Fishermen are great storytellers. They love to tell you about the big one that got away.
Easily the biggest fish story in the Bible is about a runaway prophet named Jonah who got swallowed by a big fish, perhaps a whale, and lived to talk about it. But is it true?
No selfies exist of Jonah standing next to the whale or TikTok videos of Jonah giving a tour of the cavernous stomach. Can we believe Jonah’s big fantastic fish story? Many say it’s just a big, fictional fairy tale.
Here are 6 reasons why Jonah was a real person in history, not a make-believe character like Mickey Mouse or Harry Potter.
- Archaeology supports the historical fact of Jonah’s adventure. Ancient coins have been unearthed with an inscription of a man coming out of a fish’s mouth.
- The Bible places Jonah in historical context by naming real cities like Nineveh and Joppa. 2 Kings 14:25 also mentions Jonah historically as “the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher,” which was located three miles north of Nazareth. Jonah lived during the time of King Jeroboam II.
- Early Christians confirm the story as real and historical, with depictions of Jonah discovered in the catacombs of Rome.
- Scholars from the 1st century named Philo and Josephus wrote about Jonah as a real person who lived in a real place and time.
- Jesus testifies that it’s true, referring to Jonah’s experience as a sign of his own death and resurrection. “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). If you believe that Jesus is real, then you believe that Jonah was real.
- Miracles. Jesus also said “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27) and performed miracles himself. Since miracles are possible, then there is no reason to deny the real, historical story of Jonah. And by the way, you can count as many as 12 miracles in the book of Jonah from the storm to being swallowed by a fish to Jonah’s repentance and survival.
This is better than a fish story. It’s a God story and it’s true.
PRAYER: Thank you, God, for the truth of your wonderful Word in the Bible. Jesus, thank you for becoming a real person, like Jonah, and rising from the dead after three days. Today I appreciate that my salvation is as real as you, Lord. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Go ahead. Read the 4 short chapters of Jonah. Tally the miracles. Can you count at least 12?