And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
Full stop.
Let me think about this. Jonah figures he would be better off dead than to obey the Lord and preach in Nineveh. He did not seek the Lord in this decision, and he did not consider what might happen to the sailors whom he told to throw him overboard. He made decisions based on his own fears. I do wonder why he didn’t jump himself. Why did he need to be thrown by others? God ultimately used that decision to reveal Himself to the sailors, so they at least could be saved.
So, Jonah figures death by drowning is his preferred option. He did not repent, nor did he vow to obey the Lord. But God. In His mercy. Appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. I consulted a number of commentaries (on Bible Hub) to see what the Hebrew word meant. It means “great fish.” Some of the commentaries tried to explain away the notion, saying it was really a ship with a whale as its sign (that to me is just silly), while others try to guess what kind of fish is might have been (shark? dog fish?) I suspect it was probably some species now extinct, but it really doesn’t matter. One thing is certain: Jonah, expecting death by drowning, found himself wallowing in the muck and bile and partially digested bits of some sea creatures belly!
How often does God allow us to wallow in our sin while preserving our lives, giving us every possible opportunity to repent? His mercy is for our sakes, and also for the work He has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). When we run from God, we may well find ourselves swallowed and wallowing while God patiently waits for us to come to our senses.
Defaulting to Grace 