The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus made the following statement. 

   

Matthew 12:39-40 An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
  
As we are now awaiting the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am hearing more and more people prophesy about 3 days of darkness that is coming to the Earth. They are also in agreement that it will be during this time when the Rapture will occur. I was skeptical of this at first, but after hearing person after person declare it, I looked into it to see how the Bible supports it. When looking at the passage above of Matthew 12, I asked myself, "What does being 3 days and nights in the belly of the fish and being 3 days and nights in the heart of the Earth have in common?" There are several things in common; one of them being that the sun does not shine there, and so both are places of great darkness, and another one being that both places represent Sheol, which always represents either the grave, or pit, or hell, or the place where the dead descend to. I next contemplated on the prophesy Jesus made that just prior to his return, the sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will fall from heaven.
 
Matthew 24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon not give its light; the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
   
In the passage above, Jesus declares that just prior to his return in the clouds of glory, the sun will be darkened, then the Rapture will occur. I then linked this passage with the passage of Matthew 12 where Christ declares the only sign that will be given us will be the sign of the prophet Jonah, who spent 72 hours in total darkness. First it is important to understand the purpose of why Jonah spent 72 hours in the belly of a great fish. God had mandated Jonah to travel to Nineveh and warn them that God was going to destroy them in 40 days, but Jonah did not want to obey God, and thought he could hide from God by hiding in a boat headed towards Tarshish.
   
Jonah 1:1-17 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise,go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, "What is your intention, oh sleeper? Arise and call upon your God, perhaps your God will consider us, so that we perish not." And they said every one to his fellow, "Come, and let us cast lots, so that we may know for whose cause this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, "Please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? and where do you come from? what is your country? and of what people are you?" And he said unto them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which made the sea and the dry land." Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, "What shall we do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us?" - for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said unto them, "Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea had a strong current, and was tempestuous against them. Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
     
The reason why God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and keep him in darkness for 72 hours was because Jonah rebelled against God by not going to Nineveh. This act of rebellion is very relevant to why God is going to bring 3 days of darkness to the world. The second chapter of the book of Jonah astonished me because of how Jonah described his experience while being in the belly of the fish. I then realized that Jonah's experience is precisely what is going to happen to the 7 billion+ souls now living on the Earth when the Lord brings us the sign of the prophet Jonah, and our experience will be as if we had been plunged into the pit of hell.
   
Jonah 2:1-10 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly and 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 base of the mountains; the earth with its gates closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit of hell, 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 chapter 2 describes the fallen state of mankind, the relationship between God and those who seek after Him, it contains the Gospel of Salvation, and it contains a solemn warning to those who love the things of the world and forsake God. Jonah represents God's Elect who will remember God, and will cry out to Him and pray for salvation. In described his experience Jonah said that he was in the belly of Sheol, in the pit of hell, and he felt as if he had been cast out from the sight of God, and that Earth's gates had closed behind him forever. Jonah also declared that all those that regard their worthless idols, will forsake their own mercy. That is, all those who do not remember God, who do not look again toward His holy temple, who do not surrender to God with the voice of thanksgiving and accept God's gift of Salvation, but will regard their worthless idols instead, will forsake their own mercy because God will not be able to deliver them from the pit of hell. God always gives man free will, and will never force anyone into accepting and worshiping Him.
   
I then linked the parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 with the sign of the prophet Jonah. In that parable, there are 10 virgins who are awaiting the arrival of their bridegroom, but they all fall asleep. Then at midnight, the arrival of the bridegroom is announced. Notice that arrival of their bridegroom is announced at midnight; and so therefore the main events described in this parable all take place during a period of darkness.    
 
Matthew 25:1-6 The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go ye out to meet him!"
 
When the arrival of the bridegroom is announced at midnight, all ten virgins arise to trim their lamps, but only the wise virgins who had taken oil in their vessels, were able to light their lamps.

Matthew 25:7-8 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."

The oil represents the Holy Spirit, and the vessels represents the persons. Only the wise virgins who were carrying the Holy Spirit in themselves, were able to light their lamps and reflect the light of life; the light from God.

Matthew 5:14 [Jesus said] You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
 
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
 
The wicked are unable reflect the light of God.
 
Job 18:5-6 The light of the wicked indeed goes out, and the flame of his fire does not shine. The light is dark in his tent, and his lamp beside him is put out...verse 18 He is driven from light into darkness.

In Amos 5:18 we read that the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
  

In Isaiah chapter 60, we read about a time of deep darkness that will cover the Earth, and notice the command to God's Elect to "arise and shine."
 
Isaiah 60:1-5 Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you; The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
 
Just as God heard Jonah's prayers and delivered him from deep darkness in which he found himself, so also will God deliver all those that cry out to Him during those 3 days of darkness. I believe that these 3 days of darkness will follow a great earthquake, or shaking of the Earth. Psalms 18 describes a shaking of the Earth that is followed by thick darkness, which occurs as the result of God's anger. It also declares that God will create an opening in the heavens through which the Lord will descend, and that there will be darkness under His feet. It declares that God will make darkness His secret place,and that there will be dark waters around God's pavilion; just as Jonah was surrounded by dark waters.  

 
Psalms 18:7-12 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because He was wroth. There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under His feet. And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yeah, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.