4. Jonah was a type of Christ. Use of the book.
Jonah bore a type of Christ dying and rising, so that he might grant repentance to the nations, with Christ Himself as witness, Matthew 12:40. His history also depicts for us an argument and picture of the liberation of the sons of God from death because of Christ, and of the mercy to be exercised among the nations: and also the nature of God, how powerful, good, and righteous He is: how vain the counsels of men are when set against the Lord: what true repentance is, what the imbecility of men, and that proud flesh, even in holy men, loves to have its judgment unchecked, even if that be conjoined with catastrophic loss to many.