Jonah was to this ship and its crew as Achan was to Israel. Beware of sin! It will turn the man of God and the messenger of the truth into a harbinger of ill and a stumbling block to all! Consider these verses.

I. JONAH’S INTERROGATION 

Jonah was found out! He ran, he hid but he is found out. The lot has identified Jonah as the cause of the storm.

1. There is fear in these questions. Verse 10. Note the haste. The reality of God’s power, justice, and omniscience has been demonstrated to them because of this man.  Who was he??

2. There is certainty in these questions. They give him a name — “for whose cause this evil is upon us”. What a sad testimony for him to bear!

3. There is sad ignorance in these questions. Note that there was no call for Jonah to repent as was the case with Achan, Joshua 7:18-19. Repentance plays no part in the thinking of ungodly men!

II. JONAH’S EXPLANATION

These are the first recorded words of Jonah.

1. He identifies himself. “I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land,” verse 9. He speaks of his: 1. Privileged nationality. 2. His personal faith. 3. His calling as a prophet. He does not hide who and what he is.

2. He indicts himself. He tells them of his running away in disobedience, verse 10. His sin is all the more serious because of his background and privileges. He was a runaway but he still feared God. The trouble on the ship was the result of a controversy between God and His servant Jonah. The trouble in our little Province likewise stems from a dispute between God and His people.

3. He exonerates God. “My sake”, verse 12. 

4. He confessed his sin and that brought a change. There is an old verse we must never forget.“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,” 2 Chronicles 7:14.