Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 1
Jonah knew that God is kind and good. God is eager to forgive those people who turn from their evil behaviour. Jonah understood these facts clearly (4:2). However, he did not explain these things to the sailors.
Instead, Jonah had tried to impress them with a description of the power and authority of God (1:9). They had already seen the power of the great storm. So, it made them even more afraid to hear about God’s greatness. Jonah had told them that God made both the land and the sea. So, it is clearly impossible to escape from God (Psalm 139:7-10). Both the land and sea belong to him. He can carry out his judgments anywhere, whether people are on the land or at sea.
However, the sailors still tried to row their boat to the land. Of course, we would expect it to be safer on land, but the sailors gave a different reason in Jonah 1:14. Jonah had told them to kill him. However, their consciences told them that it is evil to kill an innocent man. So, they were desperate not to follow Jonah’s instructions. They did not want to kill Jonah, even if that would save their lives.
The sailors’ plan to row to the shore failed. The storm continued, and it became even worse.
Until now, they had not prayed to the true God. Previously, they all served false gods, so perhaps they did not expect the true God to listen to their prayers. However, now they believed in the power of the true God. They decided that they would ask God to forgive them. Then they would carry out Jonah’s awful instructions.
Next part: The sailors' strange prayer (Jonah 1:14)
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