Jonah - Part 2
Chapter 2 - Swallowed
by the whale, his lesson learned, and his repentance
In the previous study
of Jonah, (go here) we learned how Jonah
attempted to flee from the presence of the LORD after he was told to go and
warn the people of Nineveh that the LORD knew of their wickedness. We learned how he went aboard a ship sailing to
Tarshish, and how the LORD brought a great wind and caused the mariners to
throw Jonah overboard so that the sea would be calmed. And most of all, we learned how Jonah gave
witness to the mariners of "the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made
the sea and the dry land." And of
how the LORD brought this about, not only to let Jonah know that He was in
control, but also so that these mariners might
believe on Him...
Now Jonah is in the
water, and the great miracle happens. Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared
a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And
Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." So much here.
This great fish, which the Lord Jesus calls a whale, was prepared by the
LORD, to be in the right place, at the right time, and the right species so
that Jonah would be not chewed up, but swallowed alive and able to exist inside
its belly. This is not a myth, or a
fable, the three days and three nights
were for a specific purpose, not only for Jonah's sake, but so the Lord Jesus
would bear witness to this with regards to his own burial and resurrection. Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonas was three
day and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
