Swallowed whole
by Pastor Reid Matthias
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When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple (Jonah 2:7).
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.
I can’t even begin to imagine what being swallowed by a fish is like. For certain, the smell would be rancid. It’s not like you’d be the only meal down there. Darkness, sea-sickness, the sounds of the fish’s heartbeat or even the water rushing past its gills.
I guess there could be no better description of Sheol, the Hebrew word for the place of the dead.
As the story of Jonah goes, he understands why he is in this dead space. Rejecting God’s call on his life to ‘Go to the great city of Ninevah’ (Jonah 1:2b), Jonah instead goes down the hill to Tarshish. He then goes down to the bottom of a boat, where he is ultimately thrown over into the sea. He ends up in the belly of the fish, down to the heart of the seas to the roots of the mountains (Jonah 2:6a).
You can’t go any lower.
And in this lowest place of the dead, Jonah recognises his error, and he calls out to God.
Have you ever been to that place where life seemed to swallow you whole? Have you been to that place of darkness and soundless fear?
God promises that even if we turn from him, he will be with us. Salvation comes from God even in that living Sheol. God promises that he will bring us from that place of darkness back onto dry land.
In what way have you run from God? How did God bring you back? What did you learn?
God of light, illuminate those dark places that I sometimes choose for myself. Give me hope and remind me of your promise of salvation through your Son, Jesus. Amen.
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