Jonah 2: 1a ‘I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble’
Jonah 7a ‘As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord’
Beginning in Chapter 1, we saw Jonah in total rebellion to God
And we saw Jonah’s rebellion against God take him ‘down’
Jonah went ‘down’ to Joppa, ‘down’ in the ships lowest compartment, ‘down’ into the heart of the sea, he sank thousands of meters ‘down’ to the sea bed, then he went ‘down’ into the belly of the great fish
There is only one conclusion we can learn from this; Sin, takes you ‘down’
And as Jonah was at the ‘deepest depths’ of sin, then he prayed
I honestly think to myself, that it would have better for Jonah to obey God and go to Nineveh, and pray during the journey for God’s help with this new assignment
If he had done that, it would have saved him all this trouble!
Dear friends, it’s easy to criticize Jonah, but many of us do the same, we ‘do our own thing’, in total rebellion to God, we find ourselves in trouble, then we pray – God save me!
The reason we only pray when we are in trouble is because, in the good times, we forget God
Deuteronomy 8: 11 ‘Beware that in your plenty (the good times) you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands’
Illustration: Sept. 11 2001 New York Twin Towers attack
After the attacks, every Sunday for 6 weeks, the NY churches were full to overflowing with people
After 6 weeks, church attendance was back to normal
The trouble had passed, people forgot God again
2/ Jonah’s prayer was strongly ‘Word’ based
Jonah’s prayer is full of quotes from the Book of Psalms
The best way to get your prayers answered is to pray using the Word of God – that way, you can be sure you are praying according to God’s will
1 John 5: 14-15 ‘And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for’
But, there is a problem here
Jonah rightly prays using the Word of God and his prayer is answered – God orders the great fish to spit Jonah out on the beach (Jonah 2: 10)
The problem is: Jonah wrongly ignores the Word of God in the Book of Psalms that command him to be obedient to God in taking His blessings to the non-Jewish/Gentiles – the Ninevites!
In the Book of Psalms there are at least 175 references concerning Israel’s responsibility to make God known amongst the non-Jewish/Gentiles
Here are a few
Psalm 67: 2 ‘May Your ways be known throughout the Earth, Your saving power among people everywhere’
Psalm 96: 3 ‘Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things He does’
Psalm 96: 10a ‘Tell all the nations, “The LORD reigns!”’
Because Jonah ignored these parts of God’s Word and disobeyed God when God commanded him to go to the Ninevites, God brought trouble into Jonah’s life
And, just like Jonah, we need to apply all the Word of God to our faith and ‘practice’
Not, just the bits (of God’s Word) we like!
Joshua 1: 8 ‘Never stop reciting these teachings (God’s Word). You must think about them night and day so that you will faithfully do everything written in them. Only then will you prosper and succeed’
Last Week Jonah 1: 17 Can we believe the Bible is true?
This week: We’ll discuss how far ‘down’ does Jonah have to go before he is willing to repent?
Jonah 2:1-10
As you listen to this message, think about this: how far ‘down’ are some Christians prepared to go before they are willing to repent?
So how far down did Jonah go? – He was actually inside the belly of the great fish when he stated to cry out to the Lord. He realized that he was in the land of the dead (v2) – and when I was reading this verse, God impressed it in my heart – that the land of the dead can synonymous to a spiritual drought – when one is so far away from the Lord, he is in a spiritual dessert. No life, no energy, no color or meaning in his spiritual life – and that’s a dangerous place. When one is so far from the Lord, it’s a dangerous place to be.
And Jonah realized that he is away from the Lord – in the land of the dead. There is no life in the belly of the great fish.
v.3 – ‘I sank down to the heart of the sea’
v.6 – ‘I sank down to the very roots of the mountains’
So how far down is that?
Graphic: Port of Joppa
Graphic: Big map, Jonah’s journey out to sea / Jonah is thrown into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Graphic: The Eastern Mediterranean is called the Levantine Sea
Graphic: (NASA satellite) The Levantine sea is very very deep, an area called the Levantine Basin
The Levantine basin has an average depth of 1,500 meters (1.5km)
In some places the Levantine Basin is 4,000-5,000 meters deep (4-5km).
The Calypso deep is 5,627m deep! – this is the deepest part of the Mediterreanean sea – near the Ionian Sea
Look at the Graphic again: Levantine Basin
In the Levantine Basin there are underwater mountain ranges
Example: Anaximenes mountain 4,000m deep
Jonah said v.6 – ‘I sank down to the very roots of the mountains’.
Think about that: Jonah sank down in the ‘heart of the sea’ to the ‘very roots of the mountains’
To swim 4,000m it would take a very good swimmer, 1.5-2 hours to swim that far (1000m = 25 minutes)
But swimming is different from sinking
To sink down 4,000m / 4km it could take 3 hours to sink that deep
So the question is, how long could Jonah hold his breath?
Some people can hold their breath about 2-3 minutes
After that, a person will go unconscious and be full dead after 7 minutes
So, it’s quite possible that Jonah could not hold his breath under water for 3 hours!
There is only one conclusion that we can come to – Jonah died in the ‘heart of the sea’
We have this idea that the great fish came along and swallowed Jonah sparing him from death
No, Jonah died in the heart of the sea and sank down to the very bottom.
v.6 – ‘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’!
Then the great fish came along and swallowed him. He was ‘buried’ inside the great fish.
God then revived Jonah inside the great fish, Jonah repented.
Then God ordered the great fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach (resurrection)
Jonah 2:10 – ‘Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach’.
Jonah’s sin against God took him ‘down’ to death
It’s very sad to say that some very foolish Christian do the same
They are prepared to go so deep ‘down’ in sin, they are willing to risk even their death
Example: Judas Iscariot
The Bible warns us:
Hebrews 10:39 – 39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
Acts 5:1-11 – Ananias and Sapphira – lied to Peter and died instantly
Some people would choose death, rather than repent of their sins.
Dear Friends, even death can not overcome God’s purposes.
If God says, you are not following me, then I’ll take your life, he can take it.
Psalm 33:11 – ‘But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever; His intentions can never be shaken’.
THERE’S ALWAYS TIME TO REPENT
Question: Why do you think Jesus compared himself to Jonah?
Matthew 12:40 – 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
Answer: As Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead on the 3rd day so Jonah died in the heart of the sea (v.3a), buried in the great fish (v.3b) and was resurrected from the dead, spit out by the great fish onto the beach (Jonah 2:10)
Jonah 2:10 – Once again, the great fish obeys the Lord, and spits out Jonah
Question – But was Jonah now ready to obey the Lord – go to Nineveh and announce God’s judgement against them?
Closing Applications: –
When we fall to our sins before God, and we come to our senses and ask God’s presence, God answers us and saves us.
It’s never too late to repent.
Next time: – Jonah 2:1-10 – Jonah’s prayer inside the great fish.
Out in the Mediterranean Sea Jonah is swallowed by a ‘great fish’ and is inside the fish for 3 days and 3 nights
Jonah 1: 17 ‘Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights’
Can you believe that this is true?
I believe it’s true
There are a lot of people who would say, “No, I cannot believe this is true – there is no way Jonah survived being swallowed by a great fish”
Those same people would then say, “If Jonah is not true then maybe all the Bible is untrue”
Those same people would then say, “And because I believe the Bible is untrue I’m not going to become a Christian”
Dear friends, I’m here today to tell you that I believe every part of the Book of Jonah is true, including Jonah 1: 17
I also believe that every Word in the Bible is true; from Genesis 1: 1 all the way through to Revelation 22: 21
I will go further than that, I believe every letter and every part of a letter in God’s Word is true
Jesus said: Matthew 5: 18 ‘Not even the smallest mark of a pen will disappear from the Word of God until everything is completed’.
As Christians it’s important that we not only believe the Bible is true – all of it; we must also be able to defend the truth of the Bible!
Let’s go back and think about Jonah 1: 17
If Jonah 1: 17 is untrue, then Jesus Himself has deceived us
Because He compared Himself to the Prophet Jonah
Matthew 12: 38-40
Jesus said that as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights inside the great fish so He would be in the ‘heart of the Earth for 3 days and 3 nights’ (dead and buried)
If the Book of Jonah is untrue, then we can’t trust Jesus death, burial and resurrection to be true either
And, if Jesus death, burial and resurrection is not true – then we are lost, because Jesus death, burial and resurrection is the foundational truth of our salvation!
1 Corinthians 15: 1-4, 12-19, 20
So, once again, let’s defend the 3 days and 3 nights Jesus said He would spend ‘in the heart of the Earth’
Friday night, Saturday night = only 2 nights right!?
“There you go, the Bible is not true”!
Wrong!
Luke 9: 22 “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” He said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.”
Mark 15: 42 ‘This all happened (the crucifixion of Jesus) on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached,’ (the Sabbath began at 6pm Friday night)
John 20: 1 ‘Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark (the 3rd night), Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance’.
Though the Book of Jonah is a short Book it is an incredibly important Book in the Old Testament; it asks us the question, “Do you believe the Bible is true”?Out in the Mediterranean Sea, Jonah was swallowed by a ‘great fish’ and was inside the fish for 3 days and 3 nights, Jonah 1: 17 ‘Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights’. Do you believe that this is true?There are a lot of people who would say, “no, I don’t believe this is true, there is no way Jonah survived being swallowed by a great fish”. Those same people would probably also say, “If Jonah is not true then maybe other parts of the Bible are untrue too”. Those same people wouldprobably then say, “And because I believe the Bible is untruewhy would I become a Christian”?
For me, I believe every part of the Book of Jonah is true including Jonah 1: 17. I also believe that every Word in the Bible is true; from Genesis 1: 1 all the way through to Revelation 22: 21. I will go further than that, I believe that every letter and every part of a letter in God’s Word is true. Jesus said, Matthew 5: 18 “Not even the smallest mark of a pen will disappear from the Word of God until everything is completed”.
As Christians, it’s important that we not only believe thatall the Bible is truewe must also be able to defend the truth of the Bible.Let’s go back and think about Jonah 1: 17; if Jonah 1: 17 is untrue then Jesus Himself has deceived us because He compared Himself to the Prophet Jonah, Matthew 12: 38-40. Jesus said that as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights inside the great fish so He would be in the ‘heart of the Earth’, dead and buried, for 3 days and 3 nights.If the Book of Jonah is untrue then we can’t trust Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection to be true either. And if Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is not truethen we are lost because Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is the foundational truth of our salvation, 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4, 12-19, 20.
I defend the truth that Jesus said He would spend 3 days and 3 nights ‘in the heart of the Earth’.Some people attack the Bible because the record of Jesus’ 3 nights ‘in the heart of the Earth’ seems to be wrong.Jesus body was buried in the tomb on Friday night just before the start of the Sabbath at 6 pm.Jesus’body was still in the tomb Saturday night and He was resurrected early Sunday morning, that’sonly 2 nights, right!?“There you go, the Bible is not true”!Wrong, the Bible is true.
At that time, Jewish culture considered any part of a day or a night as 1 day or 1 night.The Jewish calendar day started at 6 pmand ended at 6 pm the next day according toGenesis 1:5‘God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day’.
Now let’s consider some of Jesus own statements about His death, burial and resurrection,Luke 9: 22 “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things”, and, “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.”Consider also, Mark 15: 42 ‘This all happened (the crucifixion of Jesus) on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached’, and,John 20: 1 ‘Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance’.The dark and dawning hours of Sunday morning were considered by the Jews to be 1 night;therefore, Jesus body was buried in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights.Counting backward, Sunday is the third day, Saturday is the second day, and Friday the first, that is 3 days. And counting backwards, the dark hours of Sunday morning, Saturday and Friday morning (the day of the crucifixion) are 3 nights.
Some Christians damage the credibility of the Word of God by falsely manipulating the timeline of Jesus death, burial and resurrection in an unnecessaryattempt to squeeze in a 3rd night; some of them say that Jesus was crucified on the Thursday and others say that He was resurrected on the Monday. All these theories are unnecessary and wrong.You can fully trust the Word of God.
You can believe the truth of Jonah 1: 17 and you can believe the truth of Jesus death, burial and resurrection, as He said in Matthew 12: 38-40.In Matthew 12: 39 Jesus said that Jonah’s ‘resurrection’ from his burial inside the great fish was a sign to the people of Nineveh. The people of Nineveh believed the sign of Jonah and were saved.In New Testament times we are not saved by believing in the sign of Jonah, we are saved by believing in the sign of Jesus, Matthew 12: 40. Jesus’ disciples believed and were saved when they saw Him resurrected from the dead, John 20: 19-22, 24-29. The crowds of people in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost believed Peter’s preaching about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and were saved, Acts 2: 32, 41. Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, saw the resurrected Christ, believed and was saved, 1 Corinthians 15: 8.
How about you?Do you believe in the truth of Jesus resurrection?It is the foundational truth of our salvation, Romans 10: 9 ‘If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’.Amen.
Dear friends, you can fully believe the truth of Jesus death, burial and resurrection, as He said in Matthew 12: 38-40
And, you can fully believe the truth of Jonah 1: 17
In Matthew 12: 39 Jesus said that Jonah’s ‘resurrection’ from his burial inside the great fish was a sign to the people of Nineveh
The people of Nineveh believed the sign of Jonah and were saved!
In New Testament times we are not saved by believing in the sign of Jonah, we are saved by believing in the sign of Jesus Matthew 12: 40
Jesus disciples believed and were saved when they saw Him resurrected from the dead John 20: 19-22, 24-29
The crowds of people in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost believed Peter’s preaching about Jesus resurrection from the dead and were saved Acts 2: 32, 41
Paul, who became the Great Apostle Paul, saw the resurrected Christ, believed and was saved 1 Corinthians 15: 8
How about you?
Do you believe in the truth of Jesus resurrection?
It is the foundation of our salvation!
Romans 10: 9 ‘If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’.
V3. But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
Jonah tried to escape from the Lord’s presence. He is an omnipresent GOD! It is very impossible for us to escape from the sovereign God.
Psalm 139: 7 – 8 (NLT)
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
When Jonah probably bought a ticket, he thought that it is part God’s provision.
V4. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
When God commanded the wind and the sea cause trouble to the ship, the elements obeyed God.
Mark 4: 39 – 41 (NLT)
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
He is capable of causing all things work for your life, or AGAINST your life. Isn’t it incredible: That the wind and the sea obeyed God, and yet Jonah, the prophet, servant and missionary of God disobeyed Him?
V5. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.
V6. So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”
At this point, Jonah were sleeping, enjoying his ride, enjoying his cruise. On the contrary, the crew were all panicking for what is happening, and they believed that there is a divine power at work here. God uses this pagan captain to wake up the sleeping prophet to do and fulfil his task and duties.
V7. Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.
Isn’t it incredible: Jonah, a living breathing man of God is running away from God in disobedience and yet, the dice obeys Him. It identified Jonah as the culprit
V8. “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”
V9. Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
V10. The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.
He even professed that he “worship the Lord” but didn’t manifested in his actions. The sailors criticized Jonah for disobeying God.
We should not act as a stumbling block to the lost. But instead, we need to show the love of God through our words, actions, deeds and thought.
At times, in our Christian walk, we are also like Jonah, we introduce ourselves to people in our family, workplace, circle of friends as a man of God, a Christian by faith, but not a Christian by walk.
Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
V11. And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
V12. “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”
V13. Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.
Jonah confessed that it is his fault why is it happening to them, but he needs to face the consequences. And other lives are also at stake for his disobedience.
V14. Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
V15. Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
V16. The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
Isn’t it incredible: Jonah, a living, breathing man of God is running away from God in disobedience?
And yet…The pagan turned away from being a pagan and worship and obey God. They vowed to serve Him.
V17. Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah.
Isn’t it incredible: Jonah, a living, breathing man of God is running away from God in disobedience? And yet, the great fish obeys Him.
Take home and message:
When Jonah ran away from God, God didn’t ran away from him.
God holds everything, He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.
Walk the talk, we need to be salt and light of this world.
God is capable of turning the mess, into a message. Jonah’s flight was not without spiritual fruit.
God is so amazing that all living and non- living things can be used by God for His own glory.
When God is giving us difficult assignment, we must obey Him knowing that His purposes will prevail. Psalm 33:11 (NLT) ‘the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; His intentions can never be shaken’
revdotdavid 