Beyond the Mistake: Jonah and the Forgotten Crew

I love me some Jonah. He and I are tizzight like wicks and wax, honey and combs, Christmas and October. His is just one of those stories that especially resonates with me as a fellow wanderer.

But this morning my eyes were opened to a new facet of Jonah’s story. The Tarshish-bound crew. I’ve always known about those other people on the boat, but they seem irrelevant once they throw Jonah overboard and God acts like Liam Neeson and releases the Kraken.

As a creator and lover of stories, I sometimes find myself focusing on those seemingly insignificant background characters. I wonder, what’s their story? Where are they headed in life? What drives them, repulses them? What’s their favorite cereal? Worst high school memory?

Because of one man’s disobedient fleeing from God, an entire crew of seemingly insignificant background characters’ lives were changed forever.

Changed for the indescribable good.

When the storm hit, each crew member “cried out to his god,” (1:5) implying none of them knew the one true God. And then they found Jonah sleeping down below.

(I could go on a whole ‘nother tangent about sleeping dudes on boats tossed to and fro amid horrific thunderstorms.)

Amid this life-threatening storm, the crew drilled Jonah for info on his homeland, his own god, etc. In essence: “Jonah, quick; what’s your story?”

Jonah responded, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (1:9) And Jonah then suggested having himself thrown overboard to kill the storm.

Maybe the crew was just desperate to try anything at this periling moment (Magical hokey pokey dance? Quick, everyone put your right foot in, then out!). But when Jonah hit the water and the storm indeed ceased, these Tarshish-goers got one last verse before they disappeared from Scripture:

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows. (1:16)

Suddenly, all those other gods fell by the wayside and these men “feared the Lord exceedingly.”

Lives changed. Forever.

Because of one man’s mistake.

I’m trying to see God’s overarching perspective on this whole deal. He’s angry with Nineveh so He speaks to Jonah, fully knowing that J-Money is totally gonna try to run from Him (how cute). So God unleashes one of His God-trademarked storms not only to bring Jonah back to Him again, but also bring an entire crew of people to Him for the very first time. To save them in a way far transcending gentle waves and clear skies.

So. Had Jonah not originally disobeyed, how would the crew’s lives have changed? What if they’d stayed attached to “their own gods” on that trip to Tarshish and done Tarshish things and came back home and never experienced knowing the one true God?

It’s insanity, really — how our good/bad decisions can dramatically affect others. And while this story shouldn’t serve as an excuse to disobey God so that He can use our screw-ups to save the lost Tarshish-bound, it’s comforting to know God still reigns even when we do falter. Stray.

God can take my missteps and failures and utter disasters and totally transform them not only for my good, but also the good of others.

Just ask the Tarshish crew. They were never the same because a silly man thought he could run from God.

I wonder what they said to Jonah next time they saw him.