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Jonah's Three Days and Nights of Sleep Deprivation
This past week during Yom Kippur services at the Messianic synagogue that I attend the Rabbi mentioned that the Jewish faith is always trying to figure out the mystery of the story of Jonah, especially as this synagogue is Messianic. Since Jesus Christ mentioned the story of Jonah they are especially eager to find the true meaning and significance of Jonah.
I think the mystery of Jonah is that when the fish swallowed Jonah, Jonah was forced to fast for three days and nights (without sleep?) in order for God to prepare him for the task of preaching to Nineveh! Without that fast Jonah would never have been successful.
Whenever I talk religion to unbelievers they always ask, “why doesn't God show himself to us.” The unbeliever will say that when they finally see God then they will believe in him. But now I see that the absence of God forces all of humanity to fast, to go without the ability to feast on the sight of God, just like with Moses as God did not allow Moses to see his face.
When Jesus Christ was in the tomb he was fasting, not a physical fast, but a spiritual fast as he was separated from God the Father while dying on the cross. And just like Jonah, Jesus was preparing himself to appear before God the Father in heaven to ready himself to bring salvation to everyone, Jew and Gentile, for eternity.
It must be remembered that Jesus said that those who people believed were dead were just sleeping. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus found the disciples sleeping three times. Was Jonah in a sleep fast where he did not sleep for three days or nights inside the belly of the fish? How else could a person tell how many days and nights he was in a dark place, under the water, inside a belly of a fish, except for the fact that Jonah was being deprived of sleep.
Believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and you'll become one with Jesus Christ and you'll join Christ in his eternal fast as he stands before God his Father as his only son in human form. Just imagine that all those who will be sent to hell will also be engaged in an eternal fast but this fast is apart from the presence of God in the 'Lake of Fire'.
God Bless
This past week during Yom Kippur services at the Messianic synagogue that I attend the Rabbi mentioned that the Jewish faith is always trying to figure out the mystery of the story of Jonah, especially as this synagogue is Messianic. Since Jesus Christ mentioned the story of Jonah they are especially eager to find the true meaning and significance of Jonah.
I think the mystery of Jonah is that when the fish swallowed Jonah, Jonah was forced to fast for three days and nights (without sleep?) in order for God to prepare him for the task of preaching to Nineveh! Without that fast Jonah would never have been successful.
Whenever I talk religion to unbelievers they always ask, “why doesn't God show himself to us.” The unbeliever will say that when they finally see God then they will believe in him. But now I see that the absence of God forces all of humanity to fast, to go without the ability to feast on the sight of God, just like with Moses as God did not allow Moses to see his face.
When Jesus Christ was in the tomb he was fasting, not a physical fast, but a spiritual fast as he was separated from God the Father while dying on the cross. And just like Jonah, Jesus was preparing himself to appear before God the Father in heaven to ready himself to bring salvation to everyone, Jew and Gentile, for eternity.
It must be remembered that Jesus said that those who people believed were dead were just sleeping. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus found the disciples sleeping three times. Was Jonah in a sleep fast where he did not sleep for three days or nights inside the belly of the fish? How else could a person tell how many days and nights he was in a dark place, under the water, inside a belly of a fish, except for the fact that Jonah was being deprived of sleep.
Believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and you'll become one with Jesus Christ and you'll join Christ in his eternal fast as he stands before God his Father as his only son in human form. Just imagine that all those who will be sent to hell will also be engaged in an eternal fast but this fast is apart from the presence of God in the 'Lake of Fire'.
God Bless