THE SIGN OF JONAH

"The Son of Man [Jesus Christ] will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise." Mark 9:31

This is a word God put on my heart recently about repentance, faith, and salvation. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word, Your Son, and Your Spirit. Let Your children with ears hear. Amen.

The story of Jonah is more than a tale of a man and a fish. Jonah 1,2,3. It is a powerful study of God’s grace, human stubbornness, and the cost of not responding to God's call. When God first called Jonah to warn Nineveh, a wicked city ripe for judgment, Jonah did not just hesitate to answer, he ran from God's command, and boarded a ship to Tarshish. What followed was not immediate damnation, but a wake-up call: God sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest that rocked the ship. The men were afraid, and they threw Jonah into the ocean, and the waters became calm. Then, God caused a mighty fish to swallow up Jonah, leading to three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. It was God's warning for Jonah, a taste of the consequences of rejecting God’s call, swift and severe.

From the ocean’s depths, and the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed:

Jonah 2

1 "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly,

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heard my voice.

3 For thou had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple."

"I will look again toward thy Holy temple," signaling his return to faith in God (repentance). God then tells the fish to spit out Jonah, and it spits him out onto dry land. Then, God called to Jonah again: "And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." Jonah 3:1-2. This time, Jonah obeyed God, and God's warning through Jonah to Nineveh sparked repentance across the city, saving it from destruction. Flawed and defiant, Jonah became a vessel of salvation, not because he was perfect, but because he turned back to God and His ways.

Jesus points to Jonah as a sign, when He says, "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." Matthew 12:40. Jonah’s deliverance foreshadowed Christ’s resurrection, a triumph over death that stands as the ultimate proof of God’s power. God saved Jonah from the whale's belly, and Nineveh from destruction. He also saved His only Son, Jesus Christ, from the whale's belly ("three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"). God saved the city of Nineveh through Jonah. He saved all of mankind through Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

But, there is a sharper edge here. Jesus spoke in Matthew 12:40 above, to an evil and adulterous generation, who demanded more signs, a crowd unwilling to accept him despite seeing with their own eyes his many miracles. He was not speaking to the faithful, but skeptics and foes like the Pharisees who sought to catch him in his words and accuse him, as Luke 11:54 and Mark 12:13 reveal. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared and said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus did not leave us. He has all power in heaven and in earth, and He gave us that power as well. Mark 16:17-18; Luke 10:19; 2 Timothy 1:7; Acts 1:8; John 14:2

Just as God called Jonah and Nineveh to repentance, the resurrection is His call for man's repentance, to believe in His Son, and to have faith unto obedience, not just awe at His sacrifice. Love requires love. As Jesus said: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

Faith means following Him, and obeying Him.

Some might say Jonah’s story is different because it happened before Jesus’ sacrifice removed sin’s eternal sting. Back then, rejecting God’s Will brought immediate reckoning, like the storm that rocked the ship, and being in the belly of the fish, since Jesus had not yet ushered in grace. Today, because of the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, we are justified by faith, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1. We are forgiven when we confess. 1 John 1:9. But does that mean accountability vanishes? Not at all. Take Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. In the early church, after Jesus' ascension into heaven, Ananias and Sapphira sold property but lied about giving all the proceeds to the apostles. Peter said, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto the Holy Spirit," and they fell dead instantly, struck down for deceiving God.

Or, consider the Corinthians who fell sick or died for dishonoring the Lord’s Supper: "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." 1 Corinthians 11:28-30

God’s grace does not erase consequences; it calls us to obey. For Jonah, it was correction to obedience: ​"For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives." Hebrews 12:6. For us, it is no different: "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." Acts 5:32

What do we make of this? Jonah’s second chance shows God’s grace is vast, and He pursues even the stubborn, but rejection has a cost, then and now. Had Jonah not repented, the outcome could have been grim, surely the same as God promised an unrepentant Nineveh. Scripture drives this home: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 7:21. Faith is not just a one-time claim of "I Believe"; it is a life of obedience led by faith and the Holy Spirit that guides. Even the demons "believe," and know Jesus is the Holy One of God: "Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." Mark 1:24. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19. "Knowing" and "believing" with a wicked heart leads to destruction, but believing with a righteous heart, set on God's ways, that leads to life.

Jesus rose from the dead, proving His authority, and He calls all to follow Him. He obeyed God’s will perfectly, even unto death, because he had God's Holy Spirit. And, He calls us to do the same: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48. His sacrifice forgives sins: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. Does that forgive every sin forever? If we repent and ask for forgiveness every day, it does. Scripture calls us to "pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and also to repent when we pray. When asked by His disciples how to pray, Jesus taught them a daily prayer, the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13, "...forgive us as we forgive... and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil..." (repentance). The Ninevites got it, repenting at God's warning through Jonah, and were saved. But for those who do not get it, or do not care Romans 6:16? Jesus warns of a resurrection to death: "And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; They that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:29

Hebrews adds, "If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment." Hebrews 10:26-27. That knowledge of the truth comes from the Holy Spirit, given to those who believe in Jesus, who is the truth, and have faith in God: "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..." John 16:13. It is not mere head knowledge, but a living revelation, rejected at our own peril.

But, does Scripture back this up? Let’s see.

What is the "knowledge of the truth"? The Truth is Jesus Christ: He is the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6. The Holy Spirit teaches believers, who obey God Acts 5:32, all things about Jesus (the knowledge of the truth) John 16:13. It is not a textbook lesson but a revelation that takes root in our hearts, showing us who Jesus was, is, and will be, what He has done, is doing, and will do, and what God expects from us now. Holy Spirit ties it together in our heart.

John 15:26: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." 

The Spirit reveals Jesus, making the truth personal and real.

1 John 2:20, 27: "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things... But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

Luke 12:47-48: "And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required..."​

The Holy Spirit is inside us when we have faith in God, and believe in Jesus. We must prepare ourselves according to His Will.

1 Timothy 2:4: "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."​ 1 Timothy 2:5-6 

2 Timothy 2:25: "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."​ 

It is linked to repentance, a heart-change towards God’s reality.

2 Timothy 3:7: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

Some resist this truth, missing its depth.

Titus 1:1 (KJV): "Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness."​

Again, the truth (Jesus) is connected to faith and a life of godliness, which is obedience.

Hebrews 10:26-27 above is not just a warning; it is a call to hold fast to the truth we have been given, because there is no Plan B. Jesus is the sacrifice, and the Spirit teaches us about Him. Scripture confirms it: The "knowledge of the truth" is a living revelation from the Holy Spirit, given to those who believe in Jesus and obey God. The scripture shows it is not just information. It is life. There is no other way to be saved. The Bible is clear, and the stakes are eternal.

So, Jonah’s second chance, and Jesus’ resurrection, shout the same truth: God offers deliverance, but He requires a perfect heart and a willing mind:

"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever." 1 Chronicles 28:9

A perfect heart comes from repentance: Jonah and Nineveh repented (they both turned back... to God), and were saved from destruction. Jesus rose from the dead, proving His authority, and He calls all to follow in faith, seeking forgiveness as we stumble. The sign is there, vivid, undeniable: Before or after the resurrection, faith is not passive. In other words, it leads to action. Compare your life to Jonah's. Are you running from God's call? Has God given you rocky storms, or three days and nights in living hell? Read my blog titled, "The Veil here," about God calling my husband and I to repentance one weekend during a hurricane in 2021. We answered His call to repent that day. Praise God. Have you?

Faith is active, obedient, alive, beyond mere humanly knowledge, guided by Holy Spirit into a life aligned with God’s Will through Jesus Christ in us, sustained by prayer and repentance.

Because in the end, God’s Will prevails, and we are either with Him, or against Him. There is the belly of the whale, or there is salvation in Christ, the truth. There is no middle. 

Philippians 2

10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

See some of my other blogs related to this topic:

"A New Heart" here" 

 "The Holy Spirit Transforms"

"By Faith"

"The Triumphs of Faith"

Seek God and you will find Him. All glory to God in the highest.

Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.