Thoughts please.....Did Jonah die and was resurrected or was he alive in the fish for 3 days?

[Kaatje]

Jonah 3:4 "Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, 'Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!'"

Kaatje, just a thought about Jonah's proclamation and false prophets. If you read it in context, Johan expresses a lot of understand of God's loving and saving character in his little book. We even get in on how he complains to God that he was certain God would not destroy evil Ninevah if they repented. Though he does not explicitly advise that an option to repent is available, it's clearly implied.

It would be like me with a 3-yo grandchild near a busy street. As she starts to wander towards the street I yell, "You are going into the street and grandma will spank you!" She stops and runs back for me and never did go into the street or get spanked.

Agreed. This is what makes the lesson that Jonah had to learn so dear to me.
I'm a lot like Jonah, contrary, stubborn and often thinking I know better.
And even so, God wants to use him.
Even though Jonah corrupts God's message.

Maybe @Tall Timbers is right, and Jonah is rather a faulty prophet than a false one.
Jesus Himself calls Jonah a prophet, and gives the Jews no other sign than the sign of Jonah.
Imagine, if Jonah had listened to God and went to Nineveh without delay.
Than the 3 days in the fish would have not occured.

So even when going in the opposite direction, it ultimately was the right direction.
How amazing is that?

 

[Andy C]

What do you read that I missed? Did God tell him something besides this: Jonah 1:1-2 "Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

I cant find anything in the bible that would cause him to be considered a false prophet.

Its a good thing that as I was researching it, found my answer, came back to this thread and you posted my same concerns!

 

[Kaatje]

I cant find anything in the bible that would cause him to be considered a false prophet.

Its a good thing that as I was researching it, found my answer, came back to this thread and you posted my same concerns!

I based my assumption on Deut. 18:22:

When a prophet‭ speaketh‭‭ in the name‭ of the LORD‭, if the thing‭ follow not, nor come to pass‭‭, that ‭is‭ the thing‭ which the LORD‭ hath not spoken‭‭, ‭but‭ the prophet‭ hath spoken‭‭ it presumptuously‭: thou shalt not be afraid‭‭ of him.

Maybe it is semantics, but the message Jonah gave was: "God WILL turn the city over in 40 days".
That didn't happen, because it was not the complete message.
Still I can agree with you all when you say het was a true (but faulty or fallible) prophet,
because he was really send by God with a message, and the citizens of Nineveh took it to heart.

 

[RonJohnSilver]

Jonah's story also illustrates the truth of the NT passage of Romans 8:28. "We know that all things work for good for those who love God,* who are called according to his purpose." It also shows that God is sovereign, nothing, not men, not circumstances, not even disobedience by his children will prevent His plans.

 

[Tall Timbers]

What do you read that I missed? Did God tell him something besides this: Jonah 1:1-2 "Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

Nothing, I was responding on the fly based on a previous post which indicated that the entire message hadn't been shared. I reckon I responded based on faulty info.

 

[Tall Timbers]

Maybe @Tall Timbers is right, and Jonah is rather a faulty prophet than a false one.

Not false, and apparently not faulty, either, according to what's written. His weakness was in his humanity which included traits apparently shared with those who wear wooden shoes .

 

[RonJohnSilver]

As an fyi, the consensus among scholars is that Jonah was alive in the fish. One of the notable dissenters is
J. Vernon McGee. All state that either interpretation is possible.

 

[RonJohnSilver]

One more thought about Jonah's being a false prophet. I just noticed this from Enduring Word ...

Did God’s relenting make Jonah a false prophet, when he prophesied Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown? Not at all, for two good reasons.

i. First, God acted in total consistency with His word: The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it (Jeremiah 18:7-8). Jonah’s preaching was like all warnings of judgment: it was an invitation to repent and avert the promised judgment. His words had an implied “if you do not repent” in front of them. Remember that we are not told the sum total of Jonah’s preaching; though we should assume that the statement in Jonah 3:4 is the central theme of what Jonah said, we should not assume it was all that he said.

ii. Second, God did judge Nineveh (as recorded in the book of Nahum). Nevertheless, in light of their repentance He delayed the promised judgment for another 150 years.

 

[Andy C]

Jesus Himself calls Jonah a prophet, and gives the Jews no other sign than the sign of Jonah.

Yes, if there is any doubt in the wording in the book of Jonah, Jesus own Words makes it clear, Jonas was a prophet.

Matthew 12
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

 

[lismore]

If Jonah was dead inside the fish it would mean he prayed to God to change something after he was dead. That might be approaching something like Roman Catholic teaching? I'm not sure.

Perhaps relevant- in Luke 16 the parable of the rich man and Lazarus permission is refused for someone to go back from the dead and Evangelize.

Granted three days inside a fish would be extremely uncomfortable and Jonah would be in a perilous state. Alive but in a sorry state. As good as dead without God's intervention. Just my thoughts. God Bless You All

 

[pixelpusher]

If the Lord Who created fish and man prepared the fish for its mission, it is not hard for Him to keep Jonah alive during the voyage any more than it is for Him to keep three Hebrew youths alive through a fiery furnace or stop the sun from going down for Joshua.

 

[3Nails4Given]

Not a false prophet, but a prophet who did not transmit God's entire message. A faulty prophet...

A not for profit prophet?