1:7
“And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.”
Men are always looking for a scapegoat, as they say, when things go wrong, and the conclusion they will come to is that the church has failed them, and more particularly that we have failed them. The lot fell upon Jonah. The finger of God will point us out as the disobedient messengers who bring trouble on ourselves, on our group, on our community and on our nation. It is an inescapable conclusion. Why is the world around us in such chaos? It is because we are asleep in it when we should be separate from it, calling upon men everywhere to repent. Our mission in life is to preach repentance and remission of sins. As long as we refuse to do what God has told us to do the chaos around us only worsens. The lot fell upon Jonah. It is the disobedient messenger who is the cause of the trouble in the world we live in, not the common people going about their daily tasks. The tempestuous conditions of life about which we grumble so much are our fault, as Jonah shows. Not their fault, our fault. Not the shipmaster’s fault, our fault. While we slept, they were trying to pray! If conditions get so bad eventually that they must look for a scapegoat, the finger of God will lead them to us. Where were we told to go? To the city. What were we to preach? Repentance. Why must we do that? Because of man’s wickedness. But are we doing that? No! Therefore God points to us and says, “There is the cause of these storms in life.”
1:8-9
“Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupations? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?” “Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us?”
Well, we know the answer to that question. We are the cause of the trouble in the world, because we are disobedient messengers who refuse to do God’s will. “What is thine occupation?” Not your job, but your work! Our Lord said, “My work is to do the will of Him who sent Me.” And we claim to be following Him. “What is thine occupation?” and with what are you occupying yourself until He come? Are we preaching repentance in a sinful world or are we asleep in the ship? “And whence comest thou?” We must surely acknowledge that we are born-again sons of God, following in the footsteps on the Only-begotten One. Why then are we in this present position? These are indeed searching questions. “What is thy country?” We say we are pilgrims and strangers in the earth, going home to God, but do we act that way? “And of what people art thou?” God’s elect or man’s world? Know we not that love of the world is enmity against God? “And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.” Speak up, Jonah. It is a long time since we heard your testimony, since anyone heard your testimony. Are you of the faith of faithful Abraham? Do you fear God your Creator? they shouldn’t have to prise it out of you with thumb-screws. We are meant to be the messengers of God, the witnesses of Christ, carrying the words of God to a sinful world. Instead we are silent, asleep, fleeing from our duty, trying to avoid God, and reluctant to bear testimony unless closely questioned.
