Obadiah and Jonah
Obadiah
Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. Just 21 verses. He prophesied judgement on Edom and the restoration of Israel.
1.17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Verses 17-21 may refer to the days of Messiah.
Jonah
The story of Jonah is well known – he was called by God to go preach to Nineveh, he ran away, he was swallowed by a great fish, vomited out, called again, this time obeyed, Nineveh repented at his preaching. Naturally, since we are talking about a man who was swallowed by a great fish there is a lot of doubt, skepticism, unbelief, and discussion about how to understand this book. I will not take the time to cover the book itself, but I will say here how I approach the book:
“The appeal made to the main facts of this history by our Lord, proves that we are to admit of no allegorical exposition of these facts.
1. There was such a person as Jonah.
2. He was swallowed by a sea-monster, in whose belly he was miraculously preserved three days and three nights.
3. This same prophet preached to the Ninevites; and they repented, and turned from their sins, under his ministry.
This testimony puts an end to all mythological, allegorical, and hypothetical interpretations of those great facts. And in its literal sense alone, I undertake the interpretation of this book.” (Adam Clarke)
Jonah does not mention Christ or Messianic times, but Jesus mentions him. Jonah is a type† of Christ, as is evidenced by Jesus’ references to him. Which is what I will focus on.
Matthew 12:38-41
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
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 the prophet Jonah:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.
These scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign, proof-on-demand, that Jesus really was the Christ, the Son of God. Bear in mind that up to this point Jesus had already performed many miracles and was known throughout Judah as a great teacher and healer. Jesus tells them:
(1) Their desire for a sign was really a cover-up of their unbelief
(2) The only sign he will provide is the sign of Jonah – as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale‡, so he shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He is speaking of his death and resurrection.
(3) The men of Nineveh will condemn that generation because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and the Son of man is greater than Jonah.
Luke 11:29-32
29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
30 For as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh shall rise 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.
The situation in Luke appears to be different than in Matthew, but Jesus again speaks to this 'seeking a sign' which seems to have been a common request during his ministry. In fact, Paul says, the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Jesus says:
(1) An evil generation seeks a sign (because it springs from unbelief)
(2) The only sign provided will be the sign of Jonah (He doesn’t explain it here, they no doubt were familiar with Jonah): As Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be a sign to this generation.
(3) The men of Nineveh will rise up with this generation and condemn it because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and the Son of man is greater than Jonah.
Thus we learn:
• Jonah is a type of Christ and his resurrection from the grave
• There will be a resurrection from the dead of all men
• There will be a judgment of all men; clearly some people have had greater opportunities to repent and believe than others; this will be taken into account on that Day.
• Jesus is greater than Jonah. Jonah was a prophet, Jesus is the Son of man, the Messiah.
† A type is some person, or event, or ceremony that is intended to foreshadow or picture Christ. To which might be added the tabernacle, the temple, the furnishings of the tabernacle/temple.
In studying the types the two comparative words AS and SO are forcibly called to our attention. The word AS is used for the type, and the word SO for the antitype. The first is historic; the second is prophetic. For example,
"AS Jonah was three days and three nights in the Whale's belly; SO shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (adapted from blueletterbible.org)
‡ The King James uses the word whale, as does the Douay-Rheims (English translation of the Latin Vulgate)
In Matthew the Greek word is ketous, from ketos - a sea monster, whale, huge fish
In the Vulgate it is ceti; from cetus - shark, whale, seal, dog-fish, large sea animal
In Jonah the Hebrew word is dag, which is translated 20 times fish
The Septuagint (LXX) has ketei from ketos - see above
The Vulgate has piscem - fish
In popular usage whale was applied to any large sea animal. I don’t know what kind of creature it was, only that it was large enough to swallow Jonah whole and for him to be able to live inside it for three days. He must have been quite a sight upon his being regurgitated, which may have played a role in their response to his preaching! Jesus said, “as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites”, so he either looked a sight and/or he explained what happened to him on his way to Nineveh.
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