When Christ said that the only sign He would give would be the sign of the prophet Jonah, it was a very telling statement.
Luke 11:29-30- 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.
Jonah was the only Old Testament prophet from the region of Galilee. He was from Gathhepher, a border town in the Northern Kingdom of Israel just West of the Sea of Galilee.
II Kings 14:25- He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.
There was a reason that Christ was asking them if they had ever read certain things out of the Scriptures. But they showed their arrogance quite well in John 7 when they were arguing with Nicodemus on the subject.
John 7:52-53- They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house.
No one even searched. No one looked. No one bothered to even question.
So what exactly is it about the story of Jonah that Christ wanted the Jews to understand?
First, Jonah was a prophet to the Kingdom of Israel. This is the kingdom that split from Rehoboam after the death of Solomon. They set up their new idols in Bethel and claimed Samaria as their capital city. This kingdom fell under God's judgment for their idolatry around 700 BC and was carried away captive to the nation of Assyria.
He was called by God to go to the Gentile city of Nineveh. While Jonah was a Jewish prophet, he was given a command to go preach against the very capital city of the Assyrian Empire. The message was very simple, "Repent or perish".
Jonah, however, didn't want to go. He explains why he ran in the very last chapter of the book. He knew that God could be merciful if people humbled themselves.
Jonah 4:2- And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
The sign that Jesus was referencing was the most notable story that is commonly told to children in Sunday school- the story of Jonah and the whale.
Matthew 12:40- 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.
We all know the story. Jonah disobeyed God and ran to get on a ship going in the opposite direction. While on the vessel out at sea, a storm arose and the sailors feared for their lives. When they found out it was Jonah's fault, they tried everything they could to save themselves and the ship, but eventually had to relent and follow Jonah's directions.
Jonah 1:15- So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
But God wasn't done with Jonah. He had a great fish- a whale according to Jesus- who came along at that very moment and swallowed Jonah whole.
Jonah 1:17- Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah prayed to the Lord while he was inside the whale's belly. He poured out his heart to God. Notice the words that Jonah uses. It sounds an awful lot like he died inside the whale and the Lord brought him back.
Jonah 2:2,5,6- 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 heardest my voice. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
The fish obeyed God and swam to the surface and spit Jonah out of his stomach onto the dry land.
This time, Jonah obeyed God and went and preached to Nineveh. This was the last message that Jonah gave. The story ends with him out in the Assyrian desert telling God that he wished to die.
The book itself ends with a question from God.
Jonah 4:11- And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Jonah feared that the Lord would show mercy to these wicked Gentiles. But, perhaps his fear had another variable. Because if the Lord showed mercy, then Jonah's time as a prophet was over.
Deuteronomy 18:22- When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Jonah spent three days and three nights inside a whale, came out and preached his last message, many Gentiles repented, and then his ministry was over.
This is what happened with Christ. He died and was buried for three days and three nights, came out and preached his last message and then ascended into heaven. That was the end of His earthly ministry. And since that time, many Gentiles have repented.
Why are there people who want to refute the account of Jonah and the whale? Some, perhaps, innocently believe that it is a myth or an impossible story, but others because they know if the story is true, then that means that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is also true.
Much of the argument goes that a whale cannot swallow a human because their throats are so small. But, we have recent history that shows this idea to be false.In 2021, a lobster diver by the name of Michael Packard was swallowed by a humpback whale. He was in scuba gear and started thrashing around inside the whale's mouth. The whale didn't like it and swam to the surface and shook him out. He lived, and he and his crewmates who saw the ordeal had an epic story to tell.
This isn't the only time this has happened.
In 1891, it was reported that during a whaling expedition off the Falkland Islands, James Bartley's boat was attacked by a sperm whale, and he fell off the boat and landed inside the whale's mouth. His crew harpooned the creature, and began skinning the whale because of the hot weather which would have rotted the whale meat. He was carved out of the stomach by his peers during the process. It was said that he was in the whale for 36 hours and it was also said that his skin had been bleached by the gastric juices, and that he was blind the rest of his life. He died 18 years later and his tombstone in Gloucester says "James Bartley- a modern day Jonah".
Our modern news media keeps the world apprised of the most recent tales, however, before the advent of newspapers, stories such as these would have been told by mouth to those who came in contact with the witnesses.
The argument that it is impossible for a man to be swallowed by a whale and live has been proven false! The Bible is true. The account of Jonah is true. Jesus being God's Son and dying for our sins, being buried for three days and three nights, and then rising again is true. And it is also true that His sacrifice on Calvary is the only acceptable payment for the sin debt.
Christ's earthly ministry as a prophet occurred during His first coming. He was the prophet foretold by Moses. He came to take away the sins of the world.
Deuteronomy 18:15- The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Once He ascended, that part of His ministry was over. He is now in heaven at the right hand of God making intercession for those who have accepted His payment for their sin debt.
Hebrews 7:22,25- By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
He didn't stay dead; He won't stay gone. When Christ comes again, His second advent, it won't be a prophet. It will be as the King of Kings. He's coming to rule and reign.
Revelation 11:15- And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
It's your decision as to how you will meet Him. You can meet Him as your Savior while you are still alive on this earth, or you can meet Him as your judge after you've died. But you will meet Him one day, just as surely as Jonah was swallowed by the whale.
