Is It A Good Thing, When God Shows Mercy To You? (Jonah 2:1-10) Series

I'm going to begin this morning, simply by rereading Jonah 1. I'm hoping, as we reread it, that you'll realize you understand it better, and differently, than before last week:

(1) And the Word of Yahweh came to Yonah the son of Amittai, saying,

(2) "Rise!

Walk! to Ninevah the great city,

and call! against it

that their evil has come up before my face,"

(3) and Yonah rose to flee to Tarshish from before the face of Yahweh,

and he went down to Yopha,

and he found a ship going to Tarshish,

and he paid its fare,

and he went down on board to go with them to Tarshish from before the face of Yahweh,

(4) And Yahweh hurled a great wind/spirit on the sea,

while the ship thought to break up,

(5) and the sailors were afraid,

and they cried out, each to his elohim/god/gods,

and they hurled the objects that [were] in the ship to the sea to lighten from on them,

while Yonah went down into the innermost part of the ship,

and he laid down (to fall asleep),

and he fell into a deep sleep,

(6) and the captain of the sailors drew near to him,

and he said to him,

"What do you want, being in a deep sleep?

Rise!

Call to your Elohim.

Perhaps the Elohim will give a thought to us so that we won't perish,"

(7) And they said, each to his neighbor,

"Come/walk,

and let us cast lots, so that we shall know on account of whom this evil [has come] on us,"

and they cast lots,

and the lot fell on Yonah,

(8) and they said to him,

"Tell us, please, on whose account this evil [has come] on us?

What is your occupation,

and from where are you coming?

What is your country/land,

and from where are this people of yours?

(9) And he said to them,

A Hebrew [am] I,

while Yahweh the Elohim of the heavens I fear,

who made the sea and the dry ground,"

(10) and the men feared a great fear,

and they said to him,

"What is this you have done?"

For the men knew that from before the face of Yahweh he was fleeing,

For he told them,

(11) And they said to him,

"What shall we do to you, so that the sea shall quiet down from over us?"

For the sea was growing more and more stormy,

(12) And he said to them,

"Lift me,

and hurl me into the sea so that the sea shall quiet from over you."

For knowing I am,

that on account of me this great storm [has come] upon you,"

(13) and the men rowed to return to the dry land,

and they weren't able.

For the sea was growing more and more stormy against them,

(14) and they cried out to Yahweh,

and they said,

"Please, Yahweh, may we not, please, perish because of the life of this man,"

and may you not place on us innocent blood guilt.

For you are Yahweh.

Just as you pleased, you have done."

(15) And they lifted Yonah,

and they hurled him into the sea,

and the sea stood from its raging,

(16) and the men feared with a great fear Yahweh,

and they sacrificed a sacrifice to Yahweh,

and they vowed vows.

Our story ended last week by focusing on the sailors. After seeing Yahweh's power over creation and his mercy toward them, the sailors feared Yahweh, sacrificed to Yahweh, and made vows to Yahweh. And when they do this, they show that they've become, basically, Yahweh-fearing Israelites. And we wondered if that was a good thing. Maybe. Maybe this was a good trade-- that one man should die, so that others may live.

But that's not really the end of the story. As we keep reading in chapter 2, it turns out that Yonah didn't die. Who knew? Normally, if you get chucked over the side of a ship in the storm, that's basically the end of your story. But not for Yonah.

Let's start by reading 2:1-3 (Hebrew numbering throughout):

(1) And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Yonah,

and Yonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights,

(2) and Yonah prayed to Yahweh his Elohim from the belly of the fish,

(3) and he said,

"I called from my distress to Yahweh,

and he answered me.

From the belly of Sheol I cried for help.

You heard my voice,

In chapter 1, we saw that the sailors instinctively respond to the storm with wisdom. When you know you're about to die, you cry out to your Elohim. Maybe-- just maybe-- when you cry out, you will get your Elohim's attention, and he will act for you.