“Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.” (vv.1:17-2:1)
Some question if this could happen as the Bible says it did; but surely it is not a difficult thing for God to have prepared a great fish, even if that particular fish was a special creation for that moment. For, is there anything to difficult for Him?
Jonah was a rebellious, resistant believer, but God was not finished with him yet – so the LORD preserved his life inside the fish, and after three days commanded the fish to, “expel him on dry land” (v.10). While inside the fish for 3 days, Jonah confessed his sin, called out to God, described his trouble, believed God heard him and would deliver him, and promised to obey God’s will (vv.1-9).
This famous “fish story” has been the target of skeptics for hundreds of years, but was confirmed by none other than the one who had prepared the great fish Himself. When the religious leaders of His (Jesus) day asked Him (Jesus) for a sign from heaven as to who He was, Jesus said (some 900 years later): “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
Jonah and the “great fish” point us towards the Messiah to come, Jesus Christ, as we see that Jonah’s deliverance came after a remarkable demonstration of laying down one’s life. But death did not hold him; after three days and nights of imprisonment in the belly of the fish, he was released alive to deliver his message (in power) of repentance to Nineveh.
What a great foreshadowing of the selfless sacrificial death Jesus would endure to save all who would believe His message. His death, burial, and resurrection from death (3 days later) also leant great power to His message of salvation, proving beyond a shadow of doubt, who He was.
"Blessed is he who's God is the LORD."
The Truth: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.” (Psalm 40:1-4)
