Jonah learned from his conditionthat salvation belongs to the Lord. There he was in the belly of a fish. He had no control over the situation whatsoever. If he were to be rescued, the Lord must do it. If he is going to survive this horrendous condition, the Lord must save.

Jonah also learned from his calling that salvation belongs to the Lord. The reason why he was in the belly of a fish in the first place is because God had called him to go preach repentance to Nineveh, and Jonah headed full speed in the opposite direction. He didn’t want to preach repentance to Nineveh. He knew if God sent him, then God was working. If he preached, they would repent. Nineveh was cruel and evil. In Jonah’s mind, they didn’t deserve God’s grace and mercy. They deserved judgment. However, now swirling around in the contents of a fish’s belly, Jonah is learning salvation belongs to the Lord.

Let us learn from our condition and calling as well. In our condition, we can’t save ourselves. We are sinners, bent on ourselves, with spiritually dead hearts inclined away from God. We are in rebellion against Him. If we are to be rescued from our sin, if we are to be saved from ourselves, God must do it. Thank God, salvation belongs to the Lord! In our calling, we are like the Ninevites. We don’t deserve grace and mercy. If we did, it wouldn’t be grace and mercy. We deserve punishment and judgment. Thank God, salvation belongs to the Lord!

The very next line in Jonah is “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” Saved from his condition. And in the very next chapter, Nineveh repents as a result of Jonah’s preaching. Through obeying God’s calling to go to Nineveh and preach repentance, God called the Ninevites to repentance!