Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 161
161. If these three features are compared to the sign of the. Prophet Jonah, the two make similar reading. The Prophet. Jonah was also sent to a foreign land. Facts are there for anyone to study. Jonah was not a resident of Nineveh. He was called through revelation to go forth to preach to the people of. Nineveh which lay in the east. In the same way, the Messiah was commanded to go to a foreign land lying in the east and deliver the message there. Again it appears from the story of. Jonah that God had forced him to go to that country; he had in fact fled from there wishing not to go to Nineveh. God, however, forced him back to Nineveh. Similarly, the prophecy indicated that God will force the Messiah out of his country to a foreign land and deliver the message through him to the lost sheep of the Jews. And further that when he would go there, people would receive him well and accept his claim. . What befell the Prophet Jonah was this: he entered the fish's belly, he remained in the belly of the fish for three nights and days and then the fish disgorged him on land and when he recovered, Allah commanded him to go forth to Nineveh and deliver to the Ninevites His message. Thus it dawned on him that he could not run away from the situation howsoever he might try, that he had to abide by the Will of God. . Accordingly, he returned and communicated to the Ninevites the Divine message. . At first they offered a mild opposition but, as soon as signs of Divine punishment became evident, they believed. . JESUS IN FOOTSTEPS OF JONAH. In short, when we compare these references with the references about the prophecy relating to the Prophet Jonah, we find that the sign of the Prophet Jonah which the Messiah had to show, did not consist only in the Messiah entering the tomb