Four Miracles In the Book of Jonah
When you think about the miracles in the book of Jonah, your mind may immediately go to the great fish and Jonah being kept alive in its belly for three days and three nights before being spit out on the beach. That is a powerful miracle, but we see several others that show up in the story prior to that.
It’s a Miracle that God spoke to Jonah
It’s a miracle that God spoke to Jonah. That certainly can’t be explained by natural or scientific laws. It’s a miracle that God would want to speak to us and that he invites us to communicate with him. I think for those of us who grew up in the church and grew up reading our Bible, we can sometimes take for granted that God speaks to us. It is a miracle every time God speaks. God spoke the world into existence. When God says something, it happens.
Isaiah 55:11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
It’s a Miracle that God Controlled the Storm
This storm that Jonah found himself in wasn’t just bad timing. It was no coincidence. We read in Jonah chapter 1 that God hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm. God’s control over the weather and over the sea is amazing to us, but it carried even more power and symbolism in Jonah’s day. In many pagan religions of the time, the sea was synonymous with chaos. There was this close connection between the sea being chaotic and untamable, but it’s not untamable to God.
Job 38:8-11 Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barreled gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop.’
It’s a Miracle God provided the fish
Jonah 1:17 says, “ The Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah.” We also see God use the worm in chapter 4 to eat the gourd that had been providing shade to Jonah. We see the full spectrum of animals here; from a tiny worm to a huge fish. All of the animal kingdom, from the least to the greatest is subject to God’s authority.
We actually see God using animals throughout scripture. He caused a ram to be caught by its horns in a thicket so that Abraham could use it in place of Isaac. He used Baalam’s donkey to keep him from going and cursing the Israelites. He brought in flocks of quail to feed the people in the desert. In the New Testament, he used a fish with two coins in its mouth to pay the temple tax. These are just more examples of God’s sovereignty over all creation. God reminds us in the book of Job about his authority over the animal kingdom.
It’s a miracle that the fish couldn’t contain Jonah
Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, but then at God’s command, the fish spit him out. If you’re skeptical and think, “There’s no way that could happen.”, you might be right under normal circumstances. But Jonah is a story about the God of miracles. And keeping Jonah alive in the belly of the fish, or resuscitating him, would be an easy feat for the God who spoke the world into existence, controlled the seas and storm, and controlled the animals.
The grave couldn’t contain Jesus
Matthew 12:39-40 39 But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
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