The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-5, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  Copyright John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

In our Bible study at work we were studying the Book of Jonah and one of the fellows in the study mentioned that somewhere he heard that one of the Bible teachers had said that he believes that Jonah actually died in the whale, and then when he was spit out God made him alive again.  There was a reference to where the Lord says, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the earth."  Can you elaborate on this?

Answer

I don't believe that there is anything in the prophecy of Jonah to indicate that he died.  In fact, the time that he spent in the belly of the whale is even chronicled for us in the book, and he spent the time in prayer--really basically crying out to God, which would be more than difficult if you were dead.  I think that the indication there is that he was alive and that God preserved him through that situation.  I don't think there was anything there to indicate that he was dead.  Now to surmise that he was dead, based upon the New Testament text is to push the point of an analogy. 

Now an analogy is simply using something as a word picture; and I think the Lord is not necessarily referring to Jonah, in the sense that Jonah is a prophecy of the death and resurrection of Christ.  I think our Lord simply borrows the illustration of Jonah more in an analogous, or as an analogy or an illustration sense, than in any directly prophetic sense.  I think Jonah went into the belly of a fish; he was there for three days, and the fish vomited him (and I am not surprised because I can understand why the fish would want to vomit such a disobedient prophet; he would make anybody sick--even a fish).  So he vomited him out.  I think all our Lord is saying is that in a sense that is analogous. 

Now if you want to go a step further you might even want to say that, that is a "type" of Christ which would be a nonverbal prediction--I wouldn't necessarily argue with that.  Maybe the story of Jonah is in a sense a "type" of Christ, but I don't even think our Lord says that.  He doesn't say it is the fulfillment of a prophecy.  He just says, "As Jonah. . . .so shall the Son of Man."  So I think it is an analogy.  Now to take an analogy and then to try to push backwards into that analogy--everything that is true about what you are using it to illustrate--there's no basis for that, there's no reason to do that.  He is simply saying, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish, I am going to be three days and three nights in the earth."  Well, there is obviously a difference.  There is a difference between a fish and the earth, so why can't there be a difference in the condition in the fish and the condition in the earth?  It's simply used, I  think, as an analogy--a time analogy, and what appeared on the surface to be obviously a resurrection.

Now, there is another element to it, too, and this you have to realize--if we want to push the argument a little bit--the truth of the matter is that Jesus, even when He was in the earth wasn't dead.  If you want to argue about the fact that Jonah had to be dead because Jesus was dead, you are talking about the body and not the spirit.  Right?  Was Christ--did He go out of existence?  Did He pass out of existence in there in the grave?  No, it is pretty clear He was made alive in the spirit (Peter says), by which He went and preached to the spirits in prison.  So I think that it is just pushing the analogy.  I think it's an analogy and no more.