1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
What most people remember about Jonah’s story is his being swallowed by a whale. Most popularly, it has been identified as a whale because it is the largest sea creature we know, but the Bible records it as great sea creature. It really doesn’t make a difference. An average sperm whale has a mouth 20 feet long, 15 feet high and 9 feet wide. It’s about the biggest mammal on the planet. That explains how the fish or whale could swallow a person.
I have read stories of sharks and whales swallowing men who have capsized and lived through it. There are some who put these stories in the category of an early urban legend, but whether it’s true or not, we know that there has been at least one man in the world who has truly gone through such an amazing experience and lived – that man was Jonah!
A friend of mine wrote, ‘God did not say that a whale just happened to be swimming along in the vicinity and just happened to swallow him. This is where Satan likes to get people to discredit this important book here near the end of the Old Testament. This tale probably as much as any in the Scriptures, is one that scoffers will point to and say that the Bible is full of fairy tales, since there is no whale that has a throat large enough to allow for a man or even a child, to fit into it and go through down into its stomach. God calls this a great fish which He had prepared. He did not call it a whale.”
I take the view, that even if there is no other account to this happening, we must not debate if it is possible. If God can do a miracle equal to walking on water with Peter or parting the red sea with Moses or raising someone from the dead, He can cause a great fish to rescue a man. If you ask how a man can survive in the belly of a fish three days, the answer is, he probably can’t—any more than a person can stay three days in the grave and live again. That’s why Jesus called it a “sign.” In Matthew 12:39 He says, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.” Jesus knew this was no ordinary event. It was a miraculous sign of God’s gracious and powerful intervention.
The issue for me isn’t focused on Jonah or the fish, but on God who does what He wants when He wants, however He wants and certainly, God intervenes in situations like this in miraculous ways.
Last week we approached the subject of Jonah’s protest. Was it out of rebellion? There are many who run from God and act out in different ways, but praise the Lord, God is a God of second chances and there is a way back into His fellowship. God still loves the backslider and like the prodigal son welcomes us back into the fold like the lost sheep.
Application: Prayer is our heart response to God for Him to do His work in our lives, community, church, and world. It starts with self-evaluation and repentance.
Prayer: Lord, we know truth. We believe because Your Word says it is true. You even named Jonah and the whale to Your death and resurrection. Thank You Lord for truth and Your Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.
Dale
