Have you ever heard of a fish called an Ichthyosaur (ik-thee-o-sar)? It shared the seas of the world with other large marine creatures while dinosaurs ruled on land.
This giant water creature is described as having a body eight feet thick, with several flippers. Its eye sockets were a foot across and its tail was twenty-five feet long with six-foot triangular fins at the end. Vertebrae were up to twelve inches in diameter and its head was ten feet long with cone-shaped teeth and a long, pointed snout.
Based on these measurements, scientists estimated the Ichthyosaur weighed forty tons and was sixty feet long. It could breathe air and, like modern whales, lacked gills.
Fossils of this great fish can be found in Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nye County, Nevada, USA.
Children’s books tell the story of Jonah and the Whale. Actually, Bible translations seem to call it “a great fish.” Even my New World Dictionary definition of "whale" begins with "a large fish.”
Whales have enormous air storage in their nasal cavity, as well as four to six compartments in their stomach. Any one of them could house a group of men.
Some people think the story of Jonah is simply a whale of a tale, but Jonah was a real person.
As a disobedient prophet, he tried to ship out and avoid God’s assignment. When a great storm arose, Jonah knew he was part of the problem, so he told the crew to cast him overboard. God mercifully provided a great fish to swallow him, instead of letting him drown.
Chapter two shares Jonah’s prayer. He said, “In my distress, I called to the Lord, and He answered me. . . "
Just as a great fish is not imaginary, neither is a God who hears and answers prayer. Call upon Him in your day of trouble. He always hears the cry of a sincere heart.
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