A Whale of a Tale? #10

Thursday, November 16, 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….

Getting back to the little Book of Jonah yet again: “[1:17] 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…. [2:1] Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,…. [2:10] And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”

A simple, straightforward reading of the last verse of Jonah chapter 1 and all of chapter 2, leads us to the obvious conclusion. Jonah was physically dead for those three days and three nights. That fish’s belly was Jonah’s vaulted crypt! In like manner, so was the Lord Jesus Christ actually physically deceased and literally buried in a cave for three days and three nights (today’s Scripture; cf. Matthew 27:59,60; Mark 15:45,46; Luke 23:52,53; John 19:40-42). As in the case of Christ’s inground interment, Jonah’s physical body was in the fish’s belly but his soul and spirit were elsewhere.

Following that period of three days and three nights, God brought Jonah back to life (just like Christ). Jonah’s soul and spirit were reunited with his physical body, after which he prayed (chapter 2 was spoken in hindsight—notice the past and past perfect tenses of the verbs in verses 2-7). At the close of chapter 2, the three days and three nights having expired, the LORD commanded the fish to vomit (yuck!) Jonah onto the coast. Read chapters 3 and 4 to learn what the Prophet did with his new life. Suffice it to say, that rebel was truly converted or transformed for God’s glory!

Having clarified whether Jonah was alive or dead in the fish’s belly (he was dead!), we can now turn our attention to the heated debate over whether the creature was a “fish” (Jonah 1:17; Jonah 2:1,10) or a “whale” (today’s Scripture). As always, the controversy can be settled only if we use our renewed mind….