“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” (Jonah 2:9)
This is the end of Jonah’s prayer when he was in the big fish. After that, the Bible tells us that the Lord spoke to the fish and vomited Jonah out. Jonah sounds like some of us when we desperately need the Lord to help us. We make all kinds of promises. In the end, Jonah acknowledges that salvation, meaning aid, victory, help and deliverance is of the Lord.
The word that Jonah uses for salvation is the Hebrew word yeshuah meaning aid, victory, help and deliverance. There are many words for salvation in Hebrew that distinguish what kind of salvation. For instance, Isaiah uses the Hebrew word teshuah to which he added the word eternal (eternal teshuah), meaning rescue, deliverance, help, safety and victory. “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation:..” (Isaiah 45:17) There is also the Hebrew word moshaah which means deliverance. When speaking Hebrew, the word used gave a different nuance.
In the New Testament the Greek word soteria is used for salvation. In Acts 4:12, the Greek word soteria means rescue safely (physically or morally), to deliver, give health and save. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Titus uses the word soteria, the same Greek word. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” (Titus 2:11) When the verb save or saved is used, the Greek word is sozo, which means to deliver, to heal, and to make whole.
All this study into the word salvation is to get the true and real meaning of Jonah’s prayer. In Jonah’s case we see that the salvation he was referring to is not meant spiritual and eternal salvation. He wanted help and deliverance from the big fish. Jonah meant that the help and deliverance from the situation he was in would have to be a God thing. We can be in a situation where we need the kind of salvation Jonah prayed for. In Hebrew it would be yeshuah help that we need. A situation so impossible that only God could change. Like Jonah we may make all kinds of promises because we are desperate. Instead, we have a promise from the Lord for help. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) Because of the cross and Jesus, we can come directly to the throne of mercy and grace. We don’t have to beg and make vows before God to get His help. No matter what happens God will be merciful to us and give us the undeserved benefits needed at the time.
The Lord is on our side. “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (Hebrews 13:6) We fear man. And yet man cannot do anything to us that the Lord is not near and ready to help us. Whatever man can do to try to destroy us, God is there to protect, to help and to deliver us. He has sent angels to minister to us. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14) And the psalmist writes, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” (Psalms 34:7) So even if we do get swallowed by a big fish like Jonah or any other impossible situation, God will help us and deliver us.
Another point is that the fish vomited Jonah. It was never so glad to get Jonah out of his body. And that will be the same with us. The enemy will gladly vomit us out of his trap, the impossible hold he places us in to try to destroy us when we call on the help of the Lord. The mention of the Name of Jesus will send the devil fleeing from us. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) The disciples of Jesus were surprised about this. “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” (Luke 10:17) If you don’t know what to pray, just call on Jesus. His manifest presence will make the devil flee and gladly leave us.
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