The Book of Jonah

A Message of Hope - God’s Mercy

Running from God is not a race we want to be entered in.

For those who like to wager on the underdog, that’s not a safe bet. God’s sure to win.

So far in the account of Jonah, we’ve seen a prophet with a call and a commission.

We’ve seen a decision to disobey and an attempt to run from God.

Last week we witnessed the compassion and commitment to God of the sailors and the consequences of Jonah’s disobedience.

This week we’ll begin to explore God’s mercy and the second chances He gives to His wayward prophet. This in turn gives us hope!

Fishermen are known for their fish stories, right?

When fishermen catch a big fish they tend to exaggerate the size and story of how they caught the fish.

It seems every time they tell the story the fish gets a little bit bigger. The battle gets a little bit tougher and the glory gets a little bit greater. Fishermen love to tell the story of the big one that they caught.

It was a little different with Jonah. Jonah didn’t tell about the big one that he caught, but about the big one that caught him.

Jonah was in the midst of God’s discipline in his life, even though he thought that his life would be over and he would not have to worry about going to Nineveh.

Christians out of the will of God and on the run from God can expect a storm of correction from God to drive them back to God! Jonah was in bad shape as he was heading down.

How do we respond to discipline? How do we respond when God chastens us?

When we try to run from God, know this:

God’s in Control of Our Circumstances

Jonah 1:17 NKJV

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

God was in control of the winds, the water, the weather, the waves, and the fish.

I could have kept up the alliteration, but we’re not sure it was a whale.

Either way, it’s a whale of a story. And the crowd groans. Sorry, corny joke opportunity.

God prepared this fish especially for Jonah.

The word translated ‘prepared’ literally means appointed or assigned.

God prepared this fish for that specific time and that specific place so that he could discipline his prophet.

It has been well said, ‘Jonah was captured for correction.’

The fish was not there to save Jonah’s life; God could have saved Jonah by causing the storm to cease. The fish was used by God to correct and discipline the prophet.

Jonah found himself in the belly of a great fish.

I want you to understand that I believe a fish literally swallowed a literal man named Jonah.

Many people have a hard time believing that a fish would or could swallow a man. They have a hard time because they do not believe the Bible. The Bible says it and that settles it. Jesus believed that the fish swallowed Jonah and I believe Jesus. Matthew 12:38–40 says,

Matthew 12:38–40 NKJV

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

God was in control of the circumstances in this wayward prophet’s life. God is still in control of circumstances.

Jonah thought that if the mariners would throw him into the raging sea that his life and troubles would be over.

God was still at work in Jonah’s life even in the depths of the sea.

Can you look back on circumstances in your life and see that God was at work disciplining you in your waywardness?

Where does Jonah find himself?

Jonah 1:17 NKJV

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

It took a season of discipline to turn Jonah’s heart towards God. It took being in a belly of a great fish to get Jonah’s attention.

Jonah faced change or he faced death. Proverbs 15:10, “Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, and he who hates correction will die.”

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a fish. Jonah’s new abode was because of Jonah’s old attitude and actions.

How far do we have to go down until God gets our attention?

John Phillips wrote, “For a little while Jonah was allowed to reap what he had sowed. He had rejoiced at the thought of God’s judgment being poured out on Nineveh. Now he found out what it was like to be under God’s judgment.”

Great Bible Fact: When God calls us: He commissions us: when we refuse to go He corrects us.

Jonah was in a great dilemma because of his disobedience.

A dilemma is any situation requiring a choice between unpleasant alternatives or any serious problem.

To Jonah, dying in the belly of a fish was unpleasant, but going to Nineveh to preach to the lost was also unpleasant.

Jonah had spiritual and physical problems as he found himself out of the will of God and in the belly of a fish.

In chapter 1:17 we see that God is in control of our circumstances. In the first nine verse of chapter two we notice:

The Despair of the Disobedient

We’ll probably only have time this morning to get to verse 2, but we’ll read Jonah’s entire prayer.

Jonah 2:1–9 NKJV

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. 2 And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, 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 floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. 7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. 8 “Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”

Where does Jonah pray?

God Sometimes Teaches Us in an Uncomfortable Classroom

Jonah 2:1–2 NKJV

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. 2 And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.

Jonah’s despair in the belly of the fish brought him to the point where he called out to God in prayer.

There are several aspects about this prayer as we first look at the place of the prayer.

One commentator said, “We don’t use our sanctuaries for the sacred purpose for which they were intended. They are designed to be houses of prayer, but we seldom pray. Maybe they are too pretty; or maybe we haven’t had enough trouble yet. Jonah prayed in a strange place, but he was in need. That is enough reason to pray.”

Jonah’s prayer came from the belly of the fish.

Another said, “The belly of the fish is not a happy place to live, but it’s a healthy place to learn.” That’s a good word!

God’s discipline is never easy or pleasant to go through, but it works to our benefit as it always makes us more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like the prodigal son that had to get down to the point of feeding swine before he came to his senses, so too Jonah had to get down before he came to his senses.

It is estimated that Jonah’s classroom:

was between 108 to 115 degrees

it was totally dark

burning with digestive acids

slimy and filled with decomposed sea life

and was constantly in motion

and it was a smelly belly and a dirty classroom.

His classroom didn’t have state of the art computers, nice comfortable chairs, air-conditioned comfort, or good lighting.

Jonah came to his senses in the belly of the fish.

Jonah’s despair could have driven him further away from God, but we learn in verse one that his despair drove him to God.

After three days of discipline in the belly of the fish, Jonah had had enough. Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.

This statement teaches us that Jonah was indeed a child of God and that he knew God as Lord.

This is a great reminder of the destructive power of sin. Jonah, a child of God, had to be harshly disciplined before he cried out to God in prayer.

From Jonah’s perspective, he was in the place of the dead.

Jonah calls the place Sheol.

When we’re under the hand of God we may feel like Sheol is our home. Jonah cried out from the place of despair.

Five men were entrapped in a deserted zinc mine in Salem, Kentucky, by falling rocks. They had nothing to eat. They were in utter darkness. One of the men could have saved himself had he not run back to warn the others. When the entombed men discovered that they could not escape, they began to pray and sing. Their prayer and praise service lasted fifty-three hours. Then they were rescued. Later one of the men testified saying, “We lay there from Friday morning till Sunday Morning. We prayed ‘without ceasing.’ When the rescuers reached us, we were still praying!” When the men were brought us out of the mine, on the caps of each one were scrawled these words: ‘If we are dead when you find us, we are all saved!’

Great News: God heard the voice of the prophet from the belly of the fish.

Great Theological Truth: A child of God can pray anywhere, anytime, and anyplace and God hears our prayers.

Jonah’s place of prayer wasn’t the most comfortable place, wasn’t the most common place, but he used it as a place of communication with God.

In verse 1 and in verse 2b we’ve seen the place of prayer. In the first part of verse 2 we see:

Jonah’s Self-Centered Prayer

Jonah 2:2 NKJV

2 And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.

Even in the belly of the fish Jonah still didn’t get it.

He still was self-centered as to why he prayed.

Jonah’s prayer was born out of his despair over his circumstances.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “His prayer was born out of affliction, not affection. He cried out to God because he was in danger, not because he delighted in the Lord.”

How many of us cry out to God and turn to God only when things are going bad?

Another commentator wrote, “Trouble is not designed to lead God’s people to cry against the Lord but unto the Lord.”

Many people seem to live for self and selfish desires and when everything is alright they don’t need God.

The purpose of this prayer was to get immediate relief from the circumstances. Jonah realized that he didn’t want to die in the belly of the fish and that only God could rescue him from the dilemma he was in.

Jonah had become fish food, but he didn’t want to be fish food.

Jonah was afflicted both physically and spiritually.

Affliction: tsarah, tsaw-raw’; tightness, adversity, affliction, anguish, distress, tribulation, trouble.

Jonah was in a tight situation to say the least!

Psalm 119:67 says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.”

Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”

Jonah was not a happy camper. He was not happy with his circumstances and it was his circumstances that drove him to God.

Proverbs 3:11–12, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Jonah desired to be saved out of the fish for personal relief not for faithful obedience.

We need to evaluate our reason for doing what we do in every area of our lives.

Amen Statement: When we go to God in prayer we need to search our hearts to make sure we pray to Him in the right way and for the right reasons.

In verses 1–2 we have examined the place of the prayer and the purpose of the prayer.

Jonah’s despair drove him to prayer, has yours?

Are you in a dilemma today because of your disobedience?

Are you in God’s school of correction?

Are you learning from your time in class?

Would you call upon the Lord Jesus today in prayer and surrender to Him completely?

Some are out of the will of God and in the belly of a fish that God has prepared for you!

Call out to Him, surrender your lives to do His will, and rejoice today in His forgiveness!

There is hope! And God is a God of mercy.