Of Idols and Grace


Jonah 1:17-2:
17And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2:1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
2saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
3For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
4Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
5The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head
6at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
7When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
8Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
10And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

As drama goes, the events surrounding Jonah’s rescue rise to the top. God sends a “great fish” (not necessarily a whale) to consume Jonah, and thus he spends 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of that fish. This idea has captured the imaginations of Bible readers since the story has been told. We even find representations of this idea from other writers through the ages in works such as Moby Dick and Pinocchio, to mention only two.  

There are a few more stories of others who have also been swallowed by “great fish” and those stories are about men swallowed by either whales or great white sharks. James Bartley was apparently swallowed by a sperm whale during a whaling expedition on 1891. He was only inside of the whale for 15 hours, but was taken out after the whale died, incoherent, hairless, and blind. He lived until 1909, having regained his senses after a month of convalescence. His story is not the only one out there. So, Jonah’s story does not stand alone. During his residence in the belly of the fish, Jonah has some “quiet time” with the Lord; time to think and pray. And even though he emerges from the fish’s belly to head to Nineveh, he still does not do so happily. But, his “psalm” carries impact and points to the fact that even though he is wrong about his attitudes toward Nineveh, he still knows there is a God to whom he must answer.

As Jonah floats through the sea with inside of the fish, he reflects upon the greatness of God and His all sufficient power.

Jonah still has not complied with the divine command to go preach to Gentile Nineveh. And although Jonah apparently believes that he will be able to escape Yahweh’s commission by his own death, Yahweh makes it clear that there will be no escape from his call. Rather than kill Jonah or let him die, Yahweh saves him by means of the great fish. In doing so, Yahweh further demonstrates that there is nowhere in the world, even death, where Jonah can escape his presence
Lessing, R. R. (2007). Jonah (pp. 203–204). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

Other prophets have also commented on our inability to escape God’s hand upon our lives. Not even the raging sea, the mountain tops, or the deepest cave provide us with a hiding place, for those are all places God Himself has created.

Amos 9:2-3
2“If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
3If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.

8Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. (ESV)

This verse stands in the exact middle of the book of Jonah. My favorite translation of this verse comes from the NIV, because it lays the negative results of our idolatry right where they belong – at our own feet. 8Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. (NIV) Jonah has made himself an idol out of his bigotry and hatred for Nineveh. And somewhere in that hatred he thought he could escape from God. Foolish man. But we take a lesson from Jonah. Wherever we pick up an idol, we are setting down God’s grace in our lives. Think that through. What have we taken up as an idol that is moving God aside? What are we doing that might cause us to be swallowed up by our own folly?

But while we do well to think on that concept, we must also – always – remember that Jesus died for the sin of idolatry. We are not lost forever but instead forgiven and granted a new opportunity every day – every moment – to love the Lord with our whole heart, just as Jonah experienced.

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