Drawing Us Back to Him

Jonah 1:17-2:10

Jonah 1:17–2:10 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. 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.” 10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Prayer

Message

One of the great questions that we have all struggled with is why do bad things happen to good people? That is an age old question every one of us has struggled with regardless of our maturity in the things of God. We come to the understanding that we live in a fallen world. In other words, we all pay the price for the sins of fallen man. Furthermore, when something tragic happens we must accept that God knows best. At the end of the day, He is God and we are not. In other words, He is sovereign and He is working His plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 “11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

This morning we want to address a slightly different issue. The matter of one who knows the Lord, who at some point in time has had a very intimate time with the Lord, but for whatever reason, one has chosen a path of rebellion. In other words, the individual is not not living a life that would be pleasing in God’s sight.

This morning we find ourselves back in our study of Jonah. Jonah’s rebellion was based on pride and prejudice. God called him to go to Nineveh and minister to the people there. Jonah wanted no part of it because he despised the Ninevites. They were very harmful, dangerous and outright mean people group. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire.

Nahum 3:1-7 “1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. 2 The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots! 3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses— They stumble over the corpses— 4 Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries. 5 “Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts; “I will lift your skirts over your face, I will show the nations your nakedness, And the kingdoms your shame. 6 I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle. 7 It shall come to pass that all who look upon you Will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?’ Where shall I seek comforters for you?””

Nahum 3:19 “19 Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?”

This is strong language from Nahum or an evil people.

Let me say that Jonah would have been in the majority of people that despised the Ninevites. There was only one problem, but it was a major problem for Jonah and it can be a major problem for us. Jonah was asked by God to evangelize the Ninevites. Jonah refused. So, Jonah took off on a ship to go totally in the opposite direction of God and boarded a ship for Tarshish.

As the story goes, God was in control providentially at every step of the story and some pagan sailors recognized that Jonah had offended His God, the God of Yahweh because the lot fell on Jonah. The more the sailors attempted to go to shore, the worse the storm became. God had intended that Jonah never make it to shore and in total despair, the men threw Jonah overboard to save the rest of the sailors. And to know that it was God’s divine plan all the time, listen to what happened.

Jonah 1:13-16 “13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.”

Immediately the sea stopped its raging is what the Scriptures states.

God’s Providence 1:17

Jonah 1:17 “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.”

“Now the Lord prepared a great fish”

Why in the world would God do such a thing? Why would the Lord have worked in the lives of these pagan sailors, even through Jonah’s testimony in very adverse conditions to become believers in Yahweh while He was rebellious to the things of God as one could be? Why would God do such a thing?

Let me ask you a question. Why would you spank your child? Why would you take a punitive or corrective action to an employee or subordinate at work rather than fire them? Why would you sit down with a spouse and go into a tenuous conversation to make correction over a matter knowing that the conversation will be strained to say the least? We do that because we love those mentioned and we want to draw them back to a right relationship with their parents, your spouse or your coworker, or a church member.

The word prepared is not the best English translation of the word.

Prepared-mana pronounced-maw naw

Means assigned, appointed, or selected.

The Lord assigned a great fish for the sole purpose of drawing Jonah back to Him. The Lord’s aim was not just to bring Him back in right relationship, but to get him to engage in the ministry that Jonah was appointed or selected to fulfill.

The remaining verse states that the fish swallowed Jonah and he was in the fish’s belly three days and three nights.

Australian Geographic written March 2,2017 by Richard Woolveridge

IN 1891 TWO SMALL whaleboats from the British vessel the Star of the East were lowered into the frigid waters of the Falkland Islands, 500km east of Argentina, after sighting a huge sperm whale. Crew member James Bartley, 21, watched as the harpoon met its mark and the creature dived 250m, before the line went slack once more.

Moments later the whale burst from the water, smashing one boat. All but two of its crew were rescued. One of the missing was Bartley. The whale resurfaced and was winched to the ship, where the whalers noticed movements in its stomach, so they cut open its gut.

“Out came a boot on a trousered leg and there was James Bartley…still living after 15 hours in the belly of a whale. Its digestive juices had permanently bleached his skin a deathly white, he lost his hair and was nearly blind. For two weeks he was delirious, and it was a month before he could tell how he’d fallen into the whale’s mouth, felt the huge teeth grate over him as he slid down into its throat, then stomach.

“This modern Jonah lived 18 more years, dying at 39,” continues an account at the Eden Killer Whale Museum on the south coast of NSW, which sources the story to “Records of British Admiralty”. The museum adds a note: “Before diving, sperm whales inhale deeply and rapidly, storing oxygen in muscle fibres, tissues and blood…Could it be that James Bartley survived through the storing up of such oxygen?”

Can you imagine the gastric acids burning his skin? Or, how cold he could have been given the depth the large fish descended? Can you imagine the muscular pressure of the mouth cavity pressing on his body? I imagine God had his undivided attention don’t you? The Lord would have had my attention.

There are a few thoughts we can take from this one verse to gain a greater understanding of our Lord.

Firstly, He is the sovereign God of the universe and He we see His sovereignty over sea life in this text. We learn later in Jonah that God controls plant life and He controls the wind.

Jonah 4:6 “6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.”

Secondly, we can gather that God will do whatever means is needed to draw us back to Him because He loves us.

Thirdly and most importantly, God’s grace is at work to draw us into right relationship with Him. The miracle was an act of God’s grace in the life of Jonah. The Lord was merciful in saving Jonah’s life.

Ask yourself this question. Lord, are the things that are happening in my life at this time because I’m not walking as you would have me to walk? Lord, I know you have asked me to do something for you and I know your Holy Spirit has been clear as to what you want me to do, but I refuse to do it. Lord, is this why at this moment my world is falling apart? God loves you enough that He will not leave you to be wayward, but will cause some things from time to time to draw us back to Him. Why? Because He loves you and He wants what’s best for you and He knows the choices you are making or either poor choices are not His choices.

Luke 11:30 “30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.”

The Lord will use signs of activity in your life to make you ask questions confronting your spiritual welfare. The Holy Spirit is at work in the process wooing you back to Him.

Jonah’s Petition 2:1-9

Lyrics Under the Sea by Samuel E. Wright

Ariel, listen to me The human world, it's a mess Life under the sea Is better than anything they got up there The seaweed is always greener In somebody else's lake You dream about going up there But that is a big mistake Just look at the world around you Right here on the ocean floor Such wonderful things surround you What more is you lookin' for? Under the sea Under the sea Darling it's better Down where it's wetter Take it from me Up on the shore they work all day Out in the sun they slave away While we devotin' Full time to floatin' Under the sea

Samuel E. Wright described our world pretty accurately, but whether you are on dry land or in the depths of the ocean, regardless of where you are two things are true:

1. You can not escape or run from God

2. Regardless of land or sea, your life is miserable when you are not in right relationship with God.

The scene changed to a psalm type prayer in the depths of the sea in the belly of the large fish.

Jonah found himself at a place where life was out of control and he knew he did not have it within him to overcome his dilemma. If you sense God is calling you back, do not wait until your life circumstances are so bad you question if it can ever can be overcome.

Jonah moves from a place of rebellion and discipline to repentance and rededication to the things of God. Where does that start?

Call out to the Lord

Jonah 2:1-3 “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.”

Jonah began a dialogue of disclosure with the Lord. Firstly we begin to call out to God in our affliction.

You could easily say that “sure Jonah prayed, we all would. He was crying out to God in all the chaos and the fact he thought he was going to die.” All of us would. That would be normal and I would agree. Was his prayer selfish. Sure it was. And the truth is most of us, most of the time do not pray with totally holy, pure motives. Jonah was praying from a motivation of affliction, not affection. There are many times we pray out of desperation and not even cognizant of praying to deity. The point is Jonah began as we all must begin, he prayed. Was his motives right, no, but he began the process. We all move from desperation to delight in our prayers when we begin the process.

Jonah began dialogue.

“I cried out because of my affliction, out of the belly of Sheol I cried.” Jonah was abruptly honest with his estate, his mental and emotion conditions.

Conditions

“For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all your billows and waves passed over me.”

Jonah acknowledge the providential hand of God at work drawing him back to Himself.

Confession/Cleasing

Jonah 2:4-5 “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.”

Jonah through the poetic imagery of the sea began to confess and cleanse his soul to God. He was vivid of all that he was experiencing in his waywardness.

King David described his soul condition when he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and all that he experienced:

Psalms 32:1-5 “1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”

The Lord used the prophet Nathan to draw King David back into right relationship with God. God used a large fish to draw Jonah back into right relationship with Himself.

Let’s make it personal this morning. Do you sense God is attempting to get your attention? Do you see something that has you concerned and you sense God is attempting to draw you back into His fold?

Celebration

Jonah 2:7-9 “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.””

The Prodigal remembered in

Luke 15:17-19 “17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’”

Jonah reached out to Yahweh. We today reach out to Christ. Call out to Him. Share the conditions of your heart and confess and ask for cleansing, and in so doing, your heart will celebrate in newness of relationship in Him.

Jonah’s Deliverance 2:10

Jonah 2:10 “10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”

The Lord graciously showed mercy to Jonah and spoke to the fish and the fish upchucked Jonah’s former life. His former life simply became a bad memory. When the large fish spit him up on dry land, that act brought closure to his former life.

Baptism is the picture we saw evidenced in Ray this morning. When I buried him in the waters, The Holy Spirit buried him to his former life and he was raised to walk in newness of life.

Where are you today? If this message is speaking to you today, begin with recognizing the providence of God at work in your life. Your providence may not be as radical as Jonah’s, but simply the fact God brought you providentially to this service today recognizing you need something different in your life. How does it begin call out to God and share the conditions of your life. Confess your sins and call for His cleansing and enjoy the celebration in newness of life. And like JOnah, the Lord will deliver you into a new life today.

Let’s pray.