For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12: 40 King James Version |
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---Thesszah on 8/10/08 |
Went for a short walk, Houston is heavy on my heart. I'm praying for Houston, all the surrounding areas, and resources. I was hoping you would agree with me in prayer. CN will be included in my prayers.
Michelle Monique R. |
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---MMR on 4/16/08 |
MMR,
ChristiaNet is located in Houston, Texas. Do you think God is asking you to pray over ChristiaNet? |
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---Moderator on 4/16/08 |
Moderator, pray protection for Houston, TX today and the next 7 days. I'm praying for a hedge of protection around the city and area.
I was led to Exek Ch 7 and Isaiah Ch 24. I went to sleep, not sure how to pray. Pray for Houston. God Bless Houston and protect her resources. |
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---MMR on 4/16/08 |
Well, what would you call a "great fish"? Back then, they probably didn't know about a whale being a mammel, not a fish. But whether a fish or a whale, what's important is the truths behind the story. (Likewise, where do they get the idea Adam & Eve ate an apple? That's not biblical either.) |
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---Ann5758 on 7/29/07 |
Where did you get that there was any intrinsic difference?
SOME translations say "BIG fish." Which ones are right?
KJV as originally written says WHALE in Matthew 12:40.
BTW--the significance Jesus gives the story (which should be the REAL understanding of it) is of His third day resurrection.
Exactly WHAT swallowed Jonah (or Jonas) is beside the point! |
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---Jack on 7/14/05 |
The story of Job would contain just as much TRUTH if it is treated not as literally accurate, but as a figurative account of Jonah's rebellion and eventual submission to God's will for him. |
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---Alan_of_U.K. on 6/23/05 |
There's many real lfe accounts of men being found 'alive' in the belly of sperm whales, colorless, [a 'throughly white' man would have gotten lots of attention in that part of the world then!]. The scriptures also says God had prepared a great fish for Jonah, this being the case, everything needed to keep Jonah alive was in place, including the fish's preordained route, destination, and exactly where to 'deposit' Jonah after God spoke to it v.10 [apparently where he left from]! |
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---Elishama on 6/22/05 |
I think that people can relate to a whale better than a big fish. As (in my opinin)one can visualize the size of a whale. |
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---norwaynut on 6/21/05 |
Jonah was called to a certain place and he chose to go the other way. The sign of Jonah is given to the wicked and adulterous. Turn around. Jonah was called to Ninevah. Read Matt. 12:41-45. The great fish was the earth. Jonah signifies the resurrection. |
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---gregg8944 on 6/21/05 |
The exact identity of whatever swallowed Jonah is beside the point. According to Jesus, the point of Jonah is it's a figure of His own death and resurrection. (And after all, isn't the explanation that Jesus gives to any OT scripture the only real one?) |
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---Jack on 6/21/05 |
Vivi I think that you perhaps intended to post this as a new question but the answer is that after Abraham had shown how he was prepared to withhold nothing from God, God then told Abraham how he would become the father of a great nation. Through his descendents the nation of Israel would be born - God's chosen people. God honours those who honour Him. |
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---Xanthi on 6/21/05 |
Genesis 22 : 17
Can anyone explain to me that verse ? |
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---vivi on 6/20/05 |
Maybe it was LOST IN TRANSLATION or maybe the word "whale" wasn't a hebrew word, it may have been big fish meaning a whale and the translators then took this to mean whale because in the year and culture of translation the word "whale" was understood to mean big fish. The point is it's not significant to you or me whether it was a fish or a whale, but the message of running from God is going to get you swallowed up regardless of by what.....don't get caught up in the technicalities |
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---lisa on 6/20/05 |
You're absolutely right, Linda..in Matt.12:40, Jesus Himself said that Jonah was 3 days in the belly of a WHALE, not a big fish- comparing that to His 3 days in the ground. That's probably why people started calling it a whale. |
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---Ann5758 on 6/20/05 |
As Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." This is why the book of Jonah is one of the first books attacked in the Bible when people start deliberating whether it's all the Word of God. If they can do away with Jonah they can do away with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. |
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---Danny on 6/20/05 |
In the New Testament gospel of Matthew, it is called a whale. What matters is not what people call it (whether whale or big fish) but instead what did Father God intend for us to understand by speaking of it at all. |
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---Linda_Smith on 6/20/05 |
Much of what is written in the Old Testament would not have been understood by the writers. They were writing what God told them to write, whether they understood it or not. If God said FISH He did not mean WHALE. I'm certain of that. I'm also certain that the fish would have been prepared especially for this purpose. This was no chance happening. |
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---Xanthi on 6/20/05 |
you are absolutely correct. Everyone assumes it was a whale. The bible says a big fish. I think God made a big fish just for Jonah. |
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---shira_5965 on 6/20/05 |
Hi Rebecca,There are a number of reasons:1. Some well meaning Sunday school teacher thought it woudl be easier to explain that it was a whale that swallowed Jonah whole, thinking that it was impossible for a fish to do so.Original Hebrew text maybe had no word to describe a whale other than a big fish, no understanding at that time that a fish could actually be a mammal.Whatever the reason, it is immaterial to your salvation, whether or not it was a whale or a fish. |
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---Darryn on 6/20/05 |
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