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Jonah Chapter 2
Jonah 2
The Text
1Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
7When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Summary Of Events
This chapter is a prayer of Jonah’s while he was in the belly of the fish.
The Spiritual Meaning
Chapter 2 is a beautiful prayer with a great deal of spiritual truth in it. We are going to examine many of the phrases we find in this prayer.
“out of the belly of hell cried I”
The word “belly” here is translated from the Hebrew word beten, which is not the same Hebrew word in the first verse that says, “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly.” The Hebrew word beten is found 69 times in the Bible. Thirty of those times it is translated “belly”, 30 times as “womb”, and it’s also translated a couple of times as “body” or “within.” If we read these verses we will discover that God is using the word beten in connection with birth and the beginning of physical life. Hell points to the condition of being under the wrath of God, so this phrase is incorporating birth and the wrath of God. In other words, it’s a statement reminding us that we are born into sin:
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)
“The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” (Psalm 58:3)
“and the floods compassed me about”
So far the context of this chapter has been someone who is under the wrath of God. When we read this phrase in that context we immediately think of the Flood, which demonstrated God’s wrath being poured out on the whole world for its rebellion.
“I am cast out of thy sight”
This is a statement indicating that this person is under the wrath of God:
“And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.” (2 Kings 17:20)
“yet I will look again toward thy holy temple”
Here we are noticing a transition taking place. Before this phrase we find the description of someone who is under the wrath of God and we will see that after this statement we find a description of someone who has become saved.
“The waters compassed me about, even to the soul”
At first glance this seems to be basically the same statement as two verses earlier that said, “the floods compassed me about.” However, we noticed a transition taking place in the verse that comes between these two. In this verse, the waters are referring to the living water of the Gospel that brings salvation.
“the weeds were wrapped about my head”
The Hebrew word for “weeds” here is suph which is only found four times in the Bible. The other three times it is translated as “flags.” Two of these occurrences are found in relation to baby Moses who was found resting safely in the flags under God’s protection. The final use of suph is found in the phrase “the reeds and flags shall wither” where God is bringing judgment on Egypt (Isaiah 19:6), so the protection of God is removed as part of judgment. “The weeds were wrapped about my head” points to the protection of God that has now come upon this individual who has just become saved.
“the earth with her bars was about me for ever”
This phrase is a reminder of the fact that before we become saved we are in bondage to sin:
“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world” (Galatians 4:3)
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)
“yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption”
Though we were in bondage to sin, when we become saved we are freed from this bondage of corruption:
“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21)
Believers are born again of incorruptible seed:
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
(1 Peter 23)
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