“Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17 NLT)

God called Jonah to deliver a warning of judgment to the city of Nineveh. This capital city of Assyria was hated by the Jews. And rightly so, as the Assyrians would later defeat the Northern Kingdom of Israel and carry its people off into captivity. Yet, God wanted them warned of His judgment. This is a unique story in the Old Testament of the Word being carried to a Gentile people by one of God’s prophets, albeit unwillingly. God had declared His purpose to Abraham that “all the families of the earth” would be blessed from his seed. Here, the book of Jonah hints at this future blessing. Even the Lord Jesus referred to this little book when He said that the only sign He would give was the “sign of Jonah,” referring to His death, burial, and resurrection after three days. If you have trouble believing that God could “arrange” for a fish to save a drowning man, you’ll probably have trouble with a crucified man being resurrected from the grave. Yet, those who do believe are rescued from God’s judgment.