Tag: Matthew 12:38-41
The belly of the big fish!
Scripture reading for September 17: Jonah 1-4
Jonah was a prophet of the Lord who was given orders by God to go and preach to the city of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the super-power of Jonah’s time whose inhabitants were known for their cruelty. They routinely killed, tortured and mutilated those they conquered! It is said that they impaled people on stakes and piled up heads in great pillars to spread fear and boast of their power.
Our prayers move the hand of God but so does wickedness and cruelty towards the poor and oppressed! (Jonah 1:2) God’s heart is for righteousness and He has promised retribution for sin. His wrath is ongoing towards sin and is being revealed daily in the earth. (Romans 1:18) It will be revealed eternally in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15) But God does not pour out wrath without first giving warning and an opportunity to escape. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone but would rather show mercy!
Jonah was sent on a mission of mercy to a wicked people. He chose not to obey and, to avoid God’s command, boarded a ship going in the opposite direction. During the course of the journey, God sent a great wind to buffet the ship. The wind obeyed the Lord when Jonah wouldn’t! The sailors cast lots to find out the one causing the trouble and Jonah was exposed! Jonah told the men he was running from the Lord. He told them to throw him overboard and the sea would calm down. It worked!
As Jonah sank down into the sea, God appointed a great fish to swallow him up! We can only imagine the smell and cramped quarters! A feeling of helplessness must have gripped Jonah! For three days and three nights he wrestled with his own heart and finally decided to pray and give himself to obey the Lord! What a beautiful prayer of repentance Jonah made! (Jonah 2:2-9) The Lord spoke to the fish and Jonah was vomited up on the shore of Nineveh! The ironic part of all of this is that the Ninevites worshiped Dagon, the fish god! When Jonah came out of the fish, they thought that their ‘god’ had sent him! As he preached repentance, all of them humbled themselves!
Jesus used the sign of Jonah to tell people that He would be buried for three days before His resurrection! (Matthew 12:38-41) We learn that God is sovereign and that creation obeys His commands! How much more should we, who are made in His image, obey Him! If you hear God calling you to follow Him, why not avoid the belly of the big fish?
The sign of Jonah!
Scripture reading for July 14th: Matthew 12
Key Scriptures: Matthew 12:38-40 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.“
People are curious about the future and the supernatural. Jesus had just healed a man who was demon-oppressed with blindness and inability to speak. The religious crowd had attributed the miracle to Beelzebul, prince of demons. Jesus had patiently explained that a house divided could not stand. He warned those making these rash statements that they would have to give an account to God on the day of judgment. They then asked Jesus for a sign and Jesus rebuked them, saying that an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign! The sign they must learn from was Jonah, an Old Testament prophet. Jonah had rebelled against God and was thrown overboard from the ship as he was fleeing from God. He spent three days and nights in the belly of a great fish before repenting and agreeing to do what God asked. It was like Jonah had come back from the dead and preached repentance! His message awakened a nation and they were spared. Truly Someone greater than Jonah stood before them. He would rise from the dead after three days in a tomb. Repentance would be proclaimed throughout the earth in His Name!
Matthew 12:40-41 “For just as Jonah was three days and three night in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.“
Faith confession and prayer: Father God, Help me to continue to learn Who You are and Your saving work through the study of Scripture. I desire greater understanding and how to apply Your truth to bring repentance and faith to those who seek signs in my generation. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and power to declare the Greater One, Jesus Christ, crucified, buried and raised from death on the third day!
Jonah 3:4-5 “Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. and he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.”
Acts 16:30-32 “Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.”