The Sign of Jonah

 The Sign of Jonah

D.P. Weary – November 2022

 

The scriptures dealing with the Sign of Jonah

[Mat 12:14 ESV] But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

[Mat 12:34 ESV] You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

[Mat 12:36 ESV] I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

[Mat 12:37 ESV] for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

[Mat 12:38 ESV] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."

[Mat 12:39 ESV] But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

[Mat 12:40 ESV] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[Mat 16:1 ESV] And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

[Mat 16:2 ESV] He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.'

[Mat 16:3 ESV] And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

[Mat 16:4 ESV] An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed.

[Luk 11:29 ESV] When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

[Luk 11:30 ESV] For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Jesus, speaking to the religious leaders of His generation calls them a brood of vipers. He then tells them that not only the generation of their day, but also the generation of the day of judgment is an evil and adulterous generation that seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. These are generations that know how to interpret the appearance of the sky but cannot interpret the signs of the times. These are generation that basically do not know the signs of the times given to us in the Bible.

 

Let’s look at the book of Jonah and see what “the sign of Jonah” is.

[Mat 12:40 ESV] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The sign is focused on the three days and three nights Jonah was in the belly of the great fish.

1. The sign begins when Jonah is thrown into the sea by men because of the fear of the LORD.
2. Then a great fish swallows Jonah and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
3. For Jonah, it was a time of trouble and separation from the LORD. Jonah called it a time in the belly of Sheol. It appeared to be a time when Jonah loses his life.
4.  But Jonah prayed to the LORD and the LORD had the fish vomit, Jonah, out and onto dry land.
5. The LORD then sends Jonah to Nineveh. It took Jonah one day to get to Nineveh.
6. Then Jonah warned them that in forty days, Nineveh would be destroyed because of its wickedness.
7. Then the people and the king of Nineveh repented.
8. When God saw that they turned from their evil ways, God relented from the disaster and did not do it.
9. But Jonah was angry because God did not destroy Nineveh.
10.  God then reveals to Jonah His great mercy and compassion for the people of Nineveh. People that do not know their right hand from their left.

This sign manifested in Jesus’ day like this:

1. The religious leader sought to kill Jesus. They arrest Him that night in the garden and put Him on trial.
2. They then took Him to the political leaders of the day for trial. This included both gentile and Jewish leaders (Pilot and Herod).
3. Jesus was condemned and crucified. This all occurred in less than one day. It appeared that they had killed Him.
4. Jesus was in the tomb for three days and three nights.
5. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and emerged in a new, greater, more glorious body.
6. This fulfilled the prophecy of Passover and initiated the 50 days of the barley harvest.

What happened after His resurrection?

1. That same day He met with His disciples who were gathered together. They had just spent three days in despair, fear, hiding, and now knowing what was coming next.
2. Jesus breathed on them, giving them new life and the authority to use His name to deal with things on the earth (bind and loosen). Jesus spent the next 40 days preparing His disciples for their new assignment, to spread the Gospel to the entire world.
3. After forty days, Jesus was caught up from the earth into a cloud to return to His Father and His throne in Heaven.
4. The disciples, now 120 (12x10) waited for 10 days in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father.
5. On the day of Pentecost, they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent out into the streets of Jerusalem, and eventually out into all the world, to take the gospel to the gentile world. 
6. This fulfilled the prophecy of Pentecost and initiated the time of the wheat harvest, the church age.

We note here that the wheat harvest is concluded with the gleaning of the fields at the time of the Feast of Trumpets. This feast then initiates the grape, fruit, and vegetable harvest that is concluded 10 days later at the Feast of Atonement. A great celebration of the harvests comes at the Feast of Harvest or Tabernacles 5 days after the Feast of Atonement. The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles is called the eighth day, or the “day beyond time” a day of new beginnings. Knowing these things will become important as we apply the Sign of Jonah to our day.

 

The application to our day.

We can safely assume that these scriptures, like all scripture, have meaning and application to our day as well as to Jesus’ day. As Jesus was God’s manifestation on the earth in a human body, today God’s manifestation on the earth in human bodies is His Ecclesia, His Holy Spirit-filled church. Further, in this world of ours, we have the religious people and systems that hate the church and desire to see it dead. We also have the political world that seeks to establish a one-world government and kill the influence of the church. So, what would the “sign of Jonah” look like to the religious systems and the rebellious and wicked generation of our day? Let’s look at the manifestation in Jesus’ day and speculate what it might look like in our day.

1. The religious leaders sought to kill Jesus. They arrest Him that night in the garden and put Him on trial before them.
1. The religious systems in the world are seeking to destroy the true church by destroying the morals, values, theology, and its concept and worship of the one true God, God the Father, Jesus, God’s only begotten son, and the Holy Spirit. The flood of idol worship, sexual perversion, deception, lawlessness, and just plain evil in our world these days is obvious evidence of this.
2. They then took Him to the political leaders of the day for trial. This included both gentile and Jewish leaders (Pilot and Herod).
1. While the attack on and persecution of true Christians begins within the religious systems, it has quickly spread to the political arenas as a part of establishing control over all people except the “elite” and establishing Satan’s “one world government”.
3. Jesus was condemned and crucified. This all occurred in less than one day. It appeared that they had killed Him.
1. In a very short time, events occur or are occurring that put true Christianity on trial before the religious world and then the political world. This results in an event or events that appear to “kill” the true church by destroying its influence in the world.
4. Jesus was in the tomb for three days and three nights.
1. There comes a period of a “three” be it three days, weeks, months, or years, of darkness where it seems to the disciples that all is lost. It also might be the time of some falling away from the faith under the burden of the events of the days. However, for those that know their Bible and their Lord, they know that something very great is about to happen. They know the prophets and the end of the great story!
5. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and emerged in a new, greater, more glorious body.
1. What to the world appeared to be dead, suddenly comes roaring back to life. The true church suddenly emerges in a new, more glorious, and powerful form. This most probably will be a miraculous “God” event.
6. This fulfilled the prophecy of Passover and initiated the 50-day barley harvest time.
7. That same day Jesus met with His disciples who were gathered together. They had just spent three days in despair, fear, hiding, and not knowing what was coming next. But now they were filled with joy and hope.
1. This will be a day of great celebration and joy for the church.
8. Jesus breathed on the 11 disciples giving them new life and the authority to use His name in dealing with things on the earth. Jesus spent the next 40 days preparing His disciples for their new assignment to speared the Gospel to the entire world.
1. If we project this pattern into our day perhaps we could see a renewed and greater presence of the Holy Spirit in the church as He comes to prepare the church for the coming events. These events might be associated with a “barley” harvest. The “barley” harvest is often associated with a harvest within the Jewish world. We might relate this to a revival in the Jewish world and the gathering and training of the 144 thousand Jews who will carry the gospel for the first 3 ½ years of the 7 last years of the great tribulation before the Lord’s return.
9. After forty days, Jesus was caught up from the earth into a cloud to return to His Father and His throne in Heaven.
1. The apostle Paul tells us that after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in that God will turn to complete His covenant promises to all Israel. And Jesus will come for His true church to catch them up in the clouds to be with Him forever. As Jesus was caught up in the cloud or “raptured”, perhaps in like manner the true church will be raptured at this time.
2. If this is the scenario then the fulness of the Gentile has come in. The wheat harvest is complete and the next events will be the initiation of the grape, fruit, and vegetable harvest, the harvest of the Jews.
10. The disciples, now 120 (12x10) waited for 10 days in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father.
11. On the day of Pentecost, they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent out into the streets of Jerusalem, and eventually out into all the world to take the gospel to the Gentile world. 
12. This fulfilled the prophecy of Pentecost and initiated the time of the wheat harvest, the church age.
1. The 144 thousand (12x12) Jews of Revelation chapter 7 are equipped (marked) for their coming service for the Lord. Next comes a time of harvest. Could this “harvest” possibly be the gleaning of the wheat fields, the last of the harvest of the Gentiles? If so then the rapture of the church probably has not occurred and for a while, both Jew and Gentile together will reap the last of the wheat harvest, the gleaning of the fields.

 

We note here that the wheat harvest is concluded with the gleaning of the fields at the time of the Feast of Trumpets. This feast then initiates the grape, fruit, and vegetable harvest that is concluded 10 days later at the Feast of Atonement. A great celebration of the harvests comes at the Feast of Harvest or Tabernacles, 5 days after the Feast of Atonement. The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles is called the eighth day, or the “day beyond time” a day of new beginnings.

The end of the wheat harvest is at the time of the Feast of Trumpets. This feast is also often associated with the rapture of church-age saints. The Feast of Trumpet also initiates the last harvest of the year, the grape, fruit, and vegetable harvest. This harvest is often associated with the Jews. This is a 10-day period of time between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. These days are called the “days of trouble” or the “Days of Awe” and in tradition are the final days to get right with God before the Day of Atonement and the gates of heaven are closed.

Following the prophecies of the Feasts, the harvest of the Gentiles ends with the rapture of the church at a Feast of Trumpets. This then initiates a time of harvest for Israel and the Jews. This time ends at the reaping in Revelation 14 at the Feast of Trumpets which ends the 7 years of the great tribulation. The 10 days after this Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, are possibly the days of the last bowls of wrath and the war of Armageddon ending with the return of the Lord on the Day of Atonement. This initiates the 1000-year reign of Christ on the earth, the Feast of Tabernacles. The prophecy of the “Eighth Day” is fulfilled when the LORD creates a new Heaven and a new Earth after 1000 years.

 

The big picture painted for us in our day might look like this:

1.    The true church born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, representing the Lord's physical presence on the earth, experiences times of escalated trouble and persecution.

2.    The world embraces liberal and perverse values, and morals and evil begins to manifest everywhere.

3.    Then an event or events occur that put the church “on trial” before both the world’s religious systems and political systems.

4.    What appears to be defeat and even “death” of the church occurs.

5.    There comes a short period of darkness, fear, and feeling defeated for the church.  

6.    Then something miraculous occurs and the true church emerges from this very dark time in a new, more glorious, more powerful form. This will be a God event on the order of Jesus’ resurrection or the parting of the Red Sea for ancient Israel.

7.    There follows a time of great ingathering of Jews including the 144 thousand of Revelation 7.

8.    At the festival of Pentecost, there is a fresh and new outpouring and empowering of the Holy Spirit. This is followed by a season of the last of the wheat or Gentiles harvest, the gleaning of the fields with a united “new man”, Jew and Gentile together.

9.    Then at the Feast of Trumpets, the true church is raptured leaving the responsibility of carrying the gospel to the believing Jews. At this point, the first seal of Revelation 6 is broken and the Antichrist is released followed by the wars and devastation of seals 2, 3, 4, and 5. This begins the final grape/fruit harvest of the Jew.

a.    The fall Feasts of the Lord are prophecies all about His second coming to the earth. These occur after the fulness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom 11:25-27). So, after the last of the wheat harvest (the gleaning of the fields, the Gentile harvest), the Feast of Trumpets will initiate the time of the Jews. Revelation 2:9-10 may hint that this time of testing of the Jews will be a period of 10, which could be 10 days, weeks, months, or years. Since we know from the book of Daniel that there will be at least 7 years of testing, refining, and tribulation, we might look for another 3 years to make 10 in total. Great trouble for Israel and the Jews begins in Revelation chapter 6 with the release of the Antichrist and the beginning of wars of the second seal. This might us to speculate that the events of Revelation 6 last for 3 years and the great tribulation begins at the breaking of the 7^th seal, for the other 7.

10. Seven years of this harvest are the 7 years of the great tribulation. Because there are hints in Revelation 2:9-10 that this time of testing is a period of 10, possibly 10 years, the time of the first 6 seals might be three years.

11. These 10 years of testing, refining, and gathering of Jews into the kingdom come to an end with the Lord’s reaping of Jews in Revelation 14 and His return to the earth as King of kings.

12. This reaping might well occur at the Feast of Trumpets ending the 7^th year of tribulation. There would follow 10 days of the final bowls of wrath, the war of Armageddon, and finally the Lord’s return on the final Day of Atonement.

13. Then would come the 1000 years of the Lord’s rule on the earth, prophesied by the Feast of Tabernacles.

After 1000 years, comes the Feast of the Eighth Day, the day beyond time and the new heavens and new earth. Thus finally fulfilling the prophecies of the fall Feasts of the Lord and Israel.