Jonah 1:10
Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Jonah was given a special message to cry against Nineveh, but being averse to bearing it he deliberately fled from the presence of the Lord toward Tarshish by way of Joppa instead of obeying. He himself told the sailors of his flight, disclosing that he feared the God who made the sea, and with the lot identifying him as the guilty one this led them to connect his flight with the storm upon them. When the men learned that he was fleeing from the Lord they became exceedingly afraid and confronted him over what he had done, asking why he had done this. That disobedient flight brought severe affliction by which God taught Jonah the lesson of obedience that enabled him to fulfill God's purpose for the inhabitants of Nineveh.