Fishy Story
The story of Jonah in the Old Testament
is a wonderful reminder of the symmetry of God's Word - it reminds us that
God's judgment may be delayed for a while due to God's pity on humanity but
that His mercy and grace require an accounting.
Jonah becomes the sign that Jesus gives
the Jews who are looking for reasons to believe He is the Messiah - When
for the umpteenth time the Jews asked Jesus for a sign, He said no sign would
be given except for the sign of the Prophet Jonah.
“For as Jonah was 3
days and 3 nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be 3
days and 3 nights in the belly of the Earth.” (Matthew 12: 40).
This reference validates Jonah’s role as
a prophet in Israel, verifies the accuracy of his story and points to the
Lord’s own resurrection.
But what’s the deeper meaning to all
this?
First, Jonah is like all of us. Seeking
God’s grace for our own deliverance, we
desire only justice for our enemies and
are often angry when He shows them mercy.
Second, the story of Jonah is also a
parable of Israel and the Gentiles. Israel failed in her first effort to fulfill her
mission as God’s witness (Isaiah 43: 10-13)
and
ceased to exist as a nation. God sends
Jesus so that the Kinsman redeemer could reconcile not only Israel, but all gentiles to Him, as Creator.
Nineveh may only have relented from evil by doing good
works (Jonah 3: 10) but nowhere is actual repentance reported, Nineveh’s
destruction was only delayed, not cancelled, by God.
The story may sound fishy, but it’s all
true and designed to show us God’s Love.
Here is the text of Jonah, chapter 2
& 3 (NKJV):
Chapter 2
Then Jonah
prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said:
"I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me.
"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
3 For You cast me into the
deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your
billows and Your waves passed over me. 4
Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward
Your holy temple.' 5 The waters surrounded
me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my
head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the
mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have
brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
7 "When my soul fainted
within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy
temple. 8 "Those who regard worthless
idols Forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will
sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord." 10 So the
Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land
Chapter
3
Now the word of
the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you." 3 So Jonah
arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was
an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
4 And Jonah began to enter the
city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God,
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of
them.
6 Then word came to the king of
Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself
with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and
published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat,
or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry
mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence
that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away
from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
10 Then God saw their works that
they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had
said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Jonah is a lot more than just a children's Bible Story - it's a true presentation of God's Love and Grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment