1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,200 Hey everybody, welcome to today's Beach Talk in Jonah chapter 2. 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:09,040 I love to help us understand every word of God that's in the word of God in this chapter 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:10,040 of the Bible. 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:11,280 This is really exciting. 5 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,280 My objective is simple and always the same. 6 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,920 It's disciples making disciples who plant churches that plant churches so that Jesus 7 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:24,000 can continue to be a beautiful grassroots movement all over the world. 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:31,400 Now our vision for this year is to multiply our churches to go into more spaces and more 9 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,480 places wherever Jesus would call us to go. 10 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:36,360 So I want you to be praying for that. 11 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:42,340 We have a big vision and of course we need God's help and prayer for all of that to happen. 12 00:00:42,340 --> 00:00:47,840 So we hope to see you soon in San Clemente or in Rancho Mishviejo or up in Costa Mesa 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:53,400 or down in San Diego or in Palmar Cito, El Salvador and soon in Argentina with our friend 14 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:54,400 Mitch. 15 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:59,120 Now today in Jonah chapter 2 it says, now the Lord has prepared a great fish to swallow 16 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:04,120 Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. 17 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:08,040 Now Jonah's three days and nights in the fish are very interesting. 18 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,880 You see the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,760 Now some question if this could happen as the Bible says that it did but surely it's 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:21,840 not a difficult thing for God to have prepared a great fish even if that particular fish 21 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,800 was a special creation for that moment. 22 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,660 You see God can make anything that he wants. 23 00:01:27,660 --> 00:01:29,840 Now we don't know what kind of fish this was. 24 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,660 Some people speculate it was a certain type of whale or others think that it was a large 25 00:01:34,660 --> 00:01:36,660 fish known as a sea dog. 26 00:01:36,660 --> 00:01:41,840 All that we can say for certain is that it was a fish big enough to have a man inside 27 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:43,520 of it who survived. 28 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:49,960 Now this is, there was a story of a whaler in the 1800s who reportedly fell into the 29 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,440 sea while harpooning a large fish. 30 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,960 When the whale was killed and dissected they actually found this man alive. 31 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:05,800 And so it has led some people to speculate back to this story of Jonah about the veracity 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:07,140 of the truth of it. 33 00:02:07,140 --> 00:02:11,560 Now it might be questioned if the story of this fisherman was true but certainly the 34 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:16,760 story of Jonah is true because Jesus said that it was true. 35 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,100 You see in Matthew chapter 12 it says we read that Jesus said that Jonah was three days 36 00:02:21,100 --> 00:02:24,400 and three nights in the belly of a great fish. 37 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,480 So we can take the Lord at his words. 38 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,800 You see Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights. 39 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:36,480 Though Jonah was a rebellious, resistant person just like we often are, God was not finished 40 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,720 with him yet so the Lord preserved his life. 41 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,160 Aren't you glad that God isn't done with you and I? 42 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,960 You see God could have rescued Jonah in any number of ways but he chose this specific 43 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,440 way because of the effect that it would have on Jonah's heart. 44 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,280 God's always looking at our heart. 45 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:58,200 Now the book of Jonah shows us important principles about God's sovereignty, what happens when 46 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:02,640 God wants a person to do something but the person doesn't want to do it. 47 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,720 Does that sound familiar like you and I? 48 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,200 You see Jonah shows us that God has a way of bringing us to the place where he wants 49 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:11,400 what God wants. 50 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,240 You see three days and three nights. 51 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,800 Apparently Jonah did nothing for three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. 52 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:24,040 It was only after the period was over that he began to pray the following prayer. 53 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:29,640 Now some have wondered if Jonah spent the time sulking and finally deciding that he 54 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:32,720 had to repent fully and begin to seek God. 55 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:33,880 Perhaps this was the case. 56 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,960 However, the starting point of the prayer in Jonah 2 seems to show that Jonah had cried 57 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,240 out to God the whole time he was in there. 58 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:47,320 Now the prayer of Jonah 2 came after Jonah received the assurance from God that he would 59 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:48,320 be delivered. 60 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:49,680 So we pick it up in verse 1. 61 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,480 He says, then Jonah prayed to the Lord as God from the fish's belly and he said, I cried 62 00:03:54,480 --> 00:04:00,080 out to the Lord because of my affliction and he answered me, out of the belly of Sheol 63 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,840 I cried and you heard my voice. 64 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:09,360 So here Jonah praises God for deliverance. 65 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:14,840 You see Jonah prayed to the Lord as God from inside the fish's belly. 66 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:20,040 Jonah was still in the belly of the fish, but he knew it was enough that the Lord had 67 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:21,040 heard his cry. 68 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:22,480 He said, you heard my voice. 69 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,180 You see in faith Jonah knew that he would be delivered. 70 00:04:26,180 --> 00:04:29,200 Now Jonah knew God heard him before the answer came. 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:37,400 This shows that Jonah had the faith that God can give a total peace and comfort even before 72 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:39,120 the actual answer comes. 73 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,240 Now he says, I cried out to the Lord. 74 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:46,880 Now in this and the rest of the chapter, Jonah's prayer uses a lot of phrases and figures of 75 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:48,480 speech from the Psalms. 76 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:54,240 This shows that Jonah was a man who knew God's word and knew it by heart because there was 77 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,160 no Bible and no candle in the fish's belly. 78 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,600 But everything that he had, he knew in his mind. 79 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,120 He says, in my distress, I called upon the Lord. 80 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,000 I cried out to my God. 81 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,520 He heard from my voice. 82 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,100 That Psalms 18 six. 83 00:05:09,100 --> 00:05:14,280 He said, deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterfalls. 84 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,180 All your waves and billows have gone over me. 85 00:05:16,180 --> 00:05:18,880 That Psalms 42 seven. 86 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:23,480 He said, in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes. 87 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,760 Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my prayer when I cried to you. 88 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,840 That was Psalms 31 22. 89 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:37,080 Now in verse three, he says, for you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, 90 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,800 like the ocean behind me and the floods surrounded me. 91 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:42,960 All of your billows and waves passed over me. 92 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:49,880 Then I said, I've been cast out of your sight, yet I will look again to your holy temple. 93 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,160 The water surrounded me even to my soul. 94 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,480 The deep closed around me. 95 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,240 Weeds were wrapped around my head or seaweed. 96 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,680 I went down to the moorings of the mountains. 97 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,880 The earth with its bars closed behind me forever. 98 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,920 Yet you have brought me up my life from the pit. 99 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:14,440 Oh Lord, my God, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer went 100 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,640 up to you into your holy temple. 101 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:21,720 You see, he knew quite a bit of scripture, a lot of Psalms. 102 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,880 Now Jonah describes his trouble, his cry to God and God's faithful answer. 103 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,360 Jonah realized that it wasn't the sailors who cast him into the sea. 104 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,000 It was God himself. 105 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:37,680 Jonah saw that he had never been out of God's hands, though he tried to run from him. 106 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:39,720 He said, I have been cast out of your sight. 107 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:45,920 You see, Jonah's greatest pain was not the calamity, but his separation from God, just 108 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:46,920 like Gus. 109 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,840 He had this feeling that he was cast out of God's sight, but still he was determined, 110 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:57,400 even in the belly of a fish, to turn his heart towards God and God's temple. 111 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:02,900 Simply, Jonah remembered the Lord like we often do when we're at our bottom. 112 00:07:02,900 --> 00:07:05,920 He said, yet you have brought me up my life from the pit. 113 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,880 Oh Lord, my God, again, Jonah can praise God for the answer to prayer before the answer 114 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:15,280 came because God gave him the assurance that it would happen. 115 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:20,640 Now in verse eight, he says, those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy, 116 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,960 but I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. 117 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,680 I will pay what I have vowed. 118 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,400 Salvation is from the Lord. 119 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,300 Now here, Jonah declares his commitment to God. 120 00:07:32,300 --> 00:07:36,800 Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy. 121 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:42,080 Jonah realized that resisting God, running from him, was like being an idolater. 122 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:43,760 He said, but I'll sacrifice to you. 123 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:50,080 Jonah repented from running away from God and he turned to God with sacrifice and thanksgiving. 124 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:55,320 He promised to pay his vows to God and to do whatever God told him to do. 125 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:56,840 That's what God wants from us. 126 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:58,440 Just simple obedience. 127 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:03,420 Now at what time or another, Jonah had probably said what we've all said, Lord, I'll do whatever 128 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:05,320 you want me to. 129 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:10,680 Now Jonah realized fully that he must stop resisting God and he should keep his commitments 130 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:11,680 to him. 131 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,080 It says that salvation is of the Lord. 132 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,160 This was more of a statement of fact. 133 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,280 It was Jonah's triumphant declaration. 134 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:23,920 God had saved and would save and Jonah meant it personally. 135 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:25,800 Jonah's salvation is from the Lord. 136 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,480 You see, Jonah knows this in the closeup picture. 137 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,640 He knew that his salvation is of the Lord. 138 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:37,600 He also knew that in the big picture that salvation is not of a nation or a race or 139 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,600 a language or of one man. 140 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,280 So salvation is from God. 141 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:43,280 Salvation is from the Lord. 142 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,680 Now at the end of Jonah 2.9, it's clear that Jonah had repented. 143 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,040 Now we might wonder, when did Jonah repent? 144 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,680 Well, Jonah showed several marks of true repentance. 145 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:56,600 I want you to think about your own life. 146 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:02,440 He proclaimed his fear of the Lord and he was honest about his sin and his rebellion, 147 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,200 no longer covering it up. 148 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:08,920 You see, God always looks for honest confession versus covering things up. 149 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,560 Now Jonah allowed himself to be cast into the sea. 150 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:13,560 He took responsibility. 151 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:14,840 Jonah began to pray. 152 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,720 He called out to God during the three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. 153 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,840 He prayed earnestly and sincerely. 154 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,680 Jonah had a new heart of gratitude. 155 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:30,360 You see, true prayer always results in gratitude. 156 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,920 Now Jonah renewed the commitment to God. 157 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,120 Jonah gave glory to God in all of this. 158 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:42,760 Now in all of this, we see that repentance is more than just a one time event, though 159 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,120 it begins at one time. 160 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:46,120 It's continuous. 161 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,440 I know for myself, it's daily. 162 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:54,600 Repentance isn't an event, but it's a process for all of us. 163 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,920 Now verse 10 says, God speak, he spoke to the fish. 164 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,200 So the Lord spoke to the fish. 165 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:04,480 The fish worked at the command of God just as much as the fish was under the command 166 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,520 of God when it swallowed Jonah. 167 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,440 It was under his command when it let him go. 168 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:15,560 You see, God is in charge of all things in nature when he chooses directly to be. 169 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,400 If God can speak to a fish, he can speak to us. 170 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:23,200 Then again, fish probably don't resist the will of God as much as us humans do. 171 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:27,960 Sometimes we don't have much of a choice about how we will be delivered. 172 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,520 Now Jonah might have preferred another method, but God also had a purpose in this as well. 173 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:37,240 You see, Jonah's deliverance came after Jonah's repentance was complete. 174 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,660 Jonah wasn't just sorry for what he did. 175 00:10:40,660 --> 00:10:42,440 He was now trusting God again. 176 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:47,080 In many believers today, there's a work of God or an aspect of his deliverance that will 177 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:53,280 remain undone as long as we resist and we refuse to fully trust God. 178 00:10:53,280 --> 00:11:00,520 Now Jonah's deliverance came after three days and nights had passed, providing a foreshadowing 179 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:01,520 of Jesus. 180 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:06,120 Jesus said for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, 181 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,200 so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, Matthew 182 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:11,200 12 40. 183 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:19,000 So when Jesus spoke of three days and three nights in Matthew 12 40, it does make a Thursday 184 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:20,440 crucifixion necessary. 185 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,720 But rabbinic literature from the time of Jesus explains that the phrase so many days and 186 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:29,640 so many nights was a figure of speech that could refer to any part of a day and night. 187 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:37,160 Ellison notes that that a certain rabbi around the 8100 said a day and night make a whole 188 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,480 day in a portion of a whole day is recognized as a whole day. 189 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:47,360 Now this demonstrates how in Jesus's day, the phrase three days and three nights did 190 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:53,360 not necessarily mean a 72 hour period, but a period including at least the portion of 191 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,120 three days and three nights for a little bit of clarity there. 192 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:02,880 So pointing toward Jesus, we see that Jonah's deliverance came after a remarkable demonstration 193 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,200 of laying down his life. 194 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,960 Jonah gave his life to appease the wrath of God coming upon other people, the people of 195 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:14,280 Nineveh, but death did not hold him after three days and three nights of imprisonment. 196 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,240 He was alive and free, foreshadowing Jesus. 197 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:21,560 Now it's commonly thought that Jonah was vomited out on the shores of Nineveh, but we are not 198 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:27,240 told that this was the case, especially because Nineveh is about 375 miles from the Mediterranean 199 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:28,240 Sea. 200 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,720 If Jonah did walk into Nineveh right from the belly of the fish, it would have been 201 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:36,080 a miraculous projection. 202 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,000 Think about that. 203 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,400 Well this wraps up our time looking at Jonah chapter two today. 204 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:43,560 It was 10 verses, but 10 really good verses. 205 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:48,360 I want you to ask yourself the question, what was God speaking to me about today? 206 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,760 I want you to take a moment to think about that. 207 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,280 God always speaks to us in his word. 208 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:54,880 Then we want to pray. 209 00:12:54,880 --> 00:13:01,200 Prayer is a chance to stop doing some things, a chance to start doing some things, and a 210 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,400 chance to hit reset in our lives. 211 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:04,820 So let's do that together now. 212 00:13:04,820 --> 00:13:05,820 Just pray with me. 213 00:13:05,820 --> 00:13:07,000 Say, God, help me to change my life. 214 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,240 Help me to hit that reset button. 215 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:10,960 Give me a fresh start where I need it. 216 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,760 Help me to stop doing those things that you're telling me by your spirit that I need to stop. 217 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:22,360 And help me to follow you with all of my heart in Jesus' name, amen. 218 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,640 Now last thing we want to do today, the Bible teaches that we're supposed to give as part 219 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:26,640 of our worships. 220 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:31,960 Now the followers of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus, have been practicing radical generosity 221 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:33,720 for thousands of years. 222 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,200 That is how people hear about the Lord. 223 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,960 When the people who know the Lord set aside part of their resources so that other people 224 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,920 who don't know the Lord, they can know the Lord. 225 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:49,200 So when you give as part of your worship in and through Ocean Water, we take those funds, 226 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:54,080 we pray, we think about how can we help people in Argentina with our friend Mitch is going 227 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:55,080 to go? 228 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,200 How can we help people in El Salvador with our friend Sampapo? 229 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,600 How can we help our friends in Indonesia like we're going to do in September? 230 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:03,880 So I want you to pray. 231 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:09,720 I want you to practice radical generosity so that other people can hear about the Lord. 232 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:10,720 That is why we give. 233 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:15,600 You can do that at OceanWater.com and as always, I hope you have a beautiful day.