Jonah 2:1-10 Jonah’s Prayer
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 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.
You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers
swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
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.
“When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
“Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD.”
And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
In past years almost all small towns had a movie theater. Before the days of television and video games, movies were a great source of entertainment. Saturday was always the designated shopping day and these generally quiet incorporated towns became crowded with people. The local theater opened at 10 AM and most often offered an “oater” (cowboy movie), a B-movie such as “Charlie Chan,” a cartoon, and a serial. The latter was a 10-15 minute adventure of some hero or heroine who always got into some danger that seemed inescapable. The next Saturday this “good guy” or “good woman” escaped only to repeat the same cycle.
One of these heroines was “Nioka, Queen of the Jungle.” I witnessed her escape from danger so many times that the background music is still imprinted in workable connections within my memory. By chance, I happened upon a DVD preservation of this jungle heroine of years past, so I ordered it. With great anticipation my fourth son and I sat down to live these exciting moments of the past together. However, the presentations were merely laughable rather than entertaining. Please don’t ask to borrow this video masterpiece since I have managed to misplace it. I fear that my fatherly judgment has yet to recover in the eyes of my son.
Last week we left Jonah inside a great fish that God had caused to swallow him. In rash disobedience, Jonah had attempted to flee from God but his venture was unsuccessful. Jonah proved that he was “a good man” by instructing the desperate sailors to cast him into the sea. To their credit, they initially refused and attempted to escape the danger. Accepting the fact that perhaps the sacrificing of one man might save the lives of many men, at Jonah’s direction he was thrown overboard. The storm ceased. The ship and sailors were saved. But rather than drowning, Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. Chapter One concluded with Jonah being “inside the fish for three days and three nights.”
Some have questioned whether Jonah died at this time. The similarity to the burial and resurrection of Jesus the Christ is obvious but the two people in question are contrasts. One deliberately sins whereas the other is sinless. The submission of Jonah saves some physically from one of life’s storms. The action of the other offers salvation to all who would show faith in His action and person for eternity.
I received a morning phone call perhaps two years ago. The recognizable voice on the other end spoke in soft tones as if to not be overheard. Her question was straightforward “Is Jonah merely legend?” She went on to explain that she was engaged in a Bible study and the leader had offered such an opinion. It is reasonable to assume that the leader had been taught that it was legend and had not reached that conclusion on her own.
Of all those that she could have chosen, why did she choose me? Her addressing of the question hinted that she herself did not accept this book as legend but as truth. I suspected she was seeking an ally since she had chosen me as her consultant.
Was she aware that I had researched a story years before to see if it was rational to believe that a man could live inside a fish for three days? James Bartley was an English sailor who was supposedly swallowed by a harpooned whale off of the coast of South America. He was discovered to be alive, just barely, inside the stomach of the fish. The story related that he recovered to tell of his experience. His story made its way into the Princeton Theological Journal in 1927 but has since been batted about in attempts to discern whether the story was truth or a sailor’s yarn. Some have said ‘yea’ and others have said ‘nay.’ The kindest thing I can say concerning this is “it sounds fishy.”
As far as the worthiness of the James Bartley story is concerned, does it make any difference in the believability of the Biblical story of Jonah? None in the least from my standpoint.
What should we base our opinions upon concerning the truthfulness of the Bible? Was there ever a man named Jesus who came form Nazareth? Secular historians confirm and the Bible states definitely that He did exist and was crucified about 2000 years ago. The Bible professes and supports that He rose from the dead. This is documented in 1st Corinthians, Chapter 15. Its recording in proximity to the event substantiates the worthiness of this accounting so that these witnesses could be interviewed. These are eyewitnesses and not merely advocates. Scriptural references make it clear that Jesus, Peter, Paul and the unknown author of Hebrews contend that the Bible is inerrant (truthful.)
Critically, Jonah knew God to be alive and from the depth of a fish, in the depth of the sea, he prayed from the depth of his soul. God responded to his prayer and the fish vomited him out on the shore.
The question for each of us at this time is what is our relationship to the God who both commissioned and commanded Jonah to be His witness? Can you not accept and believe that the Bible is God’s witness to us? Do you agree with the world that it is foolishness? If this is the case, perhaps you have never been crushed by your sinfulness bec ause of your pride. Once humiliated by your sinfulness and desperate for relief, God will grant you faith to believe. Salvation is of God. You must seek it on His terms. So sought, He will grant it. Salvific faith is a gift of God when crushed by your own sin. Such allows you to see and comprehend Jesus as God’s Son and the believer’s Savior. All of this comes under the mercy of God. Mercy is what a loving God extends to cause us to resemble His Son.
