Tweet
In the Book of Jonah when he was swallowed by a great fish was he dead or alive for three days?
Lou Newton, former Steel Mill Crane Designer and Physics Teacher
Answered just now
Jonah was dead in the flesh when he was in the “whale”. Some refuse to believe this because it seems they have a problem believing that God could raise Jonah from the dead.
Jesus left no doubt about Jonah being dead in the” whale”:
Matthew 12 NIV
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
How was Jesus in the earth ? Did Jesus die on the cross and was He then buried in the earth ? Jesus died on the cross and so Jonah was in the whale the same way, dead.
We also have the testimony of Jonah himself:
Jonah 1
Jonah’s Prayer
17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2 (NIV)
2 1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
It takes far less faith to believe that God can raise anyone from the dead He pleases , than to believe that Jonah sank to the death of the foot of the mountains in the sea and then was in a “whale” for three days and nights and did not die.
This passage also reveals that our soul is still conscious and can pray when we are dead in the body.
Lou Newton, former Steel Mill Crane Designer and Physics Teacher
Answered just now
Jonah was dead in the flesh when he was in the “whale”. Some refuse to believe this because it seems they have a problem believing that God could raise Jonah from the dead.
Jesus left no doubt about Jonah being dead in the” whale”:
Matthew 12 NIV
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
How was Jesus in the earth ? Did Jesus die on the cross and was He then buried in the earth ? Jesus died on the cross and so Jonah was in the whale the same way, dead.
We also have the testimony of Jonah himself:
Jonah 1
Jonah’s Prayer
17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2 (NIV)
2 1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
It takes far less faith to believe that God can raise anyone from the dead He pleases , than to believe that Jonah sank to the death of the foot of the mountains in the sea and then was in a “whale” for three days and nights and did not die.
This passage also reveals that our soul is still conscious and can pray when we are dead in the body.
Comment