Foreshadow in the Old Testament and Secret Salvation

     Yesterday I read through the book of Jonah. While reading, I noticed a passage, well, a verse, that is a complete foreshadow of Christ's death and resurrection. Here is the verse:

Jonah 1:17 - 

And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. (Bolding added by me) (ESV)

     Let's talk about some Bible history now. While Jonah was in the belly of this fish, he had ultimate peace with God. He was able to pray and meditate on his actions and repent from his disobedience. (He didn't want to go to Nineveh but God really wanted him to). Three days later he was then spewed out of the fish and went on to share the love of God with the people of Nineveh. Isn't the story of Christ's resurrection somewhat similar?

     Jonah sinned and was disobediant to God. The people of the earth were sinning and being disobedient to God. Jonah paid the price and was swallowed by a whale. Jesus, then, paid the price and was crucified on the cross. Jonah was spat out of the whale after being there for three days. Christ rose from the grave after being dead for three days. Jonah went out and shared news of repentance to Nineveh. Christ went out and shared news of a new salvation to His disciples. Isn't the Bible clever?

     The second part of this blog is called "Secret Salvation". This may sound confusing, but let me explain.

     While Jonah was "running" from God (you can't outrun God by the way), he was with sailors on a boat to Tarshish. When God threw the brutal storm at the boat, all of the sailors prayed to their own gods. They woke up Jonah and told him to do the same, and when Jonah told them that this was his fault because he was on bad terms with his God, they prayed to Jonah's God. When he was thrown overboard and swallowed the storm stopped.

     You never hear about those sailors again, but if you look really closely at chapter 1 of Jonah, you can see something. These sailors found salvation through Jonah's disobedience. 

     Look at it! The sailors prayed to their own, false gods, but when they saw that Jonah was the cause of this, they fell down and prayed to the real God of the universe and worshipped Him when the storm stopped! They found God through Jonah and his own disobedience. I see a hidden lesson for us in that: when we are struggling or having a hard time with life or with God, sometimes the way we react to it can determine whether or not people loot to God. It's about how we respond to God's calling or His will. If we're obedient and repent the way we should, we serve as an example to others. Pretty cool huh?