As we look back down through history it is hard for us to realize that the disciples were not present at the tomb when Jesus Christ was raised. You can imagine the embarrassment that the disciples felt by not being present at this great event, the resurrection of Jesus. What an event to miss!

        For years the Old Testament prophets spoke about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact one of the preachers of the Old Testament had a personal experience which was a picture of these events. Jesus referred to this preacher named Jonah, and compared Jonah’s experiences to His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

On April 21, 1963, the Israelis published three postage stamps, illustrating this experience in the life of Jonah. The first stamp has a picture of sailors in a ship on a stormy sea, and quoted in Hebrew and French on the stamp’s tab is Jonah 1:4 “But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.”

         This stamp illustrates how Jonah was trying to run from the Lord and got into trouble.

The second stamp has a picture of Jonah in the whale, with the city of Nineveh in the background, and quoted in Hebrew and French on the stamp is Jonah 1:17 “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

          This stamp illustrates the part of Jonah’s life when he was cast out of the ship into the sea, and swallowed by the whale, illustrating the death and burial of Christ.

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