Jonah 2

PLUS

CHAPTER 2

Jonah’s Prayer (2:1–10)

1–7 From the water, Jonah called out to the Lord as he felt death about to swallow him up. Then Jonah was indeed “swallowed”—not by death but by God’s fish. So Jonah’s prayer recorded in this chapter is really a prayer of thanksgiving to God for having saved him from death. Jonah recognized that the fish was God’s agent of salvation. Jonah had experienced God’s grace; he had deserved death but had received life.3

8–10 From inside the fish Jonah was reminded of the worthlessness of idols:idols cannot save. Those who cling to them and depend on them will forfeit God’s grace, God’s SALVATION (verse 8).

Jonah acknowledged afresh that his salvation had come from the Lord (verse 9). And inside the fish, Jonah made a vow to the Lord:we can guess that he vowed to obey the Lord’s commands from then on.

Then, at the Lord’s command, the fish deposited Jonah on dry land (verse 10).