Lessons and Analogies from the Book of Jonah
1 - The central theme of the book of Jonah is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection. Jesus Himself establishes this fact in Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonah was three days and three night in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
2 - The name "Jonah" means "dove." The dove is the symbol of peace, mildness and harmlessness. The first mention of a dove in the Scripture is Genesis 8:8, when the dove was released from the ark by Noah, it returned with an olive branch in its beak bringing the "good news" of deliverance from the flood. The dove, therefore, becomes the bringer of "good news." The "good news" is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the message of redemption and salvation through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Therefore, the Gospel represents the important things concerning our Lord's work in our salvation: His death, His burial and His resurrection. And through the work of Jesus Christ God established peace between Himself and mankind on a global basis.
A - The Gospel is specifically called "the gospel of peace" in Ephesians 6:15.3 - Jonah's father's name was Amittai, which means "truth." Jonah was the "son of truth." And the Gospel that is represented in the book of Jonah represents the embodiment of truth in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me."B - The work of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel message, is what establishes "peace" between God and man. This refers to salvation, which involves personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way anyone can establish peace with God. Romans 5:1, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ."
C - After receiving the Gospel message and placing your faith in Jesus Christ, you now have the potential to have "peace" in your earthly life. This refers to inner peace and tranquility and peace of mind. Romans 8:6 says, "....to be spiritually minded is life and peace." This refers to a supernatural life and a supernatural peace.
Ephesians 2:14, "For he (Jesus Christ) is our peace, because he has made both one (Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ)."
Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Colossians 1:20, ".......having made peace by the blood of His cross......."
D - Jesus Christ is known as the "Prince of peace" because He will establish true peace on the earth. This title is given to Him in Isaiah 9:6. The only reason that our Lord Jesus Christ has the authority to establish true peace on the earth is because of His work on the cross for all mankind. Through His work He not only provided eternal salvation for all mankind, but He also broke the back of Satan. Also, because of His perfect work, God has appointed Him the heir of all things. Hebrews 1:2 tells us, "In these last days He (God the Father) has spoken to us through His Son, whom He had appointed the heir of all things......."
4 - Jonah was to preach to the people of Nineveh and tell them they had forty days to repent, or to change their minds concerning the plan of God for their lives. forty is the number of probation and of testing.
A - Moses lived in the court of Pharoah 40 years. (Acts 7:23).5 - Jonah was the reason for the storm on the sea in Jonah chapter one. It was because of his rebellion against the Lord. Through his disobedience the lives of the sailors on the ship were placed in jeopardy. By analogy, because of the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden, the lives of all members of the human race have been placed in jeopardy.
B - Moses lived in the desert 40 years after he left Egypt. (Acts 7:30).
C - Moses led the children of Israel 40 years. (Hebrews 3:17).
D - Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law 40 days. (Exodus 24:18).
E - Moses sent 12 men to spy out the promised land and they did so for 40 days. (Numbers 13:25).
F - The Jews wandered 40 years in the desert because of their unbelief.
G - The number of stripes given to a wrong doer was limited to 40. (Deuteronomy 25:3).
H - Jesus was 40 days in the mountains being testing by the devil. (Luke 4:2).
I - After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to many believers for 40 days. This testin was for the purpose of testing the believers rather than the Lord. (Acts 1:3).
J - The 40 day probation period the Lord gave Nineveh through His prophet Jonah. (Jonah 3:4).
6 - In verse 12 of chapter one the typology of Jonah changes from that of a disobedient sinner, to that of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was only the death of Jonah that could deliver the sailors from their certain doom. It is only the death of Jesus Christ on the cross that can deliver us from a certain eternal doom to the Lake of Fire.
7 - The guilty one must die, and Jonah was guilty. All members of the human race are guilty before God. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." One must die so others might live. Here we see a picture of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. The experience of Jonah was a shadow, illustration or type of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The only way the storm could be calmed, was for Jonah to be thrown overboard and to die.
8 - The human race will do everything possible to avoid having to do what God demands. Even after Jonah told the sailors that the storm could only be calmed by them throwing him overboard, they still continued to row, work, sweat and wear themselves out. It is very difficult for man to understand the plan of God, and very difficult for him to accept the fact that he must believe the truth or he will die. Jonah 1:13 tells us that the sailors "rowed hard to bring the ship in, but they could not." The remedy was so simple. Throw Jonah overboard and they would be saved from death. In the spiritual analogy, believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved from hell and judgment.
9 - Jonah could not have delivered the sailors by jumping overboard, just as Jesus could not have provided eternal salvation by committing suicide. The principle of substitutionary death is taught throughout the Bible. In all of the illustrations of substitutionary death, there had to be precisely correct procedure. In the Old Testament, it was the altar, the animal and the priest.
PRINCIPLE: the death of a victim becomes the means of salvation for the guilty one who put the victim to death. The sailors were benefited by putting Jonah to death. God permitted wicked men to put Jesus Christ to death and then made that act of murder the means of saving those who were responsible for His death. The only difference in our story of Jonah is that Jesus was just and righteous and still put to death, while Jonah was not just and righteous.
10 - Until the storm threatened to destroy them and the ship, the sailors counted Jonah as a man of no consequence. They paid no attention to him as he slept in the hold of the ship. He was of no particular importance to them. So also, when the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and took on human form, few recognized the significance of His presence among them and they gave little attention to Him.
11 - The sailors considered Jonah only another passenger and mainly ignored him until the storm broke, then they became aware of his importance, and realized that it was only by Jonah's death could they be saved. So also, when the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and took on human form, the people only considered Him just another man, the son of a carpenter and the child of a woman named Mary. It made no great stir among them. But to those who knew and understood Biblical truth, they were very much aware of His importance, and that only through His death and resurrection did they have any hope of eternal life. So also, in the future, just after the Rapture of the Church, there will be a number of people who have been left behind who will suddenly realize the importance of Jesus Christ and will believe and be saved. So also, toward the end of the Tribulation, and as the War of Armageddon takes on a frightful twist with the use of nuclear weapons, and as Jesus Christ begins His return, there will be many at that time who will suddenly realize the importance of Jesus Christ. But instead of turning to Him and being saved, they will pray to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them so that they may be hidden from Him who is coming to judge. (Rev 6:15-17).
12 - The death of Jonah meant life for the sailors in the ship. The account of Jonah foretells the account of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which means life to all who believe in Him as their personal Savior.
13- Jonah was a soul winner, even though he never set out to be one. God can use anyone or anything to get His message to the lost and dying world. If you recall, God used a donkey to get His message to the rebellious prophet Balaam in Numbers 22:21-35. When the religious leaders rebuked the people for praising Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, they told Him to tell the people to stop! But He answered and said, "If they stop shouting, then the stones would immediately shout it out." (Luke 19:40). Psalm 76:10 tells us "That he even makes the wrath of man to praise him." So God used a lazy, rebellious and self-centered prophet to get His message to those unsaved sailors. The principle is this: God's will is going to be accomplished. His plan will march right on through time. Now, you can either be a part of that plan and be blessed by being in a position to be used by God, or you can neglect or reject Bible truth and get run over by the plan of God. But don't you ever forget that there is nothing that can stop the plan of God.
14 - Before the sailors threw Jonah overboard, they asked God not to hold them responsible for the death of "innocent blood." (Jonah 1:14). After Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified, he washed his hands and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just man....." (Matt 27:24).
15 - Jonah actually died and his soul went into Sheol (the dwelling place of the dead), while his body remained in the great fish. When Jesus died, His soul went into Sheol (Hebrew), Hades (Greek). Ephesians 4:9-10, "(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things)." The word "fill" in verse 10 is the aorist active subjunctive of the Greek verb PLEROO meaning "to fill up a deficiency."
16 - The people of Nineveh believed the message of God even though the messenger was a bigoted, self-centered, arrogant and rebellious prophet of God. PRINCIPLE: it is not the man, it is the message that is important.
17 - The king of Nineveh was a good leader who cared for his people. He encouraged them to accept the message of Jonah and even set aside special days of prayer and fasting in sackcloth and ashes.
18 - Jonah had a great understanding of God and His character. But in spite of his knowledge, he still remained occupied with himself, his reputation and his desires, even though they were contrary to the will of God.
19 - God caused a gourd (large plant) to grow up over Jonah and protect him from the sun and elements of the desert. The gourd represented the Mosaic Law, which God provided to protect the Jews for a period of time before the first advent of the Messiah.
20 - God then caused a special worm to destroy the gourd. The Hebrew word for worm is TOLAW. This word refers to a "crimson grub or a red worm" that was crushed to provide the dye for the curtains in the Tabernacle. The worm represents Jesus Christ and His work. Therefore, the worm destroyed the gourd (the large plant) just as the work of Jesus Christ cancelled out the Mosaic Law.
21 - Jonah was also a type of the nation Israel, of which he was a member. Israel was constantly disobedient and rebellious.
Just as Jonah disobeyed God's order, Israel disobeyed God's law.
Just as Jonah refused to take the message to the Gentiles, so did the nation of Israel.
Just as Jonah called on God for deliverance, so did Israel.
Just as Jonah had the outward look of righteousness, the right terms and the correct information, but lacked the inner desire to follow God's plan, so did Israel.
22 - The "east wind" represents divine discipline upon Jonah. The words "east wind" are found 20 times in the Old Testament. Most of the time this is used to represent God's judgment or God's discipline, either directly or indirectly. For example: Gen 41:27, "....with the EAST WIND came seven years of famine."
Psalms 48:7, "....you break the ships of Tarshish with the EAST WIND."
Ezekiel 19:12, "But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the EAST WIND dried up her fruit....."
So the "east wind" came upon Jonah and it caused him to "faint." In other words, it made him weak. In this condition God taught him his last lesson in the book. God reminded Jonah that the "gourd (large plant)" was physical and therefore, only temporary. while the souls of the people of Nineveh were eternal. Therefore, we should always remind ourselves that whatever we have in this life, it is only temporary, but what we receive from God is eternal and will never pass away.
Only one life and soon will pass,So ends the book of Jonah, just as abruptly as it began. We know practically nothing about Jonah's early life and the Bible is completely silent concerning his last years. What happened to Jonah? Did he learn his lesson? How long after this did he live? To all these questions the Bible gives no answer, but the application of what is written is for us. We are not to be concerned about Jonah, but we are to apply his lessons to our lives and ask ourselves the questions: "Have we learned our lesson?" "Will we avoid self-righteousness and indifference?" How much time is left for us and what will we do with it?" I pray that God will use these lessons from the book of Jonah to make us more aware than ever of the importance of learning and applying the Word of God on a consistent basis.
Only what is learned from the Word will last.
Therefore, I challenge you to go from here with a commitment and a seriousness in your attitude to decide to place the Word of God as the #1 priority in your life. If you do, the Lord will make sure that everything else will fall into place. But you must make the decision to place the Word of God first.
Ephesians 5:14-17, "For this reason it says (in Isaiah 60:1) 'Arise, sleeper, and arise from the dead (referring to temporal death meaning not being in fellowship with the Lord) and Christ will shine on you.' Therefore be careful how you walk (how you live your life), not as unwise men, but as wise (the wise learn and grow in the Word of God consistently), making the most of your time, because the days are evil. (It is more so today than when this was written) so then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." In the next verse, Paul emphasizes the principle of the filling of the Holy Spirit as a necessity to being in the will of the Lord.
The End
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