The Story of Jonah

"Tell us," they said, "what is your business? Where do you come from? What is your country, and to what people do you belong?" "I am a Hebrew," Jonah answered them; "I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him, "How could you do such a thing!"--They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had told them.-- "What shall we do with you," they asked, "that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea was growing more and more turbulent. Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you; since I know it is because of me that this violent storm has come upon you."

If you notice most of stories in the Old Testament have the theme of One God, All Powerful and the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

It appeareed as though the Hebrews then were in the position to prove to the whole world that their God is the One true God as opposed to pagan Gods.

Was Jonah really swallowed by a whale? It doesn't matter really, just in the same manner that creation does not necessarily have to be as narrated in the Bible creation story.

The main point here is that the Hebrew God is the one true God, creator of heaven and earth, almighty and all knowing. Bible is not a book of history but a book that draws people to faith.