Jonah 1:4

"But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken."

"Jehovah sent out a great wind ..." The Scriptures abundantly teach that all of the forces of nature are under the direct command of the God of heaven; and there are many instances in which these have been specifically deployed in the accomplishment of God's will. The miracle (yes, this is undoubtedly a miracle) here is not capricious. There is a moral and ethical reason behind it. "It was not a purposeless demonstration of the Lord's power over the elements, nor even just to smash inflexible Jonah, but to give him a sense of concern for the sailors, and thus for the Ninevites."[24]

"So that the ship was like to be broken ..." Some of the old versions translate this, "So that the ship thought to be dashed to pieces."[25] Such expressions were sometimes used of inanimate things; and this one has the exact meaning of that given in our text. The ship was in dire straits, and was threatened every moment by complete destruction. It was not evidently the time of the year when such storms were expected, else the ship would not have been bound for Tarshish at all; and the sailors immediately attributed the violent and unusual storm to the wrath of "some god," as they supposed, having no knowledge whatever of the one true God.