The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

There are three mentions of the Sign of Jonah in the New Testament.

Matthew first mentions it in Matthew 12:38-42 and then again in 16:1-4.

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 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. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 12:38-42

The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 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.

Matthew 16:1-4

Luke mentions it in Luke 11:29-32. Notice the commonality in all these mentions.

And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Luke 11:29-32

They are all founded on the statement “an evil (& adulterous, according to Matthew) generation seeketh after signs“, but the Messiah said, there will be no sign given them — except for the sign of the prophet Jonah.

What is the Sign of the Prophet Jonah?

There are teachings of men today who claim the “sign” he was referring to was Jonah’s time in the belly of the whale & his release, and that it was indicative of the time that the Messiah will spend in the grave & his resurrection. But that’s not what the Messiah said.

Luke doesn’t even mention the time Jonah spent in the belly of the whale (“3 days & 3 nights”). He only mentions the fact that Jonah was a prophet, and that the men of Nineveh repented at his preaching.

The people in Messiah’s day were seeking after signs from heaven — they didn’t want to hear the words of YHVH, truth or wisdom, and they didn’t want to hear about God’s judgment or heed a call for repentance suggesting they were in error. They wanted signs.

But the Messiah was not going to give them what they asked for.

Instead, he gave them the signal they already had — that at the preaching of Jonah to a wicked (& pagan) generation concerning what would come of them – destruction, the people believed God and proclaimed a fast & wore sackcloth — they genuinely repented, and their peril was averted. (Jonah 3:1-10)

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. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.

Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Jonah 3:1-10

This is what the Messiah wanted to draw their attention to.

Breaking Down the Sign of Jonah

• Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
• Jonah preached the great city of Nineveh was to be overthrown.
• The people believed God and proclaimed a fast.
• Word came to the king.
• The king rose from his throne, laid aside his robe & covered himself with sackcloth & ashes.
• The king decreed a fast, a covering of sackcloth & ashes, an outcry to God, and a turning away from wickedness.
• The king hoped God would be merciful & turn from His anger and spare them.
• God saw their works & their turning away from evil, and He changed the course He was on and spared the people of Nineveh.

Where Was the Heart of the Earth?

According to Matthew, the Messiah said that the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth, for three days and three nights.

First, I want to point out the Greek word translated as “earth” in this passage and elsewhere is “ge” (G1093), which means “arable land”. I would argue a better translation of that word is simply land. Given this, the phrase would then read in the heart of the land.

Where was this place?

Some doctrines of men claim this is a reference to the grave; however, I believe it is the city of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was the center of all life (“heart”) in the land of Judea. That is where the ruling class, the royal priesthood of that day, resided. And that is the place through which all the lifeblood in that region flowed, both literally and figuratively.

Yeshua even alludes to Jerusalem when he notes that the queen of the south came from the uttermost parts of the land to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth (or land) to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 12:42

The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth (or land) to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Luke 11:31

Where was Solomon located to which the Queen of the South travelled? In Jerusalem.

All the gospel accounts record Jesus/Yeshua preaching, and this word came to the ruling class of that day.

But, instead of that ruling class heeding the words of the Anointed Son of God & figuratively rising from their royal seat, laying aside their royal garments, putting upon themselves sackcloth & ashes and decreeing to the people to humble themselves, cry out to God & turn from their wicked ways as was seen in Nineveh, they killed the messenger — as they had always done in times past.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 23:37-39

And that generation was condemned by the men of Nineveh because they did not heed the words of the Almighty God spoken through the mouth of His Son, Yeshua the Messiah.