A Shark Tale
February 4, 2007
By: Sellers S. Crain, Jr.
Did you ever hear the story about the fish that went home and bragged to his friends about the man that got away? It didn't happen, of course, but it could have. A prophet of God named Jonah was commanded by God to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and "cry out against it" (Jonah 1:2). Instead of obeying God, Jonah went to Joppa and boarded a ship bound for Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). He thought he could flee from the presence of the Lord, but God found Jonah hiding in the bowels of the ship sleeping.
God sent a great storm so that the ship was about to break apart. The courageous mariners fought bravely to prevent this from happening. They cast everything overboard including their cargo, but the storm continued it's ferocity. Finally, they cast lots to see if they could find out which of them had angered a god and was responsible for their predicament. Jonah was asleep, but they awoke him and insisted that he participate in the drawing. When the lot fell on Jonah, he told them who he was and they realized that he had disobeyed God. He urged them to throw him overboard (Jonah 1:9-12). The sailors continued to fight the sea in order not to have to do that, but they finally realized the futility of their efforts and reluctantly cast Jonah into the raging sea. It immediately became calm (Jonah 1:15).
The Book of Jonah says that God "prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah" (Jonah 1:17 NKJV). In the New Testament Jesus used this incident as an illustration to some Jewish leaders when they asked Him for a sign (Matthew 12:40). This has caused skeptics to doubt the story of Jonah because even though a whale is the largest creature on earth today, it's stomach is too small for it to swallow a man whole. The text of Jonah plainly says that God "prepared a great fish". It could have been one that was already in existence, or He could have created one for that purpose.
Skeptics have even questioned whether any fish could actually swallow a man whole. An incident last week involving an Australian diver is proof positive that at least a Great White Shark can swallow a full grown man. Eric Nerhus, was diving off the coast of southeastern Australia when he suddenly felt a thud and, in his own words, found himself "in a dark cave." He told fellow divers that he never saw the shark coming. The shark had swallowed him head first, and half of Nerhus' body was in its mouth and it was trying to chew on him. Two things saved Nerhus' life. One, he had on his air tanks. Had it not been for that, the 10 foot shark could have swallowed him completely. The other thing was that the diver had a lead lined vest that prevented the shark from tearing him apart. Nerhus was able to get one hand outside of the shark's mouth, and he gouged the shark's eye causing it to open its mouth enough to allow him to swim free. Amazingly, Nerhus survived without any serious injuries.
This was not the first time a Great White has swallowed a man whole. Harry Rimmer recorded an incident of one of them being cut open and the body of a man was found intact inside. In another incident, a Swedish sailor was found alive inside one of them. However, we don't believe this story of Jonah because of these incidences. We believe it because God's Word and Jesus Himself said it was so.
Brotherly,
Sellers
