, we ought to improve it for
the public good. And the servants of God themselves have sometimes need
to be called and stirred up to this part of their duty.
3. A good reason for this advice: If so be that God will think upon
us, that we perish not. It should seem, the many gods they called
upon were considered by them only as mediators between them and the
supreme God, and intercessors for them with him; for the ship-master
speaks of one God still, from whom he expected relief. To engage
prayer, he suggested that the danger was very great and imminent: “We
are all likely to perish; there is but a step between us and
death, and that just ready to be stepped.” Yet he suggested that there
was some hope remaining that their destruction might be prevented and
they might not perish. While there is still life there is hope,
and while there is hope there is room for prayer. He suggested also
that it was God only that could effect their deliverance, and it must
come from his power and his pity. “If he think upon us, and act
for us, we may yet be saved.” And therefore to him we must look, and in
him we must put our trust, when the danger is ever so imminent.
IV. Jonah is found out to be the cause of the storm.
1. The mariners observed so much peculiar and uncommon either in the
storm itself or in their own distress by it that they concluded it was
a messenger of divine justice sent to arrest some one of those that
were in that ship, as having been guilty of some enormous crime,
judging as the barbarous people
“no doubt one of us is a murderer, or guilty of sacrilege, or
perjury, or the like, who is thus pursued by the vengeance of
the sea, and it is for his sake that we all suffer.” Even the light
of nature teaches that in extraordinary judgments the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against some extraordinary sins and sinners.
Whatever evil is upon us at any time we must conclude there is a
cause for it; there is evil done by us, or else this evil would not
be upon us; there is a ground for God’s controversy.
2. They determined to refer it to the lot which of them was the
criminal that had occasioned this storm: Let us cast lots, that we
may know for whose cause the evil is upon us. None of them
suspected himself, or said, Is it I, Lord; is it I? But
they suspected one another, and would find out the man. Note, It is a
desirable thing, when any evil is upon us, to know for what cause it is
upon us, that what is amiss may be amended, and, the grievance being
redressed, the grief may be removed. In order to this we must look up
to heaven, and pray, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with
me; that which I see not teach thou me. These mariners desired to
know the person that was the dead weight in their ship, the accursed
thing, that that one man might die for the people and that the
whole ship might not be lost; this was not only expedient, but
highly just. In order to this they cast lots, by which they appealed to
the judgment of God, to whom all hearts are open, and from whom no
secret is hid, agreeing to acquiesce in his discovery and
determination, and to take that for true which the lot spoke; for they
knew by the light of nature, what the scripture tells us, that the
lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposal thereof is of the
Lord. Even the heathen looked upon the casting of lots to be a
sacred thing, to be done with seriousness and solemnity, and not to be
made a sport of. It is a shame for Christians if they have not a like
reverence for an appeal to Providence.
3. The lot fell upon Jonah, who could have saved them this
trouble if he would but have told them what his own conscience told
him, Thou are the man; but as is usual with criminals, he never
confesses till he finds he cannot help it, till the lot falls upon
him. We may suppose there were those in the ship who, upon other
accounts, were greater sinners than Jonah, and yet he is the man that
the tempest pursues and that the lot pitches upon; for it is his own
child, his own servant, that the parent, that the master, corrects, if
they do amiss; others that offend he leaves to the law. The storm is
sent after Jonah, because God has work for him to do, and it is sent to
fetch him back to it. Note, God has many ways of bringing to light
concealed sins and sinners, and making manifest that folly which was
thought to be hidden from the eyes of all living. God’s right hand will
find out all his servants that desert him, as well as all his enemies
that have designs against him; yea, though they flee to the uttermost
parts of the sea, or go down to the sides of the ship.
4. Jonah is hereupon brought under examination before the master and
mariners. He was a stranger; none of them could say that they knew the
prisoner, or had any thing to lay to his charge, and therefore they
must extort a confession from him and judge him out of his own
mouth; and for this there needed no rack, the shipwreck they were
in danger of was sufficient to frighten him, so as to make him tell the
truth. Though it was discovered by the lot that he was the person for
whose sake they were thus damaged and exposed, yet they did not fly
outrageously upon him, as one would fear they might have done, but
calmly and mildly enquired into his case. There is a compassion due to
offenders when they are discovered and convicted. They give him no hard
words, but, “Tell us, we pray thee, what is the matter?” Two
things they enquire of him:–
(1.) Whether he would himself own that he was the person for whose sake
the storm was sent, as the lot had intimated: “Tell us for whose
cause this evil is upon us; is it indeed for thy cause, and, if so,
for what cause? What is this offence for which thou art thus
prosecuted?” Perhaps the gravity and decency of Jonah’s aspect and
behaviour made them suspect that the lot had missed its man, had missed
its mark, and therefore they would not trust it, unless he would
himself own his guilt; they therefore begged of him that he would
satisfy them in this matter. Note, Those that would find out the cause
of their troubles must not only begin, but pursue the enquiry, must
descend to particulars and accomplish a diligent search.
(2.) What his character was, both as to his calling and as to his
country.
[1.] They enquire concerning his calling: What is thy
occupation? This was a proper question to be put to a vagrant.
Perhaps they suspected his calling to be such as might bring this
trouble upon them: “Art thou a diviner, a sorcerer, a student in the
black art? Hast thou been conjuring for this wind? Or what business are
thou now going on? It is like Balaam’s, to curse any of God’s people,
and is this wind send to stop thee?”
[2.] They enquire concerning his country. One asked, Whence comest
thou? Another, not having patience to stay for an answer to that,
asked, What is thy country? A third to the same purport, “Of
what people art thou? Art thou of the Chaldeans,” that were noted
for divination, “or of the Arabians,” that were noted for stealing?
They wished to know of what country he was, that, knowing who was the
god of his country, they might guess whether he was one that could do
them any kindness in this storm.
5. In answer to these interrogatories Jonah makes a full discovery.
(1.) Did they enquire concerning his country? He tells them he is a
Hebrew
(v. 9),
not only of the nation of Israel, but of their religion, which they
received from their fathers. He is a Hebrew, and therefore is the more
ashamed to own that he is a criminal; for the sins of Hebrews, that
make such a profession of religion and enjoy such privileges, are
greater than the sins of others, and more exceedingly sinful.
(2.) Did they enquire concerning his calling–What is thy
occupation? In answer to that he gives an account of his religion,
for that was his calling, that was his occupation, that was it that he
made a business of: “I fear the Lord Jehovah; that is the God I
worship, the God I pray to, even the God of heaven, the
sovereign Lord of all, that has made the sea and the dry land
and has command of both.” Not the god of one particular country, which
they enquired after, and such as the gods were that they had been every
man calling upon, but the God of the whole earth, who, having
made both the sea and the dry land, makes what work he pleases in both
and makes what use he pleases of both. This he mentions, not only as
condemning himself for his folly, in fleeing from the presence of this
God, but as designing to bring these mariners from the worship and
service of their many gods to the knowledge and obedience of the one
only living and true God. When we are among those that are strangers
to us we should do what we can to bring them acquainted with God, by
being ready upon all occasions to own our relation to him and our
reverence for him.
(3.) Did they enquire concerning his crime, for which he is now
persecuted? He owns that he fled from the presence of the Lord,
that he was here running away from his duty, and the storm was sent to
fetch him back. We have reason to think that he told them this with
sorrow and shame, justifying God and condemning himself and intimating
to the mariners what a great God Jehovah is, who could send such a
messenger as this tempest was after a runagate servant.
6. We are told what impression this made upon the mariners: The men
were exceedingly afraid, and justly, for they perceived,
(1.) That God was angry, even that God that made the sea and the dry
land. This tempest comes from the hand of an offended justice, and
therefore they have reason to fear it will go hard with them. Judgments
inflicted for some particular sin have a peculiar weight and terror in
them.
(2.) That God was angry with one that feared and worshipped him, only
for once running from his work in particular instance; this made them
afraid for themselves. “If a prophet of the Lord be thus severely
punished for one offence, what will become of us that have been guilty
of so many, and great, and heinous offences?” If the righteous
be thus scarcely saved, and for a single act of disobedience
thus closely pursued, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear?
1 Pet. iv. 17, 18.
They said to him, “Why hast thou done this? If thou fearest the
God that made the sea and the dry land, why wast thou such a
fool as to think thou couldst flee from his presence? What an absurd
unaccountable thing is it!” Thus he was reproved, as Abraham by
Abimelech
(Gen. xx. 16);
for if the professors of religion do a wrong thing they must expect to
hear of it from those that make no such profession. “Why hast thou
done this to us?” (so it may be taken) “Why has thou involved us in
the prosecution?” Note, Those that commit a willful sin know not how
far the mischievous consequences of it may reach, nor what mischief may
be done by it.
| The Prophet Confesses His Folly; The Prophet Reads His Own Doom; The Prophet Cast into the Sea; Jonah’s Preservation in the Fish’s Belly. | B. C. 840. |
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11 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 tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless 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.
It is plain that Jonah is the man for whose sake this evil is upon
them, but the discovery of him to be so was not sufficient to answer
the demands of this tempest; they had found him out, but something more
was to be done, for still the sea wrought and was tempestuous
(v. 11),
and again
(v. 13),
it grew more and more tempestuous (so the margin reads it); for
if we discover sin to be the cause of our troubles, and do not forsake
it, we do but make bad worse. Therefore they went on with the
prosecution.
I. They enquired of Jonah himself what he thought they must do with him
(v. 11):
What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm to us? They
perceived that Jonah is a prophet of the Lord, and therefore will not
do any thing, no, not in his own case, without consulting him. He
appears to be a delinquent, but he appears also to be a penitent, and
therefore they will not insult over him, nor offer him any rudeness.
Note, We ought to act with great tenderness towards those that are
overtaken in a fault and are brought into distress by it. They would
not cast him into the sea if he could think of any other
expedient by which to save the ship. Or, perhaps, thus they
would show how plain the case was, that there was no remedy but he must
be thrown overboard; let him be his own judge as he had been his own
accuser, and he himself will say so. Note, When sin has raised a storm,
and laid us under the tokens of God’s displeasure, we are concerned to
enquire what we shall do that the sea may be calm; and what shall we
do? We must pray and believe, when we are in a storm, and study to
answer the end for which it was sent, and then the storm shall become a
calm. But especially we must consider what is to be done to the sin
that raised the storm; that must be discovered, and penitently
confessed; that must be detested, disclaimed, and utterly forsaken.
What have I to do any more with it? Crucify it, crucify it, for this
evil it has done.
II. Jonah reads his own doom
(v. 12):
Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. He would not himself
leap into the sea, but he put himself into their hands, to cast him
into the sea, and assured them that then the sea would be calm,
and not otherwise. He proposed this, in tenderness to the mariners,
that the might no suffer for his sake. “Let thy hand be upon me”
(says David,
“who am guilty; let me die for me own sin, but let not the innocent
suffer for it.” This is the language of true penitents, who earnestly
desire that none but themselves may ever smart, or fare the worse, for
their sins and follies. He proposed it likewise in submission to the
will of God, who sent this tempest in pursuit of him; and
therefore judged himself to be cast into the sea, because to
that he plainly saw God judging him, that he might not be judged of
the Lord to eternal misery. Note, Those who are truly humbled for
sin will cheerfully submit to the will of God, even in a sentence of
death itself. If Jonah sees this to be the punishment of his iniquity,
he accepts it, he subjects himself to it, and justifies God in it. No
matter though the flesh be destroyed, no matter how it is
destroyed, so that the spirit may be but saved in the day of
the Lord Jesus,
1 Cor. v. 5.
The reason he gives is, For I know that for my sake this great
tempest is upon you. See how ready Jonah is to take all the guilt
upon himself, and to look upon all the trouble as theirs: “It is purely
for my sake, who have sinned, that this tempest is upon you; therefore
cast me forth into the sea; for,”
1. “I deserve it. I have wickedly departed from my God, and it is upon
my account that he is angry with you. Surely I am unworthy to breathe
in that air which for my sake has been hurried with winds, to live in
that ship which for my sake has been thus tossed. Cast me into the sea
after the wares which for my sake you have thrown into it. Drowning is
too good for me; a single death is punishment too little for such a
complicated offence.”
2. “Therefore there is no way of having the sea calm. If it is I that
have raised the storm, it is not casting the wares into the sea that
will lay it again; no, you must cast me thither.” When conscience is
awakened, and a storm raised there, nothing will turn it into a calm
but parting with the sin that occasioned the disturbance, and
abandoning that. It is not parting with our money that will pacify
conscience; no, it is the Jonah that be thrown overboard. Jonah is
herein a type of Christ, that he gives his life a ransom for
many; but with this material difference, that the storm Jonah gave
himself up to still was of his own raising, but that storm which Christ
gave himself up to still was of our raising. Yet, as Jonah delivered
himself up to be cast into a raging sea that it might be calm, so did
our Lord Jesus, when he died that we might live.
III. The poor mariners did what they could to save themselves from the
necessity of throwing Jonah into the sea, but all in vain
(v. 13):
They rowed hard to bring the ship to the land, that, if they
must part with Jonah, they might set him safely on shore; but they
could not. All their pains were to no purpose; for the sea
wrought harder than they could, and was tempestuous against
them, so that they could by no means make the land. If they
thought sometimes that they had gained their point, they were quickly
thrown off to sea again. Still their ship was overladen; their
lightening it of the wares made it never the lighter as long as Jonah
was in it. And, besides, they rowed against wind and tide, the wind of
God’s vengeance, the tide of his counsels; and it is in vain to contend
with God, in vain to think of saving ourselves any other way than by
destroying our sins. By this it appears that these mariners were very
loth to execute Jonah’s sentence upon himself, though they knew it was
for his sake that this tempest was upon them. They were thus very
backward to it partly from a dread of bringing upon themselves the
guilt of blood, and partly from a compassion they could not but have
for poor Jonah, as a good man, as a man in distress, and as a man of
sincerity. Note, The more sinners humble and abase themselves, judge
and condemn themselves, the more likely they are to find pity both with
God and man. The more forward Jonah was to say, Cast me into the
sea, the more backward they were to do it.
IV. When they found it necessary to cast Jonah into the sea they first
prayed to God that the guilt of his blood might not lie upon them, nor
be laid to their charge,
When they found it in vain to row hard they quitted their oars and went
to their prayers: Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, unto
Jehovah, the true and living God, and no more to the gods
many. and lords many, that the had cried to,
v. 5.
They prayed to the God of Israel, being now convinced, by the
providences of God concerning Jonah and the information he had given
them, that he is God alone. Having determined to cast Jonah into
the sea, they first enter a protestation in the court of heaven that
they do not do it willingly, much less maliciously, or with any design
to be revenged upon him because it was for his sake that this tempest
was upon them. No; his god forgive him, as they do! But
they are forced to do it se defendendo–in self-defence, having
no other way to save their own lives; and they do it as ministers of
justice, both God and himself having sentenced him to so great a
death. They therefore present a humble petition to the God
whom Jonah feared, that they might not perish for his life. See,
1. What a fear they had of contracting the guilt of blood, especially
the blood of one that feared God, and worshipped him, and had
fellowship with him, as they perceived Jonah had, though in a single
instance he had been faulty. Natural conscience cannot but have a dread
of blood-guiltiness, and make men very earnest in prayer, as David was,
to be delivered from it,
So they were here: We beseech thee, O Lord! we beseech thee, lay not
upon us innocent blood. They are now as earnest in praying to be
saved from the peril of sin as they were before in praying to be saved
from the peril of the sea, especially because Jonah appeared to them to
be no ordinary person, but a very good man, a man of God, a worshipper
of the great Creator of heaven and earth, upon which account even these
rude mariners conceived a veneration for him, and trembled at the
thought of taking away his life. Innocent blood is precious, but
saints’ blood, prophets’ blood, is much more precious, and so those
will find to their cost that any way bring themselves under the guilt
of it. The mariners saw Jonah pursued by divine vengeance, and yet
could not without horror think of being his executioners. Though his
God has a controversy with him, yet, think they, Let not our hand be
upon him. The Israelites were at this time killing the prophets for
doing their duty (witness Jezebel’s late persecution), and were
prodigal of their lives, which is aggravated by the tenderness these
heathens had for one whom they perceived to be a prophet, though he was
now out of the way of his duty.
2. What a fear they had of incurring the wrath of God; they were
jealous lest he should be angry if they should be the death of Jonah,
for he had said, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no
harm; it is at your peril if you do. “Lord,” say they, “let us
not perish for this man’s life. Let it not be such a fatal dilemma
to us. We see we must perish if we spare his life; Oh let us not perish
for taking away his life.” And their plea is good: “For thou, O
Lord! hast done as it pleased thee; thou had laid us under a
necessity of doing it; the wind that pursued him, the lot that
discovered him, were both under thy direction, which we are herein
governed by; we are but the instruments of Providence, and it is sorely
against our will that we do it; but we must say, The will of the
Lord be done.” Note, When we are manifestly led by Providence to do
things contrary to our own inclinations, and quite beyond our own
intentions, it will be some satisfaction to us to be able to say,
Thou, O Lord! has done as it pleased thee. And, if God please
himself, we ought to be satisfied though he do not please us.
V. Having deprecated the guilt they dreaded, they proceeded to
execution
(v. 15):
They took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea. They
cast him out of their ship, out of their company, and cast him into the
sea, a raging stormy sea, that cried, “Give, give; surrender the
traitor, or expect no peace.” We may well think what confusion and
amazement poor Jonah was in when he saw himself ready to be hurried
into the presence of that God as a Judge whose presence as a Master he
was now fleeing from. Note, Those know not what ruin they run upon that
run away from God. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me.
When sin is the Jonah that raises the storm, that must thus be cast
forth into the sea; we must abandon it, and be the death of it, must
drown that which otherwise will drown us in destruction and
perdition. And if we thus by a thorough repentance and reformation
cast our sins forth into the sea, never to recall them or return to
them again, God will by pardoning mercy subdue our iniquities, and
cast them into the depths of the sea too,
VI. The throwing of Jonah into the sea immediately put an end to the
storm. The sea has what she came for, and therefore rests contended;
she ceases from her raging. It is an instance of the sovereign
power of God that he can soon turn the storm into a calm, and of the
equity of his government that when the end of an affliction is answered
and attained the affliction shall immediately be removed. He will not
contend for ever, will not contend any longer till we submit ourselves
and give up the cause. If we turn from our sins, he will soon turn from
his anger.
VII. The mariners were hereby more confirmed in their belief that
Jonah’s God was the only true God
(v. 16):
Then the men feared the Lord with a great fear, were possessed
with a deep veneration for the God of Israel, and came to a resolution
that they would worship him only for the future; for there is no
other God that can destroy, that can deliver, after this
sort. When they saw the power of God in raising and laying the
tempest, when they saw his justice upon Jonah his own servant, and when
they saw his goodness to them in saving them from the brink of ruin,
then they feared the Lord,
Jer. v. 22.
As an evidence of their fear of him, they offered sacrifice to
him when they came ashore again in the land of Israel, and for the
present made vows that they would do so, in thankfulness for their
deliverance, and to make atonement for their souls. Or, perhaps, they
had something yet on board which might be for a sacrifice to God
immediately. Or it may be meant of the spiritual sacrifices of prayer
and praise, with which God is better pleased than with that of an ox or
bullock that has horns and hoofs. See
&c. We must make vows, not only when we are in the pursuit of mercy,
but, which is much more generous, when we have received mercy, as those
that are still studying what we shall render.
VIII. Jonah’s life, after all, is saved by a miracle, and we shall hear of him again for all this. In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. Jonah shall be worse frightened than hurt, not so much punished for his sin as reduced to his duty.
Though he flees from the presence of the Lord, and seems to fall into
his avenging hands, yet God has more work for him to do, and therefore
has prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah
(v. 17),
a whale our Saviour calls it
one of the largest sorts of whales, that have wider throats than
others, in the belly of which has sometimes been found the dead body of
a man in armour. Particular notice is taken, in the history of
creation, of God’s creating great whales
and the leviathan in the waters made to play therein,
Ps. civ. 26.
But God finds work for this leviathan, has prepared him, has
numbered him (so the word is), has appointed him to be Jonah’s
receiver and deliverer. Note, God has command of all the creatures, and
can make any of them serve his designs of mercy to his people, even the
fishes of the sea, that are most from under man’s cognizance, even the
great whales, that are altogether from under man’s government. This
fish was prepared, lay ready under water close by the ship, that he
might keep Jonah from sinking to the bottom, and save him alive, though
he deserved to die. Let us stand still and see this salvation of
the Lord, and admire his power, that he could thus save a drowning
man, and his pity, that he would thus save one that was running from
him and had offended him. It was of the Lord’s mercies that Jonah was
not now consumed. The fish swallowed up Jonah, not to devour him, but
to protect him. Out of the eater comes forth meat; for Jonah was
alive and well in the belly of the fish three days and three
nights, not consumed by the heat of the animal, nor suffocated for
want of air. It is granted that to nature this was impossible, but not
to the God of nature, with whom all things are possible. Jonah by this
miraculous preservation was designed to be made,
1. A monument of divine mercy, for the encouragement of those that have
sinned, and gone away from God, to return and repent.
2. A successful preacher to Nineveh; and this miracle wrought for his
deliverance, if the tidings of it reached Nineveh, would contribute to
his success.
3. An illustrious type of Christ, who was buried and rose again
according to the scriptures
(1 Cor. xv. 4),
according to this scripture, for, as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whale’s belly, so was the Son of man three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth,
Matt. xii. 40.
Jonah’s burial was a figure of Christ’s. God prepared Jonah’s grave, so
he did Christ’s, when it was long before ordained that he should
make his grave with the rich,
Isa. liii. 9.
Was Jonah’s grave a strange one, a new one? So was Christ’s, one in
which never man before was laid. Was Jonah there the best part of three
days and three nights? So was Christ; but both in order to their
rising again for the bringing of the doctrine of repentance to the
Gentile world. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
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