He has been swallowed by the huge fish that the Lord "prepared" for him. (Jonah 1:17) We don't often think of adversity as being something the Lord "prepared" for us but there's always a purpose for any adversity that comes into the life of a child of God. In Jonah's case, he's in unpleasant circumstances because he disobeyed the Lord, but the Lord lovingly provided the fish to cause Jonah to repent and get back on track. As we closed yesterday's study we found him responding appropriately to the Lord's corrective action by calling out to Him. Now we continue on with the remainder of his prayer.
He says to the Lord, "You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all Your waves and breakers swept over me." (Jonah 2:3) He recognizes that his current predicament is from the hand of the Lord due to his rebellious spirit. Jonah doesn't believe that anything that's happened to him has been a coincidence. The violent storm arose and he was cast into the sea by the ship's sailors and the fish swallowed him because he ran from his calling in the Lord.
Jonah doesn't want to be in the belly of the fish but he acknowledges the sovereignty of God over his life. He needs to be in the belly of the fish, which is why the Lord placed him there. Jonah wanted to flee from the work the Lord commanded him to do, and in that sense he thought he could hide from the Lord, but now that he's in the belly of the fish he almost believes he's in a place where the Lord really can't see him. This causes him to see that he doesn't actually want to hide from the Lord at all. He never wants to be where the Lord can't see him. The very thought of such a thing is horrifying, for if he is where the Lord can't see him, he is where the Lord can't help him. But since there isn't anyone or anything that is hidden from our Almighty Creator, Jonah makes a statement of faith that he is going to continue looking toward the Lord for help even though in this moment he feels forsaken. "I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.'" (Jonah 2:4) The temple within the midst of the people signified the Lord's presence in their midst. Jonah casts his mind toward the temple as he prays. Also I think perhaps he is saying that he believes he will see the temple again in person---that the Lord will deliver him from his predicament.
Jonah's next words do seem to indicate that he anticipates being rescued. "The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But You, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit." (Jonah 2:5-6)
Jonah disobeyed the Lord but he didn't renounce the Lord. He wasn't in danger of losing his salvation but he was in danger of losing his calling as a prophet and in danger of losing his life. It's possible to be saved but to get out of the will of God and, (if we continue living lives of spiritual mediocrity), to lose our ability to give effective testimonies about the Lord and to miss out on some wonderful blessings. The Lord called Jonah to do a great thing when He commanded him to go and preach to the heathen people of the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh. But Jonah, who was already serving as a prophet to his own people of Israel, refused and ran in the opposite direction from Nineveh. He could have forfeited his calling as a prophet altogether by doing this. He could have lost his life in the storm or in the fish's belly. He could have missed out on being instrumental in the salvation of an untold number of people at Nineveh, for he will witness an astonishing event there when many people repent of their sinful, idolatrous ways.
Jonah rebelled against the Lord and as a result has found himself brought just about as low as a person can go. Sometimes the Lord has to allow a person to hit bottom before they will look up to Him and acknowledge their waywardness. That's what it took to get Jonah to stop thinking about running away and to commit himself to doing what the Lord commanded him to do. "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple." (Jonah 2:7)
Jonah, in thankfulness, promises to keep the vows he made to Him while he was in the belly of the fish. "Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, 'Salvation comes from the Lord.'" (Jonah 2:8-9) He is saying something similar to what David said in Psalm 66. David understood the importance of fulfilling vows made to the Lord because it can be easy to forget promises made during hard times after we have been restored to prosperity. David declared to the Lord, "I will come to Your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you---vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble." (Psalm 66:13-14)
Now that Jonah has acknowledged his rebellion and has repented of it and has announced his intention to obey the Lord, the Lord releases him from his current season of hardship. "And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land." (Jonah 2:10) As we close our study today, we remind ourselves that the natural world obeys the word of its Creator. It is only mankind who rebels against Him. The people of Nineveh were living in rebellion toward the Lord. Jonah rebelled against the Lord when He told him to go and preach to the people of Nineveh. But the fish did exactly what the Lord told it to do. The Lord commanded the fish to be on standby for Jonah to be thrown out of the ship and the fish was there waiting. The Lord commanded the fish to swallow Jonah and the fish did so. The Lord commanded the fish to regurgitate Jonah from its stomach and the fish came close enough to the shore to forcefully eject Jonah safely onto dry land. It's only mankind, out of everything the Lord created, who ever says "no" to God. But thanks be to God, He didn't reject us for rejecting Him. He didn't wipe us off the face of the earth and put an end to the human race. He made a way for us to repent and be saved from our sinful waywardness. As we move on to Chapter 3 tomorrow we are going to find the Lord mercifully sending this message of hope to the heathen Gentiles of Nineveh so that they have the opportunity to repent and be saved.
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