Jonah 2

Jonah 2:1–10 (NASB)

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. 3 “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple. 8 “Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.” 10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

The components of a true prayer of repentance: (v. 1-10)

1. COMING to the CONCLUSION that you need God’s help:

4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

2. A CONFESSION of sin:

8 “Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness...

3. CALLING on God for help:

7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.

4. A COMMITMENT to faithfulness:

9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.”

Did Jonah die in the belly of the fish? (v. 2-3, 5-7)

2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. 3 “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me…

5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.

Matthew 12:39–41 (NASB)

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Matthew 16:4 (NASB)

4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

Luke 11:29–32 (NASB)

29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.

What is sheol?

Derek and I did a podcast episode on this.

Sheol:

Definition:

The Hebrew word is šᵊ'ôl (sheh ole). It is used 65 times in the NASB. the KJV just translates the word “grave” but most of the modern translations transliterate the word as “Sheol”. It means different things in different places, depending on the context, but it always refers to death in some way. We will take a look at some of the different ways it is used so you can get a good idea about what it means.

The first mention of Sheol is in Genesis 37 when Jacob was told Joseph was dead.

Genesis 37:34-35

So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

Jacob refers to Sheol again in Genesis 42 and 44, speaking of his great sorrow and how it is going to take him to sheol.

Numbers 16:31-33 (when God opened the earth to swallow those in the rebellion of Korah)

As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

1 Samuel 2:6

“The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

2 Samuel 22:1–7 (NASB)

1 And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence. 4 “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. 5 “For the waves of death encompassed me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; 6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.

Examine Jonah 2 again and compare it to (v. 5-7) of 2 Samuel 22.

3 “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me….

6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.

**** Was Jonah quoting this song of David in his prayer? ****

The Book of Job mentions Sheol 9x

Job 7:7–10 (NASB)

7 “Remember that my life is but breath; My eye will not again see good. 8 “The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer; Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be. 9 “When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up. 10 “He will not return again to his house, Nor will his place know him anymore.

The book of Psalms mentions Sheol 20x or so.

Psalm 16:10

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Psalm 49:15

But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol…

Psalm 139:8

If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

Proverbs uses the word another 10x

Proverbs 15:24

The path of life leads upward for the wise That he may keep away from Sheol below.

Proverbs 23:13-14

Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol.

Isaiah 38:18

“For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Hosea 13:14

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hades:

The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament from around 200 BC, does not contain the word Sheol. Instead, they translate the Hebrew word “šᵊ'ôl” as “Hades” or “death”. So, in the Greek, the word Hades is equivalent to the OT Hebrew word, Sheol.

Acts 2:27

BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.

This is a direct quote of Psalm 16:10, and here Hades replaces the word Sheol.

Matthew 11:23

“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

Revelation 1:17-18

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Revelation 20:13-15

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

All that to say, sometimes Sheol means death, other times in means a physical location in the spiritual realm where the dead are held until the final judgement.

So when you read what Jonah is saying, is he saying God spared his life from death or is he saying that he died and God brought him back to life?

Thoughts so far?

Ok. Let’s keep reading….

5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

Look closely at the description:

“Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head.”

“…the earth with its bars was around me forever…

“…you have brought my life up from the pit…”

The Hebrew word for pit is “sahat”. It basically just means hole in the ground. It was commonly used to describe a deep dug out hole for trapping animals, like lions. Sometimes it refers to the pit of hell. Other times it just means a grave hole dug until the ground. But in the Bible, it almost always refers to death, either a hole in the ground for a dead body to be put into or the place of the dead, like sheol.

Some examples:

Job 33:28 (NASB)

28 ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, And my life shall see the light.’

Psalm 30:2–3 (NASB)

2 O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. 3 O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

Isaiah 38:16–18 (NASB)

16 “O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; O restore me to health and let me live! 17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. 18 “For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Ezekiel 28:8 (NASB)

8 ‘They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas.

6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit…

Now, examine again the words of Jesus in Matthew 12.

Matthew 12:39–40 (NASB)

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

What do you think?

Did Jonah die before he went back to Nineveh?

Did Jonah pray to God before or after he died?

7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.

Psalm 77:2–3 (NASB)

2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted. 3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint…

Psalm 142:1–3 (NASB)

1 I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. 3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me…

Psalm 143:4–6 (NASB)

4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.

So when Jonah’s prayer came to God, he wasn’t dead yet. It sounds like as he was dying he repented and called out to the Lord and God then appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah and to transport him back to dry land.

Hebrews 9:27 (NASB)

27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…