Issue 1556 – A Fish Story – September 21, 2024
“You don’t really believe that stuff,” he laughingly said to me. “Who in their right mind would believe that a man could be swallowed by a whale and live?”
“I do believe it with all my heart,” I replied. “All of it except that it was possibly a fish, not a whale.”
“Hah! I got you,” he snorted. The Bible contradicts itself on this. My Bible says fish in the Old Testament and whale in Matthew 12. It cannot be both.”
“You are right that some translations say whale in Matthew, but that is an English translation error, not a contradiction. Most translations show “big fish” or “great fish”. The Greek translated here actually means sea monster or sea creature.
Technically, it is not even an error; rather, it is confusion generated by modern systems of taxonomy (classification). When the King James Version was translated (1611), the modern classifications showing whales as mammals, not fish, were not yet invented. A whale was considered to be a form of fish. It was a logical use of the word.
A variety of possibilities have been offered as candidates for the “great fish.” The whale shark, the largest known fish, can reach 18 meters in length and weigh 10 tons. The sperm whale is another. Both have been known to be found in the Mediterranean. When I was in South Africa, I saw Humpback whales that certainly looked big enough. They reach 45 feet in length and weigh up to 65 tons.
Now, I do not know enough about fish or whale physiology to know whether these candidates are valid possibilities. Frankly, we do not know what kind of “fish” it was.
Similarly, it does not really matter whether it was a fish, whale, or some form of “sea monster” or “sea creature.” We are talking about a supernatural occurrence in which Jonah was indeed swallowed by something huge that swam in the ocean. It is an actual, literal historical occurrence with supernatural intervention.
God created all that existed with a word. He could easily have created a sea creature for just such a purpose, although there are a variety of fish and whales large enough to have done so.
It is particularly appropriate that a whale/fish/sea creature would swallow Jonah. He was sent to Nineveh to minister to people who worshipped a fish god, Dagon. His appearance after escaping the mighty fish would have trumped their god hand down.
There is no question that the event was a miracle. The Jonah account contains six direct instances of God’s intervention, some of which involved the divinely directed use of natural phenomena.
These were:
But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Jonah 1:4
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. Jonah 1:17
Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. Jonah 2:10
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. Jonah 4:7
When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:8
Some would even say that the repentance of the people of Nineveh constitutes a miracle. I agree that it is a wondrous example of what God’s grace can do, but I would not count it a miracle per se.
I recommend that you read all of Jonah. It is a short book, only four chapters long, and there is much to ponder in it.
It provides great insight into the times in the New Testament when Jesus tells the people that they will see the sign of Jonah. Jesus accepted the account as truth. The God of all truth would not use a lie or a myth to show His divinity.
Just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale and was then seen alive, Jesus spent three days in death and was then seen alive.
Our God truly is a God of the miraculous. The biggest miracle is that He cares enough about us to offer us salvation purchased by His blood.
Until next time, may you marvel at the miracle of Christ.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
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