Context No. 2395 of 4322 · Tobit
Context · Reflection
Tobit 6:1-5: in context
1Now as they went on their journey, they came at evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged there. 2But the young man went down to wash himself, and a fish leaped out of the river, and would have swallowed up the young man. 3But the angel said to him, “Grab the fish!” So the young man grabbed the fish, and hauled it up onto the land. 4And the angel said to him, “Cut the fish open, and take the heart, the liver, and the bile, and keep them with you.” 5And the young man did as the angel commanded him; but they roasted the fish, and ate it. And they both went on their way, till they drew near to Ecbatana.
On the journey, young Tobias goes down to wash in the Tigris, and a fish lunges up as if to swallow him. His companion, the angel Raphael traveling in disguise, tells him not to run but to seize it: grab the fish. Tobias hauls it ashore, and the angel has him keep the heart, liver, and gall, which will later bring healing.
The thing that came at him becomes, at the angel's word, exactly what he needs. Had Tobias fled in fear, he would have lost the very medicine his family's future depended on. Instead he trusts the guidance, grabs the frightening thing, and carries its remedy with him. It is a small parable of how God works: the threat we would rather run from can, under his direction, turn into provision. The instruction is counterintuitive, and following it is the whole point.
What am I fleeing that God may be telling me to take hold of, because the remedy is hidden inside the threat?
Sources
- Tobit 6:3: But the angel said to him, Grab the fish! So the young man grabbed the fish, and hauled it up onto the land.
- Tobit 6:4: Cut the fish open, and take the heart, the liver, and the bile, and keep them with you.
- Romans 8:28: We know that all things work together for good for those who love God.