Tuesday, November 14, 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….
It has been repeatedly assumed Jonah lived in the fish’s (or whale’s) belly for three days and three nights. However, see the Bible for yourself: “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17 simply states Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Scripture does not read, “And Jonah lived / was alive in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
At this point, perhaps a simple illustration will suffice. If I claim someone was “in the grave for 20 years,” am I implying he or she has lived in that tomb for 20 years? No one exercising a little common sense would misunderstand my words. Likewise, although Jonah was in the creature’s stomach all three days and three nights, he was not necessarily living for the entire duration. People have made an assumption regarding the Bible—and it is a wrong one (just another example of silly presumptions about Scripture!). Two lines of proof can be offered Jonah actually died with respect to this strange sea creature (whose identity we will discuss later).
Firstly, in today’s Scripture, the Lord Jesus pointed to Jonah’s experience and connected it to His own death. Did not the Lord stay dead for three days and three nights? In keeping with the analogy, Jonah would have also perished. Remember, study Jonah chapter 1. The Prophet was tossed overboard in the Mediterranean Sea. Either he drowned before the creature swallowed him, or he died shortly after he entered the animal’s stomach. The point is, Jonah was dead in the creature’s belly.
Secondly, if you read Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2, the Prophet himself alludes to his decease. This part of the discussion will take some analysis, so we must carefully walk through it….
333 Words of Grace 