In the Belly of the Beast Jonah 2:1-10
Jonah 2:1 1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.
Why is Jonah inside of a fish?
Why is God going through all this trouble for Jonah?
Pattern of Jonah: 1:2, God s Word comes to Jonah. 1:4, God throws a great wind onto the sea and scares the sailors to death. 1:7, God controls the lots that were cast to fall on Jonah. 1:17, God appoints a giant fish to swallow Jonah. 2:10, God commands the giant fish to vomit Jonah out of the fish.
Jonah 2:8 8 Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love.
God is exposing Jonah s idols and saving Jonah from his idolatry
1. Jonah s idolatry is a picture of Israel s idolatry.
Hosea 1:2-3 2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him: Go and marry a woman of promiscuity, and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord.
Hosea 1:2-3 3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Idolatry = Adultery
Isaiah 20:3-4 3 Then the Lord said, My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
Isaiah 20:3-4 4 For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt.
2. Jonah s idolatry is a picture of our idolatry.
The Pattern of Idolatry: 1. We observe.
The Pattern of Idolatry: 1. We observe. 2. We prefer.
Mountains or ocean
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs Pop or death metal
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs Pop or death metal Jordan or LeBron
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs Pop or death metal Jordan or LeBron
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs Pop or death metal Jordan or LeBron
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs Pop or death metal Jordan or LeBron
Mountains or ocean Stars or sunset Cats or dogs Cats or lice Fishing or Hunting Running or biking Boxers or briefs Pop or death metal Jordan or LeBron
The Pattern of Idolatry: 1. We observe. 2. We prefer. 3. We plan.
The Pattern of Idolatry: 1. We observe. 2. We prefer. 3. We plan. 4. We sacrifice.
How to identify your idols The reasons you do not obey God point to your idols
Idolatry = Adultery
Jonah 2:8 8 Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love.
Colossians 3:5 5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Jonah 2:8 8 Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love.
3. Jonah s idolatry becomes a picture of God s salvation.
Jonah 2:1-10 1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish:
Jonah 2:1-10 2 I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice.
Jonah 2:1-10 3 You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, and the current overcame me. All your breakers and your billows swept over me.
Jonah 2:1-10 4 But I said, "I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look once more toward your holy temple.
Jonah 2:1-10 5 The water engulfed me up to the neck; the watery depths overcame me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
Jonah 2:1-10 6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains, the earth's gates shut behind me forever! Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God!
Jonah 2:1-10 7 As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
Jonah 2:1-10 8 Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love,
Jonah 2:1-10 9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord."
Jonah 2:1-10 10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
What did Jonah wake up to?
Application 1. Remember what the Lord has done for you.
Jonah 2:7 7 As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
Hebrews 2:1 1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.
Jonah 2:8-10 8 Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love,
Jonah 2:8-10 9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Jonah 2:8-10 10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Application 1. Remember what the Lord has done for you. 2. Take a risk to know Christ