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<2012.01> Except the Sign of the Prophet Jonah

Except the Sign of the Prophet Jonah 2
This is an edited version of the lecture titled, "Except the Sign of the Prophet Jonah" which was preached on December 22, 2007.
 An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.   (Matthew 12:39)
The Many Perspectives of the Book of Jonah
The history of the nation of Israel starts to actively emerge starting in the book of Exodus and their history continues on in the Five Books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings and so forth. And the book of Jonah takes place during the period of the Kings of the nation of Israel. Because the book of Jonah is located towards the end of the Old Testament, people who do not know the Bible might think that God prophesied and carried His work through Jonah after a certain time period had ended.  But these events took place at a certain point in time during the time of the Kings.
While we read the many books in the Old Testament such as the books of the prophets, First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles, Judges and so forth, the common theme we notice is that God continued to guide the nation of Israel. We read about what God said to the nation of Israel, what warnings He gave to the nation of Israel and what kind of things He prophesied. But in the book of Jonah the city of Nineveh appears and the prophecies about this place appear in the book of Isaiah and also in the book of Nahum written by Nahum. We see God warning a particular gentile region that is not part of the nation of Israel.
A warning to a region called Nineveh appears in the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah is not about God warning the nation of Israel, who knows the law, for committing a sin against Him. And it isn't about the misfortune that would fall upon the nation of Israel for disobeying God's word. So as I read the book of Jonah, I think that it is a very extraordinary book. As a gentile sinner who came to know the Bible, I think there is something to deeply think about in the book of Jonah. But that is not to say that this book is more special than the other books of the Bible.
Because we are able to see the Old and New Testament Bible together, we naturally accept that the mystery of the Church is revealed to us as we read the New Testament. In the Bible it says, "the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among th Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:26-27) And because we live in this part of history called the Age of the Church, there are people who disregard the blessing that the Church received through the blood of Jesus Christ. But we should go back in time to about 3000 years ago and put our thoughts there and think about ourselves.
Whenever I read the book of Jonah I realize that there are many perspectives that this book could be read from. First, we have the responsibility to read the book of Jonah from the point of view of an individual sinner who didn't know the Bible and walked on the path of evil. And from a different perspective, as someone who has come to know the Bible and discovered Jesus Christ and as a born again person, we are able to reflect upon our lives before we came to know this truth. It is also necessary to read the book of Jonah as someone who witnessed the work of God being carried out in the fellowship and is aware of how to live their lives as a Christian within this movement of God's work. And also as born again person living in the flesh that is still held by sin, we can read the book of Jonah from this perspective because it teaches us to look back at our lives.
We can also read the book of Jonah from the perspective of the nation of Israel. The many books of the Bible recorded during the Old Testament times are about the nation of Israel and from that perspective, we are able to read the book of Jonah through the eyes of Jonah, who is Jewish, and how he sees the city of Nineveh. The relationship of the nation of Israel and the gentile nations are clearly divided in the Old Testament. And In the New Testament we see the Jews and, although comprised of gentiles as well, the Church that discovered Jesus Christ. We are able to think about these two relationships through the book of Jonah. And as individuals who were born again and became part of the Church of God, we are able to view this sinful world from the perspective of the Church that God has allowed in history. And we can experience this through the book of Jonah.
The story contained in this book seems simple, however, when we take a closer look at the order of events and look into the details and take into consideration the regional significance and the events that will unfold in the future and think about how these things are related, we are able to take a closer look and think about what God is telling mankind. 
Three Days and Three Nights Filled by God
Jesus said the following:
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But He answered and said to them, "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 belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:38-42)
Whenever I read the four Gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John-I am amazed. In the Gospels, similar to our ordinary lives in which we act, communicate, eat food and among the small and significant events that occur, we are able to see that these things occur through one man called Jesus Christ as well.  And amongst these acts, at first glance, there are instances where it appears that Jesus said certain things very lightly. But when we read this from the perspective of someone who knows the Old Testament, there is great meaning and depth in the words of Jesus that is difficult for us to comprehend.
For example, when Jesus saw the multitude of people He spoke about the parable of the sower. The people were standing on the land and Jesus was speaking to them about the parable of the sower from a boat floating on the water (see Matthew 13:1-9). Why did Jesus speak about the seed on the water, or sitting in the boat to the people who were made of dust standing on the land? I think about this quite often. In the book of Genesis we read about how God separated the water and earth and let the earth bring forth grass and herb that yields seed, and tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself (see Genesis 1:9-13). Whenever I read such passages, I strongly sense that God the Creator had truly come to this world.
Jesus had called His disciples and spoke to them on the mountain. He started talking about, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," and we are familiar with this speech in Matthew 5 that He gave on the mountain. Jesus spoke at the mountain about the blessings that the nation of Israel would later receive. During His short life of 33 years, He carried out His work for about three years and during that short period of time He accomplished an enormous amount of work and spoke about many things. And the deeper meaning of the Old Testament was hidden within His words and actions. If we keep that in mind while we read the Gospels, we are able to think about the significance of Jesus' life and death and what kind of gift was given to us individually.
In Matthew's gospel chapter 12 it says that the scribes and the Pharisees asked for a sign and Jesus said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." In verse 40 it says, "For 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," and when we think about what this verse says, it's easier for us to understand. We might simply think, "That's right. In the book of Jonah chapter 2 we see that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish praying for three days and three nights. And Jesus died, and came back to life after three days.' 
I would like to pose a question to all of you. Was Jesus indeed buried in the ground for three days and three nights? When Jesus spoke about Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, did the scribes and Pharisees who were sinners at the time understand even a bit that there was a tremendous secret hidden in Jesus' words?
The Jews observe the Sabbath on Saturday. But Jesus was crucified on the day before the Sabbath so the day He was nailed to the cross was Friday. But what day did Jesus resurrect? It was Sunday. Then Jesus was in the ground on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some people may say that He was buried for two nights and three days, but Jesus definitely said "three days and three nights." But how is it three days and three nights? When we read the Bible, we can see that a certain event took place the moment that Jesus died on the cross.
The heavens and the earth were dimmde,The sun was dark as night.The winds that billowed in the skyWere howling in their grief. (united hymn 90)
"The sun was dark as night." Although Jesus was crucified during broad daylight, there were a couple hours of darkness. For those who witnessed Jesus on the cross shedding His blood and dying, an incomprehensible darkness swept across the land. Darkness came and then it became bright again, so the evening came and then it became morning. And then the evening and the morning came and it was the Sabbath day. And then the evening passed and Jesus resurrected on the day after the Sabbath. Then isn't it correct to say that it was three days and three nights? The one day that suddenly appeared during broad daylight when it suddenly became dark and bright is the mystery. That was the time that was hidden from the very beginning.
One day Joseph interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker of the Pharaoh. And he told them that the chief baker would be hanged in three days and the butler would be restored to his position and serve the Pharaoh. And he asked them to remember him when that happens. Just as Joseph said, the two men went a different path of destiny and the butler whose positio
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