Jonah Chapter 1 (Part Four)

The god of Nineveh: Dagon

 

Dagon was the chief god  of the Philistines, the Syrians and the area of Mesopotamia, which included the city of Nineveh. Worship of the god dates back to 3000 B.C. According to ancient mythology, Dagon was the father of Baal. Dagon was the fish god. (Remember dag in Hebrew means fish.) Dagon was represented as half-man, half-fish. The half-man, half-fish representation of Dagon attested to the evolutionary belief that both man and fish had evolved together from the primal waters.

There is evidence that Dagon may have also been the provider of grain. Dagon was similar to many other idols. He personified natural forces which supposedly produced all things.

Dagon is a key figure in the Book of Jonah, although Dagon is not mentioned by name in the book. The Assyrians in Nineveh worshiped Dagon and his female counterpart, the fish goddess Nanshe. Jonah being swallowed by a fish and then being spewed out of the fish’s mouth would have been a very powerful testimony to the Ninevites. They would have seen Jonah as a prophet being sent from their god Dagon.

Jonah’s Skin
When Jonah was swallowed by the large fish, the acid in the fish’s stomach would have bleached Jonah’s skin white. The stomach acid would have taken all the pigment out of Jonah’s skin. Jonah would have looked very odd and would have stood out in a crowd. When Jonah told the people he was swallowed by a large fish, the people would have immediately become receptive to anything Jonah would have said. Jonah would have been elevated to prophet-god like status.

Is it possible to be swallowed by a large sea creature?
The answer to this question is yes. There are reports of people being swallowed whole by large whales. The people have survived the ordeal. Here is the experience of a man named James Bartley:

Bartley said that as he was cast into the water from the long boat he saw a tremendous mouth open over him and he screamed as he was engulfed by it. He then felt sharp stabbing pains as he was swept across the teeth and then slid feet first down a slimy tube that carried him to the whale's stomach. He could breath, but the hot, fetid odor soon rendered him unconscious and the last thing he remembers was kicking as hard as he could at the soft, yielding stomach. Finally, he lapsed into unconsciousness until he again came to his senses almost a month later. As a result of his fifteen hours inside the whale's stomach, Bartley lost all the hair on his body and was blind for the rest of his life. His skin was bleached to an unnatural whiteness that gave the appearance of being bloodless, although he was healthy.


Three Days and Three Nights
One of the most notable verses in the Book of Jonah is verse 17. Jonah was in the large fish for three days and three nights. This information is used by Jesus to describe his death. burial and resurrection.

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign; and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:38-41)


The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? 4 An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign; and so a [e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4)


Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it demands a sign, and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11:29-32)


Without going into great detail, Jesus was executed and laid to rest for three days and three nights. There is a tradition Jesus was executed on Friday, laid to rest before Friday at sunset and rose on Sunday. There are many issues with this such as Jesus had to be in the grave three days and three nights. A Friday death and Sunday resurrection means Jesus was in the grave Friday night (night one), Saturday (day one), Saturday night (night two).

It is most probably, Jesus was executed on Wednesday afternoon, laid to rest Wednesday before sunset and rose from the dead sometime after sunset on Saturday. This would mean Jesus was in the grave Wednesday night (night one), Thursday (day one), Thursday night (night two), Friday (day two), Friday night (night three), Saturday (day three), and resurrected sometime during the fourth night for we know Jesus had already vacated the tomb before sunrise on Sunday morning.

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and *saw the stone already removed from the tomb. 2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him.” 3 So Peter and the other disciple left, and they were going to the tomb. 4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; 5 and he stooped to look in, and *saw the linen wrappings lying there; however he did not go in. 6 So Simon Peter also *came, following him, and he entered the tomb; and he *looked at the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings but folded up in a place by itself. 8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb also entered then, and he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. 10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes. (John 20:1-10)