PERHAPS no other Old Testament personality has had more fun made of him by skeptics and unbelievers than the prophet Jonah. Modern critics consider his story a fable. The mere mention of his name provokes a smile, the thought of his being swallowed by a whale is treated as a joke, and the idea of his living for three days in the great fish’s belly is beyond the realm of possibility.
But to the Christian the story of Jonah is part of the inspired Word of God, to be believed and delighted in unhesitatingly. Besides we have the testimony of the Lord Jesus who spoke of Jonah being “three days and three nights in the whale’s belly” (Matt. 12:4040For as Jonas was three days 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. (Matthew 12:40)). This gives unquestionable proof as to its divine authorship, and we would believe it based upon His words alone.
No outside testimony is necessary, but there is a very remarkable incident which only proves the folly of those who declare a man could not have been swallowed by a whale nor could he have lived three days in it if he had been.
Some years ago a man tells of how a dead whale had been on display by the seaside. Along with others he had entered the whale’s mouth; they had passed through its throat, and found themselves in a space equal to a fair-sized room. It would have been easy for the whale to swallow a man. Even sharks are known to have swallowed men alive.
“In February 1891, the whaling ship Star of the East was in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands, and the look-out sighted a large sperm whale three miles away. Two boats were lowered, and in a short time one of the harpooners was enabled to spear the fish. The second boat attacked the whale, but was upset by a lash of its tail, and the men thrown into the sea, one being drowned, and another, James Bartley, having disappeared, could not be found. The whale was killed, and in a few hours the great body was lying by the ship’s side, and the crew busy with axes and spades removing the blubber. They worked all day and part of the night.
“Next day they attached some tackle to the stomach, which was hoisted on deck. The sailors were startled by spasmodic signs of life, and inside was found the missing sailor, doubled up and unconscious. He was laid on the deck and treated to a bath of sea-water which soon revived him; but his mind was not clear, and he was placed in the captain’s quarters, where he remained two weeks a raving lunatic. He was kindly and carefully treated by the captain, and by the officers of the ship, and gradually gained possession of his senses. At the end of the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock, and resumed his duties.
“During his sojourn in the whale’s stomach Bartley’s skin, where exposed to the action of the gastric juice, underwent a striking change. His face, neck, and hands were bleached to a deadly whiteness, and took on the appearance of parchment. Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not for lack of air.”
Bartley is also said to have explained that after being hurled into the sea the water foamed about him evidently from the lashings of the whale’s tail. Then he was drawn along into darkness and found himself in a great place where the heat was intense. In the dark he felt around for an exit and found only slimy walls around him. Then the awful truth rushed into his mind, and he became unconscious till the sea-water bath revived him on the ship’s deck.
And where now are the critics who have declared the swallowing of Jonah to be an impossible feat?
ML-02/25/1973