"Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows." Jonah 1:11-16
Going faster is the wrong direction is an expression I use often to describe our determination to fix our problems through the same means that created said problems. As we enter into verse eleven we see both Jonah and sailors going faster in the wrong direction.
Now, you have to appreciate the fact that they are getting pretty desperate. The tempest that God threw upon the sea, that was causing them to crap their pants is now getting much worse. However, now they know the source of said tempest and are even more afraid.
Jonah had just made an orthodox profession, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” And then went on to tell them, that he was running from God and that he was the reason all this was happening…their response, “What is this that you have done!”
They were sailors and had frequented many ports, and I am sure heard the stories of Israel’s God. He is the Creator of heaven and earth, He sent the Flood and judged the world, He was the bringer of the ten plagues and the Breaker of Egypt. He Parted the Red Sea and Gave the Law on Sinai, and He judged Canaan. Now, He is about to judge them, because of this wayward prophet. They are legitimately freaking out.
The sea is growing more and more tempestuous and something must be done, but what? – they’re looking to Jonah for answers…what does Jonah say? throw me in…just kill me. Is this a death wish or a noble sacrifice? I think, it’s a death wish.
The sailors now know the name of the unknown god whom they fear…Like Paul declaring the resurrection in Athens…but they don’t yet embrace Him…they are going to work harder, or if you will, drive faster in the wrong direction.
Like many of us, upon receiving the goods news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…hearing about the forgiveness of sins and eternal life that we are given through repentance and faith in Jesus…instead of repenting immediately, we continue to drive faster in the wrong direction.
Which is to say, often, the response is, that sounds wonderful, but I can fix it myself, or I just need to get my life in order…we’ll continue down this road until we hit the bricks or calamity strikes and we realize that working harder won’t fix the problem.
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world” C.S. Lewis
Notice the IRONY: the sailors desire to spare Jonah’s life after he brought all of this trouble upon them, but Jonah’s unwillingness to spare the Ninevites and his reluctance to help the sailors after the storm hit. Jonah is obviously not acting like a good Hebrew, however, Jonah’s actions are reflective of Israel’s.
No matter how hard they row the storm isn’t going away, in fact, it’s getting worse. They finally hit the bricks and cry out to Yahweh…Here is some more irony: Jonah ran down to Joppa to flee to Tarshish, so that he wouldn’t have to go to Nineveh to share a message of Judgement with the fear of the Ninevites receiving mercy.
Now, aboard this ship, you have all of these polytheistic pagan sailors crying out to the LORD to spare them…v.14, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” Then they throw Jonah in, and the storm stops immediately. Can you imagine? No more rain, no more wind, and no more noise…
What do the sailors do? “Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a
sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.” Now you have these 40ish sailors, who travel from port to port that are going to share this story of Israel’s God. It is as magnificent as it is ironic.
800-ish years later there would be another prophet in another storm.
“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” Matthew 8:23-27
“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” They knew the answer to this question, and their response was similar to the sailors who had come into contact with the living God centuries earlier. Jesus is The LORD in the flesh…He entered into the chaos, and brokenness of our disobedient lives so that we could enter into the peace and joy and glory of His.
Jesus didn’t throw Himself into the sea because He came to satisfy an entirely different storm…the storm of God’s wrath which every wayward sinner deserves.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
The storm of God’s wrath was received in Jesus – He takes our disobedience, pays our penalty, and then clothes us in His obedience through faith and repentance in Him. In Jesus, we can clearly see that God is gracious and merciful…I don’t know where you’re at as you read this…whether you’re like Jonah or the sailors…either way, the message is the same “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14)
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