Tuesday 10 February 2009

Bitesize Jonah (19)

'Fish are associated with the 'waters under the earth.' In Biblical imagery, the seas are generally the world of the Gentiles. Israel is a people of the land, and throughout the Old Testament, the important people of God were farmers and herdsmen, not fishermen. Jonah travelled by sea to get to Gentile Nineveh, and Gentile Tyre is pictured as a vast ship of state sailing on the seas (Ezekiel 27:25-38). In the New Covenant, however, all is changed. The Apostles were largely fishermen. Jesus fed the crowds with fish. Paul carried the Gospel abroad over water. All this indicates a shift from land to sea, from Israel to the nations.' (p100)

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