of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Some worshipped the forms of the sun and moon; others the star of their god Remphan; some the image of a calf, and others the beetle and the serpent. The idolatry of Joppa was of another kind-Joppa was a city of the Philistines, and was the principal sea-port among that people-the name of the idol which they worshipped was Dagon, and it was represented under the form of a large fish*; and this god, this idol-god, was supposed to be the protector of all those who sailed upon the ocean. The idolaters believed that every city, and people, and country, was under the protection of some particular deity. They did not deny that Jehovah was the God of Israel, but they believed that he was the god of that country only; and they believed, on the same principle, that Dagon was the god of Joppa, and that both were equal. The opinion therefore which these idolatrous people would have formed of the conduct of the prophet Jonah would have been this,--that he had fled from the protection of his own God, and placed himself under the protection of another god, even of their own dumb idol. They would interpret his conduct to be the acknowledging the power of their idol to be so great, that he would be able to protect the prophet who was endeavouring to escape from the

4 Rom. i. 23.

Appendix, Note 2.

God of Israel. It was the first time in the history of the world, that a commissioned prophet of the One true God, had attempted to disobey an express and specific command of his Creator, by endeavouring to flee out of the land of Israel. If Jonah, therefore, had made his escape in safety, the idolaters would have been confirmed in their belief, that their own dumb idol was equal in power to the God of Israel; and deep would have been the grief of the religious Israelites, and loud would have been the rejoicing of the idolaters, if they had seen the timid prophet withdraw from the presence of Jehovah, refuse to obey Him, place himself under the protection of an idol, and then escape in safety.

Such were the circumstances which preceded the miracle related in this text, and now we are brought to the object and design of that miracle.

The first object and design of the miracle was to demonstrate the power of the God of Israel over the god of the idolaters, and to prove to them, by a peculiar act of power over their dumb idols, that He was the God of the whole earth, and not the God of Israel only. It seemed to be necessary to check the madness of the prophet, and to prove to him, and to all surrounding nations, that none could escape His power. Though they should take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost part of the sea, even there also His eye could see,-His right hand could arrest them. Such was the first object of the miracle, and it was one

suitable to the very extraordinary circumstances of that day.

The second object was of a more general nature: -to prove the certainty of the resurrection from the dead, by such a remarkable representation of the recovery of a man from the grave, as was given in the recovery of Jonah. In both these respects the miracle was worthy of Jehovah. It might have reasonably been expected, that He should prove His power over the gods of the heathen, when His own prophets forgot Him: and it was no less important to demonstrate to that ignorant and idolatrous age, as well as to all succeeding ages, that the GOD OF ISRAEL was the Lord of the spirits of man; and that as He could preserve the life of the prophet when he went down into the moving and living grave which God had prepared for him,-so also could God preserve the spirits of men, while their bodies were committed to the grave. It was in this light, too, that our Saviour Himself regarded the deliverance of Jonah. He declared that the swallowing up of Jonah was a type, a representation, an emblem of His own death and resurrection. And thus does the history of Jonah become one of the most instructive narratives in the Old Testament, not only to the Jews and to the idolaters of his own age, but to all the generations of mankind from the times of the prophet until the day of Judgment.

Let us now consider the effect of this deliverance of Jonah, upon the sailors, and upon the

people of Joppa; upon the prophet himself, and upon the people of Nineveh, and of Israel.

The effect of the miracle upon the sailors of the ship in which the prophet had sailed, is fully related in the book of Jonah; they became the worshippers of Jehovah, they forsook the worship of their idol, the god of Joppa, and sacrificed to the God of Israel, and offered their vows to Him. What the consequence of the miraculous preservation of Jonah might have been upon the people of Joppa, is not mentioned in Scripture; we may, however, believe that it was no less effective than it had been upon the mariners. The inspired narrative tells us, that the fish cast forth Jonah upon the dry land *. The sea was calm, and the shore of their country was so low and shallow, that a large fish could approach to it with difficulty, yet they behold, by some superhuman power, that a large fish, the form of the god they worshipped, was thrown far up, upon their coast,they gather round it, they perceive a living man come forth from its mouth, they inquire who he is, and from whence he came; the repentant Jonah could inform them I am a prophet of the God of Israel, I forsook the service of my God, who has in mercy granted you time for repentance, and who calls upon you to turn from your worship of idols to serve Him. The God of Israel has proved His power over your idol god, by com

* Appendix, Note 3.

manding him to preserve me, and by then permitting your god to perish before his own temples in the presence of you, its own worshippers, on the sea-shore. See there your dumb, and dying deity. He cannot deliver you, you are unable to save and deliver him. The Lord Jehovah is God, the God of Israel is the only true God; serve and worship Him, and Him alone.' The mariners would confirm the report of Jonah, that he had been thrown into the sea: and there can be little doubt that the effect of the miracle would have been the same upon the people of Joppa, as it was upon the mariners,-that they sacrificed to the Lord, and vowed vows.

The effect of his deliverance upon the prophet himself was, that he proceeded to the accomplishment of his mission to the people of Nineveh; and the consequence of his preaching among them, to whom he would certainly have related this miracle, was more remarkable than the preaching of any prophet recorded in history. The people of Nineveh were proverbial for their licentiousness, their idolatry, and their pride. Yet the whole nation, from the king to the meanest citizen, repented at the preaching of Jonah; and it is the only instance recorded in sacred and profane history, of the sudden and universal repentance of a whole people. They mourned, and they wept for their sins, and they were spared forty years longer, before they were punished, for their relapsing again into idolatry.

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