Hello Jean and Doves,
In Matthew, Jesus talks about the Sign of Jonah.
Adding to what Jean wrote, I see this double sign of Jonah
as time periods associated with the Sign of Jonah. A
three day time period associated with the Sign of Jonah and
a forty day time period associated with the Sign of Jonah.
For the Three Day Time Period Associated With the Sign of
Jonah:
Matthew 12:39 - 40: "But He answered and said unto
them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign
of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Jesus compared Jonah's three days and three nights in the
belly of the whale to his upcoming three days and three
nights in the tomb - this would be the sign to 'that wicked
and adulterous generation' that he was talking to at that
time.
This would be the three day time period.
And For the Forty Day Time Period Associated With the Sign
of Jonah:
Then in Matthew 16:4 Jesus talks again about the sign of
Jonah - "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign
of the prophet Jonas. And He left them and
departed." (no mention this time of the three days and
three nights.....)
This would be the forty day time period.
Luke tells us that "For as Jonas was a sign unto the
Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this
generation." Jonas brought a message to repent or
else. Jesus brought a similar message. We know what
happened to the Jewish people, Jerusalem and the Temple -
not one stone....
Did the Ninevites KNOW that Jonah was in the belly of the
whale for three days and three nights? Would they have
cared? The scripture does not say that Jonah told the
Ninevites he was in the belly of the whale. The
Ninevites probably didn't know anything about the
whale. So how could this be a sign to them?
Jonah prophesied 'repent or else'.
Jonah went through Nineveh "proclaiming, "Forty more days
and Nineveh will be overthrown." Jonah
3:4. And in the very next verse it has "So the people
of Nineveh believed God." It seems then that something
else was 'the last straw' that pushed the king and the
entire city into repentance.
So the sign of Jonah to Nineveh was something else then -
something all the people could see and know was an omen of
doom. I wrote before about a great total solar eclipse
over Nineveh when Jonah was there - ancient people saw total
solar eclipses as a sign of coming doom. Signs in the
sun and the moon.
There was a total solar eclipse recorded in the Assyrian
eponym lists during the reign of King Ashur-dan III on June
15, 763 BC. It was even named the Bur-Sagale
eclipse. It occurred when Jeroboam II ruled over
Israel. Jonah lived and prophesied during this king's
reign. This eclipse was recorded during Jonah's time -
this was probably 'that last straw'.
"Assyriologist Donald Wiseman, a former curator at the
British Museum, and editor of Chronicles of Chaldean Kings
and The Alalakh Tablets, published in the Tyndale Bulletin
in 1979 where he argued persuasively that this
eclipse would help explain the dramatic reaction to
Jonah's preaching...Jonah preaches at just the right time
for the people of Nineveh to listen to him.
The Assyrian nation was weak and in chaos in the decade
around 760 BCE. They have one earthquake (one sign of
divine wrath). There was a famine from 765-758
BCE. Assyria was losing battles and losing territory
to its enemies. There were domestic riots."
A total eclipse these days will not be seen as a sign of
doom - the coming destruction of a city or a kingdom - like
during Jonah's day. We are 'too scientific' for
that. But to many Christians watching for the signs in
the sun and the moon and the stars - this April 8 total
solar eclipse over America - the second in seven years over
America - marking out a giant X - added to everything else
going on (just like the Ninevites saw 'everything else going
on') - this coming total solar eclipse could be 'the last
straw' for America.
I hope the Rapture is soon. Sunday, March 3 to
April 8 is 36 days. If April 8 is the final warning -
maybe 40 days later? May 18, 2024.
Maybe this second warning is for the people 'left
behind'....to warn them of coming doom.
Just a thought.
Maranatha!
Chance