Jonahنموونە

Who Was Jonah?

Jonah. His name is well known in Biblical history, but just who was this man and what is his significance in the overarching story of the Bible? What do we really know about Jonah, the man swallowed by a fish?

Jonah, son of Amittai, was one of the earliest prophets in the Bible. He lived in the Galilean city of Gath-hepher, a border town in ancient Israel located about four miles north of Nazareth. He prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, northern Israel’s most powerful king. Many of Jonah’s prophecies were welcomed by the people of Israel, as they foretold the expansion of the boundaries of Israel at the expense of their nearby enemy, the Ninevites (Assyrians).

The most notable thing about Jonah, however, is that he did not want to do what God told him to do: go preach to the people of Nineveh (Assyrians) and tell them to repent. The Assyrians had violently oppressed the Israelites. Jonah understood the Lord's character and His merciful history. He knew that the Lord had been faithful to the Israelites and to him as an individual.

Jonah knew that his merciful God would spare the Ninevites punishment if they repented—and Jonah wanted them punished! Such a very human feeling, and one that Christians need to be watchful of. When someone sins, especially when the sin is against us or someone we love, do we indignantly wish for his punishment? Or do we instead hope that his repentance will bring him to the Lord?

The story of Jonah has another purpose, as well. We read in Luke 11:29-30: “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.’” (NIV)

Jonah’s story points to Jesus. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so was Jesus in the grave for three days before rising again. Hundreds of years before the Jesus was born, God sent Jonah, an Old Testament prophet whose reappearance after three days in the belly of a great fish foretold the greatest event in human history: the resurrection of the Lord!