What can Jonah teach us about God's use of punishment?

I have never been swallowed by a whale. Very few people have. Luckily there's this one guy I know of who did, and then made it out alive! His story can teach us a lot about God's justice and mercy, and help us see how those two are one.

Swallowed by a Whale

As Jonah boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, a city which, geographically, was further away from Ninevah than any other city at the time, he knew he would never escape the all-seeing eye of God. While he may run from his calling, he cannot run from the Almighty. Still he tried!

As they sailed to their destination, a great tempest began to overcome the sailors. After some lot casting, it was revealed that Jonah was the cause for this trial; under the consciousness of his own guilt, he asked to be thrown overboard. At first the sailors resisted, but seeing no other option, they soon cast the wretched prophet into the sea.

As Jonah's body was caught in a torrent of waves, he was dragged downward into the water, twisting, grasping, and struggling to hold on to his life. Just as his situation could not become more dire, a "great fish," prepared long before the storm began, came and swallowed poor Jonah.

But alas, Jonah's life was not to be ended so easily! Inside the belly of the leviathan, he found himself preserved and well - for three whole days and nights! Now pause, reader, and ask yourself the following question: what was the purpose of the whale?

At first, one might believe that God was punishing a cowardly prophet or "teaching Jonah a lesson." But in all my studies of the Lord, I cannot believe that He was punishing one of his anointed servants, no matter how cowardly he may have been.

Why the Whale?

So why was the whale sent? The answer lies in the supplication of Jonah as he himself sat inside the great leviathan:

"Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. ... The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever..."

Can you see the picture he's painted? He was at the bottom of the ocean, he had weeds wrapped around his head! He should have DIED. But notice his next words:

"...yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God."

Can you see the purpose of the whale? To quote Herman Melville from his classic, Moby Dick, "Here, shipmates, lies true repentance: not clamorous for pardon, but grateful for punishment." Jonah was grateful for the whale because the whale was what saved his life. This was the purpose of the whale.

The Lord was not punishing Jonah. He was saving him.





Other Whales

I said before that people seldom are swallowed by whales, and technically that's true - but not entirely.

When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, their so-called punishment was to be cast out of the Garden of Eden. One part of this consequence was that they were not to partake of the tree of life anymore - in fact, God placed "Cherubim and a flaming sword" to guard the tree of life, just to be sure.

But what was the purpose of the cherubim guarding the tree of life? It was to prevent Adam and Eve from partaking the fruit, yes, but not as punishment - as a protection. "Lest they...live forever in their sins," God said.

And Alma, from the Book of Mormon, offers these profound words about this: "And thus we see that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and to serve God" (Alma 42:4). Was this not what Jonah was doing in the belly of his whale?

Again, I don't think that God punishes us. Sometimes it seems like our whales have been sent to afflict and torment us - but see: your whales are not a punishment! They are a protection.

We even see this in the church today. When members have crossed certain boundaries set by the Lord, sometimes it's wise for them to refrain from partaking of the sacrament on Sunday. It's so easy to look at this and say: "Wow, I'm trying my best and all the Lord can do is punish me!" But such a view would be incorrect.

In 3 Nephi 18:29 Christ warned the Nephites against partaking of the emblems unworthily, "lest they eat and drink damnation to their souls." Again we see: the Lord is by no means punishing anyone here! But in the words of Alma, He is giving us a probation time - a time to repent and to serve Him! He is simply protecting us.

One Last Example

In 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, Lehi is warned of the Lord to take his family and flee into the wilderness. Leave your house, comforts, possessions, friends, and all things you've come to rely on! Take your journey to who knows where - and then what? Will you die out there?

 Sounds like a whale to me.

But notice what Lehi and his family did as they made camp in the wilderness. In 1 Nephi 2:7 it reads: "And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God."

Why did he give thanks? God just drove them into the wilderness! But he gave thanks because he saw their circumstance for what it was: not punishment, but protection.

We may not always have Babylonians to flee from, but we have sins and temptations. We have natural instincts. We have the adversary. Whales are meant to bring us out and away from circumstances that would destroy us; the bring us closer to the promised land, closer to God.

So the next time you find yourself praying from the belly of a "sea dragon," don't be clamorous for pardon - instead, strive to be grateful. Find the protection in the punishment.

Let's all choose to be a little more thankful for our whales. :) In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Thanks for reading! God be with you 'til we meet again!

Sincerely,
Taylor, a dead missionary

An Introduction by a Dead Missionary

In the mission field, it's said that when a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints begins his ministry, he is "born" to a father (or trainer). Likewise, when he reaches the end of his two year mission it's said that he "dies". I always thought it was a morbid way of looking at it, personally, but hey - missionaries gotta make life interesting sometimes!

When a missionary dies, to say that he or she ceases to be a missionary is untrue; even in the real world, when we die (for real), do we cease our work? Absolutely not! We continue our work on the other side! In similitude of reality, when a missionary dies, they continue their work even without their name tag. We're not always the best at being on top of that, but hopefully we all try, right?

As you've probably surmised by now, I am indeed, a dead missionary. I served the Lord for two years in the wild tundras of Minnesota, officially known as the Minnesota, Minneapolis Mission - or as we endearingly refer to it, the MMM. M&Ms are a favorite treat around those parts. :)

At any rate, I've since died and gone the way of all the earth (as Mormon would abridge it), but I can't quite put away my name tag. Ever since I got home, I've wanted to publish a blog concerning my thoughts and feelings about the gospel, but it wasn't until the most recent General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that I really felt that the Lord was pushing me in that direction. So here I am!

There is meaning in the title I've chosen, "Cries From the Dust." The first time it appears in the Book of Mormon is actually in The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, almost immediately in the front cover. At the very end, it states:

"The ancient record thus brought forth from the earth as the voice of a people speaking from the dust, ... was first published to the world in 1830 as the Book of Mormon."

While not explicitly using the same language (i.e. cry from the dust), it is referring directly to the words of multiple prophets who do use those words, including Joseph of Egypt, Nephi, Isaiah, and Mormon, all of whom are speaking of themselves as well as those before them, who have sealed their testimonies in writing, never to be erased; though each of them are long since passed away, their immortal words continue to bear testimony to the world of the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ! You see, even though they are dead, their testimony continues to "cry from the dust."

That's the purpose of this blog. Though Elder Yorgason is now dead, the testimony of Taylor Yorgason will continue to, as they say, cry from the dust. Because I love the gospel! I love to understand it, I love to live it, and I love to teach it. Do I always understand it? No, but I try. Do I always live it? I'm sad to say that no, I don't - but I sure wish I did. Am I always good at teaching it? Absolutely not, but my words become at least a little bit more coherent when I write them.

I don't intend this blog to always be right, and I certainly can't promise that it will always be edifying - I simply wish to share with you (whoever you may be) my thoughts and testimony from time to time! Maybe I'll even share some stories from my mission now and again. I sincerely hope that what I have to say will have a positive impact on at least some of you, and should you have any questions or comments, feel free to message me!

For now, I'll conclude with my simple testimony of Jesus Christ! I know that He lives. I know that He knows both me and you, perfectly. The way that He can know us better than we even know ourselves is through His Atonement! Because He paid for our sins as well as our weaknesses and trials, I testify that none of us are beyond being happy. Through faith and repentance, we can gain access to the Atonement, and be free of our burdens of sin and heartache because He's already paid for them. It's only through following Christ that we are ever able to be truly happy, and truly free from our chains - I know that for a fact!

I know that the Book of Mormon is truly the voice of many crying from the dust, for they all testified of Christ - that book will bring us closer to Him than any other (Book of Mormon, Introduction)! I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Thank you for reading today, I hope to be addressing you again soon! God be with you til we meet again!

Sincerely,
Taylor, a dead missionary