Out of the belly....

We know Jonah's story. He's the man who tried to run away from God. The Lord gave Jonah a mandate to preach judgment to the city-nation Nineveh. But instead of warning Nineveh, Jonah fled. This story was validated by Christ himself. Jesus said, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). In other words, Jonah's story was as certain as Christ's own burial and resurrection.

So, why did Jonah run? Why did he refuse to obey God's clearly revealed Word? We know he was a godly, praying man. The Lord doesn't choose his servants carelessly. Evidently, he saw something in Jonah. Maybe God chose this man because of his gifts: a powerful voice, or a sensitive ear to hear the Spirit.

It's unclear how much time elapsed between Jonah's call to speak judgment and his decision to run. It could have been weeks or even months. Moreover, the distance from Jerusalem to Joppa was thirty-five miles. If Jonah traveled by foot, he had plenty of time to reconsider his mission. One thing is sure: Jonah heard the Holy Spirit's voice ringing in his ears, every step of the way. The Holy Ghost is the hound of heaven, and when he calls us to service, he doesn't let us go.

I believe Jonah disobeyed because he had no righteous fear of God.

How could such a man drift away from his calling and fall into disobedience? It begins with partial, incomplete knowledge of God's nature. Jonah was given a powerful revelation of God's grace and mercy. He testified, "He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." (Jonah 4:2). He was given the same revelation Moses received, when God revealed his glory to Moses on the mount.

Jonah claimed this revelation was the reason he ran away. By his actions, he was saying, "Lord, you so easily forgive all who repent. Every time you pronounce judgment, you are overcome with mercy. I know you're not going to judge Nineveh. As soon as I prophesy, they'll repent, and you'll pour your grace on them."

Do you see the problem with Jonah's reasoning and it is one we experience today. He's describing only a partial revelation of God's nature. And he's accusing God of being soft on sin. Of course, God is everything Jonah describes here: long-suffering, willing to forgive, ready to pour out abundant grace. I thank God for this marvellous revelation of his nature. It has been the most life-giving truth I've ever known. I love preaching mercy to God's people. But the Bible also speaks of God's holy, righteous nature. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, " (Romans 1:18). Surely Jonah knew this side of God. How could he neglect it?

I believe Jonah had no understanding of the fear of God. If you think of God only as merciful, you'll find it easy to disobey his Word. You'll believe he esteems his warnings lightly, that he doesn't mean what he says. I believe this was the root of Jonah's disobedience. Every true servant has to lay hold of a revelation of the fear of God. I don't mean a fear induced by man, manipulating people to obey. I mean the divine revelation of holy fear as revealed in God's Word: "Fear the Lord, and depart from evil" (Proverbs 3:7).

Such fear has to be sought diligently. And it must be implanted in us by the Holy Spirit: "If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (2:4-5). Like God's mercy, the fear of God is life-giving: "The fear of the Lord is strong confidence" (14:26). "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death" (14:27).

There are dire consequences to all who disobey God's Word. Jonah's disobedience proves this in three ways:

1. We experience disorder, chaos and confusion on all sides.

(Jonah 1:4-5). At times, even godly people face disorder in their lives. Suddenly, everything turns chaotic. But God doesn't keep them in such situations. He delivers them, bringing their lives into his divine order, with joy, peace and comfort. Or, he supplies them with grace to endure.

However, the servant who walks in disobedience faces crisis after crisis. Consider the chaos that Jonah's sin caused. An incredible storm broke out, and the sea began to roar. Sailors dashed about the ship in a frenzy, throwing cargo overboard. They watched in despair as their livelihood sank into the sea. If there were other ships in the area, they had to do the same, fearing for their lives. Oh, the terrible disorder caused by one believer who lives in stubborn disobedience to God's Word. What is disobedience? It's walking contrary to God's revealed Word. This includes every love commandment in the New Testament, from Jesus' words to his apostles.

Where does such disorder come from? Not from the devil, but from God letting down the protective wall. He stirs up storms to awaken his servants, as he did with Jonah: "The Lord sent out a great wind into the sea" (Jonah 1:4).

2. Stubborn disobedience brings a spirit of slumber and apathy.

Jonah was oblivious to the chaos and pain he was causing. Throughout the storm, he "was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep" (Jonah 1:5). Do you see his condition? He was a prisoner to his own disobedience. His sin had started the storm, and now he was helpless to stop it. So, what did he do? He drifted into a spiritual stupor. How could this happen, you ask? It's the result of a prevailing message of "grace only" in the church. This message is only a partial truth of God's nature. Preachers today ignore the doctrine of the holy fear of God. And it's lulling his people into a spiritual stupor.

3. Our disobedience portrays God as weak and powerless.

"The shipmaster came to (Jonah), and said unto him, (Jonah 1:6-10). Jonah's disobedience made the Lord seem vindictive. It appeared that if you crossed Jonah's God, he would hunt you down and scare the hell out of you. Yet this wasn't the case at all. It was a total misrepresentation of God's nature. So, was God mad at Jonah? Was this his revenge on a rebellious servant? Was he saying, "You failed, Jonah. You had your chance, but you've disqualified yourself. Now you're being judged"? No, God wasn't angry with Jonah. He may have been disappointed in him, but he wasn't finished with him. Not in the least.

This whole story is one of mercy and grace. Yes, God had brought on the storm. But he did it to bring Jonah back to himself. The Lord was saying, in essence, "I'll turn nature upside down to restore my disobedient servant. You may be running from me, Jonah, but I won't give up on you. I still love you. And I have called and chosen you. You're still my man for this work."

Note that the captain had to wake Jonah. In this crisis, God's messenger was caught unaware. Jonah tried to testify of God's power, but he had no credibility with the crew. They knew he was living in disobedience, having "fled from the presence of the Lord" (1:10). Jonah's sin had found him out. Likewise, every servant who lives in disobedience loses credibility with the world. They see he has no spiritual authority. When Jonah urged the crew to cast him overboard, they ignored him: "Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to land" (1:13). Their actions said, "Why should we listen to you? While we called out to our gods, you were sleeping. We've got to try to get ourselves out of this." Jonah was utterly powerless. Even if he was spared from this storm, he was in no condition to prophesy to Nineveh. Why would they respect his word, if the ship's crew didn't? Scripture tells us, (1:17).

Jonah described his ordeal as hell.

"Out of the belly of hell cried I" (Jonah 2:2). Why did the Lord take Jonah so low? He was in the belly of a living hell, suspended in darkness, hanging between life and death. Why would a merciful God put a servant through this? I believe Jonah's story shows us how God deals with disobedient servants.

Jonah was in this hell for three days and nights. Yet in all that time, he never prayed. The storm hadn't brought him to his knees. Neither did his brush with death in the whale's belly. Only after three days and nights do we read, "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly" (2:1).

Why didn't Jonah pray before this? It was because he was convinced, "I am cast out of thy sight" (2:4). He described God as having mercy for Nineveh, but Jonah couldn't believe the same mercy for himself. He thought, "I'm a dead man. I can't fall any lower. God has turned his back on me. He hates me for what I did." Nothing could have been further from the truth. When Scripture says, "The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah," the word for prepared means enrolled. God had picked out a huge whale and put an urgency in that creature. So, when Jonah went overboard, the fish was there, ready to swallow him. The Lord was still at work. Yet the devil had succeeded in deceiving Jonah. Who rules the regions of hell, but Satan? Jonah cried, (2:8). The literal Hebrew translation reads, "They who protect or defend a deceiving lie rob themselves of the receiving of mercy." This is what happened with Jonah. His deception had robbed him of any hope of God's grace.

For three days and nights, he was under a horrible delusion. Satan told him, "You've failed. Now life has ended for you. Your disobedience has cost the lives of many who would have turned to the Lord. Not even God can rescue you now. Even if you survive, you'll have eternal regret."

The truth was, God was speeding Jonah on his way to Nineveh. Soon the prophet would be walking in sunlight again. He would preach boldly in the streets as a chosen messenger.

What did God intend through Jonah's belly-of-hell experience? It shows how he allows disobedient servants to face total isolation from everything holy and pure. For a season Jonah knew what it was like to feel dead. He couldn't pray. God had hidden his face, and the prophet had no one to turn to. Hell for Jonah wasn't the seaweed sweeping over him, or being pounded back and forth. It was the sense that God had lifted his hand from his life.

It was all meant to test Jonah in his disobedience. God wasn't demanding, "Now will you obey me, Jonah?" Rather, he was asking, "Whose word will you believe in this awful hell, Jonah? Mine or the devil's?" Finally, we read, "Then Jonah prayed" (2:1). "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee" (2:7). Jonah rushed back to God's loving arms. Then he testified, "Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice" (2:2).

Over the years, I have met many Jonahs and indeed have been one myself. I've ministered to these chosen servants who disobeyed God. Some eventually gave themselves over to Satan's lying vanities. Some were lost and died in their sin. But others repented out of the belly of their hell and were restored. Today, God is using them mightily again, as pastors, teachers, evangelists, lay workers. In every case, these restored saints gave themselves to prayer, crying out to the Lord.

Jonah is also a type of the disobedient church.

In every period of extreme wickedness, God calls his church to warn society of coming judgment. His Spirit commands us all, "Rise up and warn your city, your family, your nation. I have endured enough of this wickedness." Today, the wickedness in our western society far exceeds that of Nineveh. Those ancient people didn't have a bible to shine heavens' light into their hearts like we do. They had no Bible, no churches, no Christian media. Yet as modern believers we have all of these things yet in many things we are led by disobedience and a definite lack of the fear of the Lord.

Will you be obedient to what the Lord has asked you to do? Many times when HE asks we are unwilling to abandon our security and comfort and continue to live in a false reality. We must choose faith when we want to walk in a different direction. This is not only Jonah’s story this is our story in spite of obstacles and barriers.

Years ago, the Lord brought me into a literal dream in that I (and Christians everywhere) had erected barriers in our own hearts; barriers of unbelief to such an extent that they became paralyzing in many respects. But as I approached every barrier there became a realization that each was like paper-thin material when in the natural they looked like high mountains of opposition. As I passed through each and every barrier, one by one my faith increased for the next and so on. Barriers are meant for you to overcome not in you but through the awesomeness of Christ. Jonah’s barrier is no different than our own.

In Jonah's day, the ships of Tarshish represented prosperity. Solomon built a Tarshish fleet of ships to increase Israel's wealth. But God destroyed those boats. Today, like Jonah, many believers are slumbering aboard our ship called prosperity. But now the Lord has brought a barrier, shaking our ship of state. Pandemic or no pandemic we have a great opportunity to bring the message of the cross to those like those of Nineveh in the days of Jonah.

North America is still living with fear. Now is clearly the time for God's praying, discerning servants to rise up and warn of judgment. Like the crew on Jonah's ship, masses of ungodly people are asking Christians, "Why is this storm happening? Where is God in all this?" Yet, tragically, the church has lost its credibility in the eyes of the world.

But the Lord has his way of waking his church and bringing it to prayer. Right now, many are only seeing the storm when there is a great opportunity for kingdom advancement. I know many of you don't want to hear this kind of message. We'd all rather believe we'll somehow be given a lifeboat and avoid going into the belly of suffering. But in reality, the whale's belly is God's ultimate act of mercy. He has tried to bring us to repentance by his goodness, showering us with blessings. But we've grown fat in our prosperity and forsaken him even more. Now the Lord is saying, "I don't know how else to save you except through this kind of dark hell. Maybe in the belly of a broken economy you'll wake up.

Perhaps as you face a time of panic and fear, you'll return to your calling." Think about the direction you are headed in; are you sailing towards Nineveh or away from it? You are loved beyond any form of measurement. Be excited in the belly of your fish bringing you to your appointed place and destiny. Much love!