The book of Jonah is such a unique story about how God didn’t let the rebellion of a man stop his plans of redeeming an evil people.
Jonah was a prophet of God who had been called to preach to the wicked people of Nineveh to repent, but he did not listen to the calling and instead went the other direction, getting on a boat that was sailing for Joppa. While he was on the ship, the Lord caused a great tempest to come on the sea. Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to get through the storm, Jonah and the other sailors came to the conclusion the storm was because of Jonah so they needed to throw him overboard.
Right then and there, God could have let Jonah drown in the sea as a punishment for not obeying him right away. He also could have let the people of Nineveh perish without a message of repentance from God.Yet God, in his mercy, gave Jonah another chance to repent and turn back to him, which brings us to chapter two in the book of Jonah, where Jonah is in the belly of a fish, of all places, finally confessing who is truly God and who has truly been in control this whole time. This is a beautiful passage that has many parallels to the Psalms.
Jonah says in verse 2, “…’I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”
Psalm 107 has a lot of similarities to this passage, giving an account of the people of Israel when they were led out of Egypt by Moses. Verse 6 says, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” The story of Jonah happened over 600 years after the story of Moses leading the Israelites through the wilderness, and yet the same message is clear in both; God is the one who delivered both of them “from their distress.”
Jonah 2:5-6 is very similar to Psalm 32:3-4 in that David and Jonah both describe the state they were in before the Lord delivered them.
“The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought my life from the pit, O Lord my God.” -Jonah 2:5-6
Similarly, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer…therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach you.” -Psalm 32:3-4,6.
As Jonah sat in the belly of the fish, God was with him. Yes, the same God that he had disobeyed and ran from. The same God that caused a great storm because of Jonah’s rebellion. He is the same God who would not let the “rush of great waters” reach him. He still loved Jonah, forgave Jonah, and used Jonah for his greater plan and purpose.
Finally, Jonah said he remembered the Lord, which was something he should have done a long time ago! But again, the Lord is gracious, as it says in verse seven:“When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.”- Jonah 2:7
In Psalm 18, David is recounting the works of the Lord in his life when he delivered him from the hand of Saul, and in verse six he says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” Even though Jonah had rebelled and fled from the Lord, at the end of it all he realized who was in control and who was the only one who could deliver him from the place he was in.
Lastly, Jonah 2:8-9 is when Jonah gives the full credit back to God: “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay, Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
What a turnaround! Jonah went from fleeing from God, to saying Salvation only belongs to him and that the Lord is the only God of steadfast love. The shipmates on Jonah’s ship were offering prayers to worthless idols. Imagine how much Jonah realized who was the true God in that moment, and what is more amazing is that the shipmates came to believe in the One true God, according to Jonah 1:16: “then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” In the end, not only did the Lord bring Jonah back to him, but also Jonah’s shipmates and the people of Nineveh!
Psalm 32:10-11 again parallels Jonah. It says,”Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but the steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
The steadfast love of the Lord is truly amazing. When reading the story of Jonah, it is quite astonishing to think that Jonah thought he could run away from God’s calling for him, or that he knew what was better for himself and the people of Nineveh than God did. Jonah had obeyed God before and, not only that, as a prophet he received clear instructions from God to preach to the people of Nineveh. If anyone should know to obey God, it would be him, but he still chose to rebel against the Lord. We might think how ridiculous it was that he tried to run away from the God of the universe, and yet, is that not how we are? Day after day, we question, flee from and rebel against God. We think that we know better than God himself what is best for us. We think that we can plan our way, but it is the Lord who “ establishes [our] steps.” (Proverbs 16:9). God is gracious and merciful to continue to be faithful and show his steadfast love to us over and over again when we disobey and even though we don’t deserve it. The Lutheran study Bible says about the story of Jonah, “Day by day we make decisions and plan our future, but the prophet Jonah describes just how far the Almighty will go to fulfill his plans for us and through us.” In verse 10 of Jonah 2, “the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” The Lord did deliver Jonah out of his situation and gave him a second chance. Praise God that he is sovereign over everything and that ultimately he will fulfill his plans for us no matter what we do, and that he is gracious to forgive us when we disobey him!
Written by NBB Alumna: Victoria Hoverson
