IT is very easy to see this verse as simply a statement rounding of chapter 2, and bringing the episode of Jonah in the great fish to an end, but if we pass it by without attention and prayerful meditation we shall miss a great understanding of God as he reveals himself here and in the whole of the Bible.

Having said this it all depends on our attitude to the Bible as a whole, and to the book of Jonah in particular. If we are those who say that the Bible contains the word of God, rather than is the word of God, then we shall feel at liberty to choose what we feel is inspired, and on the basis of human reason to treat the book of Jonah as a myth which contains divine truth, but is not an historical record. This enables such a person to treat the episode of the fish swallowing Jonah as a mythical story containing truth but that is all. In this view the fish is not a real fish, and the swallowing of Jonah by the fish is simply a story and did not really happen. In other words human wisdom is able to deny what it can't stomach as credible. If this view is taken, then the verse before us holds nothing of importance. It is simply part of the story, but did not really actually happen. Well did Paul speak in 1 Corinthians 1:21 “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him...”. The attitude to the Bible which is prompted by human wisdom simply evacuates the verse before us of all meaning, and so the revelation it gives of God, which is very far reaching, is totally missed.

On the other hand, if we accept the truth that the whole Bible is the inspired word of God, and its plain meaning is in fact what God inspired infallibly to be written, then this verse before us gives a mind blowing understanding of the truth of God, which covers all life, and is a wonderful blessing to the people of faith. The Bible itself places the book of Jonah as an historical record. What we read there is historical fact and did happen, thus when it says that God commanded the fish and the fish obeyed, this is a fact and happened in time at this point of history. In fact Jesus uses the incident of Jonah in the fish as a sign which speaks of himself (Matthew 12:38f; Luke 11:24f). We have already noticed this in our studies in Jonah. Jesus treats Jonah and this Old Testament book about him as historical fact, and the use Jesus makes of it in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke demands that Jonah's experience in the fish is accepted as a fact, for if it is not it undermines the sign concerning Jesus which Jesus tells us it is. If Jesus died and rose again – fact, then Jonah three days in the fish's belly is fact.

Now let us consider this verse. We are told that God commanded the fish. In other words God as sovereign creator had authority and control over the fish as a creature created by God. This tells us that the fish belonged to God. The fish had its own life, and swam about in the sea according to the life it had been created with, and obeyed that creative instinct, but still it was under the authority of God as its creator.

We are further told that God exercised special authority here to order the fish to do God's will, and fulfill God's purpose concerning Jonah, and through Jonah to the city of Nineveh. So we see that such an insignificant creature as a fish had a purpose in God's sovereign purpose in salvation. This tells us that the most insignificant happening in history or in our lives is part of God's overall sovereign purpose, and we should not despise the little things in our lives, and also see that even if we may be an insignificant part of Christ's body, yet we are still important to the whole function of the body.

We are not supposed to imagine that God spoke audibly to the fish, and then the fish obeyed. No doubt the fish had very limited understanding of all that was happening, but we are told that God's authority willed the fish to behave as it did, and the fish responded in obedience to this will. We have another example of God's authority over his creatures, and their obedience to his will in the incident in John 21 where the disciples had toiled all night in an effort to catch some fish, but had failed, then at Christ's direction they cast their nets into the sea in another effort to catch fish, and their nets were filled with an abundance of fish. This was not mere coincidence. The fish were obeying their creator, and in obedience placing themselves to be caught. To the wisdom of the world this is fanciful and unbelievable but to the eye of faith it is exactly what happened.

The truth is that creation obeys its creator, God, implicitly. The birds, the animals, the insects, the trees and the shrubs, and all else in creation obeys the will of their creator. God moves them and commands them according to his will, and they obey without question. It is only sinful fallen humanity, who set themselves up in opposition to their creator and act contrary to his will.

There are a multitude of examples of God's sovereignty over creation given to us in Scripture. We have an example when Joshua called upon the Lord for the day to be prolonged, the sun stopping in space, until the victory over the enemies of Israel could be completed (Joshua 10:12). Then we have the sign God gives to Hezekiah that the would add 15 years to Hezekiah's life and defeat the king Assyria for Hezekiah – (Isaiah 23:7,8).

God has ordained the laws of nature, and all creation follows those predetermined rules of creation, but this does not mean that God can't or does not step in at times, and by his sovereign creative power override the laws he has written into creation for his own sovereign purpose. We have so many more examples. We have the Red Sea drying up so that the Israelites could cross in safety, and the waters flowing back to annihilate the Egyptian army pursuing Israel. We have the flood which encompassed the whole inhabited earth in the days of Noah. This was creation fulfilling the purpose of God its creator in order to execute God's judgment on a sinful world. We have the action of God in causing an eclipse of the sun for three hours during the crucifixion at a time impossible by natural law for an eclipse to take place.

It is no surprise, therefore, to read of the miracles that Jesus performed which rode over the normal laws of nature. So we read of Jesus stilling the storm, and walking on the water, and giving Peter power also to walk on water. We read also of Jesus multiplying bread to feed 5000+ and 4000+; raising people to life after they have died. Jesus performed these miracles as evidence of his deity, and its the arrogance of human pride that denies the evidence, and so diminishes faith in Christ as God and Saviour. The Old Testament is full in abundance with such evidence of God's sovereign power over creation such as fire coming down on Elijah's altar before the prophets of Baal in the time of Ahab. There are the miracles performed by both Elijah and Elisha which were plainly done by the power of the creator. Oil lasting for years of famine, axe heads floating, and such like. Creation obeys the will of the creator, sinful humanity rebels against their creator.

What does this all mean for the people of faith? Here is the blessing and glory of this revelation of God as sovereign creator and ruler over all he has made. It has glorious implications and strength for those who know God as their Father through faith in Jesus Christ. It gives added meaning and power to the words of Paul in Romans 8 where he tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

This truth means, that is, if we can grasp it by faith, that we need not fear concerning our life and our future.

We are faced with all sorts of afflictions in life. These overwhelm us so often. We are afflicted with an illness, and we are thrown into worry and anxiety of what will happen to us and what we should do, and how we will cope, and so on. Then we may find ourselves at work or at home faced with daunting difficulties and problems, and we wonder how we can solve them, and what we should do. Some of us are prone to anxiety which we are unable to control which destroys the quality of life. This truth about the authority of God is that which is our strength.

Take this fish we are told of in this verse. The fish was entirely in the hands of God, and it was content to be so, and as God ordered its life, the fish submitted completely to the hand of its creator. Whether it was to be sick or die, whether it should swallow Jonah or not, it moved in the will of God. The fish lived in peace with itself under the hand of God. The important thing about it was that it followed the will of God. Here is the secret. When we are at heart in submission to the Lord who created us and redeemed us, and are seeking to be in submission to him, then we can rest in the fact that we are in the hands of the Lord of all who orders and none can oppose his will. If we live or whether we die, we are in our Father's hands for our good. The future is his and his purpose for the future, our future, is safe in his sovereign purpose. We may be fearful at times, but as we wish to be in submission to our heavenly Father, then we know that his will is best and for our good. When we are perplexed as to what to do, or what action to take, in submission to our creator and redeemer we may rest in the fact that he will perform his will, and that will will be for our good.

There is no rest in fighting the will of God. To do this is only to cast ourselves into more and more turmoil. The history of Jonah illustrates this perfectly. He could not accept the will of God, and so he sought to avoid that will, and this simply meant that he went through troubles and trials he would never have had to suffer if he had abided in the will and purpose of God for him.

What is so wonderful about this verse and its revelation of God over all, is that we can rest on the promises of God in the Gospel with utmost confidence. God's will is inviolable and can't fail, and if he has called us into faith he will most surely complete the good work he has begun. We know all this. It is nothing new to the well taught Christian. However the revelation of God in this verse concerning God commanding the fish enhances our confidence and faith. Jonah was in the hands of God, and in the power of the fish, but God controlled the fish and the fish obeyed its creator, and so God's will for Jonah, his good and perfect will, was sure.