I would say about every scripture interpretation of the Bible I believe in today I have heard or taught somewhere before.
Well, except this one.
I am baffled why I see it this way and no one else does.
Maybe there are a few, I just have not run across them yet.
Maybe it's because I'm big on prophecy and that is what led me into understanding the rest of the Bible.
Well lets look at the verse.
Matthew 12:40
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.
Lets make sure you know the prophecy of Daniel 9 before I continue.
Yes this uses the day for a year prophecy as seen in Ezek 4:6.
As you can see on the chart to the left Jesus arrives in 27AD.
That is the time Jesus was baptized and started his ministry on earth.
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:14-15)
The time was fulfilled, Jesus began his ministry on earth and how long did that last?
It lasted 3 1/2 years. From 27 AD till 31 AD
And how long is that in prophetic days?
That would fulfill three days and three three nights for it was in the middle of the third year where he was cut off.
Could this three days and three nights be the time Jesus was on earth in prophetic days?
Seventy Weeks Are Determined Song by Jack Marti
What is the sign?
Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly.
What did this symbolize?
The Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Most everyone says the story of Jonah according to Mat 12:40 was to say Jesus would spend three full days and nights in the grave.
Is that what the story of Jonah is about?
What is the story Jonah about?
I marked it once above already so you can see it.
Lets look at it again and compare other Gospels.
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. (Mat 12:41)
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
....
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 11:30-32)
Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. (Mark 8:12-13)
Who forgot to tell Mark? :)
When I hear "Heart Of The Earth" I think more about the central part or the main section than I do about a place in the ground.
The prophecy of Daniel 9:25 talked about a time when Jesus would come, which happened on time (Mark 1:15).
Jesus like Jonah preached to his generation (John 17:4) and like Daniel 9:26 says he would be cut off and he would return back to heaven (Acts 1:11) and will come again back to this earth to gather his saints (1 Thes 4:16).
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38)
Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; (1 Tim 1:15)
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself (2 Cor 5:19)
God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (Gal 1:4)
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. (John 11:27)
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:10)
Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. (John 13:1)
My kingdom is not of this world: (John 18:36)
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. (John 16:28)
These verses Jesus like Jonah makes me think that he came for our salvation and to deliver us from destruction.
This is the sign of Jonah I believe.
Not that he would spend three days and three nights in the ground.
The story of Jonah tells us that Jesus would spend three prophetic days and nights on the earth.
Even Ellen White makes no mention about the time Jesus spent in the ground.
But she does acknowledge both men were sent to warn the people.
And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign?" "There shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas." As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, Christ was to be the same time "in the heart of the earth." And as the preaching of Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so Christ's preaching was a sign to His generation. But what a contrast in the reception of the word! The people of the great heathen city trembled as they heard the warning from God. Kings and nobles humbled themselves; the high and the lowly together cried to the God of heaven, and His mercy was granted unto them. "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation," Christ had said, "and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here." Matthew 12:40, 41. {DA 406.3}
In the end I think it is dangerous to take one verse and base all your doctrine on it.
Lets look at the Bible now without trying to put three full days in there because of this verse.