Jonah

Jonah 4:5-11 (The Law and Grace – An Object Lesson)

Charlie Garrett Jonah (Written), Old Testament, Sermons, Writings , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment

Jonah 4:5-11
The Law and Grace – An Object Lesson

Last week, as we closed out the sermon in verse 4, I noted that out of more than twenty translations which I check for each sermon, one read differently in that verse from all the others. Most versions are exceedingly similar to that of the NKJV which said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Only Young’s correctly translated it as, “Is doing good displeasing to thee?” The verb is active, not passive.

The same sentiment is found in verse 9 which is tied directly into the death of the plant that was made by the Lord. While discussing this verse with Sergio, he said, “It doesn’t seem to make sense. How could it be good to destroy something the Lord had just made?” His question immediately resolved the enigma of Jonah 4 for me, and thus the intent of the whole book.

I spent that entire night laying on the couch and thinking through chapter 4, verse by verse and word by word. The next day, I called Sergio back, we talked, and I asked him to read verses 5 and 6 and see what problem might be perceived in them. He read them out loud as I listened, and then he said, “I never noticed that before.” He had made the realization that there is a seemingly contradictory thought in them. I needed to tell him nothing.

From there, I simply asked a few questions, not intending to reveal the mystery, but to see if he could figure it out on his own. If he could, then my thoughts would be confirmed. He did, and they are. His face lit up, and he said, “This is amaaaazing” the way that only Sergio can. Today, you are going to hear a completely different translation of several key verses than you have probably read before, but they are in line with the Hebrew. Why is this so?

Text Verse: A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:5-7

A man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, I often seek Sergio’s wise counsel. He understands Hebrew far better than I, and he has valuable insights into many things.

But the question for us today is, “Why has this passage not been evaluated before as we will evaluate it today?” Well, there are a few reasons. First, translators translate passages with the intent of them making sense. A translation that makes no sense… well, it makes no sense. Translators are not always commentary scholars.

Scholars on the other hand look for facts, figures, and details, and will often override translators through a process of explanation, but not normally through a process of translation. What they say may take pages to explain a single verse that translators are limited to. However, what they say must make sense or it is just vain rambling. And there is a lot of that among scholars.

In the case of Robert Young, his translation is correct, but it makes no sense, and so it has been overlooked. It doesn’t explain anything, and it doesn’t even clear up anything. It complicates things. Despite his accurate translation, he does nothing with the rest of the passage, and so the enigma remained.

And finally, there are presuppositions as to what is being said. Concerning verse 11, the final verse of the chapter and the book, there are biases by Jewish commentators which have to be overlooked, and then there are presuppositions about what is being said that have to be ignored.

And so, unlike a translator who is looking to make quick, clear sense out of something maybe cumbersome, and unlike a scholar who is trying to give facts, figures, and historically relevant commentary, and unlike those with biases or presuppositions, there is a fourth group. It is those who use translations as far as they can be used, and who ponder the words of scholars for background information, and then they add in a final element.

This element is the key to all of Scripture; it is “How does this point to Jesus and what He is doing in redemptive history?” Jesus told us that He is what Scripture speaks of, and therefore Jonah chapter 4 is included in that.

And so in order to understand what this chapter is saying, we have to step out of a comfortable translation, and go beyond the logic of scholars. Biases and presuppositions also need to be quashed. We have to look for the key; we must look for Christ. This is how to understand an enigma.

Chapter 4 of Jonah has been so misunderstood, because people have inserted their presuppositions into the text. Because of this, it is a book which ends in a seemingly odd way. Many people say it ends anticlimactically. The Lord goes into great detail preparing object lessons for Jonah, and these object lessons have been misunderstood, leaving the chapter ending with one impression when a completely different one is intended.

I am thankful to Robert Young for having the integrity to translate several verses without presuppositions. And, I am grateful to Sergio for being Sergio. I am blessed that there is someone who also likes to think outside the box. He has helped confirm the intent of many other passages we have looked at together over these past six years. Wonderful things are to be searched out in the Lord’s superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Jonah’s Object Lesson (verses 5-11)

5 So Jonah went out of the city

va’yetse yonah min ha’ir – “And went Jonah from the city.” With his prayer complete, with his petition made, and with the question from the Lord now asked, Jonah departs from the city. He has accomplished his mission, even if it was unwillingly. And he went out of the city to see how the Lord would act upon the prophetic utterance he made. The Lord’s question to Jonah was, “Is doing good a reason for you to be furious?”

This leaves just one possibility – Nineveh will be spared. But he does not leave the area and head back to Israel. His hope is that Nineveh will not be spared, and that only he, a picture of the people of Israel, will alone share in the blessings of Yehovah.

5 (con’t) and sat on the east side of the city.

va’yeshev mi’qedem la’ir – “…and sat on east to city.” There is an importance in identifying the east side of the city. If there wasn’t, it would simply say, “…and sat outside the city.” North, south, east, or west – what difference does it make? However, the east is specified. Jonah willingly goes to the east side.

The word is qedem. It is the place of exile, as in the exile from Eden. It is the place of wandering and the place of disobedience to God, as in the time of Cain and in the building of the Tower of Babel. It is the place where destruction comes from, as in the east wind which brought in the withering drought upon Egypt during Joseph’s time, and the plague of locusts during Moses’ time.

It is also the front, or absolute forepart of a place, as in the entrance to the tabernacle. And, it is the time before, the past times, the ancient times as known to the Lord, such as in the prophecy to the King of Assyria in 2 Kings 19. In Habakkuk 1, the prophets asks –

“Are You not from everlasting (mi’qedem),
O Lord my God, my Holy One?” Habakkuk 1:12

The richness of the word qedem, or “east” in Scripture concerns a study of no minor significance, and the word calls out for thought concerning Jonah’s place of sitting.

5 (con’t) There he made himself a shelter

va’yaas lo sham sukkah – “…and made to there tabernacle.” The people of Israel are famous builders of tabernacles, because they were instructed to build them annually during their feast of Sukkoth, or “Tabernacles.” The sukkah is a place of shelter and protection. It can be for livestock, people, or even metaphorically of the sukkah of the Lord in the heavens. Jonah built one for himself there, outside of Nineveh.

5 (con’t) and sat under it in the shade,

v’yeshev takh-teiha ba’tsel – “…and sat under its protection.” Sitting implies abiding and being set. There in his sukkah, he abides, and the purpose of Jonah building the sukkah is confirmed now in that it provides tsel, or shade. The word comes from tsalal which indicates “shadowing” as in hovering over. Thus, he is covered and shaded. However, shade in Scripture is used metaphorically to indicate protection. This is seen in Psalm 91 –

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:1, 2

5 (con’t) till he might see what would become of the city.

ad asher yireh mah yiyeh ba’ir – “…until which might see what will come to pass in city.” There, protected by the covering of his sukkah, Jonah watches and awaits what will come to pass. He is safe, but what will happen to the city? Because what happens to the city is what will happen to its inhabitants.

6 And the Lord God prepared a plant

Vay-man Yehovah Elohim qiqayon – “And appointed Yehovah Elohim qiqayon. So far, Yehovah, or the Lord, has been referred to in verses 2, 3, & 4. Elohim, or God, has been referred to in verse 2. Now Yehovah Elohim or, the Lord God, is referred to. It is He who does the preparing. Why the change? And what indeed has He prepared? A qiqayon?

It is a word which is referred to for the first of five times, but all will be in this passage. It is found nowhere else, but rather it is unique to this passage of Scripture alone.

It is variously translated as “plant,” “leafy plant,” “vine plant,” “gourd,” “little plant,” “vine,” “pumpkin,” and “ivy.” It is even footnoted as a castor oil plant. I asked Hideko to see what the Japanese version said. It said togoma, and she had no idea what that meant even in Japanese. So she read the margin note and then said, “Aaaaahhhhh, I know what it is… it’s the gourd.”

Which is correct? The answer is, “Any of them and none of them.” Nobody knows what a qiqayon is. Every translation is speculation. However, translators need to put something, and so they make a best guess. And so, the proper translation would be to simply say qiqayon. It is a name, and therefore a transliteration is all that is needed. However, qiqayon comes from the word qayah, or “to vomit.” In fact, when I asked Sergio to read it in Hebrew, the first thing he thought was, “Why is this speaking of vomit?”

The word qi means “to vomit” (the action). The word qa means “vomit” (the thing), and yon is a suffix which signifies a process, or denoting action or a condition. It is where our suffix –ion comes from. Lexicographers say that –ion goes back to the Latin, but they missed that it goes back further… to Hebrew. An example of this suffix is found in Amos 4:6 –

“‘Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have not returned to Me,’
Says the Lord.” Amos 4:6

The word “cleanness” comes from naqah, clean. Adding –yon to it causes it to become niqayon, the state of being cleaned, or “cleanliness.” As Sergio noted, “A great example where you add “ion” and it transforms the verb into a noun that describes the result of that verb!” And so with qiqayon, you have a word which, in essence, says “This is the condition of vomiting vomit.” What on earth is this referring to?

6 (con’t) and made it come up over Jonah,

va’yaal me-al l’yonah – “and caused to ascend over to Jonah.” This process of something undesirable now covers over Jonah. How do we know it is undesirable? Because every instance of vomiting in Scripture is taken in a negative sense, with the exception of the result of Jonah being vomited onto shore in Chapter 2. However, for the fish, it was certainly undesirable. After Jonah’s shower, he was probably OK with it though.

6 (con’t) that it might be shade for his head

lih-yot tsel al rosho – “…that it might be protection for his head.” When I asked Sergio to read verses 5 & 6, it was with an understanding that it seemed there is a contradictory thought in them. Without explaining that to him, when he read these words he said, “I never noticed that before.”

He had clued into what was otherwise skimmed over by him in the past. Why does Jonah need shade for his head when he just built a sukkah for the purpose of, and which was realized in the last verse, giving him shade. Verses 5 & 6 are last two uses of tsel in the Old Testament. What is being relayed to us with this repetition of tsel?

6 (con’t) to deliver him from his misery.

l’hatsil lo me-raato – “…to deliver from his wickedness.” The word ra here is variously translated as grief, discomfort, misery, evil, fatigue, evil case, etc. Translators choose based on what they believe the intent of the passage is expressing. The correct word for Jonah may be “misery,” but for us, it is “wickedness.” This is an object lesson for Jonah in which he is miserable, and yet an allegory for us to consider and understand concerning that which is evil. The qiqayon is given to deliver him from his wickedness.

6 (con’t) So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

Yonah al ha’qiqayon simkhah gedolah – “Jonah of the qiqayon joyful whoppingly.” Despite having built a sukkah which was for the purpose of shading himself, he is whoppingly elated at having the qiqayon which is providing protection. What about this vomiting of vomit makes him so happy?

Can it merely be coincidence that in verse 2:10 there was the fish which vomited Jonah out onto dry ground and then there is this descriptive word being used in an object lesson for him to see and understand? The Lord has used him in this story to teach himself, and thus Israel, a lesson. Will he learn? Will they learn?

7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm,

vay’man ha’elohim tolaat baalot ha’shahar la’makhorat – “And appointed the God a worm as arose the dawn to next day.” Now another thing is prepared. But this time it is not by Elohim or Yehovah Elohim. Instead it is by ha’elohim, or “the God.” As not one of the 21 translations I referred to includes this, I assume neither does yours. Therefore, please place the word “the” in front of “God” in your Bible. We are being told something.

“The God” appointed a tola, or a crimson grub worm, at the shakhar or dawning, of the mokhorath, or “next day,” to do something. This is, as Albert Barnes notes, “…in the earliest dawn, before the actual sunrise.” Three words are used for the last time here. It is the last of 25 times for the shakhar, the last of 43 times for the tola, and the last of 32 times for the mokhorath.

Why is it so specific about the time of the day? It could have just said, the next day, couldn’t it have? But a specific type of worm is named, and a specific time of day is too. These are specific for a reason. This is some object lesson!

7 (con’t) and it so damaged the plant that it withered.

va’tak eth ha’qiqayon va’yibash – “…and struck the qiqayon and withered away.” This was indeed some tola! That worm didn’t just damage the vomiting vomit, it completely destroyed it until it was dry. What on earth is the God telling Jonah here?

8 And it happened, when the sun arose,

vay-hi kizroakh ha’shemesh – “And happened as rose the sun.” The word “rise” is zarakh, which indicates to shoot forth beams, appear, and thus to rise. At this moment something new occurs…

8 (con’t) that God prepared a vehement east wind;

vay’man Elohim ruakh qadim kharishit – “…and appointed God wind east deafening.” Now we return to the word Elohim without the article. He appoints an east wind, but it is an east wind which is described by a word, kharishi, used only here in the entire Bible. It is so obscure that the great Hebrew lexicographers, Brown-Driver-Briggs denounce the meanings provided by other scholars as unacceptable, and then they say, “…meaning wholly dubious. We make no attempt to explain.”

I, however, have translated it, as did James Strong, from the word kharash, a word bearing several meanings. He chose “scorching” to which I disagree. It means “deafening.” This is connected to the word kheresh, or “deaf.” And this is exactly what is being pictured, as you will see. In the Middle East, the east wind is known as the khamsin. It is an extremely hot wind that is described in the book River God by Wilbur Smith as follows –

“The king’s voice was frantic, but I paid it no heed, for there was a mighty roaring in my ears, like the sound of the khamsin wind…”

Concerning the word manah, translated here as “prepared.” This is the last time it is used in the Old Testament. It means “appointed.” It was used four times in Jonah – 1:17, 4:6, 4:7, and 4:8. He appointed the dag gadol or “fish whopping” to swallow Jonah. He appointed the qiqayon, or “state of vomiting vomit” plant. He appointed the tola, or “crimson grub worm.” And He appointed the ruakh qadim kharishit, or “deafening east wind.”

8 (con’t) and the sun beat on Jonah’s head,

va’tak ha’shemesh al rosh yonah – “And struck the sun on head Jonah.” Without the protection of the qiqayon, Jonah is now struck on his head by the direct beating of the sun. It is an extremely sad state of affairs for Jonah, who has received pain and anguish while waiting for what he thought would be the destruction of the Gentiles there before him.

8 (con’t) so that he grew faint.

va’yitalaph – “so that he veiled himself.” Every single translation of this verse except Young’s says “fainted,” “grew faint,” etc. But, Young’s says, “…and he wrappeth himself up.” He did this because the same word, alaph, is used in Genesis 38:14 this way –

“So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.”

The word alaph is used here for the last of only five times in the Bible. It comes from a primitive root which means to veil, or cover.” Jonah did not faint; he veiled himself as an Arab would in the oppressive khamsin.

8 (con’t) Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

va’yishal eth naphsho la’mut va’yomer tov mo-ti me’khaiai – “…and begged with his soul to die, and said, ‘Good my death than my life.’” Jonah came to the point where his misery had overcome him. Life had become so miserable, that death was preferred over life itself. It is a repetition from verse 3 even before the object lesson was presented.

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

va’yomer Elohim el yonah ha’hetev kharah lekha al ha’qiqayon – “And said Elohim unto Jonah, ‘The correct, burning anger to you for the qiqayon?’” As we saw in verse 4, all translations except Young’s say something like, “Is it right for you to be angry.” But this is incorrect. Young’s translates this verse “Is doing good displeasing to thee, because of the gourd?”

However, this seems to make no sense. “Why would the destruction of the qiqayon be good, and why would it seem evil to Jonah?” This is what Sergio asked. Unless one understands the object lesson, it seems mistranslated, but it is not.

Notice here that in contrast to verse 4, which this verse parallels, it says Elohim instead of Yehovah; God instead of the Lord. Why would this be? The answer lies in who God is in relation to the people of the world, and who the Lord is in relation to Israel. The destruction of the qiqayon is what is right, and it is even necessary. Jonah, however, disagrees…

9 (con’t) And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

va’yomer hetev kharah li ad mavet – “And said, ‘good, burning anger to me, unto death.’” He stubbornly confirms that in the case of the good of what he is being presented, he is furious about it. He would rather die than see this good come to pass. It is a sentiment seen to this day with the people of Israel – 2000 years later.

This verse contains the last time Jonah’s name is mentioned in the Old Testament. He was the son of Amittai from Gath Hepher. In picture, he is Dove, the son of Truth of the Lord, from the Winepress of Shame. The dove, the symbol of “mourning love,” is perfectly realized in Jonah here. With the death of the qiqayon, the object lesson is ended. Now the Lord speaks again…

10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 

va’yomer Yehovah atah khasta al ha’qiqayon asher lo amalta bow v’lo gidalto sebin laylah hayah u-bin laylah abad – “And said Yehovah, “You pitied on the qiqayon that no did perform, and no magnified, which a son of a night was, and a son of a night perished.’” Only Young’s gives a literal translation of this verse. It says “son of a night,” to indicate lasting only one night.

The qiqayon, the state of vomiting vomit, came up and Jonah did not perform or fulfill in that process. Instead, it came as a son of the night and it was destroyed as a son of the night. This is the last of 11 uses of the word amal, or “labor,” in the Bible. It is used only by Solomon except this one time. Each time he uses it, it is in relation to futile labor, except when it is in relation to what God has done.

11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city,

va’ani lo akhus al Nineveh ha’ir ha’gedolah – “And I, no pity over Nineveh, the city the whopping.” Jonah is worried about the qiqayon, even to pity. But the Lord contrasts that pity to His pity over something of true value. The great city whose name means “Offspring’s Habitation,” has human inhabitants; people whom He created who He feels are far more worthy of His pity. Verses 10 and 11 have the last two of 23 times that khus, or pity, is used in Scripture. And what a marvelous use of them to show the contrast between man’s priorities and that of the Lord!

11 (con’t) in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons

asher yesh bah harbeh mishtem esreh ribo adam – “which exists in greater from twelve myriads man.” The translation as 120,000 is to be rejected. The term here is “12 myriads.” In 1 Chronicles 12:37, 120,000 people are noted as meah v’esrim aleph. Here the number is mishtem esreh ribo. Obviously they don’t sound the same because they are not the same. Instead of 120,000, it says “12 myriads.” The word ribo indicates an indefinitely large number. Again, only Robert Young rightly translated these words.

What I will propose to you now is, as far as I know, without precedent. No scholar that I am aware of has come to this conclusion, and yet it is exactly what is being relayed. One has to presuppose that this is speaking of the people in the city. It is not. Scholars have struggled over the number, knowing it is not correct. The size of the city does not justify this amount of people.

And so they back-interpret the words to mean “innocent people” meaning children who have not participated in the sins of the city. That is without basis, and it is not supported by Scripture which teaches inherited sin in all people. When the Lord destroys a city, he makes no distinction between young and old. But how else to explain the obviously incorrect number and translation?

Rather than referring to those in Nineveh, it is speaking of the twelve tribes of Israel. As soon as Sergio said, “This doesn’t say 120,000, but 12 with a descriptor attached to it, the entire passage fell into place. The phrase is comparative, not descriptive. In other words, the city of Nineveh, capital of, and thus emblematic of the great Assyrian Empire, is greater than the 12 tribes of Israel. This comparison continues in the final words of the book of Jonah…

*11 (fin) who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

Asher lo yada ben yemino lishmolo u-behemah rabbah – “…which no discern between their right hand and their left; and many ignorant fools.” This verse is set in contrast to Jonah 3:7. It is speaking of the people of Israel, not those in the city. In the giving of the law, the term “to the right hand or to the left” was spoken to Israel, indicating that they were to know what is right and to do it –

“Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” Deuteronomy 5:32


This is repeated again in Deuteronomy 17 –

“According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.” Deuteronomy 17:11

And it was repeated to them in the chapter of promised blessings and curses as well in Deuteronomy 28:14 –

So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.”

The people in the city were given the word of the Lord, and they discerned what was right immediately. Israel had been given the word of the Lord for hundreds and hundreds of years, and the record shows their continual failing to discern right from left.

And the record also shows one more thing about them which is realized in the words u-behemah rabbah, or “and beasts abundant.” This is speaking of the foolish people of Israel, not the animals of Nineveh. The entire passage is speaking metaphorically. The animals in Nineveh were adorned in repentance along with the people of the city. However, time and again, in the psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the prophets, the ignorant and foolish of humanity are compared to beasts –

“I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.” Psalm 73:22

The passage in Isaiah 30 concerning the “beasts of the South” is speaking of the foolish people of Israel, and Peter uses the same term, “beasts,” in 2 Peter 2 when speaking of the foolish and perverse. Paul and Jude likewise use this terminology. Again, this is speaking of those in Israel who were ignorant fools.

The seemingly anticlimactic finish of the book of Jonah is, instead, a strong and resounding rebuke to the people of Israel. Correctly translated, it says, “And should I not pity Nineveh that great city, in which exists more than twelve myriads of man, who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and many ignorant fools.” Israel failed to heed; Nineveh repented. It is a picture of Israel and the church. One rejected the Lord and His salvation, one quickly and decidedly turned to both.

Now, before we have these verses explained to us, I’d like you to note that in the story, God specially prepared four different things to guide or control Jonah. It says that He “appointed” a fish, a plant, a worm, and an east wind.

Each of these is a different agent of God’s creation – one a sea creature, one a plant, one a land creature, and one form of natural phenomena. In other words, the Bible is recognizing that God is sovereign over each of these aspects of creation. In essence, all of creation is at His bidding in order to accomplish His plans in the process of redemption. With that in mind we are ready to evaluate the meaning of the rather difficult verses found here in Chapter 4.

A fish to swallow a man at sea
A qiaqyon to cover that same man for some shade
A worm to destroy the qiqayon, it withered completely
Thus You destroyed what You once had made

And then a deafening east wind, it rages aplenty
While the sun beat down on the man’s head
There he sat in complete misery
There the man said he was better off dead

But is it right that he should be so upset?
Is it right to be so angry about the qiqayon?
The man says, “Yes!” “Certainly!” And, “You bet!”
But maybe he wouldn’t if he knew what was being shown

And so now we will look into what these things mean
Yes, now we will be shown was is meant to be seen

II. The Object Lesson Explained

Jonah has pictured both Christ and His work and Israel, here he is a picture of Israel, the people. Their history is being depicted in the object lesson given to him. In verses 1-3, Jonah was angry at the repentance of the Gentiles, wishing their destruction. In verse 4, he was asked, “Is doing good a reason for you to be furious?”

In order to wake him up, He is next given a snapshot of their entire history. Jonah, picturing Israel, went out to the east of the city. As I said, it is the place of exile. It is the place of wandering and the place of disobedience to God. It is the place where destruction comes from. Israel stems from Adam as do all people. All are in exile and are separated from God, Israel and Gentile alike.

There Jonah built a sukkah, a tabernacle. It is a dwelling place. Abraham was brought into Canaan by the Lord and lived as pilgrim, as did Isaac, and Israel. They established themselves as a people. Canaan the land, and Israel the people, became their own dwelling place and place of protection.

While there in the land, and even in Egypt, they dwelt as a people separate from the Gentiles. They simply lived and watched what would happen to the world living around them, just as Jonah did from his sukkah. But the Lord had more for them than a dwelling which they established.

In verse 6, Yehovah Elohim, the Lord God, prepared a qiqayon. It is the Law of Moses, prepared by the Lord God. This is why the full term Yehovah Elohim is used there. It is the covenant Lord who is the Creator God who established and oversaw it for them. He formed it as a protection over them. The Ten Commandments were given from Yehovah Elohim, the Lord God.

However, the name applied to this symbol tells all we need to know. The qiqayon, or state of vomiting vomit, was intended as a means of being restored to God, where life would result from death, if the law could be but fulfilled. The Lord said in Leviticus –

“You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 18:5

Paul cites this verse in Romans 10. But nobody could fulfill the law. And so God’s law was only given as a temporary measure, not as a permanent fixture. It was only a protection, a guardian, for Israel. Paul explains this in Galatians 3:23-25 (NIV) –

“Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

The qiqayon was Jonah’s guardian; the law was Israel’s. This is why the term tsel, or shade, was used in both verses 5 and 6. Israel has built its own protection, but the Lord built a further one for them, there in the east, or in the place of exile and judgment.

However, the law was never meant to last. It was temporary and found an end in the tola. The question is, “Which is greater – the great shading qiqayon, or the worm?” Well, what does the tola picture. I asked Sergio that, and without batting an eye, he said, “Christ.” He had paid attention to the Exodus sermons. In the 22nd Psalm, a messianic psalm written by David which speaks of the work of the Lord, including His cross, we read this –

“But I am a worm, and no man; (tola)
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!” Psalm 22:6-8

Concerning the tola, Henry Morris writes the following –

“When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might ‘bring many sons unto glory.’ He died for us, that we might live through him!” Henry Morris

This is why the term ha’elohim, or “the God” was used to describe the preparation for the tola. The God, the personal God, personally attended to the preparation of the body for Christ to dwell in and accomplish His work. This is seen in Hebrews 10 –

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’” Hebrews 10:5-7

The tola came forth to do its work with specificity. It said, “as morning dawned.” It was “in the earliest dawn, before the actual sunrise.” That is the resurrection of Christ as seen in the gospels. Matthew says the women went to the tomb as the day began to dawn. John says that it was still dark when they saw the stone rolled away. Christ’s work was finished in His work on the cross, but it was proven so in the resurrection. The law was struck and died in that glorious moment.

From that time on, only judgment can result from remaining attached to the law. This is why vomit is always negative in the Bible with one exception, vomiting Jonah onto the dry ground. Jonah pictured Christ in death and resurrection. The grave could not hold Him and it literally had to spew Him out of its grasp.

However, the law, the state of vomiting vomit, still holds sway over those who rely on it. Peter, speaking of false teachers, including those who would set aside the grace of Christ and return to the law, are like dogs who return to their vomit. When they do so, only judgment can be the result.

This is seen next in the lesson with the east wind. This was prepared, not by ha’elohim, or “the God,” but rather simply by elohim. The personal connection to Israel’s God is lost. Now, they are under God’s judgment, and thus the definite article is dropped from the narrative.

This east wind is described with that exceedingly rare word which nobody has been able to adequately describe, but of which I correctly translate as “deafening.” I chose this because the root implies it, and because the symbolism is realized in Paul’s words to the Jews who rejected Christ. At the end of Acts, he cites Isaiah, saying –

“Go to this people and say:
‘Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”’ Acts 28:26, 27

And again, Isaiah, in a passage speaking of the coming Messiah, says this –

“Hear, you deaf;
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servant,
Or deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as he who is perfect,
And blind as the Lord’s servant?
20 Seeing many things, but you do not observe;
Opening the ears, but he does not hear.” Isaiah 4:18-20

Further, wind also symbolizes doctrine – both correct and false doctrine. The spirit of God directs proper doctrine, but man directs false doctrine. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians 4:14 –

“…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…”

In addition, wind symbolizes that which is temporary and vain. In the 78th Psalm, it is used to show that which is temporary –

“For He remembered that they were but flesh,
A breath that passes away and does not come again.” Psalm 78:39

Isaiah shows that the wind symbolizes that which is vain –

“Indeed they are all worthless;
Their works are nothing;
Their molded images are wind and confusion.” Isaiah 41:29

The Lord sent His east wind, the wind of judgment upon Israel. It is the time of their being cursed for rejecting Christ. It is the Gentile-led church age, symbolized by Nineveh’s repentance and turning to God. They are the offspring of God through the work of Christ, just as the name Nineveh means. It is a marvelous picture which is being developed for us to pay heed to and to understand.

The word for the east wind, kheresh, is tied directly to the kharishi, or “deafening” wind which Jonah experienced. The people had grown deaf to the Lord’s call because they clung to the law. The judgment of God’s raging and deafening east wind was a self-inflicted wound. And the next judgment follows along with that, the beating of the sun on Jonah’s head.

In the law, the Lord promised Israel to be the head, not the tail if they were obedient to Him. As they rejected Christ, they brought the curse down upon themselves. The Sun of Righteousness, Christ, instead of favoring them, beat down on their head. In response, what did Jonah do? He veiled himself even further. He wrapped himself in the law and added in the Talmud. Paul describes the veil –

“Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” 2 Corinthians 3:12-16

After the east wind, Jonah cried out that death was more preferable than life. He had clung to the law, a law which Paul describes as bringing death, because through it sin is made manifest. And when sin enters, death is the result. He explains this throughout his letters, but sums it up with these words –

“And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Jonah, typical of Israel, testifies that he would rather die under the law than live under the grace of Jesus Christ. This is why in verse 9 God, not the Lord of verse 4, asked, “Is doing good a reason for you to be furious because of the qiqayon?” The question is not asked from the covenant Lord Yehovah whom they have rejected. It is asked from God the Creator.

They are outside of the covenant and are being asked directly, “Do you find the ending of the law, which was accomplished by My Son, a reason to be furious?” Their answer, to this day, is Jonah’s response, “Yes, doing good is reason to be furious because of the state of vomiting vomit.” They believe they can fulfill the law and reenter God’s presence on their own.

Christ is rejected by them, and they are out of His favor because of this. This was seen in the contrast between Jonah and the sailors before he had his epiphany. The Gentile sailors had said –

“We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” Jonah 1:14

However, the Jews said this at Jesus’ crucifixion –

“His blood be on us and on our children.” Matthew 27:25

The Gentiles had come to fear the Lord because of Jesus; the Jews had rejected Him because of Jesus. And so, they will have to endure many troubles before they are brought, once again, into covenant relationship through the New Covenant. Thus the object lesson ends and the Lord speaks his final words.

Yes, it is Yehovah, the covenant Lord, who completes the words of the chapter. He signifies that His pity has gone out to the Gentiles, represented by Nineveh, or “Offspring’s Habitation.” The Gentile world has become the Lord’s offspring through faith in Christ.

In His last words to Jonah, and thus to Israel, He notes Israel’s pity on the qiqayon, the law, which he says they have been unable to even perform. The word He spoke, amal, is used only by Solomon, and always to indicate the vain labor of man apart from God. His words concerning the qiqayon were that Jonah, representing Israel, was unable to perform, or fulfill. This is why that word was chosen. None could fulfill the law; none but Christ.

He next said that the qiqayon, the law, came up as a son of the night and it was destroyed as a son of the night. This is referring to its effects. It can bring nothing to light. But Christ can. This is why Paul says this in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 –

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

Only Christ, not the law, can make one a son of the day. The object lesson of the qiqayon, (the law) the tola, (the crucified Christ) and the ruakh qadim kharishit, (the deafening east wind) there outside of Nineveh, indicates that there are far more souls to whom His pity extends than just the 12 tribes of Israel who have been unable to tell their right hand from their left, and among whom are many ignorant and foolish beasts who willingly reject the grace which He has offered through His completed work on Calvary’s cross.

This is the lesson of the book of Jonah. This is what is revealed in the obscure, and wholly misunderstood, words of this precious, marvelous book. For us, it is either the law which kills, or the grace of Christ which makes alive. God showed grace to the Gentiles, the Jews wanted the law which Christ ended. They were angry at the ending of the law, but God’s grace has been extended to any and all who will receive it. If you do, you also will be vomited out of the grave some wonderful day, all because of the work of Christ Jesus.

———————————

But it was evil to [the] Dove (meaning Israel) exceedingly, and he was kindled with anger.

2 So he prayed unto Yehovah, and said, “I pray Yehovah, was not this what I said when I was still in my ground? Because it was so, I hastened to flee to the White Dove (Tarshish); for I know that You, God, are gracious and merciful, slow to get into a huff and abounding in covenant loyalty, and comforting concerning the evil.

3 And now Yehovah take, I pray, my soul. To me, it is for good my death [rather] than my life!”

4 And said Yehovah, “Is doing good a reason for you to be furious?”

AN OBJECT LESSON IN ALLEGORY AND METAPHOR

5 And [the] Dove (meaning Israel) went from the city and sat in the place of wandering and disobedience. And there he made a sukkah and sat under its protection, until he might see what would come to pass concerning the city.

6 And appointed Yehovah Elohim a qiqayon (meaning the law), and caused [it] to ascend over [the] Dove (meaning Israel), that it might be protection for his head, to deliver from his wickedness. [The] Dove (meaning Israel) concerning the qiqayon (meaning the law) was joyful whoppingly.

7 And appointed THE GOD a tola (meaning the crucified Christ) at the dawning of the next morning, and it struck the qiqayon (meaning the law), and it withered.

8 And happened as rose the sun (meaning the dawning of God’s new economy, the age of grace), and God appointed wind east deafening (meaning Israel could no longer hear). And struck the sun on the head of [the] Dove (meaning Israel), so that he veiled himself (meaning Israel had wrapped itself in the law). And begged with his soul to die. And said, “Good [is] my death than my life.

9 And said God unto [the] Dove (meaning Israel), “Is doing good a reason for you to be furious concerning the qiqayon (meaning the law)?

And [he] said, “Doing good is a reason for me to be furious, even to death.”

10 And said Yehovah, “You pitied the qiqayon (meaning the law) that you were unable to fulfill, and did not magnify; which a son of a night was, and a son of a night perished” (meaning the law brought nothing to light).

11 And I? No pity over the Offspring’s Habitation? The city, the whopping? (referring to the Gentile world). Which exists more than 12 myriads of man (meaning the twelve tribes of Israel), which cannot discern between their right hand and their left (meaning transgressors of the law); and many ignorant fools (meaning the willfully disobedient).”

———————————

The book of Jonah, the Dove typifies the “mourning love” which God feels for the people of the world. So much so, that He was willing to step out of His heavenly abode and come walk among us. Let us cling to the grace of God which is found in Jesus Christ our Lord, and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Closing Verse: “For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” Hebrews 7:18, 19

Next Week: Leviticus 1:1-4 We hope you will find this new book fun… (The Burnt Offering, Part 1)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean rages against you and is ready to swallow you up, He can send delivery to you in the most remarkable of ways. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Law and Grace – An Object Lesson

So Jonah went out of the city and sat
On the city’s east side
There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade
Till he might see what would become of the city
What would the Lord decide?

And the Lord God prepared a plant
And made it come up over Jonah assuredly
That it might be shade for his head
To deliver him from his misery

So Jonah was very grateful for the plant
But as morning dawned the next day
God prepared a worm
And it so damaged the plant that it withered away

And it happened, when the sun arose
That God, a vehement east wind prepared
And the sun beat on Jonah’s head
So that he grew faint; thus he fared

Then he wished death for himself, and said
“It is better for me to die than to live; I’m better off dead!”

Then God said to Jonah
“Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry!
Even to death! So, Jonah continued his rant

But the Lord said
“You have had pity on the plant, an insignificant plight
For which you have not labored, nor made it grow
Which came up in a night and perished in a night

And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city
In which are more than a giant herd or flock
One hundred and twenty thousand persons
Who cannot discern between their right hand and their left
And much livestock?”

Lord God, thank You for grace; glorious grace
Thank You for fulfilling what stood opposed to us
Thank You for turning towards us Your marvelous face
As we behold our Savior, our precious Jesus

And Lord, we pray for those who still choose
To cling to the law which is dead; withered away
Open the eyes of Israel, all of the Jews
Call them back to Yourself, this we pray

And for any others who have left Your grace
Clinging to the law in a hope it will please
Turn them away from that terrible place
And to reconciliation through Christ
Who alone can Your wrath appease?

Lord God, thank you for this wonderful book
Jonah! What a marvel to have studied it
Into every detail possible we took a look
And to You our thanks and praise we now submit!

Hallelujah to Christ our Lord!
Hallelujah for Jonah, a marvelous part of Your superior word!

Hallelujah and Amen…

Jonah 3:1-4 (The Sign of Jonah)

Charlie Garrett Jonah (Written), Old Testament, Sermons , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment

Jonah 3:1-4
The Sign of Jonah


Why did Jonah decide it was better to just go to Nineveh?
A: He learned that he couldn’t trust the ocean. There was just something fishy about it.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, “God is a God of second chances.” Although it sounds a bit cliché, it really is the truth. I know I’ve been given second, third, and fourth chances in my life, and I’ll bet that in eternity I’ll see where the Lord intervened in my on-going trek in a million ways I never realized. Surely we all will see it the same way.

Things surround us that we don’t even know are there, and which would otherwise be where we meet our end. This kind of thing is seen in movies all the time. In the movie Next with Nicolas Cage, he plays the part of a Las Vegas magician, and he has a secret which others are unaware of.

He can see a few minutes into the future. By seeing what is coming, he can the make adjustments in the surrounding events so that what would have happened would then be prevented and a new course in time would occur.

Although well into the realm of science fiction, it is not at all improbable that events in our lives are also affected by those who know what an outcome would otherwise be. They then work to ensure that the plan God has laid out is what will ultimately happen. Does that sound improbable?

Well, it may sound fantastic, but it is in accord with the word of God. We read in Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” What is that verse speaking of?

Well, as a sort of pun, I gave an idea to a Christian artist who used to do a daily comic on things in the Bible. My suggestion was to draw a guy named Harold who is so clumsy that the angels would follow him around. They would laugh at him always tripping, or flubbing up, and thus they would be entertained by him. Poor Harold.

However, that is not what is being spoken of here. Instead, it is speaking of us, our conduct, and how it is being monitored by angels. It may be as tests of our faith and character, not in the sense that God needed to know about that. Rather, it is in the sense of building up our faith and in strengthening us in our spiritual lives.

It may also be in the sense of redirecting our very actions in order to effect a change in what would otherwise have occurred. If we unwittingly entertain angels, it means that they have entered our presence for a reason which we were otherwise unaware of, and this entry has now redirected the fabric of what our lives would have been.

We’re not alone, and God is actively working to save many people alive. He works through nature, He works through angels, and He’s worked personally in other ways for each of us – whether we acknowledge it or not.

In my case, at least as far as salvation is concerned, He sent a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses to me in the store I owned. Regardless of the source – they were certainly not angels – He was able to use people not even in His own fold to bring me to the point where I determined to read the Bible and find out whether its claims were true or not.

They are, and I was graciously not only granted salvation, but also relief from the clutches of those who would keep me from it, meaning the very people who came to tell me of their twisted version of His word. Surely angels were there in that store, directing me unwittingly toward the Lord and away from the deception of the JW’s. I was given a second chance at life that day. In the case of Jonah, he was given a second chance too. In his opening commentary to Jonah chapter 3, Matthew Henry says –

“See here the nature of repentance; it is the change of our mind and way, and a return to our work and duty. Also, the benefit of affliction; it brings those back to their place who had deserted it. See the power of Divine grace, for affliction of itself would rather drive men from God, than draw them to him. God’s servants must go where he sends them, come when he calls them, and do what he bids them; we must do whatever the word of the Lord commands.” Matthew Henry

We will get a bit of repetition from a previous sermon today concerning what is, in fact, the sign of Jonah. I’ll explain a couple of reasons for repeating this at that time, but if for no other reason, repetition helps solidify things in our memory bank. Also, repetition helps solidify things in our memory bank. I hope you will remember that .

Text Verse: Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us,
We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” Hosea 14:2, 3

Whether a fatherless child, a disobedient nation of covenant people, or a great city filled with pagans who have filled their lives with wickedness and idolatry, the Lord can and will be merciful to those who turn away from their wickedness. This is the lesson to be found in the 10 verses of Chapter 3, and it is a lesson which permeates all of Scripture. Yes, it’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. According to the Word of the Lord (verses 1-3)

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

vay’hi devar Yehovah el yonah shneit lemor – “And came word Yehovah unto Jonah second saying.” The words are practically identical to Jonah 1:1. Only the words “son of Amittai” are replaced with the word “second.”

We know now which Jonah is being referred to, and so the relationship to his father is unnecessary. And we have been with him on his wayward journey, and so the word “second” reminds us that he could have avoided all of the misery of the previous chapters if he had simply been obedient at the first.

There would be no stink of fish guts on him, there would be no need for fresh clothes, and the guilt of the memory of having been first disobedient to the Lord and to his calling would not haunt his memory in the years to come.

But these things were necessary in order to give us the pictures of Christ which we have so far seen. They were also necessary to bring about the salvation of those pagan salty sailors who had now found the one true God and had received His grace.

It should not be without note that a later apostle had also been out of the Lord’s favor and was eventually restored. Peter, or Simon son of Jonah, had followed a wayward path, but he too was reinstated into a right relationship with Christ. In both cases, the name Jonah has been introduced to show this, and to teach us a lesson concerning God’s sovereignty and His mercy.

Whether Jonah himself, or Simon bar Jonah, meaning the Apostle Peter, the vacillating of the dove’s flight was seen in both, and yet, they both met the end which was determined by the Lord. What marvelous pictures of Gentile redemption are seen in Jonah of the Old Testament, and what marvelous truths of Israel’s final redemption are seen in Simon bar Jonah’s of the New Testament!

Between the writings which surround these two men, both Jew and Gentile are shown a great and enduring hope which is realized in the Messiah of the Jews, and who is also the Christ of the Gentiles. In Him, there is hope enough for all.

Concerning this verse now, some scholars go into great detail, speculating that Jonah went down to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord and pay his vows in order to be restored before going to Nineveh. Such commentary is completely unnecessary and is without any merit. The record is left simple and direct.

The narrative goes directly from the end of chapter 2 with the vomiting of him onto the dry land right into the second call of the Lord for him to get about his business in Nineveh. Jonah had been given a commission, he was disobedient to it, he suffered because of it, and he has now been given the commission again. The insertion of such comments only detracts from the simple and beautiful narrative which we have been presented.

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh,

qum lek el Nineveh– “Arise go unto Nineveh.” It is the exact same words as Jonah 1:2. As we saw, Nineveh was founded by Nimrod and was located on the east bank of the Tigris River. In and shortly after the time of Jonah, it was at its zenith in power and glory.

The name Nineveh, to a Hebrew, would mean “Offspring’s Habitation.” It is to this city, filled with Gentiles, that Jonah is directed once again to go to. If you remember, on his first call, he opted instead to go to Tarshish which means something like “White Dove,” or “Dove White.”

The characteristics of Nineveh, or “Offspring’s Habitation,” seemed unsuitable to his tastes, whereas Tarshish had at least a semblance of familiarity to him. Why would this be? Aren’t they both just Gentile nations who are equally unworthy of his presence as a Jew? Well, not exactly. Tarshish was a descendant of Japheth, the oldest son of Noah, and the one who was given a like-blessing to Shem with the words –

“May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.” Genesis 9:27

On the other hand, Nineveh was a city built by Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, Noah’s youngest. He received no such blessing. He had done something perverted to his father, and so his father withheld any blessing upon him, and instead cursed Ham’s own youngest son, Canaan.

Jonah saw it better to flee to one who would dwell in the tents of Shem, than to preach the Lord’s repentance to a line of such disgraceful people as those in Nineveh. Surely the Lord had forgotten such a simple thing!

Jonah had been confident that it was better to go to Tarshish than to Nineveh. Tarshish, being a son of Japheth, was far more tolerable to him than was a descendant of Ham. Like the Jews decisions about meals even today – anything but Ham. However, he is now, once again, directed to be on his way, even if it means dining with Ham – perish the thought!

2 (con’t) that great city,

ha’ir ha’gedolah – “the city, the whopping.” Again, these are the exact same words as Jonah 1:2. It may appear superfluous that such a descriptor would be used a second time, but it is not. One might think the Lord would simply say, “Arise, go to Nineveh” and leave it at that. However, the repetition is given to highlight several things.

First, it is intended to accentuate the superlative greatness of the city. In so doing, and in the message that is being sent to it, the surpassing greatness of the Lord is then actually highlighted. If this city is so great, and the Lord is calling it to repentance or destruction, then the greatness of the Lord is actually what is on display.

Secondly, it is a reminder to Jonah of the importance of his message. Within a city are people. If the city is to be destroyed, the people will, likewise, be destroyed. The care of the Lord for these Gentiles then is being highlighted by the greatness of the city itself.

Thirdly, highlighting the city’s greatness is intended to bolster Jonah’s resolve in what lies ahead. The magnitude of the commission he has been given could be a source of fear within him, but because the Lord has highlighted it in advance, Jonah is given the assurance that the way has already been paved for him. It is the Lord and His word which will break open that which should be broken open.

And fourthly, if such a great city is to be called to repentance and it does not respond and is destroyed, why would the lesser cities of Israel be spared for their similar waywardness? And if such a great city is to be called to repentance, and if it then responds and is not destroyed, then how much greater should the judgement upon the cities of Israel be when they fail to likewise respond? Remember these questions, because they bear directly on Chapter 4.

Israel had been given the law, and with that law came greater, not lesser, responsibility towards the Lord. The law which they possessed was not a buffer from destruction, but it rather highlighted that destruction was due if they ignored it. As Jesus said in Luke 12:47, 48 –

“And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

Repeating the term, “that great city” is not superfluous at all. Instead it is key to understanding much of what is going on elsewhere in Scripture. And in connection with that key is the fact that all of this story actually centers on Israel, even though they are never once mentioned in the entire book. Israel is the focus.

How marvelously evident that will be when we come to the final chapter, the final paragraph, and yes – even the final sentence of the book of Jonah. Israel was, is, and will be the overall focus of God’s attention in redemptive history, and yet due to their actions, all highlighted by disobedient Jonah, the Gentiles are graciously given the chance at repentance and entry into the commonwealth of Israel. Marvelous! Marvelous indeed!

2 (con’t) and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

viqra eleha eth ha’qeriah asher anokhi dober elekha – “And cry to the crying that I am about to speak unto you.” There is a change in the words here from Jonah 1:2. There it said, u-qera aleha. Now it says viqra eleha. The first cry, aleha, is against Nineveh, this now is a cry, elehah, or unto Nineveh. Why has the Lord done this?

The reason for the change is not stated, and commentators, if they comment at all, give no valid reason. The Greek translation of the Old Testament translates them both the same. Either way, the words of the Greek Old Testament use close parallel words to those of the Hebrew which are then given their full weight and understanding in the New Testament.

The word qeriah, or “cry of proclamation,” is used only this once in the entire Bible. However, its root, qara, meaning to call or proclaim, is a commonly used word. Jonah, was to be a herald with a specific message, one of repentance. I would suggest that the new and unique terminology is based on what has already occurred.

He is to cry unto, rather than crying against Nineveh, and he is given this special type of crying unto them because of the sudden and complete change in the sailors of chapter 1. Unlike the covenant people of Israel, who were given a continuous crying from countless prophets, and yet they continuously rejected the word, the Gentiles had been given a short and succinct message… and they had accepted it.

If they were so quick to respond, the pattern might surely be expected for other Gentiles as well. Could it not? And so instead of crying out against Nineveh, Jonah is now instructed to cry out unto Nineveh. And the cry will be one of expectation in a positive change in the people.

John the Baptist was such a crier, as was Jesus Himself. And Jesus, while instructing the people, brought up the very cry that He had given to Jonah to proclaim many generations before. In Luke 11, we read His words –

“And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” Luke 11:29-32

Jonah’s qeriah here in the Hebrew, or kerygma, as it is called in the Greek, was a “cry of proclamation” for repentance. The response to his cry, is set in stark contrast to that of Jesus’ greater cry to the people of Israel.

In both instances, it is the word of the Lord which is proclaimed. In the case of Jonah, he is to call out the words which the Lord would put into his mouth. In the case of Jesus, they are of the same Source. The words He spoke are the words of the Lord, because He is one and the same Lord who first sent Jonah to speak by putting His words into the prophet’s mouth.

Again, we are seeing this remarkable contrast between Israel and the Gentiles being highlighted in these subtle nuances which one would never see unless we really took the time to evaluate every word and every detail.

3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh,

va’yaqam yonah va’yelek el Nineveh – “So arose Jonah and went unto Nineveh.” The words are in direct contrast to Jonah 1:3. “So Jonah arose to flee,” is now, “So Jonah went.” The Lord told him to arise, and he arose.

He was instructed to go to Nineveh, and he had fled to Tarshish. Now he is instructed to go to Nineveh, and to Nineveh he goes. The smell of the inside of the great fish was probably still clinging to him, and he wanted no more of that.

What the Lord wills is what will be. Jonah had learned a lesson that many of us still stubbornly refuse to learn. We can buck against the word of the Lord, but it is we who will ultimately pay the price for doing so. In the end, His will is what will be realized. Jonah’s willingness to disobey is turned into a willingness to obey.

3 (con’t) according to the word of the Lord.

kidbar Yehovah – “according to word Yehovah.” This is the last of 33 times this phrase is used in the Bible. It is usually associated with obedience, but it is occasionally used in conjunction with the fulfillment of a prophecy based on the consequences of disobedience. Sometimes it’s used in conjunction with the necessity to obey difficult issues, such as destroying life.

Again, the words are directly contrasted to Jonah 1:3. There it said, “from the face of the Lord.” Now it says, “according to the word of the Lord.” The words of these opening verses in each chapter are precisely stated to show us the contrast between futile disobedience, and resolute obedience.

Yehovah has spoken, and Jonah understands that His word is to be accepted and acted upon. Though Jonah is a prophet of God, receiving the word of the Lord directly, he is no different than Israel who was directly given the word of the Lord. Like Jonah, they bucked against the word, and they were exiled in order to bring them into conformity with that word.

Here Jonah is Israel being called from disobedience to obedience. And so, astonishingly, his rebellion and time in the fish is not only a picture of Jesus and His cross as we saw in the past two sermons, but it is also a picture of Israel while under punishment for rejecting the word of the Lord.

They were cast among the sea of chaos, meaning the stirred up Gentile nations and they were counted as dead to the world. And yet, they were sovereignly protected as a people during that time, keeping them alive despite their disobedience, just as Jonah was protected in the fish’s belly.

They were kept safe for two days, or two thousand years, and they were restored to the dry land, meaning Israel, at the dawning of the third day, or at the beginning of the third millennium. This is seen pictured in the words of Hosea where a day is reckoned a thousand years –

“Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.” Hosea 6:1, 2

And yet now, Jonah is also a type of Christ who had to do the calling of the Gentiles Himself, because Israel refused to do it as was their duty. Only the true Israel, Christ, performed according to the word of the Lord without wavering.

As far as obedience to the word, can we expect any less from the Lord today? We have the entire body of Scripture speaking out to us, asking us to be obedient to it. It is the same word, having come from the same Source. Such directed actions as exile or being swallowed by a fish may not happen to us, but consequences for failure to heed are no less sure to come in their due time.

3 (con’t) Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,

v’nineveh hayetah ir gedolah l’elohim – “And Nineveh existed as city whopping to God.” Most translations follow the Hebrew as indicating this in the past tense – “Nineveh was an exceedingly great city.” This is not incorrect, but it leads to the impression that the account may have been written after the time of Jonah when it has already declined in power, or even after it was destroyed.

However, the past tense in Hebrew is not expected to be taken in that way. The word used simply means “to become” or “come to pass.” It was a great city, not because it once was, but because it had come to pass that it was so. The past tense expresses the reality of the city’s nature from the time that it became great.

The meaning of the term the Bible uses to describe the city, gedolah l’elohim, or “whopping to God,” is debated, but it is not really difficult to determine. Greatness before God, as the Bible states it, can be divided into two categories.

Terms like, “the mountains of God,” or “the cedars of God” give the idea of the greatness of what God has created. Such mountains or trees are examples of the handiwork of God which demonstrate His immense ability to create.

And then there is that which is under the eye and attention of God. Even today, we hear terms like, “He is a great man of God.” We understand that such a person bears the scrutiny of God, and excels before Him. Nineveh was this way as a city. It wasn’t just a great city in the eyes of men, but it was a great city in the eyes of God.

In Revelation, Jerusalem is called a great city – both the earthly and the heavenly Jerusalem. Likewise, Babylon is termed a great city numerous times. Both are great before God, because they bear His scrutiny. Nineveh is not merely a great city before men, but it is also such before God. Its size and its status brought it to His eyes…

3 (con’t) a three-day journey in extent. 

mahalakh sheloshet yamim – “Journey three days.” The word mahalakh, or journey, is used but four times in the Bible. Two of them are in Jonah 3:3 and 3:4. It indicates a passage or a distance. In the case of Nineveh, Matthew Poole states that it was…

“…the greatest city of the known world at that day; it was then in its flourishing state greater than Babylon, whose compass was three hundred and sixty-five or three hundred and eighty-five furlongs, but Nineveh was in compass four hundred and eighty, her walls a hundred feet in height, and broad enough for three coaches to meet and safely pass by each other; it had fifteen hundred towers on its walls, and these towers two hundred feet high; and one million and four hundred thousand men employed continually for eight years to build it, if our author be not mistaken.”

If it was 480 furlongs, or about 60 miles in circumference, and a day was about a 20 mile walk, then the Bible is saying that it would take three days to walk around it. The city is known for its size in this manner, not in regards to what will be said in the next verse.

Yet forty days and you shall see your last
I have stated that your wickedness is at an end
On you, my fiery coals I will cast
Upon you my fury and wrath I will send

Your wickedness has come up before me
It stands and confesses against what you have done
You will be destroyed for this; so shall it be
You have exalted yourself, but you are the lowly one

Be prepared, for it comes soon enough
Unless you repent; yes I will grant you reprieve
But your heart is hard, your stubborn will is tough
Turn now and repent; turn now and believe

I long to have compassion upon you
If you repent, so I shall do

II. A Word to Nineveh; A Sign to Israel (verse 4)

4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk.

Va’yakhel yonah lavow ba’ir mahalakh yom ekhad – “And entered Jonah into the city, journey day one.” If the city’s walls were a three-day walk, one could walk its diameter in a day. But it would make no sense to enter the city and walk right to the other side. Instead, his walk within the city would be according to the size of the city, walking around it and proclaiming his message.

The words then basically mean, “Jonah entered the city, walking through it for a day.” Wherever he was, that was where his proclamation was made. The word “journey” mentioned in verse 3 is simply given to explain the great size of the city. The journey of verse 4 is not expected to be tied into the size of the city, but into the time of Jonah’s proclamation.

*4 (fin) Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

va’yiqra va’yomar owd abarim yom v’nineveh neh-paket – “And cried and said, ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.’” Just five words; words of terror… but also words of grace. There is no reason to think that Jonah said anything more than these five words. He simply called it out as a statement of fact. And what could have more of an effect than this?

A Hebrew had come all the way from a foreign land to walk around the city and make a single proclamation to the people. If he wanted to die, it would have been a lot easier to just jump off a mountain. If he wanted security, he could have simply stayed in Israel. If he was a Jew, then he wasn’t an Assyrian, and therefore he had no reason to proclaim a lie to the people.

If he had stopped to debate, they would have had a reason to harden their hearts. If he had said more, the message would have become confused. The chosen person is the perfect person to carry the message, and the chosen words are exactly what was needed to effect the change in the hearts of the people. The call itself was all that was needed to prompt them to consider the truth of the message. It is a lesson for us to keep the gospel simple.

The word he uses is the same as that which was recorded for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a story that permeated Hebrew culture as the epitome of what it represented. If any in Assyria knew the culture, they would then also know the meaning of the word.

As far as the allotted time-frame, forty days is given as a time of probation. If the message took hold, then there would be a turning to God and, hopefully, no destruction. If the message failed to stir the people, only destruction could result.

This then is the sign of Jonah. I explained this in an earlier sermon. The sign is not Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish. There is nothing in Scripture to even hint that they knew of what happened to Jonah, and what Scripture says is all that matters. Rather, as Jesus clearly states in the Gospel of Luke, the preaching of Jonah is the sign, just as Jesus’ preaching to the people was the sign.

Jonah preached and promised destruction in 40 days. Jesus preached and promised destruction as well. It was realized in a year-for-day based on Jonah’s words, of which Jesus alluded to. This also happened in Moses’ time with the spies who returned with a bad report. They rejected the word of the Lord, and they were sentenced a day for a year of punishment.

As I said in the earlier sermon, it appears that Matthew is saying that the sign of Jonah was that of him being in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. And all along, almost all scholars have passed this along as being the case. This is because after saying this, He said He would be likewise in the belly of the earth.

In other words, with a cursory look at the narrative, the sign seems to be is His death and resurrection. But Luke leaves out both the timeframe and the entire account of the fish. When he does this, he clears up the context – that the sign of Jonah is his preaching, and what that preaching stated… that destruction was decreed in 40 days. Looking at these verses in their proper light clearly shows that the preaching to the Ninevites was the sign. We saw that in Luke 11 which I cited earlier.

The sign of Jonah is the preaching, which if rejected, would lead to destruction after 40 days. The resurrection simply bears witness to the truth of Jesus’ preaching, which was to an already unbelieving people.

Jesus’ words of the kingdom and of repentance to “this generation” are the ultimate sign to them. Other prophets spoke in the name of the Lord, but Jesus spoke in His own name, and under His own authority as the Son, and so – “indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

The warning to repent or be overthrown turned out to be a day for a year, just as it was in the Old Testament. When Israel disobeyed in the wilderness, they were given a day for a year punishment for every day that the spies were gone. It was 40 days, and thus 40 years of punishment.

In Ezekiel chapter 4, he was told to lay on his right side for 40 days signifying a day for a year of punishment for Judah. He was told to do the same for his left side, but for 390 days. It was a day for a year for the house of Israel. Together, they form the basis for the return of Israel in 1948.

In forty years after Jesus’ words, a day for a year, Israel was destroyed and carried away exile. The Romans came in and did what Nineveh will be spared of. God’s judgment would fall heavy upon them for failing to repent, receive their long-awaited Messiah, and conform to the will of God which is found in the finished work of Jesus Christ. For this reason, Jesus said to the people –

“Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:34-36

The word of God, spoken to Israel in fulfillment of Scripture, and under the full authority of the Messiah who had been promised since the very beginning of man’s time on the planet, was the sign. The resurrection simply proved it.

Now with having heard this explanation for the second time, hopefully it has sunk into your mind in several ways. First, we are to know what the sign of Jonah is – in a predictive sense, in a literal sense, and in a fulfilled sense.

Secondly, if the sign of Jonah which Christ Jesus spoke of occurred more than 400 years before His coming, and it was then fulfilled 40 years after His warning, exactly as He had stated – and as recorded history, both biblical and extra-biblical – has borne out, then shouldn’t we be confident in all of the other words which the Lord has spoken?

Shouldn’t we be willing to accept the full counsel of Scripture as literal and true? The Lord promised destruction and exile for Israel, yes – it is true, but He also promised return and restoration for them as well. Is it too hard to accept that just as undeserving Nineveh was given a warning leading to repentance, that Israel could likewise be restored to God’s favor?

Should we so adamantly speak against the rebellious Jewish people simply because they are rebellious? Or should we look to God’s longsuffering nature as an amazing testimony that He is willing to go to even the greatest lengths of all to restore those He has called and placed His name upon?

While we stand, pointing our fingers at Israel and railing against them, can’t we look back on our own time before Christ and realize that we too were His enemies – cut off and condemned? We too were without hope, and we weren’t even of His promised people. How much more then should we be willing to praise God for His mercy upon us, and upon Israel – both equally undeserving before His eyes!

For the undeserving, there are just two avenues that can be taken. The first is to accept God’s provision as He determines, or to face God’s wrath as He has proclaimed. In the end, it is the wrath that all deserve. Nobody deserves mercy, and grace is out of reach except as offered by the one who bestows it.

How unfair God is that He would dare to judge the world! But no! How undeserved is not being a part of that judgment! And that time of judgment is at hand. First, it is at hand for every person who is but one heartbeat away from their end. Not one of us knows our pre-appointed hour, but it is on its way.

Secondly, it is at hand for the world as a whole. I am sorry to tell those who mock at God’s right to judge, but the book is written, the word stands firm, and the great Day of His wrath is at hand. The prophecies of restoration to Israel have begun.

Their arrival in the long desolate land is the key to both the destruction and the restoration, and by God! – they are back in the land, setting the stage for each to come about. And so be warned, whether through death of natural cause, or through an explosion of God’s wrath on humanity not seen since the flood of Noah, we are all going to meet our Maker.

Before our day arrives, we have been offered… grace – unmerited favor – just as Nineveh has been offered. Destruction is prophesied, but peace and restoration is available. And it is found in the righteous Judge of all mankind, Jesus Christ. Let us not be found with a verdict of “guilty” on that day. But rather, let us accept the grace and be pardoned of every misdeed through the blood He shed, which alone can purify and restore the guilty soul.

Closing Verse: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8, 9

Next Week: Jonah 3:5-10 This coming sermon will be a wonderful feast… (From the Greatest to the Least) (8th Jonah Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean rages against you and is ready to swallow you up, He can send delivery to you in the most remarkable of ways. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Repentance of Nineveh

Now the word of the Lord came
To Jonah the second time, saying
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city
And preach to it the message that I tell you; one I am relaying

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh
According to the word of the Lord
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city
A three-day journey in extent for it to be explored

And Jonah began to enter the city
On the first day’s walk, the Lord’s word he made known
Then he cried out and said
“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

God has shown us in His precious word
That being obstinate towards Him can only harm us
Instead, we need to bow to our glorious Lord
Giving honor and respect to Christ Jesus

Help us in this Lord, this we implore
Our hearts are so easily turned away
Give us of Your Spirit to overflowing and even more
So that we will bring honor to you always, yes every day

And to You we give all of our highest praise
And to You we shall look for eternal days

Hallelujah and Amen…

Jonah 2:5-10 (Salvation is of the Lord)

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Jonah 2:5-10
Salvation is of the Lord

  1. Why should we be encouraged by the story of Jonah and the great fish?
  2. Because Jonah was down in the mouth, but came out all right.

We’ll finish chapter 2 in our sermon today. When looking back on all that has happened, and what is coming today, we can see a pattern repeated many times since. Jonah was called, he fled, he was punished, and he was restored.

If we take a careful look at our own Christian lives, we can probably find many times where this same pattern has been played out in us, and so let’s not be too hard on either Jonah or ourselves as we read his story. We generally follow a course on whatever motivates us.

I didn’t really pursue an education until I was 36. And the reason I did so was because I was motivated towards a desire. I wanted to become a preacher, and the pastor of the church I was at would not ordain me until I got a degree. That is what motivated me. Since then, I’ve followed that course because I am still motivated by it.

Jonah previously followed one course because he was motivated in a certain direction. He, like a dove, will change his course and follow another direction because he is properly motivated to make that change. And so we should, even before looking at today’s verses, think on what motivates the Lord.

Really, think about it. He set out on a course of action because He was motivated to do so. God was under no obligation to save anyone. However, if He was to save anyone, His perfect attributes necessitated that He follow a certain course of action in order to accomplish this task.

That course of action could only end in one way, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Believe it or not, He chose this path because he was motivated to do so. God willingly chose to create man, and then to pursue a path which led to uniting with his creation and dying on a cross in order to redeem the man He had created. That is true motivation! And that is what is pictured in all the rest of the verses of Jonah today.

If that doesn’t humble you… I mean if you are unmoved by the fact that God did what He did because of His love for you, then I can’t imagine what else could ever stir your soul. Jesus Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world because God was motivated to redeem the man who He knew… He knew would rebel from Him.

And the entire process of this redemption is centered on one thing and one thing alone, that.precious.Lamb. Jesus Christ was waiting in the wings from the first utterance of creation to accomplish His mission. Fallen man must be saved, and only a Man who is not fallen could do the saving. Thank God for Jesus Christ.

Text Verse: “The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.” Psalm 118:14

The psalmist said that the Lord is his strength and his song. That is fantabulous. He rejoices in the Lord which is a great thing to do. But he also says that the Lord has become his salvation. It’s a play on words because the word “salvation” is a variant of the name of Jesus, which means “salvation.” We were being given a clue as to what God would do. He would become our Jesus, our salvation.

Jonah will tell us the same thing today as well. He was a goner and the Lord rescued him. When there was no hope at all, the Lord stepped in and saved the day. If you think that somehow you merit God’s favor, or that He is under some type of an obligation to save you, think again.

The Lord did not need to send a fish to save Jonah, but once He did, nothing could prevent Him from safely reaching the shore. The symbolism of the fish is an integral part of the plan of the Lord, and the motivation of the Lord is what made it possible.

Personally, I can’t wait to see what it all means. Just what is being pictured in these final six verses of Jonah chapter 2? Well we won’t find out unless we get started. It is all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Death and Resurrection (verses 5-8)

5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;

aphaphuni mayim ad nephesh – “Compassed about me waters to soul.” Jonah 2:5 and a portion of 2:6 provide us with more vivid descriptions of the danger and distress which he faced. These will then be followed again by a note of deliverance.

The word translated here as “surrounded” is a completely different one than that used in verse 3. There it was savav, a much more common word. Here it is aphaph. This is the last of five times that the word aphaph is used in the Bible. It means to surround or encompass. Whereas the waves of verse 3 surrounded Jonah, swirling about him, the intensity of his situation has now increased greatly. The waters themselves have hold of him and fully surround him, to his very soul.

He is, as the old saying relays, “going down for the third time.” His end is at hand. To draw in a breath would have meant his final end because the waters had fully encompassed him. The precious air which sustains life was no longer to be found, and just one inhale would mean the termination of his life.

Being confined to such a torture is the most terrifying sensation. If an animal is caught, it will chew off its own leg to get free. In 2003, Aron Ralston was climbing the canyons of Utah and got so stuck that he couldn’t free himself. After five days of trying every other possible solution, he carved his epitaph into the sandstone.

But then… in desperation he cut off his own arm in order to free himself. Eventually, he was rescued and taken for medical care. But Jonah didn’t have a knife and there was no helicopter flying overhead. At this point, he was probably considering his own obituary.

Interestingly, the first time the word aphaph was used was in 2 Samuel where David used the word metaphorically, but in a parallel way to Jonah’s words of this chapter. In David’s words, aphaph and savav are reversed to show the plight of his situation, which, though similar to Jonah, was not identical –

“When the waves of death surrounded me, (aphaph)
The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; (savav)
The snares of death confronted me.
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry entered His ears.” 2 Samuel 22:5-7

These words of David are then used again in the 18th Psalm. It is with certainty that Jonah used the words of the psalm to describe his own pitiful plight which literally came to pass, and which was similar to that which David had faced.

Along with that plight of David, he records another time where he faced such troubles, and which he metaphorically uses to describe his plight. Jonah certainly referred to these words as well –

“Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.” Psalm 69:1, 2

Because these words were written by David, they can thus be attributed to the work of Christ. The waters which surround are typical of the world of chaos, hemming Him in. That they came even to His soul is reflective of the very termination of His life as it ebbed away on the cross.

5 (con’t) The deep closed around me;

tehom yesoveveni – “Abyss closed around me.” The tehom is the great deep, or abyss. It was first seen in Genesis 1:2 –

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Jonah’s words are an indication that he was no longer going down for the third time, but that he had gone down and was not coming up again. He had succumbed to the inevitable and had given up any chance of rising to the surface for another breath.

The words here are not intended to say that he sank to the bottom of the great deep. Such a depth would have crushed him. Rather, he began the descent and the waters of the abyss simply closed around him. There was no longer any connection to the surface. If we were watching a movie, this would be where the stretched-out hand quietly slipped under the waters… and disappeared.

5 (con’t) Weeds were wrapped around my head.

suf khabush l’roshi – “End is bound to my head.” To be daring, I am going to be at variance with every single translation of Scripture available, and all scholar’s commentaries as well.

According to Charlie’s Literal Translation of the Bible, which is being compiled and which will be on sale at a marked up prices someday, the verse does.not.say that weeds wrapped around Jonah’s head. It says that his “end is bound to his head,” meaning that he has met his end. It is a phrase that any Hebrew speaking person would understand.

First, the word translated as “weeds” is suf. It is the same word used in Exodus when speaking of yam suf, or the Red Sea. The word suf is translated as “reed,” because so many scholars call it the Sea of Reeds, implying that is was a fresh water lake, and not the Red Sea.

However, the word suf also carries the meaning of “end.” And so, this verse is not speaking of “reed,” but “end.” The Red Sea is the ending of the land of Israel, and so it is the Sea of the Ending, or the Red Sea, not the Sea of Reeds. The New Testament bears out the name, Red Sea.

Therefore, the term “reed” being retranslated here as “weeds,” meaning “sea weeds,” is an unnecessary stretch of the Hebrew, especially because there are no reeds in the Mediterranean Sea.

Secondly, khabash, or “wrapped,” comes from a primitive root which means “to wrap firmly, especially as a turban, a compress, or a saddle.” Thus, a Hebrew phrase is being given to us. The end, meaning death, has wrapped tightly to the head. Jonah had expired. This clause then further defines the previous clause. Taken together, they confirm that Jonah claims he had died.

As I said, this is at variance with all translations and scholarly comments, but when I proposed it to my Hebrew-speaking friend Sergio, without a hesitation he said that any native speaker would immediately understand the symbolism and the phrase. Death had bound itself to the man. Score one point in a growing bottle of points for Charlie’s Literal Translation.

Even the Greek translation of this verse clearly shows that it is not speaking of sea weeds. It says, “went down my head.” If taken symbolically of the cross, as it is intended to be, this would be the moment where Christ uttered his final words and then exhaled, thus confirming my translation –

“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” Luke 23:46

6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains;

l’qitsve harim yarad-ti – “To the cuttings [of the] mountains I descended.” The word translated as “moorings” is qetsev. This is the third and last time that it will be seen in Scripture. It indicates something cut or shaped and so Jonah is saying that he descended to the place where the mountains are shaped.

His words here indicate that his lifeless body slipped down into the depths. However, this has to be taken metaphorically. He has already acknowledged that he was dead. A dead person doesn’t know where his body has descended to. And so, he has made the poetic note that he had descended as far as a body could descend, even to where the mountains were cut out. His words then translate directly to the tomb of Christ which was cut from the rock and into which His body was laid.

6 (con’t) The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;

ha’arets b’rikheyha vaadi l’olam – “The earth her bars behind me to the vanishing point.” Here Jonah speaks of himself as a prisoner in a dungeon. He is closed in with no chance of releasing himself from his predicament. His death could now not be undone and only the prospect of corruption lay ahead. This then translates into the burial of Jesus as is reflected in the words of Matthew 27:59, 60 –

“When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.”

For Jonah, it seemed that all hope was lost. For the world who did not understand who Jesus truly was, the same is true. But the passage of time reveals the glory of the Lord’s handiwork…

6 (con’t) Yet You have brought up my life from the pit,

Va’taal mishakhat khayay – “And yet brought up from corruption my life.” Jonah’s cry of deliverance now resounds through the cavernous belly of the great fish. As we saw in the last sermon, most, if not all, scholars attribute the words we have been looking at as occurring during the time in the belly of the fish. This is wholly inaccurate.

The words are those prayed from the belly of the fish afterwards, and are referring to his time in the sea before the fish swallowed him. The fish is not his place of death, but rather his mode of delivery from death. Jonah died in the midst of the sea of chaos.

In the midst of the sea of chaotic humanity is where Christ died. We are being asked to look for and find Christ, not a fish tale. Now that the sea has claimed his life; now that the chaos of humanity has taken Christ’s life… only now are the words to be attributed to those from within the fish’s belly.

Jonah, upon being swallowed by the fish, realized that he had been brought up from the inevitable corruption which would follow his death in the sea. The fish was ordained by God to save him, and likewise, the power of God was used to restore Christ Jesus to life. These words of Jonah are reflective of the words of David –

“I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried out to You,
And You healed me.
3 O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” Psalm 30:1-3

The words of this psalm were cited by Peter in Acts 2 to prove that the resurrected Christ was who David was referring to. Word by word, and in complete and exacting detail, Jonah is being used as a type of Christ.

6 (con’t) O Lord, my God.

Yehovah elohai – “Yehovah my God.” In the introduction to Jonah’s prayer in verse 1, it says that he prayed to Yehovah. His words reflect what occurred, and the triumph which resulted. His words now reflect the confidence he possessed in Yehovah, the self-existent and all-powerful Creator.

He is the One Jonah had called out to, and He is the One who responded and saved Him. Therefore, Jonah acknowledges that He is “my God.” Likewise, the messianic psalms say the same thing as they relate to Christ. He called out to His God, the eternal God from whom He issued, and His God responded. As the Man Jesus, the Lord is His God.

7 “When my soul fainted within me,

b’hitateph alay napshi – “Had covered itself within, my soul.” Jonah’s prayer now returns to the period outside of the fish once again. Though he is praying from within the fish, he is yet again recalling his ordeal before being rescued.

This is the 16th and last time that the word ataph is found in Scripture. It comes from a primitive root meaning “to shroud,” as in “to clothe.” From this comes the idea of darkness, and thus to faint or be overwhelmed.” In the case of Jonah, he is remembering the very moment his soul was dying away in him. He was covered in darkness and there he had met his end.

His words are again a look into the future work of Christ. From the 16th Psalm, and speaking of Jesus, we read the parallel thought of what occurred in His burial –

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:9-11

Christ’s soul was shrouded in death, but like Jonah, there was relief from that place of darkness. At that very moment of His death…

7 (con’t) I remembered the Lord;

eth Yehovah zakarti – “Yehovah I remembered.” It is a marvelous inversion in the Hebrew. “Had covered itself within, my soul; Yehovah I remembered.” As his life ebbed away, his dying thoughts were those of the Lord.

It is, in essence, the triumph of the spirit over the flesh, and the place where faith reaches beyond reason. Though the words cannot be condensed into a shorter thought without destroying the integrity of the passage, Jonah’s words here are reflective Psalm 22:1-21. The words point to Jesus’ time on the cross.

From the first words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, to His words of victory in verse 21, “You have answered Me,” Jonah’s words briefly sum up that torturous time Jesus faced, and yet which ended with His remembering His God, even while His life ebbed away.

7 (con’t) And my prayer went up to You,

va’tavo elekha tephil-ati – “And came in unto You my prayer.” Again, though these words are being prayed from the fish’s belly, they are words which reflect Jonah’s state while still in the open waters. There in his dying gasps, he remembered the Lord and his final breaths issued forth a prayer which rose to the Lord, even to the place where He dwells. It is almost as if the prayer itself is personified. It leaves his mind, takes flight on a path to its intended destination, and there it stands before its Recipient…

7 (con’t)  Into Your holy temple.

el hekal qadshekha – “into temple Your holy.” As a prophet of the Lord, and one who had come to realize that there was no place that he could flee from the presence of the Lord, Jonah is certainly not speaking of the temple in Jerusalem. Rather, he is referring to the heavenly place where the Lord dwells in all His splendor.

Jonah’s prayers rose though the waters, and through the realms of matter, even into the spiritual dwelling place of the Lord. In the foxhole of battle, when our finances are lost, when a loved-one is in a hospital bed clinging to life…then – it is then that we remember the Lord.

As Jonah’s descent continued and his life ebbed away, he remembered the Lord and said his prayer and it was then that the Lord received his words, even in His holy temple.

Why? Why do we wait so long to call on Him? How much more pleased will the Lord be with us when we send prayers and praises when things are going well? In both testaments of the Bible, we see that God actually treats this as a sacrifice and accepts those prayers as a sweet savor. As it says in Hebrews –

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Hebrews 13:15

8 “Those who regard worthless idols

meshamerim havle shav – “Those who observe vanities lying.” The translation of the word hevel as “idols” is a bit unfortunate. It is true that all idols are vanities, but not all vanities are idols. The word hevel signifies vapor, or breath. Thus, it is that without value, or which is meaningless.

To pursue breath is futile, and to chase the wind is a foolish venture. Jonah is reflecting on himself and on his own previous condition. He was not bowing down to idols. Rather, he was running from the true God.

He is thinking of his own actions, but after contemplating them, his words then indicate anything which is vain. It could be predictions, absurd fears, rejecting the fear of the Lord, or refusing to adhere to the word of the Lord. This is what Moses had in mind when He spoke to Israel the words of the Song of Moses at Horeb –

“They have moved me to jealousy with that which is no God;
They have exasperated me with their vanities;
And I will move them to jealousy with that which is not a people;
With a foolish nation will I provoke them to anger.” Deuteronomy 32:32 (Darby)

Jonah now realizes that his actions were vain, but he had come to his senses. He now warns those who follow him that there are consequences for vain pursuits. Such people who regard vanities…

8 (con’t) Forsake their own Mercy.

khasdam yaasovu – “Benefactor they forsake.” The word khesed means “lovingkindness,” “favor,” “mercy,” and the like. In Psalm 144:2, David calls the Lord, “my lovingkindness.” In other words, the Lord is the Source and Fountain of mercy. Therefore, the NKJV did a good job in this verse of capitalizing the word “Mercy.” They have directed the words not to what is bestowed, but to the One who bestows.

 

Jonah’s words look to what happens when a person follows after vanities. In such pursuit, they forsake He who provides from the fountain. This is exactly what Jonah had done, and now his words call out for others to follow the wisdom he has attained.

Pursuing that which is vain sets up a wall between us and God because we forsake the One who created the thing we are pursuing. Whether gold, silver, sex, drugs, fame, or fortune, our attention is caught up in vanity and the Lord leaves our hearts and minds. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with this precept –

What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

We cannot glorify God if we chase after, or grant glory to, something less than God. And we cannot enjoy Him, if we spend our time pursuing idols. The Apostle John closes his first epistle with these words –

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21

Let us follow this advice and not forsake our Source of mercy.

My heart is glad, and my glory rejoices, O my soul!
My flesh also will rest in hope with no interruption
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption

You will show me the path of life, of this I am sure
In Your presence is fullness of joy, a wondrous path I will trod
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore
And so I put my trust in You, O my God

You have brought me up from the pit and set me in a broad place
You have set me on high and my soul has found rest
Here in Your presence and in the light of Your face
Here in the land where your saints are eternally blessed

II. A Simple Truth (verses 9 & 10)

9 But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;

va’ani b’qol todah ezbekhah lakh – “And I, with the voice thanksgiving will sacrifice to You.” This is the last time that todah, or “thanksgiving,” is seen in the Old Testament. It essentially means “an extension of the hand.” Thus, it is as if an offering is being sent out. However, it is said to be “with the voice of thanksgiving.” Therefore, the voice of thanksgiving is considered as an acceptable offering to God, and so it is further explained as “a sacrifice.”

As I said earlier, in the Bible, praise is called a sacrifice and that is what Jonah was referring to here. It is something we can all do and it costs us nothing. But God accepts it as a sacrifice because it is something most people will never do. Even believers fail to take time to simply glorify Him.

We have all kinds of time for cell phones, TV, movies, family, and friends, but we just don’t take a few moments a day to stop, contemplate the goodness of the Lord, and then give Him praise. In the future, let’s make a commitment to praise Him in all we do. Let our every breath and action be of praise and worship to Him.

9 (con’t) I will pay what I have vowed.

asher nadarti ashalemah – “that I have vowed will pay.” These words come as a promise to what he just said, and they include any vows not recorded here as well. He has offered to make a sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving, and now he confirms that he will follow through with that promise. In Deuteronomy, the people were told quite directly –

 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.” Deuteronomy 23:21

This sentiment is repeated quite a few other times in various ways. But Jonah’s words are not just for us to see a man who has come to his senses. They reflect the sentiment of the 22nd Psalm as well –

“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” Psalm 22:22

The author of Hebrews then uses that same verse and ties it directly into the oath of the Lord to God the Father. The Lord had promised that after His ordeal on the cross, He would follow through with the vow He had made.

Like Jonah who is a type of Christ, and like the Lord who we are to emulate, if we are going to commit to something, we need to remember to follow through with it – “I will pay what I have vowed.”  This is what the Bible expects. When we promise, we are to live by our promises. In the 15th Psalm, the Bible says that a person who swears to his own hurt will never be moved. Surely God will reward such faithfulness.

9 (con’t) Salvation is of the Lord.”

yeshuatah l’Yehovah – “Salvation to Yehovah.” Jonah’s words are a realization, a confession, and a praise all tied up into one. He was dead, but now alive. He thought there was no hope, and yet he was saved. And where his lips were seemingly silenced forever, they were now able to sing out to Yehovah with a resounding voice.

But more than just words of acknowledgment from Jonah, they sum up the entire theme of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation – Salvation is of the Lord. Man is condemned; the Lord has fixed the problem. The process is wholly His, and we are merely the recipients of what He offers.

In considering the words, they tell us that He is the Source of salvation; he is the Bestower of it; and He provides the means by which it will occur. The noun yeshuah is used 77 times in the Old Testament. It specifically means, “salvation,” and the form used by Jonah is intensive – yeshuatah. In essence, “mighty salvation.”

When converted into a proper noun, it is Yeshua, the Hebrew name of Jesus. Thus, we are given an insight into the work of the Lord here in Jonah 2:9. Yehovah the Father is the Source of salvation – the plan and the form to come. Yehovah the Son is the one who came to execute the plan. Yehovah the Holy Spirit is the one who applies that salvation to those who are to be saved.

The Lord, Yehovah is the Source, Means, and Bestower of man’s salvation. Yeshua, or Jesus is the key to it coming about. Acts 4:12 sums up the thought quite well –

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

What is veiled in the Old is now revealed in the New. What was concealed is now open for us to see. It is Jesus from whom comes all salvation.

*(fin)10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

va’yomer Yehovah la’dag va’yaqe eth yonah el ha’yabashah – “And spoke Yehovah to fish and vomited Jonah onto the dry.” The account is to be taken literally. The Lord gave the command and the fish followed through with the orders as given. He was spewed out of the belly and onto the dry land. It is the last use of the word qo, or vomit, in the Old Testament, but it is not the last time that vomit will be referred to. It is also probably the least offensive, and even most glorious use of the word vomit in recorded history.

The symbolism though is what is important. First, there was a command from the Lord. This was followed by an action. The fish symbolizes the means of delivery, not the state of death. Jonah had died in the waters and was caught up into the belly of the fish where he then made his prayer.

Christ was cast among the great sea of sinful people, symbolized by the chaos of the ocean. There he died for the sins of the world. However, His delivery was already prepared based on His sinless life, pictured by the fish. His sinless state is what delivered Him from the ordeal. It is what rescued Him from inevitable corruption. Peter mentioned this in Acts 2 –

“I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.” Acts 2:25-28

As the fish is the means of Jonah’s delivery, and as Christ is the means of salvation, a picture is formed in the words “it vomited Jonah on to the dry.” Christ was, can we say, spewed out of the grave. It simply could not stomach Him. The grave is the devourer of that which is unclean from sin. He was spewed out of the fish, but the fish lives in the sea. Therefore, he was spewed out of the sea – the place of sin, chaos, and death – and onto dry land. The fish for Jonah, Christ for the sinless Man Jesus, both merely provided safety from the sea.

This passage was anticipating the symbol of Christianity, ICTHUS, or “The Sign of the Fish.” It is an acrostic – ISEOUS CHRISTOS THEO YIOS SOTER – JESUS CHRIST SON OF GOD, SAVIOR. His sinless perfection is what is seen in the fish. The vomiting of Jonah onto the dry land pictures His triumph over the sea of chaos. Again, it is explained by Peter in Acts 2 –

“…whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:24

And so, from the place of chaos and death, He was restored to a place of stability, harmony, and assurance – the dry land. Right on the first page of the Bible, a distinction was made between the waters and the dry land. When God made the yabbashah, or dry land by separating it from the waters, it was proclaimed good.

In the New Testament, the disciples were told that they would be fishers of men. Christ was the first to be delivered from the chaos of the seas to the dry land, meaning the place of safety. Now, those who follow Him are fished out of the sea and brought to that same place of safety.

The entire episode was orchestrated by God, based on Jonah’s rebellion, to show us a picture of the world of fallen man being rescued by the perfect Man, Christ Jesus. The difference between Jonah and Christ is that Jonah died on account of his own sin, something common to himself and his people. He was delivered from that death by the Lord.

On the other hand, Christ died for the sin of His people, which He willingly took upon Himself. But He died as a member of His people, the nation of Israel, and under the law which was given to them. In His death, He died for sin, and was delivered by God in order to save people from all nations. This is more than a simple fish tale, but a grand, epic story of the workings of God in Christ.

Closing Verse: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:10

Next Week: Jonah 3:1-4 He is heading to Nineveh, not to Arizona… (The Sign of Jonah) (7th Jonah Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean rages against you and is ready to swallow you up, He can send delivery to you in the most remarkable of ways. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Salvation is of the Lord

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul
The deep around me closed
Weeds were wrapped around my head; I had no control
My end was near, I supposed

I went down to the moorings of the mountains
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit
O Lord, my God – I shall praise you, ceasing never

“When my soul fainted within me; away it flew
I remembered the Lord
And my prayer went up to You
Into Your holy temple; there you received my word

“Those who regard worthless idols, much is at stake
Surely their own Mercy they forsake

But I will sacrifice to You, this I convey
With the voice of thanksgiving: with my spoken word
What I have vowed, I will pay
Salvation is of the Lord

So the Lord spoke to the fish; He did command
And it vomited Jonah onto dry land

God has shown us in His precious word
That being obstinate toward Him can only harm us
Instead, we need to bow to our glorious Lord
Giving honor and respect to Christ Jesus

Help us in this Lord, this we implore
Our hearts are so easily turned away
Give us of Your Spirit to overflowing and even more
So that we will bring honor to you each and every day

And to You we give all of our highest praise
And to You we shall look for eternal days

Hallelujah and Amen…

Jonah 2:1-4 (Out of the Belly of Sheol I Cried)

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Jonah 2:1-4
Out of the Belly of Sheol I Cried

God gives us free will, and he allows us to exercise that free will even to our own detriment, but one thing that will never happen is that we will somehow thwart His will, His plans, and His purposes – both for ourselves and for those we are destined to influence.

This may seem contradictory, but it is not. God uses our choices, which He knew we would make, to accomplish His will and also to bring glory to Himself. We can’t use the “suicide” argument to say, see I’m going to beat God at His own game, because we’re making the incorrect assumption that we’re doing something that He didn’t expect. In the end, the only one who loses is us.

Jonah tried to get around God’s intent and purposes, but as we saw last week, God used nature and a group of Gentiles – men who didn’t know the One true God – to show him the error of his ways. If Jonah ended with chapter 1, we might assume that God’s plans hadn’t been accomplished.

In the same way, if the Bible ended with the Old Testament, then we could very well assume that the devil had won because paradise wasn’t restored and only the promise of a curse remained. But we know better. And so, when we’re done today, make sure to anticipate the rest of Chapter 2, and the final two chapters to see how God is vindicated in His intent and purpose for the Ninevites.

Likewise, Jesus Christ defeated the devil and brought about a great salvation for the souls of the world. The promise made at the very fall of man occurred exactly as it should. And yet, it was a promise which came about in a wholly unexpected way for the people who awaited their Messiah.

Text Verse: The waters flowed over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest pit.
56 You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.” Habakkuk 3:54-56

For Jonah, his deliverance was completely unexpected. It was not until he was in the belly of this fish that he realized things would work out as they should. I hope you’ll enjoy today’s sermon and that you’ll benefit from the amazing words Jonah passes on to us concerning his move from rebellion to repentance and obedience.

His prayer, like several other prayers in the Bible, is so beautiful and so heartfelt that it needs to be thought on and considered, not just read quickly and forgotten. Other prayers like this one are spoken by Hannah, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, Solomon, Hezekiah, Mary, etc. Each is recorded to give us insights into repentant, grateful, or petitioning hearts, and how God responds to them.

He placed these prayers in here for our benefit and we skip, or merely skim over, them at our own loss. Understanding what God responds to and why is of such great value in our walk with the Lord. Such treasures like Jonah’s prayer are to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. I Cried out to the Lord (verses 1 & 2)

We will be looking at what occurs before Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish, and yet the prayer is made from the fish’s belly. As most people consider that this was the sign which Jesus is referring to concerning Himself before the people of Israel, it is now, before we start looking at the verses, to determine if that is correct.

What is, in fact, the sign of Jonah? Is it that he was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and nights, or is it something else which hinges on the safe delivery of Jonah which necessitated the Lord’s intervention? The first thing to look at is that the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow him.

Secondly, there’s no doubt the account is true. Nowhere is it indicated that the story is merely allegorical. Jesus himself referenced it when referring to His own death and burial. There’s no reason why we should think He was citing this as allegory, or that He was merely accommodating His audience. He spoke as if it were a true account, because it is.

And because it says the Lord “prepared” a great fish, we know that it was appointed specifically for this moment in time to deliver him. Just as He appointed each step of David’s life to lead to, and continue him in the kingship, He appointed a fish for Jonah’s delivery. With God, all things are possible, and there is no problem with this account.

In the last sermon, we learned about the meaning of “three days and three nights” and how it can mean something less than 72 hours – indeed, it can mean much less. To demonstrate this from a different account in the gospels, we can go to that of the Transfiguration. First we’ll read the account from Matthew and then the same account from Luke –

“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” Matthew 17:1, 2

“Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.” Luke 9:28, 29

In one account it says “after six days” and in the other it says “about eight days after” There’s no contradiction here. Matthew is speaking about a six day period followed by the day they went up the mountain. Luke is speaking about a seven day period from the previous account. This would have been “about eight days earlier.” In other words, a beginning and ending day with six in the middle.

We speak in exactly the same terms in English all the time based on who we’re talking to and the reference we’re using. We need not worry – the account of Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection is clearly laid out in the Bible, and that information has been provided in the written notes of the last sermon.

Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and He was crucified on a Friday. After this, He rose on a Sunday. The account is easily followed when properly laid out. And as I noted, thirteen times in the New Testament it says He rose on the third day. This is repeated in all four gospels, in Acts, and in 1 Corinthians.

Understanding this, the fourth point to determine is what is the sign Jesus is speaking about. On the surface, it appears that Matthew is saying that the sign of Jonah was that of him being in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. After saying this, He said that He would be likewise in the belly of the earth.

In other words, the sign seems to be is His death and resurrection. But Luke leaves out the timeframe and the entire account of the fish. When he does this, he clears up the context – that the sign of Jonah is his preaching, and what that preaching stated… that destruction was decreed in 40 days. Looking at these verses in their proper light clearly shows that the preaching to the Ninevites was the sign. Here’s what Luke says –

“‘“And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”’” Luke 11:29-32

The sign is the preaching, which if rejected, would lead to destruction after 40 days. If we go back to Matthew and re-read what he presented there, we can see that Jesus does tell of His coming death and burial, but the sign is, like in Luke, the preaching in Nineveh. The resurrection bears witness to the truth of His preaching, which was to an already unbelieving people:

“‘“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”’” Matthew 12:39-41

Jesus’ words of the kingdom and of repentance to “this generation” are the ultimate sign of who He was. Other prophets spoke in the name of the Lord. On the other hand, Jesus spoke in His own name, under His own authority, and as the Son of the Father – “indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

Can we substantiate this? Yes. He says at other times and under different contexts that He would be crucified and would rise on the third day as a confirmation of His words, such as in Matthew 26 –

“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 ‘You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’” Matthew 26:1, 2

His reference to Jonah in Matthew was only confirming that the time of His burial would be the same as Jonah’s time in the fish and that the resurrection would validate His words to the people. In other words, it is the preaching which is the sign of His office. As I said, unlike the prophets of old who spoke under the authority of the Lord, it is under His own authority, confirming that He is the Lord. When we get to chapter 3 of Jonah, we will read –

“And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”” Jonah 3:4

Jonah spoke of destruction which was just 40 days away. This is the specific sign to Israel. This warning to repent or be overthrown turned out to be a day for a year, just as it was in the Old Testament. When Israel disobeyed in the wilderness, they were given a day for a year punishment for every day that the spies were gone. It was 40 days, and thus 40 years of punishment –

“According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. 35 I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.” Numbers 14:34, 35

In Ezekiel chapter 4, he was told to lay on his right side for 40 days signifying a day for a year of punishment for Judah. He was told the same for his left side, but for 390 days. It was a day for a year for the house of Israel. Together, they form the basis for the return of Israel in 1948. Jonah will call out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” The preaching is the sign that Jesus then references.

In 40 years, a day for a year, Israel would be destroyed and carried away exile. Forty years after Christ spoke to Israel, the nation was destroyed by the Romans – just as He said it would be in Matthew 23 –

“Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:34-36

This may seem like a long introduction to verse 1, but it was necessary to dispel the incorrect assumption that the time in the belly of the fish was the sign to Nineveh, or that the time of Christ in the tomb was the sign to Israel. Rather, the word of God, spoken to Israel in fulfillment of Scripture, and under the full authority of the Lord, was the sign. The resurrection merely proved that.

Therefore, what we will look at today is confirmation of the truth that the word of the Lord is coming through Jonah. The word itself is the sign. Nothing is recorded that Nineveh even knew of Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish. But Jonah did, and so his word was full of the power of the Lord when he went to preach.

Then Jonah prayed

va’yitpalel yonah – “And prayed Jonah.” Jonah – again the name is given indicating that we are to think on its meaning, “Dove.” He has vacillated like the erratic flight of a dove between his calling to Nineveh and his flight to Tarshish. The reintroduction of his name is calling us to continue to consider the change in course which has occurred, and why it has come about.

God is moving Jonah through the drama, just as He is moving mankind through His plan of redemptive history. Jonah is merely used as a symbol of this. Right now, he is at the pivot point of his adventure, just as redemptive history was at its pivot point when Christ went to His cross and then to the grave, pictured by the events in Jonah now. Of these words, Joseph Benson says –

“Those devout thoughts and feelings which he had at that time, he afterward digested into the following prayer…” Joseph Benson

I’m not sure if he even caught his own pun, but being where Jonah is, the word “digested” fits perfectly. It is correct though that this was penned after the ordeal. It is not to be thought that he carried along ink, a pen, and parchment in order to chronicle his time in the belly of the fish.

This then is a sort of psalm of thanksgiving like one of David’s. After David’s many ordeals, he would often take the time to contemplate what occurred, and then put his thoughts into a marvelous psalm which is still cherished and adored by God’s people, even to this day.

This particular opening parallels the opening words of Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2 where the same words are used, changing only the name from Hannah to Jonah. As far as the word “pray” here. It is palal, a different word than that stated in Chapter 1. This indicates a prayer to God. It can, and in this case does, include supplication as well as thanksgiving.

The words of supplication are hinted at throughout the prayer but are otherwise unrecorded, and the thanksgiving is explicit in response to the answering of the supplication. Further, the prayers of petition and supplication indicate the time during his time in the ocean. The prayer of thanksgiving is recorded as being during his time in the belly of the fish.

He came to understand that the fish was actually his deliverer. It was a pledge of delivery and life, not an instrument of final destruction. We know this because the construction of the Hebrew in verse 7 shows a delivery already accomplished instead of the expectation of it. Verse 9 also speaks of the surety of events coming later, even though he was still in the fish. Only after these things will he be released from its belly.

Now while there, Jonah uses his time wisely and prays.  Good job Jonah! At the bleakest time of his life, he sought the face of the Lord. This isn’t unusual and it’s the pattern that most people follow as they plod along through life.

How often do we try our very best to run from the Lord and His directives just like Jonah, but when things go south, the first thing we do is pray. What happens after the prayer is what’s even more important though. When things stabilize, are we going to go back to our old habits or are we going to recognize God’s hand in our deliverance and obey Him from that point on?

I have a friend who is, as he calls himself, “spiritual.” However, the last thing he wants is a relationship with God. Some time ago, I got an email – “Charlie, I need prayer. I have something wrong and the doctors want to do a scan on me next week.” The fear in his email was almost tangible. I told him I’d pray for him. A few days later, he got the “all clear” from the doctors and I’m sure that was the last God has heard from him since then.

I’ve seen the pattern many times in the past and have read a jillion accounts like it from people during war time or natural disaster. Think of 9/11!

In the end, the only thing that matters is if we’re going to follow through with praise after the prayers or if we’re going to be the dog who returns to his vomit. The Lord is there and He is not a dummy.

1 (con’t) to the Lord his God

el Yehovah elohav – “…unto Yehovah his God.” It is of note that the term “his God” is used. In the previous chapter, he had said –

“I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (verse 1:9)

After that, it said in verse 16 –

“Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.” (verse 1:16)

Despite having been thrown over, and even though the sailors had come to know Yehovah, Jonah was not abandoned by Him. He remained the God of Jonah. It is a continued picture of Israel. They may have been cast away from the Lord, but the Lord is still their God – He and no other.

And in picture, we also see Christ, who called out – “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” In His humanity He may have been forsaken while bearing the sin of man, but His God is still His God. A separation existed, but the relationship did not cease.

Just as the prodigal son had come to his senses and returned to his father, Jonah likewise now returns to his God. The pattern is given for us to learn from. Israel is Israel, and they are the people of the Lord, whether they are in exile or in a restored relationship.

1 (con’t) from the fish’s belly.

mi’me-ah ha’dagah – “from  inward parts [of] the fish.” As I said, the prayer comes from the belly of the fish. He understood that the fish was, in fact, his deliverer. This is the second and last time that the me-eh, or internal inward parts, are mentioned in Jonah, and it is also the last time they are mentioned in the Bible.

The word, in fact, means “inward parts,” but it has two other uses as well. It is used as a metaphor for the heart, spirit, and emotions of a person, or even of God. And thirdly, it is used to speak of the reproductive organs of either a male or a female. In Ruth 1, it is used when speaking of the womb of Naomi.

This is the only time it is used of a creature, and so the use of the word is not without significance. The fish is the deliverer, and thus is a symbol of Christ. There is Jesus the Man, and there is Christ of God. And so each aspect of this word is seen. There are the literal inward parts; there is the emotion of what has occurred in the Lord through the work of Christ, and there is the new life which issues from the work of the Deliverer – there in the womb of life.

This is not a stretch. Jonah, typical of Jesus, will acknowledge that he was in the pit, meaning death, just as Jesus was. And so all of what is occurring to Jonah is given to us to understand the greater work of Christ. As he also is a picture of the Jewish people, the same three concepts can also be applied to them.

The emotions of their plight, the new birth they receive in Christ – all of it is tied up in what happens to Jonah. One word, carefully placed into the account, is given to show us so very much of what is going on in redemptive history.

As a curiosity for you, the word “fish” in verse 1:17 was dag, a male fish. Here in verse 2:1 it is dagah, a female fish. The speculation on the reason for this is almost endless. Some is so fanciful that it is absurd. One guy named Iz-khakis said that –

“Jonah was first swallowed by a male fish, and that because he did not pray in it, he was vomited up and swallowed by a female one, in which his situation was more confined, and that from this circumstance he was driven to prayer.” (from John Lange).

It may be stupid, but other people just count it up to a scribal error which is just as stupid. The Lord put this in the word for a reason, just as He did with gender discords elsewhere in the Bible. The book of Ruth has several. Therefore, there must be something which is being relayed to us about what has happened to Jonah.

In the Bible, wisdom is personified as a female. Instruction, or torah, is feminine as well. Therefore, the belly of the fish is being personified as a place of wisdom and instruction. And this is so. Jonah is said to have prayed “out of the fish’s belly” after his death in the sea. The fish is now equated to the place where knowledge is being conveyed concerning the process of redemption.

This seems logical, because the next time that the word “fish” is used, it will again be in the masculine. The fish that swallowed him is the same fish that will vomit him out – a male fish. But the belly of the fish here is being equated with knowledge concerning God’s redemptive workings.

Before we depart this verse, let us look at one final treasure. Jonah is said to have prayed out of the fish’s belly. It is in his true Deliverer – meaning the Lord – that he has found comfort. And it is to Him that he gives his words of prayer and thanksgiving.

What would seem like an odd place to praise God, becomes rather the place to praise God. And there is a lesson here which is confirmed by the actions of Paul and Silas after they were beaten by the magistrates in Philippi and then thrown into prison –

“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25

The place where one is, and the situation that one finds himself in, is the place to pray to and praise the Lord. There is every reason to believe the miraculous account of Jonah, even to the last detail. And there is no reason to assume that “out of the belly of the fish” meant that he praised him, not after being in the belly of the fish, but while being in the belly of the fish.

2 And he said:

va’yomer – “And said.” The words which are recorded in this prayer follow very closely after the words of portions of several psalms. Because of this, liberal scholars immediately dismiss the account as fiction, and they point to is as a later writing which was simply attributed to the prophet Jonah.

There is no more reason to assume that, than there is that the words of the psalms merely match the thoughts and expressions of Jonah. He was a prophet of Israel, and he would have been well aware of the words of the psalms which were already written. The psalms which came later then would have built upon his words now.

Concerning the already written psalms, his mind would be filled with them, just as ours are when we face trials or triumphs. How many countless people, while pondering their plight have uttered the words, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” And how many people, having seen the majesty of God’s handiwork, then proclaimed, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.”

When I left to go around the US in 2010, my father wrote me a letter. It was obviously a moving time in his life, and so in it, he made several references to Scripture – something I had never seen him do before. Why liberal scholars are so gross in their analysis of the Bible is beyond me, but the word “peanutheaditis” quickly comes to mind. Jonah’s state of mind called for the word of God which was already instilled in him. And so, in turn, his words utter forth that same precious word.

His words of the next verses follow a pattern which is divided into three separate parts. Each part has a danger followed by a deliverance, or a set need and its accompanying help. Each builds upon the next to a crescendo of spiritual emotion issuing forth in praise. And each goes from hope to deliverance to thanksgiving.

As we go through this prayer, we have to not make the fundamental mistake of almost every scholar and commentary available. They almost unanimously equate the following words with the time while in the belly of the fish. This is in-cor-rect.

Verse 1 shows us that the prayer is made from the belly of the fish, and therefore it is the place of deliverance and safety, not the place of distress and affliction. In other words, the words from the fish’s belly reflect his condition before entering, not after. This is the place of wisdom and instruction which followed after the ordeal. The time in the sea equates to Jesus’ time on the cross.

2 (con’t) “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,

qarati mits-a-rah li el Yehovah – “I cried out of the affliction to me unto Yehovah.” Jonah’s life was given up for dead. His affliction was so great that there was no option left but to call out to the Lord. His strength had failed and he could not save himself. In like manner, Christ cried out in His tsarah, or affliction –

“Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.” Psalm 22:11

2 (con’t) And He answered me.

va’yaa-neni – “And He answered me.” The same word is used by Jesus concerning God’s having answered the cry of His affliction –

“Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.” Psalm 22:21

Each step, we are seeing insights into the trial of Christ, and the relief from that trial. For Jonah now, the words acknowledge that in his affliction, the Lord answered him. At the time of the cry, he didn’t know it, only later. Thus he reverts back to his plight once again with the words…

2 (con’t) “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

mi’beten sheol shivati – “from womb [of] Sheol I cried.” These words explain what his affliction is. He wasn’t afflicted with boils, nor was he afflicted by enemies. Rather, he was afflicted with death itself. It says that he cried out from Sheol. Sheol is variously translated as “the pit,” “the grave,” and even “hell.” It is the place of the dead.

It is a moot point to speculate as to whether Jonah literally died, or if he is calling out as psalmists did, reflecting that their lives were otherwise ended without the Lord’s immediate intervention. If Jonah actually died in the sea, the fish swallowing him could have resuscitated him.

If so, he would make an exact picture of Christ. If not, and if he was only at the gates of death with no hope but death, it doesn’t change the situation for him at all. I say this because it is quite fashionable to hear people dogmatically state and argue that Jonah died. It is silly to go to such extremes.

The word used in this clause for “cried” is not the same as at the beginning of the verse. This word is shava. It is not just a simple calling out, but a cry for help. It comes from a primitive root meaning to be free, but it is used only causatively and reflexively.

It is calling out for freedom from plight and thus for help. There was a need which could not be met in any other possible way, and so he cried out for help. This clause is prophetically fulfilled in Christ as is evidenced from the words of the 30th Psalm –

“O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” Psalm 30:3

The teaching which says that what occurred with Jonah was a literal death and resurrection as an advanced sign to Israel that the Messiah would die and then resurrect in fulfillment of the picture is false. The Jews of Jesus’ time were not expecting the death and resurrection of their Messiah, and the Jews of today are not expecting it of the messiah they believe will deliver them. David’s words of Psalm 86:13 say –

“For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”

Nobody claims that David was actually dead and then came back to life. It was understood that the symbolism speaks of a person who has been delivered from a violent mob that otherwise would have sent him to Sheol. It is perfectly in line with what Jonah is saying in his prayer.

Other passages in the Old Testament make the same claim as well, Isaiah for example. So to try to link the “sign of Jonah” to a prior understanding of a resurrection is false. Only after Christ’s work do we come to realize that the symbolism in Jonah points to death and resurrection.

2 (con’t) And You heard my voice.

shamata qoli – “…heard my voice” There is no “and” at the beginning of this clause in the Hebrew. Thus, it sets it off with a striking tone of contrast. There was a cry from the belly of hell itself, and yet, even from there his voice was heard. Whatever Jonah thought about fleeing from the Lord, he found that the words of the psalm are literally true –

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” Psalm 139:7, 8

Even in the pit of Sheol itself, the Lord is available. Even death cannot separate us from our Creator. Several psalms closely match the words of this verse. One is the 18th Psalm which was written by David, and which Jonah would have been aware of. They each point to a prophetic fulfillment in Christ –

“The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.” Psalm 18:5, 6

The 120th Psalm also closely matches Jonah’s words –

“In my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.” Psalm 120:1

As we move on, verse 3, like verse 5 and part of verse 6, will provide us with a vivid description of the danger and distress which surrounded Jonah. It thus details the circumstances which lead up to the words of verse 2.

Where can we find relief from the storm?
The waves rage and the breakers crash all around
Relieve us, O God, take away the harm
Lest the waters overwhelm and we are drowned

You are our hope, You – O Lord our God
There is no other; our eyes are on You
Save us from this ocean, so deep and so broad
This is our cry; grant us life anew

And we will bring You offerings of thanks and praise
We will come into Your temple; hearts of joy filling us
Grant us life anew; grant us eternal days
We call out for salvation; we call out for Jesus

II. Hope in the Lord (verses 3 & 4)

3 For You cast me into the deep,

va’tash-likeni metsulah – “And You had cast me into the deep.” The word for “cast” here is not the same as that used several times in chapter 1 which was translated as “threw.” The sailors had thrown Jonah in the sea, but it is the Lord who had cast him into the deep. They were but the instrumental cause of Jonah’s sentence, the Lord was, however, the Principle cause.

Surprisingly, the word for “deep” here was first used concerning the Egyptians who were cast into the depths of the Red Sea –

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;
His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths have covered them;
They sank to the bottom like a stone.” Exodus 15:4, 5

It is then something that Jonah must have considered. His fate was the same as those who came against Israel itself. Thus, his deliverance is one of mercy, not because it was deserved. We are learning from the account through the choice of the words, that all are under the same sentence because of sin, but the Lord demonstrates mercy upon whom He will show mercy.

The words of this clause reflect the same state which David faced, and thus which prophetically look forward to what Christ Himself faced –

“I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.” Psalm 69:2

3 (con’t) Into the heart of the seas,

bilvav yammim – “Into heart seas.” The heart, in this sense, is metaphorically the midst or center, just as we use it today. He was on a vessel in the open seas, and he was cast out into those seas. To him, there was no more hope of swimming to the west than there was to the east. And should he have gone south, it would have made no difference than if he had chosen north. In all directions, there was but water; only water.

To be left alone to die in such a state has got to be one of the most horrific deaths imaginable. The immensity of the open waters is beyond overwhelming. And possibly worse, there’s a greater uncertainty in the ocean. In the ocean, your legs simply dangle into the vast void…

“Tempting anything in sight,
for a nibble or a bite.”

Jonah knew his time was up as he floundered in the great empty waste of the sea.

3 (con’t) And the floods surrounded me;

v’nahar yeso-veveni – “And river compassed about me.” The river of the sea is its current. In the Mediterranean Sea, it sets from west to east. It then reaches the coast of Syria and turns north. Even if he were to be carried back towards his beloved home, he would still most likely be swept north before reaching there. He was surrounded and without hope in the midst of the sea. The words of this clause and the previous one look to the work of Christ prevailing over both the seas and the rivers –

“But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,
And in My name his horn shall be exalted.
25 Also I will set his hand over the sea,
And his right hand over the rivers.
26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’” Psalm 89:24-26

3 (con’t) All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.

kal mish-barekha v’galekha alay abaru – “…all your breakers and your waves over me passed.” As Jonah struggled to survive, the force of the ocean was too much. The mishbar, or breakers, are the waves which fold over themselves and descend in heavy billows of white foam. The force of them will easily push a swimmer under. The word comes from shavar, meaning “to break.”

The gal, or waves, comes from the word galal, meaning “to roll.” These would be the waves which would lift him on high and then drop him to their base, thus they are said, like the breakers, to pass over him. The same words are used in the 42nd Psalm –

“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.” Psalm 42:7

The swelling ocean of death which Christ faced was an overwhelming flood which carried Him down, and yet with it was carried the sin of man which is what brought Him to that calamitous state in the first place. He was willing to enter the sea of chaos and confusion in order to bring us safely to the shore of harmony, peace, and contentment. This was His confidence, just as the confident words of verse 4 were experienced by Jonah. In the next words, there is seen faith which triumphs over despondency…

4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;

va’ani amari nigrashti mi-neged enekha – “And I, I said I have been cast from before Your eyes.” The words here are remarkably similar to those in the 31st Psalm –

“For I said in my haste,
‘I am cut off from before Your eyes’” Psalm 31:22

To be cast out from before the eyes of the Lord is to be cast out of His favor. Jonah had been so cast to teach him a lesson. Christ had been so cast to save the souls of men. Jonah was cast into the sea of water, and Christ into the sea of chaos and death. Both acknowledged their plight, but they also knew that it was not to be the end. Jonah was given relief and a new chance at life in the form of a fish; Christ was raised by the power of God to eternal life…

*4 (fin) Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

akh osiph l’habit el hekal qad-shekha – “Yet, again I will look toward temple Your holy.” The word he uses here, akh, is an adverb which means “surely.” It is a word intended to emphasize that which follows it, and is in contrast to that which precedes it. Understanding that, we can look at the two clauses again.

“And I said, I have been cast from before your eyes – SURELY – again I will look toward Your holy temple.”

Here in verse 4, between verses of doom, there is a glimmer of hope, even a certainty of it. He was a prophet and knew his commission. He also knew that God had a plan which he was to carry out. When he says, “Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple” there’s no reason to assume he was speaking of the resurrection or heaven.

Rather, he has made the logical deduction that because the Lord had sent the storm, and because the sailor’s lot pointed to him, God still intended to use him. There in the belly of the fish, clarity of the situation came through.

The same is true with Christ. He knew God’s plan, He faithfully carried it out, and He understood that He would again enter heaven’s holy temple upon completion of His mission. Jonah’s words are confident, and they are filled with a sense of anticipation. They are mirrored by the words of the 5th Psalm which ultimately point to the greater work of Christ –

“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.” Psalm 5:7

How often do we find ourselves in exactly the same position? When everything is chaos around us and it seems as if our heads are under water, we still have moments of clarity where we remember that God really is in control and that He has a plan and a purpose that we haven’t fully pieced together.

Just this week, the son of a girl I went to school with was murdered. And yet, she was able to write the following to all who see here Facebook page –

“I am devastated with the loss I am experiencing. I am numb! My faith in Jesus Christ is sustaining me and my Mom.”

Though she is surrounded by waves of anguish, she still retains clarity of thought because of the Lord. Christ has gone before us, and so we can be assured that what He has promised will come to pass. Let our hearts not be troubled in this world which is often filled with chaos and confusion.

Closing Verse: “In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.” Psalm 18:6

Next Week: Jonah 2:5-10 There’s only one way back to God, so climb aboard… (Salvation is of the Lord) (6th Jonah Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean rages against you and is ready to swallow you up, He can send delivery to you in the most remarkable of ways. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Out of the Belly of Sheol

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God
From the fish’s belly; a place quite odd

And he said:
“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction
And He answered me
“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, hoping for fish-belly eviction
And You heard my voice, here in the depths of the sea

For You cast me into the deep
Into the heart of the seas where I was cast
And the floods surrounded me, as if me to keep
All Your billows and Your waves over me passed

Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple’
You shall relieve me from this plight

Lord God, we have all been caught in the sea of sin
The breakers and the waves have surrounded us
Surely, there seemed no hope; we were done in
And yet, Praise God! You sent Your Son Jesus

We thank You, O God for the ending of all strife
We thank You for Christ Jesus who has granted us new life

Hallelujah and Amen…

Jonah 1:13-17 (The Sea Ceased From its Raging)

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Jonah 1:13-17
The Sea Ceased from its Raging

The verses in Jonah today will show us, once again, a truth which permeates the Bible. It is that God is pleased with obedience to His word, and that such obedience is displayed in acts of faith. Jonah is being used to make several pictures simultaneously. He is being used to picture Israel, obstinate and contrary to the will of God until the point that all hope is lost.

He is also being used to picture the Person and work of Christ. As with all pictures, there will be things that don’t perfectly match, and so the underlying truths need to be looked for, rather than an obvious one-to-one comparison. If everything were exact comparisons, then we would simply be reading the story of Jesus.

But as in all such passages of the Bible, there is the type and then there is the Anti-type. The types are used to make pictures which lead us to the greater Anti-type. Such was the case with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and a great host of others. And such is the case with Jonah.

Today’s verses are somewhat similar to what happened to Joseph when he was cast into the pit by his brothers. That account pictured Christ in a particular way. In a like manner, Jonah will be cast into the sea. From that act, there will be a resulting action. And connected to that is the premise that man is saved by faith. This is seen in our text verse for today –

Text Verse: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” Romans 3:21-22

Who is it that goes away from today’s passage in safety and gratitude to God? Who is it that God responded to because of their act of faith? The answer is obvious, but there is more than just the surface story. Rather, there is a lot of depth and marvelous detail in these five verses.

How can it be that the death of one can be the salvation of many? It is a theme which permeates the Bible and which is seen once again in these verses, and so let’s jump right into them. It’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised

I. You, O Lord, Have Done as it Pleased You (verses 13-16)

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land,

va’yakhteru ha’anashim l’hashiv el ha’yabashah – “and dug down the men to return unto the dry land.” The verse begins with “And” in the Hebrew, but English translations normally choose contrasting words such as “however,” “nevertheless,” “even so,” “but,” or “instead.”

There is a reason for this. The word translated as “rowed hard,” khatar, is a word which indicates “to dig.” This is the last of just 8 times that it is seen in Scripture. It comes from a primitive root which indicates “to force a passage, as by burglary.”

This is the only time in the Bible that it is used in this sense. All seven other times, it is translated as to dig, such as through a wall in order to break through it, or even to dig into the pit of hell itself (Amos 9:2). From this, we can see that these men literally dug deep into the water, in order to make headway.

Their sails were of no use to them, and so they resorted to brute force in order to find safe harbor. The choice of the word provides us with the mental image of these men literally trying to dig through the walls of the waves, as if trying to break out of the tempestuous prison they are in, and into safety.

It gives the sense of really working hard on their part. The Hebrew is active and alive. It is for this reason that many translations begin the verse with a contrasting word like “But” in order to set off the words of Jonah from the last verse which said –

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”

What we are viewing then is a group of people to whom have been explained the means by which they can be saved from the raging tempest, and yet who are adamant to save their wayward passenger, even at the possible expense of their own lives.

In other words, a complete contrast is being shown us between Jonah who has fled from the Lord in order to not bring a saving message to the entire city of Nineveh, and to these pagans who are willing to risk their own lives for the sake of a single, guilty, man. The contrast is stark and it is striking.

13 (con’t) but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.

v’lo yakolu ki ha’yam holek v’soer alehem – “…and no do they could, for the sea worked and was whirling against them.” The same term that was used in verse 11 is again used here as the sea continued to work and whirl into an even more tempestuous rage. It grew more and more, and no matter what they did, it was a futile effort for them.

Quite often in our own lives, the seas work against us, and it seems that the harder we fight against them, the more the waves mount up against us. In such cases, it could be that we are not living in accord with the word. These men have been told what will save them, but they have a conflict between their moral stand and what the spoken word has revealed.

In Israel, the Lord mandated the death penalty for certain infractions of the law. The people were not given the choice as to whether they could carry out the penalty or not. For example, in Exodus 22 we read these words –

“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
19 “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
20 “He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.” Exodus 22:18-20

If those laws stood today, would we follow through with the punishment? Obviously not. Nor did Israel. They found that extenuating circumstances, degrading morality, and outright rebellion against the Lord was more suitable to their tastes than obedience to His word.

Israel faced their own storms of trials and judgment for not adhering to the word of the Lord, and these men – despite doing what is noble – will continue to face the waves until they obey the Lord’s word.

On the other hand, this also doesn’t necessarily mean that when such trials come, that we’re being disobedient towards the Lord. We can, in fact, have storms while being completely obedient to Him. Instead of trying to make it to a safe harbor on our own, we need to evaluate our lives and align them with the word. If that is already the case, then we need to come to the Lord with our burden and ask Him to carry us through it.

14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said,

va’yiqreu el Yehovah va’yomeru – “And cried out to Yehovah and said.” The words make it apparent that they honestly believe Jonah’s words, and that it is Yehovah who has sent the storm against them. As Jonah previously explained to them, He is the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.

They have come to accept this as it was spoken to them, and thus they possess the knowledge that because He is the Creator, He is also the One who controls the creation. And so they no longer cry out, every man to his own god, as in verse 5. Rather, they collectively cry out to the true God.

The raging of the winds and the billowing of the waves are caused by Him, and therefore Jonah’s other words must then also be true. Jonah has brought this plight upon them. In order for it to end, he must be cast over the side of the ship…

14 (con’t) “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life,

annah Yehovah al na novedah b’nephesh ha’ish hazzeh – “We beg of you, Yehovah, no we pray perish for soul the man this.” If we step back for a second and look at Jonah as a type of Israel as a whole, compared to the pagans here and elsewhere in the story, we can see the strong and obvious contrast between them. There is the stubbornness of Israel, but the complete willingness of the Gentiles to accept the word of the Lord, to do what is right, and to acknowledge the sovereignty of God.

These Gentiles have been given only a small insight into the nature of the Lord, and yet now, they call out to Him by name, yielding themselves completely and wholly to Him.

In their cry, they use a word which is rather rare in Scripture, annah, it being seen just 13 times. It is a contraction of two other words, ahava, meaning “love,” and na, meaning “please.” In essence, “I beg of you.” It is a begging which would come from the soul of the man in a deep and heartfelt petition.

The word is directed to Yehovah, understanding that He alone can grant the petition which has been made. This is the only time that it is used by someone outside of the covenant line of the people of Israel. Despite being pagans, their cry to Yehovah is heartfelt and it is sincere.

The petition is for the sake of their own lives being granted to them for complying with the spoken word against Jonah which will result in the taking his life. What is known to them is that in the taking of another’s life, their lives would thus, under normal circumstances, be forfeit. Though pagans, and outside of the covenant line who lived under the Law of Moses, the memory of what was spoken to their ancestor Noah remained with them –

“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man. “ Genesis 9:6

Understanding the consequences of this, they beg now for mercy…

14 (con’t) and do not charge us with innocent blood;

v’al titen alenu dam naqiy – “and not lay on us blood innocent.” The adjective naqiy, or innocent, was first used in Genesis 24:41. This is the last time it will be used in the Bible. It indicates being blameless, exempted, or free from guilt. Here we see a foreshadowing of the work of Christ. Pilate washed his hands and declared Christ innocent as is seen in Matthew 27:24 –

“When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.’”

They see Jonah’s blood as innocent, and yet they understand that he must die in order for them to live. The passage looks back to Genesis, indicating that they still intuitively understood the words of the Lord to Noah. Guilt is reckoned to anyone who would shed man’s blood. However, the circumstances of their situation called out that they not be charged in this case. And so it also looks forward to Christ who takes away the guilt through His death. Albert Barnes precisely states the situation of these men –

“And lay not upon us innocent blood – innocent as to them, although, as to this thing, guilty before God, and yet, as to God also, more innocent, they would think, than they. For, strange as this was, one disobedience, their whole life, they now knew, was disobedience to God; His life was but one act in a life of obedience. If God so punishes one sin of the holy (1 Peter 4:18), ‘where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?’ Terrible to the awakened conscience are God’s chastenings on some (as it seems) single offence of those whom He loves.” Albert Barnes

Though Christ Jesus never sinned, it was reckoned to Him as if He did. To these men, they saw Jonah as innocent towards them, even if counted guilty before God. In the imputation of our guilt to Christ, and His righteousness imputed to us, we see how the perfect Christ corresponds directly to the guilty Jonah. This is how the Lord saw it in both instances, and therefore, His will must be yielded to. This is next explicitly stated…

14 (con’t) for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.”

ki attah Yehovah kaasher khaphats-ta asita – “For You, Yehovah, as pleasing to You, You have done.” The words are robust and impressive. They acknowledge that everything has been according to the will of the Lord. The storm arising, the casting of the lots, the words of Jonah concerning what had to happen to him… all of it is as has been directed by the Lord. This word, khaphets, is the same word found in Isaiah 53:10 – “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” We are seeing the work of Christ in type and picture.

In the Hebrew, the actions are described with three simple words, and yet they form a profession of faith as great as any found anywhere else, “As is pleasing to You, so You have done.” Their words are reflective of the words of the psalmist who was certainly, like each of them had become, a man of faith –

“For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.” Psalm 135:5, 6

Because the Lord is sovereign, we have but two choices, yield to His will, or buck against it to our own harm and shame. The sailors having become men of faith, conformed their actions according to His will. Again, the words of Jonah are given to show us the stark contrast between Israel and the Gentile people of the world. Contrast their actions to those of Manasseh the King of Judah who would live only a short time later –

“Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.” 2 Kings 21:16

In the account of Jonah, pagans had concern over a single life, but Manasseh, shed innocent blood without a second thought. In the New Testament, we continue to see a contrast. Not only was Jonah innocent in their eyes, even more, he was a prophet of the Lord.

They risked their lives to save him, and when they finally had no remedy, they begged for pardon from the guilt of his blood. Jesus speaks out the contrast between their actions towards the Lord’s prophet and those of the people of Jerusalem –

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Luke 13:34, 35

While we’re talking about the guilt of innocent blood, I might as well bring up our own guilt. For 44 years, we have been swimming in a pool of blood, to the tune of almost 60 million lives murdered through abortion. The guilt of this nation, and especially the democrat party of the United States, reeks to heaven.

May God help us to open our eyes to see and to turn from what we are doing. I pray that the new leaders of our nation will do everything they can to end all funding to these devils, and to overturn the horrifying and ungodly law which has made us ripe for God’s judgment.

15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea,

Va’yisū eth yonah v’tilu-hu el ha’yam – “And they lifted up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea.” For the fourth and last time in the book of Jonah, and also for the last time in the Bible, the word tul or “hurl” is used. It was used in verse 4 when the Lord hurled the great wind upon them. It was again used when the sailors hurled their cargo overboard, and then it was used by Jonah to tell those same sailors what they were to do with him – hurl him over. Now all the hurling at sea is over. The reluctant sailors took the necessary action and the matter was resolved.

We must ask why it is so specific concerning lifting Jonah up. In verse 12, Jonah specifically told the sailors to lift him up and cast him into the sea. Why didn’t he just say “Cast me into the sea.”? In verse 5, it doesn’t say they lifted up the cargo and cast it into the sea. It just says they cast it into the sea. It is because a picture is being made for us. In fulfillment of verse 12 Jesus said in the following in John 12 –

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32

And in fulfillment of this verse, we read this in Isaiah 52, using the same word, nasah, as is found here in Jonah –

“See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” Isaiah 52:13

We are being given a prophecy and a fulfillment of the prophecy, right before our eyes. Each word is revealing the work of Christ.

In 1831, someone noticed for the first time that Jupiter had a big red spot on it. Eventually they figured out that it was a giant storm, like a hurricane. No one knows how long it’s been there or how long it will continue… it just keeps raging on. Anyone who has been in a storm on the sea knows that every minute is like an eternity.

Eventually though, all storms do end. Some lose steam as they come onto land. Some storms fade out from cross winds. Some storms die out from temperature drops. And some storms end because the Lord’s wrath is appeased. The men nasah, or lifted up Jonah. In Isaiah 52, it says the Lord Jesus would likewise be nasah, or lifted, up…

15 (con’t) and the sea ceased from its raging.

va’yaamod ha’yam mizapo – “and stood the sea from her anger.” The word amad means “to stand.” It is used here in the same manner as we use the word in English. The storm “stood” still or ceased. And so you get the mental impression of activity. The storm was as if crouched down, raging and blowing all around the sailors, but as the word of the Lord was obeyed, the storm stood, as if at attention, and the raging ended.

Again, in the sudden cessation of the storm, we have a parallel to the crucifixion of Christ. Although it was darkness and not a storm which the writers describe, it lasted during the ordeal, and ended when the life ended, pictured by Jonah’s being cast into the sea –

“‘“Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.”’” Luke 23:44-46

In Jonah’s being cast from among the living, the storm ceased, and that anger of the storm was over. In the casting of the life of Christ from among the living, the pall of darkness likewise ceased, and the anger of God at the sin of man was quieted and appeased.

The raging sea of God’s wrath had ended, and peace was restored. The prediction of Jonah was realized among these sailors of faith, and the promises of Scripture, even from the time of the fall of man itself, are likewise realized among those who, by faith, cast their sins at the foot of Calvary’s cross.

God’s wrath is on the opposite side of the coin of God’s mercy. When, by faith, the sailors threw Jonah in, His mercy could finally be realized. In the same way, when Jesus woke up and exercised His power, the storm on the Sea of Galilee ended. A mere rebuke from His breath and all was calm –

“But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” Matthew 8:26-27

And then going back to the account from Acts, the ship Paul was on wasn’t saved. It was destroyed on a shoal as the waves beat it to pieces, but all of the people on board were saved. Because of Paul’s faithful witness, the Bible says God graciously granted the lives of all who were aboard. Again and again the Bible demonstrates the power of faith.

How we conduct ourselves now affects everyone we come in contact with – even if we only cross their paths for a moment. A good question to ask as we drive and lose our temper, as we shop and don’t find what we want, as we impatiently wait on hold for the technician is, “How will what I do affect my Christian testimony in their lives?” If we remember His presence in all we do, we should have no fear, frustration, or fret. He is in control and is tending to our every need. As we live our lives, we can repeat the proverb…

“When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24

16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly,

va’yire-ū ha’anashim yirah gedolah eth Yehovah – “And feared the men, afraid whoppingly, Yehovah.” What may be the stupidest commentary ever penned on this verse, the Geneva Bible says, “They were touched with a certain repentance of their past life, and began to worship the true God by whom they saw themselves as wonderfully delivered. But this was done for fear, and not from a pure heart and affection, neither according to God’s word.”

The fear referred to here, is given as a contrast to the fear that they previously held. This exact same phrase, word for word, was used in verse 10 with but a slight difference. In verse 10, they had just heard Jonah’s words that he was a Hebrew who feared Yehovah, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

Now, their fear is still directed to Yehovah, but instead of it being vague and uncertain – a fear which leads to death, it is a fear whose object is Yehovah, the God of Jonah; the Creator – it is a fear that leads to life. Further it was wholly in accord with God’s word as given to them by Jonah.

The Geneva commentary could not be more wrong. The Bible is giving us this contrast for a specific reason, and it’s not to assume that there was no change in these Gentiles, but rather a complete and total change.

The fear of Yehovah, we are told, is the beginning of wisdom. They have started on their journey through the fear of Yehovah, with a pure heart and a directed affection.

This brings us back to the word yayin or “wine” which is related to the name Yonah, or Jonah, which we evaluated at the start of this adventure. As we saw, vineyards represent the cultural side of humanity. There are various vineyards which are various cultures. Vineyards produce grapes, or cultural expressions, and these are mixed together through a mashing process to produce wine.

In the Bible, wine then symbolizes the merging together of these expressions into a result. The thing that ought to happen can happen, symbolized by wine. It is as if an act of reasoning is occurring, and an intended result is realized. It is as if we are “seeing wisdom as wine drawn from the grapes of observations and deductions” (Abarim).

Like a dove, Jonah’s adventure so far has vacillated, but in the course of events, the minds of the people are changed, and the redemptive process of God is revealed. Jonah is being equated with what his name means, “Dove.” But the root of his name, and the variations of it, are being drawn together by God to tell us a story.

Just as Jonah was the means by which these Gentiles have come to know and fear Yehovah, so Jesus as the fulfillment of the picture, is the means by which the Gentile world, once on the raging sea of chaos, is brought to the peaceful waters of rest in the knowledge of the true God.

The sailors had seen the marvelous power of the Lord as it worked in relation to Jonah. The disciples with Jesus, and the men aboard the ship with Paul, had seen the marvelous power of the Lord as it worked in relation to Christ and the message of Christ. In each circumstance, the words of the psalmist are fulfilled –

Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Psalm 148:8

In order to effect His word in the lives of others, He even uses the elements to do His bidding and to fulfill His word.

16 (con’t) and offered a sacrifice to the Lord

v’yizbekhu zebakh l’Yehovah – “…and they sacrificed (a) sacrifice to Yehovah,” What the sacrifice was is not said, and thus it is not important what it was. Scholars argue over this as if they were standing there and watching the events unfold. Some argue that they had live animals on board and used them as sacrifices. Some argue that they had already thrown their cargo over and so this wouldn’t be possible.

It is all vain and useless conjecture. In the Bible, the zebakh, or “sacrifice” is not limited to animals. They very well may have sacrificed animals, but it could be a meal offering, a sacrifice of joy, a sacrifice of a contrite and broken heart, a sacrifice of righteousness, or a sacrifice of thanksgiving. The word zebakh is used to describe all of these in Scripture.

Whatever they chose to sacrifice, it was to the Lord and not to the false gods they once prayed to. They had, in essence, come to the foot of the cross, there to worship the true Lord of all.

16 (con’t) and took vows.

va’yider-ū nedarim – “and vowed vows.” The sacrifices were made as “right now” offerings to Yehovah. They were directed to him with hearts of contrition, in joy, with thanksgiving, and as a righteous oblation to Him. The vows were made as future conduct towards Him.

They were intended to bind them to the Lord from that point on, and to live for Him as much as could be expected from men apart from the law, but who lived under His grace. The man in the foxhole facing death will inevitably make vows to God. How many will he later act on?

I once listened to a man who was in WWII. He saw a another man ordered to move forward and take out a machine gun nest. The guy charged forward and was shot almost immediately. As he lay there dying, he recited the words of the 23rd Psalm.

The man in the foxhole asked the Lord to give him the same type of faith, and he made a promise to God that if he survived, he would dedicate his life to the Lord. When he arrived back in Texas, he planted numerous churches. But even after tirelessly working throughout his remaining years, he felt he had not done enough in repayment to the Lord. He made a vow and he kept it.

It’s an important lesson for each of us. We need to remember to fulfill our vows when we make them. This theme is repeated throughout the Bible and is something God expects of us –

“Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them;” Psalm 76:11

Were the book to end with at this point, we could look at the story in one of two ways – that God’s plans were thwarted towards the Ninevites because Jonah was cast over and died. Or we could look at it as God’s plans were actually directed all along at those who sailed with Jonah; bringing them to salvation in the Lord.

However, we need not speculate because this is not the end of the story. Instead, God’s plan wasn’t only for the men on the ship, but for those in Nineveh as well. In the Hebrew text, Jonah Chapter 1 ends with verse 16. Verse 17 actually starts Chapter 2.

How the oceans rage, and the winds blow so strong
There is no way for us to safely reach the shore
When will come relief? This tempest will last how long?
When will the waves die down, to threaten us no more?

It is as if God’s wrath rests upon us, as we sail on
Is there no way for the sea to be calm and still once again
Has God abandoned us, is all hope gone
Is this our sad destiny, and the fate of all men?

No! For in one mighty act the seas have quieted and are still
When the Lord was cast into the turbulent sea
In His death, Christ Jesus has fulfilled God’s will
And brought us once again to a place of peace and tranquility

II. The Deliverer (verse 17)

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.

vay-man Yehovah dag gadol livloa eth yonah – “And had appointed Yehovah fish whopping to swallow Jonah.” There is a lot about this verse which is misunderstood, or often mistranslated. First, the word here translated as “had prepared” is manah. It means “to count.” Thus the fish has been “appointed,” not “prepared.”

Using “prepared” is misleading and gives the sense of an act of creation. Rather, God has created, and he has appointed his creation to act at certain counts, or times, in order to meet His needs. He employs His created agents to do His bidding at His will.

Secondly, the “great fish” here is incorrectly translated in the New Testament by some versions as “whale.” This is unjustifiable and it is incorrect. The Hebrew word is dag. It indicates a prolific beast; one that greatly multiplies, as is seen in fish, not in mammals.

Great studies have been done on this, which, if you want to learn more just go browse the internet. This was probably a sea-dog or a type of shark which is found in the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, the scholar Keil notes the following –

“…in the year 1758 a sailor fell overboard from a frigate, in very stormy weather, into the Mediterranean Sea, and was immediately taken into the jaws of a sea-dog (carcharias), and disappeared. The captain, however, ordered a gun, which was standing on the deck, to be discharged at the shark, and the cannon-ball struck it, so that it vomited up again the sailor that it had swallowed, who was then taken up alive, and very little hurt, into the boat that had been lowered for his rescue.”

Jonah really was cast over the side, and a great fish really did swallow him whole. There is no reason to assume that in order to arrive at the Anti-type, Christ, that the Lord would merely use an allegory to make his point. Rather, he used a real person, with real circumstances, to point us to the true fulfillment of what is now only pictured.

The casting of Jonah over the side was symbolic of his death, and thus a picture of the death of the Lord. The calming of the sea was then a picture of the calming of the wrath against man which was realized in Christ’s death.

The swallowing of Jonah by the great fish, is not as most scholars claim a picture of his death, but of his deliverer from his state of death. Just as Christ died on the cross and was then entombed, Jonah was swallowed by the fish after what could be considered his death. This will be seen in the coming chapter.

*17 (fin)And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

vay’hi yonah bime ha’dag sheloshah yamim u-sheloshah lelowt – “And was Jonah in the belly the fish three days and three nights.” What is the greatest tragedy of all, and which has led to innumerable and incorrect rabbit trails concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the words here are reflective of the Hebrew way of reckoning time. This in no way signifies complete days and nights of 24-hour duration, or thus a period of 72 hours. For example, in Esther 4:16, we read –

“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” Esther 4:16

In Esther 5:1, we then read this –

“Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.” Esther 5:1

It was the third day from the proclamation, not the fourth or even the fifth day from it. From the first page of the Bible onward, Hebrew has no single word to express what we would consider a natural day. The time here can express one whole day and a part of the other two. We do this in our own language as well.

I might say that I will be out of town for three days, when I leave on Monday afternoon and return on Wednesday morning. I was, in fact, gone for three days, just not for three full days. I also might say, “I have worked for ten days, day and night, in order to finish this project.” This does not mean that I worked the entire time, but that the entire time was consumed with my work.

This is how Hebrew time is reckoned in the Bible. It is no different than how the Bible records such things and the Jewish audience of Matthew would understand this. The same account in Luke concerning Christ’s time in the tomb reads differently from Matthew because it’s given to a different audience. This becomes important in correctly identifying the time and day that Christ was crucified, and the time and day that He arose.

Thirteen times in the New Testament it says that He rose “on the third day.” As He rose on a Sunday, the simplest way to resolve this is to count back from the third day. Sunday (1); Saturday (2); Friday (3). However, though more complicated, this timeline is confirmed through a proper study of the gospel records and which I will include at the end of the written sermon which is available on-line. At no charge too.

Understanding this, Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish could have been less than 72 hours, and yet still fulfilling the required sense of the Hebrew reckoning of time. What is important, again, is the type and the Anti-type. All of which points to Christ.

Everything about the narrative is giving us clues of other things – the work of Christ, the bringing in of Gentiles to the Lord by mercy, grace, and faith, the stubbornness of Israel against the Lord and the willingness of the Gentiles to receive Him. Redemptive history is being revealed to us in a marvelous snapshot.

It is as if a tribunal has been held. The ship becomes the courtroom, the sailors become the jury, the raging winds and the storm are the accusers, the Lord’s prophet is the accused, the sea is the instrument and pit of death, the fish is the deliverer from death and the womb of life, and behind it all is the hand of the Lord, directing the story.

If you’re a Jew or a Gentile, a male or a female – if you’re a businessman or a drug addict, a prostitute or a housewife – no matter what your race, creed, or culture, you will also face a trial as an accused. You can face it alone, or you can face it with one who has already stood in your place, willing to take your sentence upon Himself. The sailors found this out. They were given the word of the Lord – “Pick me up and throw me into the sea.”

For a time, they strived to save themselves, digging hard into the waves in order to return to the shore. It is works-based salvation, and it only will lead to a greater rage from God. But they finally yielded to His word, and they came to the cross where the Innocent was to die for the guilty. They called out, “O Lord, please do not let us perish for this Man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood.” All men will be charged, but the question is, “Will it be in our own guilt, or in Christ’s righteousness?” Only He is innocent.
Their final words were, “For You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” Only in the death of Christ is God pleased. Only He satisfied the works of the law perfectly, and only His death could cease the raging of the sea of disobedience and death which has worked and whirled against man for countless ages. Only He; only He.

Now the choice is Yours. The sea has ceased from its raging for all who call out to Him. But you must call, and you must receive. Call on Christ today, and be reconciled to Your heavenly Father through His shed blood. God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. He sent a fish to save Jonah; He sent the completed work of Christ Jesus to save you!

Closing Verse: “He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.” Psalm 18:16

Next Week: Jonah 2:1-4 Yes, from out of the place where after he had died… (Out of the Belly of Sheol I Cried) (5th Jonah Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean rages against you and is ready to swallow you up, He can send delivery to you in the most remarkable of ways. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Peace from the Storm

Nevertheless, hard the men rowed
To return to land; their efforts almost furious
But they could not, as the events clearly showed
For the sea continued to grow against them more tempestuous

Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said
“O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, we pray
And do not charge us with innocent blood when he is dead
For You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You here today

So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea
And the sea ceased from its raging completely

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly
Surely they quivered and shook
And offered a sacrifice to the LORD
And also vows they took

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish, Jonah to swallow
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights
There in the great fish’s belly he did wallow

Lord God, it is we who have strayed from You
We have gone about our own way, without a care
And yet, ever faithful and true
You sent Jesus, in order that us You might spare

He was cast in to the pit of death so that we might live
What kind of love have You shown towards us!
What a marvelous Gift to us You did give
When You sent Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus

Now by our faith in Him, we are reconciled to You
And we are spared from being sent to the very pit of hell
And so we give You all of our praise, yes all that is due
For, our Lord Jesus has done everything so well

Hear our praise, and our voices full of thanksgiving
We have passed from the grip of death to the land of the living

Hallelujah and Amen…

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Below is all the information you need to properly discern when Christ was crucified and when He arose.

What day of the week Christ was crucified? We know for certain that he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Sunday, 6 April 0032. This is based on dating from the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 and the exemplary work of Sir Robert Anderson.

However, people will still try to find a reason why the crucifixion wasn’t on Friday, 11 April 0032. There are a couple reasons why this is disputed, each which certainly results from misunderstanding of biblical terminology. The first is a fear that what’s stated in Matthew 12:40 would mean an error in what Jesus said. The second results from a perceived conflict between the gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke and that of John.

In the first disputed reason, Jesus is quoted by Matthew as saying, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40

The resurrection certainly occurred on a Sunday and only the most extreme cases dispute this – and they do it without justification. Some folks fear that because He rose on a Sunday and it was “3 days and 3 nights” that Jesus was in the tomb then it was either Wednesday or Thursday that He must have gone to the cross. It’s important to note that this verse is from Matthew and is directed to the Jewish people – Jesus as King. Hebrew idioms would have been understood and not needed any clarification or verbal amending. To the audience Matthew was writing to any part of a day is considered to be inclusive of the whole day. It’s no different than terminology we use today. If I arrive in Florida on a plane at 11:30 pm on 11 April, during a later conversation I would still say I was in Florida on that day. The biblical pattern of “evening and morning” being a day goes back to the first chapter of the Bible and includes an entire day – regardless of what part of a day one is referring to.

The same verse, as recorded in Luke says, “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.”  Luke 11:29, 30 In this instance, Luke was not writing to only Jewish people, but predominately to non-Jewish people – Jesus as the Son of Man. Therefore, the terminology is amended to avoid confusion. This occurs many times in the gospels and therefore the addressees (or the background of the writers themselves) need to be identified to understand proper terminology.

The second issue to be resolved is that some scholars claim that John “appears” to place the crucifixion on a different date than the other writers. Because of this, an attempt to insert some second type of Passover meal is made. This supposedly helps the Bible out of an apparent problem. However, no such meal is identified in the Bible – at any time. Nor is it necessary to make something erroneous like this up. The Bible identifies the timing of the entire Passion Week, dispelling the problem. The terminology for “Preparation Day” used in all four gospel accounts absolutely clears this up and will be noted below.

Here’s what you need to know:

Paul plainly states that the Feast of Firstfruits is a picture of the resurrection:

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  1 Corinthians 15:20

The feast of Firstfruits was a Sunday according to Leviticus 23:15 – “From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks.” Note: the Sabbath is a Saturday. We don’t need to go any further there to know this is correct and that Christ rose on a Sunday.

Here is the math from the gospel accounts. It’s all there in black and white and very easy to look up –

**“Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.”  John 12:1 This would have been a Sabbath day (Saturday.)

**“The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.”  John 12:12 This would have been 5 days before the Passover, meaning Sunday (Palm Sunday) as the Passover would have started Thursday night at sundown and run until Friday night at sundown (remember biblical days start at sundown).

The account couldn’t be clearer that the next day after the Passover was a Sabbath. This is indicated several times. Some people have attempted to use the terminology in John (it was a “high day” or a “special Sabbath”) to indicate that it could have been a day other than a Saturday. Special Sabbaths are specified in Leviticus and don’t necessarily fall on Saturdays. However, the term “Sabbath” as used in the other gospel accounts is indicating a Saturday. There is no indication, anywhere, that there were two Sabbaths in a row on this particular week. In fact, such an analysis does an injustice to the reading of the text. Therefore, the special Sabbath occurred on a regular Sabbath day (Saturday).
From this we can give the entire week’s schedule (refer to the cited verses in your own Bible to familiarize yourself with what’s being said) –

Sabbath 6 before // John 12:1 – …six days before the Passover.  Bethany/Lazarus.

Sunday 5 before // John 12:12 & Mark 11:10 – The next day…  Palm Sunday/Riding the donkey.

Monday 4 before //  Mark 11:12 Now on the next day… Jesus cursed the fig tree.

Tuesday 3 before //  Mark 11:20 Now in the morning… The withered fig is identified.

Wednesday 2 before // The gospels are silent on what occurred on this day.

Thursday 1 before – Passover starts at Sundown //Mark 14:1 After two days it was the Passover… (this is the first timing mentioned since Mark 11:20 which was Tuesday).

Note:  Pay special attention to the fact that in the following accounts Mark is using Jewish time (sunset to sunset and John is using Roman time) –

Mark 14:12 – “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread when they killed the Passover Lamb.”

John 13:1 – “Now before the Feast of the Passover….”  Meal, Washing of Feet, Gethsemane.

***Christ crucified this same 24 hour period, but it was obviously after the final night at Gethsemane and then the illegal trial.  Mark is speaking of this event from sundown, John is speaking of it on Roman time (this is obvious because they use different terminology for the same meal where Judas left to betray the Lord… can’t miss this point and get it right.)

6 days before – Saturday

5 days before – Sunday

4 days before – Monday

3 days before – Tuesday

2 days before – Wednesday

1 day before – Thursday

The Day – Friday

The problem with people believing that John was speaking of a different day (as mentioned above) is that they miss the fact that the terminology for the day is different based on the author. To clear up any misunderstanding between the synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John, one needs only to compare the uses for the term “Preparation Day.” Once one does this, there are no discrepancies in the accounts –

Matthew 27:62 – “The next day, the one after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.” This was the day after the crucifixion. Matthew says it is the day “after Preparation Day.”

Mark 15:42 – “It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached…” This is the day of the crucifixion. Mark says “It was Preparation Day.”

Luke 23:5 – “It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” This is the day of the crucifixion. Luke says “It was Preparation Day.”

John 19:14 – “Now it was Preparation Day of the Passover.” This is the day of the crucifixion. John says “It was Preparation Day.”

Based on the biblical evidence, there is

  • No discrepancy between any of the accounts.
  • Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
  • Jesus rose on a Sunday.

As a final note, the Bible says 13 times that He was raised “on” the third day.  This is mentioned by Jesus himself as well as the apostles. Therefore, it must have been Friday that Christ was crucified.

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Please don’t believe (as some have claimed) that Christ rode the donkey into Jerusalem on a Saturday instead of a Sunday. This would have been the Sabbath. If He did, He would have violated the law –

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.”  Deuteronomy 5:12-14

There is no need to make the assertion it was a Saturday unless you simply wanted to finagle the dating. There is also no biblical provision for an exemption to the commandment prohibiting working a donkey. As stated above, the work of Sir Robert Anderson in the 1800s clearly demonstrates that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on 6 April 0032. This can be validated in other ways and is the correct year and month for the Lord’s crucifixion.

The biblical evidence is quite clear and without ambiguity or total uncertainty…Jesus Christ was crucified as the Passover Lamb on Friday, 11 April 0032 and was resurrected to eternal life on Sunday 13 April 0032.

He now offers eternal life to all who call on Him by faith. Have you accepted His offer of peace?