Bible scholars have tried for centuries to figure out what Jesus
meant about the sign of Jonah. God now gives this as a sign that you would know
I tell you the truth: America, if we turn our backs on Him, He will turn His back on us. And
yet, His desire is for the unbeliever, seek God and live. THREE DAYS AND THREE
NIGHTS
IN THE BELLY OF THE WHALE
Copyright ©
2002 by Jennifer Shroder
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Because I have made bold statements of faith, a group of atheists challenged
me about what Jesus said:
"An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign
will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah 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" (Mt 12:40)
It was the atheist's contention that according to the Bible, Jesus did not spend three days
and three nights in the "heart of the earth" (or "tomb"
as they saw it).
I know there are many
long scholarly explanations about this, but none of them seemed right, so I
asked God if He would explain it to me in His word. No sooner had I asked than I heard that small voice
say, "It began before He was crucified."
What I have written is what I found when I sought confirmation in
the Bible. Since this "debate" with 10-14 atheists, three atheists have
contacted me to talk more about God, two have asked for prayer to believe, and the remaining
seriously plotted to kill me.
The Sign:
Was this sign to mean Jesus would die and rise after three days and
three nights sealed in a tomb? Lazarus had just risen from death in a
tomb
after FOUR days and the Pharisees who wanted a sign were
very aware of it. Did Jesus mean to repeat this miracle, for fewer
days, and offer it as a sign? No, the sign was much more
than rising from the dead after three days and nights in a tomb.
The sign was to immerse Himself in our sins,
separated from God as Jonah prophesied, where God would not hear, pay
for our sins with suffering, death and on the third day
rise again.
The Scripture:
"...so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in
the
heart of the earth" (Mt 12:40)
The Bible shows us that the "whale's belly" or the
"heart of the earth" began for Jesus on the night He was betrayed,
immediately after He performed His last healing miracle, when He was
"delivered into the hands of men" and became sin:
"For He has made Him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him." (2 Cor 5:21)
Jesus was separated from God and
immersed in our sin on the night He was betrayed. Something far
more shocking to His being than physical death, the first time in all
eternity that Jesus was separated from the Father. I can show you the
Scriptures. Please hear me out…
Scriptures repeatedly show the
"earth" to be man's heart, which the Bible says is exceedingly
wicked. (proof of this later). As Scriptures indicate, Jesus
became sin on the night He
was betrayed, included suffering, the crucifixion, death and
resurrection, totaling three days and three nights.
Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb, was without blemish on the night He
was betrayed:
"[We were redeemed]… with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot."
(1 Peter 1:19)
Of course this refers to Jesus being sinless, yet the lamb was to
be perfect in every way. The precious blood could not flow or
be wasted before the sacrifice began. The blood began to flow on the
night He was betrayed.
"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace [prosperity, welfare] was
upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5)
If the sign that Jesus gave was completed only by His death, time
in the grave and resurrection, how was payment made earlier when He
was wounded, bruised and given stripes (scourged)? Was He
beaten and bleeding before He became sin? Were the bruises and
bleeding for nothing? No! Was the Lamb delivered for the
sacrifice already bloodied and torn? No!
"He was wounded for our transgressions..."
(Isaiah 53:5)
"He has made Him to be sin for us...that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
(2 Cor 5:21)
Christ had to become sin before payment could begin or the blood
would be wasted. The chastisement "was upon Him." The miracle of Christ's redemption began on Thursday
night when Christ became sin, the night He was betrayed, immersed in
our sins and delivered unto man. Before the first drop of His
precious blood, Jesus suffered far more than physical death, He became
sin which separated Him from His Father, in the heart of the earth, in
the belly of the whale..
Verses that show sin separates us from God:
"But your iniquities have separated
you from your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear."
(Isaiah 59:2)
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me."
(Psalm 66:18)
Scripture Confirms the Sequence:
I did a computer check
and found a total of 12 scripture verses that contained the "three days" or "third day" time frame. EVERY SINGLE ONE began the
sequence by starting with the betrayal or suffering. It was
never left out.
Understand this. Not once was what happened on "the
night He was betrayed" omitted when the three day sequence was
outlined in the Bible, not once. 12 out of 12 times a witness came up
to bat and laid out the sequence beginning Thursday night, described
as either the night He was delivered into the hands of men or the
brutality He went through referencing that time. (below are three, see all twelve verses at end of this message)
1. "Saying, the Son of man must suffer many things, and be
rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain,
and be raised the third day." (Luke 9:22)
2. "Jesus said unto them, the Son of man shall
be betrayed into the hands of man; and they shall kill Him, and the third
day He shall be raised again." (Matthew 17:22)
3. "and they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and
shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him, and the third day He shall
rise again." (Mark 10:34) (See all 12)
NO WHERE does it only say,
"The Son of man must die and the third day rise again" without
listing the full sequence, including suffering. (there is one
scripture which is a quote of what the Pharisees (bad guys) said, which of course,
they were clueless. Interesting that only the bad guys were able to
repeat it wrong.)
Twelve out of twelve times is NOT a coincidence.
"The Heart of the Earth"
Many have assumed this indicates Jesus in the tomb. Yet, there are
countless Scriptures that indicate "earth" is the heart of man, which the Bible says
is exceedingly wicked. Thus when Jesus became sin, He was in the
"heart of the earth."
Jesus
Himself used "earth" many times when He referred to man's heart. The
"four soils" parable (originally "earth" in
Scripture, Greek and KJV) confirms that earth is used to
describe the heart of man. The importance of this is exemplified, for
when the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parable, He said,
"Know you not this parable? How then
will you know all parables?" (Mk 4:13)
Jesus then explains that the seed that was sown in the earth is:"...the word that was sown in their hearts."
(Mark 4:15)
The "faith of a mustard seed"
parable is also planted in the earth and the earth signifies man's heart; and
the talents were also "hidden in the earth" by the lazy servant.
Suddenly so many other verses that include the earth make sense to me.
The treasure hidden in a field, etc. are all about man's heart.
Additionally, 1 Cor 15:47 says,
"The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second
man is the Lord from heaven." (speaking of Adam and Jesus)
Jesus entered the "heart of the earth" or the "heart of
man" as the parables often point out, when He fulfilled prophesy and
BECAME SIN.
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil
continually..." (Genesis 6:5-12)
"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness
are like filthy rags."
(Isaiah 64:6)
There are dozens of Scriptures that depict mankind as
the "earth" expressing emotions and reactions as men's hearts.
Even the original Greek word in the Scripture for "heart" is kardia:
kardia; prol. from a primary (Lat. cor,
"heart); the heart, i.e. (fig) the thoughts or feelings (mind). [Strongs
Exhaustive Conc.]
An Interesting Twist: The Man in Linen
Mark 14:50 says that when the soldiers took
Jesus,
"They [His followers] all forsook Him and fled. And there
followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth
cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: and
he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked."
Ever wonder about that verse?...
I believe this "certain man" was the spiritual being that Daniel
described in Daniel 10:5, "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked and
behold a certain man clothed in linen…" compares to a certain young
man, having a linen cloth…SAME description. This spiritual being was
wearing linen.
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Three Days and Three Nights