Monday, November 6, 2023
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40 KJV).
Let us consider one of the most misunderstood and most ridiculed accounts presented in the Holy Bible….
From time immemorial, the Prophet Jonah has been a favorite target of Bible critics. This mockery comes in a variety of forms, but the two chief complaints can be summarized as follows. Firstly, “A man living in a whale’s belly is preposterous!” Secondly, “The Bible calls it both a ‘fish’ and a ‘whale’ but we all know they are two biologically distinct animals!” These are weighty and thought-provoking comments indeed, but should we believers in Christ fear such criticisms? Does the Bible offer meaningful answers that we can then provide to those who are sincerely interested in acquiring understanding?
Since we, the professing church, have spent more time dawdling in trivial matters, we neither know what we believe nor why we believe it. Is it any wonder those “outside the church” cannot help but scoff at the idea of ever becoming a Christian and/or actually trusting anything the Holy Scriptures teach? If they who profess to “believe the Bible” have failed to master its doctrines, if they who proclaim to be “Bible believers” are usually among the ranks of its detractors, if they who assert they “love the Bible” really think so poorly of it, who without the Bible would dare to care for it, love it, and uphold it?
Dear saints, in order to drive the Bible ignorance far hence (and ensure it stays there!), we must endeavor to become skillful in the Good Book we allegedly follow. We will have to either do some Bible study to get a clear picture of what is going on, or just throw out the Scriptures entirely and never consult them again (proving we never actually believed them anyway!). Let us do the former—take today’s Scripture as well as the Book of Jonah—and see if we can piece together a coherent narrative as to what happened to Jonah all those centuries ago….
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333 Words of Grace 