30 More Days... Day 30

Jonah 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.
Jonah 2:2 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.
Jonah 2:3 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 2:4 Then I said, “I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
Jonah 2:8 “Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own Mercy.
Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the LORD.”
Jonah 2:10  So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

So now. Let’s follow Jonah overboard! Jonah is in a mess of trouble. He has run away from God. He has caused a lot of trouble for others. He has found himself overboard in a storm that turned sailors green. He has landed inside a great fish.

A lot has been said about Jonah’s experience inside the fish. It has been suggested that there were worse things involved in his “accommodations” than just discomfort. Aside from likely being dark, cramped and smelly there were likely a host of other unpleasantries. Jonah would have been trapped in a, likely, tight space. With every move of the fish it is likely that he also experienced a new discomfort. The dark and the smell would have been the kind that, especially after a couple of days (more likely a couple of minutes or hours), would have been felt and oppressive. Some have suggested that perhaps the stomach juices of the fish would have burned and splashed as the fish moved and swam. This would have left sores, wounds and marks that scarred the prophet for the rest of his life. All of this, a tiny picture of the suffering and horror of hell.

It is a frightful picture and yet that is only the part in the fish. As we read his prayer we realize that his experience prior to getting swallowed was no picnic either. First he fought the waves and the storm. He was tossed around by it until he sunk beneath them. As he sunk into the deeps, the waters closed around him and the pressure increased. He experienced being tangled in the seaweeds as they wrapped around his head. He felt their rough stringy surface around him. He felt his life begin to leave him and only then did the horror of the fish come into view, gapping maw ready to swallow him.

Jonah makes the statement “ I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction...” Actually, it is, perhaps, a bit of an understatement. It is amazing that it took Jonah so long. He seems so unconcerned. He is apathetic. He is apathetic to others and he is even apathetic to himself. How much God has to put him through to wake him up! How much he has to go through just to cry out even for himself. The sailors cried out at the storm alone. They made vows to God quickly. Jonah waits. He suffers. He is unmoved. Only then does he call out. Only later does his heart change at all that he prays and promises to pay the vows that he has made. Only then does he look for salvation.

It is extremely ironic that in all of this Jonah becomes the “sign of the prophet Jonah” to Jesus’ unbelieving (wicked and adulterous) generation. It is ironic that what we see here in this part of Jonah’s life is a picture of Christ’s burial and resurrection. It is ironic that what the prophet suffers for himself out of disobedience is a picture of what Christ would suffer out of extreme obedience to the Father and not for himself but for us. The very thing that Christ tells the pharisees and religious leaders is the sign for them to believe is the very one that showed the hardness of the prophet’s own heart. The ones that listened to the sign of Jonah, the Ninevites, would be witnesses against those that refused Christ because they believed Jonah’s preaching while the Pharisees rejected Jesus.

Even in the prophet’s stubbornness and apathy we see amazing grace. There is grace for the prophet. There is grace for Nineveh. There is grace for a future generation if they will just believe. Though prophet is slow to pray, though he is loathe to preach, though he is apathetic to grace for himself and the need of grace by others, still he becomes a picture of ultimate grace. God ready to sacrifice His Own for the world of “strangers”. God ready to extend salvation to a sinful people.

How often are we like Jonah. How often our compassion sleeps and our prayers for others slow to pass our lips. Yet Jonah for all his lack of compassion and grace was an great picture of God’s compassion, grace and salvation. He was a picture of God’s great salvation. His prayer reverberates with what Christ would endure for us, for an unbelieving world. The pain of suffering. The rejection of the Father turning away - being out of His sight. The journey into “Sheol”. The pain of death. Only, then, to rise again a testimony of God’s call to faith and repentance, a witness of God’s grace, mercy and compassion.

Jonah prayed for himself. Jesus prayed for us. Jonah cried out in affliction brought on by his own disobedience. Jesus cried out for us, Father forgive them. Jonah saw the salvation of God and his preaching became the opportunity for the salvation of others. Jesus, rose and became our salvation.

Often as believers we can get focused on our lives. We pray about our needs. We react to our afflictions. That is good. Jonah was also right to call out to God. If at no other time at least he cried out in affliction to the God who saves. But, we contrast him with the sailors and we see unbelievers with greater concern, care and compassion than the prophet. We look at him and see thankfulness for the great grace given him, but apathy and a lack of willingness to see that grace passed on to others. We see him as a sign of the Messiah and yet an anti-type in him as well. He is apathetic about other and angry about the death of a plant. We see him forgiven much and yet not loving much. As we look at Jonah it is good for us to ask how much like Jonah can we be, are we? Are we apathetic or concerned, are we stubborn or gracious? What drives us to prayer?

Prayer Request
* Please take time today to pray for the world. Pray for Maribor. Pray for Slovenia. Pray for your city, town or village. Pray for America and the coming elections. Pray for your pastors and your church. Pray for someone that you know who doesn’t know Jesus. Pray how you can be a witness and testimony to them and the place where God has placed you.