Jonah, Ch. 2:1-10
“A Song At Sea”
Ch. 2:1 Prepared Prayer
Vs. 2-4 Dependence In The Deep
Vs. 5-7 A Lifted Life
Vs. 8-10 A Prophet’s Promise
Intro
We have now come to, frankly, the most challenging chapter in the book of Jonah. To read this chapter from the perspective of the previous one is to be certain of Jonah’s repentance seen in this song of transformation. Yet to read this chapter in light of the chapters that follow is to be certain that Jonah did not repent, for he was not transformed!
On top of this, do we understand that Jonah died and was brought back to life, or that he was somehow preserved alive for three days? Did he pray at first, or did he wait three days? And lastly, what are we to make of this great fish? To say that I have pondered these questions all week is an understatement!
First, let me give you the setting of this chapter:
- It is composed inside a “great fish’s belly.”.
- Looking at the structure of the chapter is to see that it is a psalm, which we would know as a song!
As far as we know, this is the one and only song ever composed inside a fish. With that said, it does shed some light on one of the great mysteries of the Bible: “What kind of great fish was this?” I believe this must have been a very large TUNE-A! Steve told me that Jonah sang this song while playing the tuba’s trombone. Furthermore, in light of the fish’s response, we know the title of the song was, “You can’t keep a good man down!”
Ch. 1:17- Ch.2:1 Prepared Prayer
Vs. 17a Seriously, I believe that any guess of what type of fish this was, or whether or not it is possible for a “great fish” to swallow a man, is cleared up right here. Simply put, the text says, “The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah…” Therefore, the type of fish was a “PREPARED FISH.” The type of fish is irrelevant to the story when you have this phrase. Be that as it may, it might interest you to know that there are several published accounts of men being swallowed by “great fish” living to tell about it.
First, there are several species that are native to the Mediterranean large enough to accommodate this type of account.
- Sperm whale.
- The whale shark.
Both of these fish have no teeth and feed by opening their mouths and rushing through the water at a great speed. They then strain out the water and swallow whatever is left. They grow to a size of 100 feet with mouths as wide as 12 feet, easily big enough to swallow a man. Interestingly enough, they have six compartments to their stomachs, inside their nasal passages it is seven feet high, seven feet wide, and fourteen feet in length.
One article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer quoted a Dr. Harvey, who said that a dog was lost overboard and found six days later in the nasal passage of one of these fish, alive barking. It is also said that these great fish have a habit of beaching themselves when they are dying, at which time they eject the contents of their stomachs. The most famous case other than Jonah’s here is recorded by the famous French scientist M. de Parville, who writes of the case of James Bartley, an unfortunate sailor who was thought to have drowned off the Falkland Islands near South America. Two days later a whaling ship made a catch of a whale, and as they cut up the whale, they discovered James Bartley alive inside the whale.
Lastly, there is the 1926 account as told by Dr. Rimmer, who was the president writer for the “Research Science Bureau.” He investigated the account of a man swallowed by a whale shark off the English Channel. Two days later they again encountered the whale shark, opened it up, and found the sailor alive. Dr. Rimmer met the man who interviewed him and said that he was in good condition except that he was devoid of all body hair and had a strange yellowish-brown color all over his skin.
So is this not a miracle? Well, I believe that it is not so much that a “great fish” swallowed Jonah, but rather it is a miracle of God’s grace in sending the fish to save Jonah! It is God’s good timing that blows me away. Jonah is being saved not because he deserves it, but rather because God loves Jonah, a prodigal prophet who would rather die than surrender to the will of God. Hey folks, if God will go to those lengths for Jonah, He will do the same for you!
Furthermore, God’s salvation, or if you will, His turning your life around, can be just about anything. Say what? Isn’t it great that though Jonah was fleeing the presence of the Lord, the Lord sought to run him to be near Jonah? Last week I said that God will first try talking to you through the Word of God, then he will talk to you through the works of God, but remember He will continue His pursuit, even if it is by sending a great fish.
Jesus tells us in Luke 11:30 that in this whole scene, “Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.” Well, what was that sign that Jesus was as well? The Resurrection! Yes, but more than that, the resurrection reminds us of God’s grace! The fact that God “prepared” a great fish is not as much a miracle as the fact that God was “preparing” a prodigal prophet! So Jonah was a sign of grace to the Ninevites, but the great fish was a sign to Jonah! And the sign? The miracle of grace!
Ch. 1:17b-Ch.2:1 This is the first positive response of Jonah recorded in this book. When it comes to acts of obedience, we have seen the pagan sailors’ obedience, we have seen even the great fish’s obedience, but nothing from old Jonah.
Now it appears that three days pass before Jonah prays this song. Although the word “then” does not have to refer to a length of time, it can just mean “and.” If it is three days before Jonah seeks God, then it just emphasizes the stubbornness of Jonah.
How about it? What’s it going to take for you to stop resisting God’s word, works, or the world’s rebuke? Folks, the way we accept God’s working in our lives will be in direct proportion to how much we will benefit from it.
Well, isn’t Jonah’s prayer out of desperation? You bet! I’ve come to the conclusion in my Christian life that most of the time I will not choose to be obedient to the Lord’s will until I have no other choice. The truth of the matter is that as far as what is best for me, there is only one choice I can make: “Follow the Lord.” Yet with that said, I often resist that until things are so bad that I turn to Him. How about you? Jonah’s crying out to the Lord because of His own rebellion, yet as we shall see, the Lord still answers Him. Why do we resist His love? Well, I think it is because we are insecure and not fully convinced that what the Lord has for us is the best! I want to be on record here and say how thankful I am towards the Lord that He still answers my prayers even though the mess I’m in is because of my own rebellion.
May I make a suggestion to you? Why wait? Why not just turn to Him? That’s what God says to Israel in Ezek 33:11. “As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”
There are some here who believe that Jonah was actually drowned in the sea, (verse 5, where Jonah says that the waters encompassed me even to my soul); furthermore, in verse 6, Jonah says that God has, “brought up his life from the pit.” Now I have to admit that if that is the case, the way in which God resuscitated Jonah is interesting to say the least! The salvation of Jonah was from the Lord by way of a “fish.” Man, does God ever use foolish things to confound the wise. Can you imagine old Jonah telling this story years later? “I was drowning and went unconscious, and when I awoke, I was inside this smelly, slick, and gooey thing; I later realized that it was a great fish!” “You might think that the Lord saved me through this fish.” I’ve heard of a COD-FISH, but this is the first GOD-FISH. Oftentimes it is the things that we think are going to destroy us that God uses to bring us back to life!
Dependence in the Deep
Ch.2:2 Here we are given Jonah’s prayer from an undersea perspective. This is a typical Hebrew psalm of thanksgiving, in that it has an introductory statement of answered prayer (vs. 2), the report of personal crises (3-6), and then lastly it has a vow of future praise based upon the answered prayer (7-9).
As I stated already, this brings us to a great dilemma as to whether or not Jonah repented. Was this prayer a sham? It would appear so if you read chapter 4, but secretly we are all hoping that Jonah was a changed man after his fishing experience.
Why bother trying to unravel this? Well, because our interpretation thus our application of this passage has everything to do with the context in which Jonah wrote this. So did Jonah repent? Yes, I believe that he did. So then what’s up with chapter four? Well, I think that Jonah responds like most believers. In Romans 7:15-25, Paul, speaking from his own personal testimony, explains the battle of our flesh and our spirit. That’s what is going on with Jonah here. A personal crisis comes into his life because he is disobedient; he waits until he has no other choice but to admit that he has blown it, repents, and promises to yield to the will of God in his life, only to have to face it again head-on.
Folks, a lot of books have been written on spiritual warfare, but the greatest foe you will ever do battle with is the one that awaits to greet you in the mirror each morning! And I’m not talking about your spouse! Paul reminded himself often of this foe his need to “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:11) The truth of the matter is that our old fleshly nature will never get better on this side of heaven. Did Jonah mean what he prayed here? I’m sure he did, just as much as you did when you promised the Lord to treat your spouse better, or to read your Bible more often, etc. What we see herein in the book of Jonah ought to give our lives a boost, for we see that God’s faithfulness to make us more like His Son is not based upon our faithfulness or success but rather His!
Notice that Jonah realizes that his rebellion has brought him down to the “belly of Sheol.” Folks, the pleasure of disobedience is fleeting at best, and the end is always “death”, which is the absence of a life joy. Yet with that said, isn’t it great that even though it was Jonah’s own rebellion that had led to death, that when he cried out to God, He heard Jonah’s voice! What a great God. Hey, has your rebellion led you to a place of misery? And now you think that God will not have anything to do with you? He will, you know, just lift up your voice to Him right where you are at!
Vs. 3 Notice the many times here that Jonah recognizes that it was God’s hand that cast him into the deep; it was God’s storm that sunk him down. I love the fact that rebellion ultimately was destroying Jonah’s life. Why? Well, because it allows us to realize the harm of disobedience! Jonah was getting what he deserved, and he can have no complaints about it.
Vs. 4 Jonah’s helplessness turned into hopelessness as he felt that he had been cast out from God’s sight. The worst part of Jonah’s self-inflicted trial was the absence of fellowship from God.
Yet he turns to the Holy Temple. So what’s that all about? Well, the Jews equated the temple with the presence of God. In fact, when King Solomon built the temple upon its dedication prayer, Solomon asked that, “Whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart and spreads out his hands toward this temple, then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know.” And God is honoring that here. Interesting that Jonah was fleeing the presence of the Lord, and God allows him to experience what he sought for only to use it to draw him back to Himself!
Folks, remember that the way out of hopelessness and helplessness, even if it is self-inflicted, is to LOOK UP and CRY OUT!
A Lifted Life (Ch.2 Cont.)
Vs. 5-6 These verses tell us what happened as Jonah was drowning there in the ocean. God prepared a great fish. Jonah is saying that he was a goner here. The water surrounded his soul deeply. I’ve come close to drowning a few times, and it is one of the most helpless, hopeless feelings I’ve ever experienced, for you are completely conscious of your situation, yet there is nothing to hold onto, no way of helping yourself. That’s what Jonah describes here. He says that seaweed wrapped around his head. I’m not sure of the accuracy of this, but I’ve been told that this seaweed can grow up to 25 miles in length. If you have ever gone to Carmel, California, there is always some up on the beach there, it is really tough stuff. Evidently this sunk Jonah down under the sea to the bottom, to where he says, “the earth’s bars closed behind him forever.” Jonah describes the prison that death is to the sinner, doesn’t he?
When we are in disobedience, folks, we may get our way, but the end is death. Hey. It is when we surrender to the Lord that we win!
Vs. 7 Again notice that Jonah waited until his, “…soul fainted within him.” Man, does that not speak to me about trying to be in charge? Hey, I don’t want to be in charge of my life; I want the Lord as my captain. Look carefully at these words for a moment; it does not say that the lord remembered Jonah, but that Jonah remembered the Lord! So? Well, God had never forgotten Jonah; it was Jonah that had forgotten the Lord. Now finally Jonah realizes that he is helpless and hopeless, so he remembers, as Psalm 121:2 says, “My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”
Folks, look again at the context here! Jonah was willfully disobedient; he was getting what he deserved, yet the moment he remembered the Lord, God was there to save him. Man, does that ever give me hope; I don’t have to wait to get my act together; all I need to do is remember the Lord. Maybe it’s time for you today to remember the Lords. He is waiting for you to answer the door of your heart, for He has been knocking for a long time.
A Prophet’s Promise
Vs. 8 I kind of think that Jonah is speaking of his own “worthless idols” of pride. Folks, there is no greater idol that man has ever worshiped than the idol of pride! Oh, the amount of marriages I’ve seen destroyed because of this idol! When you worship idols of pride, right here it says that you, “Forsake your own mercy.” Right now I want every one of you to underline that verse to make sure it is a word of the Lord to you!
Vs. 9 And what is that sacrifice? Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Simply put, it is the surrender of our lives to Him. Paul says in Rom. 12:1, “…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Again notice that we ought to do it with thanksgiving! Why? Because salvation is only from the Lord!
Vs. 10 Hey, I’m so glad that if the Lord is trying to speak to me and I won’t listen, then He will speak to a dumb fish. So what’s the point? Well, God is at work in our lives so that we are being brought closer to Him.
Notice that Jonah’s rebellion caused him to be treated as a foreign substance. Hey, I pray that rebellion and disobedience in our lives will be foreign to us! It all just goes to show us that disobedience in our lives ought to be something that we just can’t swallow! Jonah may have felt as though he was heading nowhere, but the whale was taking him right where God wanted him to be. And you know where that was? Right back dealing with his own prejudice. This humbling experience will lead to the greatest revival ever recorded in the history books; that’s what we will look at next week.