Jonah in the "Belly of Hell"

By Brother Mack

From the Church Image Library at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/image/jonah-nineveh-beach-4a9024e?lang=eng&collectionId=65a92c1051e01cb5bea39a2451a9310ba63e01a2

​I really like Jonah 2:2: “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.”

​Jonah is so often remembered as the prophet who fled. Nineveh where he was called to preach was known for the murder and torture of his people. I wouldn’t want to go to Nineveh either. I imagine Jonah being truly scared for his life.

Jonah admits his reasons for his afflictions in verse 2, which is what the world doesn’t do today. Many don’t want to admit their wrongs; they would rather blame them on others than take ownership.

I believe one of the reasons God “heard him” is because of Jonah’s sincere repentance and contrition, for he cried it. This prayer would have been a true “belly of hell” moment, which we all have had at different points in our lives. We have been symbolically in a whale or in a tried part of our lives and then we have that moment of sweetness, when our voice, our cries, our prayers are heard.

Jesus in Gethsemane understood each of our “belly of hell” moments because He paid the price for those moments. Jesus lived through those moments, for us. I love the story of Jonah.