“Don’t be like me,” is a central theme of Jonah’s familiar story.
An even more important theme is the revelation that God is active in the world bringing about His purposes for humanity.
God creates winds and waves to get a reluctant prophet to be aligned with His will. Idol-worshiping sailors learn of God’s might over the gods of chaos that they fear and attempt to placate.
The sailors don’t see the storm as a natural phenomenon. They believe the prophet knows the answer to calming the storm.
They said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous (Jonah 1.11).
Jonah offered to be a human sacrifice to save them from the storm. It was a difficult decision for the hardened sailors to make.
Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.”
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them (Jonah 1.12-13).
The men did everything in their power to save the prophet who was running away from God. Finally, they relented and did as Jonah asked.
Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”
So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows (Jonah 1.14-16).
Even though Jonah refused to follow God’s directions, God used him to reveal His power to pagan sailors. They told their children and grandchildren of their experience with the storm and how the God of the Hebrews calmed the sea.
God’s purpose for Nineveh was not to be denied by the death of Jonah in the sea.
But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1.17).
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
We learn about Jonah’s deliverance through a prayer of thanksgiving he uttered after God had saved him.
“I called to the Lord out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.” (Jonah 2.2)
Sheol is the realm of the dead and that is where Jonah believed he resided. If there ever was a “rock bottom” situation this was it.
Jonah’s experience reveals that multitudes can share what happened to him. God hears and answers our prayers, even when we find ourselves in a difficult spot because of rebellion and disobedience.
The prophet found himself separated from the presence of the Lord and longed for closeness to God.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
how shall I look again
upon your holy temple?’ (Jonah 2.4)
Ironically, Jonah said, “I am driven away from your sight,” when in fact Jonah was there because he was running away from the presence of the Lord.
The false prophets claimed that we can live in our sin and still have God’s blessings. Experience teaches that their claim is utterly false.
A close relationship with God will remove sin from our lives, or continual sin will erode our connection with God. We can’t have them both.
At his lowest point in life, Jonah’s 911 prayer for rescue was heard and answered by the Lord.
You brought up my life from the Pit,
O Lord my God.
As my life was ebbing away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple. (Jonah 2.6c-7)
Praise God! Failure is not final, because God responds to the repentant. Heartfelt repentance is quite welcome in heaven.
Answered prayer declares that God is not absent from His creation. He is actively involved and personally connected to us. This is all the more reason why we should pray at all times.
Gratitude and Worship
Jonah is an example of those who worshiped the idol of his personal desires over God’s guidance. Who can’t admit that the most prominent idol is our self-centered and self-reliant approach to life?
Like the prophet, we know that we can’t be loyal to ourselves and God at the same time.
Those who worship vain idols
forsake their true loyalty. (Jonah 2.8)
Paul identified the nature of self-worship and self-service.
So they are without excuse, for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened (Romans 1.20-21).
Just as this was the case with Jonah, so it is with us when we prefer our way over God’s direction. A darkened and senseless heart receives God’s daily care and responds with ingratitude.
When we come to ourselves and cry out to God for forgiveness and restoration, we take on a different attitude.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord! (Jonah 2.9)
A restored relationship with God is filled with gratitude, obedience, and praise.
Jonah’s good news story is that when we sincerely repent, God hears and responds to our cry for help.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 