Was it one of those parables with a meaning behind it, like he went into the belly of the earth to preach to the souls which are in the belly of the earth awaiting the resurection.
2007-05-26 20:24:00 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
it never happened....
2007-05-26 20:27:13 · answer #1 · answered by hydes420 2 · 2⤊ 5⤋
Yes it was.
But the story was about Jonah, not Joshua. The meaning of the whale was esoteric, and was meant to teach the concept of redemption, immortality and resurrection. All in all, it is a very optimistic story when you understand what it means - it offers the hope of repentance even after death.
Of course, the people who feel like they have to point out that the story never happened are missing the point entirely. The book of Jonah was not included in the Bible because it was historical - it was added because of the spiritual significance of a prophet, swallowed by chaos, burried in darkness for three days, and then finding resurrection and redemption on the other side of the darkness.
The book is also significant because it clearly illustrates the Jewish view of divine providence - Jonah attributes all events to the will of God, even down to the act of a single worm.
2007-05-26 20:30:11 · answer #2 · answered by NONAME 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It also happens in Moby Dick, but his friends cut a hole in the side of the whale and rescued him almost immediately, so I am not sure if that counts. EDIT: The account Fisherman has unearthed explains something that had always puzzled me. Such a fantastic event had always seemed out of character with the rest of the novel - but it seems that it is actually possible to survive being swallowed by a whale. Maybe Herman Melville, who had worked as a whaler before writing Moby Dick in 1851, had heard of a similar case. The Bible was no doubt exaggerating when it says 3 days, just as it was when describing the size of the flood.
2016-04-01 10:20:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jonah was literally inside a "great fish", not a whale, for three days. Until he decided to do as God had asked him to do which was go and preach to Ninevah so that the people would turn away from the evil they were doing and go back to God. When Jonah decided he would go, the great fish spit him out.
2007-05-26 20:30:43 · answer #4 · answered by jessica m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds similar to a shaman's journey. Maybe the men going to Tarshish were a cult. Jonah felt like he was swimming as in Habakkuk 1:15, 16 and then got out after three days by means of prayer. Dry land represents safety.
Compare Leviticus 18:25
Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
2007-05-26 20:32:35 · answer #5 · answered by MiD 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Most of these parables/stories have MULTIPLE meanings and 'lessons'.
For instance, go back and read the OT version of this story to see the 'higher' (or alternative) meaning mighjt be; i.e., which is basically that Jonas was told to go to Nineveh and predict destruction. The destruction did not come and Jonas was very upset with God that he seemed to be a false prophet.
What happened was that 'the destruction' DID come or happen but it happened on a HIGHER level; i.e., the people changed their way of thinking and behavior, and thus they (through their free will) "destroyed" their error on the mental level versus having to have God destroy (them and) their error on the physical level.
This is referred to as "the sign of Jonas", and the applicability to it today is that all of these 'doomsday predicitions' of the world coming to an end do NOT have to happen--however, it will take US getting off of our dead butts and do something versus waiting for others--including God, Jesus, etc., to do it for us.
Again, it's just like it was with the inhabitants of Ninevah--if they didn't 'listen' and make the changes, then God (or the natural effect of ignoring or breaking a principle/law) would have interceded.
Remember the word "apocalypse" simply means "hidden"--not the 'end of the world' by catastrophic events. However, if we do not learn to think for ourselves and listen to the teachings and interpretations of others as it relates to these things, then we may possibly have to go through what others say we must.
You have to first believe that you HAVE a choice!
Hint: If the law/principle of free will actually exists and God, being God has to follow ALL the 'rules', then it stands to reason that God can only do to us what WE allow or decide that God can do to us!?!?!?
What will it be?
What are YOU deceiding to become?
Regards,
2007-05-26 20:42:28 · answer #6 · answered by smithgiant 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, it is a parable. He was trying to hide from his god, because he didn't want to do what his god told him to do. But his god found him, even in the belly of the whale, and eventually Jonah did what he had to do.
2007-05-26 20:30:15 · answer #7 · answered by SL_SF 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
IMO.. Jonah being swallowed by the whale is a metaphor for him being 'swallowed' by his own guilt for not doing what G-d asked him to do and him running away. After he thought things through he decided to do what G-d asked, knowing the consequences, and was released from his guilt (spit up by the whale).
2007-05-26 20:29:26 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
No, it really happened. Jonah did not want to do God's bidding (going to Ninevah to warn them of God's impending judgement), so God allowed a very large fish to swallow Jonah for 3 days/3 nights...obviously, Jonah reconsidered. The fish regurgitated Jonah and so he went to Ninevah. Many people were saved because of Jonah's message to the people, so God spared the city.
2007-05-26 20:30:02 · answer #9 · answered by higherlovetx 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
God ordered Jonah to warn of impending doom against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, Israel's greatest enemy. Jonah didn't want to give them a chance to repent and took passage on a boat going as far away as possible. When a storm came up, all the sailors prayed to their gods for deliverance. When Jonah confessed it was his God who was angry, they tossed him overboard. God sent the whale to transport him safely to Nineveh, that's all. The only preaching he did inside was to himself. It's only four chapters long. Read the story.
2007-05-26 20:33:22 · answer #10 · answered by skepsis 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well, people have been swallowed by sperm whales and lived to tell about it:
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkw87M1lGjDMA28JXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5ZDIzdWt1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3cEdnRpZANNQVAwMThfMTE0BGwDV1Mx/SIG=13kmub7go/EXP=1180337339/**http%3a//www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%2520fact%2520file/wildlife/whales/sperm_whale_tales.htm
Anyway, it was a leviathan that swallowed Jonah, which may have been an altogher different creature than your typical whale. You know, something like a very large Michael Moore.
2007-05-26 20:33:12 · answer #11 · answered by nada.llame 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋