Jonah 2
COMMENTARY:
: 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.
: 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!!
: 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.
: 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!!!
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 thanksgivingverse 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 bellyverses 1-9
LORD heard Jonah’s prayerverse 2
My prayer came into to YOU into YOUR hold templeverse 7
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Holy Templeverses 4, 7
Sacrificeverse 9
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10
LORD his Godverse 1
THOU brought up my life from corruptionverse 6
LORD my Godverse 6
Salvation is of the LORDverse 9
LORD spoke to fishverse 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)
Corruptionverse 6
Lying vanitiesverse 8
Forsake mercyverse 8
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Afflictionverse 2
Heard prayerverse 2
Remembered the LORDverse 7
Mercyverse 8
Sacrificeverse 9
Thanksgivingverse 9
Vowverse 9
Salvation is of the LORDverse 9
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jonahverses 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 Jonahverse 10
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Hell (Grave)verse 2
Look again toward holy templeverse 4
Corruptionverse 6
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