How did Jonah live without food and water in the fish, and why wasn't he digested?

When Jonah got swallowed by the fish, how did he live without food or water? And after three days, wouldn’t he have already been digested?

These are awesome questions!!! The truth is that this is one of the great mysteries of the Bible and that we may never know the answer until we get to Heaven. There are lots of theories from many respected Bible scholars (people who study the Bible and Bible history) on what happened to Jonah. But we really don’t know how Jonah lived without food or water or why he wasn’t digested.

One of the most interesting theories is that Jonah was actually dead or in the process of dying when he was in the fish’s belly and that he was resurrected by God after three days. The Bible scholars use several parts of the story to support this theory:

• In Jonah 2:2, it says that Jonah cried out from the depths of the grave, or Sheol. Sheol is a Hebrew word for the “place of the dead” and is sometimes referred to as Hades. Bible scholars believe Jonah had drowned and was in Sheol.

• Jonah 2:3-7 makes it sound like he was drowning, especially where it says that seaweed was wrapped around his head and he was sinking to the roots of the mountains.

• Finally in Matthew 12:40, Jesus compares His death and resurrection to that of Jonah when Jesus says, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Now, is that a possible explanation? Yes. Could it also be that God performed a miracle and supernaturally kept Jonah alive in the belly of the fish because God had a bigger plan for Jonah? Yes.

Can we say for sure which is explanation is correct? No, we cannot. BUT, we can say with certainty that the event did happen and that God had a purpose for telling us that story.

The more important aspects of this story are that: 1) You can’t run and hide from God; and 2) God can redeem and restore you even if you try and run and hide from Him. Isn’t it great to know that we have a God who loves us so much that He’s willing to forgive us and give us a second chance?