Jonah 2b

Open Bibles to Jonah 2.

Have you ever felt hopeless or beyond rescue? There’s no way out, no solution - it will never get better. Ever felt that you were too dirty, too sinful, too shameful - so far gone from God that He would never forgive, never accept you? Ever felt like you made such a mess of life, hurt too many people, done too many horrible things – no way God would love me? Or sure, God can rescue, save, help, forgive everyone else – but not me and not this situation. Ever been to the place where life is so dark, so lonely, so empty, so agonizingly silent …?

24-years ago, that’s what I thought. I had made such a mess, caused so much pain, created a lot of chaos, and like Jonah, I was barely treading water, and I saw no way out. But God rescued. Wasn’t pleasant. It was a long process, but Jesus came showed up and did what I thought was not possible.

Jonah 1:17 LEB

And Yahweh provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The LXX, which was completed around 3rd century B.C., is the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. LXX has sea monster instead of fish. The translators connect this fish to a supernatural metaphorical creature called Leviathan, or the chaos dragon or serpent. According to Job, only Yahweh has the power to control Leviathan. Sadly we’ll need to save that for another day, but interesting. Nonetheless,

This fish [chaos dragon] was God’s rescue plan – an act of mercy.

– but Jonah did not know that. All he knew was that he was inside something large and gross and slimy. I doubt that as Jonah was being swallowed, he thought, “Oh, God does love me. Hello little fishy.”

Remember, Jonah had caused a tremendous amount of chaos, He was running from God, and he would rather die than go to “those people” in Nineveh. Yet, God rescued him. At some point during his stay in this 1-star hotel, Jonah prayed and cried out to God. We’re going to look at this prayer from an ancient Israelite’s worldview and then we’ll connect it to our lives.

Before we look at Jonah’s prayer, we need to acknowledge something. We know at the end of chapter 2 Jonah survived. He made it safely to dry land and was able to complete his assignment. A nice preacher would tell you that whatever storms come your way will pass, and when you feel like you’re drowning God will eventually rescue you and put you on dry land, so be patient and pray. And for many that’s true, but it’s not true for everyone. I believe God will always rescue His people, but sometimes His way of rescue will not make sense, and it doesn’t always end happily ever after in this world. For some, God will rescue with a storm or a fish or whatever and that’s the end of their story. God will not always get us to dry land – in this life. That is the tension we live in – because we always have hope, and we know God will rescue – we have His promises. However, for some, the dry land is not in this world but in the next - forever in the presence of God. If you don’t agree with me – read the history of Christian martyrs. But we also need to acknowledge that

As long as we have breath – we have hope!

Hope that storms will pass; hope that God will rescue; hope that one day we’re back on dry land.

So we’re told that Jonah was in the fish for 3 days and 3 nights. Why does that matter? We know from history that people were sometimes inadvertently but tragically buried alive. They were thought to be dead, but for whatever reason – surprise - they were not dead or somehow resuscitated. Ancient Israelites were aware of this. So they knew that during the first day, someone might “wake up” – not necessarily by miracle, but just a fact of life. Rare, but not a shocker. “Bring out your dead.” “But I’m not dead yet.” On day 2, they were considered “mostly dead.” Resuscitation was highly unlikely and extremely rare, but still a very slight possibility. But after 3 days – they were dead. No chance of resurrection or coming back to life.

The obvious connection is Jesus – that’s why the 3rd day is a miracle. People don’t come back to life on the 3rd day. Same with Lazarus – who was dead for 4-6 days. These were two impossible situations where God did a miracle – God did the impossible.

Do you see why we’re told this about Jonah? There’s a reason the author specifically tells us Jonah spent 3 days and 3 nights inside a fish. The point is that

Jonah was beyond hope – beyond rescue –beyond redemption – past the point of no return.

I can’t emphasize that enough.

That’s their worldview, and sadly, a lot of people still believe they or their situation is beyond hope – there’s no way out of this. But what happened to Jonah? God rescued him. God was able to reach beyond the point of no return and rescue. Like I said earlier, as long as you have breath, you have hope – no matter how impossible your situation may seem, no matter how far gone you may feel, God can rescue. Jesus sees you; He knows where you are.

When Israel was enslaved by Egypt – an impossible situation. No hope of ever leaving Egypt. But

God told them, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm (Exo. 6:6).”

In other words, God says, “There is no place you can go where I can’t reach you. No situation where I can’t rescue you.”

Still not convinced. Let’s look at Jonah’s prayer. I don’t think this was Jonah’s actual prayer verbatim while in the fish. Chapter 2 is more like a refined version of what he prayed, which was probably more like – “HELP! Blub blub blub. O God, Help!” In Hebrew?

So imagine, sometime after this is all over, Jonah met with a scribe at the local coffee shop – “He-Brews” - and tells his story. He says, “It was horrible. The sheer terror, the panic, the loneliness was beyond imagination. Knowing this was the end and there was no chance of rescue – I can’t even describe it. I screamed for help, but it was no use. Seriously, who would hear me? I was exhausted. Eventually I lost hope. I was about to give up … when something inside of me urged me to pray. I could barely think. Really, why would I pray? I had made such a mess and those poor sailors – and like God could even hear me. It was hopeless. But something inside kept telling me to pray, to believe. So I did.”

Before we read his prayer, we need to understand something else about the ancient Hebrew worldview. Jonah mentions a place called Sheol.

Sheol is known as the Realm of the Dead or the Underworld.

Not necessarily our modern idea of hell, not fire, but it is a place of residence in the afterlife. This is critical -

Sheol is inescapable.

Once in Sheol – that’s home for eternity – so it’s a place beyond rescue.

Sheol is an evil wasteland void of God’s presence.

Scripture tells us that we find the dead Rephaim in Sheol. These are connected to the hybrid giants or Nephilim from Genesis 6. Isaiah speaks of these obscure spiritual beings called Shades. Keep all that in mind as Jonah recites his prayer to this scribe.

Jonah 2:1–2 LEB

And Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the belly of the fish and said, “I called from my distress to Yahweh, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried for help— you heard my voice.

[Whether or not Jonah used this figuratively or in his mind literally, we don’t know, but the point is the same. Jonah believed he was beyond saving. He was either in or on his way to Sheol.]

Jonah 2:3–10 LEB

And you threw me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the sea currents surrounded me; all your breakers and your surging waves passed over me. And I said, ‘I am banished from your sight; how will I continue to look on your holy temple?’ The waters encompassed me up to my neck; the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. I went down to the foundations of the mountains; the Underworld—its bars were around me forever. But you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God. When my life was ebbing away from me, I remembered Yahweh, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love. But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you; I will fulfill what I have vowed. Deliverance belongs to Yahweh!” And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on the dry land.

So while sipping coffee, the scribe asked, “What did you learn about Yahweh?” Jonah replied, “Leviathan. The very thing I thought would kill me, God used to save me. He brought me to the end of myself so I would cry out to Him.

God did the impossible in my life. After three days and three nights in the fish I should not be alive, but I am. No one escapes Sheol, no one! But here I am. No one survives an encounter with the chaos dragon, but here I am. Yahweh did the impossible.”

And so now I ask you, what have learned about God – about the Father, and the Son, and His Spirit?