God Over our Death

Jonah 1 ends with the prophet's disobedience, defiantly running from God, and insisting on his own way. He will not head to Nineveh, and even death will not threaten him. But Jonah won't get away with his plan. God can provide for His people in strange ways. 

Jonah 1:17 (ESV) And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

What do you do in this situation? You do the only thing you can: Pray. 

Jonah 2:1–2 (ESV) Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

Interestingly, this is the first time you hear the prophet speak to God. Prophets were known for their regular back and forth with the Lord. 

God says in Numbers 12,

Numbers 12:6 (ESV) If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.

Three days and nights were the minimum required for someone to be considered dead in the ancient world. God has brought Jonah to the END of himself. He will find the end of his disobedience in the grave where God has brought him. That is what is necessary for us. Thus, when a new believer's first task is baptism, wherein they identify the end of self and the beginning of a new life. All of this, like the great fish in Jonah, is provided by God. 

Jonah confesses, this is the Lord's doing. 

Jonah 2:3 (ESV) For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.

Jonah 2:4 (ESV) Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’

Here's a thought. Jonah was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom, which did not have the Temple but had somewhat false worship centers in Bethel and Dan set up by Jeroboam. What Temple was Jonah referring to here? The word "holy" suggests he is thinking only of the true Temple where God dwells in Jerusalem. This is why God brings us to the end of ourselves. That we might forsake man-made structures of religion and deeply pursue the Lord. Denominations and buildings cannot save. Only He can. 

Jonah continues to acknowledge only the Lord can save:

Jonah 2:8–9 (ESV) Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

Would Jonah bring this message back to the idolatrous people in the land of Israel? One can only suppose. But the book's message is also for them. Their prophet needed to be brought to an end to learn that only God can save. So too would the Northern Kingdom find out for themselves, years later, in the hands of the Assyrians. 

Jonah 2:10 (ESV) And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

God doesn't speak to Jonah to save Jonah; God speaks to the fish. Jonah is saved because God SPEAKS. Everything depends on God's Word. If we ignore it or reject it, the only reality awaiting us is death. But those the Lord saves are brought from death to live by that same powerful word. 

Interestingly, the Assyrians worshiped fish-like figures and adorned their idols with scales and fins. Even the trouble the Lord provided for Jonah would be used to speak to the people of Nineveh. Here is a man who survived the belly of the fish! What does he have to say? 

In Christ, God raises us from death and sets us free from the vain idols other people fear or worship. This salvation gives us a voice in a world set on fire by fear. Raise your voice and speak, dear Christian. You are the light of the world.