Jonah 2
Jonah prayed inside the fish verse 1
THEN Jonah prayed to the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly
Prayer: Out of fish LORD heard verse 2
AND said
I cried by reason of mine affliction to the LORD
HE heard me
Out of the belly of hell cried I
and YOU heard my voice
Prayer: Acknowledged LORD put him in fish verse 3
FOR YOU had cast me into the deep – in the midst of the seas
and the floods compassed me about
all YOUR billow
and YOUR waves passed over me
Prayer: Return to Temple (Heaven) verse 4
THEN I said
I am cast out of YOUR sight
YET I will look again toward
YOUR holy temple
Prayer: Description of present circumstances verse 5- 6
The waters compassed me about – even to the soul
the depth closed me round about
the weeds were wrapped about my head
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains
the earth with her bars was about me for ever
YET have YOU brought up my life from corruption
O LORD my God
Prayer: Remembered God verse 7
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD
and my prayer came in to YOU
into YOUR holy temple
Prayer: Difference between false gods and LORD verse 8- 9
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy
BUT I will sacrifice to YOU
with the voice of thanksgiving
I will pay that that I have vowed
Salvation is of the LORD
LORD ordered fish to vomit Jonah verse 10
And the LORD spoke to the fish
and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction to the LORD, and HE heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and YOU heard my voice. (7121 “cried” [qara’] means call, proclaim, named, utter a loud sound, shout, summon, announced, or appealed.)
DEVOTION: Jonah was in trouble. He had disobeyed the LORD and was running away from his responsibility. He was supposed to preach in the capital of a pagan city. He was God’s chosen worker.
We are all God’s chosen workers. Each of us has different gifts but we are still HIS worker. As children we need to learn to be obedient to our parents. Our parents are to teach us to accept responsibility for certain jobs around the house. As older teens we have to learn work outside the home and help around the house. Adults need to learn to balance work, home and church.
Responsibility is given to those the LORD feels are able to handle it. There are some people who take responsibility for things the LORD never called them to do. So we have people in our churches who are not a good fit for a responsibility they think they are capable of doing.
What is the answer? The answer is prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jonah knew the answer to his situation. He prayed to the LORD and the LORD HEARD him. He thought he was going to die but the LORD had other plans for him.
CHALLENGE: When in a deep place call on the LORD for help.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. (4141 “closed” [muwcab] means encompassed, surrounded, to go in a circle, to flow over or cover completely.)
DEVOTION: Here we find a man who is in a horrible situation. He is in the belly of a great fish. Does it get any worse? There seems to be no way out. He is in deep despair.
His soul is troubled. Sometimes we can put on a good show when others are around. We can put on a smile when we are aching inside. We are not usually ones to share our inner feelings with others until it get to the point where we feel like we are going to explode.
Jonah was at the point but he had no one else to talk to but the LORD. He was honest with the LORD in his prayer. He stated his feeling. He knew that the LORD was with him even when he had been disobedient. He had the assurance that he was going to be with the LORD in the future.
He felt trapped and he was. There was no human way out of his present situation. He could have prayed for a fishing boat to come along and hooked the great fish. Then taken him out alive. That wasn’t what he prayed.
He prayed for the LORD to deliver him in any way that HE saw fit. He knew even if the LORD didn’t deliver him from the fish he would see the LORD in the future.
CHALLENGE: When surrounded he simply trusted the LORD to do what HE thought best. We need to do the same!!
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. (8426 “thanksgiving” [towdah] means confession, praise, and thanks)
DEVOTION: Here is the situation. We find ourselves in a jail with space to only be able to turn around. We don’t have the key to the cell. We are closed in with no place to go. We are confined.
What would are reaction be to that situation? Would we cry out for someone to let us out? Would we just sit there and cry? Would we turn to the LORD?
Jonah is in the belly of a great fish. Some think it might be a great white shark that grows to thirty feet in the Mediterranean Sea. What would we do inside that fish? Jonah was a prophet of God who was going in the wrong direction.
He turned to the LORD in prayer and said that he knew he would worship the LORD in HIS temple again. He said he was going to pay his vows to the LORD. He made some promises in the belly of the great fish. He knew that the LORD would never leave him or forsake him. He knew that he would spend eternity within the promises to the children of Israel.
Have we ever promised the LORD something while we were going through a hard time? Have we kept our promises?
Jonah was offering a sacrifice of praise to the LORD in the belly of that great fish. No matter what we are going through in this life we should always be ready to offer a sacrifice of praise to the LORD for HIS salvation. We are supposed to be a thankful people as this is one of the signs that we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The problem is that most Christians seem to never be satisfied with what the LORD is presently doing in their life. They are not thanking HIM but asking for more. Contentment is one of the characteristics we should have as believers.
We are only a heartbeat away from heaven if we know the LORD as our personal Savior. What should our last words on earth be? Will it be a prayer of thankfulness or something else?
CHALLENGE: When faced with bad circumstances do we sit down and thank the LORD for HIS work in our life? Should we? The Bible wants us to know that God’s plan for every point of our life is GOOD.
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: 10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. (6958 “vomited” [qayah] means spue, disgorge, or spit out.)
DEVOTION: Could the LORD have sent another prophet to Nineveh? YES!! Here we have an example of the LORD choosing one man to do a job and see to it that he did it. Each of us has an assignment from the LORD. HE knows our weaknesses. HE knows our attitude. HE knows what it will take to get us to serve HIM correctly.
God doesn’t gift each of us the same. HE has those who are pastor/teachers to lead the church. HE has those who have the gift of helps to work alongside those who are leaders. HE informs us that the church is made up of many members but they form one body.
We are to work together. We are to reach the world with the message of the Gospel. Some can present it better than others but that doesn’t stop us all from sharing our testimony with others.
I talked with a pastor today that has had some good givers leave the church and now the church needs those who are attending to step up to the plate and give as much as they can.
God wants us all to step up to the plate and serve HIM even in tough situations. Nineveh was a tough city. It was a pagan city. It was a city that needed the LORD.
So we have Jonah using the first submarine to get to his preaching location. God gave the fish directions and it dropped Jonah off for his preaching appointment.
Does God have to use a similar method to get us to do what we are gifted to do for HIM? Should we wait until HE sends circumstances our way to get into action for HIM?
The answer is no. We have to step up to the plate and serve the LORD in our area of giftedness in the local church and manifest the fruit of the Spirit to the community around the church through our visitation and giving to see the church move forward for the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Use your giftedness in the local church. Give your money so that the church can do the best job in reaching your neighbors for the LORD. Manifest the fruit of the Spirit as you witness to others. God can still use a great fish in your life!!!
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Jonah offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving verse 9
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Jonah prayed from the fish’s belly verse 1- 9
LORD heard Jonah’s prayer verse 2
My prayer came into to YOU into YOUR hold temple verse 7
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Holy Temple verse 4, 7
Sacrifice verse 9
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10
LORD his God verse 1
THOU brought up my life from corruption verse 6
LORD my God verse 6
Salvation is of the LORD verse 9
LORD spoke to fish verse 10
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign, Plural name) verse 1, 6
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Corruption verse 6
Lying vanities verse 8
Forsake mercy verse 8
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Affliction verse 2
Heard prayer verse 2
Remembered the LORD verse 7
Mercy verse 8
Sacrifice verse 9
Thanksgiving verse 9
Vow verse 9
Salvation is of the LORD verse 9
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jonah verse 1- 10
I cried by reason of mine affliction
HE heard me
I was cast ouit of YOUR sight
I will look again toward YOUR
Holy temple
Waters compassed me
Weeds were wrapped about my head
I went down to the bottom of the
mountains
My soul fainted within me
I remembered the LORD
I will sacrifice to YOU with the voice
of thanksgiving
I will pay that that I have vowed
Vomited out of the fish on dry ground
Fish vomited out Jonah verse 10
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Hell (Grave) verse 2
Look again toward holy temple verse 4
Corruption verse 6
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QUOTES regarding passage
2–4 “From the depths of the grave” in the Hebrew is literally “from the belly of Sheol,” and this should be retained. It is true that Sheol is often no more than a synonym for the grave; Jonah was not saying, however, that he thought he was buried but that he had gone to join the dead. The terrifying experience described in v.3 brought Jonah to the realization of his plight and elicited the confession in v.4. “Yet I will look again,” though a legitimate rendering, is open to misunderstanding. It is not a statement of salvation but of Jonah’s determination to pray in spite of his banishment; probably “but” would suit the sense better. (Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 377). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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2:1–2. After noting the place (inside the fish) where he voiced this prayer, Jonah poetically recounted the story of his deliverance.
Though the sailors had sacrificed to the Lord (1:16), He was in a special sense Jonah’s God. When the sailors cast him overboard, in … distress he prayed and the Lord … answered with a miraculous provision (the fish). The phrase from the depths of the grave refers to the fear of death that gripped the prophet. It does not mean he actually died. God listened to his cry for help and went to his rescue. (Hannah, J. D. (1985). Jonah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 1467–1468). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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From an experience of rebellion and discipline, Jonah turns to an experience of repentance and dedication, and God graciously gives him a new beginning. Jonah no doubt expected to die in the waters of the sea, but when he woke up inside the fish, he realized that God had graciously spared him. As with the Prodigal Son, whom Jonah in his rebellion greatly resembles (Luke 15:11–24), it was the goodness of God that brought him to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Notice the stages in Jonah’s spiritual experience as described in his prayer.
He prayed for God’s help (Jonah 2:1–2). “Then Jonah prayed” (2:1) suggests that it was at the end of the three days and three nights when Jonah turned to the Lord for help, but we probably shouldn’t press the word “then” too far. The Hebrew text simply reads, “And Jonah prayed.” Surely Jonah prayed as he went down into the depths of the sea, certain that he would drown. That would be the normal thing for any person to do, and that’s the picture we get from verses 5 and 7.
His prayer was born out of affliction, not affection. He cried out to God because he was in danger, not because he delighted in the Lord. But better that he should pray compelled by any motive than not to pray at all. It’s doubtful whether any believer always prays with pure and holy motives, for our desires and God’s directions sometimes conflict.
However, in spite of the fact that he prayed, Jonah still wasn’t happy with the will of God. In chapter 1, he was afraid of the will of God and rebelled against it, but now he wants God’s will simply because it’s the only way out of his dangerous plight. 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.
Jonah was now experiencing what the sailors experienced during the storm: he felt he was perishing (1:6, 14). It’s good for God’s people, and especially preachers, to remember what it’s like to be lost and without hope. How easy it is for us to grow hardened toward sinners and lose our compassion for the lost. As He dropped Jonah into the depths, God was reminding him of what the people of Nineveh were going through in their sinful condition: they were helpless and hopeless.
God heard Jonah’s cries for help. Prayer is one of the constant miracles of the Christian life. To think that our God is so great He can hear the cries of millions of people at the same time and deal with their needs personally! A parent with two or three children often finds it impossible to meet all their needs all the time, but God is able to provide for all His children, no matter where they are or what their needs may be. “He who has learned to pray,” said William Law, “has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.” (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be amazed (pp. 76–78). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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2:2 from the depth of Sheol. The phrase does not necessarily indicate that Jonah actually died. “Sheol” frequently has a hyperbolic meaning in contexts where it denotes a catastrophic condition near death (Ps 30:3). Later Jonah expressed praise for his deliverance “from the pit” (v. 6), speaking of his escape from certain death. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Jon 2:2). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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WHEN the scribes and the Pharisees hypocritically requested a sign that they might know for certain of the Lord’s Messiahship, He significantly replied: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here” (Matt. 12:39–41). In these solemn words He does two important things for us. He authenticates the story of Jonah, and He unfolds a marvelous typical line of truth set forth in that record, which we might otherwise have overlooked. Jonah’s experience is sober history. We have the word of the Son of God for it. Moreover, the prophet’s entombment in the great fish and his subsequent deliverance were intended as a sign to the Ninevites, and a type of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that Jonah found his suffering in the path of disobedience, and in Christ we contemplate with adoration the ever-faithful One who suffered to accomplish all His Father’s will; but this is only a proof of the fact that God ever causes the wrath of man to praise Him, and what would not do so He restrains. To the Ninevites Jonah was a man who had passed through death and resurrection. In this he portrays the glorious mystery of the gospel. He who is now set forth as the object of faith, is the One who was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification. He went into death, but could not be holden of it. In a fuller sense than Jonah ever knew, He could say, “The waters encompassed Me about, even to the soul.” But God has raised Him from the dead, thereby testifying His satisfaction in the work of His Son. This is the only sign now set before men. All who trust in the risen Saviour are forever delivered from wrath and judgment—that judgment so rightfully theirs.
But in Jonah’s experiences we likewise have to trace God’s dealings with his own soul; and this has a moral lesson of the deepest importance for us. There is also, as previously intimated, the fact that Israel, the unfaithful witness-bearer, refusing the thought of grace going out to the Gentiles, is here pictured. Their present condition answers to this second chapter, as declared by the apostle Paul when he writes of “the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost” (1 Thess. 2:14–16). By and by their deliverance shall come, when they are ready to own that salvation is of the Lord, all undeserved by them. In that day they will become the messengers of the same boundless grace to heathen millions, once hated and despised.
But we turn now to trace out, as intimated above, the exercises of the prophet’s soul when in his living tomb.
In his affliction he cries to Him from whom he had been seeking to hide. Divine life, like water, seeks its proper level, or sphere. Because, whatever his failings, Jonah is a child of God still, he turns instinctively to the very One he had been grieving, in the hour that he is brought to realize that he is the subject of divine discipline. 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. Having already acknowledged to the mariners that such is the case, he now cries to Him who hears him even “out of the belly of hell.”
The floods have compassed him about, even to the soul; the weeds are wrapped about his head; all God’s waves and billows have gone over him; yet he will look again toward Jehovah’s holy temple (vers. 1–5). It is blessed indeed when the soul does not faint beneath the discipline of the Lord, nor yet despise it, but looks up to God and counts upon His grace, however the sense of merited affliction may press upon the conscience.
But for deliverance there must be more than this, and for a time Jonah seems to fail to attain to it. He goes down to the bottoms of the mountains, but is able in the anticipation of faith to say, “Yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.” His soul would have fainted within him, but he remembers the Lord, and is assured that his prayers shall be heard, and shall penetrate His holy temple. He is here in the place that the future remnant of Israel shall be in, in their experience, when the blindness of the present condition has passed away; afar off, yet, in accordance with the prayer of Solomon, looking toward the temple of Jehovah, though in ruins, as in the day that Daniel opened his windows toward Jerusalem (vers. 6, 7). (Ironside, H. A. (1909). Notes on the Minor Prophets. (pp. 204–207). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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Ver. 2. And said, &c.] Not unto the Lord in prayer, but to others, to whom he communicated what passed between God and him in this time of distress; how he prayed to him, and was heard by him; what a condition he had been in, and how he was delivered out of it; what was his frame of mind whilst in it, sometimes despairing, and sometimes hoping; and how thankful he was for this salvation, and was determined to praise the Lord for it: I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; or, out of my strait; being straitened in his body, and as it were in a prison in the fish’s belly; and straitened in his soul, being between hope and despair, and under the apprehensions of the divine displeasure. A time of affliction is a time for prayer; it brings those to it that have disused it; it made Jonah cry to his God, it not with a loud voice, yet inwardly; and his cry was powerful and piercing, it reached the heavens, and entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts, though out of the depths, and out of the belly of a fish, in the midst of the sea: out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice; or, out of the belly of the grave; out of the midst of it; that is, out of the belly of the fish, which was as a grave to him, as Jarchi observes; where he lay as out of the land of the living, as one dead, and being given up for dead: and it may also respect the frame of his mind, the horror and terror he was in, arising from a sense of his sins, and the apprehensions he had of the wrath of God, which were as a hell in his conscience; and amidst all this he cried to God, and he heard him; and not only delivered him from the fish’s belly, but from those dreadful apprehensions he had of his state and condition; and spoke peace and pardon to him. This is a proof that this prayer or thanksgiving, be it called which it will, was composed, as to the form and order of it, after his deliverance; and these words are an appeal to God for the truth of what he had said in the preceding clause, and not a repetition of it in prayer; or expressing the same thing in different words. Ver. 2. And said, &c.] Not unto the Lord in prayer, but to others, to whom he communicated what passed between God and him in this time of distress; how he prayed to him, and was heard by him; what a condition he had been in, and how he was delivered out of it; what was his frame of mind whilst in it, sometimes despairing, and sometimes hoping; and how thankful he was for this salvation, and was determined to praise the Lord for it: I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; or, out of my strait; being straitened in his body, and as it were in a prison in the fish’s belly; and straitened in his soul, being between hope and despair, and under the apprehensions of the divine displeasure. A time of affliction is a time for prayer; it brings those to it that have disused it; it made Jonah cry to his God, it not with a loud voice, yet inwardly; and his cry was powerful and piercing, it reached the heavens, and entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts, though out of the depths, and out of the belly of a fish, in the midst of the sea: out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice; or, out of the belly of the grave; out of the midst of it; that is, out of the belly of the fish, which was as a grave to him, as Jarchi observes; where he lay as out of the land of the living, as one dead, and being given up for dead: and it may also respect the frame of his mind, the horror and terror he was in, arising from a sense of his sins, and the apprehensions he had of the wrath of God, which were as a hell in his conscience; and amidst all this he cried to God, and he heard him; and not only delivered him from the fish’s belly, but from those dreadful apprehensions he had of his state and condition; and spoke peace and pardon to him. This is a proof that this prayer or thanksgiving, be it called which it will, was composed, as to the form and order of it, after his deliverance; and these words are an appeal to God for the truth of what he had said in the preceding clause, and not a repetition of it in prayer; or expressing the same thing in different words. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 6, pp. 539–540). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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2:2 As Jonah came to his senses, he recognized his preservation alive in the fish’s belly as a pledge of his complete deliverance. Jonah’s earlier stated belief in God’s dominion over all the earth was personalized as he recognized that God heard his prayer even in the midst of this distressing situation.
While most would quickly identify Jonah’s sojourn in the fish as his time in the “depths of the grave” and the fish as the cause of distress or even the vehicle of his judgment, Jonah did not regard it so. As this psalm explains, it was while struggling for his life in the sea, with seaweed wrapped around his head (v. 5) and seemingly sinking to his grave “banished” from the Lord’s favor that he suddenly had hope and prayed (v. 4). That he now found himself alive even in so terrifying an environment Jonah took to be a miracle of God intended as the means of his eventual deliverance. The fish was a beneficent device for returning Jonah to the place of his commission. Landes states, “It is clearly before Jonah is swallowed by the fish that he is threatened by the sea and in danger of permanent residence in the nether world.” Whether Jonah was describing the inward parts of the fish or the engulfing sea, he nonetheless described his distress as the “depths of the grave.” Literally, the word for “grave” is “Sheol” (cf. KJV “hell”).
The term “Sheol” was used in various ways. It may be said with certainty that in Hebrew thought the term referred to a place of the dead. It was spoken of as located under the earth (Amos 9:2). Normally those who were in Sheol were seen as separated from God (Ps 88:3; Isa 38:18), yet God was shown to have access to Sheol (Ps 139:8). Sheol was used as an expression for being in the grave (Pss 18:6; 30:3; 49:14; Isa 28:15). With this imagery Jonah here described his experience of being “at the very brink of death.” Fretheim agrees that the language used here goes beyond the literal sense, especially regarding Sheol: “Inasmuch as Sheol was believed to be under the floor of the ocean, Jonah was spatially near the place.” It also helps to understand at this point that in the Old Testament death is understood to be more a process than an event. As for Jonah’s place in that death process, life had ebbed so much that he could have been reckoned more among the dead than among the living. Similar idioms in modern speech are found regularly.26
While the vast majority of modern scholars considers Jonah’s situation in this verse to be a close brush with death, a few believe that Jonah was referring to an actual death experience. The miraculous event in this case would be resurrection as well as rescue. The rationale is that Jonah’s experience would conform more closely to that of Jesus to which it is compared in the New Testament. Such a view, however, goes beyond the language of the text and violates the nature of its imagery.
The term “my distress” defines Jonah’s situation, and its poetic parallel, beten šĕʾôl, literally, “the belly of sheol” (“the depths of the grave”), would be understood by the reader as metonymy, the use of a term in place of that to which it compares. Jonah believed that he was as good as dead, that he had been “eaten” by death, which was often spoken of as an enemy that devours (Pss 49:14; 55:15; Prov 1:12; 27:20; Isa 5:14). Jesus’ comparison of his own coming death to this event in Jonah’s life focuses on two elements of correspondence: the time period of three days and the nature of the event as a sign (cf. Matt 12:40; 16:4; Luke 11:29–30). While Jonah’s imagery of death supported the comparison, a literal correspondence at this point was not required by the comparison. (Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, pp. 245–246). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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FROM MY READING:
Seven Deadly Spirits by T. Scott Daniels
In their self-sufficiency, the church of Laodicea has in some way made Christ an outsider to the congregation that bears his name. In the central act of the church’s worship – in Laodicea’s case it was the act of Eucharist – Christ has been left outside knocking at the door. When the church begins to live off its prosperity, its comfort, and its self-sufficiency, we get programs without spiritual power, preaching without prophetic revelation, prayer without divine presence, and church membership without missional living. (p. 125)
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Taking GOD Seriously by D. Stuart Briscoe
Jonah was really angry. He didn’t want these people to repent, for he didn’t want them to enjoy the blessings that the privileged few are supposed to receive. (p. 82)
Have you ever noticed that sometimes God’s people can be very bitter? Sometimes they get themselves all worked up about plants and animals, ecology and the environment, but show no concern for people. God’s people can become deeply concerned about economics and politics – but they could not care less about a perishing world!! (p. 84)
We should ask the Lord to help us check our own attitudes – and examine our own hearts to see if there be any wicked way in us. (p. 85)
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From: Tozer Speaks by A. W. Tozer
Our Lord knew that in these times there would be those in our churches who are just highly-groomed showpieces of Christianity – middle class and well-to-do, satisfied with a religious life that costs them nothing. (p. 239)
Is it not time that we face up to the fact that most of us do only those things for the Lord and for His church that we can do conveniently? If this is convenient, we will be there. If it is not convenient, we just say, “Sorry, Pastor! You will have to get someone else.”
It is a generally accepted fact that most Protestant Christians serve the Lord at their own convenience. We say we believe in such things as prayer and fasting but we do not practice them unless it is convenient. (p 240)
Brethren, I realize that this message will not win any popularity prizes in the Christian ranks, but I must add this based on my observations on the current state of the church: Christianity to the average evangelical church member is simply an avenue to a good and pleasant time, with a little biblical devotional material thrown in for good measure! (p. 240)
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From: PREPARE: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly HOSTILE CULTURE by J. Paul Nyquist
Note the sequence. While Daniel is blameless under current law and has been an exemplary citizen and servant for his entire life, it doesn’t exempt him from intentional persecution. They create a new law rendering righteousness illegal. (p. 96)
Erwin Lutzer writes, “At root we must remember that our battle in America at the most basic level is spiritual, not political or even moral. Thus, although we use all the opportunities at our disposal to stand against the trends of our culture, we might still just be throwing inkwells at the devil.” (p. 97)
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Proverbs 2
Wisdom must be sought after with our entire being.
INSIGHT
Nothing of value is easily obtained. If it were, it would no longer be valuable. Inherent within the concept of value is the feature of scarcity. If all gravel were made of pure gold, then gold would not be valuable. The same is true with intangibles like wisdom. She is an exceedingly valuable life commodity, but she is not easy to come by. If we want wisdom, we must incline our ears, apply our hearts, cry for her, lift our voice for her, seek her as we would silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures (vv. 2-4). Then, and only then, will we understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God (v. 5) (Quiet Walk)
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PROVIDENCE AND HISTORY
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans 1:21-22
You get the same type of revelation [as seen in creation and nature] in what is commonly called providence: the ordering of things in this world, their maintenance, their sustenance, and the fact that everything keeps on going and continues in life.
How is all this explained? Well, ultimately it is a question of providence. Through the ordering of providence, the seasons, the rain and the snow, and the fructification of crops are all manifestations of God.
The third aspect of general revelation is history. The whole history of the world, if we could but see it, is a revelation of God.
But now we have to say that in and of itself general revelation is not sufficient. It ought to be sufficient, but it is not. And that, it seems to me, is Paul’s argument in Romans 1:20, where he says, “They are without excuse.” The evidence is there, but that has not been enough. Why? Because of sin. If men and women were not sinners, by looking at the miracles and the works of God in creation, in providence and in history, they would be able to arrive, by a process of reasoning, at God. But because of their sin, they do not; they deliberately turn their backs upon doing so. That is the great argument in the remainder of Romans 1. Paul says, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (verses 21-22). And he goes on to say that they began to worship the creature rather than the Creator.
A Thought to Ponder: The whole history of the world, if we could but see it, is a revelation of God. (From God the Father, God the Son, pp. 14-15, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Philosophy and Vain Deceit
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
It is bound to be significant that in the only place where the Scriptures even mention philosophy, we are warned to beware of it! Likewise, the only philosophers mentioned were evolutionary humanists who called the apostle Paul a “babbler . . . because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18).
The word “philosophy” literally means “love of wisdom,” and every philosophy—ancient or modern—is essentially a humanistic devotion to man’s wisdom for its own sake.
But such wisdom is false wisdom. It derives in type from “the tree of knowledge,” through the “vain deceit” of Satan, who tries to persuade us that partaking of it would “make one wise” and that “your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 2:17; 3:5-6). It has “indeed a shew of wisdom” (Colossians 2:23), but “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19), and eventually all “the wisdom of this world, . . . [and] of the princes of this world, . . . [will] come to nought” (1 Corinthians 2:6).
Genuine wisdom, on the other hand, is as our text reminds us “after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:8-10). For in Him “are hid [literally ‘stored up’] all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
The Lord Jesus Christ is “the truth” (John 14:6), and is both “the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). This true wisdom is freely available to all who desire it. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . . and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). Therefore, we need never waste our God-given time on human philosophy. (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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Today’s pastor, instead of being an omniscient leader, is more of a playing coach who depends on teamwork more than on executive fiat. (p. 62)
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Jesus helped many people who never came back to thank him or even to thank him or even to trust him for salvation. In fact, one man he cured turned state’s evidence against him (John 5: 15-16) (p. 65)
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Servant leadership is God’s way of building his people spiritually. For one thing, it demands mature faith to believe that you win by surrendering, gain by losing, and lead by serving, but that’s what Jesus promised. (p. 65) (10 Power Principles for Christian Service by Warren W. & David W. Wiersbe)
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