CHAPTER 2

(862 B.C.)

JONAHS PRAYER, REPENTANCE, AND DELIVERANCE

¹Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fishs belly (the three short words, Then Jonah prayed, pertain to the place to which the Holy Spirit had been attempting to bring the Prophet all along),

²And said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the LORD, and He heard me; out of the belly of Hell cried I, and You heard my voice. (In Verses 2 through 9, the Prophet quotes from eight Psalms 120, 43, 31, 69, 18, 116, 3, 142.

Out of the belly of Hell cried I, and You heard my voice, does not mean that Jonah actually went to the burning side of Hell, or even to Paradise [which, in fact, is a part of Hell]. He is using a metaphor, or a symbolism, concerning the terrible ordeal which he experienced.

As well, from the Text, there is no evidence that he literally died and was resurrected, as some teach. It basically refers to destitution and a situation so terrible, from which only the Lord could deliver.

Consequently, and with great joy, he once again says, And You heard my voice.)

³For You had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all Your Billows and Your Waves passed over me. (For You had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, refers to the sailors, as the agents of Divine Will, carrying out this unsavory task.

And the floods compassed me about: all Your Billows and Your Waves passed over me, pertains to the time between when he was thrown into the sea and when he was swallowed up by the great fish. During this time, he thought he was going to drown!

No doubt, his praying commenced at that moment; however, the belly of Hell of Verse 2 is actually speaking of the belly of the great fish.)

⁴Then I said, I am cast out of Your Sight; yet I will look again toward Your Holy Temple. (The first phrase refers to his despair when cast overboard. His words are similar to Ps. 31:22.

Yet I will look again toward Your Holy Temple, refers to him praying to the Lord and importuning Him for Mercy.)

⁵The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. (There is evidence that the ship in which Jonah was sailing was not very far offshore when the storm broke, because the mariners attempted to row back to shore to put Jonah back on land [Vs. 13]. Consequently, the possibility exists that the waters were not so deep at this particular place, and that he could have gone to the bottom, or nearly so, when he was thrown overboard, resulting in weeds being wrapped about his head. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul, refers to Jonah nearly drowning.)

⁶I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the Earth with her bars was about me forever: yet have You brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. (I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the Earth with her bars was about me forever, expresses Jonahs near-drowning experience. Yet have You brought up my life from corruption, has reference to him being saved from drowning and from the corruption of the past few days, referring to his running from God.

He gives the Lord all the Praise and Glory for this great act of Mercy, with the statement, O LORD my God. The phrase shows that Jonah is now back in fellowship with the Lord!)

⁷When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto You, into Your Holy Temple. (The first phrase refers to desperation! The last phrase refers to that desperation causing him to cry unto the Lord!)

⁸They who observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. (The fact that suffering and self-ruin result from self-will and the negation of God had now become a matter of personal experience to the Prophet, for he had forsaken God and united in travel with idolaters.

Forsake their own mercy, is interesting indeed! It means that God is ready, able, and willing to show Mercy to any and all who will dare to believe Him. To forsake that is to forsake everything!)

⁹But I will sacrifice unto You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. (Salvation is of the LORD, presents the last lesson that proud man consents to learn; for it teaches him that he cannot contribute to his own Salvation for what could Jonah do inside the great fish and so, if man is to be saved, the Salvation must be wholly Divine.

But I will sacrifice unto You with the voice of thanksgiving, refers to the Peace Offering, which Jonah hoped to offer when possible [Lev. 7:11-12].)

¹⁰And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. (And the LORD spoke unto the fish, once again portrays the Lord in total control over all His Creation. The fish quickly obeyed the Lord, while Jonah did not come to this position so easily.)