10/23

Jonah 1:17

¹⁷And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah was called by God to go to the brutal Ninevites and command them to repent or be destroyed. He decided it was better to run from God than to obey Him. It wasn't because he was afraid of them, but rather that he thought they might repent and receive the grace of God (Jonah 4:2). So, he boarded a ship to another destination. While he knew about God's grace and mercy, he didn't understand God's presence is everywhere.

A storm came up and threatened to sink the ship. Jonah knew the storm was about him and that he was endangering the crew's lives, so he had them throw him overboard. It appears he wasn't entirely dispassionate about the souls of men. In fact, when the storm ceased, those sailors were the first converts after his call to Nineveh (Jonah 1:16).

God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. Critics of the Bible point to this as a sign that the Bible is just fairy tales. However, the historical book of Kings (2 Kings 14:25) mentions Jonah as a real person, and Jesus also referred to this as an historical fact (Matthew 12:39-41). If you don't believe the earth was created by God or that He could prepare a fish capable of swallowing Jonah and keeping him alive three days in that fish, then you would have to agree with the skeptics. But if God is the Creator, then of course He could create a fish that would serve this purpose. The book of Jonah appears to be an autobiographical account of a prophet whose heart was changed by the same God who had grace and mercy upon the repentant Ninevites. There would be no reason for an Israelite to create a fictional story in which the hero was as bad as the enemy of their nation, nor would they want to see their enemy as recipients of God's mercy. Jonah is an amazing but true story about our stubborn hearts, God's love for mankind, and His faithfulness to teach His children.

Consider: You can run from God, but you can't hide from Him.