Have you ever thought about what Is the main message of the book of Jonah?
Sometimes, we only look at the story of Jonah and the whale as a kids’ story that we learned in Sunday school, but the reality is that there is so much more to this story than what we often see on the surface.
In this post I talk about what is the purpose of the book of Jonah and the spiritual meaning of Jonah through a step by step explanation of some passages in the Bible.
We’ll also dive into life lessons from the book of Jonah, showing how this ancient story is still so relevant to our lives today as believers in Christ.
If you don’t want to read, I highly recommend watching my video which is almost a word-for-word explanation of this post ⬇️
What is the main message of the Book of Jonah?
First I’d like to give you a high-level overview of what the story symbolizes and then we’ll go into the passages step by step to uncover the meaning of the story of Jonah and the whale.
Now, If I can give you just one verse that summarizes the spiritual meaning behind this story, it’s going to be from 1 Corinthians 15:45 which says:
45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The Bible talks about two Adams that were in the world, the first Adam which became a living soul was the first man to be created in the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis.
Now the last Adam that the Bible describes is a symbolic picture of the man who did everything the first Adam could not do, which was to fulfill God’s law perfectly and give life to the world through his death.
In other words, the last Adam is Jesus Christ.
The main message of the Book of Jonah is a picture of the Gospel, symbolizing both Adams: the first Adam, who disobeyed God and brought sin into the world, and Christ, the last Adam, who brought salvation by laying down His life.
Let’s start with the first part of the story of Jonah which describes the the first Adam:
Jonah 1:1-3 says:
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
God gives Jonah a command and he decides to disobey God and flee from His presence by going to another city.
Now Genesis 2:17 gives us a very similar story where God gives Adam a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for in the day that He does, he will surely die.
After Adam disobeys God, Genesis 3:8 tells us that “the man and his wife hid himself from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden”
In addition to this, when the first Adam sinned, he brought sin and death into the world.
Romans 5:12 says:
“12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12)
Now why is that important?
It’s because when Jonah disobeyed God and fled from his presence, he ended up on a ship full of other people who were threatened with death by the storm that God had sent against Jonah because of his disobedience and sin.
Jonah 1: 4-5 says:
“4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.”
If you look throughout the Bible, you’ll find that the sea is a symbolic representation of the world while the storm is a representation of God’s judgment and wrath which comes upon the people in the world during the last days because of disobedience.
As an example, Jesus tells us in Luke 21:25-26 about the sign of His return which says:
“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26 NASB)
This passage compares the roaring of the sea and waves, to men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world.
This is very similar to what happened to the sailors on the boat with Jonah when he disobeyed God.
I want you to remember this verse about the signs of Christ’s return because it’s actually one of Jesus’ last teachings before he gets arrested and crucified.
This leads us to our next point:
Remember how I said that the story of Jonah also symbolizes the last Adam who brought salvation into the world through his death?
Well this is the part in the story where the last Adam, who is Jesus enters the picture.
The spiritual meaning of Jonah through the last Adam
There is another passage in the New Testament where Jesus lives out the story of Jonah almost identically, but without the disobedience and hiding from God’s presence.
Matthew 8:23-26 says:
“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”
(Matthew 8:23-26 NASB)
Just like with the story of Jonah, Jesus gets into a boat with His disciples and a great storm rises up on the sea threatening to break up the boat with it’s waves.
In the Gospel of Mark, the Bible tells us that Jesus was also asleep in the stern of the boat, which is basically the lower part of the boat, just as Jonah was.
The big difference with this story is that Jesus only had to say one phrase for the storm to stop immediately, while Jonah had to be thrown into the sea for the storm to cease.
Jonah 1:11-12 says:
“So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”
Now Remember how the storm represents God’s wrath against the world because of sin and disobedience?
Well, in order for Jesus to calm the storm of God’s wrath against the world because of our sin and disobedience, He had to be crucified, die on the cross, and rise from the grave on the third day.
So, although Jesus simply calmed the storm with a phrase, what He was really pointing to was what happened in the story of Jonah.
Just as Jonah willingly gave himself up to the sailors to be thrown into the raging sea which would basically kill him, Jesus also willingly gave his life into the hands of sinful men who crucified Him.
How do we know that?
After the men throw Jonah into the sea, Jonah 1:17 says:
“And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)”
Most people have been taught in Sunday school that when Jonah was thrown overboard, that he survived in the water by being eaten by a large fish.
But you’ll be surprised by what the Bible says about what really happened to Jonah.
There is a passage in the new Testament where Jesus directly quotes this verse about the fish swallowing Jonah.
Matthew 12:38 says:
“38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
In this passage, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign to prove that He’s from God and he tells them that the only sign they will receive is the sign of Jonah the prophet which has something to do with him being in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
What did he mean by that?
When Jesus was crucified, He died a physical death. While he was dead for those three days and three nights, he was buried in a tomb, but beyond that, the Bible says that he descended into the lower parts of the earth to preach to the spirits in prison (Ephesians 4:9 , 1 Peter 3:9)
The lower part of the earth is also known as the pit or sheol which is the place of the dead.
We all know what happened after that:
Jesus didn’t stay dead because God raised him from the dead on the third day.
So, if Jesus died and was buried for three days and three nights, and He told us that this was a sign just like the sign of Jonah, what do you think happened to Jonah?
Here’s a hint:
When Jonah was thrown into the water, he wasn’t saved by the fish and survived living there for three days and three nights.
Jonah drowned in the water when he was thrown overboard and was swallowed by the fish after he died. The fish acted as a tomb for his body for three days and three nights while he was dead.
It says in Jonah 2:1-2:
“Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, “I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.”
You might be thinking:
How did Jonah die? Wasn’t he praying in the fish which shows he was alive?
If you look carefully at the next verse, it tells us where he was really crying for help from:
“I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;”
Sheol is the place of the dead.
Technically speaking, Jonah’s body was in the fish when he was praying, but his soul wasn’t in his body during those 3 days because he was crying out from sheol.
Not only that, but look at what happened to Jonah before he was swallowed by the fish in the rest of the passage.
Jonah 2:3-6 says:
“For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.”
Jonah was cast into the heart of the seas. He said he had been expelled from God’s sight. The waters encompassed him to the point of death, then weeds wrapped around his head.
Most importantly, he descended to the roots of the mountains (also known as the heart of the earth), and the earth’s bars were around him forever until the Lord brought up his life from the pit.
Okay, so Jonah died… what’s the big deal with that?
The big deal isn’t that he died, it’s that God raised Jonah from the dead and that’s what Jesus meant when He said he’s going to give the people a sign that was just like the sign of Jonah.
Jonah 2:10 says:
“Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.”
Jonah gets spit out by the fish onto dry land where he comes to life and God tells him to go into Ninvah to preach a message of repentance.
And this is where things get really interesting.
What really happened in Nineveh?
Jonah 3:3-7 says:
“3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk.
4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. “
I want you to notice something very important here:
The Bible tells us that Nineveh was a great city that was a three day walk…
Jonah enters the city on the first day (a day’s walk) and begins to tell the people that Nineveh will be overthrown in 40 days, and they start repenting right away.
Not just the people, but the King of Nineveh who finds Jonah’s statement so serious that he tells everyone to put on sackcloth and start fasting.
Yes, even the animals.
In case you forgot, we’re talking about a Gentile city that God wants to destroy because of its wickedness and disobedience. The people hear a message from a complete stranger who has only covered one-third of the city’s population and almost instantly turn away from their sins, repenting in sackcloth and fasting.
Have you ever thought about who would ever believe this guy, let alone the king?
Here’s what I think actually happened:
I believe that when God told the fish to spit out Jonah, he didn’t just spit him out in the middle of nowhere.
He spit him out on the banks of the sea of the Assyrian empire where there were lots of people watching.
Imagine a giant fish comes up on the banks of the sea and spits a dead man out of it’s mouth and he comes to life in front of your very eyes. Not just your eyes, but a crowd of people that are also working the city’s commercial trade routes.
Do you think that the word would get out pretty quickly and people would believe what Jonah had to say?
I think so.
In other words, I believe It was the death and resurrection of Jonah that caused a city full of sinners to repent of their sins, just as it was the death and resurrection of Jesus that caused the world to believe that He really is the son of God.
Even in the New Testament, when Jesus is raised from the dead, he sends out His disciples to preach the Gospel to the gentiles so that the world would be saved.
That is the Gospel message in the story of Jonah.
Now, I know there’s another part that happens after Jonah preaches where he gets mad at God for saving Nineveh, but we’re not going to cover that for now.
Lessons from the life of Jonah
The most important thing I want you to take away from this is that you and I are just like the first part of the story of Jonah. We are like the Jonah that have disobeyed God and broken his commandment.
The Bible says that the payment for our sins is death and just like sailors, we are on a boat that is headed for destruction where we will have to face God’s wrath on judgment day and pay the penalty for our sin and disobedience.
Unless someone else pays the penalty on your behalf and calms the storm.
The good news is that Jesus was like the Jonah that willingly gave up his life on your behalf by being thrown into the sea of God’s wrath through his death on the cross.
Jesus paid the penalty for your sin and disobedience so that you can have life. As proof of this, God raised Him from the dead on the third day.
Just like the sailors, we have to make a decision to honor God by turning away from our idols and believing that Jesus is the son of God.
This means that you have to make a personal decision to invite Jesus into your life and receive him like a free gift.
My friend, If you are reading this and you’ve never made a decision to invite Jesus into your heart, I’d like to invite you to make that decision today.
It can be as simple as saying a prayer such as:
Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, that you died on the cross and rose from the grave. I ask you come into my heart and give me a new life.
God will change your desires and give you a purpose for your life that is greater than anything you can imagine.
