All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god...
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked [Jonah], "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
"Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the Lord, "O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased." Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
- Jonah 1:5a, 11-17 (NIV)
We usually focus on Jonah or maybe the Ninevites. How about the sailors?
The text doesn't say that the sailors would not have turned to God if Jonah had gone to Nineveh in the first place. (Perhaps God in His sovereignty would have provided other means - it is counterfactual to speculate.) Nevertheless, the text does say that what happened - namely Jonah turning from God - led to the sailors turning to God.
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." - Jonah 2:8 (NIV)
"When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened." - Jonah 3:10 (NIV)
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
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"The only sacrifice is to live outside the will of God." - David Livingstone
"To run away from the will of God is to run away from God." - Ajith Fernando
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