A Day a Prophet Repents.
Repentance leads to Life. (Lessons from Jonah 2)
Jonah at Sea.
Imagine being alone, in the cold, in the dark, hungry, at sea, in distress, and your skin and hair soaked in salt-water. You are not sure if you will get out of your circumstances, this just might be the end. Your last human contact was with sailors picking you up and throwing you into the heart of the raging sea (Jonah 1:15-16). For seventy hours plus in the belly of a whale, Jonah’s mind is racing, he probably thought – I should have just listened to “the Word of the Lord” (Jonah 1:-3), that is Prophet 101 basics and Jonah failed. We all fail at times, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(Romans 3:23).
The Lord corrects those He Loves.
The story of the runaway prophet Jonah in chapter 2 (Jonah 2:1-10) is short, only ten verses, but leaves much to the imagination as to how and why the Lord corrects His own. The scriptures inform that the Lord disciplines those he loves (Proverbs 3:12). Jonah thought it was a good idea to not only reject (Jonah 1:1) “the Word of the Lord” but to run from His presence (Jonah 1:3, 1:10). This was a correction Jonah would never forget. God in His wisdom decided it would be beneficial for His people to know this lesson for all of eternity. Jonah’s discipline, training, and instruction was equivalent to Hell Week for the U.S. Navy Seals but for Jonah it was spiritual warfare training to make him an instrument and an ambassador to call a people to turn from their wicked ways.
Before Jonah could tell others to repent, he had to repent himself.
Failure will often reveal purpose.
Some of you may remember the Watergate scandal in the early 1970’s. One of the government officials caught up in the scandal was Charles “Chuck” Colson who later would become a believer in Jesus Christ and was the founder of Prison Fellowship International. After experiencing shame and failure through Watergate and being sent to prison, he wrote in his book, Loving God:
“…the real legacy of my life was my biggest failure—that I was an ex-convict. My greatest humiliation—being sent to prison—was the beginning of God’s greatest use of my life; He chose the one thing in which I could not glory for His glory.”
Jonah’s failure would reveal the next step in his call to be a chosen instrument, to be a Prophet speaking God’s Word to the Lost. Failure in God’s kingdom is not fatal but can shape us for a greater purpose.
God rescues those who Call to Him. When we call He listens.
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said: In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.” - Jonah 2:1-2
The word ‘cry out’ is replaced with ‘preach’, ‘call or called’, or ‘proclaim’. Just to provide insight, the word in Hebrew is “Qara” and it used eight times in the book of Jonah (1:2, 1:6, 1:14, 2:2, 3:2, 3:4, 3:5, 3:8).
The definition of Qara is: “To cry out, call; to name; to proclaim, pronounce; preach; to summon to court, invite. Essentially denotes the enunciation of a specific message which is usually address to a specific recipient and intended to elicit a specific response.”
The bible is filled with stories of people who cried out and called/prayed in distress and the Lord answered and rescued them including:
David (Psalm 34:6), Issac (Genesis 25:21), sons of Israel (Exodus 2:23), Hagar (Genesis 16:13), Hannah (1st Samuel 1:9-20), Jehoshaphat (2nd Chronicles 18:31), Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2), Lot (2nd Peter 2:7-9), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (Daniel 3:16-25) as examples.
An Open Invitation.
There is an open invitation to the entire world to call to the one who can rescue and deliver. Repeated throughout the scriptures, replace ‘whoever, or everyone” with your name.
“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered…” - Joel 2:32
“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” - Acts 2:21
“for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:13
When Jonah prayed inside the whale, it was a prayer of repentance. God honors those who repent. This verse is a anchor for the soul. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” - 1st John 1:9
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” - CS Lewis
“True repentance is a turning from sin . . . Humanly speaking, it is our small part in the plan of salvation. Our part is repenting. God will do the converting, the transforming, and the forgiving.” - Billy Graham
A few questions closing questions:
What are some natural consequences to rejecting God’s Word? (See Romans 1:18-32)
How has God disciplined or corrected you? (See Hebrews 12:11)
Read Jonah 2:1-10, in what ways was Jonah delivered from death? (See Romans 6:23).
How has God used failures in your own life to reveal different things to you?
How has God answered you when in distress or a difficult circumstance?
How can repentance lead to growth in life and in relationships? (See 2nd Chronicles 7:14, Luke 15:7, Romans 10:9-10)
For further questions or prayer requests, please email thesaltandlightdaily@gmail.com
Good thoughts, Paul. We constantly need to be reminded that it is not about us, but His purpose for us ...
Great lesson!!!