Fish and Chips

God loves fish. He uses it constantly in scripture to reveal His Kingdom. People were catching fish, eating fish, or being eaten by fish (Jonah). So what is the deal with fish?

Remember, the world was first judged by God with a flood. Who survived? Noah, his family, a few animals, and a whole BUNCH of fish. Fish can survive where other flesh cannot. They represent spirit-filled people dwelling in a different landscape than any other creation.

So lets talk creation for a moment? Who was made in the image of God? Man ('adam', in the Hebrew). God said that man was made in HIS image. What else did God say about images? He said DON'T MAKE ANY, either carved, graven, molten, out of playdough, wax, or paper mache. Yes, but that was in the time of Moses. Oh yeah. Correct. Yes.

Let a few years pass and we see Jesus walking the earth. The Son of God - in the flesh! He gets asked one of those hard questions:

Mat 22:17 MKJV
(17) Therefore tell us; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?

To this... Jesus decides He really didn't want to spend much time answering their "trick" question, so He simply asked for a coin. He held the coin to their face and asked them whose inscription was on it. THIS is strange. The Law - given by God - prohibited a graven image to be made, and here is God in the flesh holding one of these images in the face of unbelievers. Imagine the scene! "Whose inscription is this?"

Jesus did not say, "Who created this VILE image!! This is an abomination!!!!" Perhaps He thought it... but this is not what He said.

The answer was short. "Caesar's." To which Jesus replies... "Oh... must be his, then." And He flips the coin back to them and they walk away - quickly.

It was a subtle truth. You belong to HIM whose image you bear.

Did you hear that? You BELONG to HIM whose image you bear. If there were ever any doubt, let there be no more. You were created for God, and for no other.

So what about the fish??? So... what?

When it came to be tax time, Peter says to Jesus, "Uh... Teacher, we need some money." To which Jesus said, "Go fishing." Peter, a fisherman by trade but now a 'fisher-of-men' had little trouble with the instructions. He went and caught a fish, which strangely had enough money in its mouth to cover both Peter and Jesus.

The picture is of sovereignty. Man over-stepped his bounds by making a coin in his own image. God says... okay... the coin is yours, but the fish is going to cough that up. That's God's way of saying, "There is really nothing you can make in your image that my children don't already own!" The spirit-filled man, or the Kingdom man (fish) can cough up the worldly requirements of mankind on a moment's notice because the provision of God is endless. Ask Jonah what trumps what - the vain intentions of man or the Kingdom purpose of God?