Read 2 Kings 4, Jonah 2, and John 1.
This devotional is about Jonah 2.
In Jonah 1, Jonah the prophet received a command from God to go to Nineveh and preach judgment in that city. Instead of going in Nineveh, Jonah got on a boat going the opposite direction. God did not let him escape, however. Instead, God sent a storm that threatened to destroy the boat and kill everyone on board, including Jonah himself. Jonah knew that this storm was his fault (see Jonah 1:12), so he convinced the sailors to throw him overboard. That saved their lives, but now Jonah’s life was in jeopardy. Jonah chapter 1 ends with these words in verse 17: “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” That verse provides resolution to this chapter of Jonah’s story. But it is a summary of that resolution, not the full story.
Here in Jonah 2, we get more of the story. Jonah was not caught by the mouth of the fish immediately after being thrown. That’s how my dog catches a treat after I throw it, but that’s not how Jonah was swallowed by the fish. Instead, Jonah was thrown into the Mediterranean Sea and was about to drown. Verses 5-6b here in Jonah 2 say, “The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever.” These words describe a man who is drowning. His life was about to be over and his body would never be recovered.
But, Jonah prayed. Chapter 2:1 tells us that this whole chapter was Jonah’s prayer from inside the fish. But verse 2 references an earlier prayer, one that was brief and to the point: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry” (v. 2). The fish that swallowed Jonah was not a place where Jonah was punished for disobeying God. It was a place of mercy where God rescued Jonah, despite his disobedience. We know that because verse 1 says “From inside the fish Jonah prayed” but verse 6c-d says, “But you, LORD by God, brought my life up from the pit.”
And, why did God rescue Jonah, despite his disobedience? Because he prayed and asked for God’s mercy. Verse 7 says, “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.” God is a just God, but he is also “rich in mercy” as Ephesians 2:5 says. If you find yourself–now or in the future–running from God and getting nowhere good, turn back to the Lord and cry out for his mercy. I know that you will find, as Jonah wrote here in Jonah 2:8, ““Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” Don’t reject God’s love for you by holding on to the idol of your pride and running away from the Lord. Turn to him–in trouble, in distress, or just when you find yourself tempted by sinful things. Turn to God, cry out in repentance and ask for his mercy.