Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 1199

JONAH RESTORED FROM THE BELLY OF A FISH

Jonah 2:6, Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

IT is of the highest importance to have seasons of recollection for the more solemn investigation of the state of our souls. Not a day should be closed without serious reflections on our conduct through the day. On particular occasions it would be well to commit them to writing, with a view to our future humiliation or encouragement. Jonah’s example in this respect is worthy of imitation. Having received from God a commission to denounce his judgments against Nineveh, and being afraid, that, after all, God would exercise mercy towards them, and make him appear a false prophet, he declined the office that had been assigned him, and endeavoured to “flee from the presence of the Lord.” But a storm overtook him; and he was cast into the sea, and swallowed by a fish; and then, being preserved alive in that extraordinary situation, he thought on his ways, and cried unto his God for mercy. After his deliverance, he called to remembrance the exercises of his mind during his perilous confinement; and recorded them, for the benefit of the Church to the end of time. He tells us, that at first he began to despair; conceiving that “the Lord had cast him out of his sight.” But, knowing that nothing was impossible with God, he directed his eyes towards heaven, and prayed. His prayer was heard, and the desired mercy was vouchsafed to him. This he acknowledges in the words before us: in which we have,

I. An instructive history—

Every part of this history is replete with instruction. Other parts of Holy Writ inform us of the frailties of God’s people, and exhibit Noah, Lot, David, Peter, and others, in very humiliating conditions. But there is a peculiarity in the character of Jonah that distinguishes him from all others, and gives us a deep insight into the human heart. We cannot however stop to enter minutely into his character, or into the diversified lessons which his history would teach us. We shall confine ourselves to two observations, which are of a general nature and of universal importance:

1. Rebellion against God will surely bring upon us his heavy displeasure—

[Jonah might think lightly perhaps of the sin he had committed, when refusing to execute the commission he had received: and he certainly was unmindful of the danger he had brought upon himself, even while all who sailed with him in the ship were in the utmost terror. But God was visiting him for his iniquity; and, in order to the discovery of it, suggested to the minds of the mariners to ascertain, by a lot, who the guilty person was, for whose sake the storm was raised. The lot fell on Jonah: and he, being impeached thus by God himself, confessed his crime; and prescribed, as the only means of pacifying the Deity, that he himself should be cast into the sea. Thus did vengeance overtake him. And shall we sin with impunity? What though we think light of our sins, and sleep in security when we should be praying to our God; does God estimate sin by our standard? or is danger at all more remote, because we do not see it? Of this we may be assured, that “evil will hunt the wicked man, to overthrow him;” and, however long we may elude its pursuit, it will seize upon us at last, as its legitimate prey. The declaration of God to every impenitent person is, “Be sure your sin will find you out.”]

2. Whatever effects of his displeasure we may now feel, the prayer of penitence and faith will deliver us from them—

[A more desperate condition than that of Jonah cannot well be conceived [Note: See his description of it, ver. 2, 3, 5.]. Yet from thence was he brought by the efficacy of fervent prayer [Note: ver. 2, 4, 7.]. Be it so then; we have sinned against the Lord in a very grievous manner; and we are at this moment under his chastising hand; still “Has the Lord forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?” No: the Lord is merciful and gracious: and, if only we have a heart to pray, we need not doubt but that he has an ear to hear. Were we at the bottom of the sea, yet if we were able to look unto his holy Temple, we should not look in vain. We might not be delivered with respect to the body; but the soul should find acceptance at God’s hands, and be made a monument of his sparing mercy.]

We dwell the less on the historical view of Jonah’s deliverance, because we wish you to notice it more particularly as,

II. A glorious type—

We are always cautious of exceeding the bounds of truth and soberness in the explanation of types. On this account we altogether omit, what some have laid a stress upon, the idea of Christ’s offering up himself a sacrifice to God for the purpose of averting his wrath from us. And we should be inclined to limit the typical import of this history to the resurrection of Christ, if he himself had not given us a more extended view of it. But, in the place where he speaks of Jonas as being “a sign” to the people, he calls him “the Prophet Jonas,” and mentions the remarkable success of his ministrations [Note: Matthew 12:38-41.]. We are induced therefore to consider the whole of this history as designating the ministry of Jesus;

1. In its temporary suspension—

The casting of Jonah into the sea, and his being swallowed by a fish, effectually, as it should seem, put an end to his mission. Whatever gracious intentions God had formed respecting the Ninevites, they were now, to all appearance, frustrated; so that, unless God should send to them by some other prophet, his judgments would come upon them without warning, and without a remedy.

Such was also the distressful, and apparently irremediable, state, to which the world was reduced by the death of Christ. His enemies triumphed when they saw him dead upon the cross, and committed to the silent tomb. His friends and followers then concluded, that they had been mistaken in their expectations, and that the redemption of Israel which they had looked for at his hands was a hopeless phantom [Note: Luke 24:21.]. To guard them against this erroneous conclusion, our blessed Lord expressly told his disciples, that “he should be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”]

2. Its speedy restoration—

[After three days, Jonah was, by God’s overruling providence, disgorged in safety upon dry land; and his commission to preach unto the Ninevites was renewed.

Thus by the resurrection of Christ were the hopes of a ruined world revived. Not only was the ministry of our Lord himself renewed, but all his Apostles also received afresh their commission to preach the Gospel to every creature. Could the Ninevites have foreseen the effect of Jonah’s deliverance, how would their hearts have leaped for joy! And well may all the nations of the earth rejoice in the tidings of a risen Saviour, through whom repentance and remission of sins are preached, and by whom the most abandoned of sinners may be brought to God.]

3. Its ultimate success—

[Wonderful indeed was the effect of Jonah’s ministrations! and we may well suppose that the relation of his miraculous preservation and deliverance contributed in no small degree to the success of his mission. The people of Nineveh would necessarily conclude, that he was sent of God, and that the denunciations delivered by him would be fulfilled.

And was not this the effect of Christ’s resurrection? The very point which all the Apostles most insisted on, was this: “they preached Jesus and the Resurrection:” they preached, “that he died according to the Scriptures, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” From hence the inference was clear that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world: and so rapidly did this truth prevail, that in one day there were converted to him three thousand souls; and, in a very short space of time, the whole Roman empire was filled with his acknowledged followers.]

We may learn from hence,

1. On what a firm basis our religion stands—

[The sign which above all others our blessed Lord laid the greatest stress upon, was his fulfilling of this type. Though he gave innumerable proofs of his divine mission, yet it was to this chiefly, yea, to this only, that he referred the confirmed sceptics. He said, in fact, “I shall die, and rise again the third day without seeing corruption, and shall live for evermore, to perfect the work assigned me. If I rise on the third day, then you will know that I am the Messiah: if I do not, I am contented that you shall account me an impostor.” Now, brethren, you know the means which his enemies used to prevent any collusion among his disciples; yea, and how incredulous his disciples themselves were; and consequently, you are sure that he did indeed rise, and that all which God hath spoken by him, or of him, is true; it is true that the impenitent and unbelieving shall perish; but that “all who believe in him shall be justified from all things.”]

2. What has been done for every believer—

[Though Jonah stands alone in his particular line of experience, there is not a believer whose soul has not been in as perilous a condition as Jonah himself was at the bottom of the sea; nor one who has not obtained deliverance by the very same means, humiliation and prayer. The experience of David was not unlike to Jonah’s [Note: Psalms 40:1-3.]; and that of the Church of old is painted in expressions precisely similar to those in the chapter before us [Note: Lamentations 3:54-58.];. Happy, happy they, who have obtained mercy of the Lord, and can thus attest the efficacy of believing prayer! Let not your feelings, brethren, be forgotten; but get them written in the tablet of your hearts; and let your acknowledgments be suited to the mercies vouchsafed unto you.]

3. What the Lord will do for all who call upon him—

[Our blessed Saviour, by dying for our offences and rising again for our justification, has procured for us whatever we stand in need of. Even in the denunciations of God’s wrath there is an implied promise of mercy, if we repent and turn to God. However great therefore our guilt may be, or however imminent our danger, let us remember, that “with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.” Let us remember, that “Jesus is exalted to give repentance and remission of sins;” and that, though we were as much “in the belly of hell” as a living creature can be, our cry should come before him into his holy temple, and “he would bring up our souls out of the pit of corruption;” “after two days he would revive us; in the third day he would raise us up, and we should live in his sight [Note: Hosea 6:1-2.];.”]

DISCOURSE: 1200

JONAH’S REFLECTIONS IN THE WHALE’S BELLY

Jonah 2:7-9. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

TO take a retrospect of our feelings, under circumstances of peculiar trial, is exceedingly beneficial. There are times when we realize in our minds truths which at other seasons have had no weight, and produced on us no effect. Thus Jonah, after his deliverance from the belly of the fish, called to mind, and transmitted for our good, the reflections which occupied his soul in that peculiarly awful situation, and in the near prospect of death. He here records,

I. The mercy vouchsafed—

This was such as never was vouchsafed to any other man, either before or since—

[The history you well know. But there are some points which we must particularly notice on this occasion. He was delivered, you know, from the belly of a fish. But mark the time when this mercy was vouchsafed to him: it was when he was in the very act of rebellion against God — — — Mark also the means: it was by a miraculous influence of God upon the fish, directing it to go to the sea-shore, and to vomit him forth upon the dry land. The occasion also must especially be noticed: it was in answer to a prayer offered from the bottom of the sea: “When Jonah’s soul fainted within him, he remembered the Lord: and his prayer came in unto God, even into his holy temple.”]

Though we have never been in a situation like his, have not we also wonderful mercies to recount?

[We have all of us, more or less, been in situations of danger, either by sickness or by accident, when we were in a state most unprepared to meet our God; and when, if we had been taken into the eternal world, we must have for ever perished in our sins. On some such occasion, perhaps, we have reflected on our state, and felt our need of mercy, and cried unto our God, and obtained mercy at his hands: and here we are living witnesses for God, that “he desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live” — — —]

Let us pass on to consider,

II. The conviction wrought—

Jonah had known, before, the folly of idolatry, and the wisdom of relying wholly upon God. But now he felt this in a way that he had not done before. Now too he felt, that to flee from the presence of God, as he had done, and to decline the service of his God, and to seek happiness in a way of disobedience to God, was folly in the extreme; and that the only way to be truly happy, was to serve, and honour, and obey the Lord.

And were not such our convictions, also, in the prospect of death?

[None of us need be told that the creature is but a broken cistern; and that “to forsake the fountain of living waters for cisterns of our own formation, is a great evil [Note: Jeremiah 2:13.];.” But, whilst we acknowledge this as a speculative truth, who feels it practically, so as to act upon it, and to have his life regulated in accordance with it? In a time of health, we see perhaps what is right, but do it not; nor have in our souls any fixed purpose to carry into effect the dictates of our mind and judgment. But in the near approach of death these truths assume a reality and importance which we never discerned before. Once, perhaps, we could laugh at them, as the dreams of enthusiasm, and the peculiarities of a sect: but in that solemn hour when we are expecting to be summoned into the immediate presence of our God, we bitterly regret that we have given so little weight to these considerations; and we then are convinced, indeed, that “in observing and following lying vanities we have madly forsaken our own mercies.” The convict that is about to perish by the hand of the public executioner, however obdurate he has been in times past, feels this; and the public feel it for him. Would to God that, in our time of health and prosperity, we all felt it for ourselves!]

The result of that conviction we shall see in,

III. The determination formed—

Now would the prophet henceforth praise his God: and, having made vows to God in the hour of his extremity, he would now pay them; and be a living witness for God, that “salvation is of the Lord” for every soul that will seek it, however deep his guilt, or however desperate his condition.

These are the determinations, Brethren, which I desire you, in dependence upon God’s help, to form—

[Look to the mercies vouchsafed to you in the hour of your necessity, when you cried unto the Lord: look at your deliverance from death and hell: look at a resurrection vouchsafed to you, from death to life, from misery to peace, from hell to heaven; a resurrection like unto that of Jonah; or rather like to that which was typified by it, the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: and then tell me, whether you should not “sacrifice unto the Lord with the voice of thanksgiving,” and your every word be praise — — — Call to mind, also, the vows which you made in the hour of trouble; how you would live henceforth, not unto yourselves, but to your God; and not for time only, but for eternity. Now, beware that you forget not the resolutions then formed. Beg of God that they may not, as is too generally the case, vanish as the early dew that passeth away. They are all recorded in the book of God’s remembrance; and if violated by you, in return for all the mercies vouchsafed unto you, they will fearfully aggravate your eternal condemnation — — — Now, too, be living witnesses for God, for the encouragement of others. Shew to others what a salvation you have found, and found in your lowest extremity, in answer to the prayer of faith. Who can tell what a blessing you may he to those around you? Doubtless the mercy vouchsafed to Jonah was, under God, the salvation of all that great and populous city to which he preached. His miraculous deliverance gave, so to speak, an irresistible energy to his word; insomuch that all, from the king on the throne to the lowest of the populace, instantly turned in penitential sorrow to the Lord. So you, when you can say to others, “What my eyes have seen, and ears have heard, and hands have handled, of the word of life, the same declare I unto you,” may he instrumental to the honouring of God your Saviour, and to the saving of many souls alive.]

On a review of this subject, see,

1. How wonderful are the ways of God!

[Who would have thought to what even the rebellion of Jonah should lead; and how the punishing of that should lead to the salvation of his soul, and of the souls of many others? Truly, “God’s ways are in the great deep, and his footsteps are not known.” But from all this we may learn never to despond; but rather, however desperate our condition may be, to say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” — — —]

2. How marvellous is the efficacy of converting grace!

[See what a change is wrought in Jonah; though, indeed, far less than might have been expected. But to change our rebellious hearts into a frame of obediential love and gratitude; and to renew us in our inner man, so as to make us as lights in a dark world; this is, and must be, the effect of true conversion. See then, brethren, that ye offer unto God the sacrifice of praise continually; and especially for your redemption from all the penal effects of sin, through the blood and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. See, too, that you live to God as his redeemed people, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of your life; and that you labour, in every possible way, to commend to others the salvation which you yourselves have found — — —]