By David Faust

Children consider Jonah a favorite person in the Bible because it’s fascinating to picture him inside the belly of a big fish. Adults appreciate the story because it teaches valuable lessons about our own relationship with the Lord.

The Futility of Running from God

Jonah was a small-town prophet from the village of Gath Hepher (2 Kings 14:25). How could he preach effectively in the capital of Assyria, Israel’s national enemy? God himself described Nineveh as a “great city” and a place of considerable “wickedness” (Jonah 1:2). Telling Jonah to go to Nineveh was like instructing an American Christian today, “Go to the capital of North Korea and preach against it.” No wonder Jonah ran in the opposite direction.

But as Adam and Eve learned when they tried to hide in the Garden of Eden, fleeing from an omnipresent being is a futile endeavor. You can busy yourself with hobbies and entertainment, immerse yourself in your career, and avoid church, but you can’t escape from God.

When God says go, don’t say no.

Learning from the Mess You’re In

Running from God, Jonah ran directly into a storm. Tossed overboard by the sailors, Jonah thought his life was over; but in fact his work was just beginning. When we conclude God is done with us, he may be just getting started.

Can you imagine the unpleasant conditions surrounding Jonah inside the great fish? At first he probably concluded he was worse off than if he had immediately drowned. Alive but miserable inside the slimy fish, perhaps he wondered if God was tormenting him by prolonging his inevitable death. Eventually, though, he realized the messy conditions inside the fish were God’s novel way of rescuing him. The Lord let him go underwater to discipline him, not to drown him. God took him into the depths to teach him deeper obedience and prepare him for more productive service.

The mess you’re in may be God’s way of preserving your life. The mess you’re in may be exactly where God has the most to teach you. The Lord is in the midst of the mess with you, and he wants to use it for your benefit.

A Story That Points to Jesus

Skeptics doubt the story of Jonah and ask, “Even if a large fish swallowed a man, how could he stay alive inside for three days?” The answer appears in Jonah 1:17, which says, “The Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah.” The almighty God who created the heavens and the earth provided the fish and worked the miracle. The all-wise God who created sea creatures in the first place is certainly capable of performing the rare but authentic miracle that preserved Jonah’s life.

Jesus spoke about Jonah without casting doubt on the story’s historicity. In fact, Jonah’s three-day underwater adventure serves as an illustration of Jesus’ burial and resurrection, for in Christ someone “greater than Jonah” has arrived (Matthew 12:39-41). Jesus fed more than 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two small fish. In the Lord’s hands some little fish could form an extraordinary meal, so why couldn’t God do something extraordinary through the big fish that swallowed Jonah?

Jonah’s miraculous rescue stretches our faith and teaches us that there is hope—even for someone who tries to run away from God.

David Faust serves as the Associate Minister at East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Based on International Sunday School Lesson, © 2013, by the Lesson Committee. Scripture quotations are from the New International Version ©2011, unless otherwise indicated.

As you apply today’s Scripture study to everyday life, read Engage Your Faith by David Faust and the correlating Evaluation Questions.

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