Jonah and the Great Fish

The Book of Jonah
Chapter 1

Jonah Prophecy on Jonah and Whale Story Adventure
Jonah and the Great Fish 3 Days and 3 Nights Journey

Delighted to have you here at Daily Bread to share another book of the Old Testament called The Book of Jonah. You may think of the story of Jonah as a children's story, but this little tale has some important lessons for folks of all ages. It's very easy to picture this story in your mind's eye, so dust off your imagination and let's go fishing for the story of Jonah.

The year was about 775 B.C. and in a city called Nineveh, located in Assyria, they were practicing evil that the Lord didn't like. The Lord would always warn the people before by way of His prophets before He would ever do anything like destroy a city, as it is written. Sooooo, the Lord spoke to Jonah saying, Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and warn them because their wickedness has come to my attention.

Now Jonah was from Gath-hepher and Nineveh was about 500 miles or so, east from there. Well, Jonah didn't wanna go to Nineveh because, he knew that God was known for extending mercy and that was a long way to travel and frightening to him. Jonah decided to run away from God, so he went down to Joppa, about 25 miles away and found a ship heading west for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into the ship thinking he was escaping the presence of the Lord.

Jonah Prophecy on Jonah and Whale Story Lesson
Jonah and the Great Fish 3 Days and 3 Nights Warning

However, the Lord hurled a strong wind on the sea and created a huge storm, so strong that the ship was in danger of being destroyed. The sailors were afraid and they all cried to their gods and threw all the cargo of the ship into the sea to lighten it. Meanwhile, Jonah was down in the side of the ship, fast asleep.

The shipmaster went down to Jonah and said to him, What do you think you're doing, sleepyhead? Get up and call on your God and ask Him to consider us, so we don't die. The people on the ship decided to cast lots to find out whose fault all this trouble was. When they cast their lots, the lot fell upon Jonah. They asked him, What's the reason for all this evil and where do you come from? What's your country and who are your people?

Jonah said, I'm an Hebrew and I fear the Lord God of Heaven, that made the sea and the dry land. Jonah told them that he was hiding from the Lord and this scared the people. They asked Jonah, Why did you do this? The storm was growing more and more furious and the people said What should we do to you so the sea will calm down for us?

Jonah said, Throw me overboard into the sea and it will be calm afterward because I know it's my fault that this tempest is upon you. They were afraid to throw Jonah in the water, because they didn't wanna make God more angry than He already was. They rowed hard trying to bring the ship to land, but they couldn't. The sea was stirred up and violently against them. They cried to God and said, We beg you, O Lord, we beg you, don't let us die for this man's life and don't blame us for innocent blood because you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped her raging. Then the men respected the Lord greatly. They offered a sacrifice and made vows.

Jonah Prophecy on Jonah and Whale Story Summary
Jonah and the Great Fish 3 Days and 3 Nights Prophecy

Now, the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Let's have a little bread crumb at this point, shall we ... We were taught as children when we heard this story that is was a whale that Jonah was swallowed by. However, it does not say that it was a whale, it just says great fish. But Jesus clarifies that it was indeed a whale when He said:

The whale swallowed Jonah and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Did you know that this was a shadow of things to come? A shadow is an event that is similar (like a shadow) to something that's gonna happen in the future. Jesus explained this shadow in Matthew 12:39-41 and Luke 11:29-30 when the Pharisees tempted Jesus, asking Him for a sign from heaven. Jesus told them that an evil generation looks for a sign, an no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, the Son of man will be to this generation, and just as Jonah was in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights, the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jonah Prophecy on Jonah and Whale Story Teaching
Jonah and the Great Fish 3 Days and 3 Nights Concern

What happens in the belly of a fish for an uncooperative prophet of God? Join us next time and we'll take a look, at your Daily Bread of course!