Jonah: The Belly Dweller

Build Connection

This past week I flew down to Alabama and drive back here with my Dad so he could spend six of so months with us. On the drive back I drove his minivan. and It’s comfortable but the radio won’t work properly. You can’t change some of the setting.

While did was frustrating, it did have car-play so I was able to connect it to my phone and listen to music. We are often happy and unhappy because of our comfort level.

To make life more comfortable in our house we bought some new furniture. What we had worked fine, but we needed a couch in the setting room so we upgraded our living room couch. All for the sake of comfort!

Create Tension

There is nothing wrong with being comfortable, but we need to be careful we don’t let our comfort lead us to wrong actions, motives, and attitudes!

One story that illustrates this best is the familiar story of Jonah.

Provide Solution

Jonah 1 1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” 3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. 4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.” 7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?” 9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” 10 The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?” 12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” 13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. 17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

The first thing we see in this story is God’s call.

Vs. 1 and 2 we see God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh and pronounce judgement.

God’s judgement is always a response to sin.

God’s judgement is abated with repentance.

Jonah Runs

Vs. 3 we see that Jonah went in the opposite direction.

Before we give Jonah a hard time how many times have we done the opposite of what God has called us to do?

Maybe God is calling you to start a ministry, but instead you do what’s familiar and comfortable.

Maybe God has told you to reach out to someone and talk to them about Jesus, instead you just keep quiet.

Maybe God has called you to serve someone less fortunate than you, but instead you say I don’t have time.

Maybe God has told you to quick your job so you can serve him more fully, but instead you tell him all the reasons that is a bad idea.

Sometimes we don’t have to go anywhere to run from God .

What was God’s response to Jonah’s running, he put Jonah in a bad situation!

The rest of chapter 1 is about Jonah’s attempt to run from God!

Hops on a boat to Tarshish, weather gets so bad they think they are going to die. Jonah is asleep in the hull of the boat, is woken up and asked bout his God. Eventually Jonah is thrown overboard and the storm stops, interestingly vs 16 tells us “The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.”

Sometimes, our disobedience can still lead to people turning their lives over to God.

The chapter ends with Jonah in the belly of a great fish.

We all have a fish story.

illustration…I went fishing at a friends dock once, and I caught an almost 3 foot catfish. When I used the term “almost 3 foot” what do I men by that? 2’-11.5” or 2’-6” because there is a big difference between.

Could you imagine Jonah telling his fish story, and one time I was caught by a fish that was 30’ long!

When I say fish story, I don’t mean a tall tale, but specific situation we were put in.

We are all put in a situation where we have to wait.

Sometimes the waiting is because the situation is not ready.

There have been two specific times in our lives where we spent about a year living in Douglasville GA. Both of these times were us waiting for what God had for us next.

Sometimes the waiting is because we are not ready.

Jonah was not ready to do what God called him to do!

We are often not ready to do what God has called us to do so we are waiting. We are having our own “in the fishes belly” time.

After my last job as a youth pastor, I started seminary to get a Master of Divinity in biblical studies. The waiting between the YP job and the pastoral position in North GA was me getting ready!

None of us know exactly how long that will be…

When Jonah was swallowed by that great fish, he wasn’t told he would only be there for three days. for all he knew he might have thought he was going to die there.

Jonah was put in the belly of the great fish to give him time to think! To reconsider his actions, motives, and attitude.

Our actions, motives, and attitudes are very important to God!

Interestingly, the story of Jonah is kinda tragic.

I say that because while his actions changed, his motives only changed a little and is attitude never really changed!

Actions:

Jonah went from running from God’s call to fulfilling God’s call.

From running away from Nineveh to going to Nineveh and proclaiming God’s Judgement!

Motives:

Jonah turned his heart against God by running away from his call. He also turned his heart against the people of Nineveh by not wanting them top be saved from God’s Judgement!

What we find in chapter 2 is a repentant heart toward God.

Jonah 2

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me! 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. 4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ 5 “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. 6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! 7 As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. 8 Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. 9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” 10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

But what about his heart toward the people of Nineveh?

Jonah 4:1–2 “1 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.”

While Jonah had a heart change toward God, he didn’t have a heart change toward the people of Nineveh.

This heart situation was seen in the Pharisees and law teachers in Jesus’ day also.

In Luke 15 Jesus tells three stories that illustrates how we should respond to the lost.

Luke 15:1-7 tells the story of the lost sheep

Luke 15:8-10 tells the story of the lost coin

Luke 15:11-32 tells the story of the lost son

In all of these stories, the main point is about the response of the lost being found.

Lost Sheep - Luke 15:7 “7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

Lost Coin - Luke 15:10 “10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.””

Lost Son - Luke 15:32 “32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’ ””

How do we respond to the lost? Are we like the shepherd with the lost sheep, the woman with the lost coin, and the Father with the lost son?

Or are we like the older brother in the lost son story and Jonah who resent the lost being saved?

We see Jonah’s actions change, we see his motives partly change, but something we don’t see change is his

Attitude:

In chapter 3 we see the people of Nineveh change their hearts toward God and God spares them from his judgement! What is Jonah’s response?

Jonah 4:1–3

“1 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.””

Kill me know Lord if you are going to be merciful and compassionate towards the people of Nineveh, well he was…

Jonah’s attitude was so bad that he went and pouted about God’s goodness!

Jonah 4:4-11

4 The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” 5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

God reminded Jonah that people are more important than his comfort!

Encourage Change

We all want to be comfortable, but at what cost?