11 : The storm was getting worse all the time, so the sailors asked him, ‘What should we do to you to stop the storm’?
12 : Jonah answered, ‘Throw me into the sea and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm’.
13 : Instead, the sailors tried to get the ship to shore, rowing with all their might. But the storm was getting worse and worse, and they got nowhere.
THOUGHTS:
(a) the sailors show mercy and compassion towards Jonah – or they are concerned not to have Jonah’s blood on their hands – for whatever reason, they prefer not to throw him overboard, but are determined to get everyone safe to shore
(b) the ferocity of the storm prevents them from achieving this, so they will have to revert back to plan ‘a’, to throw Jonah overboard
(c) I have been challenged by the question – if Jonah knew he was to blame, and that plummeting into the water would calm the storm, why did he not throw himself into the water? Why the challenge to the sailors that they thrown him in?
God certainly moves in mysterious ways, and He does move mightily and mysteriously in the lives of Jonah and the sailors in this chapter – the chapter will end with the sailors ‘worshiping’ Jonah’s God, as Jonah is thrown headfirst to his ‘death’
PRAYER :
My lighthouse, my lighthouse
shining in the darkness
I will follow You
My lighthouse, my lighthouse
I will trust the promise
You will carry me safe to shore –
safe to shore
AMEN.