In Too Deep?

Digging My Own Pit

I remember a time right after college of having to deal with troubling finances. Right after High School I was applied for and was approved for a $600 credit card. I worked for two more months after graduation with a bit of money saved up and then I went off to school in Phoenix Arizona. I bought polo shirts, Polo boots, Air Force Ones, and many other unneeded things with that money. I thought to myself “I’ll find a job soon!” But of course I didn’t and I learned about interest. And the type of credit cards offered to high school graduates have plenty of it so I had that mounting. I finally found a job and I had friends to impress so I made as few payments as I could and the interest grew and all of a sudden I was continually broke! Then I found a solution three blocks away from my school! This place would give me money before I got paid and then I would just give them some money back! It was all so simple! I found myself in a revolving door of debt and I couldn’t climb out because I made too little in an expensive city. By the time I figured it out it was too late! There was no coming back! I was in too deep! I struggled most of the time I was in Phoenix because of bad choices I made. I was in too deep and I could do little to nothing about it!

Self Dug Pits

We’ve been in those moments before right? From time to time we all dig pits.

We may have burnt bridges at a job we had to return to

Put off starting the big project for school and having little to no time to recover

Or even flirting our way into infidelity and ruining our marriage

There are many different scenarios in which we have dug our own pits and become trapped within. Just like Jonah when he ignored the call of God to cry out against Nineveh and tried to flee from the presence of God. He dug a pit for himself and found himself in the belly of a great fish! What do we do when we feel heaviness of the deep?

How do we handle an impossible situation created by our own actions?

Please turn your Bibles with me to Jonah 1:17...

We catch up with the hardheaded prophet as he has made his residence in the belly of the great fish. His actions have caused God to sit him in timeout to think about what he has done, and the passage today is a prayer by Jonah as he gives praise to God from within the belly of the great fish. We will begin by reading the text in its entirety.

Jonah 1:17–2:10 NRSV

17 But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called 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 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; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’ 5 The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around 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 As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!” 10 Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.

In Too Deep? (1:17-2:4)

Jonah 1:17 NRSV

17 But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

3 days & 3 days nights

Alludes to the notion popular at the time that the journey to the land of the dead (sheol) took that long.

Jonah 2:1–2 NRSV

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

Jonah 2:3–4 NRSV

3 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; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’

V4

Him being in this situation causes him to remember God.

If the believer has the ability to recognize a chaotic self-dug pit, they are not too deep for redemption.

God punishes Jonah in this instance but does not kill.

You can never be in too deep for God, He leaves room for repentance.

Life Without God (2:5-8)

Jonah 2:5–6 NRSV

5 The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around 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.

It is a deep and scary thing. He’s at the roots of the mountains.

V6

Bars

They were used to secure gates. Nothing could get in or out of a city that had bars.

This usage is a metaphor referring to the underworld. Being on the other side of deaths door.

With God through Jesus we have keys over death.

Revelation 1:17–18 NRSV

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

I love to watch football and this past NFL season I was given the treat of watching Patrick Mahomes. It was during the playoffs before an eventual Super Bowl victory that I saw greatness. It seemed like every week of the playoffs his team would be getting beat by a large margin. And then suddenly, he would turn it on as their leader and lead them to victory. It just so happens that the very same thing happened in the Super Bowl and his teammates would later be shown on video stating that they knew they were going to win. They were down big, and it seemed like all was going to end but based on the fact that it had been done before they had hope in their victory. Jonah knew God well and when things took a turn for the worse, he remembered the Lord and God was not so far away that it could not reach him!

God’s never too far away! It is usually us who do the moving.

Jonah 2:7 NRSV

7 As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Jonah 2:8 NRSV

8 Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty.

Repentance and God’s Deliverance (2:9-10)

Jonah 2:9 NRSV

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

V9

But! - H

He’s stating what others do. Now he talks about he will do.

True change of heart happens up stairs.

His change of heart is followed by action. I can change my mind about having a dad bod but if I keep eating whole bags of Oreo’s in one sitting there will never be change! I must act! I believe this mode of thinking on Jonah’s part to be influenced by what was called votive offerings in their time.

Leviticus 7:16 NRSV

16 But if the sacrifice you offer is a votive offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that you offer your sacrifice, and what is left of it shall be eaten the next day;

Could last for 2 days

Deuteronomy 12:17–19 NRSV

17 Nor may you eat within your towns the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, the firstlings of your herds and your flocks, any of your votive gifts that you vow, your freewill offerings, or your donations; 18 these you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God at the place that the Lord your God will choose, you together with your son and your daughter, your male and female slaves, and the Levites resident in your towns, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God in all your undertakings. 19 Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.

The fact that God came through was shared with the community

Salvation belongs to the Lord! But it not end there!

Jonah 2:10 NRSV

10 Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.

The Lord spoke to the fish and it had no choice but to obey.

Jonah had footing again to be about the purpose of God!

The very thing created by us that causes us chaos, despair, and loss of hope must obey God when He says that it is over!

We have work to do! Get back to your calling!

If we would understand that no pit is too deep, no situation is too bleak, and not even death can stand up against the redemption of God.

· Communities: How many marriages could be mended by this frame of mind? How many children would return home? How many of our homeless would be afforded opportunity for jobs and healthcare?

· Church: If our churches adopted this frame of mind there would be less apprehension to those returning to the body when they fell away.

· World: What if the world could forget the self-induced chaos of the past and allow God to redeem us for his will?

I invite you to come now if you stand in need of prayer. If you need to be baptized for the remission of your sins…