Castaway Exposed
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to play hide and go seek. If you were really good, and had a really good spot, sometimes you might be enticed to just lie down and fall asleep while they are looking for you. That’s what Jonah is doing. He is running from God, thinks he is hiding his disobedience from God, and he has fallen asleep. Remember last week, in verse 6, the captain of the boat wakes him up. That’s where we find ourselves today.
Our sins are always exposed before God. (7)
We know that to be true. But we don’t live like it. We act a lot more like Jonah than we often think.
The sailors are calling out to their gods, as we saw last week, but to no avail. They realize there’s something supernatural about this storm, so they try to get to the bottom of it. They resort to casting lots. This was an ancient practice like rolling dice and was commonly used to figure out God’s will in certain situations. If you need to discover God’s will, just drive up to The Mint and throw some dice. Just kidding…
The lot fell on Jonah. What luck! Not really. Why did the lot fall on Jonah? The answer gives us a profound insight into our life. Ours sins are always exposed before God. Jonah couldn’t hide his sin from God. His secret sin was exposed, and the sailors’ suspicions were confirmed: Jonah was the cause of the storm they were facing.
The casting of lots may seem like a random, almost superstitious act, but Scripture teaches us otherwise at different times. Proverbs 16:33 reminds us that “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” This isn’t about chance; it’s about God’s sovereignty. He orchestrated this event to expose Jonah’s sin, making it clear that nothing—absolutely nothing—is hidden from His sight.
Here’s where the application hits home: Just as Jonah’s sin was brought to light, so will ours. Hebrews 4:13 says, “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Jonah might have thought he could run from God, but he couldn’t hide. And neither can we. “You can run, but you can’t hide!” Our sins, whether hidden in the deepest recesses of our hearts or buried beneath layers of denial, will inevitably be exposed before the holy and righteous God. No amount of running can avoid it.
What’s hidden will come to light. And when it the sin causes harm, sin being exposed is for our good and God’s glory. Sin destroys. I’ve told this before, but it’s worth telling again, since we have so many new people. One day my daughter, when she was younger, spilled her milk in our kitchen. We thought we cleaned it all up. But we didn’t. A lot got under our kitchen mat. It was out of sight and out of mind. Until it wasn’t. Milk doesn’t just sit there. You know what it does; It curdles. We didn’t find out until it was exposed. Our daughter stepped on the mat one day, it slipped out from under her, and she fell, splat into the curdled milk. It smelled so bad that Sara and I had to take turns cleaning her because we kept gagging. This teaches us that we can’t sweep sin under the rug. Sin is destructive, and God wants us to flourish.
Like Jonah, our sins have a way of catching up to us. God, in His love and mercy, doesn’t let us remain comfortable in our hidden sins. He orchestrates events, sometimes even allowing storms in our lives, to bring those sins to light. This isn’t to shame us but, out of His great mercy, it is to bring us to a place of repentance and restoration. Just as Jonah’s sin was revealed to the sailors, God will reveal our sins—not to condemn us, but to heal us.
This truth should stir within us a holy fear—not fear in the sense of terror, but deep reverence and awe.
A proper understanding of God’s nature should lead us to fear Him rather than flee from Him. (8-10)
Jonah is confronted by the sailors, who are now fully aware that he is the cause of the storm. Desperate for answers, they shine the light on him and put him in the interrogation seat: “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” In response, we hear Jonah speak for the first time. Here’s what he says: “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
This confession from Jonah is powerful, but it’s also paradoxical. Jonah claims to fear the Lord, yet he is actively fleeing from His presence. The irony is overwhelming. How can someone who truly fears God—who acknowledges Him as the Creator of the sea and the land—attempt to run from Him? You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?...
Here’s something else that is paradoxical. While Jonah is fleeing, the sailors are fearing. It’s so backwards! The sailors, hearing Jonah’s confession, are struck with “great fear,” verse ten says. They realize that the God Jonah serves is not just any god; He is the God of heaven, the Creator of all things. This realization brings them to the brink of terror. They understand that running from a god is one thing, but attempting to escape from the God who made the sea and the dry land—especially while on the sea—is utter foolishness.
They undoubtedly had heard of this God of the Israelites, who brought down plagues on Egypt, who parted the Red Sea, who led them for forty years by pillar of cloud and fire, who brought the walls of Jericho down and conquered Canaan, who was mighty through King David, and more. They had heard of this God, and it led them to fear.
A proper understanding of God’s nature should lead us to fear Him. Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This isn’t a fear that freezes us, but a fear that falls us to our knees in humble submission.
Do you truly understand the nature of the God you serve? Do you fear Him in a way that leads to obedience, or are you running from His commands, thinking you can escape His presence? The proper response to understanding God’s nature is not to flee but to draw near in reverence, submitting to His will with a heart that desires to please Him. That’s what truly encountering God, even amidst our sins being exposed, should lead to.
You can’t solve spiritual problems through physical means. (11-13)
Remember, the storm is sent by God. The sailors now know that Jonah’s disobedience is the cause of their storm, so they ask him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” Jonah responds to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”
Even with this instruction, though, the sailors hesitate. Instead of throwing Jonah overboard right away, they try to row back to land. They literally “dig” their oars into the water with all their might, but you know what? Their efforts are useless. The sea only grows more violent. You can’t solve spiritual problems through physical means.
The sailors’ actions are a picture of our natural response to problems we face—we try to fix things ourselves. Our instinct is to grab the oars and row harder, to rely on our own strength, wisdom, and resources. But what we often fail to realize is that spiritual problems require spiritual solutions. The problem was Jonah’s disobedience. The sea wouldn’t stop raging until that issue was fixed.
The true answer to their problems wasn’t even to throw Jonah into the sea. Yes, that would stop the storm, and it did, but that’s not the real answer. Jonah told them to throw him into the sea because he would rather die than do what God told him to do. The real answer Jonah should have given was, “Turn the ship around!” Repentance is the solution to the sin-wrought storms we face. That’s not just true of Jonah. It’s true for you.
Isaiah 30:15 says, “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning [repentance] and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling…” The solution to our spiritual dilemmas is not found in our own efforts but in turning to God, in repentance and in faith.
The storms of life can’t be calmed by human hands; they require divine intervention. And the greatest storm we face is because of our sin. But God has provided the solution for that.
God provides salvation through substitutionary atonement. (14-15)
The sailors are at the end of their rope. They’ve tried everything—they’ve prayed to their gods, they’ve lightened the ship by throwing the cargo overboard, and they’ve even tried to row back to land. But nothing works. Now, in their desperation, they turn to the God of Jonah, Yahweh, and cry out, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”
The sailors, who previously were calling out to other false gods, are now calling on Yahweh by name, recognizing His sovereignty and power. But what they do next is even more profound, especially in the context of the greater biblical narrative. They take Jonah and throw him into the sea. And immediately, the sea ceases from its raging. The storm that threatened to destroy them is stilled, and the sailors are saved.
What we see here is a powerful foreshadowing of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. Jonah, the guilty party, is offered as a sacrifice, in a sense, to save the innocent sailors. In this act, we see a glimpse of the greater sacrifice to come—the ultimate act of substitutionary atonement that would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Just as Jonah was thrown into the sea to appease God’s wrath and bring peace to the sailors, Jesus was crucified to satisfy God’s justice and bring salvation to all who believe.
Jesus Himself even alluded to this. In Matthew 12:40, He says, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The idea of substitutionary atonement is central to the Christian faith. It’s the understanding that Jesus took our place on the cross, bearing the punishment that we deserved for our sins. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” This is what Jonah’s sacrifice points to—one man, offering himself for others, so that they might be saved.
This doctrine is often referred to as penal substitutionary atonement. The word “penal” is a legal term. It brings about this picture of standing in a court of law. The Bible says that we all will be judged.[1] Listen to what Romans 2:16 even says about this judgment day: “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”
Where people so often try to earn their way to favor with God through good works or religious practices, the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is profoundly countercultural and counterintuitive. It tells us that salvation isn’t something we achieve; it’s something we receive because of what Christ has done. Just as Jonah’s sacrifice brought peace and salvation to the sailors, Christ’s sacrifice brings peace and salvation to our souls, reconciling us to God. Just like the sailors, our efforts to earn salvation are useless—Jesus has already done the work. Our role is to accept His sacrifice with gratitude and live in the freedom it brings.
God’s mercy is available to all who turn to Him, no matter their past. (16)
Verse 16 really should be the end of the chapter, and verse 17 should start the next one.[2] Verse 16 shows a climactic transformation. The same sailors who began this journey crying out to their false gods are now filled with reverent fear towards Yahweh. The text tells us, “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”
God’s mercy is available to all who turn to Him, regardless of their past. These sailors weren’t Israelites; they didn’t previously worship Yahweh, yet God powerfully made Himself known to them. And they responded in faith, offering sacrifices and making vows to Him. This is a powerful reminder that God’s grace is not limited by our nationality, our past sins, our prior ignorance, or our prior disbelief. His mercy extends to all who turn to Him in faith.
This story also serves as a foreshadowing of the wider mercy of God that would one day extend beyond Israel to the Gentiles, through Jesus Christ. It’s a glimpse of the Gospel message that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). No matter where we’ve come from, no matter what we’ve done, God’s mercy is available to us if we will just turn to Him in faith.
There are countless people who believe they are too far gone for God to love them. You may think your sins are too great, or your past too stained, or you’ve disbelieved in Him for too long. But the story of Jonah reminds us that God’s mercy is boundless and available to anyone who turns to Him. Whether you’ve known God for years or are just discovering Him, His grace is sufficient for all. This is a powerful message of hope for those who feel disqualified by their past—God’s love and mercy are not limited by our history.
So, be encouraged to come to God with whatever burdens, sins, or past mistakes you carry. His arms are open wide, ready to receive you, just as He received those sailors. God’s mercy is greater than your failures, and His mercy extends to all who turn to Him. Jesus took our place. And He calls us to respond in faith.
[1] Matthew 12:36; Romans 2:16; 14:12; Revelation 20:11-15
[2] James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, vol. 1, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983), 279.
