Jonah – A Type Of Israel
(Jonah 3:1-2)
I. Introduction
A. Surprised, stunned and confused, Jonah sat on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea after he had been disgorged by the fish.
1. What would he do now? It wasn’t long before God would let him know.
2. Notice in our text – no sooner does Jonah hit dry land than the Lord makes clear to him what he is to do.
B. After Jonah died and was resurrected, he became the great preacher to the Gentile city of Nineveh which resulted in their repentance and conversion.
1. Before Jonah’s experience in the fish, God dealt only with the nation of Israel but after His death and resurrection, the message went out to the Gentiles and they, in turn, have believed.
2. Before Calvary, the message of salvation was distinctly given to the nation of Israel. (Matt 10:5-6)
II. Jonah As A Type of Israel
A. Jonah is not only a clear type of the Lord Jesus and of the backslider running away from God but Jonah is also a picture of the nation of Israel.
1. Jonah is a remarkable affirmation of the indestructibility of the miraculous nation Israel.
2. If it is a miracle that Jonah was preserved for three days and nights from being digested in the belly of the fish.
3. Far greater is the miraculous preservation of the nation of Israel. For 2500 years that little nation was preserved from being
swallowed up in the belly of gentile nations.
B. Israel was chosen, elected and given the very oracles of God. (Rom 3:2)
1. They were to give the knowledge of the true God to all the nations.
2. The word that God gave to them is found in Genesis 12:3. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
3 But Israel like Jonah failed in their responsibility. They turned from God and fell into disobedience, idolatry, and sin.
4. So God visited his people and cast them overboard into the seething sea of the nations and like Jonah, they have been swallowed up until this generation.
5. This all had been predicted by the Lord in Deut 28:64-65.
III. Supernatural Preservation
A. The great miracle of Jonah was his preservation from corruption.
1. Israel in the same fashion has been preserved from death from many nations – from Egypt to Nazi Germany.
2. The greatest miracle of all history is God’s preservation of Israel.
3. They have been dispersed among many nations persecuted, threatened with extinction but still intact as a people and a nation.
4. Any other nation would have been assimilated or destroyed after 2000 years of condemnation.
5. Not so the nation of Israel! why? They are God’s chosen people and have a Divine purpose.
B. Though swallowed up in the belly of the nation they too were to be deposited on dry land – the land of their heritage, the land of Canaan.
1. All of this was prophesied by the eternal God in Deut 30:1-5.
2. Isaiah 11:11-12 also speaks of their promised restoration.
3. Ezekiel 36:24-28.
C. During our time we have seen the partial fulfillment of these prophesies.
1. We have seen the return of Israel to her own land.
2. As a political entity, they have been deposited safely in their own land.
3. The fig tree has budded, it is flowering, soon the fruit will appear.
D. In summary, Jonah is a picture of Israel, disobedient at first cast among the nations, swallowed but never digested and ultimately
they will be placed in the land of God’s calling.
1. They like Jonah are to be God’s messengers for the salvation of the Gentiles.
2. The very presence of Israel in our world is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
3. Pharaoh could not drown them, Nebuchadnezzar could not burn them, Haman could not hang them, the lions could not eat them, Hitler could not gas them, and the whale could not digest them.
4. As Jonah is a miracle so the nation of Israel typifies him as God’s miracle people.
IV. The Type of Christ Return
A. All of this brings us face to face with the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning our Lord’s return.
1. Matt 24:3 – what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world.
2. He then gave them a large number of signs and in the very middle reminds us that when the fig begins to bud and blossom then we may know His coming is at the door.
3. The fig tree is not only blossoming, but it has burst into full bloom and as a result, we believe the coming of the Lord will soon become a reality.
B. In view of all of this, how imperative it is to send out the message of redemption and to share with lost sinners how they may come to Jesus Christ.
God bless
Sister Phyllis
