Day 381: Can wrong people do right? - Jonah 1 vs 7 -17

7-8 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. So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work 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 dry 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.’ 13-14  Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.’  15-16 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.  At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:7-17 New International Version

We come to a the part of the Bible that's very well known but which many have found hard to believe. One objection has been that whales generally have narrow throats and can't swallow a man whole. But notice that the Bible refers to a 'huge fish'. When Jesus referred to this incident in the New Testament he used a word that meant a ‘large sea monster’, not a whale. Whatever this creature was , it had been appointed by the Lord. This event was miraculous rather than natural.

But what struck me in today's verses was the reaction of the sailors. They were heathens and not followers of the God Jonah believed in. (See vs 9) Yet when Jonah says that the only way they could be saved was by throwing him into the sea, what was their response? (vs 13-14)

They showed a very noble spirit. The implication there is that, despite sin and not knowing the true God, pagan and heathen people sometimes do very good things. Bible teachers speak of this as the result of the common grace which God shows to all mankind. It means that unsaved family, friends or neighbours are often kind, patient and even sacrificial. Sometimes even more so than some Christians! But it doesn't mean that they don't need salvation. Heaven is not gained by good things people do - it is only gained through what Jesus did at Calvary – something which Jesus said this incident of Jonah in the sea monster was a picture of.

We see that the sudden cessation of the wild storm when they threw Jonah overboard convinced those heathen sailors that the God of Jonah must be the true God. (vs 15-16) And that was without knowing that in three days he would emerge alive from his 'watery grave'. Has the resurrection of Jesus Christ convinced and persuaded your heart that He is the beloved Son of the only true God in heaven who created everything that exists?