(9.) The Gospel Story of Tobit: Another Miraculous Fish

(9.) The Gospel Story of Tobit: Another Miraculous Fish.

“Now when Tobias went down to wash his feet in the Tigris River, a large fish suddenly leaped out of the water and tried to swallow his foot. He shouted in alarm. But the angel Raphael said to him, ‘Take hold of the fish and don’t let it get away!’ The boy seized the fish and hauled it up on the shore. The angel the told him, ‘Cut the fish open and take out its gall, heart, and liver, and keep them with you, but throw away the entrails. Its gall, heart and liver make useful medicines.'” (Tobit 6:3-5).

The Miracle-Fish. After a full day of traveling to Media, on their two-day journey, the disguised archangel Raphael and Tobias, the son of Tobit, come to the Tigris River and make camp there for the night. All of a sudden, a huge fish jumps out of the water and attempts to swallow Tobias. Raphael instructs Tobias to take hold of the fish and wrestle it onto the riverbank, at which time he needs to gut the fish and take out its gallbladder, heart and liver. Raphael hints at future miracles by mentioning that these fish organs could be used later as curative medicines. After enjoying their own little fish fry and resting for the night, they continue their journey to retrieve Tobit’s money, marry Sarah, and in the process bind the demon who has been mortally harassing Sarah right there in Media.

Congratulations! At this point Raphael informs Tobias that he is the first line in to marry a woman in Media who is in his dad’s extended lineage, which is required by the Law of Moses. For a devout Jew to marry a foreign woman was considered highly offensive in their faith and absolutely rejected by God. No one from among the Chosen People were to marry someone outside the faith, as it broke God’s covenant and so was thought to be a grave act of unfaithfulness. To marry a Gentile was an impudent way of choosing a way of life in opposition to God and a serious spiritual compromise. Since Sarah was Tobit’s closest eligible relative in his extended tribe, Tobias was first in line to marry her. Fortunately, Tobias and Sarah fell madly in love the moment they met a little later. But at the time, Tobias objected to this arrangement, emphasizing the track record of Sarah’s earlier marriages. Tobias rather wisely told Raphael that he didn’t want to be another statistic and victim of Asmodeus, because he needed to go home and take care of his ailing parents. But Raphael wouldn’t back down and confirmed that they would be engaged to marry that very night to a wise, courageous and quite beautiful young woman.

The Demonic Assault of Sarah. Asmodeus, which means “destroyer,” was traditionally the demon of lust, and it harassed Sarah by killing each of the bridegrooms from her seven consecutive marriages on the wedding night before the marriages were consummated. This demon lusted after Sarah, and was so jealous that it wouldn’t allow Sarah the pleasure of her wedding night. Sarah’s name was disgraced as the cause of this tragic train of events, and this led earlier to her asking God to take her life.

A Wedding Night Miracle. Countering Tobias’ objections, Raphael instructed him to take the fish’s heart and liver to the bridal chamber on their wedding night, burn those items in the room and fumigate the room thoroughly with the smoke from that odd incense. Raphael promised that the deadly demon of lust will smell the smoke and immediately leave Sarah, never to return again. But before you consummate your marriage, says Raphael, rise up together and pray earnestly to God that He will grant you mercy and a complete deliverance from the demonic attack. “Don’t be afraid, Tobias,” exhorted Raphael, “for Sarah was set apart for you before the world existed, and your destiny is to be together.” Raphael’s encouraging words to Tobias resulted in his heart becoming set on Sarah for good.

Physical Objects Empowered by God. The smoke from a burn pile of a fish’s heart and liver seems a bit random and perhaps even outlandish, doesn’t it? But not when we consider all the other moments in the Scripture when rather disconnected material objects were given supernatural power. We can start with the simple walking stick of Aaron and the miracles that wooden staff of his accomplished… turning into a snake which swallowed all the Pharoah’s snakes; causing such plagues as turning the Nile water bloodred, bringing into Egypt a massive influx of frogs, and turning the dust of Egypt into a horde of gnats; the staff coming back to life in the Holy Place, sprouting blossoms, and bearing ripe almonds. There are plenty of other stories involving miraculous physical objects:

• Moses separating the Red Sea waters by striking his staff on the water (Exodus 14);
• Moses healing the people with snakebites by holding up a bronze snake on a pole (Numbers 21);
• Moses purifying a water source by throwing a log into the water (Exodus 15);
• Elijah separating the rushing waters of Jordan River with his prophet’s mantle;
• Elijah’s skeleton raising a dead man back to life (2 Kings 13);
• Elijah purifying a poisoned stream by throwing salt into the water (2 Kings 2);
• St. Peter healing the sick by casting his shadow while walking by (Acts 5);
• St. Paul healing the sick when they simply touch his handkerchief (Acts 19);
• The healings and exorcisms of the needy by touching Jesus’ prayer shawl (Matthew 9);
• Jesus using His spit to make mud to heal blindness (John 9).

Your Basic Garden-Variety Miracle. Actually, physical objects like a person’s skin touch, and anointing oil, and the waters of baptism are all healing agents. And the simple physical objects of bread and wine are used in the great miracle of the Eucharist too. God seems to be in the business of using His creation in unpredictable, unexplainable ways to bring life and health to His creation. So maybe fish guts and bile aren’t so outlandish after all.

Spoiler Alert! If you’re curious about this fish gallbladder business, and if a fish’s bile waste products can serve as the raw material (and I do mean raw) in a miracle, here’s a sneak preview of coming attractions… “Raphael said to Tobias before he reached his father: ‘I am certain that his eyes will be opened. Smear the fish gall on them. This medicine will make the cataracts shrink and will draw a filmy white skin off his eyes; then your father will again be able to see the light of day!’… Tobias went up to his father Tobit with the fish gall in his hand, and holding him firmly, blew into hie eyes. ‘Take courage, father,’ he said. Next he smeared the medicine on his eyes, left it there a while, and it made the father’s eyes sting. Then, beginning at the corners of Tobit’s eyes, Tobias used both hands to peel off the filmy white cataracts. When Tobit saw his son, he threw his arms around Tobias and wept. He exclaimed, ‘I can see you, son, the light of my eyes!” (Tobit 11:7-8, 10-24).