In the Book of Jonah we read that God called Jonah the prophet to, “go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.” [Jonah 1:2.] As we read through the first chapter, we find that Jonah paid the fare to travel on a ship to Tarshish – from the presence of the Lord. However, the Lord didn’t lose sight of Jonah. The Lord caused a great wind to come upon the sea and tossed the ship about – such that the mariners believed their ship would be broken up and that it would sink. Each man was called to pray unto his god – such that one of the gods would listen and remove the storm. The shipmaster found Jonah asleep and rebuked him for not joining in the prayer vigil. Jonah informed the crew that [he] was the reason for tumultuous sea, because “he fled from the presence of the Lord” – and that if they were to throw him overboard the sea would become calm. The ship’s crew did not want blood on their hands – yet all of their efforts to row to safety were futile. Thus, they cast Jonah overboard and the sea became calm.
We can be assured that Jonah thought that it would be better to perish in the sea “in disobedience unto the Lord” than to have to go the city of Nineveh and preach to “that great [Gentile] city” – himself being a Jew. However, the Lord wasn’t finished with Jonah. The Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was helpless inside the fish’s belly. He could not save himself. He was desperately unable to do anything to get out of his miserable condition. By God’s grace, he was still physically alive yet all around him was utter darkness. Despite his condition being enslaved by the whale, he was able to pray and cry unto the Lord for salvation from such a miserable state. His situation or circumstances inside the stomach of the fish was causing him great physical pain and mental suffering.
The Holy Spirit – through Jonah’s circumstances – reminded him of God’s word, which Jonah had already heard. In Jonah 2:2 we read of Jonah’s words, “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” We can imagine Jonah reasoning with the Spirit, speaking through his conscience and enabling him to recall God’s commandment. Jonah’s hard circumstances moved him to think and to pray. The Spirit used these circumstantial factors, which included physical and spiritual torment, to influence Jonah emotionally through the power of conviction and guilt; working through his conscience to produce a great emotional turmoil as he experienced the physical, mental, and spiritual suffering resulting from his disobedience. It was like a “taste of hell” inside.
In Jonah 2:3, Jonah went on to state, “For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.” The feelings of total darkness, misery, gloom, torment and regrets were such a bad taste of being far from God – due to Jonah’s disobedience. He felt that as he stated in Jonah 2:4, “I am cast out of thy sight” – though God was not really far from him; being His child. When Jonah could no longer bear the suffering (for his disobedience) and concluded that there is only one hope of salvation – that is, GOD – he finally cried unto the Lord. For in Jonah 2:6 he stated, “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.” Jonah recognized that only God could forgive him and save him from the consequences of disobedience – the bondage of sin and ultimate destruction. In Jonah 2:9 we read of Jonah’s cry of repentance, “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” In Jonah 2:10 we read of the Lord’s response, “The Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry ground.” How deep are you prepared to go – living in disobedience unto the Lord? Cry out now unto the Lord in repentance and He will hear.
