Jonah 1:16 - Reverent Fear

16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

Now do we see the truth in the Psalmist’s words...

"If thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." {Ps 130:3-4}

Whereas before the sailors feared the elements, now they fear the God of the elements, whom they know to be the God of Jonah. Before salvation people are afraid of God because of His wrath against their sin - but after they come into His forgiveness in Christ and begin to know that His wrath against them has gone, they are afraid in a deeper and more reverent way. Who would not fear a God that could conceive and execute such a plan of salvation? What wisdom, and courage and truth and grace and love and mercy; what power and steadfastness and faithfulness and humility! How it exceeds our grasp and our ability and even our understanding! Yet we know it to be true of Him because His indwelling Spirit testifies to the Truth, as Job knew...

"I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’ I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." {Job 42:2-6}

It is God’s wrath that drives men to Christ, but once they have obeyed God’s command to believe in the One Whom He has sent {Joh 6:29} it is His grace and love they abide in. Passing from death to life is passing from wrath to peace, from God’s fierce hatred to His abiding love.

The modern church has all but omitted reference to God’s just and abiding anger upon the sin of all mankind. As a consequence, many have no concept of the magnitude of His grace and love. The story of Jonah reminds us what it is that we are saved from - thereby making God’s salvation that much more glorious.

And see that, while it was God that delivered the sailors from the tempest, it was as a result of His deliverance that the men made vows and committed their lives to Him. Don’t get the cart before the horse. Until God is known in the heart a man will not follow Him. And it is God alone who can do this. But also know that, if God has truly done a work in your heart and you are born again, then you will make a vow to Him and commit all that you are and have in obedience to His Lordship.