The Foreshadowing of God’s Promises To Us That Were Fulfilled in Christ # 15

Jonah was also a ‘type’ of Christ and imprinted in Jonah God was foreshadowing the promise of resurrection for His people through Jesus Christ 

Jonah served the Lord as a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel for about 30 years, between 782 and 753BC during the time of King Jeroboam 2nd of the Northern Kingdom (and at the end of King Amaziah’s reign) and at the beginning of King Uzziah’s reign in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh the capital of the Assyrian Empire and warn them about God’s coming judgement upon them, but instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah fled from the presence of God and went to Joppa. Eventually, Jonah completed his assignment and the whole city of Nineveh repented of their sin and turned to God.

Later, in 722BC God used the Assyrian Empire to conquer the Northern Kingdom of Israel and take them into captivity. 

So, in what way was Jonah a ‘type’ of Christ and what likenesses to Christ do we see imprinted in him? 

(Jesus directly compared Himself to Jonah when He said about Himself, Matthew 12: 41b ‘someone greater than Jonah is here’) 

Firstly, Jonah had no compassion for the lost Gentiles and was unwilling to go to Nineveh.  

Jonah 1: 1-3   

Whereas Jesus had compassion for the lost Gentiles and was willing to go as the Father had sent Him.  

Luke 22: 42 “Father...I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” 

Philippians 1: 8b ‘the tender compassion of Jesus Christ’ 

Did you know there was another man called Jonah, who is named in the New Testament, who also had no compassion for the lost Gentiles? Jesus referred to him in, Matthew 16: 17b ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah'. 56 Bible Versions 

Simon Bar Jonah is the disciple who became the Apostle Peter 

The Jonah’s of the Old and New Testament both considered the Gentile nations unclean and unworthy of salvation. 

Just like the Old Testament Jonah, Simon Bar Jonah of the New Testament was also in Joppa when the Lord called him to go to the Gentiles, Acts 10: 15b “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 

Acts 10: 11-16 

What about you, what about me - is there something of Jonah’s likeness within us; a lack of compassion for the lost and an unwillingness to go? Let’s remember, Romans 14: 8 ‘If we live, we live to be at the Lord’s will, and if we die, we die at the Lord’s will.’ NMB 

Next, Jonah got on a ship at Joppa and soon a storm came down upon the ship while Jonah was hiding from God, Jonah 1: 5b-6a ‘all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. So, the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted.’ 

And concerning Christ; crossing the Sea of Galilee with the disciples in a boat during a storm, Matthew 8: 24-25 ‘Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”’ Matthew 8: 26b ‘Then He got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.’ 

Now we come to the ‘sign of Jonah’ that Jesus referred to concerning His own death, burial and resurrection.

Matthew 12: 38-40 ‘One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want You to show us a miraculous sign to prove Your authority.” But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish 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.”’ 

Jonah 1: 15-17 

17b ‘Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights’ 

The three days and three nights foreshadowed the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

Jonah was thrown into the sea to his death, Jonah 1: 15a ‘Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea’  

And concerning the death of Jesus Christ 

On the Friday morning, the Jewish Preparation Day before the Sabbath and Passover, Jesus was condemned to death on the cross 

Matthew 27: 45-50; Mark 15: 33- 37; Luke 23: 44-46; John 19: 28-37  

Jonah was buried in the sea, Jonah 2: 3b, 6a ‘I was buried beneath Your wild and stormy waves...I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever.’ 

And concerning the burial of Jesus Christ 

Late Friday afternoon, Jesus body was taken from the cross and buried in the tomb 

Matthew 27: 57-61; Mark 15: 42-47; Luke 23: 50-56; John 19: 38-42 

Then, in a sense Jonah was resurrected and spit out of the sea by the great fish that God used to save Jonah, Jonah 2: 6b ‘But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!’ 

Jonah 2: 10 ‘Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.’ 

And concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ 

Early Sunday morning Jesus was raised from the dead 

Matthew 28: 1-10; Mark 16: 1-8; Luke 24: 1-12; John 20: 1-10  

When Jonah eventually arrived in Nineveh, the people believed the sign of Jonah and were saved, Jonah 3: 5  

Whereas in New Testament times we are not saved by believing in the sign of Jonah, we are saved by believing in the sign of Jesus, Matthew 12: 40 ‘For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish 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.’ 

God’s promise of resurrection that was foreshadowed in Jonah was fulfilled in Christ on the 3rd day and now that promise is for all who believe in Jesus Christ! 

John 11: 25-26 ‘Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”’ 

1 Corinthians 15: 1-4a ‘Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.’ 

How about you? Do you believe in the truth of Jesus resurrection - It is the foundational truth of our salvation!? 

Romans 10: 9 ‘If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’. 

Amen!