Bible Study Jonah's And Christ's Resurrections

[Dant02]

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● Jonah 1:17 . . The Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

FAQ: Was Jonah alive in the fish?

A: Yes.

FAQ: The whole time?

A: No.

At some point in his nautical adventure Jonah went to a place called sheol (Jonah 2:2) which he sited at the bottoms of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6)

Well; the bottoms of the mountains aren't located in the tummies of fish, no; they're located down deep in the Earth. So, the only way that Jonah could possibly be at the bottoms of the mountains while in the belly of a fish at the same time was for the man and his body to part company and go their separate ways.

● Jonah 2:10 . .The Lord ordered the fish to spit up Jonah on the beach, and it did.

Just before being cast ashore, Jonah prayed thus:

● Jonah 2:6 . . You brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.

The Hebrew word for "pit" in that verse is the very same word for "pit" in Ps 16:8-10; which Acts 2:25-31 verifies is speaking of putrefaction; viz: Jonah 2:6 speaks of restoring Jonah's dead body to life.
_

 

[Nathan12]

At some point in his nautical adventure Jonah went to a place called sheol (Jonah 2:2) which he sited at the bottoms of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6)

Yes, Jonah was in Sheol/Hades in the heart of the earth (or the lower parts of the earth) for three days and three nights (and very much alive). He was a type of Christ, who was also in Sheol/Hades for that same period of time preaching (or proclaiming) to the spirits in prison. This was not the Gospel of salvation (since there is no salvation after death). It was a proclamation of His victory on the cross.

 

[for_his_glory]

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 heardest my voice.

Jonah never died in the belly of the whale, but that being in the belly was like being in hell/grave. All that he described from vs. 5, 6 was an analogy of how he described himself while being in the belly of the whale.

This is the lesson:
Vs. 1-10 Believers should never give up hope in what seems to be an impossible situation. Like Jonah, we must cry out for Gods mercy and help and put our lives into his hands.

 

[Dant02]

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Jonah never died in the belly of the whale,

Some expositors believe that Jonah was already dead when the fish swallowed him: dead from drowning in the sea.

I tend to believe those expositors are right seeing as how Jesus said "as Jonah . . so the Son of Man." Well; if Jesus was dead before he was buried, then it's likely that Jonah was dead before burial too.

● Jonah 2:5-6 . .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
_

 

[Nathan12]

Jonah never died in the belly of the whale, but that being in the belly was like being in hell/grave.

"...yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God" (Jon 2:6) makes it clear that Jonah actually died. The body is subject to corruption after death. And this corresponds to what Christ said after He died: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption... Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Hades], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Ps 16:10; Acts 2:27)

This tells us that Jonah died, his soul and spirit went to Sheol, and then he was resurrected -- an exact parallel to Christ.

 

[Dant02]

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● Luke 11:29-3 . .This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation.

I've often wondered exactly how Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh seeing as how the city's ruins today are eleven miles north of Mosul Iraq, which itself is roughly 406 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea as the crow flies; so it's doubtful that the city observed Jonah cast ashore from the fish.

Jonah's preaching was very successful in Nineveh. Jesus specifically credited the prophet's success to his experience with the fish. In other words: somehow, in some way, the people of Nineveh were aware that Jonah survived digestion in a fish's tummy; a survival that could only be explained by an honest-to-gosh miracle. So when Jonah went round about the city threatening it with destruction in forty days; nobody mocked, nor jested, nor poked fun; no, everybody got really scared.
_

 

[for_his_glory]

"...yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God" (Jon 2:6) makes it clear that Jonah actually died. The body is subject to corruption after death. And this corresponds to what Christ said after He died: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption... Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Hades], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Ps 16:10; Acts 2:27)

This tells us that Jonah died, his soul and spirit went to Sheol, and then he was resurrected -- an exact parallel to Christ.

Let's back track a little bit to chapter 1 to see why Jonah ended up in the belly of this fish.

Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. (Disobedience)

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.

Actually this was God's plan of salvation for Jonah who rejected God's command to go preach to the People of Nineveh.

God put Jonah in the belly of the fish as he was disobedient to God's command to go out and preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah tried to escape while hiding on a ship that went to sea. God caused the great storm while Jonah was first hiding on the ship that led the men to throw him overboard for Jonah knew it was his fault that God caused this storm. This is why Jonah told the men to throw him into the sea. Once they did the storm ceased and God sent a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

Let's jump down to chapter 2.

In Jonah 2:1-9 This is Jonah's prayer of repentance to the Lord from the despairs of his heart as he never physically died. In vs.10 God heard his prayer and the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

God's Salvation came to Jonah who finally obeyed God and went to preach in Nineveh. Jonah never physically died in the belly of the fish.

The three days and three nights in the belly of the fish is IMO an analogy of the sufferings of Christ in His anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prayed to God and that of the scourging He went through before He died and was in the heart of the earth 3 days and three nights before God raised Him from the tomb.

 

[Dant02]

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In order for Jesus to be a sign to his generation in the same manner as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, he had to be a man back from the dead. Jesus couldn't merely survive a near-death experience. No, he absolutely had to be totally deceased beyond question.

The Bible provides three textual evidences in that regard.

1• First off, Jesus released his spirit; and according to James, the body without its spirit is dead.

2• In order to make sure Jesus was dead, a soldier impaled his corpse with a spear.

3• Lastly: Jesus' friends smothered him. They put a towel over his face; holding it in place by wrapping his head with cloth strips mummy style. For the coup de grâce, so to speak; they sealed his whole body inside a cocoon made with a gooey paste of myrrh and aloes.
_

 

[JLB]

.
In order for Jesus to be a sign to his generation in the same manner as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, he had to be a man back from the dead. Jesus couldn't merely survive a near-death experience. No, he absolutely had to be totally deceased beyond question.

The Bible provides three textual evidences in that regard.

1• First off, Jesus released his spirit; and according to James, the body without its spirit is dead.

2• In order to make sure Jesus was dead, a soldier impaled his corpse with a spear.

3• Lastly: Jesus' friends smothered him. They put a towel over his face; holding it in place by wrapping his head with cloth strips mummy style. For the coup de grâce, so to speak; they sealed his whole body inside a cocoon made with a gooey paste of myrrh and aloes.
_

Jonah was alive in the belly of the great fish and prayed from the belly of the fish.

He didn’t die, nor did Jesus say he died.


Here’s his prayer.


Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said:
“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.
“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
I went down to the moorings of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my life
from the pit,
O Lord, my God.
“When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.
“Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own Mercy.
But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.”
So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:1-10




JLB

 

[Dant02]

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● Matt 12:40 . .For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

When you think about it, Jesus' corpse wasn't laid to rest in the heart of the Earth. His remains were entombed on the surface. So in order for Jesus to be in heart of the Earth while at the same time up on its surface, the man and his body had to part company. Jonah underwent a very similar experience. While his body reposed in its fishy tomb, he himself was at prayer in the netherworld.

● Jonah 2:2 . .Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

● Jonah 2:6 . . I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever
_

 

[Dant02]

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● Jonah 2:2 . .Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

Sheol is a transliteration of the Hebrew words she'owl (sheh-ole') and sheol (sheh-ole'); which speak of the subterranean world of the dead; viz: the netherworld.

By comparing Ps 16:8-10 and Acts 2:25-31, we're made aware that sheol is the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament's haides (hah'-dace) a.k.a. hades.

Sheol/hades first shows up in the Bible at Gen 37:35 where Jacob lamented the loss of his favorite son Joseph.

Sheol/hades are often translated "grave" and that's okay as far as it goes. But in Old Testament, times, sheol included not only one's grave, but also their afterlife destination which, in those days, was somewhere deep in the Earth. (Jonah 2:6)

We know from Ps 16:8-10, Acts 2:25-31, and Luke 16:19-31 that in the past everyone went to sheol/hades; both the good dead and the bad dead but the two classes were kept isolated from each other by an impassible chasm.

According to Luke 23:43, Jesus went to the better section of sheol/hades when he passed away on the cross.
_

 

[th1b.taylor]

Yes, Jonah was in Sheol/Hades in the heart of the earth (or the lower parts of the earth) for three days and three nights (and very much alive). He was a type of Christ, who was also in Sheol/Hades for that same period of time preaching (or proclaiming) to the spirits in prison. This was not the Gospel of salvation (since there is no salvation after death). It was a proclamation of His victory on the cross.

Great reply and well thought out and along comes that dagnabbed former Blues and Country singer that loves YHWH, Yashuah ha'Mashuah and Ruah, our Triune Elohim to insert his thought.

Because of the way the most littoral Translations read, KJV, NASB, Hallelujah Scriptures and others, there is an element in the Christian Faith that believes the First Resurrection of note in the Scriptures is that of Jonah.

The following resurrection, as I read, is given for our faith building is recorded when Lazareth is called up from his tomb by Yashuah.

The third, I find of particular interest is followed, almost or perhaps, even, coincides with or is just before the fourth, a.k.a. the Ascension of Yashuah from His Tomb.

The scripture address for the untaught resurrection is found in Matthew 27 at about verse 51 ad following where we find the Old Testament Saints turned out of Abraham's Buxom, a.k.a. Paradise and during the darkness that surrounded the known earth were seen parading through the Holy City, on their way to Heaven.

This is a disturbing idea to many, otherwise, Grounded Christians but are often reluctant to or have never learned to seek and then follow the leading/teaching of Ruah, a.k.a. The Holy Spirit.

 

[for_his_glory]

.
In order for Jesus to be a sign to his generation in the same manner as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, he had to be a man back from the dead. Jesus couldn't merely survive a near-death experience. No, he absolutely had to be totally deceased beyond question.

The Bible provides three textual evidences in that regard.

1• First off, Jesus released his spirit; and according to James, the body without its spirit is dead.

2• In order to make sure Jesus was dead, a soldier impaled his corpse with a spear.

3• Lastly: Jesus' friends smothered him. They put a towel over his face; holding it in place by wrapping his head with cloth strips mummy style. For the coup de grâce, so to speak; they sealed his whole body inside a cocoon made with a gooey paste of myrrh and aloes.
_

You are trying to bring the word to your understanding instead of you understanding what has already been written.

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 heardest my voice.

It was the anguish he was going through like going through a living hell as he was entombed in the belly of this great fish.

Vs 3-9 was Jonahs prayer from the anguish he was feeling using analogies of his anguish. Nowhere does it say he died and was resurrected again.

 

[for_his_glory]

.
● Matt 12:40 . .For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

When you think about it, Jesus' corpse wasn't laid to rest in the heart of the Earth. His remains were entombed on the surface. So in order for Jesus to be in heart of the Earth while at the same time up on its surface, the man and his body had to part company. Jonah underwent a very similar experience. While his body reposed in its fishy tomb, he himself was at prayer in the netherworld.

● Jonah 2:2 . .Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

● Jonah 2:6 . . I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever
_

Heart of the earth is the same as being put in a tomb. They are both a place where the dead are laid.

 

[Nathan12]

Sheol/hades are often translated "grave" and that's okay as far as it goes.

Well that translation has caused a lot of problems and led to the false doctrine of Soul Sleep. Had the KJV simply transliterated Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus, we would have been better served.

The "grave" is misleading and confusing. Souls and spirit do not go six feet under when a person is buried. The unsaved dead still go to Hades (in the heart of the earth), whereas the saved go to be with Christ (since being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord).

Christ took almost all the OT saints from Sheol/Hades directly to Heaven/Paradise/the New Jerusalem at His resurrection. They are now seen as "the spirits of just men made perfect", whereas the NT saints who have passed on are called "the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven" (see Hebrews 12:22-24).

But as Bill Taylor pointed out some of the OT saints were resurrected after Christ's resurrection, and walked about in Jerusalem. Whether they went directly to Heaven after that is not stated: And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. (Mt 27:52,53)

What is really amazing is that none of the disciples of Christ eagerly anticipated His resurrection, even after they were apprised of this great miracle several times. Many even refused to believe the angels who announced it to them, and Thomas insisted that seein' is believin'.

 

[for_his_glory]

We have always been taught hell is a place where non-believers in God go to for eternity, but according to scripture this is not what hell is. Hell is described as the world of the dead, a place where the departed go that have died as being lowered in a grave/pit. There they are kept until the return of Christ to either stand in Gods Great White Throne judgment for those who are not found written in the Lambs Book of Life, Rev 20:11-15, or those who have died in Christ that will stand in his judgment to give an account for the things done here on earth, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Hell is not the lake of fire as God gives us a description of the lake of fire as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness. The New Testament description is a bottomless pit (abyss) (Revelation 20:3), a lake (Revelation 20:14), darkness (Matthew 25:30), death (Revelation 2:11), destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), everlasting torment (Revelation 20:10), a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), and a place of gradated punishment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12-13), everlasting fire Matthew 25:41, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46, lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: Hell
Hebrew # 7585 Sheol, Hades, or the world of the dead, grave, hell, pit
Greek # 86 place of departed souls, grave, hell
Greek # 1067 Gehenna, the Valley of the sons of Hinnom South of Jerusalem, figuratively and literal of place of punishment.
Greek # 5020. Tartaroo tar-tar-o'-o from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:--cast down to hell.

The English word hell, back in 1611, meant about the same as Hades, that being covered or unseen as in grave/pit. We do not see those in the grave as they are unseen to the eye as they are covered with dirt, or some placed in a tomb. The word hell is derived from the Saxon helan, to cover, and signifying merely the covered, or invisible place. The habitation of those who have gone from the visible terrestrial region to the world of spirits.

Do we just throw away Genesis 2:7; Ecc 12:7 and John 3:13 as we would rather believe what man teaches? God forbid.

 

[Nathan12]

Hell is described as the world of the dead...

That is is NOT Hell. That is Sheol-Hades, where today the souls and spirits of the unsaved dead go to await their final judgment. Unfortunately the word "hell" was used for this netherworld, but that is definitely not Hell. And then to compound the error, the word "grave" was used for Sheol.

Hell is not the lake of fire as God gives us a description of the lake of fire as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness.

Hell (Gehenna) is indeed the Lake of Fire. And nobody is burned to ashes, since it is a place of eternal torment.

And the bottomless pit is neither Hades nor Gehenna. If anything it could be Tartarus, since that is reserved for the angels which sinned, and could also be where demonic spirits are send.

 

[for_his_glory]

That is is NOT Hell. That is Sheol-Hades, where today the souls and spirits of the unsaved dead go to await their final judgment. Unfortunately the word "hell" was used for this netherworld, but that is definitely not Hell. And then to compound the error, the word "grave" was used for Sheol.

Hell (Gehenna) is indeed the Lake of Fire. And nobody is burned to ashes, since it is a place of eternal torment.

And the bottomless pit is neither Hades nor Gehenna. If anything it could be Tartarus, since that is reserved for the angels which sinned, and could also be where demonic spirits are send.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
You say that hell is the lake of fire, which comes against this verse, so how can you dispute that hell just means the grave.

Anything other then discussing Jonah and hell like Gehenna and Tartarus needs to be another topic of discussion.

 

[Nathan12]

You say that hell is the lake of fire, which comes against this verse, so how can you dispute that hell just means the grave.

Once again, in Rev 20:14 that word is "Hades" mistranslated as Hell.
καὶ ὁ θάνατος [death] καὶ ὁ ᾅδης [Hades] ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός· οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ δεύτερός θάνατος.
New International Version
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

Death and Hades were metaphorically cast into the Lake of Fire. Death and Hades are personified in Revelation (see Rev 6:8), and what that verse is saying is that (1) death has been abolished and (2) Hades has also been abolished, since there will be no more unsaved dead. And since the Lake of Fire signifies the second death (eternal separation from God) it is also the place of eternal torment.

 

[for_his_glory]

Once again, in Rev 20:14 that word is "Hades" mistranslated as Hell.
καὶ ὁ θάνατος [death] καὶ ὁ ᾅδης [Hades] ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός· οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ δεύτερός θάνατος.
New International Version
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

Death and Hades were metaphorically cast into the Lake of Fire. Death and Hades are personified in Revelation (see Rev 6:8), and what that verse is saying is that (1) death has been abolished and (2) Hades has also been abolished, since there will be no more unsaved dead. And since the Lake of Fire signifies the second death (eternal separation from God) it is also the place of eternal torment.

Like I said, this is not a discussion about what hell is, but that whether Jonah literally went down to hell or that he was describing his misery and torment while being in the belly of the great fish.

If you would like to start a topic on hell I will discuss it there instead of derailing this thread.