The Pit
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Jonah 2 is a story of mercy and grace. We talked as we studied JUDE about wanting to be a CHURCH MARKED BY MERCY AND GRACE! Jude 20-23.
But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
And I love that MERCY AND GRACE play such an important role in Jonah! All 4 chapters are marked by GOD’S MERCY AND GOD’S GRACE!
The entire reason that Jonah is sent to NINEVEH IN THE FIRST PLACE IS GOD’S MERCY AND GOD’S GRACE!
Recap Jonah 1.
Jonah finds himself in the BELLY OF A GREAT FISH!
And why is he there? BECAUSE HE HAS SINNED AGAINST GOD! Look at this! Jonah has sinned. He hears what God wants him to do and he does the OPPOSITE! Yet, God didn’t destroy him!
Would God have been well within his rights to DESTROY Jonah as punishment? ABSOLUTELY! But, GOD HAS GRACE AND MERCY!
Instead of destroying him, GOD HAS SAVED HIM WITH THIS GREAT FISH!
Last week we talked about how we have similarities to JONAH! Yet, as convicting as this is, it can also give us some encouragement.
See, just as GOD GIVES JONAH GRACE AND MERCY, GOD HAS GIVEN US GRACE AND MERCY!
Our main Point for today really reflects that. Our main point is: GOD HAS LIFTED US FROM THE PIT!
We’ll talk a lot more about this today, but if we wanted to summarize our message today in one sentence, that’s how I would summarize it!
Body
Body
Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish:
Today, we are seeing Jonah’s prayer.
Now, just as I challenged us to not just SKIP this, let me challenge us to avoid another distraction that we can fall into.
It can be easy to read Jonah 2, then chapters 3 and 4 and to begin saying things like “Jonah didn’t actually mean anything he said.”
And from there, we start up a cycle of “Jonah bashing” where we totally miss that we OURSELVES have similarities to JONAH!
How often have we prayed something and then the next day sinned?
Yea, we all have because we sin every day! That’s the same thing that happens here. We are just lucky that the Holy Spirit doesn’t have it written down in the Bible for everyone to read!
Let me be clear- is it disappointing that Jonah, the prophet of God, did not seem to grasp GOD’S CHARACTER?
ABSOLUTELY!
Yet, at the same time, we share so many similarities to Jonah in this. So let me challenge us to look beyond the ATTITUDE or the FAILURE of Jonah in Jonah 3 and 4 as we examine his prayer.
Instead of focusing on Jonah’s failure, can I challenge us to HEAR THESE GENUINE WORDS OF PRAYER AND WORSHIP AND TO BE ENCOURAGED?
BE ENCOURAGED BY WHAT JONAH SAYS!
Jonah has rebelled and has failed. He’s fallen short and now he finds himself in the belly of the fish with no way of knowing that he would survive.
Friends, He’s IN THE BELLY OF A FISH! He isn’t in a luxury room on a cruise ship!
This is a STOMACH!
Jonah has hit what seems like the bottom and he prays.
I called to the Lord in my distress,
and he answered me.
I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol;
you heard my voice.
While in distress, Jonah cries out!
Jonah runs to God! Even though he has failed, Jonah approaches the throne of God.
And I bring that up because sometimes that can be the hardest part of sin!
After we sin, we can be really hesitant to run to God because we worry that God won’t listen or won’t care.
But, we don’t need to have that worry!
And as Jonah cries out in his distress, he has faith that the LORD answers him!
Jonah says that he has called out to God from his distress, but then his next couplet says that he “cried out for help from deep inside Sheol.”
Sheol is the Hebrew word for underworld. In Greek, this word is translated as HADES.
Sheol is known for its darkness and the fact that it is not where you want to be!
It’s like a pit of hopelessness!
When you are in SHEOL, you are TOTALLY SEPARATED FROM GOD! Listen to how Job describes Sheol.
before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,
never to return.
That’s his description! It’s a land of darkness AND GLOOM!
Jonah cries out for HELP from SHEOL!
Yet, instead of being separated from God, do you see what Jonah says?
GOD HEARD HIS VOICE!
Even when Jonah thought he was too far gone, even when Jonah thought that God would leave him because of his sin, GOD STILL ANSWERS!
Friends, what hope this should give us!
Last week we were faced with an early application- will we OBEY God’s mission?
This week we are faced with an early application also. Do we trust God to HEAR US?
Do we trust that GOD IS WITH US?
Sin is serious, but, and this should give us ALL THE HOPE, GOD’S GRACE IS ALL THE MORE SERIOUS!
So if you’re here this morning and you’re thinking, “yeah, but I’ve made too many mistakes,” or “I’m just too far gone” then hear me, please hear this, YOU ARE NOT TOO FAR GONE!
GOD CAN HEAR YOU! CRY OUT TO GOD!
When you threw me into the depths,
into the heart of the seas,
and the current overcame me.
All your breakers and your billows swept over me.
Jonah continues praying and recognizes that being thrown into the sea is GOD’S CONSEQUENCE FOR HIS SIN!
Listen, there’s forgiveness for sins and there always is in God! BUT, there are also consequences.
In the case of Jonah, the consequence is being thrown into the sea.
Psalm 42:7 is very similar to what Jonah says here.
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.
I think that’s really significant. Psalm 42 isn’t addressing physically being thrown into the sea, it is about going through a difficult time.
In Jonah’s case, he is PHYSICALLY in the midst of the sea, but friends, for us, we probably won’t be sitting inside a fish!
This image of the depths of the sea and of water roaring all around Jonah is powerful!
But it is also SO relatable, not physically but with how our lives can feel!
When we are low and struggling we can feel so completely overwhelmed and surrounded by hardship!
It feels like we are being overwhelmed by the weight of the SEAS and by the DEPTHS of the oceans!
Let’s keep looking at Jonah’s language in verses 4-5.
And I said, “I have been banished
from your sight,
yet I will look once more
toward your holy temple.
The water engulfed me up to the neck;
the watery depths overcame me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
As Jonah sinks down, he tells us more of his thoughts.
His language is big and that is very purposeful!
Look at what he says!
“I’ve been banished”
“Water engulfed me”
“The watery depths overcame me”
“Seaweed wrapped around my head”
Those are some vivid examples of what is going on!
Jonah is very clear on how bad of a situation he finds himself in!
He feels overwhelmed, he feels banished and abandoned, AND HE IS CONVINCED THAT HE WILL DIE!
Something fascinating happens in the middle of this list. Jonah makes a declaration.
He says, “Yet I will look once more toward your holy temple.”
It’s honestly the most faith we’ve seen from Jonah yet!
He has faith that he WILL BE RESCUED! And he decides to fix his eyes on God!
Even as he loses hope, his faith refocuses him onto God!
This is part of why it is so important that we FEED our faith in GOOD times!
Then, when we are tested, our faith can lift us, just like it does for Jonah!
So let me ask, in your life right now, do you feel as though you have seaweed wrapped around your head? Do you feel that you are sinking?
If that’s you, let me encourage you with the words of verse 6!
I sank to the foundations of the mountains,
the earth’s gates shut behind me forever!
Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God!
Jonah starts verse 6 by talking about how he sinks to the foundations of the mountains and how the earth’s gates seem to shut behind him!
In other words, he’s hit a NEW LEVEL OF LOW!
But then look at what he declares! “THEN YOU RAISED MY LIFE FROM THE PIT, LORD MY GOD!”
The word used here for pit carries two main meanings- a physical one and a spiritual one!
This can be a physical pit, a pit of despair and hopelessness. It’s definitely that!
But, it can also refer to A PIT LIKE SHEOL! It can refer to separation from God!
Jonah is worried that he will be separated from God!
But look at what Jonah says!
THE LORD GOD RAISED HIS LIFE FROM THE PIT!
Friends, we deal with the pit too.
Our sin has thrown us into the pit.
But praise God, there is hope!
GOSPEL! GOD’S GRACE AND GOD’S MERCY!
This is the best news! JUST AS JONAH’S LIFE WAS RAISED FROM THE PIT, SO HAS OUR LIFE BEEN RAISED!
If you hear nothing else today, hear this- OUR LIFE HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE PIT THROUGH JESUS!
Let me challenge you today to call out to God in faith! Accept Jesus as your savior today!
As my life was fading away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
to your holy temple.
I love how Jonah continues his prayer. He says that not only has he been rescued, but that as his life was fading away, he turned to the Lord!
Jonah cried out to God as his life was fading away. God hears his prayers and saves him!
Just think about this with me! When you are struggling, when you feel like you are in the pit, when everything seems terrible, you can cry out to God and GOD HEARS YOU!
Think about that! Lock onto that! THE ETERNAL, OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT GOD OF THE UNIVERSE HEARS YOU!
THAT’S GREAT NEWS!
But, as we just saw in verse 6, God doesn’t just hear you, GOD WILL TAKE ACTION IN HIS TIME!
God takes action for Jonah as we’ll see in just a few verses.
Those who cherish worthless idols
abandon their faithful love,
but as for me, I will sacrifice to you
with a voice of thanksgiving.
I will fulfill what I have vowed.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Jonah then shifts his attention.
Jonah goes from talking about his situation to PRAISING GOD FOR WHO GOD IS!
Jonah contrasts himself really with those who worship idols.
Some cherish idols and when they do that, they abandon the faithful love of God!
Understand, this same thing is true today. People may not be bowing down to an idol, but remember, any time someone puts SOMETHING OTHER THAN GOD IN GOD’S PLACE, they are WORSHIPPING AN IDOL!
People do that all the time. Wealth, power, influence, sex, and so much more are used by people as idols!
People are still giving themselves to idols today instead of to God!
They need to be rescued from the pit like we just talked about!
Let me just be totally up front. People are in the pit and they are choosing to be there as they WORSHIP idols!
Jonah then contrasts all of this to what we have when we follow God!
Jonah talks of sacrificing with Thanskgiving and making vows, so WORSHIPPING GOD!
Then what does he say?
I think this is so good!
“SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD!”
Whether it is from the sea or sin, or something going on in our lives, hear me, SALVATION BELONGS NOT TO YOU AND I, but TO GOD!
Let that hit your heart this morning!
SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD!
This is almost exactly what we see in Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
whom should I dread?
Hear this today! Remember this this week! SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD!
THAT LOW PIT THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN? THERE’S SALVATION FROM IT! BUT IT WON’T COME THROUGH HARD WORK, OR A CLEVER IDEA, OR ANYTHING ELSE, SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD!
And that’s the end of Jonah’s prayer as it’s recorded in Jonah 2. Jonah gives praise to God for salvation belonging to God!
Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
After Jonah prays, God commands the fish to do something. And this command leads to something you don’t read about often in scripture.
The fish VOMITS Jonah onto dry land.
I don’t want to distract us from the fact that GOD HAS RESCUED JONAH FROM THE PIT, but bear with me, this can’t be pleasant for Jonah!
He’s spent 3 days and 3 nights inside of a fish’s stomach. That’s nasty!
When I was a kid, I had a storybook bible and it showed Jonah sitting in a chair at a literal table eating a meal inside this fish!
That’s a great thought, but that’s not the truth!
The truth is that Jonah is in a stomach and that this process has humbled him and has corrected him!
It wasn’t fun, but it was necessary. Unfortunately, as we’ll see, Jonah still doesn’t fully UNDERSTAND!
But God uses this fish to correct him and to humble him.
It reminds me of something that the prophet Isaiah prophecies about.
Yet Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we all are the work of your hands.
God is at work! God is shaping Jonah and GOD SHAPES US!
It isn’t always easy, it definitely isn’t comfortable, but GOD SHAPES US!
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Pit
Today the setting for the entire passage really provides an application.
Today’s passage took place inside the belly of the GREAT fish that swallowed Jonah. And for a large part of the passage, we saw Jonah wrestle back and forth with WHAT HAD HAPPENED and WHERE HE HAD BEEN!
Finally, in verse 6, Jonah uses a term that I think summarizes his situation really well. He was in “the pit.”
He was in the pit both physically, given his PHYSICAL LOCATION, and also SPIRITUALLY. Spiritually, Jonah was in the pit also.
He was surrounded by darkness and he had taken his eyes off of God!
Think back to Jonah 1 with me!
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.” Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.
Jonah immediately flees from God! His eyes are CLEARLY NOT ON GOD!
So, physically and spiritually, Jonah found himself in the pit.
And Church, some of us here today may find ourselves in our own “pit.”
Maybe spiritually we aren’t walking closely with God. Maybe we are trying to avoid what God is telling us.
Or maybe we are just going through a hard season. Maybe we are suffering with sickness, or stress, anxiety, or something else! We are SUFFERING AND STRUGGLING!
And as those things go on, we can find ourselves feeling hopeless, feeling WRAPPED UP BY SEAWEED like Jonah does!
But there’s a hope for us.
See, when we find ourselves in the pit, and I PROMISE, at some point, we will find ourselves in the pit, we have a hope!
Our hope is really straightforward, our hope is GOD!
So let me encourage you, when you are in the pit, CALL OUT TO GOD!
GO TO OUR GREAT GOD!
Let me just honestly challenge us, myself included, when you are at that rock-bottom, do you truly have faith in God?
Like do you REALLY BELIEVE, “GOD CAN SAVE ME?”
Because if we’re honest, just like Jonah, so often we don’t! So often we think “God is ignoring me or is angry with me and I just need to figure this out.”
But hear me out on this, you don’t need to do that!
Because God does hear you and GOD IS YOUR SAVIOR! GOD IS FULL OF GRACE AND MERCY!
So just as God lifted Jonah from the pit, God is more than capable of lifting YOU FROM THE PIT!
Check that out! God can and WILL LIFT YOU FROM THE PIT!
It’s all throughout scripture! Ruth, Esther, David, Hezekiah, Daniel, Paul, Peter and so many more! I can keep going! GOD IS WITH YOU IN THE MIDST OF EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON!
This isn’t some prosperity gospel message, this is the truth! If your faith is in Jesus, if you have trusted in JESUS, then GOD IS WITH YOU RIGHT NOW! GOD IS INDWELLING YOU WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT AND GOD IS WITH YOU!
So now consider that defeating thing. Consider that feeling of loneliness, or of being overwhelmed. Consider that PIT that you are in! Listen, you aren’t in that pit alone! GOD IS RIGHT THERE WITH YOU!
Let me challenge you to rest in that today! Rest in the knowledge that GOD IS WITH YOU!
Salvation belongs to the Lord
Our second application really goes along with that. SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD!
As we study Jonah, I mentioned that Jonah can reflect us. Jonah can reflect our sinful rebellion AGAINST GOD!
But there is someone else that Jonah reflects.
There are some similarities between Jonah and someone who quotes Jonah in the NT, JESUS!
Both Jonah and Jesus are called to go to rebellious people, they both spend 3 days and 3 nights inside of something dark. They both are given a CLEAR MISSION BY GOD. But listen, the way that they handle these things is totally different!
Jonah tries to RUN FROM HIS MISSION! He wants to run from the Ninevites because he HATES them! Jonah spends 3 days and nights inside of a fish and comes out and still grumbles against God! He is rebellious and he doesn’t REALLY WANT TO FULFILL HIS MISSION!
Consider Jesus though! Jesus comes to earth to a world that is in rebellion against him.
Jesus comes and he LOVES the people he comes to save! He came and he FULFILLED HIS MISSION! HE DIDN’T RUN FROM IT, HE RAN TO IT! He gave himself freely for us!
Think about it! Jesus could have argued with Pilate, but he DOESN’T! Instead, he took the punishment! He took our place, he took the pain! And he was in the tomb 3 days and 3 nights and then he ROSE AGAIN!
Jonah needed to be saved, JESUS DID THE SAVING WHEN HE LEFT THAT TOMB!
Friends, SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD and if you have not personally experienced SALVATION, let me call on you today, REPENT FROM YOUR SINS, or the wrong things, thoughts, or words- ANYTHING THAT ISN’T IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD, and BELIEVE IN JESUS!
Repent- or turn around 180 degrees and BELIEVE! RUN AFTER JESUS!
If you haven’t done that before today, let me encourage you to do that TODAY!
If you have placed your faith in Jesus, can I just end with an honest question?
Do we WALK CLOSELY WITH JESUS TODAY AND EACH DAY? Or do we live more like Jonah, giving lip service to the God that we “serve” without really living FOR GOD!
Let me challenge you as the worship team leads us in our next song, consider this. WHERE DO YOU STAND WITH GOD? DO YOU WALK IN FAITH, or do you walk according to your own plans while claiming God, much like Jonah does.
Listen, we don’t usually do this, but this morning, I want to invite you, if you need prayer, if something is going on in your life, if you are hurting, if you are feeling like you are trapped in the pit, if you are going through it, let me invite you to come down to the front. We don’t do this often, but we have men and women who would love to pray with you, so if you’re struggling today, let me encourage you to come down front.
We talk often about having a culture of mercy and grace and I want to encourage you that there is no judgement, we want to walk with one another, supporting one another!
Let me pray.
(Pray, please stand as we sing)
