Jonah 2: 1 – 10
Upset Stomach
1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly. 2 And he said: “ I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, 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 floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. 7 “ When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. 8 “ Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” 10 So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
When will we ever learn, you cannot fight against God and win. It is that simple yet we continue to fight Him in various ways ‘I’m not talking to You anymore.’ ‘Go find someone else to do Your work.’ Go find some other people to be Your elect.’ These statements are but a few that have been bantered about against our Holy God. So, sometimes our Precious Lord agrees with our ‘raised fists and voices’ and says, ‘Okay, I Will leave you alone’. We then cry out, ‘Please don’t leave me. Please come back into my life. I will obey.’ Sounds pretty much of what we read here in the second chapter.
When our Majestic Sovereign Master puts the squeeze or pressure on us, we are quick to try to get right with Him. Would you agree? Have you ever experienced some difficult times and felt like God was disciplining you?. If you haven’t gone through any tight times, then please submit your name for official ‘Sainthood’.
Jonah did not have the same advantage that we have, and that is, we know the full story. He had to experience it without knowing the outcome. He did not know that God had arranged a bunch of significant details in order to wake up His servant.
We last saw Jonah bobbing in the sea. As I mentioned in chapter 1 The Lord prepared a large fish. This Great fish was probably not a whale. I pictured it being a great white shark. I know that type of experience and rescue would have a bigger impact on my life, How about yours? Our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High had set a miracle in order to prevent Jonah from drowning.
If we jump to the fact of the great fish, we miss an important miracle – that is – our Lord had given the exact instruction to this fish to be at just the right spot. Our Holy Adoni Yahweh had additionally used this type of assistance to help one of His disciples by the name of Peter. We read this in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 17, “24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
Peter was set up by the religious leaders. He spouted off to them. Please note how our Precious Lord and Savior Jesus knew of this confrontation. As soon as He saw Peter He went over this interaction. Look at how He had perfectly arranged for a fish to swallow a coin and be at the right location and grab a hold of the fishing line. Some coincidence huh?
Our Lord gave the instruction for the fish to swallow, not take a bite. Jonah was bobbing in the water in one second and the next – gulp!
Look at what it says in verse 1
1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.
Have you ever watched the movie Pinocchio? In this cartoon movie a whale swallowed Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket. Once inside they find Geppetto on a raft fishing. This isn’t quite the experience Jonah went through. Picture him being in this slimy, stinky, tight blob. Amazingly he still had air in which to breathe.
In all honesty we do not cry out to our Lord for help unless we are in a bad straight. Jonah did not know the full story. He was just rescued from drowning. Being close to death makes you get your priorities in order. We cry out to our Maker and God, Who holds our very existence together for mercy. First we pray for deliverance. If it is in the Will of our Supreme Holy Father to end our lives then we cry out for His Mercy to accept us into His Eternal Kingdom.
When his life was on the line Jonah remembered God. Like the Psalmist in number 120 who said, “1 In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He heard me”, Jonah called upon the only One Who matters. .
When life is going well we tend to take our Holy Jehovah Elyon – our Lord Most High for granted. But for emergencies how quick to we come running crying, ‘Help, help, daddy!’. This kind of relationship is inconsistent with our lips. We say one thing and do the other. We say that we are in love with our God, yet ignore Him until we need Him to bail us out of trouble.
The book of Romans chapter 15 teaches us, “4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
There are a lot of good things that we can take away from the book of Jonah. If we only can grasp one lesson, may this one be the most important to receive from our Master Teacher.
One thing that I believe I got down pat is this – there is no such thing as a coincidence. Our circumstances are controlled by Jehovah Ropheka – The Lord Who Provides. He Is the Beginning and the End. He Is Everything to us and for us. Once we understand this fact then our lives are less stressful. We read from the book of Romans chapter 8 this, “28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
If you haven’t learned the important lesson our Father is trying to teach you by now I can assure you that you will have to take the examine over. What am I saying? It is this – our commitment to our Holy King is often tested during difficult circumstances. A noticeable saying is, ‘If you want to be like our Lord Jesus Christ, then do not be surprised if people come running to crucify you.’. Look at what the Scriptures says from the book of 1 Peter chapter 4, “12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now “ If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”
Now let’s take a look at his prayer.
2 And he said: “ I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, and He answered me. “ Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.
What I see that is really awesome is that Jonah relied upon the Lord to deliver him. At first glance you might think that it was deliverance from the fish. Within a quick awakening, Jonah realized that his deliverance was from God, not the fish. Jehovah Shammah – Our Lord Who Is There when we need Him, would use the great fish to carry out His plan to save him. Jonah should be dead, but here he was alive and able to breathe in the fish. He knew His God was not finished with Him and was going to use this fish to help him. Look with me at some great verses of inspiration. I suggest you write them down for future help in time of distress;
Psalm 5, 1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. 2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for to You I will pray.
Psalm 18, 16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. 19 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
Psalm 22, 24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
I can go on and on with more beautiful inspiring and encouraging scripture but the major point I want to get across to you is that our Precious Father hears us in our hour of need. If you are in the depths of deep despair remember our Father sees all, hears all, and knows all. His arm is not too short to deliver you. Praise Him for His Love and Compassion.
3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
Jonah knew that Adoni Yahweh was behind his difficult circumstances. We find this important fact from our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, “29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” It is right to acknowledge that our problems sometimes come from the hand of Almighty God. As we read in Matthew our Lord Is in total command of everything and in this fact we should find peace.
I think Jonah takes a lot of criticism for his actions yet what significant faith that the Lord draws out in him during the squeeze. Our attitudes I believe are more like the Psalmist who penned these words in Psalm 88, “1 O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. 2 Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave. 4 I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength. 5 Adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, and who are cut off from Your hand. 6 You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.” We turn to gloom and despair.
4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.
Our Lord wants us to meditate on His Scriptures. When we do this our Precious Holy Spirit will inspire us with the right message to handle any difficulty. In this case Jonah remembered the prayer of Solomon which is recorded for us in the book of 1 Kings chapter 8, “22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 23 and he said: “LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. 24 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. 25 Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’ 26 And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father. 27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! 28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: 29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. 30 And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive. 31 “When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, 32 then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. 33 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers. 35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance. 37 “When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; 38 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: 39 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men), 40 that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers. 41 “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake 42 (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, 43 hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name. 44 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; 48 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: 49 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace), 52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. 53 For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”
In this case Jonah didn’t take a lot of time reviewing the whole prayer, but he knew the crux of the meaning. His thoughts were, ‘ I need to turn may face toward Jerusalem and seek God’s Mercy.’
Remember this, if God has done anything for you even in the smallest gesture, you should thank Him. I try to do this daily in my various situations.
7 “ When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple.
Where do you pray. Do you have to find some secluded spot. Even from inside a fish, our Magnificent God heard Jonah’s prayer. We can pray anywhere and at any time and our Jehovah Shalom – The Lord our Peace – will hear us. We can find great solace in the fact that no sin is ever too great and no trouble ever too difficult that our Mighty God can’t do greatly.
8 “ Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”
When you want to respond to our Holy Master for His Mercy and Grace try copying the ways of Jonah. For one thing in his appreciation to the Lord, he recognized the worthlessness of earthly pursuits, ‘8 “ Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy.’ If you want to mess around with phony gods then you will lose out on God’s Mercy in time of need.
His repentance led him to recommit to his vows, ‘I will pay what I have vowed.’. In the book of Numbers chapter 30 verse 2 we learn how important it is to keep our vows, “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
Look at how Jonah ends his prayer, ‘Salvation is of the LORD’. It is good to remind ourselves that immortality is in the hands of the Eternal Creator. He alone – Saves. This should be a constant thank you to Him.
So, while Jonah was getting his heart right with God, the great fish was transporting Jonah back to land. It doesn’t say it here but I believe that our Awesome God instructed the great fish to take Jonah back to the spot that he needed to begin his travels to Nineveh. Our Lord has been doing so many great things already in this book what is the big deal that Jonah was dropped of back in Joppa.
10 So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Note that Jonah didn’t have to swim to shore. He was put onto dry land. Chalk up another miracle.
