It is amazing the number of people who still question whether or not Jonah was in the belly of the “great fish.” Those who doubt are like those Sadducees who questioned the resurrection. Jesus said of them, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Mt. 22:29).

The Bible plainly tells us “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” (Jonah 1:17). The Bible says that Jonah was there. Man says he wasn’t. Who are we to believe?

To deny Jonah’s being in the belly of the fish is to deny the resurrection of Christ. Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt. 12:40). Notice: “For as...”, “...so will.” The two stand or fall together. Just as sure as the first event happened, so would the other event take place. No three days and three nights for Jonah in the belly of the fish, no three days and three nights for Jesus in the heart of the earth.

Some defend Jonah by citing modern accounts where a man was swallowed by a fish and survived. But our faith rests on the power of God and the integrity of the Bible. Was Jesus really there? Then so was Jonah.