Jonah 2 – Break Out of the Cocoon
Wednesday, 1st March 2023
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-2 Back to the Relationship
V1 ‘Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.’ Why did Jonah go to Tarshish? He was from the desert, and Tarshish was a city by the sea. It was a place he was unfamiliar with, but he wanted to go there to run away from God. When he experienced the storm and was thrown off the ship, God sent a fish to swallow him to save him from drowning. When Jonah was running to Tarshish, he wanted to run away from God and to hide from Him. But when Jonah was in the fish, he started to pray to God and had interactions with God.
A lot of times, when we want to run away from someone, we will not want to see them, talk to them, or have any interactions with them. We want to break the relationship with them and have nothing to do with them. When we run away from God, we will also cut off anything we have to do with God, but then we will come to know that God will always be there, He is always waiting for us to open up to Him. Running away is never the solution, because at the end, we are the only ones, who will be hurt if we run away from God.
V2 ‘And he said: I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.’ Jonah was determined to talk to God and to hear God’s voice. When we are in a complete darkness, do we believe that God can hear our voice and He can also talk to us? We must believe that God can hear our voice, and we will no longer live in the depression and the darkness of death. Let us be bold to go back to the relationship, don’t run away but hold onto God tightly.
Section Two V3-6 Back to the Faith
V3 ‘For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me.’ It was Jonah’s decision to be thrown into the sea, not God. If Jonah humbled himself and prayed on the ship, would God not listen? But when he decided to tell people to throw him into the sea, he came back and blamed God. Jonah turned back to God by his physical action, but what about his faith? When we decide to come back to the relationship, is our heart also there in the relationship?
V4 ‘Then I said, I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ Jonah’s heart gradually changed, he still thought he was casted out from God’s sight, but he changed his attention to God’s temple instead of his own problems. We often thought that we need to first deal with all our problems before following God, but God is always with us, and He is always waiting for us to respond to Him. Our problems in life will never be resolved completely, but do we have this faith to respond to God straight away?
V5 ‘The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head.’ Jonah experienced the waters, the storms, but he also experienced God’s salvation. He believed God was with him and would save him. V6 ‘I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, o Lord, my God.’ God is not only the God in the desert but also the God of the sea, He created the Heaven and Earth, even the fish had to listen to God. Let us go back to the faith, when we are surrounded by darkness, can we see God by faith?
Section Three V7-10 Back to the Way of God
V7 ‘When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple.’ It was not an easy experience for Jonah, but also a life lesson to teach him that he should never run away from his problems. Finally, Jonah admitted his own problem, he realised that everything happened was because of his rebellious and stubbornness. Do we see the path of God is the path of blessings? All the darkness we are experiencing is due to our sinful nature, but God is still there for us, He has always been there for us, waiting for us to turn back.
V8-9 ‘Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.’ Jonah humbled himself and was willing to follow God again. When he went back to the way of God, he will no longer be deserted and he will no longer be a foreigner. He knew God’s way is the best way, and he was willing to surrender.
V10 ‘So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.’ Let us also receive strength from God, when we humble ourselves, come back to the relationship, the faith, and the path of God, then He will guide us to the way we should go!
约拿书 2 – 破茧而出
2023年3月1日 星期三
潘锡安牧师
约拿是“敬畏”神的希伯来人，神所拣选的仆人，却沦落到在风浪中要被人丢弃（约拿书一章）。或许约拿觉得是因为他跟神给自己的呼召背道而行，然而神并非离开。当约拿被抛入海中的时候，全船的人都得救了。有时我们觉得自己已经离开神的时候，神仍没有离开，他仍然使用我们的生命去影响别人。神拣选我们，他不会自己离开我们，只有我们的罪使我们与神隔绝。约拿如何在一个封闭的空间经历神？
一、v.1-2 回到关系里
约拿原本住在干地，但他选择坐船去他施，想要与神断绝关系。这段关系如何恢复？约拿在落入海水之后被神所安排的大鱼拯救，他在鱼腹中对神说：“我从患难中呼求的时候，你就回答我”。有互动才有关系的恢复。
当我们想要断开关系的时候，我们会选择逃避对方；若要恢复关系，我们就要放下一切矜持，承认自己在患难中，愿意向神“呼求”，与神互动。不要听自己里面的谎言说神不再听我们的声音，于是只会靠自己去解决问题。我们的抽离不是解决的办法，我们要做的就是回到关系里。
约拿知道自己已经跌倒谷底，他需要听到神的声音，也需要神听到他的声音。在我们的不可能中，只要听到神的声音，且知道神听到我们的声音，我们就不再活在死亡和忧郁里，因为我们的神是自有永有的神。面对忧郁、伤害，我们不要抽离，而是勇敢回到关系里，无论发生什么都紧紧抓住神的手。
二、v.3-6 回到相信里
有时我们虽然回头了，但“人在心不在”，对神没有信任。我们不仅要回到与神的关系里，也要回到对神的相信里。
V3 其实不是神将约拿“投下深渊”，而是约拿自己让那些船上的人把他丢下海。难道这是他当时唯一的选择吗？如果那时约拿愿意谦卑跪在神的面前为自己的罪悔改，愿意回应神的呼召，风浪也会平息。如今约拿虽然回到关系里，但心里仍很混乱，以为是神将自己逼到走投无路的地步。
V4 当我们恢复对神的爱和信任，我们的里面就会慢慢改变。虽然约拿觉得是神驱赶他，但他愿意仰望神的圣殿。我们会觉得自己需要把所有问题都解决了才来跟从神，然而生命中的问题层出不穷，唯有神一直都在。约拿是即使身处在一切问题中仍然愿意倚靠神，我们愿意有这样的信心立刻回应神吗？
V5-6 神没有把那些让约拿感受死亡、恐惧的东西拿走。约拿在鱼腹中经历这一切，同时也相信神是拯救他的神 – 神不仅是旱地的神，也是沧海的神。当我们被周围的幽暗或自己里面的负面情绪淹没的时候，也要像约拿这样选择回到对神的相信里。
三、 v.7-10 回到神的道路
约拿在腥臭的鱼腹中要学习生命的功课。逃避不能解决问题，我们也不能躲避神，而要回到神的道路里。
V7 约拿最终承认是他的“心”出问题，而不是神有问题。我们觉得被冒犯，想要离开神进入世界，没有看见跟从神是蒙福的，都是因为“我心在我里面发昏”。神的殿是祷告的殿，因此约拿说“我的祷告进入你的圣殿”，表明他愿意谦卑降服。
V8-9 “那信奉虚无之神的人”指的就是这个世界。约拿在神的面前彻底谦卑，表明自己愿意再一次跟从神，在生命中尊主为大。约拿不再走那抽离、放弃的道路，而是回到神的道路。
V10 约拿如何从旱地来，神就能如何将他送回旱地。沧海无法使我们躲避神，他是掌管天地海的神。让我们谦卑顺服、舍己利他，在跌倒的时候仍然勇敢回到与神的关系里，再次走进蒙神祝福的道路。