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Jonah 1:8-10

8 Then said [amar] they unto him, Tell [nagad] us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil [ra] is upon us; What is thine occupation [mala'kah]? and whence [aiyn] comest [bow] thou? what is thy country [erets]? and of what people [am] art thou?
9 And he said [amar] unto them, I am an Hebrew [Ibriy]; and I fear [yare] the LORD [Yahovah], the God [elohiym] of heaven [shamayim], which hath made [asah] the sea [yam] and the dry [yabbashah] land.
10 Then were the men [enowsh] exceedingly [gadowl] [yir'ah] afraid [yare], and said [amar] unto him, Why hast thou done [asah] this? For the men [enowsh] knew [yada] that he fled [barach] from the presence [paniym] of the LORD [Yahovah], because he had told [nagad] them. KJV-Interlinear

8 Then they said to him, 'Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?' 9 And he said to them, 'I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.' 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, 'How could you do this?' For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. NASB

The sailors have discovered their man. Or so they presumed, by the results of their casting of the lots. Here is Jonah on the ship, not a sailor in the employ of the ships company but a mere passenger.

Immediately following the pointing of the accusatory finger at Jonah, the sailors, in their fright of the storm, and in their anger that someone was responsible for the storm (this they had already decided), immediately began giving him the third degree. The questions were angry, frantic and rapid.

'Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? Why are you here? And the questions went on and on as they pressed Jonah for a confession. They already knew (in their own minds) that he was the guilty party from their subjective approach to justice. Which approach of the casting of lots was not a legitimate method, but in this case when fear is great and there is belief that freedom will result by punishing someone, then they justified it in their own minds. Good thing for Jonah that there wasn't a volcano nearby. At least here Jonah could swim in the ocean for a little while. But then he did not yet know what they were intending to do to him. They could have hung him. Or they might have done something else, like cut him into pieces. But then lucky for Jonah they just wanted him off the ship.

Jonah could have denied it all, like Peter - 'I do not know the man!' But Jonah confessed his true identity and this struck both fear and amazement in the sailors. Fear because he stated that he was a servant of 'The Jehovah' of whom people the world over knew of His power. And the sailors were amazed that one who was a servant could actually disobey such a God. Now that last sentence is thought we might memorize.

Jonah identified himself as a Hebrew. This is the usual identification that both Israelites and gentiles used to distinguish the people of the God Jehovah from all other peoples.

'I fear the Lord,' is tantamount to saying 'I serve the Lord.'

The sailors think that the lots exposed the culprit on board, but Jonah not believing in the casting of lots, and knowing it for what it was, knew that God was now exposing him in this manner. He was caught by God and he knew it.

The sailors knew of their own false gods from the various local cities and regions of their travels. Each god supposedly stays within their own boundaries, but this God of the Hebrews was another God entirely. He is the creator of all things, and now His wrath was pointed directly at their ship. There was a widespread acknowledgment of the power of Jehovah among the heathen people and thus their terror.

Jonah has been found out, and now he is not only identified by God to these gentile sailors, but he is being rebuked by them. Not only was this embarrassing, but it was downright humiliating for Jonah.

And so it could be for you in your life. There will always be someone nearby to criticize you and your life. Though they have no right to do so, but you are always a target in the limelight when you associate with others. Remember our recent study of what happens to believers who do not advance to spiritual maturity? When they get to the Judgment Seat of Christ, they will experience tremendous embarrassment.

Why? Because like Jonah, believers know what they are supposed to do in life, but they, being negative, don't.

Thus they don't get with a daily study program. They don't live inside the fellowship sphere. They don't learn. They don't grow up. And when their life ends, they discover that their failure was all their own fault. And, to pour even more fuel on the fire, everyone else in heaven knows of their failure too. Thus the great embarrassment.

Jonah was caught. Even the mystical casting of lots, which in reality means nothing, nabbed him. God has a sense of humor. And Jonah got nailed and he knew it.

So avoid embarrassment in your life, especially at the end of your life, and get with a daily study of the Bible. Nothing in the spiritual life happens overnight, for the spiritual life is intended to be a life long commitment. God will not be your genie.

Jonah thought he was sailing to freedom by running away from God, but he will quickly realize an even greater humiliation. Bet you can't guess what that is going to be.

Get your life in order and gain your freedom through spiritual growth, not from the avoiding of God in your life. Ignoring God will gain you nothing but loss and misery. Pursuing God will gain you certain victory - in due course.

Note one more thing here. These are seasoned adult sailors, not on their first sailing trip and certainly not their first storm. Yet this storm was so unusual they were terrified and bent on finding someone to blame. But none of them noticed that the ship was still afloat, that they had enough time to test everyone's guilt with the casting of lots, and (most important) that they were all still alive.

The storm was still raging.

The world will swirl around you throughout your life, but as long as you are still alive, you have an opportunity to get with your spiritual life. Only you can screw it (your own life) all up.

Now is the time to post a prayer.

End Of Lesson

Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.

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