Before we go much further into the book of Jonah I feel we need to address the elephant in the room, or in this case the fish. There may be some people who are unable to hear the great message of Jonah because they cannot believe the miracle that is at the heart of the narrative. In 1:17 we read that “The Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”
But if you read the book carefully you discover the fish is not the only miracle that is described. There is a storm sent by God that threatened to break up the ship (1:4) but which grows calm as soon as Jonah is thrown overboard (1:15). There is also a vine that the Lord “made to grow up” to give shade to Jonah (4:6). Then God “provides a worm” to chew the vine (4:7). And finally there is a “scorching east wind” that God again provides (4:8).
It could be argued that each of these events are commonplace, there is nothing miraculous about them. But think carefully, while storms on the sea are normal, there’s nothing normal about storms that come and go instantaneously. Sure, plants sprout and grow, but I’ve never seen one mature overnight. Yes, a worm will chew vegetation, but it will never eat a mature plant in 24 hours. And it could be said that a giant fish can devour people but none of them sustain them in their belly and then vomit them onto dry land.
All of these are miracles and for those of us who believe in a God who is active in the world they are easy to accept. They are not coincidences but a demonstration of God’s power.
But there is a greater miracle at work in this text, the miracle of God’s grace. As one commentator points out, in these events “God is breaking into his ordered creation and literally moving heaven and earth to save his people. … God worked with all levels of his creation – sea creatures, vegetation, creeping things, and the wind – to deal with his servant Jonah”1 and through Jonah to rescue a nation that turned its back on him.
And that is a great miracle.
You may ask, “Why would God care? Why would God go to all the trouble? Why would God save a rebellious people?” And as you search Scripture you discover that God rescued the nation for the same reason that he provided a Saviour for you and for me through his one and only son.
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10).
The fish swallowing Jonah alive is a small matter. The greater miracle is that God should love you and me and send his son to die for us. May that miracle truly capture our hearts and move us to wonder, love and praise.
In thanksgiving for you, Tom.
1 John R. Kohlenberger III, Jonah and Nahum, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984) 43.