Jonah
The Story
Children
Jonah, with his unusual adventure of being swallowed by a great fish, is a favourite for children. Consequently, there are many videos for children. Some are on this page but there are many more on the Jonah for Children page.
Overviews and Introductions
Devotional
Journey Through - (Our Daily Bread) - coming soon
Teaching
Jonah: A Story Of God's Relentless Love and Abundant Mercy - (Groundwork) - 4 episodes
Author
Can We Really Believe The Jonah Story?
Plenty of people will say "No, it is impossible for a man to survive for three days in the stomach of a whale or fish". They might conclude that, at best, the story is a parable, not history.
Summary
Clearly the whole thing is presented as a miracle of God. There is no reason why God could not have saved Jonah in a way that is not normal or repeatable.
Jesus spoke of Jonah as if it was historically true (Matthew 12:38-42; 16:4; Luke 11:29-32).
He could have been referring to a well-known parable.
But...
If the one sign Jesus was willing to give was fictitious, then maybe Jesus isn't to be taken literally either. That is untenable. Jonah is the only Old Testament prophet to whom Jesus compares Himself. It is unlikely that He would choose someone who's story was fiction.
Jesus said that the people of Nineveh will stand up in the judgement and condemn His generation. If they did not repent at Jonah's preaching, this prophecy would be meaningless.
If Jesus would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth in the same way that Jonah was three days an three nights in the belly of huge fish but Jonah wasn't or didn't survive it then "in the same way" it would mean that Jesus' resurrection was not true.
Jonah is very flawed. This is not a glamorised account but very real.
Jonah and the Great Fish - Don Landis (Answers In Genesis)
Resources
