Contemplative Bible Reading

Jonah 1:7-16 (New International Version)

⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

⁸ So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

⁹ He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)

¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.” ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

This is part of the (hi)story of Jonah. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh, so instead turned the opposite way and fled (as if he could run away to a place that the Lord did not see him, but that is another contemplation for another day).

There is one sure way to gain the attention of professional sailors – a storm at sea. So God provided one of those storms. The sailors, believing in the supernatural, sought to learn who had offended a spiritual being and caused this storm. Jonah reveals himself as the cause. And Jonah says,

I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven

The reaction was simple:

This terrified them

This is another example, one of many, in the Old Testament of how people who were “outsiders” recognized the Lord. These sailors were not part of Israel; they had not descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nevertheless, they knew about the God of Israel and had a special respect for that God. We see this fear and respect of the Lord again at the end of these verses:

¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the LORD

Throughout the history of man, people who are outsiders see the Lord and fear Him. They know that He does exist and they understand part of His power. One aspect of His power, one aspect that is often misunderstood today, is that He can wipe away all sin from a person and restore the perfect relationship between man and God that was intended from the beginning. The power to create and then calm a storm at see is puny in comparison. Now and then, God shows a tiny part of his power in a storm to get our attention.