The Fish that Swallowed Jonah

Mom was telling me this riddle that was addressed to her and her classmates at the Sabah Bible Seminary class:

What’s the name of the fish that swallowed Jonah?
Jonah 1-2

So I tried, Whale? Nope.
Err… Big Fish? Nope.

Before I could think further, mom exclaimed, “Selfish lar!”
Hahahah… got me on that one!

Yes, indeed, Jonah was swallowed by his own selfishness…
How apt!

If you wonder what’s the story about Jonah, here’s from the Bible for Children by V. Gilbret Beers:

“Go to Nineveh,” God told Jonah. “Tell the people there I will destroy them because they are so wicked.” Jonah didn’t want to go to that wicked city. He didn’t want to do what God said. So he ran away. He got on a ship headed in the other direction.

But God knew where Jonah was. Jonah couldn’t hide from God.

God sent a terrible storm. The Ship on which Jonah was sailing was about to sink. The sailors were afraid they would all go down with the ship. So they began to throw things overboard. While that was happening, Jonah was sleeping down below.

When the captain found Jonah, he shouted at him, “How can you sleep through all this? Get up and pray.”

The sailors thought the storm had come because God was angry with someone on the ship. So they drew lots to see who had done something wrong. That’s how they found out it was Jonah.

“I’m running from God,” Jonah said. “You must throw me into the sea.” At first the sailors tried to row the boat to the shore, but they couldn’t get there. Finally they threw Jonah into the sea and the storm stopped right away.

God had prepared a great fish to come and swallow Jonah. For three days and three nights, Jonah was inside the fish. During that time Jonah was really praying! He begged God to save him. So God ordered the great fish to spit Jonah out on land. The fish obeyed, and Jonah was safe. He would not run away from God anymore.