Jonah prayed while he was inside the fish. Why the fish swallowed Jonah? Reason is very clear, Jonah flees from the Lord. God’s word came to Jonah go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the
ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” This terrified them and they asked, what have you done? The sea was getting rougher and rougher and they asked him, what should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us? Jonah replied pick me up and throw me into the sea, it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you. Sailors cried out to the Lord, Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased. They took Jonah and threw him overboard, the raging sea grew calm. A big fish swallowed Jonah. Jonah started crying and praying.
This incident is a good lesson for us. We are also trying to run away from our Lord. Think how long we can live without listening God’s words? A rough sea is waiting for us!