Series: Jonah, God’s Runaway
How a Runaway Prays
Jonah 1:17--2:10
Dennis the Menace was always one of my favorite cartoon characters. Of course, I was never like him!! One classic cartoon showed him sitting in his little rocker, facing the corner, his usual place of punishment. He says over his shoulder to his mom, "I may be sitting here quietly on the outside, but on the inside I’m standing up and yelling!!"
Most of us can identify with Dennis. The OT prophet Jonah certainly could have. We began last time with this man of God---the one some call God’s "prodigal prophet". "Prodigal", because, in chapter one, the moment he heard God’s word, he ran like a scared rabbit. God told him plainly to go proclaim His coming judgement on the pagan city of Nineveh. And Jonah was out of there. Headed in the opposite direction.
He blatantly disregarded God’s word. And he ran from God’s presence. Or so he thought. Like most of us do, he learned the hard way that trying to get away from God is a frustrating experience. The puzzle of Jonah is that he knew God to be Creator of the land and sea, but still thought he could board a ship and sail to Spain and watch God disappear in his rearview mirror.
Jonah started his reckless run because he rejected God’s heart for people. He was offended at God’s grace. He says in 4:2 God is a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in love and patience--and he suspected his Lord might be gracious to the hard-core pagans in Nineveh. Since they were the enemies of his people, the thought of God showing mercy to them abhorred him. His heart just wasn’t on the same wave length as God’s heart. So he ran. But God pursued him.
We pick up the account with Jonah riding in what has been called, "God’s Salt Water Taxi". Look at chapter 1, verse 17--. . . the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,
Most people read chapter two and see the words of a broken man. Because after this prayer, he will go and do what God called him to do in the first place. They think this is a man who realizes the error of his ways and says, "okay, God I’m done, I’ll do it your way." But Jonah never says those words. We’ll see Jonah’s behavior change in chapters 3 and 4, but like Dennis the Menace--he will only outwardly do what God wants. He won’t let God change his heart.
Let’s listen as a runaway prays. Notice
What Jonah’s prayer includes
1. He expresses gratitude for being rescued. (2:2, 6, 7)
When Jonah told the sailors to throw him overboard, in chapter one, he assumed his life was over. Verses 3 and 4 Thou cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Thy breakers and billows passed over me. 4 So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Thy sight.
Jonah had heard God’s clear call: go to Nineveh and declare my judgement on that great city. He’s God’s prophet, but he refused God’s assignment in an act of defiant disobedience. So as he went over the side of the boat and started sinking into the churning water he thought God was taking his life. He assumed he was a dead man for his rebellion.
Verses 5 and 6 describe his horrible drift downward. Seaweed wrapped itself around his neck. His feet apparently touched the bottom of the sea. I descended to the roots of the mountains. As he was about to lose consciousness, in his last desperate moment, he does what we do: he shot up a last ditch prayer. And God answered.
What’s called a great fish served not only as God’s answer to save Jonah but also the place where this psalm-like prayer was composed. Imagine Jonah’s thoughts as He prayed for God to help! Suddenly, everything went black. Maybe he saw the dark form of the creature. Then, there was a sense of motion, of being carried along. There was the pressing experience of passing from the fish’s mouth into its stomach, probably through a very small opening. That might have extracted water from his lungs, a little like artificial respiration.
As he regained consciousness, imagine the terror of the first sensations: the feel of the stomach lining of the fish--pressing in around him; the irritation of the stomach acid beginning to bleach his skin; the stench of the place; the passing through of the normal diet of the fish; the absolute darkness. After awhile, Jonah must have realized that the fish belly wasn’t how he was going to die, but how he would be rescued. His prayer for deliverance had been heard. He was going to live.
It’s crucial that we understand something from 1:17: It says. God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah.
Most people pass by the miracle of the incident and get busy with the scientific possibilities of the event. They research fish and sea mammal sizes. Throat diameters. Locate cases of men swallowed by whale sharks or other large sea creatures and living to tell the story. But the emphasis here isn’t on the fish. It’s on a God who sovereignly appointed that creature to be where He wanted it to be and do precisely what He wanted it to do. The verse says God appointed the great fish, meaning He arranged, provided, He ordained.
The same word is used four times in this book and it always points our attention to God’s sovereign power to accomplish His will. That truth is one of the greatest ones we learn from Jonah. The all-powerful Creator God, can break into His ordered creation and literally move heaven and earth and creatures to save this prodigal prophet and many others.
The bulk of Jonah’s prayer is simply gratitude for being rescued.
Also 2. He recognizes some of God’s character. (2:2, 3, 6, 9)
And we should underline the word some. As we’ll see when we’re done with the book, this is Jonah’s problem. He’s got a severely limited understanding of Who God is.
Look at his view of God. Verse 2 describes his terrified cry for help in the most hopeless situation of his life. He was drowning in a stormy sea. I called out in distress, I cried out for help from the depth of Sheol. And then, He answered me. You heard my voice.
Jonah realizes God hasn’t deserted Him after all, that God literally is everywhere and He is willing to answer desperate prayer. From desperate people who run from Him.
Verses 3 and 4: You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Thy breakers and billows passed over me. 4 So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Thy holy temple.’
He realizes God was behind his experience---being tossed into the water wasn’t the sailor’s doing, it was God’s.
Verse 5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer came to Thee, Into Thy holy temple. Salvation is from the Lord.”
He knew that God is the One who rescued. Even him. Jonah recognizes part of the God’s character. But notice in the entire prayer, he mentions only the attributes of God which reflect on him. His prayer is largely self-centered. Lord, you orchestrated my experience. You’re still with me, Lord. Thank you for saving me.
What never occurs to him is that God rescued him to paint a portrait of His grace. God rescued him so he could know what mercy and grace look like. Just as he didn’t deserve it, God wants to rescue the Ninevites, with undeserved mercy and grace. But Jonah’s view of God, like ours, centers mostly on what He can do for me. How He meets my needs. How good it is to have Him around when disaster strikes in my life. When I encounter pain, suffering, sickness.
And our prayers too often reveal that God has yet to get hold of our hearts!
A third aspect of Jonah’s prayer:
3. He promises to sacrifice to God. (2:9)
We read more than we should into verse 9. Look at it. But I will sacrifice to Thee With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.
We might think -- wow, Jonah has come to grips with God; that God is sovereign and can save the Ninevites, if He so chooses. We think his promise to sacrifice, as he says, what he has promised is a prophet’s promise to obey God’s command and go to Nineveh. That’s not what Jonah is saying. If he had vowed in the fish’s belly to go to Nineveh, why would God repeat the command to do that in the first part of chapter 3? When Jonah said, Salvation is from the LORD, he’s just giving God credit for his physical rescue.
The content of his vow is spelled out in the first part of verse 9. He’s planning on going to Jerusalem, where he will offer a sacrifice of praise to God. Offering a sacrifice on the altar was a common promise when someone made a vow (Ps. 66:13 15), and that’s no doubt what Jonah means here, as stated in the first part of verse 9.
He’s overjoyed, like we would be, to say good-bye to his swimming jail cell, to get to dry land, and run back to the land of promise, where he would offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God. That’s his intent; nothing more.
When you look at the entire prayer, you realize, Jonah’s prayer is just doesn’t go far enough. What’s missing?
What [does] Jonah ignore(s) in his prayer.
A Recognition of his sin and repentance.
Jonah had serious sin to recognize and confess, there’s not a word about sin. Even when he talks about how he ended up in danger in verse 3, he doesn’t say it was because of his sin, he simply attributes it to God’s power! Psalm 32:5 would have made a good pattern for Jonah. David said, I acknowledged my sin to Thee, . . . my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”. And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.
Or Psalm 69: Save me, O God, For the waters have come up to my soul. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. … O God, it is Thou who dost know my folly, . . . my wrongs are not hidden from Thee. (1 2)
Jonah’s quick to condemn the idolatry of the Gentiles in verse 8, but he won’t deal with the fact that God has said disobedience is just as offensive to Him as the idolatry of pagans. We read rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft and insubordination is the same as iniquity and idolatry.
God made clear that rituals like Jonah’s planned sacrifice were of value only to the one who obeyed Him. Jonah had deliberately disobeyed God, so his promised sacrifice would not be precious to God.
A basic definition of repentance is change. A change of heart, a turning in ones thinking and heart away from what is sin and turning toward God. The bottom line of the Runaway’s prayer is this: despite being eloquent there’s still no sign that God has touched his heart. He’s going to Nineveh to preach; God will work and won’t destroy the city. And that act of mercy will anger him.
Instead of confessing sin, Jonah just reveals his self righteousness.
So, Why does God give him a second chance?
First, to display His grace. God demonstrates grace to Jonah, just like He showed grace to the pagan sailors, and He will be to the Ninevites. He deserves God’s discipline. But God is a God of grace. But God exhibits His grace to His man to reach Jonah’s heart--so he’ll lose his belligerent attitude. A personal exposure to God’s grace should always spill over to impact others.
Second, to reach the Ninevites. God lets Jonah alive so that he could, and would, go to Nineveh and preach against the sin of that city. God is guaranteeing that Jonah would finally obey his command. He is intent on getting His message to Nineveh.
Steps I will take
