September 18, 2022
Jonah 2
“The Rebel’s Return”
Service Overview: God’s grace is so amazing! Even in our rebellion, there is hope of a return. And while the return might not be all that fun or comfortable, the end result leads to what’s best. New beginnings are always the result when a heart turns back to God.
Memory Verse for the Week:
Psalm 37:39 – “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.”
Background & Technical Information:
- Some students are troubled by the phrase “three days and three nights,” especially since both Scripture and tradition indicate that Jesus was crucified on Friday. … But to the Jews, a part of a day was treated as a whole day, and we need not interpret “three days and three nights” to mean seventy-two hours to the very second. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Amazed, 91)
- Some people say that the story of Jonah is an allegory or a myth, rather like one of Aesop’s fables. But there are solid reasons for taking the book as literal truth. For a start, Jonah was an historical character. Also the book is written as narrative and not in a style that would allow us to treat it as a parable. And, if the details are meant to represent something else, what is it? When we read of Jonah running away, are we supposed to think of Jonah running away but not necessarily by sea? Or when God hounds Jonah’s steps by sending the storm and then saving him by sending a great fish, should we be thinking of God achieving his purposes in some other way? If so, why not just tell us how Jonah really did run away and how God went after him? (Paul Mackrell, Opening Up Jonah, 52)
- This great fish was a miracle of God’s grace. The miracle was not that there was a beast large enough to swallow Jonah. Such organisms exist and, indeed, it seems that some men in modern times have had ‘a Jonah experience’. The miracle is that God appointed that the animal was in place, ready to swallow Jonah and that he was kept alive for three days and three nights inside it, before being spewed up on dry land. (Gordon Keddie, Jonah: Preacher on the Run, 56)
- By the end of his thanksgiving Jonah’s story of distress has turned into a protestation of his own religious commitment. Thus, though the psalm ends by affirming that deliverance belongs to Yahweh, ironically its focus has turned to Jonah and the quality of his religious life. From another point of view, however, the final phrase could be translated, “Victory is Yahweh’s!” Jonah is acknowledging that his attempted flight has failed. Yahweh has won the first round. (David Gunn, Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Jonah, Kindle Edition)
- The sailors didn’t cast Jonah into the stormy sea; God did. “You hurled me into the deep … all your waves and breakers swept over me” (v. 3 NIV). When Jonah said those words, he was acknowledging that God was disciplining him and that he deserved it. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Amazed, 88)
The question to answer…
Why should we care about what happens in this chapter?
Answer…
This chapter demonstrates how God’s wake-up call worked, and proved once again, God’s proclivity to redeem repentant rebels.
What’s vital to notice in Jonah’s prayer?
- How Jonah owns his circumstance.
(vv. 1-4 | Psalm 32:5-6; Proverbs 28:13; Acts 26:17-18, Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10 )
A man is a long way on the road to recovery when he is ready to own the righteousness of his chastening, and when he sees that he is under the hand of God. (H.A. Ironside, Notes on the History of Jonah, 18)
From the picture of Jonah provided in the book, there is every reason to think and no reason to doubt that Jonah was sincerely grateful to God for his own rescue from his own well-deserved punishment. The psalm serves to reinforce this. (Douglas Stuart, Word Biblical Themes: Hosea-Jonah, 94)
- How Jonah’s faith then shines despite his circumstance.
(vv. 4, 6, 7, 9 | Prov. 3:5-6; Rom. 5:3-4; 12:12; Philippians 4:6-7; James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6-7)
Faith begins to tell what God has done before the great work is actually accomplished; (Charles Spurgeon, Commentary on Jonah, Kindle Edition)
The key to understanding Jonah’s prayer is the fact that he was brought in his heart to a triumphant faith in the Lord, while he was, to all appearances, in an utterly hopeless situation. (Gordon Keddie, Jonah: Preacher on the Run, 57
- How Jonah’s hope ultimately rested in the Lord.
(v. 9 | Psalm 3:8; 62:1; 146:5; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:2; 2 Cor 1:9-11; Heb. 11:1)
It is only when Jonah is treading the very doorstep to death that he finally turns to the Lord. No one could be a more fitting candidate as patron saint of people who leave things to the last minute. In his own words, it is from the belly of Sheol that he cries out to the Lord. Even though his anguish and plight have been self-inflicted, the Lord hears him and answers his prayer. (Paul Mackrell, Opening Up Jonah, 59)
This is the very nature of faith. It looks with expectancy to what is unseen. ‘Who hopes for what he already has?’ asks Paul. ‘But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently’ (Romans 8:25). (Gordon Keddie, Jonah: Preacher on the Run, 57)
Conclusion… How should all this inspire our faith in light of the good news of Jesus? By recognizing that…
A. Owning your circumstance is often the first step in being redeemed from it.
(Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6; 64:6-7; Matthew 6:24; Mark 2:17; John 8:34; Romans 3:23)
How we respond to discipline determines how much benefit we receive from it. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Amazed, 88)
The servant might fail, but he is a servant still, as in the instances of Abraham and Job. (H.A. Ironside, Notes on the History of Jonah, 23)
God can bring you up, however low you may have gone. Though, in your own feelings, you feel as if you had gone so low that you could not go any lower, God can, in answer to prayer, bring you up again. (Charles Spurgeon, Commentary on Jonah, Kindle Edition)
B. God never turns a deaf ear to those who turn to him.
(Psalm 51:17; Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 66:2; Acts 17:30; Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 1:9)
There is no evil that the father’s love cannot pardon and cover, there is no sin that is a match for his grace. (Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God, 28)
O despairing one, take heart, and be comforted by this story of Jonah! God is dealing with you as he was with him. There may be a great fish, but there is a great God as well. There may be a deep sea, but there is an almighty God to bring you up out of it. (Charles Spurgeon, Commentary on Jonah, Kindle Edition)
No place is amiss for prayer. Men may shut us from communion with one another, but not from communion with God. (Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, 838)
Gospel Application…
While Jesus is still in the business of saving repentant rebels, he is only in the business of saving repentant rebels.
(Mat. 4:17; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32; 19:10; Acts 3:19; 4:12; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Pet. 2:24)
The concepts of “repent” and “believe” are necessarily linked. You need to repent (change your mind, turn around) to believe something new—the good news of Jesus. (Noel Jesse Heikkinen, Wretched Saints, 75)
When Christ died in the darkness for us men He made it possible for God to remit the penalty of the broken law, re-establish repentant sinners in His favor exactly as if they had never sinned and do the whole thing without relaxing the severity of the law or compromising the high demands of justice. (A. W. Tozer, The Radical Cross, 82)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- How did Jonah experience rebellion? Repentance? Redemption? How does this compare with the salvation each of us experiences?
- What three things did Jonah have a bad attitude about? What was bad about his attitude toward each of these?
- What four things did Jonah lose because he wasn’t a blessing to others and was disobedient? Choose one of these, and talk about a time when you lost that because you weren’t being a blessing to others.
- Wiersbe writes, “Jonah couldn’t save himself, and nobody on earth could save him, but the Lord could do it, for ‘salvation is of the LORD’ (Jonah 2:9 NKJV).” How is this truth important in your life?
Quotes to note…
(vv. 8–9). Now Jonah admits that there were idols in his life that robbed him of the blessing of God. An idol is anything that takes away from God the affection and obedience that rightfully belong only to Him. One such idol was Jonah’s intense patriotism. He was so concerned for the safety and prosperity of his own nation that he refused to be God’s messenger to their enemies the Assyrians. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Amazed, 89)
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Jonah’s confession comes in verse 9. He says: ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ Spurgeon says that he ‘learned this good sentence of theology in a strange college.’ It was not gleaned from a Bible College or a good book, but rather this truth had been chiseled into his heart from his own traumatic experience. (Paul Mackrell, Opening Up Jonah, 65)
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When we’re disobedient to God, our actions often have a negative effect, bringing a storm into our lives that can shipwreck the lives of those around us. But the storm God sends is not meant to sweep us away but to bring us home. Notice how God’s hunt for the prodigal prophet is tenaciously active. “The Lord hurled a great wind” (emphasis added). God has his own way of bringing lost sheep back into His fold and will go to the ends of the earth and the depths of the oceans to do it. Apparently, the storm was so great that even the seasoned sailors on board feared for their lives and resorted to drastic measures. (Charles R. Swindoll, Old Testament Characters, 86)
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There is no other source of redemption but the living God. And his salvation is freely given, according to his eternal purpose. And it is unconditionally given, in that it presupposes no merit in the one who receives it. Most of all, it is lovingly given, for it is love for the loveless. Jonah rejoiced in the Lord’s salvation as one who had been covered by eternal love when evil had been in his mind and hell was all he merited. (Gordon Keddie, Jonah: Preacher on the Run, 63)
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Like too many people today, Jonah saw the will of God as something to turn to in an emergency, not something to live by every day of one’s life. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Amazed, 87)
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One of the things you often notice about Bible characters is their utter honesty. There is none of the genteel and respectable masking of inner feelings. The superficial politeness of our culture would have been utterly foreign to them, as perhaps it should be to us. Not that we should always wear our hearts on our sleeves, but there is a point at which natural or cultural reserve crosses over into outright deception. (Paul Mackrell, Opening Up Jonah, 51)
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What is demonstrated in Jonah’s experience, however, is that when a sinner comes to God in true repentance and faith he will find that throne of judgement to be a throne of grace. As Jonah reflected on his situation before God, he was led by the Spirit of God to the conviction that the Lord would answer him in grace. (Gordon Keddie, Jonah: Preacher on the Run, 59)
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