Was it God's punishment or mercy for Jonah to be in the fish's belly?
The story of Jonah is among one of the well-known stories and you will remember seeing illustrations of Jonah in the fish belly in children's Bible. This story is often told as a "warning" not to disobey God and not to run away from God's calling in our life. It is often told to remind us not to disobey God's call over our life. In our mind, we will picture that as an image of God's punishment to Jonah for his obedience. "Better obey, or a big fish may swallow you up!" But the book of Jonah is much more than that. It is really about the love, grace and mercies of God throughout the four chapters. The story began with God giving Jonah an assignment to go to Nineveh with a message to cry out against them, that their city will be destroyed due to their wickedness. (Jon 1:1-2) For some reason it was not told to us in the opening chapter, why Jonah's first response was to choose not to take up God's assignment for him and inste...