THE MESSAGE OF JONAH
Dr. David L. Cooper
Biblical Research Monthly
April 1954

THE MESSAGE OF THE BOOK OF JONAH

The Book of Jonah is an historical account of what actually happened to the Prophet Jonah, who lived in Gath-hepher (II Kings 14:25), a place about four miles northeast of Nazareth. For the brief historical account of Jonah read second Kings 14:23-27.

Although the Book of Jonah contains only four chapters and is one of the short books of the Bible, its message is marvelous and its influence cannot be fully estimated. It has been used of God to breakdown racial prejudice and to give people a vision of the lost of other nations. Someone has spoken of it as "the mightiest missionary tract ever written." It is, possibly, the mightiest missionary tract ever written! The reason for this is that it is an inspired record of something which actually transpired. Let us, therefore, get a glimpse of the drift of the thought.

Jonah Fleeing From the Lord

In chapter I we read of the call of God, which He gave to Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the mightiest empire of that day, to deliver the divine message to the ruthless, barbarous Assyrians. Instead of being obedient to the heavenly vision, the prophet sought to flee from the presence of the Lord. He therefore purchased a ticket on a ship going to Tarshish, fleeing in the opposite direction.

The Lord overrules all things and makes both men and means to serve him. As the ship was sailing westward, Jonah having gone down into the ship to take his rest, the Lord "sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea" which was about to wreck the ship.

The heathen sailors sensed the divine presence in the situation in which they found themselves. They therefore came to the conclusion that the storm was not an ordinary one, but that it was caused by the wrath of the god of the seas, or, according to their thinking, the wrath of the gods. They therefore insisted upon all the sailors calling upon the particular god that he worshiped in order to appease the divine wrath. They cast lots to ascertain if possible upon whose account the storm had arisen. The lot fell upon Jonah. In ancient days people cast lots to determine various matters. Even in Israel this practice was customary. Solomon said in proverbs 16:33:

"The lot is cast into the lap;
But the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah."

Evidently in this case God disposed the lot, which fell upon Jonah. Thus the sailors were confident that it was on his account that the tempest was raging. The owner of the ship roused Jonah from his sleep and said to him: "... Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not." They asked Jonah concerning his occupation and his nativity. "What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is the country? and of what people art thou?" To Jonah's credit he did not evade the issue, but spoke the facts clearly and plainly: "I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land."

When the sailors asked him what they should do to him, he immediately instructed them to cast him overboard. He assured them that, if they would do that, the tempest would cease. Having heard from Jonah of Jehovah, the true God, they called upon him to still the storm and not to destroy innocent blood because of the disobedience of His prophet. Then they cast him into the sea. There then was a great calm, "the sea ceased from its raging. 16 then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows."

Jehovah Prepares a Great Fish to Swallow Jonah

"17 and Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (1:17). What is the meaning of the word "prepared"? Various answers have been given, but the correct idea may be gathered from Jonah 4:6-8. In 4:6 we read that Jehovah God "prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah." This gourd vine came up overnight and sheltered him from the burning Rays of heat the next day. There was no gourd vine at evening one day; the next morning there was one. There is only one explanation of this phenomenon, which is that which is expressed by the word, prepared. In this instance, it means created. Here was a miracle of creation. In 4:7 we are told that "God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered." There was no worm there at the beginning of the day. When the sun arose, there was a worm, which smote the gourd and the vine withered. The word, prepared, here also can mean but one thing, namely, that God created that worm. In the eighth verse we are told, "when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind." Those sultry east winds come up during a period of from one to three days. But it was not so with this wind, which God prepared. There was no sultry wind at the time the sun arose. But when it did arise, then this terrific heat wave came and beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he fainted. This was not an ordinary heat wave. It was the result of a miracle of God. Thus the word prepared in this verse indicates a miracle of creation.

Since in these three verses the word, prepared, means a miracle of creation by the Lord God almighty, the same word in 1:17, which speaks of Gods preparing a great fish can mean but one thing namely that God created a fish to swallow up Jonah.

Many people practically scoured the waters of the world to find a whale whose throat was large enough to permit the passage of a man. There was no need of people's doing that, because this "prepared" fish was not a whale! It was a "great fish." It was a fish that God created especially for the purpose of swallowing up Jonah. So, to hunt for whales whose throats are large enough to swallow up a man is an irrelevant matter.

This prepared fish was especially created so as to protect and to keep the body of Jonah in order that nothing could injure it.

Jonah's Death, Descent to Sheol, and Resurrection to Life

In 1:17 we are told that Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and that "Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." At the end of this period of three days and three nights, Jonah prayed to the Lord out of the fish's belly. It is necessary for us to note the fact and to keep it clearly in mind.

In 2:2-9 we have one of the most instructive prayers that is recorded in the entire Book of God. Every word must be studied carefully; otherwise the point is missed. Let us bear in mind that this petition is one that Jonah uttered at the end of the three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. In this prayer he refers to three other petitions that he had offered prior to this time. This point must also be held steadily in mind as we study this chapter.

In verse 2 we read: "And he said,

"I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah,
And he answered me;
Out of the belly of Sheol cried I,
and thou hearest my voice."

Jonah refers to his having been in affliction, his having called upon God, and the Lord's having answered him. Where was he when he was thus in "affliction"? And cried unto the Lord and was delivered? He also says that "out of the belly of Sheol" he cried, and that God heard him. When we take into consideration all the information contained in this verse, we come to the conclusion that Jonah was in the belly of Sheol, that he was in affliction while he was there, that he cried unto the Lord, and that the Lord delivered him. But what is meant by "the belly" of Sheol? We read of Sheol frequently in the Scriptures. Here alone do we see the expression, "the belly of Sheol." Since Jonah was in the belly of the fish when he uttered this prayer, he spoke of his having being in Sheol in terms of the place where he was at the time he referred to it, namely, in terms of "the belly of the fish." This is a common figure of speech, paronomasia, or a play on words, that is used in the Scriptures. From this verse we see that Jonah had been in Sheol, that he had been in affliction while there, that he cried unto the Lord—the first prayer mentioned in this long prayer—and that he was delivered from his affliction.

Only people who die go to Sheol, the place of departed spirits before the death of Christ in the center of the earth. Had Jonah prior to this time died? Let us see. In 2:3 he declared,

"3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas,
And the flood was round about me;
All the waves and thy billows passed over me."

This verse, which is introduced by "for" is explanatory of verse two. Here he tells how it was that he went to Sheol, namely, he had been cast out by the Lord into the depths of the seas, and while there the waves and the billows were passing over him. In other words, he was bobbing up and down in the water and being tossed to and fro in the waves.
In 2:4 he said:

"4 and I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes:
Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple."

In his dedicatory prayer of the Temple Solomon prayed, by the Holy Spirit, that if the Jews were in any foreign land and should pray to the Lord, they should do so with their faces turned toward the Temple. Thus, as Jonah bobbed up and down in the water, he saw his direction and looked eastward—because he was in the Mediterranean west of Palestine—and prayed toward the Temple. Here we see the second prayer that is mentioned in the long petition which we are studying.
According to verse 5 the waters compassed him about, "even to the soul."

"5 the waters compassed me about, even to the soul;
The deep was round about me;
The weeds were wrapped about my head."

The expression, "the waters compassed me about, even to the soul," is the regular idiom used in referring to death. In Jeremiah 4:10 we see the same idiom, "even to the soul." Jonah here declares that he, as he bobbed up and down in the water, was actually drowned. Then his body was evidently caught in a down current, which took it through a batch of seaweed, some of which wrapped around his head, as he was swept downward. In his prayer he said:

"6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed upon me forever:
yet hast thou bought up my life from the pit,
Oh Jehovah my God."

There were mountains at the bottom of the sea where Jonah was drowned. For the current took his body down "to the bottoms of the mountains," that is, into a valley between two mountains. It is highly probable that the fish which God created to swallow Jonah was there at the very place when his body was washed down to the bottom of the mountains. When he drowned, the spirit left his body then went down into Hades, but the body went down to the bottoms of the mountains and was swallowed by the fish.

Jonah states that "the earth with its bars closed upon me forever." By this statement he means that his spirit actually left his body and went down into Hades, and the gates of Hades opened up for his entrance there and then closed behind him. If all the nurses and doctors and modern equipment of medical science today had been there, and his body could have been immediately recovered from the waters, they could not have restored him to life, because his spirit had left the body and had gone down into Hades.

Notwithstanding the fact that his spirit did go down into Sheol, the Lord brought it back up out of Sheol, and it re-entered his body. According to verse 7 he declared:

"7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah;
and my prayer came in unto thee, into the holy temple."

This was not an ordinary faint. People, when they faint ordinarily, do not have any recollection of anything. When Jonah fainted, he remembered Jehovah and prayed. That is, when the spirit was leaving his body, he prayed to the Lord. Thus, in verse 7, we see the third prayer referred to in this general petition. God heard that prayer.

Jonah said that they that regard lying vanities (idols) forsake all hope of mercy (vs.8).
Jonah concluded His prayer with the following words:

"9 but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation is of Jehovah."

When he prayed in faith, acknowledging that God was his Sovereign, and that salvation comes from the Almighty, then "Jehovah's spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." The Lord delivered him.

Jonah's body was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. His spirit, during that time, was in Sheol. At the end of the three days and three nights, Jonah's spirit was released from Sheol and it re-entered his body. He then prayed this petition which we have been studying. By that time the fish was at the beach. Then the Lord commanded the fish to vomit up Jonah, which thing it did.

Jonah's Ministry to Nineveh

In chapter 3 we find God's second call to Jonah commanding him to go to Nineveh. This time he was good and ready to go and did so. "So Jonah arose, and went in unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah." He entered the city and preached that within 40 days it would be destroyed.

His preaching was done with such vividness and power that conviction was carried to the hearts of all who heard. Never was there a preacher whose ministry was blessed as was that of Jonah. The city of Nineveh had 120,000 babies who could not tell the difference between their right hand and their left. It was a vast metropolis indeed. Notwithstanding that fact, the king upon the throne, the royal family, and the nobility took the place of sinners, clothed themselves with sackcloth and ashes, and cried mightily unto God. The Lord heard their cry and "saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not," but preserved their city from being destroyed. As to how genuine a revival this was, we are not told. Someone has called Jonah a "Hell-fire and brimstone" preacher! We need more preachers like him today—preachers who know God, and who know His Word, and you are not afraid to stand before kings, and rulers, and governors and speak the word of God without fear or favor!

Jonah's Disappointment at God's Not Overthrowing Nineveh

As great a man as Jonah was, we are surprised that he was so very indifferent to the sufferings of humanity, and that he was disappointed at God's wonderful mercy in preserving the lives of the Ninevites and did not hesitate to complain to the Lord about it. It seems that he was animated by the spirit of "I told you so." He preferred seeing his warning carried out, even though it entailed the dashing of hundreds of thousands of people into eternity, unprepared to meet God, then to have his prediction seem to fail of fulfillment.

May the Lord give us a vision of his mercy, and may we speak forth the truth in love.

JONAH A TYPE OF CHRIST

"39 But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the Prophet: 40 for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here" (Matt. 12:39-41).

It is quite clear from this quotation that Jonah was a type of Christ. There was a "prepared" fish to swallow Jonah. His body was preserved. No decomposition or decay set in, in that body. His spirit left his body, went down to Hades, then came back after three days and three nights and re-entered the body. Then he went and gave a message that shook the world kingdom of his day.

Our Lord died on the cross for you and for me. His body was laid in the tomb. It was preserved. No decomposition or decay set in. His spirit descended to Hades, where he made an announcement to the spirits that were disobedient in the days of Noah. On the third day he arose from the tomb. His spirit re-entered the body, immortalized it, glorified it, and then He appeared to his chosen witnesses, who have testified to that fact. Thus Jonah became a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, and who offers life to all that will believe.