Quite a Fish Tale

 ONLINE REFLECTION, ST. PAUL’S, FOLEY

OCTOBER 14, 2020

 

LESSON:       The Book of Jonah

 

 

Nearly every person that has attended Sunday School as a young person knows one thing about Jonah:  He was swallowed by a whale.

 

But not exactly.  He was, scripture tells us, swallowed by a great fish. And, of course, a whale is not a fish!

 

The back story about Jonah, though, is an interesting one – and one that most people don’t know.

 

The Jonah whose story is told in the eponymous book is the story of a reluctant Galilean prophet.  He was called by God to go a preach repentance to the massive city known as Nineveh – located in modern-day Iraq.

 

But, Jonah didn’t want to do that.  So, he boarded a ship to flee to Tarshish – a city 3,000 miles away in Spain.  During the journey, a storm arose. Lots were cast, and he was selected as the one to be thrown overboard.  It was then that he was swallowed by the fish.

 

After three days, the fish vomited him up on dry land.  The reluctant Jonah proceeded to walk across Nineveh, proclaiming its coming destruction.

 

Jonah must have been satisfied with himself, and he sat down to watch the city’s destruction. Unexpectedly, the people repented – and all put on sackcloth, sat in ashes, and refused to consume food or water… animals and humans.

 

The fact that the city repented and that destruction did not come displeased Jonah.  He expressed his anger to God, essentially saying, “I knew you would do this!”

 

But, the book concludes with God expressing compassion for the penitent city: “Do you not care for this great city and all its inhabitants? People who do not know their left hand from their right?” And humorously, the last verse of Jonah says that Nineveh also has “many animals.”

 

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The upshot of this story: It is important for us to remember that we worship a merciful God.