There is so much in the book of Jonah.
It’s not just about a big fish. That’s probably the least interesting part.
More interesting to me is how God spend so much effort on Jonah!
If God wanted Ninevah to be saved, why didn’t he just send another prophet when Jonah refused to go? There were plenty of prophets to go around, who were not selfish like Jonah. God could’ve saved the people of Ninevah without Jonah’s help.
But God took extraordinary efforts to reach Jonah’s heart. Consider this: He caused a huge storm, probably very unusual such that the experienced seamen were not able to handle it. God caused a huge fish to be at the right place at the right time to swallow Jonah. The fish had to hold back it’s digestive juices and not kill Jonah until he had time to pray. Then God had to make the fish swim to just the right place to spit Jonah out.
There is more. God caused a plant to grow really fast. Then he had to bring in a hungry worm to kill the plant in a hurry.
I mean, how often do we see God do miracles like that? I wish God would cause my plants grow, that would be a real miracle!
God doesn’t often cause out of the ordinary events like that. But for Jonah, he went to great lengths.
Why?
Because God is just like that. Each person is important to him. He does what it takes to reach us in a most creative way. He gives us chance after chance to change for our own good.
God micro-manages people as well as macro-manages the universe. That is amazing.