This passage describes a man who is running from God, and a God that pursues him. We've seen in the previous chapter that Jonah, the prophet of God who has been faithful in previous instances, would want to do anything than to obey God's command to go to the Ninevites. Jonah runs away, but this God is a God who goes after him and does not wait for sinners to be ready for Him!
Jonah 2 is probably the most famous part of the Jonah narrative. When we get to Jonah 1:17, 2:1 and 2:10, many think that this is not possible and dismiss this account. For those of us that grew up in Sunday School, we are also left with the idea that this is a passage that shows us that if we are bad we are punished, and sets up a transactional relationship with God. Yet Jonah 2 is not about these 2 things, as we are about to find out.
(A) Unlikely act of God, but not impossible (Jonah 2:1)
In Jonah 1:15, we read of how the mariners threw Jonah overboard and the storm ceased. But that was not the end of Jonah's life. "The LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17). This could be a problem for some to make sense of. Some people interpret this as a symbolic event, but nothing in these verses indicate symbolism for there are plenty of factual details in this account. Others think of this as a natural event, while others admit that this is supernatural, a miraculous event even.
How did you read this? Do you dismiss this as an impossibility, or did you wave this off as symbolism? Your response is important because it reveals something about your assumptions about God and the Bible. Maybe some of us readily accept it without much thought for there is also tendency for Christian people to easily explain away these things as "superstitious" things where things are just accepted "by faith". And in the same way, we take God's commands and dismiss them as "religious laws" and think that they have no place in our life. What then? We are to wrestle with some of these things if we think of this as God's Word.
Jonah 2 helps us to think about and deal with miracles in the Bible. For most of us, as modern readers, we might be quick to dismiss this as a miraculous supernatural event because it just "doesn't make sense". And because it seems impossible to our modern sensibilities, some of us are also quick to dismiss everything else the Bible says. But let us think about it for a moment. Why can't it be a supernatural event, divinely appointed? If this is supernatural, what does this say about God? Miracles are purposeful acts of God where He demonstrates His power over the natural world. When God acts in the Bible in miracles, God is suspending natural laws of nature. If God put in place natural laws, then of course He is not bound by the laws and can even act outside of these laws. This account shows us that we need another category when we come to God's Word -- "unlikely but not impossible".
(B) Personal relationship described, not transactional religion (2:2-4)
Jonah was now trapped in the belly of the fish, probably not the most comfortable place to be. What does he do? Jonah "prayed to the Lord from the belly of the fish" (Jonah 2:1). Jonah 2:2-3 records us for Jonah's interpretation of the events. To him, God cast Jonah into the deep, into the heart of the seas (Jonah 2:3) even though it was the sailors that threw him overboard. Jonah called out God in his distress (Jonah 2:2a) and God answered (Jonah 2:2b). Jonah repeats this idea again using parallelism and describes himself as calling out from the belly of Sheol (Jonah 2:2c) and once again, God hears (Jonah 2:2d).
This is the prayer of a man who is trying to make sense of all that God is doing in his life and his prayer reflects his internal struggle. Jonah did not have everything figured out as it was not too long ago that he was running away from God. Jonah saw how everything happened because God's hand was at work. Everything we've read from Jonah 1:1 worked together to bring him to this point! Both the good and the bad were from God! God threw him there but also heard his prayer and responded to it. Jonah knew that even in this predicament, even in the belly of the fish, he was not out of the presence of the Lord. How do we know? Jonah took time to pray! Thus, no matter what happened, Jonah was not an atheist. God was not removed from his situation, even in his suffering. This is something that we need to learn as modern Christians. Over and over again, the Old Testament records for us how God enters the life of imperfect people and overturns it but they wrestle and hold on despite all that happens. This is what it means to have a real relationship with this God. What is the Christian life to you? Good grades? Entry into good universities? Scholarships? Good career? Is that the blessed life? Jonah presents to us the truly blessed life, one where God holds on to us even though we try to run away from Him and He never lets us go.
Jonah also shows us that having a real relationship with God isn't always smooth-sailing! We will also struggle to obey Him completely, especially when our sinful desires run contrary to His commands and will. Struggling and wrestling with God to obey Him, instead of of natural sinful desires is very much a part of the Christian's life. Does this sound strange to you? Is God real to you, or is God real only when your church is good or when the person you are dating is everyone you ask for? Do you believe that this God is real, and is interfering with your life now, molding you in a way you cannot imagine? This is what it means to have a personal relationship with this God.
These verses also challenge us to rethink how we relate to this real God. We are tempted to simplify this whole event as one where Jonah disobeyed therefore God punished Him and so, the moral of the story is, obey to avoid punishment. We are tempted to take this book and turn it into a math equation, where if we do enough good things and follow enough rules, we can get the blessing that we want. We would like to think that all the service, the good things we do, the rule-following we obey should earn us something from God. We want to turn this into a transactional relationship. But Jonah shows us something different as we will see in the subsequent verses.
In his prayer, Jonah does not only recount what happened to bring him to this current situation, but also acknowledged 2 realities (Jonah 2:4). He says that "I am driven away from your sight" (Jonah 2:4a), speaking of the present situation but also, "I shall again look upon your holy temple" (Jonah 2:4b), speaking of a future hope. Jonah knows what's going on now, where he actually received what he wanted by running away from the presence of the Lord (c.f. Jonah 1:3,10). Jonah confesses that being stuck in the belly of the fish is a result of his rejection of God and alienation from Him. At the same time, in speaking of the future, he is confident that somehow, by deliverance or resurrection, he will be able to worship God in the temple in Jerusalem. Jonah knows the reality of his sin, but is at the same time assured of what God is going to do! How is this possible? How can this sinner be so confident? The next section will help us understand this better.
(C) Raised from the death, not punished bizarrely (2:5-10)
Jonah 2:5-6 describes Jonah's situation in the water. Verse 5 provides the literal description of being in the water, but he switches to a metaphorical description in Jonah 2:6. Jonah's close shave with death, and his experience of feeling helpless and drowning helped him make sense and think of things in terms of the spiritual dimension too. He speaks of it as dying, both physically and spiritually.
Jonah 2:6 also marks an interesting (and lovely!) turn in the narrative and description! Up to this point in the narrative, every time Jonah acted, he has been described as going down. He went down to Joppa (1:3) and he rested down in the ship (1:5). He is eventually thrown down into the sea (2:3). Indeed, when we flee the God who is the maker of life, we can go no way but down. But the only way that Jonah (and us) can go up is when this God "brought up [his] life from the pit" (Jonah 2:6b). The only way up is when God lifts us up! Isn't this amazing and a delightful picture? Do you think of the things of God as the way up, and all the other things we can do with our lives as "down"? Jonah did not, and God had to take him on this journey to repent and reach this point.
What does this mean for us? We should never grow tired of this picture of God rescuing us from the pits and death itself. This picture of God should also warm our hearts and drive us to repentance and faith in Him! This is also the secret to the Christian life! Ever wonder how some people can persevere in the faith and seem to be "on fire"? The secret to the Christian life is not to do more Bible studies or worship, and neither is it to have more conviction or resolve, although these are good things the Christian should have. But behind it all, the secret is to look deep into the mirror of God's word and see all our ugliness and downward inclination and repent. It is when we see that if God didn't lift us up, we would still be on our "hell-bound race", "lost in darkest night".
Repentance is not just a once-off event for the Christian. The reformer Martin Luther said in his 95 theses, "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.” The Roman Catholic church had lost the essence of the gospel, that on our own we have no righteousness to contribute to our salvation. Not even our will and good intention is worthy of God's salvation. All of our life should be colored by this repentance, such that our entire life is lived as one who knows that it is not us who saved ourselves, but someone else lived in our place. Jonah 2:6b-7 is the story of all Christians and is our own tale of repentance. We were bound for hell and were headed for destruction with our hearts captivated by idols, sin and death. If not for God holding on to us and bringing us out of the pit, we would not live and turn away from death towards Him. Does this gospel give you great joy, conviction and delight, or has your heart grown cold? Do you hold on to this secret of the Christian life?
At this point, it is also important to mention the danger of false repentance, as Paul writes in 2 Cor 7:9-11. Tim Keller also helps us distinguish between true and false repentance:
“It is important to consider how the gospel affects and transforms the act of repentance. In ‘religion’ the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. This means that ‘religious repentance’ is a) selfish, b) self-righteous, c) and bitter all the way to the bottom. But in the gospel the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God’s heart.”
Godly repentance sees how our sin has hurt Jesus and nailed Him to the cross, and marvels at the grace shown to us that though an enemy, God has allowed us to share in the joy of Christ. True repentance is not one that is motivated by fear of punishment but also holds on to the joy of union with Christ.
Jonah makes another turn in Jonah 2:8, after he crystallises his repentance. He speaks of idolaters (Jonah 2:8) who will "forsake their hope of steadfast love". These idolaters love things that are empty and are unable to love them back, when they could have steadfast love in the first place! Jonah knows that he is not an idol worshipper, and even in the belly of the fish, he is confident that He is loved by God with a love that does not give up. Jonah 2:8 is a description of the world we live in, where many are chasing vain idols and forsaking steadfast love. What then should we do? This should motivate us to bring this good news to a world that needs to hear of the hope there is in Christ!
As we end this chapter, we read the words of a man who knows what repentance he. In Jonah 2:9, he rearticulates the steadfast love of the Lord, and pledges his worship in response to this faithful God. He acknowledges this amazing truth that "salvation belongs to the Lord!" This is true for all Christians! Our salvation is not from us but is entirely of the Lord. All we bring is our sin and our failure. We must also say with Jonah "yet you brought my life from the pit" and thank God that He did not leave us in darkness and brought us up in new life. Years later, Jesus Himself points to Jonah as a picture of His death on the cross (Matt 12:38-40). Both the Old and the New Testaments tell one story! The story of Jonah is not merely our example, but it points to the better Jonah in whom we trust! Jesus, the better Jonah went into the heart of the earth and was raised. All who place their faith in Him also died with Him and are now raised to newness of life.
After all that we've read, Jonah 2 is clearly not a story about God punishing Jonah with a fish. It is a story of a God who shows steadfast love to his prophet, chasing him though he is rebellious. The prophet had to die only to come back to life and newness of life again, thanks to the salvation of the Lord. What is God saying to you today? Are you running from God? Are you transacting with God instead of relating to Him in humble repentance?