"JONAH STUDY"-WEEK THREE

RECAP: JONAH RUNNING FROM GOD’S PRESENCE-ON BOAT-SAYS HE’S A HEBREW BUT NOT PROPHET RUNNING FROM GOD-THROWN OVERBOARD-SAILORS PRAISE GOD-JONAH SWALLOWED BY FISH

JONAH 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.”

>>>Belly is not how we picture it-actual stomach (down throat/dark/other things in stomach/trying to digest).

>>>Significance of time in fish will be discussed later.

JONAH 2:1-2 “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.”

>>>This is the first time Jonah prays.

*No time period given

>>>Noted that he prays to the “LORD his God”.

*Possessive nature. The LORD is still Jonah’s God even in his disobedience.

JONAH’S DISOBEDIENCE DID NOT COST HIM HIS GOD.

>>>As God’s children, even in our times of rebellion and resistance, God never abandons us.

>>>(v.2) “Called out” is same phrase as seen before.

*Means “request help”

*4th time this phrase is used

What causes Jonah to pray?

>>>Jonah calls out to God amidst his distress.

>>>The phrase “called out” is past tense

*If Jonah is saying this in the fish, then he called out prior to the fish-after being thrown into the sea.

THIS IS A PRAYER ABOUT A PRAYER.

>>>(v.2) “Belly of Sheol”

What is Sheol?

*Theme of going to death

*“Belly” in this verse also means “womb”- “womb” of Sheol

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JONAH 2:3-7 “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.”

What distress is Jonah describing?

>>>There seems to be an allusion to Jonah drowning.

*Calling may have been words/heart/mind

>>>(vss. 3-4) God has allowed him to be in this situation, but God also rescued Jonah.

*Ultimately God allowed Jonah to be thrown into the sea.

*Interesting to note “your” referring to God. It was God’s creation bringing Jonah to death (acknowledgment of power or blaming for circumstance?)

>>>(v.5-7) There are many references to life/death. Jonah is sinking to the bottom, yet God brings him out of it.

*Delay of God’s rescue?

ONLY JONAH’S NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE IS CAUSING HIM TO CALL OUT TO GOD.

>>>Jonah has been told to call out two times already. One to preach against Nineveh and the other for God’s intervention w/storm.

*God was not obeyed.

*God was not wanted.

>>>Jonah had to be “going down to Sheol” for him to look up and call on God.

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JONAH 2:8-9 “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!””

(v. 8-9) What is “off” about these verses in Jonah’s prayer?

>>>Jonah makes himself better than those who worship idols-including the pagan sailors (Nineveh or generally other cultures).

*Jonah is not worshiping God.

*Jonah is in a fish. Sailors worshiped God, gave thanks and made vows.

The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm (Jonah in Distress)

It is as though he saw himself as an innocent victim offering his life for the sailors, rather than as a renegade prophet whose disobedience had caused the storm in the first place. Contrasting himself with them, he promises thanksgiving, sacrifice and the payment of vows to the Lord. Those listening to the story know that the sailors were there first. Like God-fearing Noah, they have already offered their sacrifices to the Lord in thanksgiving for their deliverance.

*LUKE 18:9-14 “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.””

>>>Jonah promises to worship God if there was deliverance from the fish.

>>>“If God does this thing for me, then I will praise Him.”

“If God does this for me, then I will praise Him.” What does this say about a person’s prayer life?

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What is the plot of Jonah? Which verses talks about it?

PRAYING TO GOD DOES NOT MEAN SUBMISSION TO GOD.

>>>Jonah finally prayed to God, but there was no repentance.

>>>Not everything bad in our lives is God’s discipline/Him causing us to pray-Christians will know God’s discipline. However, bad things drive us to pray.

>>>Praying to God for help/deliverance/thanksgiving does not mean submission to His will-and does not mean true salvation!

JONAH=POSITIVE; GOD=NEGATIVE

>>>Much of this prayer is Jonah focusing on himself. (I/my/me=25x/you/your/LORD God=15x)

>>>Everything that is positive refers to Jonah (he prayed, was delivered, makes promises, better than idol worshipers, etc.). Everything negative refers to God (God was the cause of what happened. Only positive was His rescuing Jonah).

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JONAH 2:10 “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”

>>>No specific time period indicated after Jonah’s prayer.

>>>Jonah was regurgitated out of the fish.

>>>The land Jonah falls on was back where he was at beginning of the book.

*God had directed the fish all the way back to Israel.

(v.10) Does Jonah’s prayer cause God to deliver Him?

MATTHEW 12:40 “For just 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.”

MATTHEW 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.”

>>>Throughout this prayer, the theme is being brought low to death but coming out in life.

>>>Despite Jonah’s prayer, God purposefully used his time in the fish as a picture of the gospel.

*Jesus would be three days/nights in death and then resurrected

*We can die w/Christ and be raised to life in Him-God rescues us from death.

What does this teach you about God?

What does this teach you about yourself?