Word of Truth Fellowship

Hello, friends in faith! Welcome back to our ongoing series on the Book of Jonah. I’m thrilled to dive into this profound story once again. If you’re new here, be sure to look around our website for more resources, teachings, and ways to connect. You can also reach me anytime at 1-575-912-3071—I’m not just an 8-to-5 kind of guy; call whenever the Spirit moves you. Don’t forget to share this on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, or wherever you fellowship online. Amen!

Just a quick reminder: Today marks the last Shabbat of the ninth month. Join us next Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 5:00 PM for our tenth-month celebration. It’ll be a short teaching, some praise, and a time to blow the trumpet and make a joyful noise, just as Numbers chapter 10 instructs. This isn’t a Christmas service—far from it! It’s our monthly gathering to honor the beginnings of the months. And as always, stick around after the teaching for questions, comments, prayer requests, testimonies, and an opportunity to support the ministry through donations, tithes, and offerings.

Now, let’s jump into the heart of today’s teaching: Jonah chapter 2 (starting from what many call chapter 1 verse 17). We’ll be reading from the Lexham English Bible, which I love for its clarity and for using the name Yehovah instead of just “the Lord.”

The Mystery of Chapter Divisions: Why Start Chapter 2 at Verse 17?

As I mentioned last week, ancient translations like the Aramaic Targums, Syriac, Latin Vulgate, Hebrew Tanakh, and Septuagint all treat Jonah 1:17 as the start of chapter 2. Even the Jewish Publication Society Bible and early commentators like Josephus see it that way. These divisions aren’t modern inventions—chapters and verses came later—but the original texts have clear markers separating sections.

Yet, versions like the King James, English Standard, and New King James keep it in chapter 1. Why? I’ve searched high and low and still haven’t found a solid reason. Many scholars describe verses 17 and chapter 2:10 as “bookends” framing Jonah’s prayer. So, for this study, we’ll start chapter 2 here: “And Yehovah provided a large fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

The Great Fish: Not a Whale, But a Divine Appointment

This verse is famous—Jonah swallowed by a “whale.” But the Hebrew word dag just means “fish,” a generic large one (gadol dag). Josephus was the first to call it a whale, but the Bible doesn’t specify. People know Jonah mostly for this, yet the fish is as insignificant as the worm or plant later in the book. It’s not the point!

Everything in Jonah is “great” or exaggerated: the great city of Nineveh, the great storm, the great seas. This fish is just another tool Yehovah appoints, like the donkey that obeyed in Balaam’s story or the ravens that fed Elijah. Nature obeys instantly, while humans like Jonah rebel. Jonah gets his commission and runs to Tarshish; the captain tells him to pray, but he doesn’t. So much disobedience from a man of God!

Yet, the fish obeys: It swallows (bala) Jonah for three days and three nights. This word bala appears in Jeremiah 51, where Babylon “swallows” Israel like a monster. Yehovah promises to make Babylon spit it out, drying up its “sea” (a symbol of chaos and death).

Allegory or History? Parallels with Sea Monsters and Chaos

Some, like early church father Origen, see Jonah as pure allegory. I believe it’s historical fact, but ancient writers blended the two—think Greek mythology taught as history. In Scripture, sea monsters like Leviathan and Rahab symbolize chaos nations like Egypt and Babylon. Yehovah crushes them, scattering them for birds (echoed in Revelation).

The sea itself represents death: Unconquerable, undrinkable, a place of no survival. Babylon, landlocked, is “covered” by tumultuous waves in Jeremiah—figurative judgment. Similarly, Jonah’s fish bookends his prayer, mirroring Babylon swallowing and spewing out Israel.

Jeremiah likely knew Jonah (or vice versa since the book doesn’t give us an accurate way to date it)—the parallels are too strong.

The Sign of Jonah: Three Days and Three Nights in the New Testament

This is the only part of Jonah explicitly mentioned in the Gospels. In Matthew 12:38-41, Pharisees demand a sign (miracle). Yeshua replies: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish’s belly, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.

Yeshua affirms this as a real miracle, like Daniel in the lions’ den or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace. The miracle isn’t the fish—it’s survival! The fish is generic, minimal detail. The point: Resurrection.

Parallels abound: Jonah preaches repentance to Nineveh (Gentiles); Yeshua starts with “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand.” Jonah disobeys; Yeshua obeys perfectly. Nineveh repents despite Jonah’s reluctance; Judah rejects Yeshua despite having Scriptures and synagogues, even though “Something greater than Jonah is here.”

In Matthew 16:4 (and Mark 8), Yeshua repeats it while boarding a boat—ironic, given Jonah’s sea flight.

Ancient Near East belief: Three days and three nights is the journey to Sheol (hell, the grave—a place of silence, no praise). Hosea 6:2: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up.” Paul echoes this in 1 Corinthians 15. Even pseudepigrapha like the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and 1 Samuel 30 show three days as the brink of death.

John 11 emphasizes Lazarus dead four days—beyond resurrection hope. Jonah doesn’t die; he’s at death’s door in “the belly of Sheol” (Jonah 2:2).

Salvation in the Depths: God Meets Us in Our Messes

Notice: The fish isn’t a curse—it’s salvation! Jonah is hurled headfirst into the chaotic sea, running from Yehovah. Why a fish, not a bird? Because Jonah kept “going down”—to the boat’s belly, to the depths. Yehovah meets him there, in his mess, providing rescue.

This is our story: God appoints salvation amid disobedience, just as Paul says in Romans, He meets us in our sins.

We’ll pick up with Jonah’s prayer next time. For now, take your time with Scripture—pay attention to details. The fish is a footnote; the message is God’s protection for even disobedient children.

Closing Prayer and Invitation

Father, we thank and honor You for Your Word. Thank You for letting us be part of Your kingdom and understand Your grand plan. We have the Law, Prophets, New Testament, even Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha—help us trust Your Word over signs and miracles. Guide us to submit, not run like Jonah. Protect Your people this week; send angels around them amid the world’s trials. Amen.

Many Blessings,

Javier Holguin