Jonah, sign of
Of what significance was Jonah? Why would Jesus choose this
rather obscure prophet as the only sign that he was Messiah? He tells them (and
us): "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so
the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (v
Jonah was God's sign to the Ninevites of Assyria, a people who
weren't serving Him. If Jonah had not gone to Nineveh, how would its citizens
have heard God's message? By the LORD's insistence, it was clear that this task
belonged only to Jonah.
We must assume that God had a special purpose in ordering the
proclamation of Himself to one of Israel's enemies. If Nineveh, hearing the word
of God, repented through fear of the judgment of heaven, then perhaps wayward
Israel would be persuaded to take notice and follow their example, thus saving
itself also from the wrath of God.
But Jonah tried to get out of his divinely-appointed task. He
recognized that the growing might of Assyria was a threat to be feared. How long
would it be before that rising tide of Assyrian expansion swept south to engulf
his own land? Then why should he lift a finger or raise a voice to fend off the
violent judgment of God upon such a nation?
So, rebellious, and with a certain feeling of
self-righteousness and nationalistic pride, Jonah determined to have no part in
preaching to Nineveh. In trying to evade his commission, Jonah took a ship and
tried to flee from the presence of God (Jon 1:3). "Then the LORD sent a great
wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to
break up" (v. 4). The sailors tried in vain to save the ship. Jonah was rousted
from his sleep in the hold, and implored to explain the circumstances.
All were afraid when Jonah told them he was fleeing from his
God, but there was nothing they could do -- the ship was sinking. So after
beseeching God to forgive them, "they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and
the raging sea grew calm" (v 15).
Jonah disappeared under the waves, went down to the bottom,
and drowned (Jon 2:5-7). "But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah,
and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights" (Jon 1:17).
No one ever expected to see him again. But "the LORD commanded
the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land" (Jon 2:10). Truly an amazing sign!
But of what?
Why was Jonah saved?
Jonah was not delivered from this three days "grave" just to
sit back peacefully and contemplate what had happened to him. He was delivered
from death so that he could preach to the Ninevites. And finally (after a more
circuitous and eventful journey than any other missionary ever took!), he
reached his destination and went to work.
So, simply put, the worth of Jonah as a "sign" to an
unbelieving generation was this: A man who had died was now alive! And empowered
by God to preach to the Gentiles! What a sign for Israel, the would-be "people
of God". Jesus, the man like Jonah, would be killed by them; but God would raise
him from the dead (Acts 2:22-24) -- and the gospel which he preached to them,
and which they refused, would be preached to the Gentiles (Act 2:39) -- who
would accept and repent!
That this was the intent of Jesus when citing the "sign" of
Jonah is evident in his next words -- as recorded by Matthew: Mat 12:41. And
then, as if his lesson needed reinforcing, he referred also to another notable
Gentile "conversion": Mat 12:42. Nineveh repented; Jerusalem did not. The queen
of Sheba sought wisdom; Jerusalem turned its back on the man who was the wisdom
of God personified. Truly, one greater than Jonah, and greater than Solomon, was
in their midst; and they were preparing to reject him! The sign of the prophet
Jonah was more than a man dead and buried for three days, then resurrected. It
was a contrast between the wise and the unwise, the repentant and the
unrepentant -- with warnings of destruction for those who refused to recognize
the greatest prophet of God, Jesus Christ.
Paul deals with this same theme: the repentance of the
Gentiles as an object lesson, and as a means of provoking Israel likewise to
repent: Rom 11:13-15,24,30,31).
A Last Days repentance
Scripture indicates that there will be a wholesale repentance
of Israel in the Last Days (Lev 26:40-42; Deu 4:30; 30:1-7; Joel 2:12-20; Jer
31:17-20; 50:4,5; Mat 23:39; Act 3:19,20; Mat 6:10; Rev 22:17; Mat 24:22). This
Last Days repentance will bring back their Messiah to save them from the
latter-day "Assyrian". The lesson from the prophet Jonah will finally have been