1:16 “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.”
What a contrast! The heathen idolaters who cast Jonah out of the ship reluctantly in the first place now fear the Lord, offering their sacrifice unto God and vowing unto Him. The chosen people of God in old Jerusalem make preparations for a sabbath as though nothing had happened! How do we then react to the Missing Prophet? When we see Calvary for ourselves do we fear the Lord or do we go about our normal business as though nothing had happened? The Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world, and will we offer that Sacrifice for ourselves or not? It is the one Sacrifice for ever, the only means of propitiation, the only way we can ever be reconciled unto God. And what vows shall we make? Shall we dedicate ourselves afresh to the service of God, fearing Him, coming to God with the Sacrifice in our hands, having seen our part in the Missing Prophet? We all cast Him out equally therefore let us all equally fear the Lord and offer the Sacrifice and make our vows unto Him. We can rededicate ourselves to the work of God, to preach repentance as we ought, to save souls perishing around us daily. We need only to see that the Missing Prophet and the Lamb of God are two views of the one picture, and it is God’s great picture of the Cross for us. We cannot go now to Jerusalem and see Christ there for ourselves, for it is two thousand years since He was seen in her streets, but by faith in Him we can yet serve the Lord and dedicate our lives unto Him and worship God by Him, and fear God and bring our vows with our Sacrifice unto the Lord.
1:17 “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us the same thing, and if He knew it to be true why should we doubt it? Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights. Our Lord lay in the tomb for three days and three nights. Not Friday to Sunday, please note. Not Saturday to Monday either. Three days and three nights. How can we possibly accept any other version of such a thing? “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly” said Jesus, “so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Could anything be more specific than that? He is crucified on Wednesday, and He lies in the tomb three days and three nights. There is no abbreviating that time. There is no mistaking that event. This is no Easter Friday to Easter Sunday interval, but three full days and three full nights. If we can accept by faith that a whale, or some great fish, swallowed Jonah, why can we not accept by faith those three days and three nights? Faith is not sight. If we could see clearly, what need is there then for faith? We look at the gospel account and we say we cannot see the three days and three nights in it, therefore it can’t be true, although we may accept the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Now if by faith we can accept the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, surely by faith we can accept the three days and three nights. Jonah is not lying to us. Jesus is not mistaken. Yet we refuse to accept it. Why? Are we wiser than God, or do we know more about the Cross than God knows?
