The Sign of Jonah: Three Days and Three
Nights, Part 1
1. The Sign of Jonah.
Matthew 12: 38.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to
see a sign from you.” 39. But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous
generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except
the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40. For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jonah 1: 17. And
Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the
belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Three days and three
nights is the only sign given the evil generation – 72 hours in the heart
of the earth. Yet misinterpretation has made the sign of Jonah into
approximately 36 hours. We have Yahshua impaled on Friday PM and arising
at dawn on Sunday. Does this fulfill the only sign Yahshua gave to the
adulterous (idolatrous) generation? No. In the first part of this study,
let’s reaffirm the sign from the Scripture.
2. Let’s understand Yahweh’s
Sabbaths.
Deuteronomy 5:12.
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh Elohim commanded
you. 13. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; 14. but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the Yahweh Elohim; in it you shall not do any
work”
There were around
50 of these Sabbaths every year, the seventh day of every week, sundown to
sundown. Sabbath today still begins Friday sundown and ends Saturday
sundown.
3. Now, the Day of Preparation.
Since no food could be prepared on
the Sabbath, all food to be eaten that day was prepared the day before –
on Friday while the sun was shining. Friday sunlight is “the day of
preparation” for the weekly Sabbath, which begins at sundown Friday night.
4. Let’s understand the first of
Yahweh’s High Days.
There are seven
high days in each year. The first high day is the first
day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Leviticus 23:6. And
on the fifteenth day of the same month (Abib) is the Festival of
unleavened bread to Yahweh; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
7. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall
do no laborious work.
The Festival of
Unleavened Bread is seven days long, and the first day is a High Day,
called a Sabbath or High Sabbath.
5. High Sabbath Days don’t
necessarily fall on the seventh day.
For instance,
Festival of Unleavened Bread 2007 began Tuesday Evening, April 3rd, Abib
(or Nissan) 15 on the Hebrew calendar. When the Festival of Unleavened
Bread falls depends on when the new moon is seen. Fifteen days after the
new moon is the Festival. The first day of the Festival is a High Sabbath
Day.
6. Each High Sabbath Day requires
a day of preparation as well, for no work can be done on these High Days.
The preparation
day for the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread has a special name –
Pesach or Passover. Again, Passover is the Day of Preparation
for the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Passover 2007 fell on April 2nd,
Abib 14 on the Hebrew Calendar. The understanding of Sabbaths, High
Sabbaths and Preparations Days is essential to learning the Sign of
Jonah.
Passover Day = Preparation Day for the
First Day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread
The Passover Meal is eaten at the beginning
of the Preparation Day
Passover day began at 7:55 PM on Monday,
April 2nd, 2007.
The First Day of the Festival of Unleavened
Bread began at 7:55 PM on Tuesday April 3rd.
Back to the Bible:
7. Tuesday - In the year
that Yahshua ate his last Passover supper, Passover started on a
Tuesday Evening.
Matthew 26:31. Then
Yahshua said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night;
for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock
will be scattered.’ 32. But after I am raised up, I will go before you
to Galilee.”
Again, this is
Tuesday evening at the beginning of the day of Passover, the
Preparation day for the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread.
8. Wednesday – The Day of
Preparation for the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Mark 15:33. And
when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until
the ninth hour. 34. And at the ninth hour (3 PM) Yahshua
cried with a loud voice, “Elohi, Elohi, lama sabach-thani?” ... 36.
And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and
gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will
come to take him down.” 37. And Yahshua uttered a loud cry, and
breathed his last.
John 19:30. When
Yahshua had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed
his head and gave up his spirit. 31. Since it was the day of
Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the
cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a High Day), the Jews
asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken
away.
It will be
Preparation Day until sunset Wednesday night. In the course of the night,
Yahshua is captured, tried – at daylight sent to Pilate – crucified – and
died all on Passover day, the Day of Preparation, a Wednesday (by
our way of understanding). He is entombed at the end of the day before
dusk.
Mark 15:42. And
when (Wednesday) evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation,
that is, the day before the Sabbath
(the Sabbath
being the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, not
Saturday),
Mark 15:43. Joseph
of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself
looking for the kingdom of Elohim, took courage and went to Pilate, and
asked for the body of Yahshua. ... 46. And he bought a linen shroud, and
taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb
which had been hewn out of the rock ...
Luke 23:54. It was
the day of Preparation, and the (High) Sabbath was beginning. 55.
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the
tomb, and how his body was laid; 56. then they returned, and had
prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according
to the commandment.
Mark 15:46b. and he
rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
The burial of
Yahshua was all completed before sunset so they could observe the High
Sabbath then. So Yahshua was in
the Tomb on the High Sabbath – the First Day of the Festival of Unleavened
Bread.
Yahshua is ‘in
there’ Wednesday night at the start of the first day of Unleavened Bread
(A High Day).
Yahshua is ‘in
there’ Thursday night at the start of the second day of Unleavened Bread
(24 hours completed).
Yahshua is ‘in
there’ Friday night at the start of the third day of Unleavened Bread (and
also the weekly Sabbath – 48 hours completed).
Yahshua is in
there all day Saturday the weekly Sabbath until twilight Saturday evening
(72 hours completed – three full days and nights).
9. He is Risen – Saturday, between
6 to 8 pm, thirty-six hours after he is put in the tomb.
Matthew 28:1. Now
after the Sabbath, toward the dawn (the drawing on,
epiqwskoush) of the first (day) of the week (Saturday sunset), Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher. 2. And behold,
there was a great earthquake; for an angel of Yahweh descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3. His appearance
was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. 4. And for fear of
him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5. But the angel said
to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Yahshua who was
crucified. 6. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see
the place where he lay.”
It’s night! And the
light comes from “the Angel of Yahweh.”
10. Mary Approaches the Tomb
Saturday after Dark.
John 20:1. NOW
ON the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early,
while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away
from the tomb.
Early would be
considered sometime around eight or nine PM Saturday night, while it was
dark. This was the beginning of the first day of the week, when they
could go forth after the Sabbath. Would Mary Magdalene have
waited until sunrise service? No way. She would have gotten over
there the minute Sabbath was ended – Saturday night.
John 20:14. Saying
this, she turned round and saw Yahshua standing, but she did not know that
it was Yahshua. (Quiz – why didn’t she recognize him right away?) 15.
Yahshua said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?”
Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have
carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him
away.” 16. Yahshua said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in
Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher, not husband).
11. But look here!
Mark 16:2. And very
early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun
had risen. 3. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll
away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”
When they all
may have learned of his resurrection has little to do with when he
actually arose.
12. So, the Sign of Jonah was
fulfilled – Yahshua’s body was entombed in the bowels of the earth 72
hours – Wednesday just before sundown to Saturday just before sundown, and
he rose at the end of the Sabbath (Saturday) evening – not Sunday morning
at dawn. The women discovered him either Saturday evening or
Sunday morning. By the time they discovered him, he had already
arisen.
Jonah 2:10. And
Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
The Sign of Jonah: Three Days and Three
Nights, Part 2
“What did Yahshua Do
(in Spirit) the Three Days his Body was in the Grave?”
Jackson Snyder,
April 21, 2004
During the three
days of the Sign of Jonah, Yahshua’s remains rested in the tomb. His body
was dead.
1. Yahshua was born like a man but
he wasn’t a man.
John 1:1. [In the]
beginning was the Word (Logos / Dabar)
John 2:1b,3. all
things came to be through him ....
Colossians 2:9 For
in [Messiah] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily ...
Revelation 2:9 ...
the first and the last, who died and came to life.
Revelation 3:1 ...
him who has the seven spirits of Yahweh and the seven stars.
Revelation 3:14 ...
the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of Yahweh’s
creation.
In fact, these
verses imply that Spirit Yahshua couldn’t be killed at all. The great
miracle was the taking back of his crucified body after three days and
before it corrupted.
2. Here are some of Yahshua’s
titles from the Bible and elsewhere: t
he Word, the
Firstborn of Creation, the Angel of Yahweh, the Son, the Son of Man, the
Son of Righteousness, the Metatron, the Only Begotten, the Right Arm
seated at the Right Hand, seated in heavenly places, King of Kings etc.
As such, Yahshua, the Dabar, the Angel of Yahweh (Isaiah 9:1-4), could not
die and may not have even been subject to destruction in the lake of fire.
3. Next we go to the realm of
perception.
Modern scientists
have proven that the reality we sense is only an illusion.
Stimulus received through the senses is processed by the brain – what we
know is a chemical creation, interpreted very subjectively. Yahweh
designed us this way so we could effectively deal with the very small
amount of information we receive through our senses and “make sense of
it.”
Ohio has now
passed a law that its schools will teach that a creator has intelligently
designed the universe. Had we as part of the creation been designed
differently, more astute and open, our brains would not be able to handle
the incredible amount of stimulus. We would certainly be a race of people
much madder than we’ve proven to be.
Consider if we
had to deal with simple things like radio waves, cosmic radiation, sound
waves beyond our hearing range, etc. We are limited to seeing in the
realm we call “the natural.” We are limited primarily to the first
heaven. We neither see the supernatural nor usually sense it,
though some have a sixth sense for it.
4. Next to time, space, energy and
matter:
Our sense of all
four of these things is mere perception interpreted by the brain and other
organs. Godly scientists like
Albert Einstein, who’s intention it was to learn the nature of Elohim,
proved that both matter and energy are concentrated forms of space and
time. We call this “the time / space continuum.” Such is the realm
of the physicist and mathematician.
Suffice it to
say that Yahweh has revealed to man that spiritual matters do not run in
accordance with our limited perception. There are many hints of this
disparity in the Bible, but none clearer than
Psalm
90:4. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is
past, or as a watch in the night.
2 Peter 3:8. But do
not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with Yahweh one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Time, space,
matter and energy are perceived radically differently by spiritual or
multi-dimensional beings like the Metatron; who, in Hebrew lore,
is Prince
of the Divine Face, Angel of the Covenant, King of Angels, Lesser YHWH.
Metatron is charged with the sustenance of the world. In the Talmud and
Targum, Metatron is the direct link between Yahweh and humanity.
We know the
Metatron as Yahshua, son of Yahweh.
5. Next to spiritual dimensions:
The Bible and
biblical literature refer to “dimensions of space / time” as “the heavens”
/ shamayim / ouranoi /
ouranoi
/ heptdomad.
Psalms 50:6. The
heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah!
Matthew 3:16. And
when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and
behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of
Yahweh descending ...
2 Corinthians 12:2.
I know a man who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether
in the body or out of the body I do not know, Elohim knows.
Much of the
Hebrew literature refers to seven “heavens” or dimensions. Others refer
to ten. Most of this literature has been purposely omitted from the
Bible, but there’s a lot of it, both from Old Testament times and
New. You may acquire the literature from a Christian book dealer or free
on the internet. Books include 1 – 4 Enoch, Baruch, Apocalypse of
Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul many more. 4 Enoch speaks specifically of
Metatron and 2 Enoch of the Son of Man journeying through these
dimensions (“heavens”). Primarily, we read about these:
First shamaymah
(heaven): earth, sky, stars – that which we can perceive as humans;
Second shamaymah: a
prison “abyss” in the earth inhabited by the spirits of the giants;
Third shamaymah:
Sheol in the earth and Eden on the earth separated by a rift;
Fourth shamaymah:
Stratosphere – sun, moon, stars and myriads of angels that run them;
Fifth shamaymah:
Tartarus in the earth – an prison “abyss” of disobedient spirits;
Sixth shamaymah:
High angelic managers, cherubim, seraphim;
Seventh shamaymah:
Yahweh, Yahshua, Metatron, certain archangels.
If Paul was caught
up into the third heaven, then he might either have viewed a paradise or a
hell, or both.
Apocalypse of Paul
(excerpt)
Then the Holy Spirit who was speaking with Paul caught him up on high to
the third heaven, and he passed beyond to the fourth heaven.
The Holy Spirit spoke to him, saying, “Look and see your likeness upon the
earth.” And he looked down and saw those who were upon the earth. Then he
gazed down and saw the twelve apostles at his right and at his left in the
creation; and the Spirit was going before them.
Generally, those
in the higher heavens may manifest themselves in the lower ones. Only by
special dispensation may those in the lower experience higher plains.
Angels may make themselves plain to us if they will. Demons often make
themselves plain.
6. Next, spiritual beings
hierarchies:
From the Bible we
know of several classes of spiritual beings: “the angel of Yahweh,”
seraphim (“flamers”), cherubim (“wise ones” or “guards”), malachim
(“messengers” – “angels”), ophanim and irim (“watchers”); and the names of
some – Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Azazel, Satanel, Beliar, Belial,
Beelzebul, Beelzebub, Ashera, Asmodeus, Asclepius, Mithras, Tammuz and
many, many more in banned literature. Paul speaks of a hierarchy
of enemy spirits:
Ephesians 6:12. For
we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the
principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this
present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.
The hymnal has a
great, ancient song about the hierarchy of angels:
Ye watchers and ye
holy ones, bright seraphs, cherubim, and thrones,
Raise the glad
strain: “Alleluia!”
Cry out, dominions,
princedoms, powers,
Archangels, virtues,
angel choirs:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
O higher than the
cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim,
Lead their praises;
“Alleluia!”
Thou bearer of the
eternal Word,
Most gracious,
magnify the L-rd;
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
7. Now it’s very important to
realize that there was a time in the dimensions that
Job 38:7. the
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Yahweh shouted for joy.
The ruler and
creator of all these myriads of spiritualities, planets and extra
terrestrial beings is known to us as Yahweh Elohim. In the state of
timelessness and space, Yahweh’s high potentate over all is
Yahshua,
the Metatron, the Son of the Most High Elohim. We can’t measure when
this arrangement was made of for how long – it’s beyond our ability to
measure time.
8. However, six thousand
years or so ago,
Rev. 12:7. War broke
out in heaven.
Matthew 11:12.
(Yahshua:) “And ... now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and
the violent take it by force.
Luke 16:16.
(Yahshua:) “Since then the good news of the kingdom is preached, every one
enters it violently. 17. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass
away, than for one dot of the law to become void.
There was law
in the Kingdom of Yahweh, in force over all the dimensions of the
shamayim – all heavens. One law we know of is that angels were not
allowed to procreate with humans. The extent of the disobedience of
higher forms is apparent from the Bible, since disobedience came upon even
the godly generations of Adam. Throughout the Bible, wars on earth are
corresponding to wars in heaven(s). Even now, in the midst of the Third
World War, we can clearly see
(though our
government evidently can’t) that
this war is a religious war on a very great scale.
9. The fallen angels before and
since took human form to enlist and enslave humanity through procreation,
bringing forth
godless human / angelic monsters, many of whose bodies were destroyed in
the flood. The spirits of these monsters were imprisoned in the second
heaven abyss. The fallen angels themselves were imprisoned in the
fifth heaven abyss. They were separated.
Yahshua made it
perfectly clear that angels were still falling and procreating and
bringing forth monsters:
John 8:40. But now
ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard
of YHWH: this did not Abraham. 41. Ye do the deeds of your father.
Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father,
even YHWH. 42. Jesus said unto them, If YHWH were your Father, ye would
love me: for I proceeded forth and came from YHWH; neither came I of
myself, but he sent me. ... 44. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do.
Angels still come
and wreak havoc on the earth. The word is “devil-filled.”
In the earthly
dimension, the first heaven, we have great buildings we call
“penitentiaries” where the disobedient go to serve their prison terms.
This is the same in the heavenly kingdom of Yahweh. There are undoubtedly
many prisons for spirits. The ones we know about are in the third and
fifth dimensions, which are, in some way, IN THE EARTH. They are termed
“pits.”
1 Peter 2:4. For if
Yahweh did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them
into hell (tartarus, tartarwo, the fifth heaven) and committed them
to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; 5.
if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of
righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the
world of the ungodly; 6. if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example to those
who were to be wicked ... etc. etc.
10. When the heavenly war
escalated fully upon the earth, the Metatron Yahshua came to enlist
certain obedient human beings to join in the last battle for the universe
we know.
That’s in our
temporal future, though we continually fight in the present, often what we
can’t see.
But unlike the
fallen angels, he wasn’t procreated from sexual union, but through the
direct intervention of Yahweh. It made him similar in make-up to
the giants, for the angelic part in them couldn’t be killed, only
imprisoned.
However,
Yahshua, though half man, was also fully Yahweh Elohim. And though his
body constrained him to human existence, being freed of that body would
let the Spirit of Yahweh out, so to speak. The horror is that the devil’s
crew knew this but was like wolves on a hare – they tortured him and
killed him, knowing they would “let the angel out of him.” Since that
time, the Spirit of Yahshua has been engaged in recruiting the ‘elect’ for
the final showdown with evil.
11. So this knowledge brings
us to an understanding of the answer to our initial question – “What did
Yahshua Do (in Spirit) the Three Days his Body Was In the Grave?”
a. He went through all the heavens:
Ephesians 4:9. In
saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended
into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He who descended is he who also
ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
b. He fought a great battle:
Colossians 2:15. He
disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them,
triumphing over them in him.
c. He proclaimed victory in the third
and fifth heavens:
1 Peter 3:18. Being
put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; 19. he went and
preached (proclaimed) to the spirits in prison, 20. who formerly did not
obey, when Elohim’s patience waited in the days of Noah...
d. He rent the temple curtain – no man
could do that:
Matthew 27:51. And
behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and
the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
d. He resurrected the uncorrupted dead
(saints):
Matthew 27:52. the
tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
asleep were raised, 53. and coming out of the tombs after his
resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
e. He returned to revive his dead body,
and live in that body for certain days.
John 20:16. Jesus
said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni.”
17. Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to
the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my
Father and your Father, to Eliy and Eloheyka.”
Undoubtedly, there
were many other acts, a millennium of acts (360 books of them) that he
accomplished while three days went by here. But they remain a mystery.
What is pertinent is that we understand that we have been enlisted
(elected) to win the battle with him, and we have a very important mission
to accomplish in the meantime. Though we don’t understand its importance
now, when we too are glorified, the meaning will come clear.
1 Corinthians
13:12. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
