Big Fish

Did you ever wonder if it is actually possible to be swallowed up by a large fish and survive just as Jonah had done? In the last few weeks the mens class at my church has been studying the Book of Jonah, and one of the men brought up some actual evidence of strange occurrences similar to that of Jonah. Naturally this peaked my interest and I did some research and found this:

The large fish that most likely swallowed Jonah was a sperm whale which can reach up to 80 feet in length. Some of these whales have been captured and skeletons of entire sharks have been found inside of them. These monster size fish have 3 stomach chambers. One is called the fore stomach; they use this stomach to store food for later.This is most likely where Jonah was inside the fish.

In 1891, the crew of a ship off the Falkland Islands spotted a sperm whale. They sent out two rowboats of sailors to capture the beast. Amidst their struggle after harpooning the whale, one of the men fell overboard and the crew thought he had drowned. Six hours after capturing the fish the sailors started to remove the blubber from the beast. This lasted till well after midnight so the crew decided to get some sleep and resume their task in the morning.

Then low and behold, that next morning they discovered some sounds coming from the whale's stomach, and there they found the missing sailor James Bartley.

The sailor later recalled being hit by the whale's tale and had been encompassed by great darkness, and he felt he was slipping along a smooth passage that seemed to move and carry him forward. His hands would come in contact with a slimy substance, which seemed to shrink from his touch. He said he could easily breathe, but the heat was terrible. His face, neck, and hands had been bleached white, but he survived.

So the moral to this story and that of Jonah would be: if you find yourself near a large body of water and God is asking you to do something,it's best not to think twice about it. Just do it!