man looking back to an experience in the past, and he has been brought back "from

corruption", or the pit or grace. This is in full accord with the words of the Lord Jesus

Christ in Matt. 12: 40,

"For as Jonas as three days and nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be

three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

For just as, in the same way as Jonah was in the belly of the fish: in this manner, in

this way the Son of man shall be in the heart of the earth. If Jonah was not three days and

three nights dead in the bowels of the sea creature, he was no type of what was to happen

to the Lord.

For our purpose in this article there are two points in the prayer of particular interest.

"Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight": Jonah was quite prepared to flee from the

presence of the Lord, but it was quite a different matter when he thought Jehovah had

cast him off! But he continued "Yet will I look again toward Thy holy temple", and in

the context of Solomon's prayer this strongly suggests repentance on the part of the

prophet. Verse 8 would indicate that he had learned his lesson: "They that observe lying

vanities forsake their own mercy". This perhaps becomes clearer if put thus: "They that

regard idols do not heed their chastisement". Jonah reverenced Jehovah, and so gave

heed to the chastisement he had undergone.

Now, when the word of the Lord came the second time, Jonah obeyed; perhaps not

whole-heartedly, for he made no call to repentance, and when Nineveh did repent he was

clearly displeased with the result of his message. He was an unwilling man whom God

called, yet he became a type of Christ. Nothing and nobody can or will frustrate the will

of God, not even for what we may consider to be the best of reasons. How much

unnecessary trouble and suffering Jonah brought upon himself as he rather reluctantly

fulfilled his calling.

Such scant attention is paid to Joseph normally, that some may wonder why he should

be the subject of this study. Yet it may be there is more said concerning him than we

sometimes think, and, indeed, his role is as important as any "man God called".

The historical background to his story is of particular importance, for it was a time of

very great Messianic expectation. The reasons for this are twofold: on the one hand the

Jews' religion was as pure as it had even been, and on the other and contributing to the

former, their land was occupied by the Roman conquerors. Yet the very desire for purity

in religion had resulted in a dead formality. The Pharisees, the leaders in seeking purity,

had become over sensitive and exaggerated comparatively unimportant details, yet at the