The Fish that Swallowed Jonah

They alleged that “Jonah did not live inside a fish’s stomach for three days like the Bible says”— another blatant lie from these ‘imaginary people! The Bible never said that Jonah lived in the fish’s stomach for three days. What was said is recorded on 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.”

What the verse says is that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. What kind of a fish swallowed Jonah? It is a non-carnivorous fish. So, it does not have digestive enzymes, like a carnivorous fish, that can hastily kill Jonah. How do we know that it is a non-carnivorous fish? Jonah 2:1-5 has this to say:

“Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.”

The fish which swallowed Jonah is not carnivorous because it feeds on weeds! The Lord Jesus Christ, in the book of Matthew, gives us an idea of what was the condition of Jonah inside the belly of the ‘great fish’.

(Matthew 12:40) “for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

When the Lord Jesus Christ was in the ‘heart of the earth’, His body was dead or unconscious. The probability of Jonah being also in the same situation can be gleaned by the use of the phrase “for as Jonah… so will the Son of Man be.” This is evidenced by what Jonah said on:

(Jonah 2:6) “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

(Jonah 2:1-2) “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, Saying, “I called to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and thou didst hear my voice.” (RSV)

Of course, it is not impossible for God to bring Jonah back to life if he died for three days and three nights, but nowhere in the Bible does it say that he lived in the ‘fish stomach’ for three days and three nights. I hope that you can see the ignorance of this imaginary people, with imaginary intelligence, and imaginary scientific mind! What they charge the Bible as ‘scientific nonsense’ is exactly scientific. Scientifically, there are fish large enough to allow a man to stay in its belly. Scientifically, there are non-carnivorous fish.

Uric Acid: Toxic Component of Meat to Humans

About 5% of the flesh volume of all animals consists of waste material called uric acid that is normally eliminated by the kidneys. Uric acid is a poison to humans because it is toxic and non-metabolizable. Nearly 100% of Americans suffer some form of osteoporosis which is due in large part, to the acidic end-products of meat (and grain) eating. All carnivorous animals however, secrete the enzyme uricase that breaks down uric acid so it can be readily eliminated. Humans do not generate this enzyme. Instead, we ABSORB uric acid when meat is eaten. As a result, calcium-urate crystals form and concentrate in joints, feet, and in the lower back. These deposits lead to arthritis, gout, rheumatism, bursitis, and lower back pain. Humans are physiologically unsuited to utilizing meat as food. Natural carnivores swallow hunks of carrion almost unchewed, and the flesh is digested in the stomach with ease and facility. If humans were to do the same, we would digest very little of it before putrefaction set in and illness ensued. For humans, meat is a pathogenic and nutritionally deficient food.

Saliva pH Varies Widely Among Species

The saliva pH of various species is another determinant of their natural diet. In carnivores, their saliva glands are small and secrete an acid saliva having little or no effect on starch, which makes sense since flesh is virtually starch-free. Omnivores (like pigs) have tremendous salivary glands that secrete copious quantities of starch-splitting enzymes. Humans only have one starch-splitting enzyme, versus a multitude of them in omnivores and other natural starch-eating animals. Our ptyalin is very limited. This rules us out as being true granivores (starch-eaters) which includes grains and cereals. Frugivores have salivary glands that secrete alkaline saliva, containing only moderate amounts of ptyalin, which initiates starch digestion. This tells us that humans and other frugivores can easily digest the small amount of starch contained in fresh fruits, nuts, and leafy greens, and that humans are not intended to subsist on a diet of highly starchy grain foods as many currently do. (Diabetes mellitus is largely the result of consuming large amounts of refined sugars and starches. Even eating predominantly of whole grains and natural legumes as dietary staples can be injurious because of the need for excessive starch digestion). (http://www.iol.ie/~creature/BiologicalAdaptations.htm)

Scientifically, carnivorous fish has digestive enzymes in its stomach that works in the digestion of protein. Jonah is a man made up of protein. Scientifically, the fish that swallowed him is not a carnivorous fish. It has weeds in its belly. Its digestive enzymes are different from those of carnivorous fish. So, what happened to Jonah is scientifically possible. Of course, it miraculously happened also!

(Luke 18:27) “And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”