Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city–a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”- Jonah 3:1-4.
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. Luke 11:29-30, 32.
Usually, the words of our Lord about Jonah’s 3 days in the fish (Mat 12:40) is the only portion of the Jonah-prophecy used by our ministers. But we should not thus ‘limit the Holy One of Israel’. HE irradiates the ineffable LIGHT. That LIGHT encompasses and is all pervading. It has many color-facets; or phases of Truth-application unto man. Here, let us put it to a little closer scrutiny – that it may yield us more of its treasure.
Because of the words of our Lord, our ministers usually consider Jonah as a type of our Lord. There is a portion of Truth therein, yet equally as much error. Jonah means a ‘dove.’ Ever since the days of Noah, the dove – with her olive leaf has been considered the symbol of PEACE.
And true enough again, the Scripture declares that He should be called the ‘Prince of PEACE.’ —- Yet what did the Christ say? “I came not to bring peace, but A SWORD!” (The sword stands for division and strife – to the end that the world may become DIVIDED into two camps: the sheep and the goats; and unto the individual that he may discern (divide) between Truth and error, and enter into a perpetual war against the forces of darkness.)
It is recorded for us that John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend from heaven to abide on Jesus, in the form of A DOVE. It is the Holy Spirit who is fully represented by the dove (of peace). Even John the Baptist came out of the wilderness preaching REPENTANCE: to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers – PREPARING A WAY FOR THE LORD – lest our Lord should become grieved with the hardness of the people and smite the earth with a curse.
‘Noah’ means ‘rest’. The first dove sent out found no REST for her feet. But when the waters were sufficiently abated, she plucked off a twig from an olive tree – bearing back the green leaves thereon. And still later she found REST for her feet – and returned no more.
We could even reflect with profit on the similarity between the names: Noah and Jonah (Rest and Peace), it is difficult to separate the two. And even so in the spelling of the names: Noah you find in Jonah but prefixed by a J. The J is the symbol of the fish hook – which Rome substituted for the Greek’s soft ‘i’ in ‘Iasous’ (pronounced Yaysous), netting the modern form of Jesus. So God is telling us that the REST of Noah is to be found thru the PEACE of Jonah (‘Iona’), or His Holy Spirit. Yet before that ‘rest in peace’ can become a permanent possession, the Sword of Division in the hand of our Lord must have its day, ‘dividing between light and darkness.’ While the fish hook (J) in the hand of the Master Fisherman must draw from out of the world’s murky soul-waters, ALL who will bite (‘unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, you have no life in you’)!
By the 8th chapter of Genesis, we see that a raven was sent forth; also the dove. The raven symbolizes the darkness fostered by Lucifer; while the dove His Holy Spirit – which searches for a token of PEACE (between rebellious man and God our Father). THREE times was the dove sent out – the last time not returning. THIS was prophetic unto the Gentile world (which Noah fathered). The first flight of the dove (His Holy Spirit) typified the era unto Christ, but the dove found NO REST for her feet. The second mission of His Holy Spirit, typifying the Christian dispensation enabled the dove to bring back a token of PEACE. The approaching Millennium and Kingdom eras constitute that measure of time prefigured by the doves third flight when she found REST for her feet when the children of men shall have ‘come of age’; having entered into understanding; and found PEACE with the Spirit’ of God.
With this basic backdrop unto an understanding of the prophecy, we look again to the mission of Jonah the prophet. Nineveh was the chief city of the ancient, Gentile world, and continued as such until about 606 BC when it was destroyed. Because of its chief importance, it becomes representative of the entire Gentile world and its era of duration.
God beheld that world as only fit for destruction; but at the preaching of Jonah, Nineveh repented (for a season). This marked the opening of the Christian era; and constituted the ‘olive branch’ brot back by the dove unto Noah. God – in His great compassion – spared the sin steeped world.
We see how Jonah entered into Nineveh a day’s journey before he commenced preaching. In its first application, this measures from the time of Noah’s flood (or very shortly thereafter when children were born to his descendants and the nuclei of cities commenced arising) until about 2657 AM (1657 + 1000 years = 2657). Allowing that short interim of time (about ten years) we see that this ‘day’s journey’ reached unto the Aaronitish priesthood when God thru His prophets commenced preaching unto the world society. (Aaron was consecrated in 2668 A M). But we see that the ‘city’ was of ‘3 days’ journey’. Which measures into the 7th century AD at the time of the arising Great Schism, leading to the split between the Eastern and Western sections of the Christian Church.
Isaac was born unto Abraham at his age of 100. This I have shown forth as ‘the number of God’s manifestation to – and thru man’. Using this number for the ‘day’ man had to wait for God to fully speak, or manifest to him, AFTER that Noah’s descendant’s commenced building their cities, we get the following eras: 1657 AM + ?? + 300 + 4000 (‘yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown’) = 5957 AM, plus the one to two decades for the cities to commence arising: measuring to 1958 AD, plus the aforementioned decade or so: – THEN shall ‘Nineveh’ be destroyed. (The nations of today are feverishly preparing themselves to that end.)
Coming to that ‘generation’ to which our Lord spoke, and said that He should be a sign to them – even as was Jonah unto the Ninevites, we find the prophetic pattern fulfilled on the short cycle.
By Mt: 3:1-6, the Impression is generally gathered that the ministry of John the Baptist was but an odd few months at the most as preceding the Jordan baptism of Jesus. Such a concept makes no sense. There is nothing in scripture nor history to indicate that a nation has ever come to repentance thru the preaching by anyone, in-the course of a few months. But our Scripture narratives compress time and events into a few words. As for instance in Lk 1:80 “And the child …… waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel” might lead us to surmise that he was without education or normal upbringing; growing up with the beasts in the wilds …… Yet he was the son of a priest. And common sense tells us that much to the contrary, he had the best of education and upbringing in keeping with the utmost available in his day. Which only goes to show us that we cannot apply an extreme interpretation to a terse Scripture passage. Luke 3:2-3 declares that ‘the word of God came unto him’ —and he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance.’ It does not make sense to suppose that the ‘country about Jordan’ was the only area in which Israel were fit for, or in need of the Baptist’s message. Was that the case, then the Baptist’s preliminary ministry to ‘prepare His way’ was indeed a partial and inadequate one. THAT we cannot impute unto God whose love was for all of His people. It becomes, then, a far more reasonable supposition that John was an Itinerant preacher, perhaps for many years; fully delivering his message unto all the people of the entire Holy land. But that towards the approach of Jesus’ baptism, the word of God came unto him in the wilderness, that he should go forth into the Jordan regions. THERE to remain and concentrate on the BAPTISMAL phase of his ministry, UNTIL he had baptized, and revealed the Messiah unto Israel by pointing his finger at ‘the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.’
So soon as we view the account rationally, and perceive the situation in its true light, we see at once that the prophetic pattern of Jonah unto Nineveh, repeated unto Jewry (which Jesus clearly implied in Lk 11:30). Thus the 3 days and the 40 on the shorter termination cycle for that ‘generation’, would amount to 43 years; necessitation the preparatory ministry of John to have commenced about 27 AD, lasting until about 30 AD to comprise the ‘Nineveh’ of his day. Thereafter the ‘yet 40 days’, within which also fell his BAPTISMAL ministry in the regions of Jordan. In 70 AD, Jewry suffered a complete eclipse, when their ‘Nineveh’ was no more!
Yet let us look again. At the coming of our Lord, He set up a new standard as applicable to prophetic measures peculiarly related to Himself. This was set forth in my writings many years ago¨showing that from the time of Jesus’ appearing in the temple, being ‘about His Father’s business’ at the age of 12, unto Calvary’s cross, was an even 21 years by the Hebrew calendar. This period He referred to as ’12 hours.’ That makes the full day measure 42 years (with a minor correction).
Since 1000 solar years are but as a ‘day’ with God, that reduces ‘one hour’ to 41 2/3rd years. These 24 hours in His day, correlate to, and are assigned to the charge of His ’24 Elders’ (spoken of earlier in this treatise).
So once more we view the prophetic pattern set by the prophet Johnah, to which Christ referred; saying that He (Jesus) would be like unto Jonah. But this time it will be applicable unto the Gentile world – of which Nineveh was the preeminent type.
Johnah entered into the city a day’s journey first. This should not be taken in its extreme sense to imply an exact 24-hour period – precision clipped to the second, but rather as an approximation. Similarly do we see the fulfillment thereof since the birth of Jesus,. It was not until the later part of the first century that the ‘preaching of that word which I bid you to preach’ was proclaimed unto the far-flung Gentile world. And it entailed ‘a three days’ journey’,. History underscores this in that the Emperors Constantine and Galleruis issued edicts, proclaiming Christianity as the State religion in the years 311-313 AD.
Since the number 40 is that which God uses as the measure of testing and of warning, manifestly, the message had to first reach the entire representative number before the ’40’ of ‘testing’ could become effective.
Having seen thru history that the ‘3 days’ journey veered slightly off the precision measure of 300 years, we should not conclude that the foregoing prophecy equating to 1968-69 AD, must necessarily fulfil in that split moment. Yet it is super-abundantly manifest thru the cross checking of prophecies, that we are now in the closing years of the Gentile era, when the ‘Nineveh’ of their building shall fall – to rise no more!
In the days of Jonah there was FAITH IN GOD and in His messengers – when a whole, vast metropolis repented at the preaching of one man! And so they were spared – for a season.
In the days of our Lord and the preaching of John Baptist, there was a token repentance. Gentile society was spared, but the ‘evil generation’ in the days of Jesus was overthrown and their nation perished from their land.
Today the world is filled with preachers, and His word is available in about a thousand languages: yet where is there as much as one city which has truly repented?
Judge, therefore, what God’s verdict shall be!
Have YOU found REST (Noah) thru PEACE (Jonah) with Him?
* “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the
* way (‘Nineveh’s destruction’), when His wrath is kindled but
* a little. BLESSED are all they that put their trust in Him.” – Ps 2:12
Mikkel Dahl
* Concluded at Toronto Summer, 1961.
I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life no one comes unto the Father, except through me. — Jesus (the Christ) see John 6:37.
