Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 1
For the sailors, this was a very difficult matter.
We should not ask God to forgive us and then carry out an evil act on purpose. We must not refuse to obey God’s moral laws. It is very wrong to kill someone, except where God’s law demands it, for example, as a legal punishment for murder.
Jonah had told the sailors to kill him in order to save their own lives. However, the sailors considered Jonah to be an innocent man. So they were truly desperate not to carry out any act that would offend God.
God was very kind to these sailors. He understood how little they understood about him and his law (compare Jonah 4:11). So God answered their prayer in a way that they never expected. He saved Jonah’s life, so that the sailors were not guilty of murder.
Still, in their prayer, we can see that the sailors had learned some things about God. They now knew that they must pray to him alone, and not to a false god. They did not pray in a careless manner; their prayer was sincere and definite. They understood that they must respect God greatly. They knew that he is able to forgive a person’s evil deeds. They understood that God is the judge of all people. They recognised that murder is against his law. They asked him to show his kindness and to forgive them.
However, the last statement in their prayer seems wrong. Jonah had to die because that pleased God, they said. In fact, God is not pleased even when a wicked person dies in punishment for his evil deeds (Ezekiel 18:23 and 18:32). So, the sailors were still thinking as their former wrong religions had taught them. In those religions, a person’s death might be necessary in order to please an angry false god. That was what the sailors believed.
Only at the death of Christ, did God accept an innocent life to forgive people’s evil deeds (Romans 5:6-8). That was possible because Christ, God the Son, offered his own life to please God (Hebrews 10:7-10). So God himself provided for people to receive a right relationship with him (compare Genesis 22:8).
Next part: When the sailors throw Jonah into the sea, it becomes calm (Jonah 1:15)
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