When my ex-boss flippantly stated "So what about that chap who climbed into the whale's mouth?" as his proof that the Biblical accounts are myths, I decided to read up on the Biblical account once more. There are two important points:
1. It does not say a "whale" but rather "a great fish"; and
2. It does not say Jonah remained alive for three days in the great fish's stomach. It is not as they show in the animated program Pinnochio where he runs around with a lantern inside the whales stomach and fishes for food etc.
The narrative recounts Jonah's prayer which states clearly in Jonah 2: 6-7 The Holy Scriptures (The Jewish Publication Society) "The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was round about me; the weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars closed upon me forever; Yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit".
Similarly Yehoshua stated in Matthew 12: 38-41 KJV "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nin'evah shall rise in judgement with this generation and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold a greater than Jonah is here.
As Yehoshua was resurrected by YHUH, so I believe, was Jonah, as he had prayed in earnest (probably whilst dying), and had repented.
Unfortunately my ex-boss did not repent - I stated my case for number 1 above: Yes, the majority of whales today cannot swallow anything larger than an orange as they are baleen whales with small gullets. However, the Sperm Whale has been found to have swallowed a 16 foot shark as it is not a baleen whale. As it states "great fish" we are not limited to just whales. Creatures are going extinct regularly in our modern world today so after approximately 3000 years could it not be possible that by now that particular "great fish" is extinct? It may even have been a special creature created by YHUH for that particular purpose, just for that short time. How are we to know - anything is possible with YHUH, that is what faith is for! It states in Jonah 2: 1 "And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah". Unfortunately my ex-boss only has faith in money as so many others in this material world do.
I continued with my case for number 2 above : If Yehoshua was resurrected why is it not possible the same was done for Jonah? Anything is possible with YHUH - if He is the creator of all, why not?
Even so my ex-boss still just laughed and said "You will not convert me".
Well, that's him, but interestingly enough I discovered that Jonah even managed to convert all the men on the ship he was traveling on - it was actually a blessing to them that he had run away on their ship. It states that after they threw him overboard, as Jonah requested, the following happened - Jonah 1: 15-16 The Holy Scriptures (The Jewish Publication Society) "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the seas ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the YHUH exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto YHUH, and made vows". What a successful prophet Jonah was! If only he could have had joy in that, but, who knows, maybe that is why he was so successful, as he was not seeking success?
The greatest thing I picked up was this - Matthew 12: 41-42 KJV The men of Nin'evah shall rise in judgement with this generation and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in judgement with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
The future of men is made clear: there is resurrection to judgement and those who have repented will live to judge the wicked for final destruction!
Yehoshua states in Luke 16: 31 KJV "And he said unto him. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead". (Having just told the parable of Lazarus).
There is a link here between the Old Testament prophets Moses and Jonah and the New Testament prophet Yehoshua. Repentance before Judgement leads to Resurrection and everlasting life. The resurrected repentant after the 1000 year millennium will then partake in the judgement of the resurrected unrepentant for their final destruction. Jonah would have been the Old Testament example of resurrection to give hope to subsequent generations to have faith in YHUH to save them upon repentance.
The Gospel is the same in the Old and New Testament - if you hear the Good News of Salvation (Yehoshua) and believe, repent, and do the commandments of YHUH, you shall be saved, ie. resurrected to judgement and an everlasting life.
As it states in Hebrews 4: 1-2 "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Unfortunately my ex-boss had no faith, how about you?
