The Belly of Sheol

Welcome to the sixth meeting! We now delve into the fabulous prayer of Jonah. I particularly appreciate this for its scope and sense of spirit. For myself, Jonah stands up inside to call upon God, and submits his soul to the Eternal. I want to follow that example each day... Before Jonah's supplication though, we left a hook out in Jonah 1:17.

Yes, there is this fish, or whale, that is designated to swallow up Jonah. Now Jonah himself gives his interpretation of the fish in a bit, so we need not worry about speculations. But as an aside, this is one of the favorite contentious miracles argued and debated between various believers and non-believers for many centuries. I love bumping into these arguments today, because it affords a great opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus, even the execution of the natural man. Here is my personal line: what is more miraculous, a fish or whale that preserves Jonah, or Christ rising from the dead? Is a unique creature, or three days in the belly thereof, even close to the raised up body He possesses?

One who argues against the miracle of Jonah, whether atheist or interpreter of Jonah as a vision and not experience, is likely ensnared by the natural mind. Irregardless of miracle or vision, the trap is the action of argument, determining what is 'right', the judging of correctness. Yet my source of life comes through the cross, by His ministry and ascension. And that word of the cross, the death of the corrupt man, and our reckoning as dead through Him is the word of power!

Jonah makes the statement "belly of Sheol" to describe his predicament. So no trouble for us, the whale to Jonah is death realized. As for Sheol, I really appreciate the passage in Numbers 16:30 with Moses' prophesy:

"But if Jehovah make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah."

You may recall soon after that the earth opened up and swallowed them. Sheol is the end, the depths of the earth, the pit.

Yet in Sheol, in the belly of the fish, Jonah lives on. And he calls, cries out to the Lord. He calls upon the Everlasting, our God, who hears Jonah's voice, who answers even one reckoned dead. Aren't we surrounded by death sometimes? The presence of the Lord seems unreachable, and we feel like we have been swallowed up in dead things. I get like that at work some days. Nothing around seems living, it is all dead. Yet the Messiah went further than Jonah, traversed the boundary into the depths of Sheol. Extended His hand into a darkness unknowable to me.

I believe the Lord called in a similar way unto the Father, that this word by Jonah continues in a prophetic way. Called from the deepest darkness and was heard. What a amazing God we serve! Yielding His body, suppressing His self, allowing the wrath to be poured out on His flesh.

Jonah now makes the statement, "For thou didst cast me into the depth, ..." So it wasn't those superstitious, idol worshiping sailors after all! It was God who threw Jonah overboard. Now for myself, this is a interesting point. The Pharisees in the gospels were the primary vehicle for delivering the Messiah up. The leaders, even the priests of God's chosen people. And yet Roman soldiers actually performed the act. Yet it is God who makes the sacrifice. This is a deep mystery, wonderful and to His eternal glory.

The final picture this week is "waves and billows", billows being great surges. In many places throughout scripture, I see waves as pictures of death, or as representing the wrath of God. Psalm 42 has this image as well, and ends with a magnificent verse:

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God."

I can sense the same spirit in Jonah, his inner man rising up, commanding his soul to praise God, even in the midst of death.

That is my goal in the coming week, to command my soul to hope in God, to praise Him in my spirit.

For this meeting, here is the current agenda:

Prayer and Thanksgiving:
How full is full? Lord fill us beyond what we know, beyond expectation and imagination. Open our eyes to Your working, to Your supply of life towards us. Our desire towards You is ever increasing, come be our satisfaction today!

Open questions:
Has anyone thought about the times when the Lord has made the sacrifice in the O.T. much?

Current topic:
Let us look at Jonah 2:4-7 with a inquisitiveness about the inward turning of Jonah towards the Lord. How does this lead us?

Conclusion:
Thank you to everyone who is reading along. Your comments and suggestions are full of life. May the seed He scatters find fertile ground in our hearts, and bring forth spiritual fruit for the nourishment of the body, and life to lead those around us towards the light.