Jonah’s
Prayer in Hell
We can learn a lot about the fate of those who miss eternity with God and wind up in hell by listening to the prayer of Jonah in the pit of Sheol. Jonah became a type of Christ by dying, going into the heart of the earth, coming back again and becoming a witness for God to the heathen in Nineveh. Jesus warned Israel that Jonah would be their only sign the He (JESUS) was who He said He was - the Prophet that came warning Israel of her fate if she continued in unbelief. Sadly, 40 years later, Israel was destroyed, just as 400 years after Jonah had preached Nineveh was destroyed.
By Chris McDonald
Many
would argue vehemently that Jonah never died in the whale’s belly and went to
hell. Of course, these arguments would come mainly from the camps that tend to
believe that it is impossible for a Christian to ever lost their salvation and
wind up in a place like hell even though they were once born-again. I’m not
arguing theology with you but you have a prophet in Jonah 2 in hell. No way you
cut it or slice it he’s in hell. The phrase “out of the belly of hell”
does not mean a bad state on earth. Hell in this passage is translated in the
Hebrew “Sheol,” of the place of departed spirits. It’s the unseen world of
the damned. The body of Jonah stayed in the whale’s belly but his soul entered
into the regions of the abyss.
If you study your Bible you know that
in Jesus’ day this compartment of Hell was part of what the Bible called
Paradise. When saints under the Old Covenant died, the righteous went to
Paradise, the wicked went to Hell, or Sheol. At the time of Jesus’ death and
burial, Hell and Paradise were both occupied and separated by a great gulf. In
the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus, he made reference to this gulf
saying Abraham looked and saw the rich man in torment and the rich man could see
the comforts now bestowed upon Lazarus. Jonah could have used a million other
words to describe his experience when he wrote this narrative of his journeys to
Nineveh via the whale. He used the word “hell” and I believe he meant he
literally died and out of the BELLY of HELL he cried.
Jonah’s prayer gives us great
insight on what the people in hell are praying today. It gives us insight on
ways to avoid the pit and inherit eternal life. Jonah was a prophet who, I’m
sure, had already gotten a glimpse of this abode of the wicked through visions
and dreams. Now, he found himself in this same place. While in torment and
affliction, Jonah prayed three main things:
I Remembered The Lord
One of the most horrific things about hell I believe will be the memory of those
damned to spend eternity in the flames. How sad a day when you will be in such
torment physically but that pain will pale to the mental and emotional anguish
over the number of missed opportunities to do good and be saved. The missed
opportunities to love Jesus and our fellow man, the missed opportunities to
repent of our sins and make things right between us and God and the missed
opportunities to live for Jesus and be a light in the world we live in. Jonah
remembered the Lord. The rich man remembered Lazarus. The people in hell
remember. They remember every Sunday school lesson, every sermon, every
Christian friend, every Christian son or daughter, every Christian parent, every
Christian boss, every Christian neighbor. They remember the countless times the
Lord dealt with their heart and reached out in mercy and pleaded through His
Spirit for them to come to Jesus yet they refused to listen and hardened their
heart. The backslider remembers the time he once knew God and fell away and
never concerned himself with repenting. The echoes of those nightly calls by the
Holy Ghost ring in his ear. Sadly, he will be there in part because he was
deluded into thinking he was in ok standing with God when it came to eternity
because of what he had been taught or preached, yet when he closed his eyes in
death, eternity was not the ushering in peace and glory, it was the falling into
an eternal abyss of screams and agony, torment and pain. The flames will
“compass” him as the waters did Jonah. The flames will “close him round
about” as the depths did Jonah. The weeds of the filth of the pit will wrap
themselves around his head.
Jonah
2:5-6 – The waters compassed me about, even to the SOUL: the depth closed me
round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
I want to list the translation of this same verse in the Amplified Bible and New American Standard so you will not any question on whether Jonah died or not.
Jonah 2:5-6 - The waters compassed me about even to (the extinction) of (life); the abyss surrounded me, the seaweed was wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms and the very roots of the mountains: the earth with its bars closed behind me. Yet you have brought up my life FROM THE PIT and CORRUPTION, O Lord my God - Amplified Bible.
Jonah 2:5-6 - The waters encompassed me to the point of death; the great deep engulfed me; weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains, the earth with its bars was around me forever, but thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O, Lord my God. - New American Standard Version
It says the Lord brought Jonah up from THE PIT AND CORRUPTION, not the PIT OF CORRUPTION. In other words, Jonah died and went to Sheol, or the pit of hell and his body had begun to see corruption in the whale's belly. I am going to ask a simple question. When Jonah died do you think he was planning to open his eyes in the pit or do you think even though he was out of fellowship and he was disobeying God when he died because he was a prophet that merited him entrance to heaven.
Jonah said the earth with her bars was about me forever. Hell is a place of
eternal torment. There is no escape. There is no last minute reprieve. For the
three days Jonah was there I’m sure it seemed like an eternity. He prayed out
of the belly of hell and millions are praying out of the belly of hell right
now. Hell hath enlarged itself as Isaiah said. Jonah said the Lord had brought
his soul out of corruption. In other words, he had died and went to hell and had
come back to tell about it.
They
That Observe Lying Vanities and Idols Forsake Their Own Mercy
Jonah prayed in hell that they observe lying vanities will forsake their own
mercy. This means that those who worship idols forsake their mercy of God by
their sin. Before mercy is shown sin must be confessed and put away. This is an
element missing in most of the “gospel” being preached in America today. The
church in other parts of the world
understand this. The Western church however seems to have an attitude that God
owes us something and we are a “special” people. The only thing
“special” about us is we don’t have a machine gun pointed at a head every
Sunday morning when we worship – we’re free. With all this freedom however
we are the most idolatrous part of the world. Our freedom has been our biggest
stumbling block. Our freedom has led us down a path to hell. Instead of walking
in thanksgiving and honoring it, we have abused our liberty.
Idols are lying vanities. Our idols in America are a little more “cultures”
than those in heathen countries but we are steeped in just as much gross sin as
any demonically controlled region of the Eastern world would every think of
being. Our idols are greed, wealth, money, materialism, power, popularity,
image, and affluence. America was not founded on this principle. It was founded
on the principle and ideal that we were to pursue God, not materialism and
wealth. It is a recorded fact in history that some of the early colonies failed
because of this one thing. Those whose pursuits were God were blessed and became
a vital part of the expansion America enjoyed in the late 1700s and 1800s. Those
whose pursuits were material wealth wound up in bankruptcy.
Jonah’s idol was his pride. He risked his entire soul because he refused to
humble himself before the Lord and go to Nineveh.
The
Council of Acts
Acts 15:29 – That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from
blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep
yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
When the first church council met and issued its declaration to the Gentiles it
had very little to say other than this verse above about the conduct of
Christians. The one thing it DID say was that the Gentiles were to abstain from
idols. Idolatry will send you to hell! Those who observe lying vanities forsake
their own mercy!
Eph. 5:5 – For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, WHO IS AN IDOLATER, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with VAIN WORDS; for because of these
things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Jonah didn’t have the New Testament like we do to warn us of idolatry. We have
the WORD and the SPIRIT to guide us today. Yet, we are headed down the same road
Jonah headed – HELL.
Proverbs
28:13 – He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso CONFESSETH and
FORSAKETH them shall have mercy.
Jonah covered his sin by running. He did not prosper! But when he confessed it
and forsook it he found mercy. Sinner, backslider, you are forsaking the mercy
of God when you continue to sin. God is not angry at you but He has a prescribed
way for man to inherit eternal life through Jesus Christ. The way to Jesus is
confession and repentance. Jesus will give you the power to overcome sin. He
will deliver you from the powers of hell. He will set you free. The only thing
He won’t do for you is make your confession for you and forsake your sin for
you. YOU HAVE TO DO THAT. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own
mercy and wind up in hell.
Salvation
is of the Lord
The last thing Jonah prayed in hell is “Salvation is of the Lord.” In other
words, all of man’s efforts to save himself will not keep him out of the pit.
There is no salvation in the church. There is only salvation in the Lord!
Acts
4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Romans
10:13 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
We can preach all the self-help philosophies in the world. We can set our
“church hierarchy” in place and declare to man the “whole counsel” of
God. (By the way, NO ONE KNOWS THAT – that is being revealed to us everyday by
HIS SPIRIT!) We can make membership in our church a prerequisite for fellowship.
In hell, however, the only prayer that will ring through eternity is SALVATION
IS OF THE LORD!!
How many millions of people are burning in the pit because they thought
salvation was repeating a prayer without repenting of their sins? How many are
in hell because they were told by the “church” that there was NO danger of
them ever losing out with God if they backslid. How many are in hell because
they lived their lives in agreement with lies which taught them doing good works
was enough to merit favor with the Father. How many religious people went to
church, paid their tithes, were good model, moral citizens yet never had an
encounter with Jesus? How many people have sit in our churches for years and
never felt one touch of the Holy Spirit because we have told them “all that
has passed away,” or “it’s of the devil?” How many people have sit in
our churches and have become offended at the moving of the Spirit and left angry
and mad and wound up in hell where there is no presence of God. Where there are
no “amens,” or “praise the Lords.” Where there are no people down their
lifting their hands and praising God. There are no people down in hell praising
the name of Jesus.
Salvation is not in a church. Salvation is not even in an experience. Salvation
is not in miracles or the gifts of the Spirit even though I strongly believe in
these things and have witnessed them in my own life. Salvation is not in
speaking in tongues even though I speak in tongues every day. Salvation is not
in a pastor or preacher. Salvation is not in a counselor. Salvation is not in
doing good deeds. Salvation is not in singing in the choir or teaching Sunday
School. Salvation is not in giving to the poor, even though when you’re saved,
you’ll give to the poor. Salvation IS OF THE LORD.
Isaiah
50:11 – Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with
sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow (torment,
translated in the Hebrew)
Jonah ran and tried to kindle a fire
that he could find light to walk by. He laid down in torment. He went to hell
and came back to tell about it.
The
Light Of The Body
Matthew
6:22-24 – The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light
John
3:19-21 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
These statements didn’t come from a Sunday school quarterly – it came from
Jesus himself. There is no light in Communism. There is no light in Buddhism.
There is no light in Hinduism. There is no light in the Baptist church. There is
no light in the Pentecostal church. There is no light in the Methodist church.
THE ONLY LIGHT THAT WILL KEEP YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH IS THE LIGHT THAT JESUS
GIVES. We as the church are to be mere reflectors of His light but we have
become beacons that send out our OWN SIGNALS! We are pointing people to our
“programs” and “projects,” but are we pointing them to the LIGHT that
will keep them out of eternal darkness? SALVATION IS OF THE LORD. SALVATION IS
OF THE LORD. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD!
The Lord speaks to the fish and it literally vomits out Jonah upon the dry land. When you’re backslidden even whales don’t want you.
Jonah’s tenure in hell was three days – the same as the tenure of Jesus in
the heart of the earth the day He was crucified outside Jerusalem. God loved
Jonah. This was not God’s original plan for the prophet. The question could be
raised “why didn’t God just get someone else to go preach to Nineveh.” The
answer to that question is the reason why you had never do what Jonah did and
run from the call of God on your life. The gifts and callings of God are without
repentance. When He calls you He calls YOU, not someone else. The call to preach
to Nineveh was on Jonah’s life, not Hosea, not Daniel, not Isaiah, not
Jeremiah, not Ezekiel, not Amos. It was in God’s economy and will that JONAH,
from Galilee go preach to the Ninevites.
The
Word of the Lord Came to Jonah A Second Time
Jonah
3:1-3 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
What He has blessed, man cannot curse! What He has called, man cannot stop. What
He has anointed, the enemy will not prevail against! What the enemy may mean and
hope for evil, God will turn it around to great victory!!!! If you’re not
preaching the gospel and you’re called of God, it’s YOUR FAULT! Get that old
dusty Bible out, square your shoulders back and proclaim, “Thus saith the
Lord!”
If
you will allow God to take total control of what has happened, He will take the
wrong, make it right and make it right to the point that you will be hard
pressed to remember any wrong! The major obstacle to you now will be the
Pharisees and Sadducees. The religious among you will not understand the grace
of God any more than Jonah understood the reason why God would spare the city of
Nineveh. They didn’t understand Jesus as they were spewing their venom at Him
calling Him every name under heave demanding He give them a sign that He was the
Messiah. When they did so, He basically looked at them and gave them just one
– THE PROPHET JONAH!
The
Sign of Jonah: A Warning To America
Matthew
12:38-41 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying,
Master, we would see a sign from thee.
When Jonah arrived in Nineveh he
declared to the people that unless the city repented, it would be overthrown in
40 days. When Jesus gave this declaration to the Pharisees concerning His
oneness with the Father, he said the only sign that He would give them was
Jonah. They knew exactly what He was talking about. The Jews require a sign to
believe. The are looking for a Messiah whom they believe will have power to
raise the dead. Yet, the very LIFE OF GOD stood among them and they rejected
Him. They rejected light. Jonah gave Nineveh 40 days. Nineveh repented. Jesus
gave Israel 40 years. Israel did not and in A.D. 70 the Roman Emperor Titus came
with legions of Roman soldiers and totally obliterated the city of Jerusalem in
one of the nation’s worst carnages of its history. It started the Times of the
Gentiles where Jerusalem would be under Gentile domination.
Jonah
3:2-3 – Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the
preaching that I bid thee.
If America does not repent, we are
headed for obliteration. Jesus said, the men of Nineveh shall rise up in
judgment with THIS GENERATION and shall condemn it. Why? Because Nineveh
repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold, a greater than Jonas (Jonah) has
come. The writer of Hebrews warns
us that if they (Israel) did not escape Him who spoke on earth (JESUS), we will
not escape if we turn from Him (JESUS and God the FATHER) who now speaks from
heaven.
Because It's Getting Late Neighbor And Hell Is Real