And in the cramped, slimy darkness of the fish’s stomach, gulping in fetid air stinking of rotting fish, Jonah realised that against all odds he was safe! It’s obvious that such a bizarre salvation can only be due to God’s amazing grace. There are dubious Victorian reports of a young whaler called James Bartley, who in 1891 fell into the mouth of a sperm whale. Eighteen hours later, with permanently mottled skin, he was apparently cut out of its belly on the deck of a ship called Star of the East.
