Jonah 2

Last week we looked at the story of Jesus calming the storm and the parallels to Jonah that Jesus said were a sign to his generation. Namely that Jesus’s death and resurrection matched what happened to Jonah of being 3 days and nights in the tomb and then being resurrected just as Jonah was brought back from the dead out of the belly of the great fish.

Jonah was fleeing to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, a journey that will only take you down as we learned last week. 

Tarshish is believed to be Tartessos/Cádiz in Southern Spain, the opposite direction to Nineveh. 

The westernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 445 metres and a maximum depth of 1,500 metres (1.5 km).

Tarshish of course is a physical location in the World, but to flee from the presence of the Lord takes you finally to a much worse place.

In Greek mythology, Tartarus is not a location in the ocean but rather the deepest abyss of the underworld, used as a dungeon of torment for the wicked and a prison for the Titans.

In the New Testament, Tartarus is used to describe a specific "prison" for fallen angels, mentioned once in 

2 Peter 2:4. 

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

Peter uses the Greek verb tartaroō, meaning "to cast into Tartarus". 

There is good reason to believe that Hell is in the Earth, under our feet. There are many testimonies of people who say they’ve been there, it is terrifying. 

Jonah was heading the wrong way and it took him only downwards. If you remember the last verse from last week.

Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

3 days and nights waiting to die is a long time to be alone.

Let’s continue on… 

Jonah 2:1-10

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. 

When did Jonah finally surrender and pray? At the end of the 3 days and 3 nights. He held out against the Lord until it couldn’t possibly get any worse. 

Jonah was the original rock bottom guy, you can’t get much lower than where he found himself at the bottom of the ocean. There is the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific which is 11km deep, deeper than Mt Everest is high, but I don’t think anyone would survive sinking that low.

For some people it has to get pretty bad before they will turn to the Lord.

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. 

In ancient Hebrew thought, Sheol is the silent, shadowy realm where all the dead reside, regardless of their moral standing during life. It is depicted as a subterranean place of darkness, dust, and gloom located deep beneath the earth.

It is not as bad as Tartarus which is for the wicked who have already been judged, but more like a waiting place for the dead prior to judgement. 

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. Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 

Without Christ we are dead in our sins, separated from the Lord, unable to see him or reach him. It is often only when we reach our rock bottom, our point of despair, that we cry out to the Lord to save us that we realise that if we were to die without Christ, we would be lost forever.

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;

Jonah is no longer talking about his physical life, about his body, he is talking about his soul. It is one thing to care about your body, it is next level of concern to care about your soul.

The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; 

See that Jonah is still sinking down. When all hope was lost, only then did he remember the Lord. He remembered what he had been taught long time ago, that the Lord is merciful, he is good. And Jonah cried out for mercy to be saved. Never forget Romans 10:13. You heard it last week but you’re going to hear it again.

Romans 10:13

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

His name is Jesus. And just like the pagan sailors on Jonah’s boat and the disciples with Jesus in the storm last week, Jonah was saved. It makes no difference who we are, we all have the same need facing death and we all have the same way out by calling on the name of Jesus.

Why should we suffer the fate of the Devil and his angels. We still have breath in our lungs. All of us can be saved when we call on the name of the Lord.

And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. “Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Acts 4:12 tells us. 

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

None of Allah, Buddha, the Hindu gods can save you, they are all worthless idols. Only Jesus can save you.

It wasn’t pretty, but Jonah called on the Lord and was saved. 

Jonah had another chance at life and this time he wasn’t going to waste it. The Lord has chosen each one of us for a special purpose, are we using our time and resources for the Lord or for ourselves?  

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;

And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”;

Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

C T Studd

The life of a Christian is not always smooth sailing, it often requires us to be brave in the storms and patient when suffering.

The Lord’s will was done in Jonah’s life but Jonah suffered a lot more than he needed to. 

When Jonah rebelled, life got very hard for him. However the Lord is merciful, we should always remember that. 

The history of God’s people is often one of stumbling, going off track. Some of us might find ourselves in that position today. Let’s finish with Psalm 136 and remind ourselves that the Lord is merciful, he’s just a prayer away. If I say the first and each alternate line and you follow with « For his mercy endures forever » will remind ourselves of the Lord’s mercy.

Psalm 136

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! 

For His mercy endures forever. 

Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! 

For His mercy endures forever. 

Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! 

For His mercy endures forever: 

To Him who alone does great wonders, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

To Him who made great lights, 

For His mercy endures forever— 

The sun to rule by day, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

The moon and stars to rule by night, 

For His mercy endures forever. 

To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

And brought out Israel from among them, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

And made Israel pass through the midst of it, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

To Him who led His people through the wilderness, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

To Him who struck down great kings, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

And slew famous kings, 

For His mercy endures forever— 

Sihon king of the Amorites, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

And Og king of Bashan, 

For His mercy endures forever— 

And gave their land as a heritage, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

A heritage to Israel His servant, 

For His mercy endures forever. 

Who remembered us in our lowly state, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

And rescued us from our enemies, 

For His mercy endures forever; 

Who gives food to all flesh, 

For His mercy endures forever. 

Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! 

For His mercy endures forever.

Amen

Luke 8:22-25

5 weeks until Easter today. Today we only have a short passage to read from Luke 8:22-25 about Jesus calming a storm. It is interesting passage because it is widely understood to be intentionally connected to the story of Jonah, with Jesus acting as the "greater Jonah". 

We don’t in fact have to a theologian or scholar to recognise the parallels to the story of Jonah, in fact Jesus made the link himself.

Matthew 12:38-41

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

The link to the story of Jonah are a prediction of Jesus’s death and resurrection and our need for repentance. 

People today want evidence before they’ll repent, they want physical signs before they’ll believe, it is very similar. But God has given more than enough evidence to believe as it says in 

Romans 1:18-21

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

This is why it is a ridiculous claim for an atheist to say there is no evidence for God. They know the truth in their hearts and have to suppress it. We can be sure of that. 

After we’ve read the passages from Jonah and Luke, we can look at the similarities and the differences and hopefully discern how and when they apply to our own lives.

Jonah 1:1-17

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 

A lot of people are running away from the presence of the Lord. And when you do that, one thing happens. You start a journey down. At first you don’t realise you’re falling because the journey down is in the sunshine, it seems pleasant.

He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 

Finally Jonah went to sleep, he didn’t realise the danger he was in. It’s a dangerous place to be once you’re away from the presence of the Lord. Jonah was a lost sheep and his life was now in danger. It took someone who wasn’t a believer to wake him up.

So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 

The unbeliever is unaware of the danger they are in until something bad happens. Life is fragile, it can be lost in a moment. But we have the hope of the Gospel that we can share and when someone is facing death, we have the message that can save their soul. Are you ready to tell someone who needs to hear it?

So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 

They say there are no atheists in a foxhole. There aren’t too many who hold out against the only hope there is when all else is lost. 

Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” 

There is a human tendency to blame ourselves when things go wrong even when there is no obvious direct link. But in this case Jonah realised that the pending disaster was his fault. He was the guilty one. 

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 

The men prayed to be saved. Ain’t that the truth! People do cry out to God when they are close to death. Romans 10:13 tells us anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. His name is Jesus.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

When we commit our lives to Jesus, we are making a vow to serve him all our lives. Have you made that confession? Then you’re in a good place. Now we move to the short passage on Luke.

Luke 8:22-25

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”

What are the parallels to the story of Jonah?

Similarities 

• Jonah and Jesus were asleep in the boat
• The sailors and the disciples were terrified that they were going to drown
• A great wind came
• The sea and the lake were calmed
• Jesus and Jonah went into the belly of the earth for 3 days (Jonah died when he was in the great fish)
• Jesus and Jonah were brought back from the dead
• Both Jonah and Jesus were sacrificed

Differences

• They were obeying the Lord going to the other side of the Lake
• The wind in Jonah was sent by the Lord; in Luke it came down 
• The Lord was in the boat, in Jonah he was in Heaven
• The reason for the storm was because of Jonah
• Jesus had authority over nature, no one else does
• Jesus was innocent
• The emphasis was on sin and sacrifice in Jonah, in Luke it is on faith and the safety of being with the Lord

Sometimes we need to assess where we’re at. Are we doing what the Lord asks us to do, have we got Jesus in our boat? Because if we can answer yes to that question, we have nothing to fear from the storm. But if we’re not obeying the Lord, if we are running away from the presence of the Lord, we are taking a great risk, we are vulnerable to disaster, we are vulnerable to the enemy, our very souls are in danger.

This is a message for all of us and the Church today. There many souls to be saved just like the people of Nineveh they are living in darkness. Our God is merciful but they can’t be saved without hearing the message first so we mustn’t stay safe in our comfort zones. The Lord has called us to go to the other side of the lake with him (we are not on our own), in faith, to speak a message of repentance and a call to believe in Jesus. Next week we’ll continue on with this chapter side by side with the rest of the story from Jonah.