The Sign of Jonah
Recently, I've re-read the book of Jonah. I've always liked it. It has a wonderful picture of the Lord's mercy toward sinners (both Jonah and the people of Nineveh). This time, I noticed something new.
Of course, I had been aware of the whole death and resurrection motif in Jonah, since he was swallowed by a big fish and stayed there for 3 days. Certainly, that's a great picture of Christ; Jesus referred to that himself in Matthew 12:40 ("For 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.").
What I noticed this time through was another way in which Jonah points to Christ. In the first chapter of the book, Jonah runs away from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. Therefore, the Lord sends a nasty storm; all the sailors are afraid they're going to die. Jonah admits to being the reason for the storm. They ask him what they should do to him to make the sea calm down. Then he says, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will become calm." (Jonah 1:12)
In other words, Jonah voluntarily sacrifices himself--he "dies"--to appease God's judgment/wrath and save others' lives.
Hmm. . . where have I heard that before? ;-)
It's a great encouragement to me that the Lord uses obviously sinful people like Jonah--and like me--to proclaim the good news to the world.
Of course, I had been aware of the whole death and resurrection motif in Jonah, since he was swallowed by a big fish and stayed there for 3 days. Certainly, that's a great picture of Christ; Jesus referred to that himself in Matthew 12:40 ("For 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.").
What I noticed this time through was another way in which Jonah points to Christ. In the first chapter of the book, Jonah runs away from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. Therefore, the Lord sends a nasty storm; all the sailors are afraid they're going to die. Jonah admits to being the reason for the storm. They ask him what they should do to him to make the sea calm down. Then he says, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will become calm." (Jonah 1:12)
In other words, Jonah voluntarily sacrifices himself--he "dies"--to appease God's judgment/wrath and save others' lives.
Hmm. . . where have I heard that before? ;-)
It's a great encouragement to me that the Lord uses obviously sinful people like Jonah--and like me--to proclaim the good news to the world.
posted by Lisa @ 12:22 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:12 AM,
Ray F said…
You might be interested in taking a look at my study on the resurrection at www.abundanthealth.info/newlightstudies
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