"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." Jonah 1:17. NKJV
Some people refuse to believe that such a thing could have happened, and they attempt to explain it some other way. But it did. We're called to believe Jesus, therefore, we must believe in His Word. It is infallible. If we don't believe such things, how will we ever believe the mighty things that God will do?
This piece of scripture shows the awesomeness of God, together with His compassion. Jonah, through disobedience, was thrown into the raging water because he was considered a jinx. He should have been heading to Nineveh but decided to take a sailing trip to Tarshish instead.
However, rather than being angry with Jonah, God prepared a great fish to swallow him up in the water and eventually vomit him up on dry land. Amazing. Now there are some anomalies here for us to discuss. God may have created a special fish or even a modified whale to meet this task. That in itself is amazing. God changing the norm of things to meet His needs, which actually He does on a regular basis. He is never limited as we are. We are dealing here with the God who can make blind eyes see and vice versa when we need His protection, such as bible smuggling in non-Christian countries.
The next anomaly is, how did Jonah breathe being trapped inside the belly of this great fish for 72 hours? That in itself, is a miracle - an unexplainable event. God likely chose that Jonah stay inside the fish for three days and three nights because that was the time ancients thought someone needed, to come back from Sheol, which was the inner part of the earth, the grave away from God's presence, a place of darkness to which the dead go. This was later referred to as Hades when the scriptures were translated into Greek. It was an intermediate place for a person's spirit, not the eternal abode. Jesus confirms this event and uses the incident to describe the time He would be, 'in the heart of the earth', preceding His resurrection (Matthew 12:40).
All of this shows just how awesome God is. He can do what He chooses to do. So why do we limit Him? He will ensure that we do what He has called us to do and will go to great lengths to do this. Think for a moment, if God did all of this for Jonah even though He was disobedient, imagine what He would have done for Him if He had obeyed. And it's the same for us.
What is God asking you to do? No matter how dramatic or scary it may be, do it! Grasp hold of His awesome power. He is your rescuer, your friend, your provider and your guide. He holds the key to your success. Yes, some of the things He may ask, may sound unbelievable but trust Him and get on with it. He has prepared something for you and it's exciting and wonderful. Can't you feel the hairs on the back of your neck sticking up? Outrageous times are ahead!
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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