 So Jonah chapter number two, we're going to look at one verse back in Jonah chapter one and verse number 17. So very famous story in the Bible that we're going to be looking at this evening, which is the actual event of this fish swallowing Jonah. If you look at verse number 17, and it's very fitting because I'm actually going fishing tomorrow. But anyway, no, I really am. But anyway, so Jonah chapter one and verse number 17, look what the Bible says. It says, now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. So the first thing is, we're going to look at this situation with this fish or this whale in Jonah chapter two that is detailed. In the entire chapter of Jonah chapter two, he's literally inside the fish, okay? That's what we're dealing with in Jonah chapter two. So why do people think, the Bible says here in verse number 17, in verse number one, it says that he's in a fish's belly. So why do people think that it's a whale? Well turn to Matthew chapter 12 and look at verse number 40. Jesus actually references this story in Matthew chapter 12 in verse number 40. So it's not a Bible version thing, alright? So the Bible actually says in Matthew 12, Jesus says in Matthew 12, verse 40 says for his Jonas, talking about Jonah, was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So the first thing to point out here is that's where we get the idea of the whale. That's kind of a side note. But the first thing to point out is that Jonah chapter two, the event of the whale of Jonah inside the whale for three days and three nights is a parallel prophecy of Jesus Christ, okay? Think about Jesus and we know, well we'll look at where Jesus was for three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, which Acts chapter two in verse 31 says he was in hell for three days and three nights while his body was in the tomb, alright? So now let's go back to the whale or the fish, okay? Now this is one of those stories that a lot of people that don't believe the Bible will come out and they'll say, and I'm going to show you how silly this is in just the first couple of minutes before we even get into the sermon, but people are like, oh yeah, I really think that like some guy got swallowed by a whale and was in a whale for three days. Well, yes, that's what the Bible says. That's what the Bible is telling us. So you get all kinds of people that have studied this, right? People that have, I'm going to quote some answers in Genesis stuff tonight. I don't endorse answers in Genesis. It's they've got a false, Ken Ham as a false gospel, but it is like one of the most popular apologetics ministries out there. So I'm going to quote some explanations that they have on how this could have actually happened, and then we'll talk about that in a little bit. But I mean, there are whale types out there. There's like blue whales, sperm whales, some people even think that it could have been a great white shark. We'll get there in a second, alright? But here's some answers in Genesis, plausibility studies on Jonah or a man being swallowed by a whale. Could this be possible, alright? This is a quote from Answers in Genesis right here. It says, are there great fish large enough to swallow a man whole? That's the question. The answer is this, of course, keep in mind that modern animal classification systems weren't exactly in use the time of Jonah. At the time of Jonah, we know that there are whales, blue whales and sperm whales, and even sharks, the great white whale sharks that can swallow a man whole. The sperm whale grows to up to 70 feet long. It's esophagus is approximately 20 inches wide and whales don't chew, so they just swallow things whole. Also, they think that there's actually, this surprised me, there's two marine scientists from SeaWorld in San Diego that hypothesize that it was a great white shark that probably swallowed Jonah. Clearly these guys didn't grow up in the 80s. Because the great white sharks weren't swallowing people. They're chewing them up in the tiny little pieces. But anyway, could, the answers in Genesis continues, could someone survive three days? So they say like, could a man be swallowed by a whale? The whales that exist today, the answer is yes. Now, could someone survive three days and three nights in a whale's belly? The answer from answers in Genesis, this is the difficult part of the question. So now they're starting to have problems, right? There are fish species that surface from the sea and gulp down air into their lungs, like the lung fish, for example. But there's no explanation for how air might have been transferred to the stomach. Another problem, I won't read you anymore. But another problem they have is that digestive juices would eat away the body and all these types of things, that's a nice thought, right? But the point is that they kind of run out of explanation, right? They're like, I don't know how the air could have gotten there and how he could have survived. Another thought, if we're just thinking about how this could be possible, this was 2,800 years ago. And it was 2,800 years ago, it's possible. They say species go extinct all the time. If you go and Google, this is really interesting. If you go and Google how many species go extinct every single year, this will tell you the accuracy of scientists today. You go and Google how many species go extinct every year today. And the answer you will get will be anywhere from 100 species every year to like 200,000 species. So if a scientist gives you, well, it's somewhere between 200 or 100 and 200,000, the real answer is they have no idea, okay? So they don't know how many species are going extinct. But all that to say this, lots of animals have gone extinct. Lots of species have gone extinct since 2,800 years ago, all right? So this could have been something that was 100 times the size of a shark or whatever, right? We just don't know. But here's what we do know, it was a special fish that God sent, all right? And this is really, the only reason I read the answers and Genesis stuff to you is because this is really the problem with getting too involved in apologetics and getting too deep into that. Before I was saved, I used to be really interested in that type of stuff. Like when I was in my 20s, I used to be really interested in like, did we find Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat and they've got this shape. And there's this guy, this crazy guy looking for the Ark of the Covenant and all this kind of stuff. Like his whole life he spent looking for these things, right? And I kind of thought when I was younger, like, man, if we could just find Noah's Ark or we just find some of these things, like everyone will believe in God, no one will not believe the Bible if we could just find these things that the Bible says. But ultimately, it's a hard issue. You could find all these artifacts, you could find all this evidence. And certain people, if you're a soul winner, you know this. You know that somebody that accepts the gospel and somebody that doesn't want to hear the gospel, it's not because the gospel isn't good, it's not because the gospel isn't the same gospel. It's because their heart isn't willing to receive it. It doesn't matter what evidence is presented. They just don't want to hear it because of the condition of their heart, right? So the problem with apologetics when you get down to the brass tax of it is really a great example of what I just showed you in Answers in Genesis. They're trying to use science. Remember I did a whole sermon on scientism, which is this teaching that everything can be explained through science. That's just not true. The Bible, everything in the Bible can't be explained through science. You say, why? Because we are not God, that's why. Because science is the recreation and the experimentation to prove a hypothesis. But I can't go and do supernatural things because I am not God. So science just can't explain everything. So that's a false teaching, this idea of scientism, that we can just figure out an explanation. These are the people that are like, oh, the red sea and the reason they crossed the red sea is because there was a land bridge and they were just really walking across the land bridge. You know, no, God parted the sea, the Bible says. What it really ends up doing, if you get too involved in apologetics, is it really starts removing the power from God, is what you end up doing. Like, oh, I need a natural explanation for a supernatural God. And we just need to kind of steer clear of those types of things. Look, science is never gonna disprove the Bible. We know that, we know that for a fact. But science can't explain everything in the Bible because we can't recreate what only God can create. Apologetics leads down this road of like, oh, intelligent design and all these types of things. That we know that it must be some intelligent species that created all of this because we see patterns and we see all this. It removes the glory from God if you get too involved in these things. All right, so kind of, I mean, can we raise men from the dead? Can we recreate that? I mean, can we recreate raising somebody from the dead? How about this one? How hard is it? Think about it, these people that come up and say, well, yeah, you think Jonah really got swallowed by a will? Well, God created the world in six days by speaking it into existence. So yeah, I think that he could have made that happen. It was a supernatural thing. Either he had some supernatural thing keeping Jonah alive or he had some fish there. I mean, I don't know how he did it. I'll ask God when I get to heaven. I don't need those answers. I just need faith in what the Word of God says. That's all I need because I know that science can explain everything in the Bible. Let's look inside the fish. Look at Jonah chapter two and verse number one. Jonah chapter two and verse number one. So I'm just going to preach through this very quickly and then kind of go back and give you a couple of points on Jonah's experience inside the whale. Okay, look at verse number one. All right, now here we're pretty down on Jonah. You know, all we really know about Jonah at this point is that God told him to do something and he just ran away. He just took off in the other direction and he went from, you know, he went from Joppa, which is basically the, I'm getting my direct, he's on the east side of the Mediterranean Sea, you know, from Israel. And then he went all the way on his way. We don't know how far he got to Tarshish, but Tarshish is like over on the south coast of Spain. It's like all the way across the sea. So he's trying to get as far, and Nineveh is the other way, by the way. So he's supposed to go northeast and he goes southwest. So he's going exactly the opposite way. That's all we know of Jonah at this point. But verse number one, he starts to kind of redeem himself a little bit here. It says then he's been swallowed by the fish, by the whale. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord God, Lord his God, out of the fish's belly. And he said, and said, I cried by reason of my infliction unto the Lord, and he heard me, out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou hurtest my voice. So now we're looking at, just remember, this is a parallel prophecy of Christ, but this is also what's happening to Jonah. He's sitting here and he's not having a good time here. And he's praying to the Lord, why? The Bible tells us why he prays to the Lord. The reason of my infliction. It's like he's in torment, he's in pain, he's suffering, so he prays to the Lord. God got his attention. It worked. And he heard me, out of the belly of hell I cried, and thou hurtest my voice. So I mean, he tells us why, you know, let that not be us. The only time we pray is when we're in infliction. The only time we pray is when, you know, God has to put us in some situation. That's what we're going to talk about tonight. But needless to say, he's praying now, look at verse number three, for thou has cast me into the deep, into the midst of the seas, and the floods compass me about, and all thy billows and thy waves pass over me. We're going to mark that verse right there. We're going to come back to that one at the end. But just to, Matt, what was happening when they threw him in the water? What was happening when they threw him in the water was there was a terrible storm on the sea. There was a terrible storm on the sea, and the Bible says that Jonah is in the belly of the whale, and all this is happening around him. We're going to go back to that verse. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet will I look again toward thy holy temple. Now he's starting to say, you know what, God, I'll go back. The waters compass me about, even to the soul. The depth closed me around about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with her bars was about me forever, yet hest thou brought my life, up my life from corruption, O Lord, my God. Turn to John chapter 3 and verse number 36. John chapter 3, and look at verse number 36. John chapter 3 and verse number 36. This is such a great verse here in verse number 6. He says, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. And then look at this next verse. He says, the earth with her bars was about me forever. That right there is a great, is a great analogy, a great explanation of somebody that's not saved right there. And that reminds me of John chapter 3 and verse number 36. I love the, I mean John chapter 3 and verse number 36, many of you that gone soul-winning with me know that this is, especially the first part of this verse, is probably my favorite soul-winning verse. It's just such a profound verse to explain to someone in the Gospel. He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but what? But the wrath of God abideth on him. Now you look at that in verse number 6 of Jonah chapter 2, the earth with her bars was about me forever. All these people that are not saved out here, the earth with her bars is about them forever. They're eternally damned as they're walking around. Why? Because the wrath of God is upon them now. The wrath of God is upon somebody that you knock on their door and they don't want to hear the Gospel. The wrath of God is currently on that person at that point. Those bars of the earth are about them forever. Look, it's an eternal problem that they have. Every unsaved person, just like you are eternally saved and I'm eternally saved, every single unsaved person has these bars that are about them forever and there's only one way to escape that prison and Jonah actually talks about that, you know, about salvation is only, is from the Lord, but I mean that's just a really interesting parallel with John chapter 3 in verse number 36, talking about the everlasting state of the wrath of God and what that has upon somebody that is not saved. Yet thou has brought up my life from corruption, oh Lord my God. And of course, this is a prophecy of Christ. If you look at Acts chapter 2, I'll just read it for you, Acts chapter 2 verse 31 says this, he's seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption and I'm going to explain to you what he's talking about saying that thou has brought up my life from corruption, if Jonah would have died his life, his body would have been corrupted, but Jonah didn't die, Jonah didn't die and God made sure of that, look at verse number 7, verse number 7, when my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord, that's a great verse 2, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple, when your soul, you know, it's when his soul fainted, when he was humbled is when he finally started listening to what God wanted him to do, verse 8, but it's kind of a proverb here, he says, they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, so Jonah's not doing this, he's saying those that are self-focused and will not humble themselves and just keep going with their own vanities, their own worthless, you know, pursuits in their life, he's saying they forsake their own mercies, like they will get no mercy in situations like this, these are the people that don't acknowledge their sin, is what Jonah is talking about in verse number 8, he said, like, what the Bible is saying here is, in moments like this, in chastising moments, your actions matter, is what Jonah is saying, look at verse number 9, he says, but I will sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving, and here it is right here, I will pay that that I have vowed, he gives up, he waves the white flag, he says, I will pay that that I have vowed, and you're sitting there like, well, maybe he shouldn't have vowed, but guess what, you've all vowed, you have all vowed, look at the word right before where he says, I will pay that that I have vowed, look, if you are saved tonight, you have vowed, if you are saved and you got saved and you were thankful that you got saved, I guarantee you in part of your prayers to God or your speaking to God, you pledged to follow God's word, you pledged to serve God with your life, you pledged to read the Bible, you pledged to do this, we've all vowed, if we want to be honest with ourselves, and here Jonah finally admits, he says, I will pay my vow, and what happens, and then look what he says, salvation is of the Lord, focus that back on verse number seven, talking about the earth, the bars of the earth, look at verse number ten, right after he says, I will pay my vow, the Lord's bacon to the fish and it vomited up Jonah onto the dry land, over, Jonah waves the white flag and he says, you know what, I'm getting right, I'm done with this, I'm gonna focus back where I was supposed to, I'm gonna go back there and I'm gonna pay what I promised that I would do and immediately the chastisement ends. Ah, that we could all get to this point this quickly, this is a short chapter, of course this was three days and three nights, but Jonah gets right away and God says it is enough, just like he stayed the angel over Israel when you know they were, the angel was slaying when David had the census, he says finally it is enough, so I want to give you two main points on the situation with Jonah in this whale, first of all the first point is this, God's chastisement is terrible, a lot of people will you know just put off God's chastisement as nothing, but Jonah chapter 2 and the chastisement of Jonah inside this fish is, it just shows, look he's comparing it to hell, he's comparing it to hell that the chastisement of the Lord can be terrible and I'm gonna show you the lengths that the Lord will go to in just a few minutes, but the chastisement of God is nothing to shake a stick at, is the first thing that we need to point out from this story, see a lot of people think, a lot of people think when you go out and you find someone who grew up Catholic or grew up some in some other religion that teaches you have to work your way to heaven or work says something to do with it, a lot of people will say to you, you go out preaching the gospel they'll say you know when you start preaching eternal security to people and they'll say you can't tell people that, you can't tell people that they can just trust on Jesus and then go out because people will go crazy, people will go nuts, they'll just go out and start drinking and just partying all the time and just going into fornication and all they will just fly off the handle, this is how people that are unsaved that have grown up in works based salvation religions which is every other religion by the way, this is how they will take the gospel at first, many of them, they'll say you can't tell people that, they'll go crazy, you have to go to church and have the priest or whatever stand up and tell you that you have to stop doing what you're going to do and try to scare you every Sunday to shake the Etch-a-Sketch and make it clean or whatever but if you tell people that they just have to trust on Jesus says nothing to do with their works, they'll go crazy and just go into massive sin but the problem is this, the problem is this, trusting in Jesus is taking what they don't, they can't understand it because they really have no true fear of God, they have no true fear of God because the fear of God comes from the same place as the trust in God, so somebody that doesn't trust on the Lord, look, they're trusting in themselves, they're completely focused on themselves, that's why they think that because they're focused on themselves and they're sitting there looking at themselves saying if I didn't have this fear in me, if I didn't have this fear of hell and damnation hanging over my head, I would go crazy because they have no trust in God which means they don't have true fear of God, look it is only the person that has truly put all of their trust, taking it off of themselves and focused it all on Jesus that can truly trust and truly fear God because now they're focusing completely on the Lord and not themselves and that's why you see people that have trusted on Jesus that just want to serve him with their life out of love, out of loyalty to the God that saved them but there's no fear of God without that trust in God but the thing that we need to realize in verses like this turn to Hebrews chapter 12 is that God's chastisement, God's chastisement is very real and it can be very extreme up to and including your physical death on this earth, that's the first point, that's the first point, you're turning to Hebrews chapter 12, I'm going to read for you Jonah chapter 1, I'm going to go back and I'm going to read for you Jonah chapter 1, if I can turn away from it here just one second, you're going to Hebrews chapter 12, I'm going to go and read for you Jonah chapter 1 in verse number 14, the second point is this, the second point is this, God's chastisement actually saves us, I mean physically, God's chastisement saves us physically, yes the whale offered chastisement for sure, bad chastisement but it was also the only way that Jonah could be physically saved from dying, I'm going to read for you verse 14 of verse number of chapter 1, it says wherefore these are the ship, the people on the ship, it says wherefore they cried unto the Lord, they found out why the storm was happening because Jonah told them what he had done, it says they cried unto the Lord and said we beseech thee O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not upon us innocent blood for thou O Lord thou hast done it as it pleased thee, they're saying they did not want to throw him overboard because they knew he would die, they're saying don't put this innocent blood on us, we get it, Jonah said throw me overboard and they said no because they didn't want the innocent blood on them because they likened it to murdering him. So in all circumstances they were thinking this guy goes over he's dead but he didn't die why because of the whale, he didn't die because God sent a great fish to chastise him but it also saved him, it saved his life, the chastisement saved his life despite his sin. Now look at verse number six of Hebrews chapter 12, now this makes a little bit more sense right so God wasn't just being mean and just punishing Jonah, he was literally saving him from dying. Look at verse number six it says for whom the Lord, well here it is, whom the Lord loved it he chastened it and scored just every son whom he received it, so God loved Jonah and he was showing Jonah that he loved him, if he endured chastening God dealeth with you as sons for what son is he whom the Father chastened it, not. So if you are saved you should be watching for this in your life, you say when all the time in your life, if you're saved you should be watching for the chastisement of God in your life because if you're saved God loves you, God loves you and he is going to chasten you, so be watching for it but if you be without chastisement where of all our partakers then you're bastards and not sons, so this is why people are confused, they're like why do bad people get away with everything and in all these wicked people get away with everything it's because God's not going to chastise them on this earth, he's going to burn them in hell for eternity, you're going to be chastised on the rules are different yes the rules are different for you than somebody that's unsaved because somebody that's unsaved is not going to endure the chastening of God because if they die unsaved they're going to go to hell and they're going to be punished literally for eternity. It's the most terrible thing that could ever happen to anyone. Look at verse number nine, furthermore Naly compares it to a father, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and gave them reverence and we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection under the father of spirits and look at this and what and live it's not about physically live, it's not about be alive still meaning the chastisement can kill you. Look at verse number ten, for they verily for a few days talking about our earthly fathers, chasing us after their own pleasure but he for our profit again the whale profited Jonah the whale saved his physical life that we may be partakers in his holiness and not only got him right but it made it so he didn't die. Now no chastening, now here it is this is Jonah's experience right here, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So if you allow it to work in your life it's going to bear fruit through you is what it is saying but look it's painful, it's grievous, it's not fun to go through chastisement, it's not fun just like he's comparing it to earthly fathers look your kids won't think it's fun when your kids are being chastised turn to Proverbs chapter 13. I mean that's why you know it's just talk about kids for a second since the Bible you know talks about makes a comparison to God our father to fathers on this earth look people have a real problem with this today people have a real problem because they don't want to go and they don't want to spank their kids why because their kids cry and their kids are upset and people today they can't stand to see their kids upset which is completely ironic because the most upset kids that you'll ever see are kids that are not spanked by their parents they're miserable they're the most miserable kids spoiled kids are our miserable kids they're insecure kids if they're not chastened by and you know why because the Bible compares chastening to love this is why look at Proverbs 13 look at verse number 24 Proverbs 13 verse 24 the Bible says he that spareth his rod hateeth his son but he that loveeth him there it is just like Hebrews chapter 12 he that loveeth him chasing it him be times you know what be times means early it means chastens him when he's young it means talking talking about you know somebody that's get you know you better start this soon you better start this right away I'm not going to just raise my kids and then when they're 20 be like alright I'm really cracking down on you now it's not going to work you have to chase them be times chasing them early on in their life and you know what those kids just like just like a mother just like a mother nurturing a baby this is what you know the Bible is saying that spanking your children it they will know that you love them like what why don't you just listen to the Bible people just listen to the Bible but people they can't what they do is they they're emotional listen they just run off their own emotions and like oh it it makes me sad to see my my child cry but then all their kid does is cry and scream and throw temper tantrums constantly like you just must be sad all the time turn to Proverbs chapter 23 turn to Proverbs chapter 23 it's because that child is insecure it's because that child is not feeling the love of their parents the Bible says this in Proverbs 23 verse 13 withhold not correction from the child first out beat is him with the rod he shall not die this is not talking about child abuse here okay this is talking about spanking your children the Bible says he will not die thou shall beat him with the rod and shall what shall deliver his soul from hell you know what's not guaranteed you know what's not guaranteed the Bible is literally relating chastising your children spanking your children disciplining your children especially starting this when they are young it's relating this to whether or not they get saved I mean it doesn't get any more serious than that thou shall deliver his soul from hell what was Jonah comparing his chastisement to literally being in hell the chastisement of God the chastisement of a child what will lead that child to salvation a child that is properly disciplined and grows up you know what they're disciplined they know their parents love them they they grow up respecting their parents authority now guess what guess what you get to use that authority for that authority you get to use that to open the Bible and start teaching them they have no authority they have no respect for any authority in their life they spit in your face they say no to you they just no no go clean your room no what happened one time I think with one of my kids and then you know they should never happen your kids should never say no to you they should never say no to you especially when there they'll do it when they're two do it when they're three let's say no there you have to stop that that's what the Bible is saying you have to stop that they have to learn to respect your authority because your authority will be used to preach the Gospel to them the Authority will be used to sit down with them and teach the Bible to them your authority will be used to tell them what the truth is in this sick and twisted world. When they got people trying to feed them garbage in one ear, they need to hear the truth from somebody, and they need to know where their authority is, and it comes from properly disciplining them b times when they're young, early. It's a big deal. It's a really big deal, folks. So chastisement is not pleasant, but it is good. It is good. It will literally lead your children to the truth in their lives. It'll lead them to salvation. It's God's formula. Go back to chapter 2 of Jonah, and look at verse number 10. Jonah chapter 2 and verse number 10. And the last thing I wanted to say is this. Look at verse number 10 of Jonah chapter 2. Jonah impresses me in this chapter because he gets right right away. He gets swallowed by the fish, and he starts just begging God for mercy right away. He gets right. He says, I'll go back. I'll do what you want. I will pay my vow. Look at verse number 10, where the Bible says, and the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Look, chastisement can be your beginning, or it can be your end, is what you need to understand from this story. Chastisement can be the beginning of a new Christian life for you, or it could literally be the end of your life on planet Earth. See, King Saul. I mean, what would have happened? And you think about the chastisement of God. You think about the chastisement of God with this whale. And you think about if Jonah's soul would have never fainted. Yes, he was in a whale, and he thought he was in hell, and it was terrible, and I'm sure it was dark, and scary, and all this. But what was outside? If his soul would have never fainted, and if you're under the chastisement of God, and your soul never faints, you know what? The sea of sin will kill you. Or the whale of chastisement will kill you. I've seen some Christians go through some terrible chastisement in their lives. And it's either, and it all comes from the fact that they were under chastisement, and their soul never fainted. Instead, it was just lying vanity. After lying vanity, and I think that a lot of them, or a couple of them, know that they're under chastisement or knew that they were under chastisement. And they're just like, no, I'm going to go into the sea of sin deeper. I'm going to go into the sea of sin deeper, and deeper, and deeper. Think about the situation that Jonah was in. In verse number three, it says, Thou said, cast me into the deep. In the midst of the seas, the floods encompass me about. All thy billows, and I wave past over me. That's what was outside the whale. If he's outside the whale, he's dead right away. But people that don't soften their hearts to the Lord in God's chastisement, they'll die in the chastisement, or the sea of sin will kill them. Look, folks, just because we are saved, we are not immune to the sea of sin that's out there. We are not some kind of superheroes here that could just go and just do whatever we want, because God's sending a whale on top of us. But the reason he's sending the whale is because he doesn't want us to drown in that out there. So he's going to try to send the whale. But if Jonah wouldn't have got right, he'd have died in the whale. He'd eventually died in the whale. But instead, what does God do? Jonah, he doesn't allow Jonah to drown in the sea. He sends the whale, which is terrible for Jonah. And I don't know how far he got to Tarshish. But the Bible says that by the time he was spit out on dry land, he was only three days from Nineveh, meaning he was on the right side of the shore again. So God sent the whale to chastise him while taking him home. It's better to be in the whale and get right right away. That's the answer. Look, I believe that we will all deal with God's chastisement in our lives. You say, you, you're the pastor. Yeah, me. I believe that we will all run into cracks in our Christian life. And God will have to step in. But the key, the trick, is you. The trick is how we react. The trick is how quickly we, number one, recognize it. Jonah recognized it right away from what I'm reading here. And how quickly we melt our heart. We faint our soul. Don't you burr up against God. And if you do, God will use the chastisement to take us back, to take us home. It's a wonderful story. It's a wonderful story about somebody that just totally just rejected God's command, which we will do in our lives. We will get caught up in this world at some point. And God will step in. And it's just a great example of how right away we need to recognize it, pray, and get right. And God will take us home because He wants us home. He wants us back here because other people need us back here. He needs us to be fruitful because there's all these people out there that still have those everlasting, those forever bars around them. And we are the ones that use God's word to free them from that. So just recognize every single time in your life that God is stepping in and chastising you. Any time something's going wrong in your life, step back and say, God trying to tell me something here. Is God trying to show me something? Because the quicker you can figure that out, the sooner the whale will spit you out on the dry land. Let's bow our heads and have a word.