Sleepy Sailor Scares Seasoned Seamen Series

The one thing which strikes me about these sailors is that they were Sinners. The Bible is silent about which god they reverenced; the Word implies that these sailors were a mixture of different religious’ beliefs because each was praying to “his god.” Some commentary writers think these sailors came from the East carrying forth each one’s own family religion with the god of one’s particular persuasion.

It is worth speculating that these sailors never needed to exercise their personal belief in such a public manner before this time. We also do not know if these sailors were very religious in public or in private, but in the storm in which they were involved, they were not afraid to pray to each one’s own god. Some postulate that it does not matter what one believes, just so one is sincere in one’s faith. I contend on the Scripture before us that that belief is erroneous. It was not too long after verse five where we see these public praying sinners seeking the true God. These sailors were sincere, but they were believing in the wrong deity to help them. I note that Jonah was missing the prayer meeting which was in progress on deck. Here he was sent to Nineveh to tell them about God and to watch them fall on their knees to pray to God for His forgiveness. Instead of seeing people in prayer for forgiveness for their sins at Nineveh, he was far away in the hold of the ship fast asleep while the lost and scarred sailors were calling out to their gods for help in a prayer meeting out on the Sea.

I cannot help but see how this whole situation is relevant to today’s Church. While so many of God’s saints are asleep, the sinners of other faiths are busy praying to their separate gods. Oh, that these sinners would call upon the real God, then we would see a great revival!

Not only were they Sinners who were praying openly to each one’s own god, but they were Struggling Sinners. They realized after a short time that their prayers were not going to save them so they did what they had to do and that was to cast away all that was not needed on ship. They began throwing overboard all of their cargo. Again, I return to the Church as a comparison with today and with the scene before us. When anyone comes to Christ, one must be willing to cast overboard all that is weighing one down. One cannot hold on to illicit drugs, sex and morals and still take up the name of Jesus. Jesus calls us all to rid ourselves of everything that would hinder our walk with Him. These sailors were struggling with calling out to their own god and nothing was helping so they began to rid the boat of the cargo they were carrying in order to make it through the storm. When push comes to shove, people who are desperate to find God will do all that is necessary to meet Him and to keep Him in their souls.

Besides these SAILORS being Sinners, Struggling Sinners, they were also Seeking Sinners. When all of their efforts proved fruitless, they continued to seek for some type of help and safety from the STORM which was upon them with such furry. I have to admire these seamen, they were persistent. They were determined to find relief for as long as they could carry on their search for help. What makes it so sad is the fact that they are so reflective of people who are seeking help from the storms of life and the Christian friend, relative, co-worker, etc is so close but offers no help to the desperate ones of today who are seeking help from their storms of life.