Jonah

Chapter Two Outline

(1) - Jonah overboard and the great fish. 1:17-2:1.

(2) - Jonah's prayer, or Jonah's Psalm. 2:2-2:9.

(3) - Jonah's deliverance and return to life after three days and three nights. 2:10.

Some have called the second chapter of Jonah, the Psalm of Jonah, and as we study this chapter I hope you will be able to see why.

Can you imagine what Jonah must have thought as he sank below the surface of the sea? He knew he would certainly drown. After all, dying was much better than going and preaching to the evil and wicked Ninevites.

I want you to concentrate for a moment as to what Jonah experienced. I can imagine Jonah losing his breath, and perhaps swallowing a lot of water. Before becoming unconscious he may have sensed a motion in the water around him and himself being drawn into a dark hole as he passed through the mouth and the throat of a great fish. He was possibly squeezed through a very small opening as he passed through the narrow esophagus and on into the stomach of the fish. The squeezing could have been used by God to extract any water from his lungs, something similar to artifical respiration.

As Jonah regained consciousness in the close confines of the stomach of the fish, I can imagine him feeling the stomach lining pressing all around him. Possibly the acidic stomach juices of the fish began to irritate the skin over his entire body. I can imagine the offensive smell. Fish smell bad enough when you are on the outside of them and there is fresh air available, but can you imagine being inside one? I also want you to imagine the darkness that Jonah experienced as his body moved through the digestive track of this great fish.

We are not told how long of a time Jonah was allowed to experience this offensive, extremely uncomfortable and possibly painful ordeal before God allowed him to die. And that is exactly what happened to Jonah. He literally died.

Therefore, all of the efforts of theologians or scientists in trying to prove the possiblity of a man surviving in the belly of a fish are all a waste of valuable time and effort. There is not one single bit of evidence that tells us that Jonah remained alive in the belly of the fish. That story has been carried down by tradition and not by the teaching of the Scriptures. In fact, the Bible in the original languages clearly teaches that Jonah actually, literally died and was brought back to life. That is the only way in which he could become a type or an illustration of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Notice chapter one verse 17 again, "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." Jonah's body remained in the fish, but his soul and spirit had gone to Paradise in SHEOL in the center of the earth. Just as the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was in the earth for three days and three nights, but His soul was in Paradise, in SHEOL (HADES in the Greek), in the heart of the earth.

Jonah prayed - There is nothing that motivates a believer to petition the Lord in prayer than a life and death crisis.

The Lord his God - This confirms the fact that Jonah was a believer, and that the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Israel was his God.

Out of the fish's belly - Jonah's prayer began in the belly of the great fish, but it was continued and concluded in Paradise (SHEOL).

VS 2 - And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

And said - Next we have the content of Jonah's prayer.

I cried by reason of mine affliction - This tells us that this experience was not painless and was not fun. Remember, Jonah is in rebellion against the Lord, and he is experiencing divine discipline. Discipline that is designed to cause pain. It is designed to make one uncomfortable and to get one's attention. Well, I guess nothing will get your attention like being thrown into a raging sea, then being swallowed by a large fish.

It says that Jonah "cried......unto the Lord, and he heard me......." Jonah knew that the Lord heard him because one minute he was "in the belly of the fish" and the next moment he was in Paradise.

In verse 1 the Hebrew word for "belly" is MEAH (may-aw) meaning "intestine, the abdomen, the stomach." But in verse 2 the second use of the word "belly" is from the Hebrew word BETEN (beh-ten) meaning "a hollow place."

These two verses could be translated "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's abdomen (stomach), and said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the hollow place of sheol (the dwelling place of the dead), I cried, and thou heardest my voice." The Holy Spirit's choice of words here clearly teaches us that Jonah literally, physically died. His soul went to SHEOL (HADES), while his body remained in the fish for three days and three nights.

It should be noted here that before the work of Jesus Christ on the cross all believers went to Paradise which was located in the center of the earth at that time. It was a part of SHEOL (HADES). Actually, SHEOL was divided into three compartments: Paradise for believers, Torments for unbelievers, and Tartarus for the fallen angels who were involved in the sin of Genesis chapter six. Luke 16:19-31 describes the layout of SHEOL at that time. Jesus tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus died and was taken by the angels to Paradise and the rich man died and found himself in Torment. What is unique about all this is that they could see each other and talk to each other, even though Lazarus was comforted in Paradise and the rich man was being tortured in Torments. But, after our Lord's work on the cross where all sins, past, present and future were judged, the door of heaven was opened for all believers. At the time of our Lord's resurrection all the believers who were in Paradise in the center of the earth were taken to heaven. Today everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, goes to heaven immediately upon his physical death. But, at the time of Jonah, all believers went to SHEOL in the center of the earth.

Jonah 2:2-9 is called by many, the Psalm of Jonah. For example, in Jonah 2:9 it says, "Salvation is of the Lord." And in Psalm 3:8 it says, "Salvation belongs to the Lord."

Compare this with Psalm 18:4-6, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell (SHEOL) compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of the temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears."

Compare this with Psalm 42:5-8, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill of Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."

Look again toward thy holy temple - The Temple represents God's revelation to man. Therefore Jonah is referring to looking toward the revelation of God, or looking toward the Word of God, or looking toward Bible doctrine.

VS 5 - The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

The waters compassed me about - In other words, they surrounded me completely.

Even to the soul - The Hebrew word for the soul is NEPHESH (neh-fesh) meaning "life, breath." In other words, the water covered him completely even to the point of taking his life, or taking his breath away.

VS 6 - I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains - This refers to going down to the bottom of the sea. I'm sure you all know that there are mountains under the seas.

The earth with her bars was about me for ever - In other words, the earth closed in on him. Jonah eventually found himself in the dwelling place of the dead in the center of the earth. It appears at this point he considered himself dead permanently.

Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God - In other words, God did not allow him to remain dead, nor did He allow his body to decay. Again we see another analogy to Jesus Christ. Peter, in quoting the writer of Psalm 16:8-11 said in Acts 2:27 with reference to our Lord Jesus Christ, "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (HADES or SHEOL), neither wilt thou allow thine Holy One to see corruption."

VS 7 - When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, unto thine holy temple.

When my soul fainted within me - In other words, when Jonah's physical life fainted.

I remembered the Lord - In the time of great crisis those of us who are believers and know Bible doctrine remember the Lord.

And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple - This refers to the temple in heaven, God's throne.

VS 8 - They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

After recognizing the greatness of God and the importance of Bible doctrine and prayer, in his next breath he criticizes the Gentiles for their wickedness and his hatred for them.

In this verse we see Jonah telling the Lord how righteous he is in comparison to those decadant Gentiles in Nineveh. Notice that verse 9 starts out with a conjunction of contrast. "But I will sacrifice unto thee (referring to the true God) with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed (I will not break my vow). Salvation is of the Lord."

There is nothing that makes anyone or anything sicker than a negative reversionistic believer. This great fish was probably very relieved to get rid of this complaining prophet.

Whatever Jonah smelled like, and whatever he looked like didn't matter to God. Like or not, Jonah was on his way to Nineveh. God had gotten his attention in a most dramatic way. And at the same time God gave us an incident that illustrates the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Which Jesus commented on in Matthew 12:40.

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