Intention
Salvation is a sovereign work of God, even despite our frailty and disobedience.

Scripture

“Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
—Jonah 2:9

Reflection
If you were to look for one sentence that summarises the teaching of the Bible, it would be hard to find a more succinct description than that found in the prophet Jonah’s prayer: ‘Salvation belongs to the Lord!’ (Jonah 2:9)

The Book of Jonah is a remarkable book for many reasons. One example is that it contains, in the Hebrew text, only five words of prophecy (3:4), whereas both the Minor and the Major Prophets of the Old Testament contain hundreds and thousands of words of prophecy addressed to Israel or the nations.

The book of Jonah is more intent on describing the prophet himself rather than his prophecy. The book details Jonah’s inadequate response to God’s command to go to Nineveh, his experience of God’s chastisement, his rescue from the belly of the fish, his obedience to God’s reissuing of His command, the repentant response of the Ninevites to Jonah’s preaching—and surprisingly Jonah’s anger towards God’s goodness and mercy in the final chapter.

The book is deftly composed with delayed explanations of events described. We see examples of this in chapters 1:9-10 and 4:3-8, and also in the classic revelation of Jonah’s reason for disobeying God (1:3) in 4:2. Yet, despite Jonah’s rebellion and reluctance to preach to the city of Nineveh, God’s sovereign purposes overrule Jonah’s disobedience to bring salvation to unsuspecting pagan sailors, as well as wicked Ninevites.

Our God is full of mercy and forgiveness. He also uses us to bring others to Himself, despite our frailty and disobedience, as well as our faithful obedience. God is not prevented from fulfilling His purposes, for His word never returns to Him void (Isaiah 55:11). As Jonah declared: “Salvation is from the Lord!”

The highlight of the book is, in many ways, Jonah’s prayer in chapter two. While it is best seen as a prayer offered after he was delivered onto dry land, it recalls his prayer from the belly of the fish (2:1-2) after the fish spewed him out of his mouth (“for the Lord had commanded the fish and it had vomited out Jonah on dry land”).

Here, Jonah recognised his folly in refusing to follow God’s commands, and he recognised God’s judgment on him in the storm at sea, inviting the sailors to throw him overboard—humanly speaking, to certain death. Yet God’s mercy prevailed and God rescued Jonah for His sovereign purposes. For three days and three nights he languished in the belly of the fish, but in his isolation he was chastened and repentant, and God delivered him.

Our Lord Jesus uses the sign of Jonah to describe His own ministry for the salvation of the world. Unlike Jonah, Jesus was obedient to his Father’s will, suffered the extremity of death, not just metaphorically―but truly―for three days and three nights. Yet from the grave He rose victorious.

We should pray for Australia, that many people might put their faith in Jesus and that God’s mercy might be showered upon them, for it is only through Jesus that God forgives our sins: Salvation is from the Lord!

Prayer
Father God, we thank You for Your mercy towards us, and pray that You would use us to declare Your promises to the people of Australia. We trust not in our own worthiness for this task, but in Your bountiful grace. Strengthen us for every opportunity to declare with a clear conscience the reason for the hope that we have with gentleness and respect, grounded in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

31 Days Prayer Points
1. Pray for five people and share the Good News of Jesus with them.
2. Pray that God would use His people to reach one billion people this May.
3. Pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, both in Australia and globally.

Glenn Davies completed his studies at Westminster Theological Seminary and Moore Theological College and served as a Bible college lecturer and the Bishop of North Sydney before becoming the Archbishop of Sydney in 2013.

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