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I am in Jonah 2. This passage is scoffed by liberal scientists and theologians. The thought is “no one could last 3 days in a ‘whale’.” Any thoughts on this fishy event?

Jonah

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1:17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for
help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD.”
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

I have a couple of thoughts.

1. When I was in high school or college a fisherman was found who was touted as a modern-day Jonah. He was rescued after two to four days in the belly of a fish.

2. Sharks have been known to swallow large items such as an entire suit of armour and have a slow enough digestion that it would be possible that Jonah could have been swallowed by one and lived.

3. God can do whatever He wants so He could have created a special fish just for Jonah (didn't the scripture say that God prepared the fish to swallow Jonah?) or He could have slowed the digestion down and allowed air in to the point that, while uncomfortable and possibly with some skin abrasions, Jonah would have lived.

Nowhere in scripture does it say that Jonah sat up and moved around or that he dropped to his knees when he cried out to God.

Just a few thoughts.

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3. God can do whatever He wants

That is a good option.

It's also possible he died and was resuscitated? Jesus said as Jonah was in the belly of the "whale(?)" so must he be in the heart of the earth for 3 days. Wonder if there's something to that. Hmmmmm...

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EH:
I opt for #3
This was a very "special" event that God prepared for Jonah. This "FISH" was
a one-of-a-kind in that it was prepared for Ol' Jonah.
The interesting part of this is that Jonah was to go to Nineveh to "convert" these
people. Jonah didn't want them in the family.
God gave Jonah another chance when he placed him on board the ship to "witness"
to them, but he would not.
The only place he witnessed was in the "belly of the fish."

So much for an old man's ramblings
Razor

By the way, I'm 72 today! who'd thunked!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAZOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God would have thunk!

You're just a few months ahead of my husband.

Good ramblings by the way.

First of all, Happy Birthday to Kerry Gage!

I agree that number three is the best option. Threre's no need to deny God's ability to do anything. The interpretations that deny the event are based on the assumptions that God either does not or cannot act in history.

By the same token, I do not think that Jonah died either. I would think that, considering the detail we have of Jonah's prayer while in the fish if God had gone through the extraordinary act of returning him to life, the text would mention it. I think the sign was that, like Jonah in the fish, Jesus would be removed from public view and buried for three days.

Me too

HB dear Raz,
HB dear Raz,
HB dear Razor,
HB dear Raz.

HAPPY Birthday!!!!!!!<--make a wish!



I think he created a fish for the occasion. Saying he couldn't create a fish is like saying he couldn't create other things too:

Jonah 4:6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.

Imagine if God created a big fish with a sense of humor with a dolphin-like personality. He would bring Jonah up above the water and let him see the air, bring him below, cough him up, and swallow him again. Poor Jonah. One thing I know, that fish made some believers out of pagans!
We must remember too that the fish is not the story; God's caring for the gentiles, even an evil nation is the punchline. It's a great, powerful revival. Should be among every evangelists favorite verses. The big fish, vine, worm, and wind are cool, but all those people coming to the Lord is coolest .

chip.

In 1952 a japanese fissherman was swallowed by a Whaleshark, which is a fish some 40 ft. long. the fisherman was spit up alive some 3 days latter. One of the side effects of the ordel was that the mans skin was semi-transparent for a long time after the incident. I can't remember where I read about this, as it was long ago, I could be off on the date, but I don't think so.

Ehud

I wonder if Jonah appeared bleached. Maybe a tad stinky too. I'd repent! Makes sense why the sun may have botherd him so bad too.

I remember seeing an old Jacque Cousteau special where he showed a grouper common to the Mediterranean Sea that he said grow to such a size that it could have been the fish that swallowed Jonah. So there are many possible answers to the "problem" of the story.

Dennis Reeves

Wecome back DR!