Jonah and the Whale

Even people unfamiliar with the Bible have heard of Jonah, the prophet who was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell about it.

Fact or fiction? Well, it is scientific fact that people have been swallowed by whales and escaped to tell of it. Did it actually happen to Jonah? Each reader must judge for himself.

Jonah was a reluctant prophet. God sent him to the pagan city of Nineveh to preach repentance. Jonah ran away from the Lord by boarding a ship.

In a horrible storm, Jonah admitted that he was probably the cause of it, so at Jonah’s request they threw him overboard, and “the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah” (Jonah 1:17).

Jonah reached Nineveh, preached the message of repentance, and—much to his disgust—the pagans repented. The book of Jonah was a sign that the Israelites were beginning to see that God loved all people, not just Israel.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Healing Time

J. Stephen Lang

1868: On this date a political leader who grew up poor, had no formal education and was illiterate until his wife taught him to read and write, issued Proclamation 179 “granting full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States during the late Civil War.”

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

A Personal Promise

Charles Stanley

Jesus came to earth with the view of offering you salvation. He wanted you to have a restored relationship with the Father, a relationship that was so close, so intimate, that you would have your special place in the Father’s house (John 14:1–4).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Unexpected Savior

John MacArthur

Scripture records that when John the Baptist began his ministry, “The people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not” (Luke 3:15).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Reflections on the Incarnation and Freedom of God

Philip Yancey

Think of the condescension involved: the incarnation, which sliced history into two parts had more animal than human witnesses. Think, too, of the risk. In the incarnation, God spanned the vast chasm of fear that had distanced him from his human creation.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Blessing of the Presence of Jesus

Charles Spurgeon

He is as certainly with us now as He was with the disciples at the lake when they saw coals of fire, fish on the coals, and bread (John 21:9). Not physically, but still in real truth, Jesus is with us!