Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. No miracle has been more frequently quoted, or more severely scrutinised. I. ESTABLISH SUCH PRINCIPLES AS WILL WARRANT THE FACT. 1. There are some things of which even the Divine power is incapable. Things inconsistent or contradictory cannot be asserted of God. 2. There are other instances in which the Divine power may be easily supposed to interfere for the suspension or even contradiction of those laws which God hath given to a material world. 3. Besides these parts of creation with which we are in some measure acquainted, there are, doubtless, many others of which we remain totally ignorant. The infinitude of the Divine power is the basis on which this observation is built. II. CONSIDER THE PARTICULAR DIFFICULTIES WITH WHICH IT HAS BEEN THOUGHT THIS MIRACLE WAS ATTENDED. 1. The act of deglutition. 2. The difficulty of respiration in the body of a fish. 3. The impossibility of resisting for so long the digestive powers of so huge an animal. III. THERE WERE DESIGNS TO SERVE WHICH WERE WORTHY OF SUCH INTERPOSITION. 1. It was of important advantage to the prophet. 2. It was of vast importance to the mariners. 3. It was of vast advantage, we may believe, to the people of Nineveh. 4. It was of the utmost importance if you consider it in its relations to the promised Messiah. 5. The sign of Jonas is intended for standing use to the Church, to the end of the world. (James Simpson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. |
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