Jump Start # 3896
Jonah 1:17 “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the first three days and three nights.”
NOTE: Monday is Labor Day. There will be no Jump Starts posted that day. You can always go to our website (Jumpstartsdaily.com) and find more than 3800 posted there.
A few years ago we took a spin through the book of Jonah in our Jump Starts. That became one of our books, “Jonah in July.” If you’d like a printed copy of that, email me your mailing address at: Rogshouse@aol.com Our Jump Start books are always free.
I never tire at looking at this fascinating minor prophet. It’s unique in that it’s direction is to the salvation of a foreign nation, the Assyrians. The God of love and grace is for all people. It’s interesting to look into the heart of a pouting preacher who did not want to do what God said.
Four simple chapters tell this marvelous story. God commissions Jonah. He runs the other way. A great storm. A great fish. Jonah is tossed overboard and swallowed alive by this fish. The pagan sailors on the boat were praying while Jonah was sleeping. What a lesson there! Sometimes those that ought to be praying are not.
Our verse today ends the first chapter and it seems to end the story of Jonah. Inside a giant fish, no one could survive. But Jonah did. Three days and three nights, just like Jesus would later be in the tomb of the earth.
Jonah found out that one can not run away from God. Disobedience comes with consequences and while entombed in the belly of that great fish, Jonah got a taste of what Hell is like.
First, it was dark. Unlike Disney’s image of this with Pinocchio in a row boat, with a candle lit, Jonah we engulfed with seaweed and all the gooey yuck that the fish ate. You know it smelled. You know it was tight and cramp inside. You know that Jonah didn’t have a window so he couldn’t see where the fish was going. Up and down and all around, for three days. With no sun, no moon, no watch, Jonah had no idea of how long he was in that belly. Every second must have seemed like forever.
Our Lord pictures Hell as the outer darkness. It is in darkness that fear escalates the most. It is in darkness where every noise makes the heart pound faster.
Second, it was lonely. Jonah had no one to hold his hand. Jonah heard no voices encouraging him. Jonah never heard his name being offered in a prayer. All alone. No one to help. No one to talk to. No one to form a plan. Isolation can be a terrible companion for most people.
And, what makes Hell so terrible is the absence of God. No one to bless you. No one to help you. No one to comfort you. For Jonah, the emotional and mental time in the belly of the fish was likely more agonizing than the physical trauma he endured. And, won’t that be the same with Hell. Knowing that it was a person’s choices that led them there. Knowing that they could have known and walked with the Lord, but they chose not to. Knowing that the Lord loved them and wanted to save them, but they didn’t want anything to do with the Lord. Now, lost eternally, with no one to blame but themselves.
Third, hopeless was Jonah’s situation. Even if he could have managed to get out of the belly and mouth of the fish alive, he’d be in the deep sea and would have died. There was no rescue party looking for Jonah. There was no drones hovering over the water. There was no Coast Guard, life guard or any rescue team. Jonah was going to die. Had it not been the mercy and grace of God, Jonah would have died. Jonah prays in the second chapter, but was it too late? Would the Lord hear from the belly of a fish? Was God finished with Jonah?
And, the horror of Hell is that it closes the door on all hope. There is no one in Hell who will help you. There are no mulligans in Hell. There are no second chances. The rich man in Luke 16 realized that in Hades. Too late to do anything for him. No one to bring a drop of water. No one to grant his requests. No one to send word back to his brothers. No one to do anything for him.
We always have hope. Lose a job, there is hope for another one. Flunk a class, there is hope to take it over again. Got bad credit, there is hope to pay your bills and turn things around. We are surrounded by hope. There is always tomorrow we tell ourselves.
But, once the doors of Hell close, there will be no more hope. No more sermons to listen to. No more Bibles to read. No more invitation songs to sing. No more chances to repent and do right. The door closes, and all hope is gone.
Jonah in the belly of the fish, gives us a clear picture of what Hell is like. And, that picture isn’t a pretty one!
Roger