40 matching verse commentaries
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Learn, hence, that “Omnipotence has servants everywhere.” The Lord is never short of sheriff’s officers to arrest his fugitives, and on that occasion he “sent out a great wind into the sea.” “The wind bloweth where it...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, — If there is ever a special time for prayer, it is a time of need. Nature seems then to compel men to utter prayer of such a sort as it is, for it is but nature’s prayer at the best: “The mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god,” — Jon_1:5. And cast forth the wares...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. It is hard when sinners have to rebuke saints, and when an uncircumcised Gentile can address a prophet of God in language like this.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. We commend not the action of these men in casting lots, but we admire the providence by which is the lot fell upon Jonah. Solomon says, “The lot is cast into the lap,” but he did...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then they said unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us, What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? I do not know whether these men had traded with those who then lived in these islands, but they had a very English custom of not judging a man before they had...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew: That let them know whence he came, and what his country was. Jon_1:9. And I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. That, I suppose, must be regarded as his occupation; and what a blessed occupation it is, — to be occupied with the fear of the Lord! So, you see that, though...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? Jonah had to go through this catechism, question after question, and this was the hardest of them all: “Why hast thou done this?” Could you, dear friend, submit every action of your life to this test? “Why hast thou done this?” I am afraid that there are some...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? Here is another question; the catechism is not yet finished, and this is one of the most difficult of all.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
For the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: Notwithstanding all his faults, Jonah was an eminent type of Christ. We know that from our Lord’s own words, for he was as long in the belly of the whale as Christ was in the heart of the earth. Here he...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; They showed a deal of good feeling in all their treatment of Jonah. They could not bear to take away a fellow-creature’s life, so they pulled and tugged in order to get the ship to land.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Their safety lay in the sacrifice, — not in the labour. They rowed hard to bring the ship to land, but their efforts were of no avail. If they would cast Jonah overboard, then they would be safe.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, — Put the emphasis on the first word, “So they took up Jonah”; that is, with great reluctance, with much pity and...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. Jonah had been the means of causing a greater change than he expected. His conduct and punishment had been a warning to those thoughtless sailors. They could not but believe in the God...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. He prepared a storm, he prepared a fish and we afterwards read that he prepared a gourd, and he prepared a worm. In the great things of life, and in the little things, God is ever present. The swimming of a great fish in the sea is, surely, not a thing that is subject to law. If ever...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly. What a strange place for prayer! Surely then is the only prayer that ever went up to God out of a fish’s belly. Jonah found himself alive;-that was the surprising thing, that he was alive in the belly of a fish;-and because he was alive, he began to pray. It is such a wonder that...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me;- You see that this is not praying, it is telling the Lord what he had done for his disobedient servant. Jonah had prayed, and the Lord had heard him, yet he was still in the fish’s belly. Unbelief would have said, “You have lived so long; Jonah; but you cannot expect to...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; The word Jonah used implies that God had violently cast him away into the deep. “Cast me not off,” prayed David, but here is a man who says that God did cast him out like a thing flung overboard into the vast deep: “Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas;” —...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. What grand faith Job displayed when he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him;” and here is another splendid manifestation of faith, “’I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.’ If God does not look at me, I...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:- They seemed to get right into his spirit; his heart became waterlogged: “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:” — Jon_2:5. The depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. Like his winding-sheet,-as if the cerements of the grave were wrapped about his mouth, and...