(Audio and Text)
Title: From the Belly of Sheol
Today I would like to begin with not one, but TWO great jokes that Mike Wilson told me at lunch this past week:
1. What did the Calvinist Dog say to his master?
2. How many Calvinists does it take to change a lightbulb?
“Then Jonah prayed…”
As I mentioned briefly last week, the way the language is structured here, it is certainly my belief that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and nights, teetering on the edge of death, in and out of consciousness, just waiting to die…helpless to do anything to help his cause…and then, after 72 hours of this agony, he cries out to God with this prayer.
Can. You. Imagine?
Total darkness, strange noises, smells, most likely unable to move at all…just waiting to die.
As fantastic and supernatural as it was that Jonah even found himself in the belly of this fish…somehow alive, beyond all hope, can you think of ANYTHING that Jonah could have done to either save himself, or even kill himself?
(Story of Janet’s eye surgery, and how helpless she felt)
Indulge me, and let’s press into this for just a moment…What types of thoughts do you think went through Jonah’s mind in this state of utter paralysis?
- Why didn’t I just go to Nineveh?
- Is God really this cruel?
- Why can’t he just let me die?
- I hope the sailors were spared.
- Is this really happening?
- Others?
Now that we understand a bit more the state that he is in, let’s look at what he prays after three days of being in this condition of Limbo.
I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
Notes:
- He cried out BECAUSE of the horror of his condition. Jonah most likely believes it is too late for him, for how in the world does someone come back from THIS? This was not being buried in rubble after an earthquake…there was no faint hope of a rescue team discovering Jonah. The only way out was the way in: God.
- God DID answer Jonah. Don’t overlook this. God has not forsaken Jonah, despite his condition. (The most common prayer request I deal with at Hospice and my response.) POINT: The “goodness” of your position in life is necessarily a sign of God’s presence or absence in your life. God will often take us to the darkest places, because that’s where we need to be to hear Him.
- Jonah calls his location “Sheol” and tells us a TON about how Jonah feels about his current predicament:
Sheol:
underworld, grave, hell, pit
1 the underworld
2 Sheol – the OT designation for the abode of the dead
1 place of no return
2 without praise of God
3 wicked sent there for punishment
4 righteous not abandoned to it
5 of the place of exile
6 of extreme degradation in sin
4. “And you heard my voice”
There is NO WHERE in the universe you can go, where God will not hear you. Every piece of tangible evidence available at Jonah’s disposal suggested that God had abandoned him, that he was without hope, and that God would not hear his prayer…but this was not true.
Close/Prayer
Q&A