CHAPTER 2

1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

After three days and nights in the whale's belly, Jonah was seeking God! He would NOT pray while he was in the ship fleeing, but he WOULD pray now that he is hopelessly trapped!

Why is it that God has to get us on our knees in total despair before we will surrender to His will?

Jonah said he cried out to God "by reason of mine affliction." It was indeed HIS affliction, for he had brought it upon himself. How many of us do the same?

But God HEARD!!! No matter where you are, dear Christian, God is ready to HEAR your prayers! The prayers are not for HIS sake, but for YOURS! Prayer will not bring God down to you, but it will sure lift you up to God!

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

Jonah recognized that God's power caused him to be placed in the belly of the whale for chastisement. God DOES chastise those whom He loves (Hebrews 12:8). In the last part of verse 3, Jonah actually quotes Ps. 42:7, "...all thy billows and thy waves passed over me." The earth IS the Lord's!

Certainly Jonah brought this affliction upon himself. It was due to his rebelliousness that God caused it. But it was God Who CHOSE the affliction Jonah would face.

God chooses what He knows will AFFECT us. Jonah had been trying to be AWAY from God's call. God let him know what it was like to be AWAY from God's closeness.

Now Jonah "remembered" (verse 7) how much he enjoyed the presence of God. He is not only calling out for relief, he is calling out for RESTORATION!

8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

It is a "lying vanity" to worship an idol.
It is also a "lying vanity" to worship our OWN will more than GOD'S will!
When we allow ourselves to lay aside God's will for our own, we "forsake" our mercy!
Jeremiah 2:13 says, "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

We LIVE by God's mercy and grace. To forsake God and His will is to LEAVE mercy and enter the realm of the ABSENCE of mercy!

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

A "sacrifice" is FIRST made for "thanksgiving!" It is not made for absolvement, but to THANK God for the fact that He can and will save us.

Salvation is a PROCESS. Jonah was thinking God that salvation, from beginning conviction to inhabitance of eternal glory belongs to GOD! That salvation includes chastisement for correction! Jonah recognized what was happening and THANKED God for it!

THEN, the whale spit Jonah out on the shore!

Do YOU recognize God's chastisement when it comes?
Do you THANK Him for it? It is that chastisement which corrects and moves us ever closer to God.

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.