May 30, 2023: God Fixes A Fix To Fix Us

"And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (Jonah 1:17, ESV)

Have you heard the phrase, "Take another lap around the mountain." It is a phrase spoken in reference to not learning a lesson and therefore having to go around the mountain again. Israel kind of went through that at Mount Sinai. They took another lap around the mountain, or through the desert, when they did not learn the lesson.  

God has a way of fixing 'fixes' so that we grow in Him. He does not do this out of anger or spite. He does it out of His love for us. Jonah experienced this in His life. He is a prophet of God who does not want to prophesy to a people he hates. Since God can't have prophets with that kind of heart, God appoints a great fish to swallow Jonah. Four times we find in the book of Jonah God 'appointing.' He appointed a fish, gourd, worm, and a scorching wind all for Jonah. God 'set things up' so that he could get to the heart of Jonah.

Jonah was offended at God's mercy towards Nineveh. God took things in the natural, and arranged for them to be in the right place at the right time, to be an object lesson to Jonah. We don't know if Jonah ever learned his lesson, but we, the reader, know that God is often merciful to people we may think do not deserve it.