God's Deliverance

Jonah 1:17–2:10 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. 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.

Last week, we looked at a prophet who was running from God. He even paid for a boat ticket just to get as far away from God as he thought he could. And why was he running? Simply because he did not like the people God had called him to minister to.

Nineveh “Gift of God” was the capitol of Assyria, an evil city, known as a city of war, a city where one worshiped their own “g”od Ishtar, and was a part of trade with routes from the N/S/E/W. Because of their evil nature, Jonah wanted them held accountable, not spared from God’s wrath. Yet this is exactly what God had planned.

As Jonah ran, God placed a storm on the sea, one which threatened to capsize and break up the ship in which he occupied. Jonah was so content being outside the will of God, he slept as the storm raged on. The captain of the ship finally woke him up and told him to pray to HIS God so that they might not die because of the storm. Interestingly, Jonah didn’t pray, but he did acknowledge the God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land. He admitted he had run from God, and he was the cause of the turmoil they were in. The only way they would be spared was to throw him overboard, his life would be required so others could be saved. Even though they did not want to be held accountable for Jonah’s death, and feared the repercussions of killing him, they realized they had no choice and threw him into the sea. The sea “ceased” from its raging.

We don’t know how long it was from the time he hit the water until the next verse, but I want us to look closely at the words used to describe the event that happened next.

Now That’s a WHOPPER!

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.

God knew Jonah was going to flee. God knew where he planned to go - even before Jonah knew. He even know that there would be the need for a great storm in which Jonah would be thrown overboard. And, get this, God had already appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah.

The word used here for appointed literally means “selected for a specific purpose”. God already had Jonah’s rescue planned long before Jonah ever knew he would need to be rescued by his God.

Church, how many times have we found ourselves in predicaments where we wonder how God will ever get us out. Maybe we wonder if God even recognizes the mess we are in. We may even wonder if God hears our cries to Him when we find ourselves in some of the darkest times of our lives. Yet we see a picture here that God not only recognizes, hears, and has already prepared a way for our escape. God has already planned our rescue before we recognize we are in need of being rescued!

God is omniscient, all knowing of the things of the past, the present, and of the future. God CANNOT be taken by surprise! It is up to us to only look to Him at our time of need, and know He can and will deliver us from the trials and tribulations of life.

2 Samuel 22:2–4 ESV

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.

God can, and He will deliver us, just as He delivered Jonah.

Now, many times we get caught up in the fact God sent a “great fish” to swallow Jonah and keep him protected for 3 days and 3 nights. While this is a miraculous event, the true miracle was not that God protected Jonah in the belly of a great fish for 3 days and nights, but that God had perfectly orchestrated the salvation of Nineveh, even when His prophet was disobedient.

We tend to forget, as the creator of the universe, God could have created anything to swallow Jonah. The most thought we should give to this part of scripture is that God’s miracle happened.

Don’t forget, there will be times when we are faced with obstacles in our lives and we will not know how they could ever be resolved, let along come out to our benefit. But when they happen, we can’t explain it, we don’t know why it happened, we may not even be able to wrap our head around our deliverance, but we know it was God. I feel this is where we find Jonah. He knows he has deliberately gone against God’s will for his life. He knows God has sent a storm into his life that literally almost killed him. Now he finds himself in the slimy, dark and damp belly - the inward parts - of a great fish and THEN he cries out to God in prayer.

Don’t use this as an example of what we should do, I think in most cases we would be praying at the BEGINNING of our trials and tribulations, NOT waiting until God has delivered us unexpectedly from the storm that popped up in our life by placing us in a nasty place and THEN remembering to pray!

Jonah Remembers to Pray

Jonah 2:1–9 ESV

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!”

THEN - Jonah had not prayed about going to Nineveh, he had not prayed (but instead slept) when the great storm was about to wreck the boat he was in. Even though he acknowledged the sovereignty of God to the sailors when asked, he didn’t even pray before telling them to throw him overboard to save themselves. It was ONLY after he realized God had saved him from a horrible death that Jonah recognizes he needs to pray.

He literally stared death face to face, but instead was given deliverance. Recognizing he has been saved, he turns to prayer.

We, as believers, also show how we value OUR salvation by the choices we make during the week when we have an opportunity to speak of how He delivered us from certain death.

Now, look closely again at what led up to this. God called, Jonah ran, God sent a storm, Jonah acknowledged God, but instead of repenting he tells them to chunk him overboard. It is then, when he hits the water, that he realizes he is not ready to die. He is in trouble - in the middle of the Mediterranean sea - and he finally realizes he is at the mercy of God. But then God saved him once again and Jonah prays to the Lord from the belly of the fish.

What was it Jonah prayed? Praises to his God. Lord, I was in the belly of Sheol - I knew I was a goner, dead, was soon ceasing to live, pushing up daisies. The sailors had cast him into the heart of the seas, with water all around him, waves everywhere crashing into him, weeds wrapping around his body, no doubt fatiguing him, driving him further and further away from God’s will for his life - to minister to the people of Nineveh - and closer to death. He was sinking, he was about to become swallowed by the sea forever, he was facing a watery grave. But then… he prays “my prayer came to you” and God heard him and answered.

God will see us through the toughest times in our lives. Even the times when we intentionally run from Him. We may even think we are doing everything to the best of “our” ability to make it the best we know how when things get tough. We may even focus on our own “idols” in an effort to deliver us. But it is not until we are willing to sacrifice “OURSELVES” that we truly can sing praises to God for our deliverance.

Jonah recognized he had been rescued from one of the most difficult situations in his life, and that his salvation came SOLELY from the Lord.

Never forget God is always listening, he hears our voice, and in His timing, and in His will, He will answer us from the smallest all the way to the most difficult times in our lives. It’s then, and only then, that we can truly recognize WHO delivered us, and that our salvation comes solely, but perfectly and completely from the Lord.

Jonah Delivered

Jonah 2:10 ESV

10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Now, recognize that while Jonah found himself in what seemed like an unforgiving and unrelenting predicament when he was thrown overboard into a tossing sea, his deliverance was not in a manner most of us would consider acceptable. I mean, how many of us would WANT to be delivered from imminent death by being swallowed by some large fish and sloshing around in its stomach? It wasn’t until Jonah cried out to God, proclaiming his salvation, that the Lord spoke to the fish.

Isn’t it interesting that the same fish that God appointed to this task held onto Jonah until God spoke to it? That fish was perfectly submitting to the will of God, the exact OPPOSITE of the meal it had just consumed.

Isn’t it ironic, God spoke to Jonah and he ran. God speaks to the fish, and the fish does exactly what the Lord says. It vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Conclusion

God preserved Jonah. From running away from God, fleeing 2,500 miles from where God wanted him, enduring a storm in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, being thrown overboard and finding himself sinking to the bottom, wrapped in sea weed, tossed by the waves and currents, knowing he was about to die. But God sends a great fish to swallow him, and he spends three days and nights in the belly of this great fish, before crying out to God and acknowledging his salvation came only from God. When he acknowledges where his salvation came from, the great fish deposits him back on dry land. We have no idea where that fish spit him back out. But we know Jonah had been spared from an immediate watery death and had been placed back on dry land. Jonah had been given a second chance. Another opportunity to not only listen to the Lord, but to DO what he had been called to do - minister to the lost nation of Nineveh.

God is a God of second chances. If it were not for second chances, then where would we find ourselves? But more importantly, the second chance that God offers is not just to Jonah. God seeks to save more people than one drowning man to whom He sent a fish. God seeks to save people drowning in sin by sending His Son, Jesus. Anyone who trusts in Jesus will receive mercy like Jonah. We will be birthed again out of distress, born again and given a new life. This is what God provides in Christ, and this is what should make us so thankful for salvation.

Today, God is giving us a second chance. He is asking us to just obey Him and do what He has called us to do. You may be running away from God. You may be rebelling against His calling for your life. You may be in a storm in your life, wondering how or if you will survive. Today, God offers you a second chance. Will you be willing to cry out to God “Salvation belongs to the Lord” today so you can be delivered, just like Jonah. The altar is open, God is calling, will you obey Him?