Salvation By Drowning

Jonah 1:17–2:10 (ESV)
17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish,
2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,
and he answered me;*
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O LORD my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jonah: A Story of God’s Grace

How can we transform a tomb of death into a womb of transformation?
1) Crying out to God
2) Conviction in God’s Sovereignty
3) Contemplate the Cross

“I called out to the LORD”

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”
CS Lewis

“For you cast me into the deep”

The sailors threw Jonah overboard, but because it did happen it must have been under the determining hand of God.

“yet I shall again look”
“I remembered the LORD”

Jonah contemplating the Temple

Meeting God over the Law

Two ways to contemplate the cross
1) Do I think too little of my sin?
2) Do I think too little of God’s grace?

B. GROUP DISCUSSION

1) Read Jonah 2. What are some themes that stand out to you in his prayer? What is his posture?

2) When you are in deep suffering, do you find it hard or easy to “call out” to God? Explain
Why do you think some never do?

3) Why does Jonah say that God had cast him into the deep when the sailors did it? How can we put into practice the sovereignty of God? Why is it also a mystery that is hard for us to understand?

4) Jonah thought of the temple. He remembered the temple. Explain what happened at the temple, and what it would mean for an ancient Hebrew to think about it? What do you think Jonah is considering that gave him hope?

5) What does it mean to look at (contemplate/consider) the cross. How did Jesus replace the temple? The sacrifice. The priest. The curtain. The ark…etc.

6) Prayer and praise