Skeptics who assail the truths and teachings of the Bible have always sought to place the account of "Jonah and the Whale" in the class of not only the probable, but of the impossible. The Scripture account says: "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." Jonah 1:1717Now 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. (Jonah 1:17).
Note, the Bible narrative does not say that it was a whale, but a "great fish" prepared of God. Even those who claim that it would be impossible for a whale to swallow a man now have evidence against them. Among other instances, "The Literary Digest" of New York, in Volume 12, No. 3, page 681, which was issued April 4, 1896, shows that even in comparatively recent years, whales have swallowed men.
In February, 1891, the "Star of the East," a whaling vessel cruising in the Mediterranean Sea, not greatly distant from the coast of Palestine, indeed, one might say in the very waters where Jonah was cast overboard, "launched two whaleboats with an equipment of men to pursue a superb whale that was observed at some distance. The huge creature was harpooned and wounded to death. While it was writhing in its last agonies, one of the whaleboats was struck by its tail and shattered to pieces. The sailors in it were thrown into the water. All but two were saved shortly by the other boat. The body of one was recovered, but the, other, James Bartley, could not be found.
“When the monster had ceased moving, and its death was quite certain, it was hoisted alongside the ship, and the work of cutting it up began. A day and a night were devoted to this task. When it was ended the stomach of the whale was opened. What was the surprise of the whalers to find in it their lost comrade, James Bartley, unconscious but alive! They had much trouble in reviving him. For several days he was delirious and could not speak an intelligent word. Not till three weeks had elapsed did he recover his reason and was able to narrate his impressions.”
James Bartley reported: "I remember well the moment the whale threw me into the air. Then I was swallowed and found myself enclosed in a firm, slippery channel whose contractions forced me continually downward. This lasted only an instant. Then I found myself in a very large sack, and by feeling about I realized that I had been swallowed by the whale and that I was in his stomach. I could still breathe, though with much difficulty. I had a feeling of insupportable heat, and it seemed as if I were being boiled alive. The horrible thought came to me: Was I doomed to perish in the whale's stomach? My anguish was intensified by the complete silence that reigned about me. Finally I lost consciousness of my frightful situation.”
James Bartley, the English papers said in the accounts published at that time, was known to be the most hardy of whalers, but the experience in the whale's stomach was so terrible that he was obliged to undergo treatment in a London hospital on his return. Nevertheless, his general state of health was not seriously affected by the incident, the only effect being that his skin was, as it were, tanned by the action of the gastric juices.
The captain of the "Star of the East" reports that cases where furious whales have swallowed men are not rare, but that this was the first time he ever saw the victim come out alive after his experience.
It is not necessary, in order to disprove the contention of the adversaries of Scripture, to show that the swallowing of Jonah by a great fish, or by a whale, was ordinarily possible. Even if we admit their contention, it only heightens the manifestation of divine power when we lift the whole subject into the realm of the miraculous. Would it not be ridiculous to deny that God, the Almighty Creator, could in this instance make an exception and create a "great fish" for a special purpose?
If man, with his limited capacities and powers, can build ships in which to transport live cattle from one continent to another; if, with ingenuity that is only human, he is able to construct boats that, at will, can either float upon the surface or sink beneath the waves, ships that can be navigated under the direction of the human will of those who are being preserved and whose bodies are being transported beneath the waves by their own skilful devices, would it not be both absurd and ridiculous to deny the Infinite, All-Wise and Almighty Creator, the power which He exercised in the preservation, transportation, and safe delivery of His prophet, that he might do the divine bidding and save the multitudes who dwelt in the city of Nineveh?