Belly Up

HOOK

We left Jonah being thrown into the sea, the seas calmed, the sailers sacrificed and worshiped the God of Jonah.

At this moment in the story we could stop and assume we’ll never hear from Jonah again. That he’d be lost at sea paying the penalty due for running from God.

However, mercy comes as God moves again.

We all have moments we think it’s over. It’s too late. I can’t come back from this. God and this world and so and so is done with me.

Yet, mercy comes as God moves again.

Jonah 1:17–2:10 NLT

Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 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! 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. Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. 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! As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. 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.” Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

LOOK

God and his servant Jonah had parted ways in anger, beginning on Jonah’s side when he fled.

We hope to see them reunited in reconciliation . . . and the reconciliation begins on God’s side when he appoints a great fish to swallow him up and preserve him and deliver him from his prison of death. . . this grave . . .

In the same way that Christ went to a grave prepared by God to be raised to life three days later and bring repentance to the non-Jewish world, Jonah would rise again and preach repentance to the non-Jewish world.

Just like when Jonah was tossed into the sea, no when he finds himself in the belly of a whale, we have every reason to think we’ll never hear from him again. That God’s wrath has dealt permanently with him.

BUT! God’s mercy is great…and the story doesn’t end here. God delivers people through fire, through water, and by his power, Jonah the prophet is alive…and he is heard from again.

In the passage we just read we heard Jonah praying from the belly of the whale. From the bottom, from the very edge of his own grave, he’s calling on on the name of the Lord.

That’s why I called today’s message “Belly Up.” From the belly of a great fish, Jonah looks up! Up to his rescuer, his final plea.

APPLICATION POINT: God can hear your prayer, save you, and create space for you to listen and obey him, even at your lowest point.

In this prayer we have… (Matthew Henry’s Commentary)

The great distress and danger he was in (2, 3, 5, 6) [his affliction]

The despair he was almost reduced to (4)

The despair he was almost reduced to (4)

The encouragement he took to himself, in this deplorable condition (4, 7)

The assurance he had of God’s favor to him (6, 7)

The warning and instruction he gives to others (8)

The praise and glory of all given to God (9)

Prayers in Affliction (something that causes pain and suffering)

Even under the sense of sin and the obvious notion of God’s displeasure with him, he prayed.

When we are in affliction we must pray! In fact, that’s when we have urgent errands to run. Deliver to the throne of grace.

If not then, when?

Jonah’s experience reminds us that even when humanly speaking it is too late, God can and does answer our cries for help.

BIG IDEA: When Jonah literally hits rock bottom, God rescues him and redirects his thoughts and actions.

APPLICATION POINT: God can hear your prayer, save you, and create space for you to listen and obey him, even at your lowest point.

Psalm 139:7–10 NLT

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.