Jonah's Prayer

Introduction

Last week we started a series on Jonah

We talked about how Jonah was a prophet

Prophets, typically, have one job, deliver the message given given to them by God and deliver it to others

Typically these messages pertain to the Israelites, God’s people

However, Jonah receives a message from God about Nineveh the capital of Assyria

In particular, how Nineveh must repent or face destruction

After receiving the message Jonah refuses

He allows his preconceived notions and bigotry to blind him of what God asked of him

Now not to the defense of Jonah, these were the Assyrians

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and Assyria were the bad guys.

Assyria were often viewed as an enemy of Israel

They were known for committing atrocities

Yet Jonah did not view them as God did, so Jonah refused

Jonah only saw the Assyrians as the enemies and not as God’s creation

So what does Jonah do? He runs. He runs to the other side of the known world

He goes the literal opposite way than what he was called

But God didn’t give up that easily

And so we get to the famous scene

A storm breaks over the ship

The crew frantically trying to fight it, but are losing

They pray seeking divine help and that’s when Jonah reveals what he has done, that he ran away from God.

And while they don’t at first want to do as Jonah suggest, they soon have no choice and throw him overboard

Jonah is there in the water seemingly condemned to his fate, doomed to die

But then the unexpected happens, God appoints a fish to swallow him whole

And then scripture tells that is where he spent three days and three nights

So it is in that three day stint that we find Jonah in chapter 2, Stuck in a fish, no way out, waiting

And so he prays

God Listens

See chapter 2 of this story is less of narrative and more poetry

It is through this poetry, this prayer, that we see how Jonah internalizes what has happened

So while in a fish he prayed

Jonah 2:1–2 NIV

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.

It was in a fish that Jonah prayed to his God.

Of course, it was his God that Jonah said no to

It was his God that Jonah ran from

It was his God that Jonah hid from

Yet it is in a time of distress Jonah called out to his God

When Jonah was doomed, cast away, when he was sinking, it was then cried out to his God

And now it is in the depths of a fish, Jonah prays to his God

Much like the prodigal son returning to his father, we see Jonah return to his God

in this prayer we see from Jonah’s perspective how he thought of the event that just happened and even where he is now inside a fish

When Jonah was in the water, he considered himself to be dead, or at least on the brink of death

It is at the very brink of death that Jonah cries out for God

And God listened

The same God that Jonah said no to

The same God Jonah ran from

The same God Jonah tried to hide from, listened to Him

God listens, even when we don’t

In the darkness there is hope, even when on the brink of death

God listened to the fleeing prophet

Light in darkness

And so now, in this place of death and despair, Jonah acknowledges who God is and what he has done for him

Jonah 2:3–6 NIV

You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.

Jonah recognized that God was in control

It was God who hurled Jonah into the depths

It was God’s waves and waters that swept over him

It was God’s waters who threatened his life and engulfed him

Jonah viewed the the very water as an agent of God, sent to punish Jonah for what he had done

Jonah continues this language of despair as he hammers home that he was banished, to sink to the depths beneath the earth; the land of the dead

Jonah feels as though he was being separated from God,

Yet there is hope

Jonah also mentions, in the middle of him talking about being banished and separated, that he will look again towards God’s temple

Maybe not literally, bet that there would be a chance of a connection with God again

That maybe this banishment may be undone, and he could be brought back to life

That even though he feels he is being deservedly cast away, Jonah may again have communion with God

And God saved

Jonah didn't view the fish as the destroyer but a deliverer

Jonah’s fight with being cast away was while he was in the ocean

It was currents that swirled around him

It was waters that threatened him

It was the deep that surrounded him

It was seaweed that wrapped around him

And Jonah sank

It was there in the land of the dead, in the depths of the waters, Jonah still hopeful, God saved, God gave a fish

Even in the currents whipping us back in forth, even in the depths of despair, even in the chaos of life’s waters, there is still hope

You see, at the end of Jonah talking about being cast down, Jonah says it is God who brings him back

That even though Jonah is dead, he is brought back to life

Even in the depths of overwhelming darkness there is hope

And so Jonah ends his prayer

New Life

Jonah 2:7–9 NIV

“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ”

And so we see a change in Jonah

As Jonah entered death, as his life ebbed away, Jonah looked to God

And now with viewing the grace of God that Jonah was not abandoned by God, that God heard his cries, he makes a vow

He will not cling to idols but instead God’s love

He will shout grateful praises and sacrifice to Him

He will make good on his vow and proclaim salvation comes from the Lord…

And so with that Jonah ends his prayer

Jonah, tried to run away from God, but God followed

And when Jonah was as good as dead, a fate even Jonah would have seemed to agree he deserved

And God gave life

See it wasn't about what Jonah deserved

Why should God follow one who ran away

Why should God look for the one who tried to hide

Why should God connect with one who caused separation

Why should God bring life to to one who chose death

Love, love is why God gives life...

1 John 4:8–10 NIV

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Motivated by this love, Jonah seems like a new being after his prayer

Of course, in Jonah’s words, God did bring him back from the land of the dead

Jonah declares that he will proclaim that salvation comes from the Lord

Jonah would seem ready to go to Nineveh, to tell them of the salvation that comes from God

Jonah seemed to know that he, like all of us, do not deserve deliverance, it is an act of mercy by a gracious God

An at least for the time seems to be thinking about if not convinced to go to Nineveh, to proclaim God’s mercy

The mercy he experienced first hand

In the inside of a fish Jonah may yet find new life

When Jonah let his prejudices control his decisions and ran away from God, he was choosing death

After all God is the creator of life

There is a reason why the sailors who were praying to other gods were terrified when they learned that Jonah ran away from the God who made the sea and dry land.

This was the creator and sustainer of life

Yet Jonah runs from life and into the storm, into the waters, into darkness, into the land of the dead

Yet God doesn’t let him go

God goes to where Jonah is, and just when you think God is going to destroy the one who disobeyed, God gives life

See Jonah was ready to give up on God, God wasn’t going to give up on Jonah

Jonah Ran away from God, God ran after Jonah

Conclusion

And so chapter 2 ends with a fitting conclusion

Jonah 2:10 NIV

And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Just as God commanded the storm, the waters, and even the fish to swallow Jonah, so God commands the fish to spit Jonah out

So here we have the prophet who ran away, was brought to death, was swallowed by a fish, and brought new life

Here Jonah is alive, humbled by mercy, and now has to decided what to do with his new life

And this is what I love about Jonah, he is such a great parallel

I don’t care who you are in this room, in this community, in this world, we have all ran away from God at some point

Romans 3:23 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We have all said no, we have all gone the opposite direction, we all deserve to be over taken by the waters, taken to the land of the dead.

But here is the amazing thing, just as the fish came and delivered Jonah from death so Jesus delivers us.

Its no longer about what Jonah deserves, about what Nineveh deserves, its not even about what we deserve

God is good and merciful, and brings salvation

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Its not about what we’ve done, its about what God does

So no matter where you are today, pray

Call out to God in times of distress, call out to Him in times of safety

You don’t have to be perfect, or have your life in order to talk to God

Jonah called to God when he was near a death that even he thought he deserved

Call to God, rely on His perfection to make up for your imperfection

Just pray

Knowing that God loves you

Salvation is a gift of God given freely, salvation comes from the Lord

John 15:9 NIV

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

John 15:13 NIV

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Just as the whale was appointed by God to give Jonah new life, in a much more fulfilling way Jesus came to bring us all new life

God came down and died on the cross so we could have newness in life!

God Didn’t give up on Jonah, even when he deserved it, God’s not going to give up on us

God listens

There is hope

There is new life

Redemption is not a peripheral matter, rather it cuts to the very core of Divine activity. From the foundation of the world God has determined to bring about redemption in Christ. - R. C. Sproul

God’s goal for Nineveh was not destruction, God’s goal for Jonah was not destruction, and God’s goal for us is not destruction

Salvation comes from the Lord