Jonah 3
Now, this is the part that everyone has a hard time believing...that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, and survived! Here is a story of a sailor in the 19th century that survived being in a whale's belly for over half a day!
This man was in the belly of a whale for 15 hours, so that isn't the same as 72 hours, but what if Jonah did die in the belly of the great fish? As I noted last post, it may be that Jonah died and was resurrected after three days to be a sign when Jesus did the same. After all, if I went into a whale or great fish's belly...I wouldn't wait three days to pray! I wouldn't have waited even three seconds! This is why I believe Jonah died, and when he was brought back to life, he gave praise to God and was spit out on the beach.
Whether Jonah died or not, his appearance MUST have been altered. Anyone who understands anatomy knows that the stomach has gastric juices to break down food. As we see in the link, the man who was in the whale's belly for only 15 hours had a profound affect on him:
~ All body hair was burned off!
~ His skin was white like an albino...he looked like he was bleached!
~ The gastric juices made him blind and delirious
So here is Jonah...probably close to blind, white as a ghost and without any hair walking into the dreaded city of Nineveh!!! It really doesn't matter if Jonah lived or died in the belly of the great fish, but Jesus confirms that it happened, and Jonah did preach to Nineveh! So let's not let the skeptics shut us off with dwelling on whether Jonah lived or died, and offer the idea that he may not have lived in the belly, and explain why that points to Jesus!
(v.4) Jonah predicts that Nineveh will burn in 40 days...remember that numbers mean things in Hebrew culture and the Bible...the number 40 represents judgement and testing.
(v.5) I remind my kids that the people of Nineveh worshipped the fish god, Dagon, and here was a man who came out of a fish...looking creepy telling them to repent...I would listen as well!
(v.6) The king led by example and told the city to repent...we can all learn from this king, and desire to have our leaders be as godly as he acted.
(v.10) The key to this was the whole city repented from their wicked ways and cried out to God. They weren't faking, and God knew it...that is why God blessed them and gave them mercy.
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