16 June 2024 AM – Text: Jonah 1:17-2:10 – Topic: Repentance
Melody and I recently celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary. On Saturday, the 7th of June 1980, at 2:00 p.m. before a crowd of relatives and friends, Melody and I vowed to take each other as our wedded spouse from that day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part. Have I always loved and cherished Melody as I vowed? I fear that my love has often come up short.
Our wedding vows were formal, but you know, I have made many other less formal vows or promises in my life. I have promised to read the Bible daily, to pray, to memorise scripture, to witness, to serve the Lord, and to be a missionary for the Lord. I have failed to keep some of these vows. Keeping vows can be a real challenge.
Can you relate? If you are married, you made vows to your spouse before God. Perhaps you have promised God that you would read the Bible, memorise Bible verses, give to missions, witness for the Lord, break a sinful habit, attend church more faithfully, stop getting angry, pray more fervently, memorise the books of the Bible, or clean up your speech. Perhaps you have even told the Lord that you would become a missionary or preacher. Have you kept your vows? If you are like me, you must say, “Not every one.” When this happens, what are we to do? Does the Bible give us any examples of people who struggled to keep their vows?
Yes, the Bible does give us examples. One such example is found in the life of Jonah. Turn with me to the book of Jonah (Isaiah, Jeremiah, … Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, JONAH). Follow along as I read from Jonah 1:17-2:10. What did Jonah do after breaking his vow? He repented and renewed his vow.
Now, let’s examine more closely the events that led up to Jonah’s broken vow and its renewal.
1. The Vow
We read about Jonah’s vow in Jonah 2:9. Look at it carefully.
a. God does not tell us when he made his vow.
1) Many think that he made his vow in the fish’s belly. That is possible, but the context seems to imply that it was earlier. Scripture records nothing about him making any promises to God while in the fish.
2) Many terrified soldiers crouching in their foxhole as the bombs exploded around them prayed foxhole prayers like, “God if you get me out of here alive then I will…”
3) I personally don’t think Jonah made his vow in the fish’s belly. I think he made it years earlier. Perhaps as a young man, God spoke to his heart and he vowed to serve the Lord with is life. He may have told the Lord, “I will do anything you want me to do. I will go anywhere you want me to go. I will be anything you want me to be.”
4) Jonah had a successful prophetic ministry in Israel (2 Kings 14:25). His prophecies of Israel’s success in recovering lands happened. Things were likely going well for him… that is, until the day that God spoke to him about going to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2).
5) In my imagination, I can hear God saying to him, “Jonah, you promised to do anything, go anywhere, and be anything that I desired. Well, I want you to go way up north and preach to the wicked people of Nineveh.” That was the critical point for Jonah’s vow. We learned in the first chapter how Jonah ran from the call of God.
6) When things are going well, it is easy to make a vow to God. At the start, it is easy to keep it. However, when events turn sour, life gets busy, or we get forgetful, keeping the vow may lose its glamour.
b. God held Jonah to his vow.
1) When Jonah ran to Joppa and boarded a ship for the far west, he was disobeying God, and I think he was breaking his vow to God. God began chastening him.
2) Once the ship was out to sea, God turned up the wind.
3) Because Jonah knew that he was disobeying God and that God was chastening him, he told the sailors to throw him into the ocean.
4) I think he expected to drown, but God had other plans. Read Jonah 1:17. I believe that God was chastening Jonah both for disobeying and for failing to keep his vow.
2. God got Jonah’s attention.
a. He was in the belly of the fish for three days.
1) Jonah could not escape.
2) Swimming in the acids of that great fish and struggling to breathe the air that the fish swallowed must have terrified Jonah.
3) Seaweed wrapped about his head (2:5)
4) The fish took him to the depths of the sea (2:5-6).
b. Jonah had a change of heart.
1) He began to pray (2:1).
2) Jonah cried to the Lord (2:2).
3) He repented (i.e., he had a change of mind). He determined to look again toward God’s holy temple (2:4).
4) Jonah remembered the Lord (2:7).
5) He promised to sacrifice to the Lord with thanksgiving (2:9).
6) Finally, Jonah said, “I will pay that that I have vowed.” At last, Jonah told God that he would renew his vow. Jonah gave in. He humbled himself. He surrendered. He agreed to keep his vow. This is the change for which God had been looking. He wanted Jonah to renew his vow! He did what he promised to do.
7) Jonah admitted that salvation is of the LORD. “Salvation” speaks of deliverance. He knew that only God could deliver him from death inside that great fish.
3. God spoke to the fish.
a. Isn’t that great!
1) The fish obeyed God, even when Jonah refused (2:10).
2) He sent that fish swimming straight for shore.
3) He then made that fish so sick that it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
4) After three days and three nights burning in the acids of that fish, swimming among the decaying fish and seaweed, and gasping for air, Jonah was again on dry land.
5) With all the foul contents of that whale’s stomach, Jonah now lay there on shore and began to regain his senses. He was still alive. God had not killed him.
b. God heard Jonah’s renewed vow.
1) He had renewed his vow to God. He promised to pay what he had vowed. He was now ready and willing to go to the mission field in obedience to God’s call.
2) With his vow renewed, he began making plans for his long trip north to Nineveh.
Application: Many people today treat their vows and promises as if they meant nothing at all; however, God takes our vows and promises seriously. Have you made a promise to God that you have failed to keep? I have. Now what?
You won’t be swallowed by a great whale, but life may get turbulent. God uses many kinds of storms to get our attention and to remind us of our vows. God did not kill Jonah, he just motivated him to do what he promised. Psalms 86:5, assures us, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” If there is a vow you have failed to keep, claim God’s mercy. Do as Jonah did, pray, repent, renew your vow, and then with God’s help, fulfil it. It will be humbling. It will require submission. It may be difficult, but it is the right thing to do.
Perhaps you have promised yourself that one day you will repent of your sins and trust Christ as your Saviour, but so far you have not kept that vow. Renew that vow this morning. Wait no longer. Give your life to Christ today.
If you and I will renew our vows and fulfil them, think of the benefits we will enjoy. We will enjoy God’s blessing. We will enjoy His peace. And we will enjoy a fulfilling life. Finally, one day in heaven, God will reward us for doing right.
