The Book of Jonah: When God’s Purpose Isn’t in Your PlansSample

We left off yesterday with Jonah hurled into the sea, presumably to his death. The wind and waves are now quiet and the sailors left behind on the boat are worshiping the Lord.

The final verse of the first chapter of Jonah shifts the scene to the water, where Jonah is apparently not dead (there’s disagreement over this verse’s location, with the Hebrew Bible placing it as the first verse in chapter two). Imagine being in Jonah’s shoes now. You’ve hit the water with a splash and are suddenly immersed in waves as they pour over you. Before long, you find yourself struggling to stay afloat and gasping for breath as you ultimately sink into what is starting to feel like a calm, quiet tomb of water all around you . . . until verse 17.

This verse leaves us with some questions, doesn’t it? What kind of fish is this that swallows Jonah? How is it humanly possible for a man to survive inside of a fish for three days? But here’s the deal: the author of Jonah doesn’t answer our questions. The point seems to be that this was a divine act beyond human replication or explanation. Apparently, God is not as interested as we are in the drama that’s playing out in the fish’s belly. God is interested in the drama that’s playing out in Jonah’s heart.

And we get a glimpse of what’s happening in his heart in chapter two as Jonah, in his distress, turns to prayer. So what are we to take away from Jonah’s prayer and God’s response—commanding the fish to spit him back out onto dry land?

• God is merciful toward the most undeserving sinners. At no point in his prayer does Jonah confess his sin or express a desire to repent. Not once. He recaps the bad things God has done to him; he points out the good things he has done; but he does not take any responsibility. Yet God is still pursuing him. God doesn’t let him die. God hears his cry. This story is all about God and his mercy. Jonah doesn’t deserve it, but God is giving it. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, we need the same mercy. We are undeserving sinners, each one of us. We have all rebelled against God. And we are all prone to blame God for the consequences we face as if our sin had nothing to do with it. The good news of Jonah is that God is merciful toward the most undeserving.
• God is able to bring life to the dead. At this point, Jonah’s story points us right to Jesus. Jonah experienced judgment for his sin; Jesus experienced judgment for ours. Jonah was alive after three days in the fish; Jesus was alive after three days in a grave. God can take what ought to be a place of death and turn it into a place of deliverance and life.
• God is sovereign over all salvation. We saw in the wind and waves in chapter one that God’s sovereignty is absolute. He has ultimate authority over all things, including nature. We see this again in chapter two as God speaks to and directs a fish. And why does He do this? To bring salvation.

Jonah’s prayer may have been mostly misguided, yet his final words capture an important truth: salvation belongs to God. He alone is the giver. It belongs to Him and He has chosen to give it to people from every nation—from all tribes, all peoples, and all languages . . . including you. Maybe you have given up on God, but He has not given up on you. He loves you and wants to save you from your sin. He wants to draw you into a relationship with Him to enjoy Him for all eternity. He has the power to do that—though He may not do it as dramatically as commanding a fish like He did for Jonah—because God is sovereign over all salvation.