Salvation Belongs to God (Jonah 2:1-10)
[Read Jonah 2:1-10]
Last week we talked about how God was using the storm to soften Jonah’s heart and bring him to the point of repentance. Jonah wasn’t fully repentant when he offered himself to be thrown overboard but his heart was soften just a bit. God showed him another mercy by appointing a great fish to swallow him and hold onto him for three days. Now, from the belly of that fish, Jonah gives us a glimpse into some of his personal struggles.
He gives us a glimpse into what happened when he was thrown into the sea. In the last chapter it says, “They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.” (Jonah 1:15, NIV). As I was thinking about this passage, I kept thinking about the Veggie Tales version of this story—which is the typical children’s story that many of us were taught. The Veggie Tales version depicts Jonah being thrown overboard and the moment he hits the water, the sea is instantly calm. Yet, the passage doesn’t say that it IMMEDIATELY calmed or ceased, but that it happened eventually. Based on what Jonah says from inside the great fish, it seems like it took awhile for the sea to calm down.
Take a look at how he describes his struggle in the sea. He says, “You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.” (Jonah 2:3, NIV). Jonah says that as he was thrown into the sea the currents swirled around him. The waves kept breaking on his head over and over again. How many of you have ever swam in the ocean? Have you felt the power of the waves? Have you ever felt a wave break on your body? It’s powerful. It’ll knock your breath right out of you. I was just talking to Don Slager about this last week and he was telling a story of someone whose back was broken because a wave broke on them. Now, picture the waves of this violent storm—this storm that the sailors recognized as supernatural. Those were the waves that were crashing all around Jonah, repeatedly breaking upon his head. It’s a terrifying experience.
Then to make it worse, Jonah says, “The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down...” (Jonah 2:5-6a, NIV). With the waves breaking over his head, the waters engulfed him and the deep surrounded him. It sucked him down into the depths of the sea. It sucks him so far down that seaweed was wrapped around his head. He was so deep that he felt he was at the roots of the mountains—being pounded onto the floor of the sea, tangled up in the sea weed. He felt so helpless that he said, “…the earth beneath barred me in for ever.” (Jonah 2:6a, NIV). He never thought he would get out of the sea. He felt like he was trapped at the bottom, barred in forever. Terrifying.
Yet, Jonah’s struggle with the sea was nothing compared to his struggle with God. If we hop, skip, and jump through this passage, we can get a solid glimpse at Jonah’s wrestling match with God. He says, “In my distress I called to the LORD…From the depths of the grave I called for help…You hurled me into the deep…all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight…’” (Jonah 2:2,3,4, NIV). Those last words must have haunted Jonah. He’s fearing for his life in the sea, waves crashing over him, trapped at the bottom of the sea, knowing that God is the one who put him there, knowing that these are God’s waves that crashing over him, calling to the Lord for help. Yet, he still says, “I have been banished from your sight…” Jonah feels like God has turned His back on him and it’s a fearful thing to feel like God has turned His back on you.
This moment is really interesting because Jonah finally got what he wanted. In the last chapter the original Hebrew repeatedly said, “Jonah rose to flee from the face of the LORD” (Jonah 1:3), which is their way of saying Jonah wanted to run from the presence of the LORD. That’s what Jonah wanted when he began this rebellious mission—to be away from the race of God. Now he got what he was looking for (at least, that’s what he thought). He cries out, “I have been banished from your sight”—I have been removed from the presence of God. Jonah finally gets what he’s been looking for since the beginning of the story, and he doesn’t like it. It’s a terrible, frightening place to be. It’s a terrible thing to feel like God has turned His back on you.
It’s an important reminder for each one of us. Often, we find ourselves trying to run from the presence of God. Often, we find ourselves trying to remove ourselves from God so that we can do whatever we want to do—we want to “free” ourselves from the shackles of religion; we want to “free” ourselves from all of the “rules” that have been placed upon us. So try to run from God and get away. Yet, when we finally get where we want to go, the view doesn’t look as great as we thought. When we finally get away from the presence of God (or so we think) we realize that it is terrifying.
Yet, in the midst of Jonah’s wrestling with God, feeling as though he was away from God’s presence, he still calls out to God. Isn’t that amazing? Jonah is in utter despair, feeling as though God had thrown him in sea, turned His back on him, and left him for dead. Yet, Jonah calls on the Lord. He FINALLY calls on the Lord. Remember the Captain rebuking him in the ship, begging him to call upon his God? Now, Jonah finally does it, even in the midst of His despair. Jonah has this amazing line where he says, “I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again towards your holy temple.” (Jonah 2:4, NIV). Even though Jonah feels like God has left him, he is going to keep his eyes fixed on God and will cry out to Him.
Jonah says, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:2, NIV). This is one of those moments when we realize that our feelings aren’t always accurate gauges of reality. Jonah felt like the Lord had abandoned him, yet the Lord was right there listening to his prayers. Jonah felt that he had finally removed himself from the presence of God, but it’s impossible to get away from the presence of God. God will never leave us, nor forsake us. He has promised that he will be with us ALWAYS, even to the very end of the age. We can turn out backs on God, try to run away from Him will all our might, yet, when we turn around, He is right there to hear our prayers. We can never be so far from God that we can’t turn around and ask for His salvation.
That’s the crowning line of this entire prayer. Jonah ends it by shouting at the top of his lungs, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.” (Jonah 2:8–9, NIV). Jonah wasn’t strong enough to save himself. Jonah finally knew what it felt like to turn your back on God and try to do things in your own strength—he found himself trapped at the bottom of the sea, fearing for his life. The sailors also found out that they were strong enough or skilled enough to save themselves. There was nothing they could do to save themselves. The sailors also found out that their false gods and worthless idols couldn’t save them. They are nothing. They have no power or strength. They CANNOT bring salvation. The only one in all of the universe that can truly bring salvation is the LORD. Salvation comes from the LORD.
Did you know that’s what Jesus’ name means? When the angels is talking to Joseph about Mary, the angel says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, NIV). His name will be Jesus because he will save his people from their sins—because Salvation belongs to the Lord. This is what Jesus’s entire life was about—saving His people from their sins. Jesus didn’t run away from God’s rules, but obeyed every one of them so that his righteous life could be given to those who believe in him. Jesus didn’t run away from the pain and agony of the cross, but endured the cross with JOY so that the sins of those who believe in him could be forgiven—wiped clean. His life and death are a resounding proclamation that Salvation Belongs to God. You cannot turn anywhere else. Nothing else will truly cleans your sins and equip you to live a life pleasing to God. You can only find this salvation in Jesus Christ.
It’s also important to know that you can never be so far away that you can’t turn back in repentance. You can never run so far that God isn’t right behind you, ready to hear your prayer of repentance, ready to hear you ask forgiveness. You may FEEL like God has turned his back on you. You may FEEL like you have been driven away from God’s face. You may FEEL like you are beyond forgiveness—beyond salvation. Yet, to be blunt, your feelings don’t matter in that moment. The truth of the matter is God is ready to hear your prayer of repentance. If you call on Him in your distress, He WILL hear your cry. If you repent and turn to Him in faith, He WILL bring your life up from the pit, forgive all your sins, credit his righteousness to your account, and empower you to live a life that pleases Him. God WILL do it. He is faithful when we are not. So, turn to Him, experience His faithfulness and His salvation. Salvation belongs to the Lord.