Jonah: A 5-Day DevotionalSýnishorn

A main theme of this chapter is that the Lord is the great God, the King who rules over all. It is he who brings the storm onto the sea (v. 4) and answers the sailors’ prayers by ending it (vv. 14–15). The Lord is “God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (v. 9), and therefore he rules over all these things. Thus Jonah’s attempt to flee from him is utterly useless—God is Lord over every place to which a person might run, and fleeing from him is like trying to flee one’s own shadow (Ps. 139:7, 9–10). 

Significantly, this is not the last time in the Bible that God’s mighty power will be shown by ending a powerful storm; it happens again when Jesus is in a boat with his disciples (cf. Matt. 8:18, 23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25). The stories are remarkably similar: a mighty storm comes upon the sea, and the sailors (disciples) fear for their lives while the main person in the story (Jesus) is fast asleep. But the stories are also remarkably different: Jesus is not running away from the Lord; he is right in the midst of the Lord’s mission. And the storm does not stop because the sailors throw someone overboard; it stops because Jesus tells it to. He shows the same sovereign power over this storm as his Father does with Jonah’s storm. Indeed, the sailors in Jesus’ boat respond in the same way the sailors in Jonah’s boat responded: “They were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” (Mark 4:41; cf. Jonah 1:16). The question is left for the listener to answer. Jesus’ actions show him to be the sovereign Lord, the one ruling over all. What do we do with this? What do we do with him?

Along with the Lord’s sovereign power, this chapter also shows a clear and surprising contrast between Jonah and the sailors. As the story unfolds, we come to see the Israelite—the one who calls himself a “Hebrew” who “fears the Lord” (v. 9)—as a rebel abandoning his calling and fleeing the Lord. At the same time, we come to see the sailors—who begin the chapter as pagans crying out in distress to foreign gods (v. 5)—as those who end up confessing the Lord’s sovereign power, “fearing the Lord exceedingly,” and worshiping him (vv. 14–16). 

What is the result? If you were an Israelite who began reading this narrative thinking of the Israelites as a special people who deserve the Lord’s mercy and the Gentiles as wicked sinners who do not, your world has been turned upside down. The person with whom you identify most in the story—the Israelite prophet— is the wicked sinner who experiences God’s judgment, while those you think most deserving of judgment—the pagan sailors—are shown the Lord’s mercy and respond by worshiping him. On the one hand, this is meant to humble you. The people of God can act just as sinfully as anyone else—and are just as deserving of his judgment. At the same time, it is meant to remind you that the God whom you serve delights to show his mercy to all (cf. also Isa. 2:2–4; 19:19–22; 56:6–8)—and has in fact called you for the purpose of bringing his blessing to the world (cf. Gen. 12:2–3; 1 Kings 8:41–43).