Joan Woodard re Book of Jonah

This is an excerpt:

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/aug2010/robertb827-1.htm

.................In a nutshell, Daniel Lizarraga noticed that the sign of Jonah consisted of three feasts, not just one. He sees Passover in the three days and three nights. (Note: Passover tends to be a catchall for all 3 spring feasts. Technically, however, Christ died on Passover, was buried for 3 days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on Firstfruits.) He sees Pentecost in the 120,000 Ninevites who repented, because the number is a multiple of the 120 Christian believers who were in the upper room at Pentecost. And he sees Tabernacles in the fact that Jonah made a booth to watch the outcome of the city. Finally, he sees all of this as an illustration of the Church Age.

I believe that his insight is confirmed by scripture. The 3 feasts that make up the sign of Jonah are the same 3 feasts that make up the Pilgrimage Festivals. “Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God in the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.” Deuteronomy 16:16. (See also Exodus 23:14-17.) This is no coincidence. God has highlighted three out of the seven Levitical feasts for a reason. At the time Jesus pointed the Jews to sign of Jonah, he was making a specific point about Gentile believers. He also mentioned the Queen of Sheba who came to the faith during the time of King Solomon. (See Matthew 12: 42.) He was showing the Jews that the conversion of Gentiles would be a sign to them and that the 3 Pilgrimage Festivals would be connected to this sign.

In book of Jonah, the Jewish prophet is sent to Nineveh, a Gentile city, to warn the people of its destruction after a period of 40 days. The Ninevites believe his message and repent to the God of the Israelites, who preserves them from judgment. We thus have an illustration of Gentiles who come to a saving faith in God within a framework of events that point to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.

This is the sign of Jonah.

And it is being fulfilled by the Church, a predominantly Gentile body, who has accepted the resurrected Christ (I.e. Unleavened Bread) as her Savior. The Apostle Paul observed that our current age would be characterized by Israel’s unbelief, but that it would not be lasting. “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious …. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved ….” Romans 11:11, 25-26.

The Church, had its start on Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks. It was at that time that the Holy Spirit began to indwell believers. In a spiritual sense, Pentecost has never ended. Believers continue to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Paul referred to our present age as Today. “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’” Hebrews 3:13-15. Someday, however, “Today” will end.

If the Church Age is connected to the 3 pilgrimage festivals, then the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is the Feast of Tabernacles. In the book of Jonah, the Ninevites were spared judgment. Likewise, the Church will be spared the judgment of the Tribulation through the Rapture. Our disappearance will truly be a miraculous sign to those remaining on earth.

Lastly, the name “Jonah” literally means “dove.” Isn’t it interesting that there is a book of the Bible entitled “Dove,” the sign of the Holy Spirit, which is about a bunch of reprobate Gentiles who are spared from judgment? Talk about an illustration for the Church Age.