Can some explain the book of Jonah to me please?

[Aryeh Jay]

Does anyone wonder how a fish (ow whale or whatever) could get from the middle of the Mediterranean Sea all the way around Africa and swim up the Tigris River (no Suez canal then) to get to Nineveh in only 3 days time?

A flying fish?

 

[Dave-W]

A flying fish?

LOL!!!!

That adds a new wrinkle to the story, doesn't it?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Better let these guys know that they are misleading people.

I have no responsibility to those ones, nor to those who promote a false gospel.

If you would like a reference to the truth, pm me and I'll tell you how to find it on the internet if it is still available.

 

[vinsight4u]

Does anyone wonder how a fish (ow whale or whatever) could get from the middle of the Mediterranean Sea all the way around Africa and swim up the Tigris River (no Suez canal then) to get to Nineveh in only 3 days time?

We don't know how much time passed after God let him out of the fish until He spoke to Jonah to go to Nineveh.
That was a city that takes three days to cross.

 

[Dave-W]

We don't know how much time passed after God let him out of the fish until He spoke to Jonah to go to Nineveh.

No - but we are told that from the time Big J got swallowed, it was 3 days later that he was spit out at Nineveh. That means the fish (or whatever) had to swim west from the eastern or mid Mediterranean, go thru the Gibraltar straits, go south to Cape Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, then head north east to the gulf of Arabia, to the Tigris river and up to Nineveh.

Doing a calc ** on just what it took from Gibraltar to the mouth of the Tigris by sea (around by Cape Town) was just over 10,500 nautical miles. Since we do not know where in the Med the fish picked up Jonah, that distance along with swimming upstream to Nineveh have to be added to that total. Minus that, to cover the distance in 3 days means averaging almost 146 knots. For 3 days. No breaks.

** SeaRoutes - distance calculator, weather routing & voyage planning

 

[Aryeh Jay]

No - but we are told that from the time Big J got swallowed, it was 3 days later that he was spit out at Nineveh. That means the fish (or whatever) had to swim west from the eastern or mid Mediterranean, go thru the Gibraltar straits, go south to Cape Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, then head north east to the gulf of Arabia, to the Tigris river and up to Nineveh.

Doing a calc ** on just what it took from Gibraltar to the mouth of the Tigris by sea (around by Cape Town) was just over 10,500 nautical miles. Since we do not know where in the Med the fish picked up Jonah, that distance along with swimming upstream to Nineveh have to be added to that total. Minus that, to cover the distance in 3 days means averaging almost 146 knots. For 3 days. No breaks.

** SeaRoutes - distance calculator, weather routing & voyage planning

Suez Canal would have saved some time…

 

[Dave-W]

Suez Canal would have saved some time…

Indeed. But old Pharaoh probably would have charged an arm and a leg to use it; and poor old Jonah would have been in a wheel chair as he toured Nineveh shouting destruction, and hoping he could wheel himself out of harm's way in time ......

 

[RDKirk]

No - but we are told that from the time Big J got swallowed, it was 3 days later that he was spit out at Nineveh. That means the fish (or whatever) had to swim west from the eastern or mid Mediterranean, go thru the Gibraltar straits, go south to Cape Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, then head north east to the gulf of Arabia, to the Tigris river and up to Nineveh.

Doing a calc ** on just what it took from Gibraltar to the mouth of the Tigris by sea (around by Cape Town) was just over 10,500 nautical miles. Since we do not know where in the Med the fish picked up Jonah, that distance along with swimming upstream to Nineveh have to be added to that total. Minus that, to cover the distance in 3 days means averaging almost 146 knots. For 3 days. No breaks.

** SeaRoutes - distance calculator, weather routing & voyage planning

So what is the point you're attempting to prove?

 

[Dave-W]

So what is the point you're attempting to prove?

Not a point to be proved but to be pondered.

How did a fish go 10,000; 11,000; maybe 12,000 miles in 3 days?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Not a point to be proved but to be pondered.

How did a fish go 10,000; 11,000; maybe 12,000 miles in 3 days?

It could be two things.

#1 God can do anything.

#2 It is a story to deliver a message.

 

[Adstar]

I get the part of Jonah running from his duty to God, but why did Jonah get mad and asked for death?

What was God's point/message regarding the Plant and the comparison to Nineveh?

What is the overall message of the story?

Jonah was probably more angry with the thought of being mocked and hated because the people would think that he was a false prophet ( because the destruction he said would come did not come ) rather then caring more for the people of Nineveth.. God used the plant to convict Jonah because Jonah felt more sorrow for the plant that withered and died in the heat then he had compassion for the people of Nineveh

 

[Adstar]

Does anyone wonder how a fish (ow whale or whatever) could get from the middle of the Mediterranean Sea all the way around Africa and swim up the Tigris River (no Suez canal then) to get to Nineveh in only 3 days time?

Does the Bible say how long it was between Jonah being ejected from the whale or great fish to the time he entered into Nineveh ??? Why then assume that the great fish travelled anywhere ???

 

[Adstar]

I was just reading the chapter in Jonah of the account.. The Bible simply says that the great fish vomited out Jonah onto dry land... It does not even say where the great fish did this.. So again why assume it traveled 10 miles let alone 10,000 miles ???

 

[vinsight4u]

No - but we are told that from the time Big J got swallowed, it was 3 days later that he was spit out at Nineveh. That means the fish (or whatever) had to swim west from the eastern or mid Mediterranean, go thru the Gibraltar straits, go south to Cape Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, then head north east to the gulf of Arabia, to the Tigris river and up to Nineveh.

Doing a calc ** on just what it took from Gibraltar to the mouth of the Tigris by sea (around by Cape Town) was just over 10,500 nautical miles. Since we do not know where in the Med the fish picked up Jonah, that distance along with swimming upstream to Nineveh have to be added to that total. Minus that, to cover the distance in 3 days means averaging almost 146 knots. For 3 days. No breaks.

** SeaRoutes - distance calculator, weather routing & voyage planning

Jonah was out of the fish as to -dry land. We know how long his body was in the fish, but not how far away he was from Nineveh. Nineveh takes three days to cross that one city. Jonah began to warn the people the very first day that he came into that city. He gave a 40-day warning on the first day he was in Nineveh, but he still had two more days of time to cover the whole city.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

God made a little plant grow into a shade tree in a day and a worm ate it the next. Why worry about how far he walked? It seems people are being just like Jonah and getting upset about the writers missing information and missing the message that God was trying to convey to the reader.

 

[nosolostsoul]

Thank you guys. Your replied were very helpful and informative. Think I got the messages now.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Does the Bible say how long it was between Jonah being ejected from the whale or great fish to the time he entered into Nineveh ??? Why then assume that the great fish travelled anywhere ???

One old reference stated that Jonah was 'ejected' onto the beach in view of people who lived in Nineveh.
His skin was bleached white from the acids in the fishes stomach,
and the Ninevites "worshiped" fish, so seeing a fish 'eject' a man who then lived and walked and talked with them, to them it was perhaps "a god" among them,

why else would such a large ungodly city pay any attention to a no-body walking around
talking about a GOD that they knew nothing about previously (probably),
and why would they care if such a GOD they never heard about sent a man to tell them their city was going to be destroyed ?

 

[Serving Zion]

I have no "case" to present.

Hello brother Jeff. Well, after sleeping on this, it still is apparent that you do need to present your case, because you have chosen to take issue with words I have spoken. This is why you must present your case:

I tell you that on the Day of Judgment, men will give account for every careless word they speak.
Matthew 12:36

solemnly charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which is useless—to the ruin of those who are listening.
2 Timothy 2:14

if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not destroyed by one another.
Galatians 5:15

Yeshua, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and a house against a house falls.
Luke 11:17.

1. In post #5, while explaining to the one who was enquiring, I said that God was threatening to destroy Ninevah, but because they repented, that pleased Him.
2. (The story says that God relented).
3. In post #8 you asked me to show where scripture states that God was pleased by Ninevah's repentance.
4. I showed you Ezekiel 33:11 that states God's pleasure is not in the death of the wicked, but in their turning from wickedness.
5. You then disregarded this statement of the nature of God in order to further your argument that Jonah 3:10 states only that God relented, but does not state that He was pleased by Ninevah's repentance.
6. You have not explained why you insisted to say that God's relenting shows that He was not necessarily pleased that they repented, even though Ezekiel 33:11 states that God is pleased when the wicked repent.

Because you have taken this action to speak against me, and I have not recognised the error you have accused me of, the responsibility is in fact yours to explain why you chose to take issue with my words.

The seriousness of this dispute is shown in the following consequences:

• People of other faiths are observing that there is disunity in The Body of Christ, that undermines our ability to present a unified-front, providing evidence for those who are sceptical of the claim that we are proponents of truth.
• In post #36, the original poster stated that he has found the understanding he was seeking, even though our dispute is unresolved. Therefore our dispute is officially unnecessary. According to Matthew 12:36, you are required to answer for speaking those idle, lazy, thoughtless, unprofitable, injurious words (From the Strong's Word Concordance #692: "argos" in the original Greek).
• In post #12, you have used triple question marks, which is an expression of heightened emotion, and in this context, appears to portray anger or impatience. In any case it is an expression of displeasure (Ephesians 4:31). Galatians 5:15 lists "outbursts of anger" along with "hatred", "jealously", "rivalry", "quarrels", "conflicts", "factions" contrasted as indicators of opposite motive to "peace", "patience", "kindness", "gentleness" and "self-control". I wonder if you might attempt to argue that post #12 is demonstrating the fruits of the spirit rather than fruits of the flesh, as it most clearly appears.

I noticed that your signature states you are looking to find someone who is honest, thereby holding honesty in high esteem. I will caution you to be diligent as you consider the appropriate response to give now, because of what is written in Matthew 24:48-51:

if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking a long time,’ and he begins to beat his fellow servants, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.
Matthew 24:48-50

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Adstar]

One old reference stated that Jonah was 'ejected' onto the beach in view of people who lived in Nineveh.
His skin was bleached white from the acids in the fishes stomach,
and the Ninevites "worshiped" fish, so seeing a fish 'eject' a man who then lived and walked and talked with them, to them it was perhaps "a god" among them,

why else would such a large ungodly city pay any attention to a no-body walking around
talking about a GOD that they knew nothing about previously (probably),
and why would they care if such a GOD they never heard about sent a man to tell them their city was going to be destroyed ?

I do not trust in some tradition.. about Nineveh being close enough to the coast for the people to see Jonah being thrown up on the beach.. I guess that was made up by someone who was ignorant of just how far Nineveh is from the sea coast....

God can bring conviction upon people.. even the worst of people.. So the power of God caused the people of Nineveh to be convicted by the words of Jonah.. I believe God was using Jonah as an example to give a moral message about loving sinners / loving ones enemies.. Jonah should have loved the people of Nineveh and hoped for their repentance and salvation.. But it is clear Jonah did not care at all for the people of Nineveh and God brough conviction upon Jonah in the end and through that sent a message to us..