MIRACLES: A FISH TALE
By Greg Russell | Renovate Church—Centennial, CO
This week, we are diving into the four short chapters of the book of Jonah. It is a story most of us grew up hearing, but when we look closely at the text and history, it reveals profound truths about God’s heart, our human tendency toward anger, and how God can use even our past mistakes for good.
The story opens with God speaking to the prophet Jonah:
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.'” — Jonah 1:1–2
Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, a longtime enemy of Israel. Known as the “city of blood,” the Assyrians ruled through extreme cruelty and psychological fear. They aggressively plundered neighboring nations and literally invented gruesome methods of torture—including crucifixion—to maximize human suffering.
So when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah turned around and went in the exact opposite direction. He went down to Joppa and boarded a ship bound for Tarshish (modern-day Spain). Joppa to Nineveh was about 550 miles northeast; Tarshish was 2,500 miles west. Jonah literally tried to sail to what was perceived at the time as the end of the known world to flee from the Lord.
We know Jonah didn’t make it. A massive storm threatened to break the ship apart. After casting lots, the sailors realized Jonah was the cause. When Jonah revealed he was a Hebrew prophet fleeing from the God who made the sea and dry land, the sailors were terrified. Jonah told them to throw him into the sea to calm the storm, and when they finally did, the sea instantly became calm. Seeing this miracle, the sailors feared the Lord and offered sacrifices to Him.
As for Jonah, God provided a large fish to swallow him up, and he was inside for three days and three nights. Chapter 2 is Jonah’s prayer of repentance and worship inside the fish, ending with God causing the fish to vomit him onto dry land.
At the beginning of chapter 3, God brought Jonah right back to where he started:
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.'” — Jonah 3:1–2
Jonah could have avoided the fish altogether by obeying the first time, but he went to Nineveh and delivered a surprisingly simple eight-word message: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Yet look at their response:
“The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.” — Jonah 3:5–6
When God saw their genuine repentance and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not destroy them. Secular history even confirms that during this exact window of time in Jonah’s ministry, Assyria stopped waging wars and raiding neighboring nations. It was true repentance.
Chapter 4 reveals Jonah’s reaction to God forgiving Nineveh:
“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love… Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.'” — Jonah 4:1–3
Jonah ran away because he didn’t want God to forgive them. Certainly, Jonah knew people who had been victims of Ninevite atrocities. But God answered Jonah’s outburst with a deeply probing question: “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah didn’t answer. He built a shelter outside the city to see what would happen. God caused a plant to grow overnight to shade Jonah, making him happy. But the next day, God provided a worm to kill the plant and a scorching wind to blow, leaving Jonah miserable in the sun again. Jonah threw another fit, saying he wanted to die.
God asked him again: “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” Jonah answered: “It is! I’m angry enough to die!”
God used the plant as an object lesson to expose Jonah’s heart:
“You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left?” — Jonah 4:10–11
Jonah cared more about his personal comfort than 120,000 lost souls.
Why did Nineveh listen to an Israeli prophet so easily? For one, Jonah was a known prophet of Yahweh. His word carried weight on its own.
But there’s another, fascinating reason people took him seriously. In 1891, a whaler named James Bartley was swallowed by a sperm whale and survived 15 hours inside its stomach. When he was pulled out, the gastric juices had completely bleached his skin an unnatural white and stripped his hair. If Jonah spent three days in a large fish, his skin was likely bleached white and excruciatingly sensitive to the hot sun. Beyond the stories the sailors likely spread, Jonah walked in looking like a living warning. His very appearance validated his message.
When we face life circumstances that make us angry, we have to ask ourselves: Is it right for us to be angry? Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to get sick. Jonah was happy to receive mercy when he was vomited onto dry land, but struggled to extend it to others. Every single one of us needs forgiveness, and when people repent, we should celebrate it.
By bringing repentance to those 120,000-plus Ninevites, God also spared countlessly more innocent lives—all the potential victims who would have been raided, tortured, and killed had Assyria not paused its brutality.
Jonah rebelled, but the moment he aligned himself with God’s will, God used even his past mistakes and physical scars for good. No matter where you’re at, how long you’ve been there, or how you got there, turn to the Lord. As Romans 8:28 reminds us, God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Miracles follow mission.