In The Belly

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 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. 3 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. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 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. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Weekly Briefing

Okay, guys the calendar has dropped. You can find it on the back table. Take it and put it up on your refrigerator at home and don’t forget it is two-sided! One of the things you want to keep your eye on is the dates and deadlines section. We have our Winter Retreat, SEC and Summer Camp deadlines on the calendar. Also, I want to make a note that I only put Wednesdays on the calendar if there will be no preaching and I didn’t put Sunday nights on the calendar either.

Some of these things may change - be flexible - think back to your toddler years when you could actually put your foot in your mouth. Well, I’m trying to help you guys out each season by giving you a calendar but that means you have to give me some grace if something changes - like, for instance a car wash because of weather. Okay? Awesome!

Just to give you guys a heads up - I will be at the school each week on Wednesday. This week you saw me at the HS and next week I’ll be at the MS. I’ll do my best to come to your events (games, rehearsals, etc.) but make sure that you give me some heads up. If you want other leaders to make some of your events - write it up on the calendar. The best way to do that is to take a picture of your schedule then, bring your phone to Fuel and then write down a couple of the games. Kapish?

Location, Location, Location

We are in week two of “Jonah: The Wayward Prophet” and what we saw last week was God giving Jonah a word - go to Nineveh and prophesy against them.

And what did Jonah do?

He told God no. Remember, rebellion to God is as simple as telling him no. We all have drawers in the chest of drawers of our lives that we hold our hand over and tell God no. That’s rebellion.

And then Jonah went 1500 miles in the opposite direction. But, Jonah couldn’t run from the presence of God and so God began to get his attention by bringing a storm on the sea.

Remember, the pagan sailors tried hard to save the crew while Jonah slept, but finally they woke him up and were like “why is this happening and who are you? What God do you serve?” And Jonah was like “I’m the reason you guys are about to die. Throw me over board and you will be saved.” They didn’t want to do it, but ultimately they throw him over and the storm ceases.

And that is where we pick up tonight:

Jonah 1:17

Jonah 1:17 ESV

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.

When Jonah was cast into the sea - he was doomed. The sea was thought of as a place of chaos, it was unknown, really it was a watery tomb. And when Jonah was tossed overboard - it was his grave. But then God, in his wise and sovereign power makes a fish swallow him. Here’s what we learn from this scene:

1. God’s Rescue Is Kind Not Comfortable

The whale or the fish in this story is not judgment upon Jonah - no that was the water - the fish is actually God’s grace and salvation for Jonah.

But think about what it would be like to be in the belly of a great whale/fish: To say the least, this would have been an awful experience. The temperature would have been between 108 and 115 degrees but with a 100% humidity; Jonah wouldn’t have been able to move his arms; gastric juices that would have continually washed over him, bleaching his skin; And think of the smell - I’m sure it smelled like an outhouse at a carnival.

To say the least, this would have been an awful experience.

o Temperature would have been between 108 and 115 degrees; te couldn’t move his arm; gastric juices that would have continually

[17] And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up

Jonah.

Real quick: some of you are like, “Is this even possible?” No, not without God. The whole thing is a miracle, for sure. But guess what? We serve the God of miracles. We know and love the Creator of the galaxies - the one who was born of a virgin, who became truly man in Jesus Christ. The one who died on the cross drinking up God’s wrath for our sin and who rose from the grave three days later victorious over death. So no it would not have been possible without God. So Jonah is getting his Micheal Jackson bleach experience on and the whole while - this is God’s mercy.

[2:1] And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and

three nights.

It is his kindness not his cruelty; his mercy not meanness. God’s rebuke is always meant to bring us home transformed, not send us away.

washed over him, bleaching his skin; I’m sure

it smelled like an outhouse at the state fair. o (Real quick: some of you are like, “Is this even possible?” No, not without God. The whole

thing is a miracle, for sure.

Kindness not Cruelty; Mercy not Meanness. God’s rebuke is always meant to bring us home transformed, not send

Jim my Neighbor Illustration - two weeks ago on the way to church fly down illustration.

Yes, for a moment that was very uncomfortable when he realized that his fly was down. It was embarrassing. But it was also really good that I, someone who loves him, could point that out. Students, when we run from God sometimes his rescue looks like this - the belly of a whale. God’s rescue is not synonymous with comfort - God’s rescue for Jonah from the sea was the belly of a fish.

God may rescue you from pornography by making it come out publically - and that will be embarrassing. God’s rescue for you from drugs may be your name making the paper. God’s rescue for you from that dating relationship may be losing them in a heartbreaking way.

When God rescue’s us from ourselves - it is always a mercy - but it is usually uncomfortable.

So Jonah is in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:1–7 ESV

Jonah 2:1

2. The Moment Of Crisis

Finally, Jonah prays to the Lord. It is when the moment of crisis hits that Jonah raises his voice to the Lord. So he spends three days and nights in the belly and then calls out to the Lord.

Relief or Repentance?

Look at where Jonah was:

(v.1) - he was in distress but rescued from the belly of Sheol.

What is Sheol?

Sheol was the place of the dead, and in ancient Israel the Israelites considered it to be the place of darkness. Listen to the words of the wise Job:

Job 17:13 ESV

13 If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness,

It was a place of darkness and dust:

Psalm 22:15 ESV

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

It was the place all the dead descended to and did not return from. Jonah was using this word Sheol to express that he was on the verge of death.

Jonah 2:3 ESV

3 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.

He was drowning. He was being overtaken by the mysterious waters of the unknown sea.

Jonah 2:5 ESV

5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head

He was literally drowning in the sea. The weeds were wrapping around his head - like chains.

Jonah 2:6 ESV

6 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.

“at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;”

He was sinking to the bottom to the roots of the mountains. He was a goner. Cianaro Jonah.

Let me ask you this: do you think Jonah felt like he’d been forgotten by God?

Yes.

Had he?

No.

Before, through and after Jonah’s greatest moment of crisis God was near, God was close, God was present.

Noah Illustration: sickness, hardship, healing, rejoicing in our good God.

Some of you feel like you’ve been forgotten by God. You feel like you are in the heart of the sea. The flood has surrounded you.

But you haven’t been forgotten by God. The broken-hearts and the confusing times and the fearful waves of suffering that leave us mad and doubting they have been appointed by God (like the big fish) in your life to bring you back home.

God is relentless in His pursuit of those He loves. I mean think about it: He’s brought you here tonight to hear this good news.

But, I want you to notice something very interesting about Jonah’s prayer - he doesn’t repent of telling God no. In (v.2) he cries out to God when his back is against the wall. But he doesn’t tell God he was wrong and that he is changing his ways.

Which makes me wonder: When the moment of crisis hits do we want relief or repentance?

Jonah was in a place of hopelessness. The weeds, like chains, were wrapping around his head; the bars, like a prison, were closing around him forever.

Circumstance can bring about true repentance - however - most of the time people are just seeking relief from the pressures of your circumstance. You get in some jam - maybe you have been caught sneaking out of your house and so you mend your ways, you begin doing the right thing, you tell your parents you are changed and that isn’t happening anymore because you’ve turned to Jesus - but the truth of the matter, what ends up coming true is that you really were using Jesus as a crutch and not relying upon Him as your Lord. And so, when the guilt of sneaking out subsides and your relationship with your parents gets better - what happens? You sneak out.

See, Jonah wanted salvation but I believe it was more about relief from a hard situation than than turning back to his God.

What about you?

Is a hard situation in your life turning you to Jesus?

If so, are you truly repentant or do you just simply want some relief from guilt? Christ is not our crutch, church, He is our Lord. And when we use him like a Genie that grants our wish for getting us out of a pinch or helping us when we are pressured - we don’t really want Him we just want the benefits that He can give us - which is idolatry. If we don’t crave the Lord - if we don’t desire Jesus - we will run to something else.

Jonah 2:8 ESV

8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Jonah 2:8

3. Giving Ourselves Over To Idols Always Disappoints

This the key verse in Jonah: 24 verses before it; 23 after it. Right in the middle.

And the first question we have to ask is “who is he talking about?” You see, he uses two concepts in that verse...

o Idolatry: which makes you think he’s talking about the pagan sailors: idols. In chapter 1 they had out their little idols praying for deliverance.

o But there is also that word “grace.” In Hebrew “hesed.” Covenant love. It was God’s special love for His children, and Israel only thought about that in terms of themselves.

So, you’ve got idolatry, which makes you think the pagan sailors, or the Ninevites; but you’ve also got “hesed” which makes you think Jonah is talking about himself, since after all, he’s the one praying for deliverance. • Scholars say that in that verse, something remarkable just happened. Jonah has applied the sin of idolatry to all people, even to himself, as a prophet. Idolatry was the source of his own sin. He thought it would be better to disobey and hold on to the things that he loved than to obey and hold on to God. He valued what he loved—his life, his identity, his racial hatred, more than he valued God.

could be theirs.

[7] When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD,

and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

And now he realizes that has kept him from the one great source of life and fulfillment and peace and joy. God has expressed a desire for covenant love for all nations, not just Israel.

about himself, since after all, he’s the one praying for

deliverance. • Scholars say that in that verse, something

remarkable just happened.

Jonah has applied the sin of idolatry to all

people, even to himself, as a prophet. Idolatry was the source of his own sin. He thought it would be better to disobey and hold on to the things that he loved than to obey and hold on to God. He valued what he loved—his life, his identity, his racial hatred, more than he valued God. And now he realizes that has kept him from the one great source of life and fulfillment and peace and joy.

God has expressed a desire for covenant love for all nations, not just Israel (which we’ll deal with more next week).

And what we see here is giving ourselves to idols always disappoints.

We’ve learned this before: all sin, ultimately, begins in idolatry. All of it. Paul penned it this way:

Romans 1:21–23 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

We’ve learned this before: all sin, ultimately, begins in idolatry. All of it.

Romans 1:

Now, you may have trouble seeing it that way... I don’t have any gold statues.

You may have trouble seeing it that way... I don’t have any gold statues.

o But an idol is simply something you love something more than God. Trust more than God. Crave more than God.

o English word “worship” comes from “worth- ship”: when something has such worth in your life that you couldn’t imagine living without it so you build your whole life in pursuit of it.

without it so you build your whole life in

What do you want more than God?

pursuit of it. o Paul says, in , that idolatry was

behind the first sin in the Garden of Eden. You may have trouble seeing that. They wanted the tree more than God.

Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit God’s says, “An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, ‘If I have that, then I’ll fell my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll fell significant and secure.”

• What do you want more than God?

What can you not live without? What do you “need” that would give your life meaning?

Students it is usually the good things that become ‘god’ things. Like a gf or car or a sport or a hobby or a friendship or a piece of technology.

What “golden calf” are you forging?

Brett Farve Illustration: gun-slinger, fire brand, hot head, competitor, stand up guy, role model, top 10 QB. But then he went to the NY Jet’s and took a picture of his manhood and sent it to his female trainer. It severely damaged his “character, career and name.”

All our choices have consequences. And the consequence of giving our heart to idols of self, and comfort, and money, and popularity, and beauty is that we forfeit something incredible.

Jonah 2:8 ESV

8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

When we embrace the false idols in our life we forfeit God’s covenant love to us. It’s like drinking from a toilet rather than from a Dasani bottle. Like listen, just 1% of pee in my cup of water is enough to ruin it - but these idols we crave are completely weak to satisfy our wants.

Praise of Man Idol - what happens when we don’t succeed? Well, once again our idol has broken our heart. And guess what we don’t succeed a lot. And you will find that many people may not like you over the years.

But God’s hesed (Hebrew word for faithful or covenant love) never disappoints. The love I had for Noah when he was struggling physically, the powerful love and compassion and sorrow I felt for him, pails in comparison to God’s steady love. It’s more faithful than the rising of the sun, more faithful than the 4 seasons. His love will never disappoint you and his love will never fail you.

Here’s the reality students - physical salvation is wonderful - for adults that have found themselves in financial ruin and then rescued from that only by the miracle working hand of God - that is a sweet. For students who have found themselves caught in a web of lies that they spun to make themselves look good yet God was merciful to rescue you from those captivating bars - isn’t that freedom nice?

Idolatry is the sin that stands behind all sin.

-The greatness of the covenant love of God

Jonah 2:9–10 ESV

9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jonah is thankful for his salvation - and he even tells God he will do what God has asked “he will pay his vows”. He will go to Nineveh and preach agains the city.

But I want to end with this:

The reality students - physical salvation is wonderful - for adults that have found themselves in financial ruin and then rescued from that only by the miracle working hand of God - that is a sweet. For students who have found themselves caught in a web of lies that they spun to make themselves look good yet God was merciful to rescue you from those captivating bars - isn’t that freedom nice?

The reality students you are going to run into moments of crisis throughout your life - maybe you are in one right now. Hear me: physical salvation is wonderful - some adults that have found themselves in financial ruin and then rescued from that only by the miracle working hand of God - that is a sweet.

For students who have found themselves caught in a web of lies that they spun to make themselves look good yet God was merciful to rescue you from those captivating bars - isn’t that freedom nice?

It’s glorious, but the reality is - however great physical salvation is - spiritual salvation is greater.

Well, the reality is - however great physical salvation is - spiritual salvation is greater.

Jonah 2:6–7 ESV

6 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. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Jonah 2:6–7 ESV

Jonah 2:

Jonah 2:9 ESV

9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

Jonah 6-7

Look, God knows that the whale is Jonah’s uncomfortable salvation - but Jonah does not know this.

There is a greater salvation than physical salvation (v.6-7 & 9) - he is thankful for future salvation and he will do what God says - but this change is not heart repentance because it is reluctant.

-There is a greater salvation than physical salvation (v.6-7 & 9) - he is thankful for future salvation and he will do what God says - but this change is not heart repentance because it is reluctant.

3. Giving Ourselves Over To Idols Always Disappoints

Yet Jonah prays like God has rescued him. He literally says “you brought up my life from the pit” - all the while being bleached by the stomach acid of some huge fish. That’s because he knows that there is a greater salvation than physical salvation.

-Idolatry is the sin that stands behind all sin.

-The greatness of the covenant love of God

4. The Sign Of Jonah - Salvation Belongs To The Lord

Did you know that Jesus mentioned Jonah during His ministry on earth?

Listen:

Matthew 12:38–40 ESV

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 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 12

How did Jesus compare Himself to Jonah?

Jonah was in a watery-tomb for 3 days and so would Jesus be. Isn’t it beautiful that what is normally thought of as weakness and loss - death; was actually the tool or vehicle Jesus used to bring about salvation!

Students, salvation belongs to the Lord. Some of you need this rescue. What I mean is that you are lost and dying in your sins. You have no hope of heaven, you have no relationship with Christ. You are as hopeless as Jonah was as he sunk to the bottom of the sea. Yet, a greater, much greater prophet than Jonah came - Jesus. And he was in a tomb for 3 days - like Jonah, but by His own power He kicked down death’s door. He died the death you deserve so that you can have the life you never could have.

Some of you need to love and trust in Jesus for the first time. If that’s you talk to an adult tonight. Look, his rescue will be uncomfortable, but you will be free of those chains of sin.

Are you in a moment of crisis?

Run in repentance to the Lord. Don’t use God as a crutch - use him as your refuge. A hiding place from the storm. A shelter from hardship.

Have you been giving yourself over to idols?

Students there is always a trade-off. You can attempt to get everything you can from the idols of this world but remember the words of Jesus: don’t try to gain the entire world and lose your soul.

Tonight you have three paths to walk:

You can leave here worldly - you don’t need salvation - you don’t need Jesus.

You can leave here religious - I can save myself “salvation belongs to me.”

Or, you can leave here Christian - “salvation belongs to the Lord”. Gospel believing, bible loving Christians know that God is the owner of salvation. So we run to him.