God’s Mercy in Jonah 2: Hope for the Rebel and the Broken

God’s Mercy Revealed: Jonah’s Prayer from the Fish

This post is Part 2 of my series on the Book of Jonah. You can read Part 1 here.

Swallowed Alive

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
—Jonah 1:17

Jonah 1 ends with Jonah being swallowed by a great fish. Many are tempted to interpret Jonah’s story as an allegory, but since the first chapter reads like a story, and makes perfect sense without us having to determine what the ship represents, or what the storm represents, etc. Then we should be consistent and also read Jonah being swallowed alive by a great fish as a historical fact.

The historical nature of this occurrence is substantiated by Christ’s reference to it as a figure of his own burial and resurrection. The antitype confirms the truth of the type. It is not credible that Christ would use a mere legendary tale, with no historical basis, to confirm his most solemn statement concerning the momentous fact of his resurrection.
—H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Jonah, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 6.

Many try to guess what fish could have possibly swallowed Jonah; some even call it a whale. The biblical text does not provide us with enough information to determine the kind of fish it was. I refrain from calling it a whale simply because the text refers to the creature as a “great fish.” I am content to use the description the text gives. If you have a personal theory and want to share it with me in the comments, I am open to it. Let’s just keep in mind that our personal opinions regarding the identity of the fish are just that, our personal opinion or speculation, and they are not worth fighting over. Let us not miss the forest for the trees. Too many people get caught up debating the fish and miss the theological lessons the story of Jonah offers us.

With that said, I believe it is worth considering what it might have felt like to be swallowed alive by a great fish. It definitely was not a pleasant experience. Death by drowning sounds awful, but death by slow digestion in a cramped and smelly space does not sound much better. I looked up how warm it would be inside a fish and came across a paper published on PubMed Central titled "Effects of temperature on feeding and digestive processes in fish."

As most fish are ectotherms, their physiology is strongly affected by temperature. Temperature affects their metabolic rate and thus their energy balance and behavior, including locomotor and feeding behavior. Temperature influences the ability/desire of the fish to obtain food, and how they process food through digestion, absorb nutrients within the gastrointestinal tract, and store excess energy.
—Helene Volkoff (Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada)

Extrapolating from this, and to be clear, this is completely speculative on my part, I wonder if the great fish swam to deep waters, which would have been cold, and if the cold temperatures slowed the digestive process. This is not a hill I am willing to die on, but I imagine Jonah being cold, scared, and miserable. Each time he breathes, it is the worst smell he has ever smelled in his life. Maybe he even threw up, only to be stuck there with contents that had previously been in his stomach. The stomach acid of the fish likely did not feel great against Jonah’s face.

You probably don’t want to imagine this with me, but I believe that it can help us appreciate what happens next in the story. I know you’re ready to move on, and would rather argue about what known species of fish or whales could have swallowed an adult man whole. But I want to push the discomfort a bit further. Do you think that Jonah would have been thirsty? Hungry? Do the contents in the fish’s stomach slosh against his face as he tries to breathe? Does Jonah experience a panic attack? Does he begin to hyperventilate? How does he go to the bathroom? I won’t describe how I imagine these things, but I’ll let you consider these questions.

You could argue that God can work miracles, and He definitely can. You can argue that God could make the fish smell like fresh mountain air, and that the fish had also miraculously swallowed a comfortable bed that miraculously stayed dry, an oil lamp, and Jonah’s favorite reading materials. These are possibilities with God, who can do anything. But I believe we do Jonah a disservice when we imagine his experience as a minor inconvenience.

I have heard it said that it is impossible to separate biography from theology, so I read this story based on my life experiences. Though God has mercifully kept me alive all these years, He has not made my life a bed of roses, always comfortable. I have experienced my fair share of discomfort with God as my hope and my rock. God carried me through the discomfort, but I definitely experienced the discomfort. Therefore, I imagine Jonah experiencing extreme discomfort but miraculously surviving. Miraculously, there was enough oxygen for him to breathe. Miraculously, Jonah remained alive. But I do not imagine him being comfortable.

In the belly of the fish, we have Jonah’s first recorded prayer.

What you feed your mind

The day of the competition is not the time ot start training. We all know how to run, right? Kids do it all the time; it's just one foot in front of the other. So let’s all go out tomorrow morning and run a marathon! I have been dabbling in running recently, and I am learning to appreciate the finer details of this simple activity.

It is not a stretch to apply the same principles to our theology and prayer life. We can tell ourselves that we know that God is mighty and that He loves us. That Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that in Him we have the assurance of eternal life. We can say that prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. It’s just like saying that running is putting one foot in front of the other. It is not wrong, it is not difficult. So why can’t you run a marathon tomorrow?

Imagine with me. Jonah finds himself thrown from a boat and sinking into the ocean. The water is cold. The sea is stormy, the waves are tall and angry. He struggles to swim, but his clothes are wet and heavy, wrapping around his legs and making it difficult. He is struggling to keep his head above water. The sky is dark and the water all around him is pitch black. He feels himself beginning to drown. This is it. This is the end.

Jonah, in his panic, does not notice a dark shadow growing under him. A great fish is swimming towards him. The next thing Jonah notices is that he is still alive.

A song comes to mind.

“Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on
Far across the distance and spaces between us
You have come to show you go on”

Wait, those lyrics are not very helpful in this situation, sorry Celine. So Jonah digs deeper in his memory, and other lyrics come to mind.

“I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter.”

That one is not very encouraging at all. Relatable, but not helpful.

So Jonah thinks a bit harder, and other song lyrics come to mind.

“Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around
And desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie
And hurt you.”

Close enough!

What you feed your mind during easy times is what you will recall to help you get through the hard times. It is easy and comfortable to just seek distraction. It makes sense to seek pleasure; consumerism is soothing. Not feeling great? Buy this new thing that will help you feel better. Change is hard, just take the pill. The Bible is boring and hard to read. Just scroll through Christian motivational posts on social media; it's basically the same thing.

Why read the Bible and wrestle with an ancient text that has shaped civilizations when you can feast on the Christian equivalent of junk food? Why ponder eternal questions when you can repeat talking points you hear others say? Why read the Bible for yourself when others can tell you what it says?

Let’s take it a step further. Why read the Bible when you can just ask an AI chatbot? There are AI models that have access to all the writings in the Bible; it is so much easier to just ask it questions than to try to think through it on your own.

So let’s ask AI the best way to run a marathon and go run one tomorrow morning!

No shortcuts

You cannot microwave your faith. AI cannot make you suddenly trust in God. As we discussed in my previous post, Jonah is far from perfect. But as we will discover, he seems to have a familiarity with the Psalms. Maybe he sang them often, because there are echoes of many psalms in his prayer, which is written as a poem or possibly a song. In the belly of the great fish, Jonah begins to sing a prayer.

When he realizes that he was saved from drowning, he uttered his gratitude, and saw that he might hope for further rescue 
—H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Jonah, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 43.

Jonah’s prayer

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly. 2 And he said:

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
—Jonah 2:1-2 NKJV

When you look at the second chapter of Jonah in many Bibles, you will notice that the indentation changes. This is to signify that you are reading poetry. Hebrew poetry does not rhyme; it is identifiable by structural and linguistic features rather than rhyme. (More on Hebrew Poetry here) Most of us would struggle to recognize Hebrew poetry when reading its translation. So the translators make it easier by changing the English text's indentation to indicate that we are reading a poem or song.

Because Jonah 2 is almost entirely a song, we must interpret it differently from a simple narrative. As you probably expect by now, biblical scholars have struggled with Jonah’s prayer. Some even argue that it does not belong to the story and was likely added later by a scribe. I believe the psalm belongs to the story and was included originally because it makes a significant contribution, showing Jonah’s desire to pray to God, a significant change from his refusal to pray while on the boat (see Jonah 1).

Also without the psalm the message of the Lord’s mercy, love, and forgiveness would be weakened. The book’s major irony would also be missing, that Jonah could accept thankfully the Lord’s merciful forgiveness but deny it to the Ninevites.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 244.

A point worth noting is that verse 1 describes Jonah as praying to the LORD his God.

This echo is probably intended to tell us that, when he prays, Jonah has at long last submitted to the authority of his God (cf. Deut. 17:19). This expression also appears in the body of the psalm (v. 7), but there it expresses the intimacy of gratitude.
—Uriel Simon, Jonah, JPS Bible Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1999), 19.

Echoes of Psalms

Jonah’s prayer is reminiscent of Psalm 120:1

In my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.
—Psalm 120:1 NKJV

As well as Psalm 18:5-6

5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
—Psalm 18:5-6 NKJV

Familiarity with scriptures shapes our relationship with God and helps us know who God is and what He is like. This helps us have confidence when we approach Him in prayer and when we face life’s challenges. When I read about King David (the author of many of the Psalms) crying out to God, I am encouraged to do likewise.

To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:
Do not be silent to me,
Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
—Psalm 28:1-2 NKJV

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
—Psalm 130:1-2 NKJV

Should you ever find yourself at rock bottom, when everything that could go wrong went wrong, and maybe it was even your own fault, you can cry out to God just like the psalmist did. These psalms give us hope that we can cry out to God because others who have gone before us have done likewise and found God’s mercy.

Into the deep

3 For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
—Jonah 2:3-4 NKJV

Jonah’s prayer continues to echo the psalms. This time it reminds the reader of Psalm 42:7 and 88:6-7, both of which mention waves and billows going over the psalmist. Apparently, the symbolism of being in the depths of the ocean covered by waves was a metaphor for despair, death, and destruction, and now Jonah has an experience where he can literally experience that imagery.

I take an issue with verse 3. I realize that Jonah is shaping his prayer based on Psalms, but I am bothered by his wording here. Though some commentators highlight God’s sovereignty, they argue that although the sailors threw Jonah into the ocean, it was really God who was in control. I am not denying that, but I would argue that it was Jonah’s fault that those men even had to throw him into the ocean. It’s not like Jonah was just minding his business and God randomly cast him into the deep. Maybe it's just me, but I sure wish Jonah had taken the opportunity to take some ownership of his poor choices and confessed his rebellion against God’s will at this point. (Ok, rant over, back to analyzing the text.)

Jonah 2:4 is very similar to Psalm 31:22, expressing the feeling of being cut off from God’s protection, yet being heard by God when praying to Him.

As good as dead

5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord, my God.

7 “When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.
—Jonah 2:5-6NKJV

Jonah 2:5 reminds us of Psalm 18:4-5 and Psalm 69:1-2, 15. While Jonah 2:6 echoes Psalm 18:15 and Psalm 30:1-6. Jonah’s prayer is the personal testimony of a prayer from the depths of adversity that was heard and answered (see Psalm116:1–2). Jonah 2:7 is similar to Psalm 142:3; 143:4; Psalm 119:55.

Jonah prays to God, almost quoting God’s word back to Him. Though Jonah rebelled and ran away from God, we see that Jonah knows the Bible, and in his moment of distress, the words of scripture shaped his heart’s plea to God. Jonah recognizes that God spared his life from the brink of death and that God heard his prayer from His holy temple in heaven.

This is one of the many “but God” verses in the Bible (e.g., Gen 8:1; 45:7; 50:20; Josh 14:12; Pss 37:13, 17, 33; 49:15; John 1:18; Acts 2:24; 3:15; 10:40; 13:30; Rom 5:8; 1 Cor 1:27; 2 Cor 7:6; Eph 2:4; Phil 2:27). Jonah had been retrieved by God from a hopeless situation. The God from whom Jonah thought he was banished had reached down and pulled him out of death and despair, showing that he was still “Yahweh my God.” Jonah was overcome with praise for his God, who had shown him such compassionate grace.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 249–250.

Jonah is an Old Testament prodigal son; in his last moments, he thought of the One alone who could help him, the Creator and controller of the sea. (Allen, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, 217–18. See also Gaebelein, Servant and Dove, 104.)

Temple? (tangent)

The last phrase of v. 7 is identical in Hebrew to the final phrase of v. 4. However, there is no proof that the earthly temple in Jerusalem was intended here. For example, Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8 shows the ideas of the earthly temple and the heavenly dominion of God as closely related. Simply, Jonah knew that his prayer reached God’s heart.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 250–251.

Grateful for mercy

8 “Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own Mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.”
—Jonah 2:8-9 NKJV

Verse 8 is similar to Psalm 31:6, which rejects idols as useless, and to Psalm 144:2 and Psalm 59:17, which present God as deliverer. Those who regard idols will miss the grace and mercy that could be theirs if they turned to God. Jonah does not need an idol close by to reach God. God is always just a prayer away.

It is ironic to read Jonah’s words about those who regard worthless idols. I wonder what his thoughts are about those who disregard the true God; would it not be the same? Would it not be accurate to say that those who disregard the LORD forsake their own mercy?

Jonah imagines that it was the sailors who worshipped vain idols when, in fact, it is he who has been unfaithful to Yahweh. It could be that the book of Jonah was being addressed to those who had forsaken their love of the Lord, preferring instead empty things. Such people would be Israelites, like Jonah. On the lips of Jonah there is much irony in the words of verse 8. As we shall see, he longed for a god who was made in his own likeness rather than the Creator in whose image Jonah was made. Jonah’s dream-god was, in effect, theologically and morally bankrupt, no better than the empty idols of the pagans. All who long for such a god forsake their ‘true loyalty’.
—Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 143.

Reflecting on these verses, A.R. Fausset points out that “Jonah’s idol was self-will, which he had set up above God’s will,” and that we must “learn to consider self-will the enemy of our own mercy.” (A. R. Fausset, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Jeremiah–Malachi, vol. IV (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 578.)

Jonah 2:9 has similarities to Psalm 42:5, where the Psalmist Hopes in God and looks forward to praising Him. The payment of vows is mentioned in Psalms 50:14; 66:13-17; 116:12-19. Finally, salvation is of the Lord mentioned in Psalm 3:8; 118:14, 21. Jonah would not know it at the time, but the sailors also sacrificed to the LORD and took vows (Jonah 1:16).

Repentance?

Did Jonah repent? Does he even recognize that he did anything wrong?

We should ask, though, why his prayer resembles a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance rather than a psalm of entreaty, as we might expect. An even greater difficulty is that the psalm concludes with a ceremonial promise to fulfill his vow and offer thanksgiving sacrifices in the Temple, while totally omitting the main point—an entreaty to be forgiven for his flight and a promise to repent and undertake his mission to Nineveh.
—Uriel Simon, Jonah, JPS Bible Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1999), 15.

Maybe Jonah’s prayer is just the best he can do at the time. Jonah chose a psalm of thanksgiving and vows rather than one of regret and repentance. Perhaps this was the best he was capable of at the time. He was forced to submit to the greater might of God, but he is still very far from recognizing God’s justice and therefore states only the praises of God, who holds the keys of life and death and who answers those who call upon Him in their distress. (Uriel Simon, 16)

In Jonah’s life, God revealed himself by inspiration, by chastisement, and now by mercy. The essence of Jonah’s deliverance is the renewal of his communion with God. I am amazed by God’s love and mercy, sparing his rebellious prophet even though Jonah had not humbled himself and confessed his sin and rebellion. God seems less concerned with formalities and cold procedure and far more interested in the posture of the heart and the trajectory of the life.

Whether for Jonah or ourselves, the great wonder of this kind of prayer is that our Lord, in his great love towards us, condescends to deliver us out of our frequently self-inflicted mess. Here is a God more willing to hear than we are to pray, a God who knows the words on our lips before we speak them, but who longs for us to speak them so that we may know he has heard our prayer.
—Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 141.

If you forget everything else I wrote in this post, remember this:
God is more willing to listen to your prayers than you are to pray to Him.
Whenever you wonder whether or not you should pray to God, the answer is a resounding “YES” call out to God. God wants to save, God loves you, and this is because of who He is and His great love for you; it has nothing to do with you deserving His help. You just have to recognize and remember that God is able and willing to save.

A merciful God

Many understand God’s justice as His right dealings with His people. The book of Jonah expands this view to include that the true nature of God is most fully expressed by the quality of his mercy. It is in mercy that God deals with Jonah. This is shown in His compassion towards the prophet, the sailors, the people of Nineveh, and even their animals. The absolute prerogative of any ruler is mercy, and God leans into mercy to the point of annoying His followers. (see Matthew 20:1-16 and the parable of the workers in the vineyard, as well as Luke 15:11-32 and the parable of the prodigal son.)

Salvation is of the Lord. It belongs to him. It is not of the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, the righteous or the holy; it is of the Lord.
—Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 151.

Salvation is ultimately about God, but we keep making it about us. The Bible makes it clear that God’s chosen people frequently fail in their calling. Jonah is no exception in this regard. Those of us who claim to be God’s people must tell the story of His salvation, bear witness to it, be transformed by it, and know its joy—but ultimately our salvation is of the Lord. Deliverance does not belong to us, whether we are Jews or Christians, etc. It is from the living God, who unfailingly persists in wooing the hearts of His people. The living God is not in the pocket of any people. His deliverance is divinely dynamic. (ibid.)

Jonah’s prayer demonstrates his experience of deliverance as an expression of God’s unfailing and undeserved mercy. He called to the LORD in his distress and the LORD answered him. God’s response to Jonah’s call restored a broken relationship. The prophet’s actions were spurred by his realization that ultimately God was all that he had. This realization opened the door to new life and fresh possibilities.

Upchucked

10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
—Jonah 2:10 NKJV

The narrative from Jonah 1:17 is now resumed. God commanded the fish, and to Jonah’s great joy, the fish obeyed and vomited Jonah. Imagine if the fish had decided to disobey God as Jonah had? Imagine if the fish had cared more about nourishing his own body than obeying God? Technically, Jonah did not apologize to God or ask for forgiveness, so the fish could have argued for keeping its dinner. I know that this is silly, but I think it is worth pondering when we consider disobeying God out of convenience. Imagine if all nature behaved similarly.

Speaking to fish? (tangent)

I find it fascinating that God spoke to the fish. God did not force the fish or make the fish vomit, but rather spoke to it. Maybe this is nothing, but maybe this shows a special relationship that God has with animals that we are not aware of. This reminds me of 1 Kings 17:4, where God commands the ravens to feed Elijah. (see my post Becoming Elijah) and even Numbers 22:28, where God opens the mouth of the donkey, and she speaks to Balaam. It does not say that God spoke through the donkey, but rather that He gave the donkey the ability to speak. Also, at the end of the story of Jonah, chapter 4, verse 11, God seems concerned with the livestock as well as the people. This is not a hill I am willing to die on, but I think it is worth considering that there may be more to animals than we realize at first glance.

The chapter closes with Jonah back on dry land, though the text is not clear where the great fish vomited Jonah. What is clear is that Jonah is returned to dry land and is no longer in danger of drowning.

This chapter may be the “happiest” section in the entire book. These verses contain the story of miracle and grace, praise and thanksgiving, deliverance and renewed hope. In this chapter the poor fish is relieved of its cargo (few ever express sympathy for the difficult days of this marine creature).
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 253.

I found an interesting insight from John Chrysostom (lived from AD 347-407) regarding Jonah’s experience with the great fish.

This was for the purpose of teaching thee, that as no ship can be of any use to him who is living in sin, so him who has put away his sin, the sea cannot drown, nor monsters destroy. Of a truth, the waves received, but they did not suffocate him. The whale received him, but did not destroy him; but both the animal and the element gave back to God unhurt that with which they were entrusted; and by all these things the prophet was taught to be humane and merciful; and not to be more cruel than wild beasts, or thoughtless sailors, or unruly waves. 
—John Chrysostom, “The Homilies on the Statues,” in Saint Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statues, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. W. R. W. Stephens, vol. 9, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889), 378.

Takeaway

When all is said and done, I have one clear takeaway from Jonah chapter 2, and that is you are never too far gone to return to God. Your prayer and repentance don’t have to be perfect; just turn to God, talk to Him, He wants to save you.

Let the backslider take courage from the instance of Jonah, and not despair as if he were hopelessly lost.
—A. R. Fausset, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Jeremiah–Malachi, vol. IV (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 578.

Whenever they are in need the children of God have the precious privilege of appealing to Him for help. It matters not how unsuitable the place may be, God’s ear of mercy is open to their cry. However desolate and dark the place may be, it can be turned into a veritable temple by the praying child of God.
—Francis D. Nichol, ed., The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1977), 1003.