Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Jonah
Book: Jonah
Chapter: 1
Overview:
Jonah, sent to
Nineveh, flees to
Tarshish.
(1-3) He is stayed
By a tempest.
(4-7) His discourse with the mariners.
(8-12) He
is cast into
The Sea, and miraculously preserved.
(13-17)
1-3. It is sad to think how much
Sin is committed in great
cities. Their wickedness, as that of
Nineveh, is a bold and open
affront to
God.
Jonah must go at once to
Nineveh, and there,
On
the spot, cry against the wickedness of it.
Jonah would not go.
Probably there are few among us who would not have tried to
decline such a mission.
Providence seemed to 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. See what the best of men are, when
God leaves them to
themselves; and what need we have, when the
Word of the
Lord
comes to us, to have the
Spirit of the
Lord to bring every
thought within us into obedience.
4-7 God sent a pursuer after
Jonah, even a mighty tempest.
Sin
brings storms and tempests into the soul, into the family, into
churches and nations; it is a disquieting, disturbing thing.
Having called upon their gods for help, the sailors did what
they could to help themselves. 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 making
shipwreck of
Faith and a good
Conscience, and ruining their
souls for ever!
Jonah was
Fast asleep.
Sin is stupefying, and we
are to take heed lest at any time our hearts are hardened
By the
deceitfulness of it. What do men mean
By sleeping
On in
Sin,
when the
Word of God and the convictions of their own
consciences, warn them to arise and
Call On the
Lord, if they
would escape
Everlasting misery? Should not we warn each other
to awake, to arise, to
Call upon our
God, if
So be he will
deliver us? The sailors concluded the storm was a
Messenger of
Divine
Justice sent to some one in that ship. Whatever evil is
upon us at any time, there is a cause for it; and each must
pray,
Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me. The
Lot
fell upon
Jonah.
God has many ways of bringing to
Light hidden
sins and sinners, and making manifest that folly which was
thought to be hid from the eyes of all living.
8-12 Jonah gave an account of his religion, for that was his
business. We may
Hope that he told with sorrow and shame,
justifying
God, condemning himself, and explaining to the
mariners what a great
God Jehovah is. They said to him, Why hast
thou done this? If thou fearest the
God that made
The Sea and
the dry land, why wast thou such a fool as to think thou couldst
flee from his presence? If the professors of religion do wrong,
they will hear it from those who make
No such profession. When
Sin has raised a storm, and laid us under the tokens of
God's
displeasure, we must consider what is to be done to the
Sin that
raised the storm.
Jonah uses the language of true penitents, who
desire that none but themselves may fare the worse for their
sins and follies.
Jonah sees this to be the
Punishment of his
iniquity, he accepts it, and justifies
God in it. When
Conscience is awakened, and a storm raised, nothing will turn it
into a calm but parting with the
Sin that caused the
disturbance. Parting with our
Money will not pacify the
Conscience, the
Jonah must be thrown overboard.
13-17 The mariners rowed against wind and tide, the wind of
God's displeasure, the tide of his counsel; but it is in vain to
think of saving ourselves any other way than
By destroying our
sins. Even natural
Conscience cannot but dread
Blood-guiltiness.
And when we are led
By Providence God does what he pleases, and
we ought to be satisfied, though it may not please us. Throwing
Jonah into
The Sea Put an
End to the storm.
God will not afflict
for ever, He will only contend till we submit and turn from our
sins. Surely these
Heathen mariners will rise up in
Judgment
against many called Christians, who neither offer prayers when
in distress, nor thanksgiving for signal deliverances. The
Lord
commands all creatures, and can make any of them serve his
designs of
Mercy to his people. Let us see this
Salvation of the
Lord, and admire his power, that he could thus save a drowning
Man, and his pity, that he would thus save one who was running
from him, and had offended him. It was of the
Lord's mercies
that
Jonah was not consumed.
Jonah was alive in the
Fish three
days and nights: to nature this was impossible, but to the
God
of nature all things are possible.
Jonah,
By this miraculous
preservation, was made a
Type of
Christ; as our blessed
Lord
himself declared, Mt 12:40.