JONAH 1:17-2:10
I. JONAH'S DESCENT 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) The ascent of Jesus, has to do with Christ’s ascension from earth to heaven, where the Victor over death, hell and the grave forever reigns. The descent referred to here encompasses Christ’s incarnation, death, and burial. The term “lower parts of the earth” refers to the great depth of His descent. This includes His incarnation, His crucifixion and His death and burial. In Matthew 12:40, Jesus declared, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” So Jonah’s descent to the bottom of the sea is descriptive of a descent into death, be it physical death, emotional death, or spiritual death. The Descent Involved :-
(a) The Surface Experience (on the sea) -3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
o It was Encircling. and the floods compassed me about or and the floods surrounded me He is encircled by water with…§ no place to stand, § nothing to hold on to § and nothing to keep him afloat In v.3 he states this dilemma is God’s doing For thou hadst cast me into the deep
o It was Extreme.v.3 all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. God seems to be using the sea like a weapon. While Jonah is fighting to keep his nose above water God keeps pouring waves of water over his bobbing head. o It was Essential Ps 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Just what Jonah Needed Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
(b) The Submerged Experience (in the sea) Jonah Was :-
o Surrounded - 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. “Water encompassed me to the point of death [lit., to my throat]. Again, Jonah is not swallowed up the great fish, but by the sea. He is not just encircled by water, but enveloped by water & unable to breathe. Where his surface experience made it hard to breathe, his submerged experience made it impossible to breathe. On the surface there was hope that his efforts would make a difference, but once submerged nothing he did made a difference. He Had Come To A Place Of :- Powerlessness "Couldn't Save Himself " Poverty "All Human Effort was spent " Pity "Now, He was ready for Mercy"
o Separated – 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; or Then I said, I have been cast out of Your presence and Your sight; it was his own doing Ch 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, Now, choose as he may he had no choice.
o Sinking - 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: Finally, he comes to rest on the ocean floor. He was about to be imprisoned forever in a grave of sand.
II. JONAH'S DISTRESS - 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. Jonah’s circumstances produced mental agony and emotional suffering. He was overwhelmed by fear, a sense of helplessness and intense anxiety. He says in verse seven, 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: or 7 When my soul fainted upon me
His distress is the product of his struggle to survive the sea and the great fish.
The prodigal son had lost everything he brought into the far country.
• his wealth, • his dignity, • his family, • his home, and • his “so called” friends.
Penniless and alone, he continues his resistant struggle by joining himself to a citizen of that country who sent him into the field to feed pigs. (See 15:16, 17.) He is about to become a pig himself when he remembers that his father’s servants have it better than he does. Only then does he begin his journey back home. His reason isn’t remorse for his sin, but food to eat and a place to sleep.
No, Jonah isn’t distressed over his stubborn rebellion; he is agonizing over drowning in the sea and suffocating in the fish’s belly. It wasn’t until he had been in the stomach of the fish for three days and nights that he broke and called out to the Lord.
3 ministers were talking about prayer, the positions for prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working in the background.
By this time the phone man interjected, "I found that the most powerful prayer I ever prayed was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole, suspended one-hundred feet above the ground."
III. JONAH'S DELIVERANCE 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. (a) The Means of Deliverance. Ch 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. the word prepared in 1:17 is a translation of the verb mana. It communicates the idea of being appointed or ordained. Four times in Jonah (Jonah 1:17; Jonah 4:6-8), inanimate things such as, Jonah’s fish, the gourd, the worm, and hot wind are under the control of God. (b) The Moment of Deliverance.
NOTE: In 2:3, he is swallowed up by the current, not the great fish. Again, in 2:5, he is swallowed up by the great deep, not the great fish.
Jonah was not swallowed up by the great fish until he had reached the great depths of the great deep. In other words, he was delivered at the very last micro moment. (c) The Method of Deliverance. 1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, It was during his three days and nights in the belly of the great fish that Jonah prayed to the Lord. According to Jesus, the belly of the whale is a symbol of burial. (See Mt. 12:40.) Jonah called it the belly of Sheol or the womb of hell. It was in the place which is symbolic of burial that Jonah “remembered the Lord”
The word picture portrayed is that of gestation, travail and birthing. Jonah is carried about in the belly of the whale like a baby in its mother’s womb waiting to be birthed. John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
IV. JONAH'S DEPOSIT – 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. (a) His Prayer :1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly (b) His Praise :9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. (c) His Preparation 3:3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.
Now, instead of being a rebellious prophet, he is a reluctant prophet.
For all he had gone through, the best he could give God was reluctant obedience-
I will pay that that I have vowed. A. Jonah was Anxious To Praise The Lord (9) - "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; B. Jonah was Anxious To Pay His Vows - "I will pay that that I have vowed." C. Jonah was Anxious To Preach The Gospel - "Salvation is of the Lord."
