“Where am I? Is this Sheol (death)? It is so dark, slimy, and the smell is overwhelming. My skin feels like it is on fire. Maybe this is God’s punishment for trying to flee His presence.” With his life fading away and probably still unsure of what was happening, he cried out to the Lord God for help. The Lord heard his prayer and after three days and three nights, Jonah found himself lying on the beach covered with seaweed and an indescribable stench of fish vomit. He realized his grave had been the belly of a great fish. For a second time the word of the Lord came to Jonah and reminded him of his original assignment. Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you (Jonah 3:2). This time, Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command (v3).
Nineveh, an extremely large city, was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Both Biblical and secular history notes the Assyrians among the cruelest warriors of history. Jonah demonstrated no fear of the people, rather he was concerned that the Lord was a merciful and compassionate God, slow to become angry, rich in faithful love, and One who relents from [sending] disaster (4:2). The Assyrians had been threatening Israel and Jonah wanted God to bring judgment on the Empire. Yet, he knew God would remove His judgment and spare the people of Nineveh if they heard the message he would prophesy to them. And after hearing the warning from Jonah that God would over throw them in 40 days, they believed in God, proclaimed a fast, dressed in sackcloth, sat in ashes, and call out earnestly to God. Just as Jonah feared, When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened (NIV 3:10). For that reason, Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry (4:1).
People often overlook Jonah’s good qualities. He knew the scriptures, was able to hear God’s voice, and knew how to pray. However, he must not have known or remembered Psalms 139:7-10. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. It appears Jonah thought that if he could get to Tarshish on the coast of Spain as far as anyone could travel, he would escape from the LORD’s presence. However, nowhere a person flees extends beyond God’s presence. In our age, people also try escaping through drugs, alcohol, work, or pleasures, yet, God never abandons them.
Currently, almost seven thousand think-tanks exist around the world, which are organizations that consist of people who think of new ideas. I like to call Jonah’s experience in the fish as God’s stink-tank because I am sure Jonah did a lot of thinking during his three days and nights in the stinking belly of the great fish. Nothing that happened to Jonah was God’s effort to destroy him for his disobedience. Rather it was a means of bringing Jonah to repentance and obedience to his assignment from the Lord. Jonah wrote there were 120,000 children still too young to know their right hand from their left in Nineveh, plus all the parents, and older brothers and sisters. God desired them to have an opportunity for repentance. Jonah could have drowned. Instead, God appointed the great fish to swallow him. This was God’s means of disciplining Jonah and the vehicle for saving him. Like a rescue boat after three days, the fish delivered Jonah to the shore thus saving his life.
No one enjoys discipline. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful (Heb 12:11). The word for discipline means tutorage, that is, education or training for a child, not punishment. As a parent, I never enjoyed disciplining my children, however at times it was necessary. We are God’s children and He knows when it is necessary to discipline us and He may put us into His stink-tank because He sees that afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Scripture never tells us what happened to Jonah after Nineveh. Jesus does mention him nine times. Yet, we can be sure, that even with his anger at the Lord, God did not abandon him but continued disciplining and training Jonah as His child.
Uncomfortable situations in life can result from three sources. Just living in this sinful world can be unpleasant. Second, Satan tries to destroy us or make us give up. Or it could be God has placed you in His stink-tank, because of disobedience or refusing to carry out His will. Discernment can tell us if it is Satan, and we usually know if we are running from God. He is not seeking to destroy you; rather He is bringing discipline so that you repent and obey His word and leading.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Is your life miserable, dark, and stinky? Ask the Lord if you are in His stink- tank. If He says yes, repent, and obey His word and follow His leading.