“the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matt. 12:39, NKJV)
Before we conclude our subsection on Jonah it is important, for the sake of completion, to draw a direct parallel between Jesus and Jonah. The following table can help us to see the amazing commonalities, and extend the typology concerning the Christ:
| JONAH | JESUS | |
| 1. | His calling was to bring the message of God’s judgement to the heathen Assyrians of Nineveh, spreading the message that Yahweh is the only true God, and the Source of their salvation, and that they need to repent and be in covenant with Him [Jon. 1:1; 3:1-2]. | His calling was to bring the message of God’s love to Israel, but also to all the heathen nations, that they need to repent and be in covenant with Yahweh. He also taught that He is the Source of God’s salvation (His Name means: “Yahweh is salvation”) [Matt. 28:18-20]. |
| 2. | Whilst the terrible storm is raging, Jonah peacefully sleeps in the deepest part of the boat [Jon. 1:5]. | Whilst the terrible storm is raging, Jesus peacefully sleeps in the deepest part of the boat [Matt. 8:24-25; Mark 4:37-38]. |
| 3. | Jonah was willing to give his life to save the sailors [Jon. 1:12]. | Jesus was willing to give His life so that the entire world could be saved [Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 1:29; 1 Tim. 2:6]. |
| 4. | Jonah finds himself in a symbolic grave, inside the great fish, “out of the belly of Sheol” [Jon. 2:1-2; Matt. 12:40]. | After the death of Jesus He was placed in a grave [Matt. 27:60; Mark 6:29; Luke 23:53] and He “descended into the lower parts of the earth” [Eph. 4:9], in “the heart of the earth” [Matt. 12:40]. |
| 5. | Whilst in the fish, Jonah prays: “For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me.” [Jon. 2:3]. | David prophetically prays the prayer the Messiah would pray on the cross: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me” [Ps. 69:1-2]. |
| 6. | Whilst Jonah is in the belly of the fish, he prays firmly believing that God can hear him, despite what his senses might suggest about being completely separated from God: “Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’” [Jon. 2:4]. In faith Jonah reaches for the heavenly temple. | When Jesus experienced the separation between God and Himself, on the cross (based mainly on the weight of sin of the world He has taken upon Himself, that which separates humanity from God [Isa. 59:2; Eph. 2:14]), He calls out, in faith: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” [Mark 15:34]. Then, in faith, Jesus reaches for the heavenly temple [Heb. 8:5], and prays: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” [Luke 23:46]. |
| 7. | On the third day Jonah was “resurrected” from the belly of the great fish [Jon. 2:11; Matt. 12:40]. | On the third day Jesus was resurrected from the dead [Matt. 17:23; 20:19; 28:1-10; Mark 9:31; 10:34; 16:1-7; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7; 24:46]. |
| 8. | After his “resurrection” Jonah fulfilled his calling, leading the Assyrians to repentance and salvation [Jon. 3:1-3]. | After his resurrection Jesus fulfilled his calling of establishing the gospel of salvation, and of ensuring that it is preached to all people [Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:12-20; Luke 24:13-53; Acts 1]. |
| 9. | Jonah preaches that Nineveh will be destroyed in 40 days if the people do not repent [Jon. 3:4]. | After his resurrection Jesus taught the gospel of the kingdom of God for 40 days [Acts 1:3]. |
| 10. | Jonah preaches that if one does not repent, your sin leads to judgement, but that salvation is a gift of God [Jon. 1:1; 3:4-5, 9-10]. | Jesus preaches that if one does not repent, your sin leads to judgement, but that salvation is a gift of God [Matt. 5:21-22; John 5:22-29; 8:34-36; Luke 24:47; John 3:17; 5:34; 10:19; Acts 2:21]. |
| 11.
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Another time schedule concerning Jonah – after he had come from the water, it took three days for him to reach Nineveh. He then travels within the city for half a day (or 12 hours, according to John 11:9), and then preaches for 40 days that the city will be destroyed if the inhabitants do not repent [Jon. 3:3-4]. | A parallel typological time schedule happens in the case of Jesus. From the waters of the baptism [Matt. 3:15-17] He arises from the grave [Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:12], preaches to the Jews for three and a half years, warning them that in one generation (40 years), the city and the temple will be destroyed [Matt. 12:41]. |
| 12. | The first reference to Jonah in the Bible is in 2 Kings 14:25: “ … according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher”. His birthplace is thus a place [Isa. 19:12-13] of which the name means “winepress of the pit” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia), or “the winepress of the well” (Fausset’s Bible Dictionary). | Jesus also compares Himself to the vineyard: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit …” [John 15:5). In other teachings we explained that the vine is actually a symbol of Jesus the Christ. The winepress is the place where the grapes are pressed, clearly having the New Covenant on the horizon [Matt. 26:28], but it is also the space of Sheol (= pit). The Living Waters from the fountain of the Holy Spirit also originate here [John 7:37-38]. (Remember that Jonah’s name means “dove” – [Mark 1:10].) |
- Selah: Ponder the important link between the symbolic death and the resurrection in the Spirit.
- Read: 1-3; 1 Pet. 1-5.
- Memorise: 2:11.
