Jonah Revelation

This is more for my own record than anything else. I hope it makes sense, but I want to get it down before I lose it :-)

This morning we're discussing Jonah 2 in Sunday School. I find the line of thinking that Jonah actually died in the belly of the fish to probably be more accurate, even though it is contrary to traditional teaching. In his prayer in Jonah 2, he refers to being in Sheol and being brought up from the "pit," and if we look at this literally, he was probably in Sheol. This is both possible and probable due to the story of Lazarus and the rich man told by Jesus (Luke 16) which provides an example of the awareness of one's existence in the afterlife (Sheol being the realm of the dead). In addition, Jesus makes reference to Jonah being in the belly of the fish three days and nights as a type of Himself being in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Matt 12:40). Note that Jesus is referring to the length of His death- if we consider Jonah as a type, it would be safe to assume that he was dead for three days and nights.

As expected when one explores outside the traditional thought, most disagreed with me. Which is fine- we're all supposed to be as Bereans and see what the Spirit shows us!

I pondered this understanding for a while, and during the beginning of service, I jolted in my seat and asked Gabe for my Bible. In Matthew 12:41, Jesus makes a second reference to Himself and Jonah:
"The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."
I didn't understand what this meant. In class we discussed how the stories from the other men on the boat probably preceded Jonah, possibly all the way to Nineveh, and that Jonah's "survival" had an impact on why Nineveh repented at Jonah's message. But all of the sudden it hit me- this statement makes sense if I consider it in light of pattern (Hebraic prophetic interpretation): Jonah being a physical type of Christ, in that his death and resurrection solidified the testimony of his word, and Christ's resurrection proved His power over death. The difference being that Jonah glorified God for his return from Sheol while Christ was Himself glorified.

I'm not going to say that I'm for sure right, but I will say that I am even more comfortable with this theory because of my experience this morning. I love it when I offer up my confusion, and in return receive a little glimpse of understanding. He is Good and Faithful!!

(If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them. We grow through challenging our assumptions, and Jonah is an example of how we've built doctrine out of tradition, instead of tradition out of doctrine. :-)