|
Jonah
Not just another fish tale.
This story begins with God commissioning Jonah to take the message of salvation to the 120,000 persons living in Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of the vast and powerful Assyrian empire. The present location of Nineveh can be found in northern Iraq.
Jonah was reluctant to go to Nineveh out of animosity toward a nation that repeatedly harassed the children of Israel. Quite often the Assyrian army would descend upon the crops of the children of Israel like locusts, causing death and widespread food shortage. Assyria became the chastening rod of the LORD to bring His disobedient children to repentance, because they would not heed God’s word spoken by His messengers, the prophets.
When the word of the LORD came to Jonah, he was disappointed to hear that his commission was to go and preach repentance to a race of people that showed no mercy toward the children of Israel. Jonah knew that if Nineveh repented, the LORD would forgive them. But Jonah could not forgive them for the pain and suffering the Assyrians caused his people.
As Jonah ran from his responsibility, the hand of the LORD pursued him. Going down to the seacoast town named Joppa, Jonah found a merchant ship that was sailing to the other end of the known world. Tarshish (Spain) was the farthest point west on the map and so was considered the end of the world. Jonah paid the fare and before he got to his preferred location, he was tossed overboard for reasons explained in the book that bears his name.
Before we proceed with our study, I would like to address a question that has put the book of Jonah under much skepticism over the years and has caused doubt to rise in the heart and erode the faith of those that do not diligently study God’s word.
Was Jonah swallowed by a whale or a fish ?
As you continue viewing, may the following facts enable you to form your own conclusions.
Seafood
How large was the creature that swallowed Jonah?
When considering what it was that swallowed Jonah, one must consider the size of the animal. Fish and whales come in different colors and sizes as well as eating habits.
Fish: The largest fish ever captured and recorded (before it was eaten)
was a Whale Shark in Thailand in 1919. Its length was 59 feet long. Certainly large enough to swallow Jonah. Whale Sharks are plankton eaters, and during a storm dive deep to avoid the turbulence on the surface.
Great White sharks are certainly large enough to swallow a man. But being consistant with the species, they tear off chunks of their prey and swallow them in pieces. Fish in general eat this way and do not make good dinner guests.
Whales: The largest animal on planet Earth is the Blue Whale. The largest Blue Whale was captured and recorded in 1926
( before being sliced up for sale ) was just over 109 feet long. Blue Whales are found in every ocean on the planet and that includes the Mediterranean Sea where Jonah was thrown overboard. Another thing to ponder is the probability that there were a lot more Blue Whales that may have been even bigger during Jonah's day.
Some whales have teeth for catching and eating their prey, such as Orcas or Sperm whales. Blue Whales eat tiny crustaceans, plankton and small fish that they strain through comb like plates called Baleen. Blue Whales are among the class of Baleen Whales. In otherwords, they don’t chew their food. They just swallow or gulp it down. Their Baleen plates act as screens trapping food while filtering out the water. Blue Whales do not have teeth, but their mouth is very big. Their stomach capacity is enormous. Over one ton (2200 lbs.) of food at one time can be held in its stomach. Everything on a Blue Whale is big.
During a storm, a whale would not be able to stay underwater very long to ride it out. If they stayed under too long they would drown. So they need to surface to breathe. Even during a storm.
Not a fish!
Before the birth of Christ a very smart man by the name of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) wrote a book called Historia Animalium . In his book, Aristotle correctly reclassified whales as mammals. The Old Testament was completed before the birth of Aristotle. So up to the time of Aristotle it was commonly misunderstood that whales were fish. There are individials in the 21st A.D. century that label whales as fish. The episode of Jonah being swallowed by a great sea creature was recorded in the Hebrew language that the sea creature that swallowed and later barfed Jonah on to the beach was a great fish. When scribes copied by hand the Hebrew text they were very careful to copy exactly as was written.
Aristotle recorded his discovery in the Greek language after the Old Testament was completed. Greek was the common language of the New Testament era. There are over 5000 Greek manuscripts available today, that record the events of the New Testament era. Now Jesus being greater than the wisest man that ever lived i.e. Solomon. Didn’t have to read Aristotle to know that whales are not fish. Jesus already knew that whales were not fish when he made reference to Jonah describing His death and resurrection. (See Matthew 12:38-42)
Now if tomorrow some educated person reclassifies whales as another species, will that nullify the fact that Jonah was swallowed by a great sea creature. Not at all. The story of Jonah is not about whales or fish or sea creatures or a plant that grows over night to be eaten the next day by a worm. The story of Jonah is about repentance and a God that has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. (See John 3:16-17 and II Peter 2:9) God promises if a person or community truly repents, He will pardon and turn away the impending doom. (See Jeremiah 18:7-8)
Skepticism of the Bible is the fruit of unbelief. Jesus told Nicodemus what speaks to us today - "...Unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of God".[John 3:3] "...He(the Holy Spirit)...will bring to rememberance all that I have told you."[John 14:26] Therefore let us proceed to study the book of Jonah and ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand as we apply what we learn to our daily lives. Begin Here
Blue Whale facts and
More Blue Whale facts
 |
The Altar and The Door CD
By Casting Crowns / Provident Music Distribution
After rising from the thriving Atlanta music scene to become one of CCM's top bands, Casting Crowns follows up their string of Platinum selling albums with The Altar and The Door. Perfectly encapsulating their seamless blend of adult contemporary and worship styles, the group's hotly anticipated third studio album includes the radio hit "East to West" plus nine more fresh original compositions.
|
|
|
Bible Verses and Things to Ponder
|
|
