Hey friends — there's a moment in Jonah 1 that's easy to read right past. A ship full of men, each praying to a different god, in the middle of a storm that doesn't care what any of them believe. But slow down there and you'll find something that reaches all the way from that ancient boat to us today. Come take a look.
Imagine being on that boat. Sailors from different ports, different gods, different prayers ... and the storm is getting worse. Everyone is crying out to someone. But whose god is actually listening?
If you slow down at the opening of Jonah 1, you'll find something that's easy to read right past. And once you see it, it opens up something enormous about who God is — and who He has always been for.
When the storm hits, the first thing the sailors do is pray. Verse 5 tells us each man cried out to his own god. This wasn't unusual ... the ancient world was deeply polytheistic, meaning people believed in and worshipped many gods. Different gods for different needs, different places, different trades.
In all likelihood, not a single shared belief on that boat. Just a collection of frightened men, each desperately reaching toward whoever he thought might be listening.
This is the world God sent Jonah into ... not just in Nineveh, but even on the way there.
Polytheism is simply the belief in many gods. And Psalm 115:4-8 gives us a striking picture of what those gods actually were ... crafted from silver and gold, with mouths that couldn't speak, eyes that couldn't see, ears that couldn't hear.
Made by human hands. Silent. Still.
If you want to see this contrast come alive in the most vivid way, read 1 Kings 18:1-40 — the showdown on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The prophets cry out all morning. They shout, they plead, they get nothing. Because there's nothing there to answer. It's one of my favorite passages for really feeling the vast difference between idols and the living God. Sit with it and notice what you observe.
(In our study, we took a deeper look into what polytheism means, reviewing Scripture to add to our topic study.)
So here's Jonah, asleep below deck while everyone above him is crying out to gods who can't respond.
Then the captain wakes him: Get up and call on your god. Maybe he will take notice of us.
What Jonah says next is everything ...
The God who made the sea.
Not a god of the sea. The God who spoke it into existence.
Psalm 96:5 puts it plainly: "All the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens." Idols are made. God makes. That's a difference worth sitting with.
(In our study we were led through a verse mapping exercise, studying Psalm 96:5 to understand this better.)
Here's what I love about this moment. These sailors weren't Israelites. They had no background with Scripture, no history with the God of Israel. And yet ... by the end of Jonah 1, they're worshipping. Verse 16 says they feared the Lord greatly, offered a sacrifice, and made vows to Him.
They came onto that ship with their own gods but ...
They left with a testimony.
And Nineveh — the whole reason Jonah was on that boat in the first place — was full of people just like them. Polytheistic. Powerful. Far from God by every measure. And yet God looked at that city and said, Go. Tell them. Because He had always been for them too.
The sailors didn't earn an encounter with the living God. The Ninevites hadn't sought Him out. But God moved toward them anyway — because that's simply who He is.
(In our study, we created a character study of God, highlighting some of the attributes of God's character from the previous pages Devotional Ripple.)
No matter where someone starts, what they've believed, or what they've left behind — the gift of salvation through Jesus is for anyone and everyone. The God who made the sea is the same God who pursues.every.soul.He.made. The sailors found that out in a storm. Nineveh found it out through a reluctant prophet. And we get to be part of that same story.
If you're working through the Jonah Bible Study Journal, the pages for this section will walk you through these passages — 1 Kings 18, Psalm 115, and Psalm 96. Take your time with them. The contrast between silent idols and the God who speaks is worth sitting with slowly.
One last peek inside my journal ...
