My Bible reading plan led me to the book of Jonah. Even though I thought I knew this book well, God showed me something new.
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” Jonah 1:1-3
Jonah didn’t want to preach to Nineveh because Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was cruel and wicked. Israel hated the Assyrians! They were barbaric! No wonder Jonah didn’t want to go there!
You probably know the rest of this story. A great storm arose at sea and the crew threw Jonah overboard. Then,
“…the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17
Jonah cried out to the Lord…
“And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Jonah 2:10
The Bible doesn’t tell us what kind of fish swallowed Jonah, but one possibility is the Blue Whale, the largest animal on earth, a marine creature without teeth. Learning about God’s creation is fascinating and the blue whale is no exception.
We know for a fact that whales can and do vomit. Did you know that whale vomit, also known as ambergris, can be worth thousands of dollars per ounce? In 2021, a group of fishermen in the Gulf of Aden sold a chunk of ambergris worth around $1.5 million to a buyer in the United Arab Emirates.
But I digress. Another interesting fact about blue whales is that they have 4 to 6 compartments in their stomachs, any of which could house a group of grown men. The nasal cavity contains an enormous air storage chamber often measuring 7’x7’x14′.
Many skeptics have said the story of Jonah would be impossible. But after doing a little research, I’m not so sure. Of course, nothing is impossible for God anyway. But I found these facts about the blue whale quite interesting.
The question before Jonah was this: “Will I accept that God is God and yield myself to His will? That same question is before us today.
My advice: Don’t run from God. He has some interesting ways of getting our attention and He knows how to get us to do what He wants us to do!
Sources:
- David Jeremiah Study Bible Notes
- Business Insider
- Britannica
- USWhales.org
- The Bible Today by Grace Kellogg
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
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