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Jonah 1:12-2:10. “You Listened To My Cry” – message and questions

“You Listened To My Cry”

                                                                     jonah over the ship

Jonah 1:12-2:10                                                                                                                  Lesson 3

Key verse 2:2                                                                          Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 5-8-09

 

“He said, ‘In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

 

In this passage desperate and reluctant sailors prayed and asked God’s forgiveness, and threw Jonah overboard. God himself took care of Jonah by preparing a great fish to swallow him. Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. It was like being in the grave. Jonah’s situation looked hopeless, but he didn’t lose hope. He responded well to God’s training and called out to the Lord, realizing many wonderful things about God and the blessing of faith.  His heart became full of thanksgiving and joy, even from inside the belly of a fish. Through this passage, we learn that God, in great hope, saves and trains even his reluctant servants until they can obey him and do his work. We will also learn, that even in the most difficult circumstances we can thank and praise God from our hearts. May God open our spiritual eyes so that we can see his deep grace and rejoice daily in our salvation.

Part l: God’s Saving Grace (1:12-17)

In the last passage, God had called Jonah out, exposing his sin publically and helping him to confess his sin of running away from the Lord and God’s mission. God was about to train this rebellious prophet until he became completely humbled and useful to God. It all begins with Jonah’s acceptance of his fate and his confession before the pagan sailors. First, his acceptance of his fate. Look at verse 12a,  “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm…”. Obviously Jonah knew the solution to the problem. He knew what God required, the sacrifice of his own body. With a heavy heart, Jonah accepted this. Jonah didn’t believe that he was going to survive. He really had given up all hope. There was no resurrection faith in his heart.

It also proves Jonah was not totally spiritually oblivious. He knew something about God and how God works. It is true, those who know God personally have a sense of what is required is every situation, even though they may be running from God. They have spiritual discernment. With this understanding we can teach the Bible to all kinds of people with confidence that they know what to do. Though Jonah volunteered to be a living sacrifice, God was actually leading Jonah to the perfect place where he could repent, discover God’s grace and embrace God’s mission.

Second, Jonah was fully aware of his own guilt. Look at Verse 12b, “…I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Jonah made no excuses for his sin. He confessed the facts, clearly and simply, even before non believers. He was honest before them. It is not easy to confess our own guilt. We are interested in maintaining our self righteousness before God and man. But with the help of God’s word and his Holy Spirit (Jn 16:8) we can freely confess our sins and freely accept God’s grace of forgiveness. Actually, our humble confessions can make us into more effective gospel workers. In ministering to post modern youth, it has been said that young people are not interested in the “all powerful” leader who exhibits no weakness. They are looking to be led by the “wounded warrior” type, someone they can identify with in their own struggles. Maybe several sailors’ hearts were moved by Jonah’s honesty.  May we get out off our ivory towers and confess our weaknesses before God and others.

 

The sailors were reluctant to follow Jonah’s advice.  Look at verse 14. “Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.” They were guilt ridden for having to throw Jonah overboard. They were men of conscience. They also had a fear of God. They were aware of God’s judgment on sin and they did not want to be on the wrong side of God’s judgment. What they did not know, is that it was God’s plan to throw Jonah overboard.

 

They tried their best to do what they thought was right. Look at verse 13, “Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.”  They should have followed Jonah’s advice. But it went against their common sense. They thought that they were doing right, but actually they were going against the will of God. There are times when we are sincere, but sincerely wrong. They tried their best to overcome their situation by their own human power. Yet their own human power was not enough. The sea waves overwhelmed these veteran seamen. Waves rolled over the deck. Things were getting out of control. God’s will was going to happen no matter what.

 

The question is, why does God allow them to fall into such desperation? A clue is found in verse 14a, “,Then they cried to the LORD, …”  God deliberately allowed them let to reach their human limits, so these men could begin to cry out to the Lord (LORD).  And his discipleship training, coupled with Jonah’s confession, were very effective. The LORD, in capital letters, refers to Yahweh, God Almighty, the God of the Bible.  They cried out to the Lord (LORD) and not to their own lesser gods.

 

These men finally listened to the direction that Jonah had given them. Look at verse 15. “Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.” It went against every fiber of their being, but they did it. And when they obeyed Jonah, they discovered something very important. Let’s read verse 16. “At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.” The LORD is the sovereign ruler of creation. He controls the raging seas. When they saw the seas grow calm it was a revelation of God’s divine power to them. God Almighty does as he pleases. (14b)  He rules nature, the spiritual world, and even the power of death. He brings salvation to those who accept, trust him and obey him, by faith. They made commitments to God. Maybe they decided to make Bible study appointments and keep them.

 

The LORD knows the best way to reveal himself  to unbelieving hearts. We are praying to raise up 12 disciples of Jesus among NIU students this summer. To do so we try our best to go fishing, pray and teach the Bible. We strive to make an atmosphere of faith and mission in our fellowship, but ultimately it is Jesus himself who can move their hearts. He works in their lives in very unique ways. Let’s not give up doing what we are doing, but may we pray and trust that God is working out his good work in the hearts of those we pray for. (Php 1:6)

 

As the men clutched Jonah’s arms and legs to heave him over the edge, Jonah had resigned his himself to certain death. He never even bargained with God. Holding his nose, he dove into the breakers. The ice cold water felt like knives piercing his skin. The blue-green waters swirled around him. The breakers swept over him, pushing him downward, saying, “Hurry up and die.”  His ear drums felt like popping. Sea weed wrapped around his head. He was descending deeper and deeper into miry, dark cold, silent pit. (6a)  His very life was ebbing away. (7a) Surely it was the end.

But at this extreme point of desperation, God had other plans for Jonah. Let’s read verse 17, “ But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”  At exactly the right moment God intervened in a very miraculous way. He sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, just before Jonah was going to take that last fatal breath of sea water. Perhaps it was a huge whale that swallowed Jonah whole. God planted an impulse in this whale’s mind, “I want you to take a big gulp of air from the surface and dive down to the kelp beds and swallow a man that you will find there.” It went against the whale’s instincts by it obeyed. God used this “great fish” to save Jonah’s life at the very last minute. We also learn that animals sometimes obey God quicker then people.

Jonah could not believe what was happening to him. In his half dazed state, Jonah was drawn into the whale’s mouth. His back scraped against the whale’s teeth. He traveled down the warm, wet esophagus until he found himself in the whale’s belly. It was pitch dark. He gasped for air from air pockets around him. It was a struggle to not to panic, but Jonah was alive. He was alive! It was a complete miracle.

Some may ask, how is that possible? Yet it is possible. For example in 1933 a sulfur bottom whale was caught off the coast of Cape Cod. It was 100 ft long and had a mouth over 10 ft wide. A man, who was unfortunate enough to be swallowed, could take refuge in any one of the whale’s stomach chambers, or the large cranial cavities (extensions of the nasal sinus) which measured 7 ft high, 7ft wide and 14 ft long. More than big enough for a man to hide safely inside. (http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/jonah.html) . Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick was a professional whaler. He wrote about a sailor who was swallowed by a sperm whale. The whale was later captured, and the man rescued after 15 hours in its stomach. He was unharmed except for his skin being bleached by stomach acid. It took him two weeks to recover.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah#Suggested_Explanations) The point however is not whether it is really happened or not. The point is to learn about God who intervenes, humbles and  saves…more often than not, at the last moment.

 

Part ll: Jonah’s Prayer (2:1-10 )

 

Jonah responded well to God’s training. Let’s read verses 3a and 4a, “You hurled me into the deep,…. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight…” He felt cut off from God. But amazingly he did not act as an ordinary person. He turned to God in prayer. Look at verse 2:1, “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.”Jonah turned the eyes of his heart heavenward. Look at Verse 4b, “…yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” Jesus is the best example of one who turned his heart heavenward in the midst of suffering. Jesus was in an even more difficult situation than Jonah was. Jesus was crucified and hung on a cruel cross to die for the sins of the world. At one point Jesus felt cut off from his Father. He cried out “My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me?” (Mtt 27:46)  But no matter how much he suffered, Jesus never doubted his Father’s love. His eyes were always focused heavenward. In the early Church there was much persecution of Christians. But the author of Hebrews advises all suffering Christians in Hebrews 12:2 saying, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jonah was learning this type of faith when he looked towards God’s holy temple and prayed from inside the belly of the whale.

Jonah also remembered the grace of God. Let’s read verses 6-7 all together, “To the roots of the mountains I sank down;  the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.  7 “When my life was ebbing away,  I remembered you, LORD,  and my prayer rose to you,  to your holy temple. “  Jonah was not bitter to God. He remembered the deep grace of God. Can you see the grace of God in the midst of your difficult circumstances of life? (Job 1:20-22)

Jonah also learned why God wants our exclusive worship. Let’s read verse 8, “”Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” The sailors, safe and celebrating on the deck of the ship, were idol worshippers. Jonah, a worshipper of the LORD, was struggling to survive in the belly of a great fish. Yet Jonah knew that he was the most bless one. It is because he could experience the grace of God. God does not want us to worship idols. Exodus 20:3-5 reads, “You shall have no other gods before [a] me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,”  God does not give us this command for no reason. There are many reasons, but one is that when we worship idols we lose, or give away the grace of God. That is, we can never taste the grace of forgiveness, the grace of deliverance and salvation and the grace of mission. But when we give our hearts to Jesus, the grace of God abounds in our hearts. (2 Cor 9:8)

God pushed Jonah to the limit. God does this throughout the Bible to teach his people faith. In the account of Lazarus, Jesus waited two more days to respond the Mary and Martha’s request for him to come. He waited until Lazarus was good and dead. (John 11:6) Jesus wanted to teach a very important lesson. Listen to what Jesus says in John 11:25, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;” He also says in John 11:40, “Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” When the Israelites were fleeing from the Egyptian army they had no where to go. The Egyptians were closing in and the Red Sea was stopping their escape. It looked like certain death for tens of thousands and a return to slavery. But God planted resurrection faith in his people’s heart through Moses. “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.’” (Ex 14:13.) When they stood firm they saw the deliverance of God. The Red Sea parted and the Israelites crossed “as on dry ground”. God delivered them at the last minute and reveal his glory and grace.

 

Admittedly, this type of faith training is hard for any one of us. But it is God’s love for us to help us grow spiritually as his sons and daughters. (Heb 12:7-11) Nevertheless, there is a danger to perceive things incorrectly and doubt the love of Jesus. But whoever graduates from God’s school of faith, will see the glory of God and have resurrection faith. Nowadays, our students are reaching their limits in regards to their school studies. Some despair due to persistent sin problems. Others have relational problems that drive them to tears. Some are flailing due to financial problems. We have ministry problems. We wonder where God is in all this. All these have come so that we can learn to cry to God and learn resurrection faith.

Jonah’s skin was turning white from whale stomach acid. He was sleep deprived. He was gasping for air while in pitch darkness. Most people would be worried that they weren’t going to die. Yet Jonah’s mind was elevated above his situation and he made a monumental decision of faith. He declared in verse 9a, “ But I, with a song of thanksgiving,  will sacrifice to you….”  Wow! He had a song in his heart. He thanked God. He also made vows to God. Look at verse 9b. “…What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.” Making a vow is making an absolute commitment to God. And when he made this commitment had an epiphany of truth, discovering that salvation comes from the Lord. Jonah’s three days in the belly of this great fish reveals Jesus. Jesus used Jonah’s experience to describe his own death and resurrection in Matthew 12:39-40, “He answered, ‘A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’” Jesus considered Jonah’s story a type of prophecy, revealing his own suffering, death and resurrection. This great sign was given to the people of Jesus’ time. Yet to accept it they needed to repent and believe. Otherwise, they would be condemned. Indeed, salvation comes through Jesus alone. In John 14:6,  6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Do you have this confidence? (You may be in the minority, for 40% of Christians believe this.- Marvin Newell. Executive Director of Cross Global Link- 2008) If you do not have this confidence maybe you need a little more “belly of the fish” training from God. May God lead you to the same conclusions and decisions of faith that Jonah came to.

In this passage we learn more about God and how he works. Like a true father, he disciplines us spiritually so that we can cry out to him in prayer and learn true faith. We learn about God who intervenes, humbles and  saves…more often than not, at the last moment. We learn that we can have spiritual eyes to transcend our immediate sufferings to thank God, sing praises to God and see God’s salvation in Christ alone. May your sufferings and hardships lead you away from bitterness and unbelief and towards commitment , maturity and faith and thanksgiving to God.

 

 

 

 

 

Part l: God’s Saving Grace (12-17)

 

1.   What solution to the problem did Jonah suggest? (12a) What was Jonah keenly aware of?

(12b) Why didn’t the sailors follow Jonah’s advice? (14) How did the sailors attempt to

overcome? (13) Why does God allow us to fall into such desperation?  (14a) Who did they

cry out to prayer to this time? (What does the LORD mean?)

2.  What did the sailors end up doing? (15) What happened? (15b) What was their response? (16)

What was God doing through this?

 

3,  Describe Jonah’s desperate situation. What did Jonah expect to happen? How did God have

mercy on him? (17)  Can you think of times when God rescued you miraculously?

 

Part ll: Jonah’s Prayer (2:1-10 )

 

4.    What was Jonah’s situation when he began to pray to God? (2:1) When should we begin to

pray? What did he realize about God?  (2) Has God every heard your cry for help?

 

5.   How did Jonah view all that happened to him? (3a, 4a) Did he blame God? (Job 1:20-22)

What was his response to all that God allowed in his life? (4b) What does this mean?

 

6.   What shows the absolute desperation that Jonah was experiencing? (5)  How far did he sink?

(6a) What did God do? (6b) Why did God wait until this time to act? (John 11:6, 25, 40;

Exodus 14:13) How did Jonah respond to God’s faith training? (6b, 7)

7.   Think about God who wants us to worship him alone? (Exodus 20:3-6; Romans 1:21-25) Why does God not want us to worship idols? (8) What does it mean to forfeit grace?

8.  What did Jonah resolve to do? (9a) What did he deeply realize? (9b; John 14:6) Why is it amazing that he realized all of these things while in the belly of the fish? What did God do when Jonah came to this understanding? (10) What does this show about God’s way of working? (Lk 1:63-64) How long was Jonah in the fish? How did Jesus use Jonah’s story to reveal the Gospel? (Mtt 12:39-41)




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