mh_parser/vol_split/32 - Jonah/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Jonah.ii" n="ii" next="Jonah.iii" prev="Jonah.i" progress="84.81%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Jonah.ii-p0.1">J O N A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jonah.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jonah.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. A command given to
Jonah to preach at Nineveh, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.1-Jonah.1.2" parsed="|Jonah|1|1|1|2" passage="Jon 1:1,2">ver. 1,
2</scripRef>. II. Jonah's disobedience to that command, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.3" parsed="|Jonah|1|3|0|0" passage="Jon 1:3">ver. 3</scripRef>. III. The pursuit and arrest of
him for that disobedience by a storm, in which he was asleep,
<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.4-Jonah.1.6" parsed="|Jonah|1|4|1|6" passage="Jon 1:4-6">ver. 4-6</scripRef>. IV. The
discovery of him, and his disobedience, to be the cause of the
storm, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.7-Jonah.1.10" parsed="|Jonah|1|7|1|10" passage="Jon 1:7-10">ver. 7-10</scripRef>. V. The
casting of him into the sea, for the stilling of the storm,
<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.11-Jonah.1.16" parsed="|Jonah|1|11|1|16" passage="Jon 1:11-16">ver. 11-16</scripRef>. VI. The
miraculous preservation of his life there in the belly of a fish
(<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.17" parsed="|Jonah|1|17|0|0" passage="Jon 1:17">ver. 17</scripRef>), which was his
reservation for further services.</p>
<scripCom id="Jonah.ii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1" parsed="|Jonah|1|0|0|0" passage="Jon 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jonah.ii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.1-Jonah.1.3" parsed="|Jonah|1|1|1|3" passage="Jon 1:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jonah.ii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Jonah.ii-p1.10">A Commission against Nineveh; The Prophet's
Disobedience. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 840.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jonah.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Now the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p2.2">Lord</span>, 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
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p2.3">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p3" shownumber="no">Observe, 1. The honour God put upon Jonah,
in giving him a commission to go and prophesy against Nineveh.
<i>Jonah</i> signifies <i>a dove,</i> a proper name for all God's
prophets, all his people, who ought to be <i>harmless as doves,</i>
and to <i>mourn as doves</i> for the sins and calamities of the
land. His father's name was <i>Amittai—My truth;</i> for God's
prophets should be sons of truth. To him <i>the word of the Lord
came—to him it was</i> (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 <i>word of the
Lord,</i> and knew his voice from that of a stranger; the orders
now given him were, <i>Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,</i>
<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.2" parsed="|Jonah|1|2|0|0" passage="Jon 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Nineveh was at
this time the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy, an eminent city
(<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.10.11" parsed="|Gen|10|11|0|0" passage="Ge 10:11">Gen. x. 11</scripRef>), <i>a great
city, that great city,</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.4.11" parsed="|Jonah|4|11|0|0" passage="Jon 4:11"><i>ch.</i> iv. 11</scripRef>), great in wealth (there
was no end of its store, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Nah.2.9" parsed="|Nah|2|9|0|0" passage="Na 2:9">Nah. ii.
9</scripRef>), great in power and dominion; it was the city that
for some time <i>ruled over the kings of the earth.</i> 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 <i>sit in darkness</i> and <i>in
the valley of the shadow of death!</i> This great city was a wicked
city: <i>Their wickedness has come up before me</i> (their
<i>malice,</i> so some read it); <i>their wickedness was
presumptuous,</i> and they sinned with <i>a high hand.</i> 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. <i>Their wickedness has come up,</i> that
is, it has come to a high degree, to the highest pitch; the
<i>measure of it</i> is <i>full</i> to the brim; <i>their
wickedness has come up,</i> as that of Sodom, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.20-Gen.18.21" parsed="|Gen|18|20|18|21" passage="Ge 18:20,21">Gen. xviii. 20, 21</scripRef>. It has come up
<i>before me—to my face</i> (so the word is); it is a bold and
open affront to God; it is sinning against him, <i>in his
sight;</i> therefore Jonah must <i>cry against it;</i> 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. <i>Cry aloud, spare not.</i> He must not whisper
his message in a corner, but publish it in the streets of Nineveh;
<i>he that hath ears let him hear</i> 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
<i>go to Nineveh,</i> 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
<i>the burden of Nineveh;</i> but Jonah must go and carry the
message himself: "<i>Arise</i> quickly; apply thyself to the
business with speed and courage, and the resolution that becomes a
prophet; <i>arise, and go to Nineveh.</i>" 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 <i>lost sheep of the
house of Israel,</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.3" parsed="|Jonah|1|3|0|0" passage="Jon 1:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>But Jonah,</i> instead of rising to go to
Nineveh, <i>rose up to flee to Tarshish,</i> to <i>the sea,</i> not
bound for any port, but desirous to get away <i>from the presence
of the Lord;</i> and, if he might but do that, he cared 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 <i>consulted
with flesh and blood,</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.4.2" parsed="|Jonah|4|2|0|0" passage="Jon 4:2"><i>ch.</i> iv.
2</scripRef>) 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 <i>paid the fare
thereof;</i> for he did not regard the charge, so he could but gain
his point, and get to a distance <i>from the presence of the
Lord.</i> He went <i>with them,</i> 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 <i>went down</i> into the ship to go <i>with
them to Tarshish.</i> See what the best of men are when God leaves
them to themselves, and what need we have, when the <i>word of the
Lord</i> comes to us, to have the <i>Spirit of the Lord</i> come
along with the word, to bring every thought within us into
obedience to it. The prophet Isaiah owns that <i>therefore</i> he
was not <i>rebellious,</i> neither <i>turned away back,</i> because
God not only spoke to him, but <i>opened his ear,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.5" parsed="|Isa|50|5|0|0" passage="Isa 50:5">Isa. l. 5</scripRef>. Let us learn hence to
<i>cease from man,</i> and not to be too confident either of
ourselves or others in a time of trial; but <i>let him that thinks
he stands take heed lest he fall.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jonah.ii-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.4-Jonah.1.10" parsed="|Jonah|1|4|1|10" passage="Jon 1:4-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jonah.ii-p3.10">
<h4 id="Jonah.ii-p3.11">The Prophet in the Storm; The Prophet
Convicted by the Lot. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p3.12">b. c.</span> 840.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jonah.ii-p4" shownumber="no">4 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p4.1">Lord</span>
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 <i>were</i> in the ship into the sea, to
lighten <i>it</i> 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 <i>is</i> upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot
fell upon <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.8" parsed="|Jonah|8|0|0|0" passage="Jonah. 8">Jonah.   8</scripRef> Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray
thee, for whose cause this evil <i>is</i> upon us; What <i>is</i>
thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what <i>is</i> thy
country? and of what people <i>art</i> thou?   9 And he said
unto them, I <i>am</i> a Hebrew; and I fear the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p4.3">Lord</span>, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea
and the dry <i>land.</i>   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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p4.4">Lord</span>, because he had told them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p5" shownumber="no">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 <i>run his colours.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p6" shownumber="no">I. God sends a pursuer after him, <i>a
mighty tempest in the sea,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.4" parsed="|Jonah|1|4|0|0" passage="Jon 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. God has the <i>winds in his
treasure</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.7" parsed="|Ps|135|7|0|0" passage="Ps 135:7">Ps. cxxxv.
7</scripRef>), and out of these treasures God <i>sent forth,</i> he
<i>cast forth</i> (so the word is), with force and violence, <i>a
great wind into the sea;</i> even <i>stormy winds fulfil his
word,</i> and are often the messengers of his wrath; he <i>gathers
the winds in his fist</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.4" parsed="|Prov|30|4|0|0" passage="Pr 30:4">Prov. xxx.
4</scripRef>), where he holds them, and whence he squeezes them
when he pleases; for though, as to us, the <i>wind blows where it
listeth,</i> yet not as to God, but where he directs. The effect of
this wind as <i>a mighty tempest;</i> 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
<i>the ship was likely to be broken;</i> the mariners expected no
other; <i>that ship</i> (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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p7" shownumber="no">II. The ship's crew were alarmed by this
mighty tempest, but Jonah only, the person concerned, was
unconcerned, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.5" parsed="|Jonah|1|5|0|0" passage="Jon 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
The mariners were affected with their danger, though it was not
with them that God has this controversy. 1. They were
<i>afraid;</i> 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
<i>great men and chief captains</i> call for shelter from rocks and
mountains. 2. They <i>cried every man unto his god;</i> 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. <i>Lord, in trouble they have visited thee. Every man</i>
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 <i>every man to his god,</i> 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 <i>one
God,</i> they still were governed by that direction of the law of
nature that God is to be prayed to (<i>Should not a people seek
under their God?</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.19" parsed="|Isa|8|19|0|0" passage="Isa 8:19">Isa. viii.
19</scripRef>), and that he is especially to be prayed to when we
are in distress and danger. <i>Call upon me in the time of trouble.
Is any afflicted?</i> Is any frightened? <i>Let him pray.</i> 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, <i>Help thyself and
God will help thee.</i> They <i>cast forth the wares that were in
the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them,</i> as Paul's
mariners in a like case cast forth even the <i>tackling of the
ship,</i> and the <i>wheat,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.27.18-Acts.27.19 Bible:Acts.27.38" parsed="|Acts|27|18|27|19;|Acts|27|38|0|0" passage="Ac 27:18,19,38">Acts xxvii. 18, 19, 38</scripRef>. 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.
<i>Skin for skin,</i> and <i>all that a man has, will he give for
it.</i> 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 <i>kept for the owners
thereof</i> 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 <i>making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience</i> 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
<i>the hold, between the sides of the ship,</i> and there he lies,
and is <i>fast asleep;</i> neither the noise without, nor 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 <i>take heed lest at any
time our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of it.</i> 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 <i>watch therefore.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p8" shownumber="no">III. The master of the ship called Jonah up
to his prayers, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.6" parsed="|Jonah|1|6|0|0" passage="Jon 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>.
The <i>ship-master came to him,</i> and bade him for shame get up,
both to <i>pray for life</i> and to <i>prepare for death;</i> he
gave him, 1. A just and necessary chiding: <i>What meanest thou, O
sleeper?</i> 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 <i>save it from death.</i> 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: "<i>Arise,
call upon thy God;</i> 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: <i>If so be that God will
think upon us, that we perish not.</i> 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 <i>perish;</i> 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 <i>not
perish.</i> 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 <i>think upon us,</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p9" shownumber="no">IV. Jonah is found out to be the cause of
the storm.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p10" shownumber="no">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
(<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.4" parsed="|Acts|28|4|0|0" passage="Ac 28:4">Acts xxviii. 4</scripRef>), "<i>no
doubt one of us is a murderer,</i> or guilty of sacrilege, or
perjury, or the like, who is thus <i>pursued</i> by the
<i>vengeance of the sea,</i> 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 <i>there is a cause</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p11" shownumber="no">2. They determined to refer it to the lot
which of them was the criminal that had occasioned this storm:
<i>Let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause the evil is
upon us.</i> None of them suspected himself, or said, <i>Is it
I,</i> Lord; <i>is it I?</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, <i>show me wherefore thou contendest with me; that
which I see not teach thou me.</i> These mariners desired to know
the person that was the dead weight in their ship, the accursed
thing, that that one man might <i>die for the people</i> and that
the whole ship <i>might not be lost;</i> 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 <i>all hearts
are open, and from whom no secret is hid,</i> 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 <i>the lot is cast into the lap, but the
whole disposal thereof is of the Lord.</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p12" shownumber="no">3. The <i>lot fell upon Jonah,</i> who
could have saved them this trouble if he would but have told them
what his own conscience told him, <i>Thou are the man;</i> but as
is usual with criminals, he never confesses till he finds he cannot
help it, till <i>the lot falls upon him.</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p13" shownumber="no">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 <i>out of his own mouth;</i> 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, "<i>Tell us, we pray thee,</i> 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: "<i>Tell us for whose cause this
evil is upon us;</i> is it indeed for thy cause, and, if so, <i>for
what cause?</i> 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 <i>accomplish a diligent
search.</i> (2.) What his character was, both as to his calling and
as to his country. [1.] They enquire concerning his calling:
<i>What is thy occupation?</i> 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,
<i>Whence comest thou?</i> Another, not having patience to stay for
an answer to that, asked, <i>What is thy country?</i> A third to
the same purport, "<i>Of what people art thou?</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p14" shownumber="no">5. In answer to these interrogatories Jonah
makes a full discovery. (1.) Did they enquire concerning his
country? He tells them he is <i>a Hebrew</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.9" parsed="|Jonah|1|9|0|0" passage="Jon 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), 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—<i>What is thy occupation?</i> 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>I fear the Lord Jehovah;</i> that is the God I
worship, the God I pray to, even <i>the God of heaven,</i> the
sovereign Lord of all, that has <i>made the sea and the dry
land</i> 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 <i>the God of the whole
earth,</i> 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 <i>fled from the presence of the
Lord,</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p15" shownumber="no">6. We are told what impression this made
upon the mariners: <i>The men were exceedingly afraid,</i> and
justly, for they perceived, (1.) That God was angry, even that God
that made <i>the sea and the dry land.</i> 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 <i>the
righteous be</i> thus <i>scarcely saved,</i> and for a single act
of disobedience thus closely pursued, <i>where shall the ungodly
and the sinner appear?</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.4.17-1Pet.4.18" parsed="|1Pet|4|17|4|18" passage="1Pe 4:17,18">1 Pet.
iv. 17, 18</scripRef>. They said to him, "<i>Why hast thou done
this?</i> If thou fearest the God that <i>made the sea and the dry
land,</i> why wast thou such a fool as to think thou couldst flee
from his presence? What an absurd unaccountable thing is it!"
<i>Thus he was reproved,</i> as Abraham by Abimelech (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.16" parsed="|Gen|20|16|0|0" passage="Ge 20:16">Gen. xx. 16</scripRef>); for if the professors
of religion do a wrong thing they must expect to hear of it from
those that make no such profession. "<i>Why hast thou done this to
us?</i>" (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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jonah.ii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.11-Jonah.1.17" parsed="|Jonah|1|11|1|17" passage="Jon 1:11-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jonah.ii-p15.4">
<h4 id="Jonah.ii-p15.5">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. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p15.6">b.
c.</span> 840.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jonah.ii-p16" shownumber="no">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 <i>is</i> upon you.
  13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring <i>it</i> to the
land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous
against them.   14 Wherefore they cried unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p16.1">Lord</span>, and said, We beseech thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p16.2">O Lord</span>, we beseech thee, let us not perish for
this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou,
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p16.3">O Lord</span>, 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p16.4">Lord</span> exceedingly, and
offered a sacrifice unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p16.5">Lord</span>,
and made vows.   17 Now the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.ii-p16.6">Lord</span> had prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three
nights.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p17" shownumber="no">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 <i>the
sea wrought and was tempestuous</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.11" parsed="|Jonah|1|11|0|0" passage="Jon 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), and again (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.13" parsed="|Jonah|1|13|0|0" passage="Jon 1:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), it <i>grew more and more
tempestuous</i> (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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p18" shownumber="no">I. They enquired of Jonah himself what he
thought they must do with him (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.11" parsed="|Jonah|1|11|0|0" passage="Jon 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>What shall we do unto thee,
that the sea may be calm to us?</i> 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
<i>cast him into the sea</i> if he could think of any other
expedient by which to <i>save the ship.</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p19" shownumber="no">II. Jonah reads his own doom (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.12" parsed="|Jonah|1|12|0|0" passage="Jon 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Take me up, and
cast me forth into the sea.</i> 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 <i>sea would be calm,</i> and not
otherwise. He proposed this, in tenderness to the mariners, that
they might not suffer for his sake. "<i>Let thy hand be upon me</i>"
(says David, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.17" parsed="|1Chr|21|17|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:17">1 Chron. xxi.
17</scripRef>), "who am guilty; let me die for my 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 <i>therefore</i> judged himself to be cast
into the sea, because to that he plainly saw God judging him, that
he might not be <i>judged of the Lord</i> 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
<i>flesh</i> be <i>destroyed,</i> no matter how it is destroyed, so
that the <i>spirit may</i> be <i>but saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.5.5" parsed="|1Cor|5|5|0|0" passage="1Co 5:5">1 Cor. v. 5</scripRef>. The
reason he gives is, <i>For I know that for my sake this great
tempest is upon you.</i> 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 <i>gives his life a ransom for many;</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p20" shownumber="no">III. The poor mariners did what they could
to save themselves from the necessity of throwing Jonah into the
sea, but all in vain (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.13" parsed="|Jonah|1|13|0|0" passage="Jon 1:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>They rowed hard to bring the ship to the
land,</i> that, if they must part with Jonah, they might set him
safely on shore; <i>but they could not.</i> All their pains were to
no purpose; <i>for the sea wrought</i> harder than they could, and
<i>was tempestuous against them,</i> so that they could by no means
<i>make the land.</i> 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, <i>Cast me into the sea,</i> the more backward they were to do
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p21" shownumber="no">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,
<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.14" parsed="|Jonah|1|14|0|0" passage="Jon 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. When they
found it in vain to row hard they quitted their oars and went to
their prayers: <i>Wherefore they cried unto the Lord,</i> unto
<i>Jehovah,</i> the true and living God, and no more to the <i>gods
many.</i> and <i>lords many,</i> that the had <i>cried to,</i>
<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.5" parsed="|Jonah|1|5|0|0" passage="Jon 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. They prayed to
the <i>God of Israel,</i> being now convinced, by the providences
of God concerning Jonah and the information he had given them, that
he is God <i>alone.</i> 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; <i>his god forgive him,</i> as
<i>they do!</i> But they are forced to do it <i>se defendendo—in
self-defence,</i> 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 <i>so great a death.</i> They <i>therefore</i>
present a humble petition to the God whom Jonah feared, that they
might not <i>perish for his life.</i> 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, <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.14" parsed="|Ps|51|14|0|0" passage="Ps 51:14">Ps. li.
14</scripRef>. So they were here: <i>We beseech thee, O Lord! we
beseech thee, lay not upon us innocent blood.</i> 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, <i>Let not our hand be upon
him.</i> 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,
<i>Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm;</i> it is at
your peril if you do. "Lord," say they, "<i>let us not perish for
this man's life.</i> 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: "<i>For thou, O
Lord! hast done as it pleased thee;</i> 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, <i>The will
of the Lord be done.</i>" 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, <i>Thou, O Lord! has done as it pleased thee.</i> And,
if God please himself, we ought to be satisfied though he do not
please us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p22" shownumber="no">V. Having deprecated the guilt they
dreaded, they proceeded to execution (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.15" parsed="|Jonah|1|15|0|0" passage="Jon 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>They took up Jonah,</i> and
<i>cast him forth into the sea.</i> 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. <i>Woe unto them! for they have fled from
me.</i> 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 <i>drown us in destruction
and perdition.</i> 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 <i>cast them into the depths of the sea</i> too,
<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.19" parsed="|Mic|7|19|0|0" passage="Mic 7:19">Mic. vii. 19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p23" shownumber="no">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 <i>ceases from her raging.</i>
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p24" shownumber="no">VII. The mariners were hereby more
confirmed in their belief that Jonah's God was the only true God
(<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.16" parsed="|Jonah|1|16|0|0" passage="Jon 1:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>Then the
men feared the Lord with a great fear,</i> 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 <i>there is no
other God that can</i> destroy, that <i>can deliver, after this
sort.</i> 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, <i>then they feared the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.22" parsed="|Jer|5|22|0|0" passage="Jer 5:22">Jer. v. 22</scripRef>. As an evidence of their fear of
him, they <i>offered sacrifice</i> 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 <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.2" parsed="|Ps|107|2|0|0" passage="Ps 107:2">Ps. cvii.
2</scripRef>, &amp;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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.ii-p25" shownumber="no">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 <i>remembers mercy.</i> 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 <i>prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.1.17" parsed="|Jonah|1|17|0|0" passage="Jon 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>),
<i>a whale</i> our Saviour calls it (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.12.40" parsed="|Matt|12|40|0|0" passage="Mt 12:40">Matt. xii. 40</scripRef>), 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
<i>creating great whales</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.21" parsed="|Gen|1|21|0|0" passage="Ge 1:21">Gen. i.
21</scripRef>) and the <i>leviathan</i> in the waters <i>made to
play therein,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.26" parsed="|Ps|104|26|0|0" passage="Ps 104:26">Ps. civ.
26</scripRef>. But God finds work for this leviathan, has
<i>prepared</i> him, has <i>numbered</i> 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 <i>stand still and see this salvation of the
Lord,</i> 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. <i>Out of the eater comes forth
meat;</i> for Jonah was alive and well <i>in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights,</i> 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
(<scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.4" parsed="|1Cor|15|4|0|0" passage="1Co 15:4">1 Cor. xv. 4</scripRef>), according
to this scripture, for, <i>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,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.12.40" parsed="|Matt|12|40|0|0" passage="Mt 12:40">Matt. xii. 40</scripRef>. 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 <i>make his grave with the
rich,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.ii-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.9" parsed="|Isa|53|9|0|0" passage="Isa 53:9">Isa. liii. 9</scripRef>. 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. <i>Come, see the place where the Lord
lay.</i></p>
</div></div2>