Jonah 1:17 & 2:10
But the LORD provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights...Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.
There are many different ways to respond to "incidents" like this in the the bible:
1. The 100% Literal approach - The Bible says it, I believe it, end of discussion!
2. The philosophical approach - This may be a metaphorical illustration of death or death to self...
3. The analytical approach - Do you realize that a Sumerian mythological text views the underworld as being a three-day journey from the land of the living?
4. The intellectual approach - It has been proven that it is possible for a human to survive inside of a whale, the whale may not even have swallowed him, I saw it on discovery channel!
5. The ostrich approach - I don't get it. I'm going to brush past this part as quickly as possible and try to get to the "real" point of the scripture.
Maybe our methods of reading the scripture say a lot more about who we are, than who God is.
When I read this passage about Jonah and the BIG FISH... I laugh... out loud! I can't help but ask; God....Whats up with THAT??? (seriously, is this a joke?)
God's given us this incredible rich history of Him and His love for us, close to a couple of thousand years of documented relationship between Him and humans. He's given us The Bible - His Word to us, everything we need... to KNOW Him. We're supposed to read it. Then He puts in stuff like people living inside of big fish for 3 days.
If You want us to KNOW You, why do You throw in stuff that You KNOW we don't get?!!
As I laugh, I sense that God is laughing with me.
Yeah, I don't get it.
There is so much about God that I will never get. I will try every approach I know to pin Him down, hem Him in, conform Him to MY ideas,...and He will always be bigger, and beyond and more than I can comprehend or imagine.
Yeah, I don't get it ... isn't that great! :)
