Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Jonah
Bible Questions Answered:
“Was Jonah really swallowed down by a
whale or is that a myth?”
Cathy/ Columbus, Ohio (U.S.A.)
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Jonah 1:1-17 NLT
1 The Lord gave this message to
Jonah son of Amittai:
2 “Get up and go to the great city
of Nineveh. Announce My judgment against it because I have seen how
wicked its people are.”
3 But Jonah got up and went in the
opposite direction to get away from The Lord. He went down to the
port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought
a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from The Lord by sailing
to Tarshish.
4 But The Lord hurled a powerful
wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break
the ship apart.
5 Fearing for their lives, the
desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo
overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound
asleep down in the hold.
6 So the captain went down after
him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get
up and pray to your god! Maybe He will pay attention to us and spare
our lives.”
7 Then the crew cast lots to see
which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm.
When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.
8 “Why has this awful storm come
down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of
work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”
9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew,
and I worship The Lord, The God Of Heaven, who made the sea and the
land.”
10 The sailors were terrified when
they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away
from The Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.
11 And since the storm was getting
worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to
stop this storm?”
12 “Throw me into the sea,”
Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this
terrible storm is all my fault.”
13 Instead, the sailors rowed even
harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too
violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.
14 Then they cried out to The Lord,
Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for
this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O
Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up
and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16
The sailors were awestruck by The Lord’s great power, and they
offered Him a sacrifice and vowed to serve Him.
17 Now The Lord had arranged for a
great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish
for three days and three nights.
Jonah did not say
that it was a whale, but that it was a “great fish.” Could it
have been a whale?
Jesus called it a
whale.
Matthew 12:40
KJV
"...Jonas was
three days and three nights in the whale's* belly..."
*Whale's-Greek: Ketos (Kay-tos): A huge
fish (as gaping for prey): -Whale
One giant species of fish found in the
Mediterranean is the Whale Shark, which can reach some 50 feet in
length.
Here is the definitive answer to
Jonah's record, if you have a computer go here....
The Princeton Theological Review
(1927-Page 7)
If you are not able to go to this URL,
to capsulize the story....
In 1891 the whaling ship the Star of
the East, was looking for whales off the Falkland Islands.
They spotted a mighty sperm whale, and
they gave chase, harpooning it. The great fish fought back thrashing
its mighty tail and knocking several sailors into the water. On
sailor was James Bartley, and he went missing, presumed drowned, by
the mighty whale.
Eventually the crew, so wounded the
mighty fish, that they hauled it up along side the boat and for one
full day the axed and sawed the flesh of the fish, taking it on
board. Finally the very stomach of the fish was exposed and a hoist
was lowered to lift it up on board. The sailors thought they saw some
movement of the large stomach of the fish. Carefully they knifed
their way into it. There to there utter shock was James Bartley, the
missing sailor. He was quite unconscious, but alive. For two weeks he
was out of his mind, with delirium, but in the third week he was
fully revived.
This was a true story, fully documented.
So, can these things happen, yes, for
they have happened before!
The Faithful And True Word Of God:
Psalm 19:8 KJV
The statutes of The Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart: the commandment of The Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
Psalm 119:105,130 KJV
105 Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet,
and a Light unto my path.
130 The entrance of thy Words giveth
Light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Proverbs 6:23 KJV
For the commandment is a Lamp; and
the law is Light; and reproofs of instruction are The Way Of Life:
Luke 21:33 KJV
Heaven and earth shall pass away:
but My words shall not pass away.
John 15:3 KJV
Now ye are clean through The Word
which I have spoken unto you.
John 5:39 KJV
Search the scriptures; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.
Romans 1:16 KJV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
I Thessalonians 2:13 KJV
Therefore, we never stop thanking
God that when you received His message from us, you didn’t think of
our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very
Word Of God—which, of course, it is. And this Word continues to
work in you who believe.
II Timothy 3:16 KJV
All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Hebrews 4:12 KJV
For The Word Of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
II Peter 1:21 KJV
For the prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved
by The Holy Ghost.