Jonah: Part 2

Welcome to Grace Outpost, I am so glad to have you here today.  Today we are continuing with our series on Jonah.  Many people only know that Jonah was eaten by a whale or great fish, but miss the broader picture of God’s love and mercy that is the point of the book.  In fact, there are only 3 verses that deal with the fish out of 4 chapters.  Last week we saw that Jonah ignored God’s command to him and as he ran from God he experienced consequence for his disobedience.  Today our key text will be Jonah 1:17 – 2:10.

1:17 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.

2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 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.

4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away

    from your sight;

yet I shall again look

    upon your holy temple.’

5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;

    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 upon me forever;

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.

So 1:17 picks up where we ended last week, last week Jonah had just been thrown over into the water to save the ship.  1:17 says that God made a great fish swallow Jonah, where he spent three days inside the creature.  So far out text has been narrative in nature, meaning that it tells a story, it is easy to follow and is not typically poetic or figurative in nature, though it may contain those elements.  In Chapter 2 we see the prayer of Jonah and it switches to using poetry.  Some scholars have asserted that Jonah actually died during these three days, but the texts references to the grave seem mostly poetic.  We also see that Jonah’s prayer is reminiscent of the Psalms, many of which are a testimony of how God has delivered the Psalmist.  We see how Jonah cries out to God knowing that his circumstances were a consequence of failing to follow God’s command (2:3).  We see also that his faith in God did not waiver (2:7-9). 

I tend to think this is less about the questions Jonah has about his mission and his unwillingness to bring that before God.  It seems to me that upon receiving the command Jonah flees without questioning or protesting it with God.  This prayer recorded in chapter 2 is the first unprompted speaking to God that we see Jonah do, before in 1:6 if Jonah participated in prayer it was only because he was told to do so.  As we will see in later chapters God is exceedingly patient with Jonah and Jonah is being redeemed as much as the people to whom he is called to speak.  So if you ask me my opinion, God brought Jonah to a place in his life to where he would remember his need of God and God sovereign nature.  So far, throughout Jonah God’s sovereignty is on full display, from bringing the storm upon the ship, to bringing a fish to swallow Jonah, and finally having the fish expel him upon dry land all show that God is in full command of all of creation. 

The rescue of Jonah is good news for us, because it is the theme throughout the Bible.  Salvation comes through repentance and faith in God.  Perhaps today you are not a follower of Jesus, I would ask you if you are really in control of your own life and destiny?  I too once believed that I was, but in times of crisis that illusion is ripped from us.  When death strikes, when we lose a job, when natural disasters rage around us, we are at the mercy of it all.  We cannot do anything to change these situations, but God can.  God can calm the storm, God provides opportunities for us, and Jesus conquered death on the cross so that we can know God!   Maybe you are a believer reading this today, do you struggle with your own ambitions or desires over what you know God wants you to do?  Bring it before God in prayer!  Do not wait until you are at the end of your rope.  God is gracious and he will receive our apologies and our earnest desire to know him.  Let the prayer of Jonah from the bowels of a fish be our guide in those moments when we have wandered, when we have ignored, and when we have been outright disobedient.