Was Jonah Really Swallowed by a Great Fish? There are many skeptics who say that this story is fictional because that could never happen. Some people conclude, then, that the account of Jonah isnt really historically true. Some say that this event wasnt literal. Thats what I want to examine briefly. Can this event be logically true? First, many just do not believe that miracles happen. Some reject all supernatural claims and so when they read an account like this, they feel justified in thinking that the story of Jonah is a made-up story. Dont be surprised when you encounter people who are naturalists and reject all supernatural. Secondly, miracles are not common things. We shouldnt expect to find too many other people (if any) surviving being fish food. But just because something happens rarely or only once in history is not reason to reject that it ever happened. After all, how many times was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? Exactly as many times as we know of people being swallowed by a fish and surviving. Thirdly, 2 Kings 14:25, which is clearly a history book, mentions Jonah as a prophet who really existed. Since there are no reasons to think 2 Kings mixes real history with characters from fanciful tales, we have good reason to think Jonah was a real person. Finally, the best reason for believing that Jonahs being swallowed was actual history is because Jesus believed it to be true. In Matthew 12:39-41, Jesus used Jonahs entombment in the fish as a way of verifying His own authority and teaching. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (v. 40, ESV). If Jesus genuine bodily resurrection is to be understood in light of Jonah, then Jonahs experience must have also been genuinely historical. If Jonahs story is not real history, then Jesus reference to it makes no sense. Of course, those who reject Jonah as real history most likely reject the bodily resurrection of Jesus for the same anti-supernatural reasons. But the evidence for Jesus bodily resurrection powerfully supports it as real history. So for Jesus parallel work, Jonahs experience must also be real history. Also, Jesus said that the men of Nineveh, who repented at Jonahs message, would stand up and judge the current generation for not repenting at Jesus proclamation (Luke 11:32). This is an empty threat unless the people of Nineveh did in fact repent. Here again, the non-historical view falls apart. So we have good reasons to accept Jonah being swallowed by a great fish as real history. The rejection of this account as history is the real fish story. #Jonah
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 23:39:40 +0000
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