Sermon Tone Analysis

Jonah 1:17–2:10 (ESV)

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.

Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Intro : CAVING

Caving in BC

Choosing to GO, being able to leave, having a light with you.

Jonah in the fish, dark, alone, unsure if he’ll live.

Not able to leave, no idea where he is going.

Even worse:

Jonah sinking in the ocean.

cast into the deep

the heart of the sea

flood surrounded him

waves and billows passed over him

waters closed in over me to take my life!

Deep surrounded him

weeds wrapped around his head!

His life was fainting away.

Jonah was experiencing God’s judgement for his actions and it wasn’t pretty.

Anyone have any experience of sinnking in the water?

Feeling of drowning?

The text can be broken into 3 different sections this morning;

The Setting - God Hear’s Jonah’s prayers (1:17-2:1)

The Journey - Jonah goes down but God brings him up.

(2:2 - 6)

The Point - Steadfast Love and Salvation are with God alone!

(2:7-9)

The Setting: God hear’s Jonah’s Prayer (1:17-2:1)

Chapter 1 ended with Jonah being thrown into the sea by the mariners.

It’s interesting he didn’t just jump in himself if we knew the whole time that, that would have made it end.

Jonah was in the water and that’s when he prayed to God.

Most people think Jonah prayed from the belly of the fish (which he did) but his first prayer is from the water, we’ll see that as we go through it.

1:17 tells us that God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah

Jonah is in the fish for 3 days and 3 nights

The fish is God’s way of saving Jonah from his judgement of the water.

remember the theme of water and judgement in the O.T.

The test mentions 3 days and 3 nights, clearly pointed us to and linking Jonah to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

some things the same, some different

3 days is the same - 3 nights is different.

The journey - Down —> UP

The proximity to death

2:1 - Tells us that Jonah prayed now from the belly of the fish.

Prayed for Salvation

Prayed after Salvation

NOTEABLE

YHWH Appointed - he controlled the storms and the seas and now he governs over a fish and tells it what to do and where to go.

YHWH Miraculously saves Jonah - God is not stuck, His power is limitless, his abilities are infinite, he can do anything at any moment for anyone.

YWHW heard Jonah’s prayer!

ILL 1: Dagon Vs.

YHWH

people of Ashdod defeat Israel (philistines)

2 days it falls over

third day - head and hands cut off!

1 Sam.

5:6 “The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.”

Ill 2: Baal Vs.

YHWH

Truth about God: God hear’s!

APPLICATION

Believe it!

You must believe that He’s real, he lives, he hear’s, he cares, he is not absent minded or uninterested.

No one in this world care more about you and is more interested in you than God himself!

He created you, He loves you, He wants to strengthen you and help you, He wants to satisfy you and bring you joy and happiness.

Stake your life on this fact, GOD”S ALIVE AND HE HEARS

Live in light of it!

He hear’s every word you say, good or bad

He see’s every action you do, good or bad

He appoints trials, troubles, small acts of discipline/judgement to train/teach/rebuke us.

Trust Him!

He heard the prayer of a stubborn, hateful prophet.

He’ll hear you.

He uses the storm and the fish to teach Jonah but not to harm him

Know that he hears And he answers.

Sometimes not in the way we want.

ILL: NOT A DIVINE VENDING MACHINE

BUT HE IS a loving Father!

We see in these first two verses how God hear’s Jonah’s prayer and answers, Jonah then goes on to recount the journey for us in vs. 2-6.

2. The Journey - Jonah goes down but God brings him up.

(2:2 - 6)

Vs. 1 tells us the Jonah prayed, vs. 2 tells us what he prayed from the belly of The fish.

Let’s go through the text together.

Talk about it with the person beside you.

What dId Jonah do/What happened to Jonah?

What did God do?

Jonah:

Called out

I cried

I am driven away

I shall look again

I Went down

God:

he answered me

heard my voice

“you cast me”

your waves and billows

vs. 4 Drove him away (I am driven away)