JONAH 1:16
CONSTERNATION CREATED CONVERSION
I. CONSTERNATION: (They Feared Excessively)
A. Cessation.
B. Certainty.
C. Convicted.
II. CELEBRATION: (They Offered a Sacrifice)
A. Collectively.
B. Cleansing.
C. Conversion.
III. COVENANTED: (They Made Vows)
A. Credence.
B. Compliance.
C. Challenge.
It is amazing how our God uses things and events to speak to people about their souls. Sometimes He uses such small things and then at other times He uses great things to reach people about their need for Him. In the study of Jonah, we see where He used a storm, a terrible storm, to reach the sailors who were sailing with Jonah and to help them become converted to Him. Jonah boarded the ship not wanting any Gentiles to believe in God and he left the ship knowing that his time among some Gentiles led to their conversion. We do not know his frame of thought as he went sailing overboard but we do know what these sailors thought when they finally ridded their boat of the sin problem. With Jonah gone, they were now ready to move on with their lives yet God was not through with them and by the time all was done-these hearty sailors came to believe in the God of the Hebrews.
When Jonah went sailing over the sides of the ship, the sailors breathed a heavy sigh of relief. They had tried their best to save the ship by praying to their gods. Then, when they found that Jonah was the reason for the storm, they tried to reach land with him and the rest of the passengers. They had done all they could from praying, jettison the cargo, trying to save Jonah and the ship and all were in vain. The only avenue open for them now was to comply-against their wishes-to throw Jonah overboard and hope that the storm would abate. They did not know if throwing Jonah overboard would save them and still the storm, but they ran out of options and they wee desperate to do all they could to see the storm subside, the waves return to normal and the ship be saved. They gave it the good old “college try” not knowing if this was the answer-getting rid of Jonah. They soon found the answer!
I see three things in this verse about these sailors and their conversion to God. The first thing I note has to do with their great CONSTERNATION-“They feared excessively.” Next, I note the great CELEBRATION-“They offered a sacrifice.” Then, I note the great COVENANT-“They made vows.” I wonder what these sailors must have thought when they saw Jonah hit the water and the sea became calm, the storm stopped and they were safe. We do not know all of the answers, but we do know they were very happy and they began their acceptance of God as being their God.
I. CONSTERNATION: I can only imagine what must have gone through the minds of these sailors as they tossed Jonah overboard. They did not know if this would really work-they tried everything else and now abandoning all protocol, they tossed him over waiting to see what would take place. They did not have to wait too long.
The first thing they had to note when Jonah hit the waves was that there was a general and complete Cessation
of the storm and its effects. Instantly, according to the Bible, the sea became calm and the waves stopped their violent heaving. What they had tried to do on their own was now accomplished by the abandoning of Jonah. One can only imagine what must have raced through the minds of these unconverted sailors as they witnessed a miracle before their very eyes. Earlier, Jonah told these sailors that the God whom he served was the God who created the land and the sea. Now, for the first time, they understood to what he was speaking. It is no wonder that they suddenly feared God excessively. They could not deny nor did they want to deny what they saw-they saw God in action and they feared God and His power. More people need to see God in action and they too would fear Him.
Not only did they see the storm stop instantly, they believed it with their entire hearts-they saw for themselves what the power of God did right before their very eyes. There was a Certainty to what they had just witnessed that no one could ever dislodge from their minds. They saw God in action. People today need to see God in action. Or, better yet, people need to recognize that what they see around them is God in action. When one is certain of what one has seen and or witnessed, it is impossible to erase that from one’s psyche. These sailors saw the Creator God do something out of the ordinary and they were afraid.
The third part of their fear was the fact that they became Convicted of their waywardness and the false gods they were worshipping. None of their gods could rival what this God had just done. No other god on the Earth could be compared with the God they saw at work that day. They feared excessively because they witnessed God’s awesome power and they were certain that this was God’s doing. Taken together, they suddenly realized they were in need of this God and they feared excessively lest they offend Him and He smite them. They decided to turn to this God in repentence.
Part of the trouble with so much of mankind is that they are not smitten of their sins and they do not fear God. The same Bible that teaches us that God is a God of love, is the same Bible that teaches us that God is a God to be feared.
II. CELEBRATION: We do not know the exact thoughts of these sailors who have just jettisoned over board the problem person. What we do read is that these sailors became quickly afraid once they saw the results of their actions. Out of their fear, there arose a new feeling of awe and devotion to this God of the Hebrews and they recognized, in an instant, that they should swear allegiance to Him over the gods they used to worship. This led them to offer a sacrifice to God and they began with a heart felt moment of glee.
The first thing I see about their CELEBRATION is that they did this sacrifice of joy to God in a Collective manner. The Bible is plain when it states that these sailors offered up a sacrifice to God and it included all the sailors on board that ship. The Bible is careful in not stating that there were a few sailors or that there were a limited group of sailors that participated in this offering up of a sacrifice. The Bible intimates that all of them did so. It was a group activity. We are not told just what type of sacrifice they offered, they could have counted Jonah as being the sacrifice for their safety. If so, then indirectly, Jonah serves as a type of Christ who offered Himself as a Sacrifice for the safety and salvation of mankind. By all the sailors participating in this offering unto God, they serve as a type of the Church of Christ in their celebration of being delivered from sin.
Besides the fact that these sailors offered up a sacrifice Collectively, their sacrifice given unto God was a devotional act which was of a purging, Cleansing nature of their riddance of sin as typified by Jonah. While they offered up a sacrifice together, they individually enjoyed the forgiveness and the cleansing power of a loving God who met them on board that day in the Mediterranean Sea.
I also believe that by offering up Jonah as a sacrifice, there was something else that happened to them that day. I believed that they experienced a personal Conversion to God. These Gentiles, who came on board that day so long ago believing in their separate gods, now had something new and exciting happen to them: they were converted to follow God. Jonah fled toward Tarsus to avoid preaching to Gentiles and wound up helping to convert a ship load of sailors to confess God as their God.
God moves in mysterious ways and he used Jonah-in spite of his waywardness-to help convert some unsuspecting sailors. These men saw fear; they tasted fear; they feared for their very lives; and, when they saw the storm abate due to the sacrificing of Jonah, they had great fear. Instead of driving them away from the God of the Hebrews, this fear drove them to Him. They realized that there was only one God who could do as they had just witnessed and this God was the supreme God. They collectively had their sacrifice, but individually, they had a conversion experience and they felt the cleansing power of a just God burn away their sin. Too many people think that conversion and cleansing are New Testament concepts only-I disagree. I believe that God has always been able to communicate with mankind on a personal level and He has been able to forgive and cleanse in His own manner. It was not until Christ came that made this conversion process a universal process. Then with the coming of the Holy Spirit, this inner cleansing would be that which would be universally applicable and would last. Redemption/salvation would no longer depend upon going to the Temple once a year for renewal purposes. I believed these sailors became believers in God and they experienced Him as best as anyone could experience Him before the advent of Christ.
III. COVENANTED: After the disposal of Jonah and accepting their great fear, the sailors turned to God and I believe they had a conversion experience. That is one great thing about our God-people can be converted in any place they call upon Him. If nothing else, this should show that God is everywhere and that He can hear people’s cry for help from any spot in the known universe. These sailors called upon God on the high seas. They started out on a new venture of being followers of the Hebrew God as compared to following their former gods.
As I look at the last part of this verse, I see where these sailors not only made a sacrifice to God, but they made vows to Him. I do not know what was in these vows but there are some things I might be able to assume as being in their vows
One promise I think they might have made was speaking a vow of Credence. It is one thing to believe in God with the heart, and it is still another thing to voice that faith with conviction and complete honesty. I have the belief that when these sailors returned home, they made their faith in the God of the Hebrews well known. I feel that these sailors were so convinced about God and His power to save and to destroy, that they were ready to accept Him regardless of what others said. Oh, how we need more people like these in our world today. From accepting God in their hearts to giving voice of their faith was all apart of their making vows to God.
Another part of their promise they made to God could have been their promise of utter Compliance to Him from that day on.
They had just survived the most harrowing event of their lives and then they saw first hand the work of God in the ceasing of all the aspects of the storm, these were enough to make them offer up a sacrifice to God for various reasons-one of which I feel was their offering up of themselves to serve God always. I feel these sailors were not ignorant people and they knew when they accepted the God of the Hebrews that it would be a life changing event. To support their awareness of their new choice to serve God, was in the offering up of vows one of which was their vow to obey Him always.
If I am correct, then I believe that these sailors had more spiritual insight into serving God than many do today. Far too many people think of God as an escape hatch from a bad situation. Once the problem ends, too many people revert back to their own way of living. Not these fellows; they fully comprehended what they were doing and they vowed to obey God from that day forward. What they saw on the Sea, convinced them that this God of the Hebrews was different and that to serve Him meant they had to obey Him always.
The last part of their vows to God, I believe, was centered around the knowledge of the Challenge which faced them upon their return home. They knew that their decision to follow the God of the Hebrews was not going to be accepted by all of their friends and families, yet they made their vows to Him and claimed Him as their God. I do have the feeling that in spite of what they knew they faced upon returning home, they were not going to be dismayed nor dissuaded from following God. They saw Him in action and He proved to them that He was the only God worthy to be worshipped. They made their vows to claim Him, to obey Him and to face any challenges they might face from people who loved them before they set sail with Jonah.
These sailors had a life, heart and soul altering experience upon the waters of the world and when all was done and said, they accepted God with their whole hearts and changed their directions for their next life. I wish more would be like they were.
From sensing great fear to participating in a sacrifice to making covenants with God, these men were new creatures and someday, I want to meet them in Heaven and ask them to tell me how-again-they came to believe in God as being the only God to love and to serve. I am sure there are little details they can add to their story which will make Jonah, chapter one, more interesting than what it already is.
