It’s Much More than a Fish Story

By Greg Hoffman

     What an interesting book and yet we almost completely ignore it.  We do teach the story to our kids but as adults we tend to shy away from it.  I am talking about the book of Jonah.  Jonah seems to be forever condemned to the childhood stories simply because we can’t get past the idea that he was swallowed by a fish and survived in its belly for three days.  

     I have no intention of proving whether or not that event was possible (I do believe with God anything and everything is possible), because I believe we miss the greater message of the book.  As a child I used to play baseball and I remember on a couple of occasions that I missed a fly ball in the outfield because the sun was in my eyes.  It is also easy to have your judgment impaired and miss important character clues about a person because of their good looks and/or charisma.   But we shouldn’t let our understanding of an important book escape us because a “fish got in the way.”

     Jonah was a prophet of God that was given a task by God that he didn’t want to perform.  He was to go on a long dangerous journey to the sworn enemy of Israel and give them the message that God was angry with them.  He was to tell them that they were wicked and that He was about to deal with them.  So Jonah goes in exactly the opposite direction.  God of course changed Jonah’s direction even though it was completely against the will of Jonah. 

     We all run away from God from time to time and I believe our reasons are similar to those of Jonah.   We are afraid He is going to give us a task that we don’t want to do or He is going to require us to give something up that we don’t want to give up.  Many are running from Him simply because it would require them to acknowledge that there is a God and they simply don’t want to answer to Him. 

     The bad, or good news depending on how you look at it, is that God will catch you just as He caught Jonah.  The question is simply when?  Let us look at it a little differently.  The whole message of the Bible is that there is a problem between man and God.  Simply put, man doesn’t want to obey God, like Jonah, and in many cases doesn’t even want to acknowledge Him as God. 

     It is very difficult to have a relationship with someone that either ignores you or is antagonistic towards you and impossible if they don’t even acknowledge your existence.  The simple fact is that those who refuse to obey Him will not live with Him in the life to come.  

     The good news is that God didn’t leave Jonah in the belly of that fish.  It took three days in that dark, slimy and foul cavity before Jonah came to his senses but God graciously heard his cry.  He still intended Jonah to obey Him and he did, although with reluctance and he certainly wasn’t completely happy about his assignment.   Even though the Bible doesn’t record Jonah’s final disposition towards his mission, I believe when he looked back at the events several weeks, months or even years later, he began to see what God was doing in him and the people that he was sent to reach.

    The point is this; you can’t get away from God.  He will catch you, either in this life or the one to come and you don’t want to be caught in the life to come.  I have been a follower of the Lord for about 35 years.  Even after all these years I still struggle at times, like Jonah, with obeying Him and I often fail.  The good news is that He has been merciful with me as He was with Jonah even though I certainly haven’t deserved it.

     It was over 700 years later that God would send the ultimate solution to Jonah’s and my problem.  Jonah was very familiar with the sacrificial system that was instituted by God through Moses.  Every year Jonah would place his hands on the head of a lamb and confess his sins while the priest slit the throat of that animal.  He would feel the life go out of that lamb as he confessed his sins to God and understood that that animal died because he had broken God’s laws.  This was a vivid reminder to Jonah that sin was a serious problem and that his sin was a barrier between himself and God. 

     The true Lamb that takes away sin was Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  An animal wasn’t an adequate sacrifice to take away man’s sin but pointed Jonah to that true promised sacrifice.  Since it was man that rebelled against God, it needed to be a man that paid the penalty for that crime.  The problem was that all men were guilty so God the Son became a man.  He was fully man and fully God; One person with two natures.   As the God/man He was perfect and was able to take the punishment that we deserve.  Again, the penalty for sin is death or eternal separation from God.  This penalty will be satisfied in every human that ever has or ever will walk this earth.  The question is who will pay for the crimes committed against God?  There are only two options, Jesus or you.  If you confess your sins and believe that He paid the penalty for your sins, then you will live with Him for all of eternity.  If you refuse this gift then you will pay for your own crimes by being separated from God for all of eternity.     

     Think about it, God the Son suffered and died in our place.  He took the penalty that we deserve.  What would keep you from receiving this gift?  Don’t continue making Jonah’s mistake by running away from God.  He will catch you.

     “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:8-10 (ESV)

     What an interesting book and yet we almost completely ignore it.  We do teach the story to our kids but as adults we tend to shy away from it.  I am talking about the book of Jonah.  Jonah seems to be forever condemned to the childhood stories simply because we can’t get past the idea that he was swallowed by a fish and survived in its belly for three days.  

     I have no intention of proving whether or not that event was possible (I do believe with God anything and everything is possible), because I believe we miss the greater message of the book.  As a child I used to play baseball and I remember on a couple of occasions that I missed a fly ball in the outfield because the sun was in my eyes.  It is also easy to have your judgment impaired and miss important character clues about a person because of their good looks and/or charisma.   But we shouldn’t let our understanding of an important book escape us because a “fish got in the way.”

     Jonah was a prophet of God that was given a task by God that he didn’t want to perform.  He was to go on a long dangerous journey to the sworn enemy of Israel and give them the message that God was angry with them.  He was to tell them that they were wicked and that He was about to deal with them.  So Jonah goes in exactly the opposite direction.  God of course changed Jonah’s direction even though it was completely against the will of Jonah. 

     We all run away from God from time to time and I believe our reasons are similar to those of Jonah.   We are afraid He is going to give us a task that we don’t want to do or He is going to require us to give something up that we don’t want to give up.  Many are running from Him simply because it would require them to acknowledge that there is a God and they simply don’t want to answer to Him. 

     The bad, or good news depending on how you look at it, is that God will catch you just as He caught Jonah.  The question is simply when?  Let us look at it a little differently.  The whole message of the Bible is that there is a problem between man and God.  Simply put, man doesn’t want to obey God, like Jonah, and in many cases doesn’t even want to acknowledge Him as God. 

     It is very difficult to have a relationship with someone that either ignores you or is antagonistic towards you and impossible if they don’t even acknowledge your existence.  The simple fact is that those who refuse to obey Him will not live with Him in the life to come.  

     The good news is that God didn’t leave Jonah in the belly of that fish.  It took three days in that dark, slimy and foul cavity before Jonah came to his senses but God graciously heard his cry.  He still intended Jonah to obey Him and he did, although with reluctance and he certainly wasn’t completely happy about his assignment.   Even though the Bible doesn’t record Jonah’s final disposition towards his mission, I believe when he looked back at the events several weeks, months or even years later, he began to see what God was doing in him and the people that he was sent to reach.

    The point is this; you can’t get away from God.  He will catch you, either in this life or the one to come and you don’t want to be caught in the life to come.  I have been a follower of the Lord for about 35 years.  Even after all these years I still struggle at times, like Jonah, with obeying Him and I often fail.  The good news is that He has been merciful with me as He was with Jonah even though I certainly haven’t deserved it.

     It was over 700 years later that God would send the ultimate solution to Jonah’s and my problem.  Jonah was very familiar with the sacrificial system that was instituted by God through Moses.  Every year Jonah would place his hands on the head of a lamb and confess his sins while the priest slit the throat of that animal.  He would feel the life go out of that lamb as he confessed his sins to God and understood that that animal died because he had broken God’s laws.  This was a vivid reminder to Jonah that sin was a serious problem and that his sin was a barrier between himself and God. 

     The true Lamb that takes away sin was Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  An animal wasn’t an adequate sacrifice to take away man’s sin but pointed Jonah to that true promised sacrifice.  Since it was man that rebelled against God, it needed to be a man that paid the penalty for that crime.  The problem was that all men were guilty so God the Son became a man.  He was fully man and fully God; One person with two natures.   As the God/man He was perfect and was able to take the punishment that we deserve.  Again, the penalty for sin is death or eternal separation from God.  This penalty will be satisfied in every human that ever has or ever will walk this earth.  The question is who will pay for the crimes committed against God?  There are only two options, Jesus or you.  If you confess your sins and believe that He paid the penalty for your sins, then you will live with Him for all of eternity.  If you refuse this gift then you will pay for your own crimes by being separated from God for all of eternity.     

     Think about it, God the Son suffered and died in our place.  He took the penalty that we deserve.  What would keep you from receiving this gift?  Don’t continue making Jonah’s mistake by running away from God.  He will catch you.

     “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:8-10 (ESV)