The first four disciples called by Jesus to follow Him were fishermen; Simon, Andrew, James and John. He simply said, "Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17,18). Men are referred to as fishes in Habakkuk 1:14.

Two Classes

In Leviticus 11:9-12 we read of two classes of fish: those with fins and scales which could be eaten; those with no fins nor scales which could not be eaten under Jewish law. These speak to us of the clean and unclean among men, or the saved and lost.

The Saved

Fish with fins and scales remind us of men who are saved. The scales suggest the protection God gives to everyone who believes the Gospel and receives Christ as his Saviour. God clothes every believer with the Robe of Righteousness, which is Christ, who fits him for God's holy presence and shelters him from God's righteous judgment. The fins speak of the propelling power of the Holy Spirit the believer receives upon believing (Ephesians 1:13). He enables the saved soul to become an overcomer against the adverse currents of this world to ever go onward and upward. The salmon in the North Pacific illustrate this. They return to where they were spawned, traveling hundreds of miles to the stream from whence they came, leaping many steep, rushing waterfalls until they reach the place to lay their eggs.

The Lost

Fish without fins and scales remind us of men who are lost. They have not believed the Gospel and have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Hence they have no protection from judgment and no divine power to live and be led by the Holy Spirit of God. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). They are, indeed, unclean, for they have not been cleansed by the blood of Christ. Their sins remain upon them and their end is as we read in Ecclesiastes 9:12, "For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net … so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them."

Fruitful

Fish are known to multiply rapidly and abundantly. Boats have been known to encounter immense shoals and not be able to move because of the multitudes of fish. Just so, fish caught in the Gospel net belong to Christ and are expected to be found bearing fruit, more fruit and much fruit (John 15:1-8). As the believer realizes his identification with Christ in heavenly places, and reckons himself dead to sin in His death, the life of Christ will be reproduced by the Holy Spirit in the believer and the fruit of the Spirit will be manifest for God's glory and testimony to men (see Galatians 5:22,23).

Subject

The Son of God who created all things is the Man Christ Jesus, once crowned with thorns on the cross, now crowned with glory and honor. The Psalmist in speaking to Jehovah says, "Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet … and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas" (Psalm 8:6-8). Notice a few instances of this:

The great fish prepared by Him to swallow Jonah was subject to Him (Jonah 1:17). The fish that filled Simon Peter's net when he cast it on the right side of the ship were subject to Him (Luke 5:5,6). The fish that yielded the money was right there for Peter to catch in order to pay tribute for himself and the Lord (Matthew 17:27). One of the characteristics of a saved person is his willingness to be subject to his Saviour who is also his Lord. The love that went to death to save has power to constrain, "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Used

When the Lord Jesus fed the 5,000 men beside women and children, along with the five barley loaves, the Lord used two small fishes which the lad also yielded to Him to use to feed the multitude (John 6:9-11). No matter how small we may seem to be, and really are, Christ desires to use us, and what we put into His hand, to be blessings to others.