IN chapter 2 of Jonah we find the prophet in great distress, and in the form of a prayer we enter into his experience and how he dealt with it. His distress was very severe for he was facing great suffering which would lead to his death.

The fact is that distress is the lot of all human beings, and everyone of us have to face the distress of a final distress which leads to our death. This may be through illness, or some temporal experience such an accident, or violence against us. The Christian is not immune from such distress, and with regard to the approach of death, we face a further addition to our distress because we know the terror of eternal death and hell, and Satan sometimes is able to use this against us, and terrify us and threaten our faith and comfort in the Lord. Such assaults can be very terrible as Satan can take from us all sense of the present love of God, and we are left to hold on to naked faith in the Word of God we have received and believed, without the sense of assurance that we are loved by the Lord. The Word of truth assures that we are loved, but our feelings do not back up that knowledge. The same can be true when we face severe trials in life, for Satan is always waiting for opportunities to afflict the believer. He did this with Christ when he was tempted in the wilderness, and Jesus had simply to stand on the truth of God's Word, and we may have to do the same, and as Paul tells us at the end of Ephesians, “and after you have done everything, to stand”.

This chapter 2 of Jonah leads us into both the experience of severe distress that Jonah suffered, and also into the way and means he used to face this distress, and to stand in faith. This is why this chapter is so rewarding when we spend time meditating upon it.

How many sermons we shall spend in this chapter I do not know at this stage, but all will be under this general title of “The Christian in distress”. I hope this will be valuable. I don't think this subject is tackled very often in sermons or bible studies, and that is sad. Sometimes we are made to feel that there is something seriously wrong with our spiritual life if we suffer doubts and experiences such as Jonah describes. If we are truly living close to the Lord, it is implied we should not suffer fear or terror when distresses come upon us, and that at the contemplation of and experience of death we should rise above all fears in the assurance of the Gospel. We read of the triumphant testimony at death which are recorded in the life of other Christians, and this is set before us as the norm. However not all are privileged to be blessed in that way, and I expect that most, and I include myself in this, know fear in distress and at the thought of death, in spite of our faith. Jonah's experience I find is very helpful in such fear.

GETTING INTO JONAH'S EXPERIENCE.

Before we address this chapter I feel it might be helpful to look into the experience here which Jonah suffered.

Jonah was thrown over the side of the ship by the sailors. He had told the sailors that this is what God willed should happen, but I have no doubt that Jonah was not immune to the fears that necessarily fill the mind at the consequences of being thrown into the raging sea.

As Jonah sank beneath the waves he knew God was doing this to him, and that it was because of his sinful disobedience. Here is the first lever Satan could have used to terrify the prophet. Satan brings our sins before our eyes and suggests that we can not expect that God will be gracious to us because of them, and suggests doubts as to our salvation.

Then Jonah would have suffered all the pain of drowning as he struggled with the waves, and then in seeing the big fish come, and that he was powerless to avoid being sucked into its jaws, and in the inevitable experience of being sucked down into the fishes stomach.

All this could not but have brought much terror. Yet as we read the chapter one thing is clear, and that is Jonah held on to God. This is the way of the true believer. Whatever fears we have, and doubt that may be raised in our minds, we hold on to our faith in God.

Jonah knew, as we know and will know, that he was in the hands of God for good or ill, and that we rely on the promise of the Gospel that as we have been brought to faith in Christ, God will not allow us to be lost, but having begun a good work in us, he will continue it unto the day of Jesus Christ. This anchor for the mind and soul is something specific to the Christian, and is an anchor that can not be broken. This anchor the world does not know, and that is the tragedy for all who are not God's children through faith in Jesus Christ.

In contemplating this experience of Jonah, I am in some dilemma. I am prepared to believe that God was able, and did, make it possible to breathe in the belly of the fish, but as we all know, apart from a miracle Jonah could not have possibly remained conscious for long without being able to breathe. In this situation I find myself seeing the miracle rather in terms of death and resurrection. As Jonah was sucked into the fish and was still conscious, all the thoughts and prayers he voices in this chapter would have been lifted up to God. It is a common testimony of those who have had the experience of drowning, that a multitude of thoughts can race through the mind in that short space of time. Then God, either by a resurrection from death, or holding Jonah in some sort of suspended animation, made it possible for Jonah to breathe again when the fish vomited him up on to the land, and without any damage to his mind or body. Whatever the truth is, it is plain that God performed a sovereign act of power which transcended what is normally possible. We can not face the history of Jonah without having to accept the miracle here. If not we destroy the historicity of Jonah, and leave the whole book in the realm of myth. I believe no true believer can do this, and so must and does accept the miracle in Jonah's life and death experience.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD.

The question why God dealt with Jonah in this way that he did is another question which seems unavoidably to rise in the mind. Whether it is right to speculate on this question I am not sure, but I believe that there is some value in pursuing this question.

It is plain that Jonah's experience in the waves and the fish was a consequence of his disobedience, and so we learn that disobedience does bring its consequences for the believer which can't be avoided.

Jonah remained a child of God, and was never rejected by God, but God caused him to go through this awful experience, and therefore it was in the good purpose of God both for Jonah, and I believe for all of us who read his story.

Firstly, God does chastise his servants when they go the wrong way, but we are assured in the New Testament that this has a good purpose which is for the believers eternal blessing. Paul tells us that no chastisement is pleasant when we are made to experience it, but that it brings forth in our lives the peaceable fruits of righteousness. It is the experience of believers that after we have come through some distress we find that God has worked good in our lives, and this has been a deepening of our knowledge and fellowship with Jesus, and real growth in our spiritual life.

Secondly, from Jonah's experience we have already found that we have been taught deep things concerning Christ our Saviour. Jonah's experience therefore has been used by God for the good and blessing of his church all down the running centuries.

Thirdly, we are able to learn from Jonah's experience important things about living with God and Jesus, and by this we are strengthened and taught how to face distress and trials in our lives.

Fourthly, the fact was that Jonah could not stay on the ship if he was to return into the will of God. The ship was bound for a destination in the opposite direction. Jonah had to get off the ship, and the way was to be thrown overboard with all the consequences which that involved. The truth is that if we take a course in our lives that is contrary to the will of God, the farther we journey in that wrong direction, the great will be the difficulty and trial in getting back in the right way. This is something we need to consider seriously at those times when we may be tempted to stray from the Lord. In such situations the experience of returning into the way of the Lord will require complete surrender into the hands of God, and trust in God that whatever the cost, he will hold us and bring us through safely in the way of his will and his righteousness.

Jonah's example is very powerful. In all his experience he never questioned God. He humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, and proved that God raises up his servants in his good time.

THE EXAMPLE OF JONAH.

The example of Jonah, as is recorded for us in the 1st verse of this 2nd chapter is powerful and needs to be taken to heart.

Firstly, He held fast to his faith in God. He stood on the assurance that the Lord was his God, and that in spite of his failure and sin, God was still his God, and would not forsake him. Here is the faith of the believer. We are saved by grace. God chose us in sovereign grace, and for no other reason. We were given the gift of faith and salvation, not because we had any merit to commend us, but simply by the sovereign will and purpose of God. God saved us by his grace, and when we are brought face to face with our sin and failure, and suffer chastisement, our God is still dealing with us in grace, and this means having made us his children and promised to be our God by gracious sovereign choice, God will never go back on his saving love. This we must never allow Satan to take from us.

Then Secondly, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. Jonah knew God as his Lord. God was his sovereign and his Father, and so he turned to God in his need,and laid all his burden before the Lord, and left it in his hands.

Paul tells us in Philippians that we have no need to be anxious, because we bring all our troubles to the Lord in earnest prayer, and leave them with the Lord, assured that he will take care of everything for us.