Context No. 2870 of 4322 · Jonah
Context · Reflection
Jonah 1:12-17: in context
12He said to them, “Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.” 13Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 14Therefore they cried to the LORD, and said, “We beg you, LORD, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. 16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. 17The LORD prepared a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The storm is tearing at the ship because Jonah is fleeing God, and Jonah finally tells the sailors the truth: throw me into the sea, and it will calm, for this storm is my fault. But the pagan sailors do not simply toss him over. They row hard to reach land, and only when they cannot, they cry out to the LORD not to hold them guilty of innocent blood before they throw him in. The sea goes still at once, and the sailors fear the LORD and offer sacrifices.
Two things stand out. The pagan crew shows more reverence than the runaway prophet, reluctant to take a life, praying, and finally worshiping the God whose storm they had felt. And the great fish God appoints, which looks like Jonah's death, is actually his rescue. God's judgment and God's mercy arrive in the very same creature; the swallowing that seems the end is the means by which Jonah is saved and given a second chance.
Is there a great fish in my story, something that looked like ruin, that was actually God's strange way of catching me before I sank?
Sources
- Jonah 1:17: "The LORD prepared a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."
- Jonah 2:9: "But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. Salvation belongs to the LORD."
- Matthew 12:40: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be... in the heart of the earth."