Jonah 2
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Start again with the fact that Jonah is not fictitious.
This is how we are going to start this every week for our Jonah series. Don’t get hung up on whether or not you can accept that a man could be swallowed by a great fish or a whale or whatever. If you really have to clear this up for yourself, in your own mind then please remember who God is. Remember that he is outside of time and space. Remember that he spoke the universe into existence. Remember that our faith hinges on the fact that Jesus was dead for 3 days and then physically came back to life. The Christian faith is built on that one event. And
If you have trouble believing that then I guess I can understand why you may have a hard time with Jonah and this story. Because from a physical aspect, from a scientific aspect it doesn’t make sense. But God is outside of all of those things. But we have a miraculous God. We cannot try to explain miracles scientifically because that makes them NON Miracles.
I want to trust my soul to the God that can raise people from the dead. I want to place my life in the hands of the one who gave his life for me. The one who walked on water, the one who said “Lazarus come out”.
If I place my trust in science then I make science my God. I am not saying that I don’t recognize science, I certainly do. But I also believe that God can and does work outside of our understanding of science.
One of my commentaries states that The debate about whether or not Jonah was swallowed by a whale has swallowed up biblical expositors at both ends of the spectrum. Unfortunately, God’s deliverance of Jonah becomes secondary to the debate.
I think the debate about whether or not Jonah was swallowed by a whale has swallowed up biblical expositors at both ends of the spectrum. Unfortunately, God’s deliverance of Jonah becomes secondary to the debate cite preachers commentary
And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Commentaries talk about modern day readers not being able to accept Jonah’s fate. Some saying that it IS actually physically possible and that there have been those times when some whaler fell into the sea and a large sperm whale swallowed him whole and the next day they kill the whale and found the sailor alive inside but never right in the head. of course But even those fantastic stories usually ended up as made up.
But even those fantastic stories usually ended up as made up.
There are other modern scholars that say that what actually happened was that Jonah escaped the sea by staying at an inn called the fish.
We don’t know exactly what Jonah went through as he was inside of this fish.
Again, don’t know the details. But either way, fish or whale it would have been horrible. If it was a fish, a fish is cold blooded so that means that the internal temperature of the fish would be the same as the water surrounding that fish. The sea that Jonah was in would have been the Mediterranean which in the winter, the Temp could be as low as 57, or at the highest temp in the summer would be 80 f. That is cold. I don’t know if you have spent an amount of time in cold water, but 80 degree water is still cold. For an hour it’s okay, but three days...
Let ‘s say it was a warm blooded animal, like a whale. The internal temp of a sperm whale is between 104-108. Can you imagine? Hot, sticky, slimy, smelly.
Either unbearingly cold or unbearlingly hot. That is where Jonah was.
And don’t even get me started with the close confines. I am not really claustrophobic, but I am a little claustrophobic. Just thinking about the close quarters in this animal skeeves me out a little.
And it’s dark in there. Really dark. What do you do in there? What do you do in this stinky, wet, smelly disgusting dark place?
You pray. That’s what Jonah did. That’s what he should have done.
This story is not about a whale, or a fish or really even the prophet.
The subject of the verse is the LORD.
Look at verse 17
And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
17The Lord sent
The Lord sent. We will come to understand that this is the love of God for Jonah and for the Ninevites that Jonah is supposed to preach to.
There is a way that you can go. There is an easy way and there is a hard way.
Jonah was given a task that he flat out ran away from. Now, Jonah is in the belly of the fish. Now remember, God put him there.
The subject of the verse is the LORD. The Lord sent
Jonah is in the belly of the fish.
It is within these confines that Jonah experiences TRUE freedom.
Please know that our God is so loving. His plan is so powerful and He loves you so much he will do anything to get your attention.
God may use any means to get your attention
It could be anything. It could be a loss, it could be a sickness, it could be a scare, it could be a falling out. But God loves you so much that He is willing to do whatever it takes to get his children back where they belong. In His care, in His arms.
God sends a fish to swallow Jonah.
Jonah finally cries to God. He prays and is truly at God’s mercy. God doesn’t HAVE to take care of Jonah. Jonah submits to the Father.
And please remember that this isn’t God’s judgement on Jonah, this is God’s plan.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
saying,
“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed
Jonah is done for. He is as good as dead
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O LORD my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah was on a real downhill journey. It started at the beginning
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
Jonah 1:3-5
Finally, he went down into the depths of the sea. Jonah could get no lower.
He has been swallowed up and he finally prays.
What is his prayer? God get me out of here! I am in a fish! Get me out of here God! That might be my prayer.
He has been running from God but now he is finally acknowledging God. Even in this hell that he is in. Look at verse 2, he says that out of the belly of sheol I cried.
That word Sheol for Jonah would have meant hell. Sheol is the place of the dead. Jonah says that he could go no further down. And He doesn ‘t blame the sailors for throwing him in, he knows it was God
He doesn ‘t blame the sailors, he knows it was God
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
He doesn’t
Jonah believes that he was basically dead and saved by God. A resurrection if you will.
Old Testament XIV: The Twelve Prophets Jonah Repents through Prayer from the Depths
Finally from these depths Jonah, who was set in the whale’s belly and had entered hell alive, spoke to the Lord with silent vehemence. The whale was a house of prayer for the prophet, a harbor for him when shipwrecked, a home amid the waves, a happy resource at a desperate time. He was not swallowed for sustenance but to gain rest;
Does God have his attention now? God has really gotten his attention and we read that Jonah Prays.
What mountains encompass you?
For us, this morning, we remember that
there is always a time to pray.
Doesn’t matter where you are, or what situation you are in, or even how far away from God you have been, there is always a time to pray. Jonah was doing everything he could to get away from God and God gets his attention and now he is praying. There is always time for it.
So we have the Prayer of Jonah/Psalm of Jonah
And listen, this prayer is probably not the only prayer. Not the only thing Jonah said in there. He spent 3 days in there, this is probably the culmination of things that were said, that were prayed for. Remember, he didn’t have a flashlight or a pen and paper. He just prayed.
It is amazing that something so profound yet so simple as prayer is given to us. We are given the privilege to talk to the God of the universe and you have his ear
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
That verse says we can come boldly before the throne. Not to demand anything of God, but that we are always welcome as a child is to a parent.
Hebrews
says we can come boldly before the throne. Not to demand anything of God, but that we are always welcome as a child is to a parent.
Jonah is praying. And listen, remember that Jonah has a history of spending time with God, praying to God, being the mouthpiece of God so Jonah is very familiar with Scripture and we see that when we look at his prayer.
We don’t have the time to do this today, but if you look at this prayer you will see something interesting.
The numbers there next to the verses are called cross-references and what they do is point you to another place in scripture where the same theme or idea or phrase is used.
If you were to look those verses up you would see that many of these sentences are in the Psalms which are prayers written in poetic form. Jonah knew his psalms, his prayers and what he is doing here is he is incorporating his knowledge of the Psalms and putting them into his prayer life.
It is a very powerful thing to do, to pray scripture. To pray the Psalms and what Jonah is doing here is he is taking the lines from Psalms and he is fitting them into his situation. Pretty neat to think about.
In order for him to do this means that he would have had to spend time in the word. Learning those Psalms and reading those prayers, thinking about them. It comes to help in in this situation.
Even in the belly of a fish. There is always a time to pray.
Even when you are stressed because of that meeting, or that confrontation, or that decision to make. There is always time to pray. It helps you prioritize your life and it helps you put things into perspective.
And Jonah gives us a great pattern from prayer that we could follow. James Boice says that all true prayer has 4 characteristics. Honesty, Penance, Thanksgiving and Sacrifice and Vows.
One, he is Honest. Jonah is very honest. Jonah doesn’t run anymore from God. Now he is running to Him. He says “You brought up my life from the pit.
Jonah acknowledges God’s position in his life. God you are the one who rescues, You are the one who saves. He is honest about it.
“In my distress I called out to the Lord’
Jonah is never closer to God than when he is in the belly of the fish. Because there is nothing else holding his attention. God is holding Jonah in the balance and once he realizes that he sees his error. God could have let Jonah drown and die. But God rescues him, and Jonah recognizes that and that is when things begin to change in his heart.
We are never closer to God than when we are as far from our comforts?
We are never closer to God than when we are far from our comforts. Even though no one wants to hear that or acknowledge that, it is the truth. When we are stripped away from all that we depend on and all we have left is God, there is no better place. And it makes no sense whatsoever but this is when God is most loving. When He removes everything around us so that we can focus only on Him.
Some of you have experienced that on some level. Some of you are scared to death of it. It’s hard.
The second characteristic is penance which basically means confession. Confession is important. It is biblical and we need to do it. We are all sinners, you know. Confession is part of how we get right with God. We are told to confess our sins to one another.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
An article I read about confession this week:
First, confession sparks powerful prayer and revival because it is a mark of humility and opens the door to God’s grace. When we fail to confess our sin to one another it can inevitably be traced to some form of pride. In our culture, we have accepted in the now “common sense” phrase “that’s none of their business” as if God intended us to use the concepts of personal business or privacy to conceal our sin and squelch His Spirit in our lives.
Second, confession sparks powerful prayer and revival because now we can pray about those things that are inhibiting the movement of God in our lives. When we are not confessing our sin we pray about things that are not interfering with God’s will in our life. If we are serious about God’s will, we will eagerly confess the sin that blocks it.
Third, confession sparks powerful prayer and revival because it unleashes the power of the Body of Christ in our lives. When we are alone in our sin we are trying to fight Satan on his home turf. This is like wrestling an alligator in a swamp. Confessing sin to our trusted Christian friends is like moving the battle with an alligator from the swamp to a tree. His jaws are still fierce and nothing to be played with, but the terrain gives us a fighting chance.
Confession is not just a valuable part of prayer, it is necessary.
Jonah wasn’t asking anything from God in this prayer. He was just being honest, he was confessing and he gave thanks!
Thankgiving!
What in the world would Jonah riding around the middle of the ocean have to be thankful about? Jonah doesn’t know what God is going to do, but he is thankful.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
He has no guarantee that he will be delivered from the fish. Jonah now knows that his relationship with God has been restored. Jonah tried so hard to get away and he was separated from God like a married couple may separate, still married but apart. But now that relationship has been restored and Jonah is thankful.
Can we be thankful in the belly of a fish this morning? Can you be thankful that God is still with you even though your life situation doesn’t feel like it?
Finally, the fourth aspect of prayer that Jonah shows is in Sacrifices and vows. Go back to that second part of verse 9 “What I have vowed I will pay”.
Jonah is a prophet of God who is supposed to do the will of God whether he likes that thing or not. Jonah, still not happy to do it is willing to fulfill his vow to God as God’s prophet. He is willing. No guarantees, but willing.
When we submit ourselves to God’s will for our life he delivers us to where he wants us to go.
How do you do that you may ask?
You say, God, not your will but my will be done. I am willing to do whatever you ask God. Make it known in my heart what you want me to do. WHo do you want me to share you with God? How do you want me to treat my wife today God? How do you want me to treat my husband today God, how do I treat my kids today? My friends? My family, My coworkers. Who do you want me to be in their lives God?
Maybe you are still running from God. Stop it. Maybe you are beyond that and are sitting in the belly of a fish? Mountains encompassing you, seaweed around your head.
Is God trying to get your attention today? Has he grabbed you and said, look at me? It is easy as submitting to God. Being honest, confessing where you messed up, thanking him and then honestly vowing your allegiance to Him.
God’s miracles in our lives are for a greater purpose than our personal comfort or even survival, but so that we can get on with His agenda of serving Him and pressing on with evangelism and mission.
Oh yeah, verse 10
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Sometimes our lives just need to be readjusted to get us back on track. Come on now. Give your life over to God. It’s time to stop running and acknowledging Jesus in your life.