Every Fish Story EVER
Lure the listener with
an outlandish story,
then set the hook with
the moment-by-moment details
JONAH’S DESCENSION
DOWN into Joppa
DOWN into the ship
DOWN into the inner recesses
DOWN into the tempestuous sea
Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
- Jonah 1:17
Eh, hem . . .
Great Fish!
Michael Packard - 2021
And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
- Jonah 1:17b
JONAH 1:17
”GREAT FISH”
(gadol dag)
a great fish
MATTHEW 12:40
”GREAT FISH”
(kétos)
a sea monster,
huge sea fish, or whale.
The point of the story is not to highlight the vessel, but rather God’s sovereign power over the vessel and everything else
SEVERAL APPLICATIONS:
AMOS 9:3
Israel’s coming exile described as a descent to the bottom of the sea where a giant sea serpent would devour her
2 CHRONICLES 33:11-12
Assyrian King drags Israel’s King Manasseh off the throne like by hooks, like a fish in the sea
JEREMIAH 51:34
Israel’s exile described as being swallowed by a monster of the deep
JONAH’S DESCENSION
DOWN into Joppa
DOWN into the ship
DOWN into the inner recesses
DOWN into the tempestuous sea
DOWN into belly the great fish
DOWN into the pit of Sheol
The battle Jonah faced was not within the belly of that fish but within his own heart
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish
- Jonah 2:1
JONAH’S
PRAYER
Jonah 2:2-9
“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to You from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!
- Jonah 2:2
Desperation has a way of opening the closed heart to a return to faith when obedience would’ve kept us there without consequence
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.
- Jonah 2:3
Our rebellion often brings waves of guilt, even while we have turned back to God.
Then I said, ‘O Lord, You have driven me from Your presence. Yet I will look once more toward Your holy Temple.’
- Jonah 2:4
Our repentance begins with a look back at what we had before our rebellion.
Our repentance often begins with a look back at what we had before our rebellion.
But that is NOT enough.
The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;
- Jonah 2:5-6b
Sin takes us further than we’d ever want to go, deeper than we’d ever imagine we’d descend, and costs us more than we’d ever want to pay
But for the
MERCY OF GOD
. . .yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.
- Jonah 2:6c-7
REMEMBERED
Jonah longed for his agreement with God, being His voice to Israel, God’s faithfulness to him
Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
- Jonah 2:8
PRIDE must be
DESTROYED to find restoration in God
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
- Jonah 2:9
Gratitude & Perspective have a way of revitalizing our commitment.
2:2a – Psalm 3:4; 120:1
2:2b – Psalm 18:4-6; 30:3
2:3a – Psalm 69:1-2; 88:6-7
2:3b – Psalm 42:7
2:4a – Psalm 31:22
2:4b – Psalm 5:7
2:5a – Psalm 69:1-2
2:6b – Psalm 18:5; 49:15; 56:13; 103:4
2:7a – Psalm 107:5; 142:3; 18:6
2:8a – Psalm 31:6
2:9a – Psalm 50:14; 69:30; 107:22
2:9c – Psalm 3:8; 37:39
God’s word, embedded in our hearts, has a way of surfacing even in the deepest of pits
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
- Jonah 2:10
Notice that Jonah’s amphibious landing didn’t equate his obedience, but rather a second chance to do what was required
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