Transcript: Jonah vs Jesus: A Biblical Comparison of Faith and Redemption

Good morning and good evening my dear brothers and sisters. It's again a pleasure to meet with you in a different session and quite an interesting one just like any other session we have been doing in the past. We greet you again in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Welcome to this session where we will be meditating upon the topics which are ignored casually by the Christendom. Either that's the case or we consider, oh, there may not be anything in this word of God or may not. Maybe there is nothing in this incident. Or you may think, oh, these kind of situations everybody go through. So what is so specific or peculiar about this? So God had called us for a very specific and a unique ministry. I'm not saying others don't do this. Probably I do not know or they might have not crossed my path. So it doesn't mean nobody have done it. But then God gave us this call that we should be preaching to this world, bring that enlightenment into the hearts of the brethren and sisters on the topics which they don't consider or which they consider the least. right and we pick such topics and the another um uh thread of our ministry is that we research on various topics where generally people don't look at the other side of the coin right they look at the the friend side not the back side or the back side not the friend side right or sometimes they don't they don't they don't tear the envelope to read the letter inside right by looking at the letter oh it is from this person fine it's of going to be it's going to be of this sort they move ahead with their own assumptions conclusions presumptions and that's exactly the reason why god gave us this calling to teach the gospel preach the word of god and in a million years also i don't think i'll be able to complete the whole bible but then until our last breath until the last day that god has predestined for me and the holy spirit within me who reigns right i'm going to do this ministry and many of you may have such talents and please discover that ask the holy spirit to help you to find out what it is what it is and what's the purpose that god had called you to live life like this or god the very reason why god sent you to planet earth every one of us have been sent to this planet earth uh to accomplish the specific divine will and purpose of God just that we do not discover we do not pay attention to who we are all right enough of this always we begin the session with a little bit of I won't call it as a pep talk but a little bit of motivational speech therefore you you you tend to push yourself to the front right don't don't don't hide yourself under the carpet or behind this curtains no come out brothers and sisters come out boldly for the word of God, right? All right. So today we are going to talk about a person whom all of us might have come across, especially this from the Sunday school. One topic is going to be spoken widely, boldly, clearly. That's the big fish which swallowed Jonah and the big fish would be vomiting Jonah on the seashore right and what saddens me is what had been taught in the kindergarten school or what had been taught in the bible sorry the Sunday schools continues to be preached even in the sermons after people grow as adults and grow as elders they continue to talk about this fish swallowing swallowing and vomiting swallowing and vomiting right and maybe they advance to one more position called this oh jonah was sent to the place of nineveh or nineveh we call it as right but many of us just limit their understanding there and they don't tend to move ahead and that's exactly what we're going to do now what we are also not going to stand there right we are going to make a progress we are going to make a step forward or we are going to take a step forward we are going to progressively move ahead and research what it means actually right yes without a doubt without wasting time turn your bibles to the book of jonah jonah which is after obadiah towards the tail end of the old testament yeah jonah is also considered to be one of the prophetical books however it also has a lot of works associated to corrections instructions admonishing teachings and also prophet prophecies right a little bit of prophecy more of learnings that you could extract from this book okay now i want to begin with a few questions as usual right we want to contemplate we want to that's how we need to read the word of god introspective method or um you know analyzing analytical method we need to research we need to understand what the word of god really tends to talk so how many of us know what was nineveh and what is nineveh uh today in the in the current age right compared to the ancient era it was given a name nineveh or nineveh you will not be able to find that name in the map but olden olden days maps maybe it is there right nineveh just a brief introduction i won't take much long but I like researching this history a little bit right many people pick this bachelor of you know bachelor of arts and they pick the history as the mainline subject and they would like to talk about or discover like who was ruling when and how and what city was said and why it is not existing today even I'm very interested and bible is also very interested you know bible is historical historical historical evidences put together planting the right people the right prophets and finally messiah the son of god himself came and uh found a place in this is amongst this historical evidence this is all about bible right and bible that's why bible is not some fairy tales or some story which could be preached or mythological that someone imagined or visualized while they were sleeping in the night and some dream came and i got up you know some prophets got that dream and they wrote a book and one religion came out of that book i don't want to name that but you all know right Nineveh an ancient city located on the eastern bank of Tigris river Tigris yeah opposite the modern city of Mosul this is the way how geographically we could locate Nineveh to which Jonah was sent to preach it was the oldest city of the ancient Assyrian Empire. You know Assyrians, right? Assyrians are the ones who brought in this cosmopolitan culture and also they brought in the jolly good way of living life mixed with violence, mob gatherings and free will. Anything can be done by anyone and no one can control. Complete extreme form of democracy without law, without rules, without regulations. You want to know which empire was that it is the ancient azurian empire extreme form of democracy but no law nothing can control them and its capital during the reign of the king senacharib senacharib or senacharib until it was destroyed by a coalition attack between the babylonians and the medians right medis or medis or medians um in early as early as 612 bz 600 years before jesus was born the the birth and death of nineveh took place i wouldn't say birth but the death of nineveh took place we will discuss more about that in the coming um explanations we will be narratively describing that just stay focused. Nineveh was an important junction for the commercial routes. I just now told you it is considered to be one of the metropolitan come cosmopolitan kind of city. Anyone are welcome. India is like that. India welcomes all people right because India is a very friendly nation. We call it as India's mother India. In a good perspective I'm saying not to be compared with Nineveh but India is known for respecting people's culture, respecting people's belief. And that's why India is very strong in democracy. And we don't like other people interfering in our country affairs. Of course, every country does that. Neither do we interfere in other country affairs. So that's how India is basically positioned. And India welcomes people. And there are a lot of metropolitans and cosmopolitan cities. The city where I live, Bangalore, is also metropolitan and cosmopolitan. All caste people, all religion people, all language speaking people are here. Nineveh was an important junction. So such cities, right, they prosper very well as far as the commercial matters are concerned. The businesses prosper, business people, entrepreneurs, they prosper. So it was a very important junction for commercial routes crossing the Tigris River on the Great Highway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. You see, Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, they cross. In the junction, Nineveh was placed and that's where you can correlate right fish vomiting on the seashore and Jonah then walks into the city of Nineveh you see that seashore you're able to connect slowly I'm coming into the topic what it means is it unites the eastern and the western culture right Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean eastern and western culture respectively people travel through the sea routes and they meet in one place Nineveh and therefore all sorts of cultures have kind of multiplied right and that's why anything and everything can be done there without any control therefore violence therefore cultural disgrace became a big problem and there is no spiritual growth and the attention of god went towards that place right it received wealth from many sources this place so that it became one of the greatest of all the regions compared to all the ancient cities right this was one of the very prominent wealthy and richest city to be considered right i'm talking a little bit about the history you need to know what nineveh is right jonah went to nineveh why did he go there we need to understand no so i'm asking a few questions and i'm going to answer you so far you're with me you're not had gone into bible we'll go there shortly okay what was nineveh what was nineveh's wickedness we spoke a bit about its wickedness But what was its prime wickedness that God's attention turned towards being a cosmopolitan, metropolitan, not a big crime. OK, you're you're good at trade. You forgot God. Fine. But it's a choice. Free will. God offers everyone. But God's attention moved towards that place. God's eyeballs started moving towards that place. And it just remained there. It was focusing over the place. Something happened that caught God's attention. What was that? In the time of its temporal prosperity, Nineveh was considered to be the center of crime and wickedness. All sorts of brothel, prostitutions, and the girls being kidnapped and they're being transported. Prostitution red light areas are being set up, drugs and whatnot. You want anything, you can go there. Netherlands is something that needs to be called like you want to have this kind of, you know, many people, they go for holiday, especially teenagers and guys who are addicted to so many bad habits. They prefer Netherlands. You're not going to be questioned. In fact, you're going to be encouraged. Similarly, Nineveh was known for its crime and wickedness, all sorts of crime and wickedness and murders and all sorts of gangsters. They grew up there and they have their fort established there. Yeah. And it is an inspiration to many people who are into these kind of businesses. They call it as bloody city. And I'm not using a bad word here. B-L-O-O-D-Y. Bloody, bloody, bloody city, right? Bloody city, blood, city of blood. full of lies and robbery was its prominent attraction right anybody who wants to speak lies and convert that lies into business and prosper they can go to Nineveh anybody who wants to steal from somewhere and sell somewhere or steal from you know some other nation and come and sell it without any kind of questions license problems etc robbery you go to Nineveh in figurative language the prophet Nahum compared the Ninevites to a cruel and ravenous lion yes some lion are very cruel what why why lion lion not lioness lions are cruel when the mating season comes without even having any pity the lion cubs will be there no it will go and eat all of their cubs or it will kill don't eat it will kill therefore without a choice the lioness will come again to mate with this lion see no pity at all its own bloodline right but that kind of nature you will not see in any other animal they will have that kind of sensitivity and attraction especially elephants you see which is almost like you know maybe 100 and 200 times more than a lion you will see that elephant having that kind of a that sensitivity and that affection that's why these people are like the revenue line very cruel wicked i'm moving on i have lots of things to cover you may not even thought about these things so i'm going to cover a little bit of history why because this becomes if i don't explain all of these and take you into the word of god it becomes just like another kindergarten session so we want we don't want to do that right because you know that already you have studied enough of these in the um sunday school so we want to teach differently here what does Nineveh known as today very important question no this was ringing in your mind isn't it I read your mind voice or I heard your mind voice Nineveh modern day Mosul Iraq Iraq was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity it is originally known as Nineveh N-I-N-U-A a trade center again I'm referring to the trade center because of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean mixing together one. It's a kind of island, but not exactly an island, but it is in the shores of Tigris. A trade center and would become one of the largest and most affluent cities in antiquity. All right. Did Nineveh, what was Nineveh's, see, any city, they will have some more other form of worship. paganism, paganites, or, you know, Bale, or some more other kind of, you know, in the city Ephesus, church of Ephesus, city of Ephesus, where Paul went and planted the church. That's a book of Ephesians, right? Book or letter written to Ephesians. There used to be a goddess Diana, right? They used to have a lot of idolatry, the center, centered and focused towards this goddess diana like that if you take any place right their main focus and attention will be on some gods or goddesses idols or some belief will be there some line of divinity will be there according to their standards not according to the biblical standards we can't call it as divinity but according to their standards divinity they will have something in some form if they have nothing they will pick one creation sun or moon or star something they will decorate and say worship this is god in india you can find that in many places anyway right now here in ninaga what was the god that the whole nation the entire nation used to worship at that point of time interestingly you know what it is fish god yes the monuments was dagan d-a-g-a-n the name of that goddess or goddess diggin a creature partly man and partly fish you have seen that right they also have stories like they discover that kind of uh many people have witnessed seeing that kind of fish having the form of uh the head of a man and then the fish or the head of a woman and the and the fish uh tail and all that i haven't seen anything like that in my life neither do i believe and bible also doesn't witness anything like that leviathan is there in the middle of the sea but that is from the spiritual meaning um which we will discuss some other day we will discuss about leviathan some other day right now this is the fish guard which is like a hybrid of man and fish and this fish guard name is Dagon Dagon was an object of a reverent worship in early Babylon and Assyrian cultural days And it clear from the monuments the monuments which are discovered by the archaeologists today you could see these records confessing and reflecting the early traditions concerning the origin of this kind of worship that used to evolve or that used to exist right but evolution how this god became fish god is because it's predominantly seashore right everything is fish is like a vegetarian food whether you like it or not all three times I think people will have fish fish is a common thing therefore and their businesses are predominantly dependent on fish right they export fish they um they export a lot of uh you know uh the seafood etc and they cook a lot of seafood and all that so their trade was predominantly dependent on fish they can they they immediately made uh fish itself as god or goddess and they gave that extraordinary image you know some people would have spread some mythology hey i saw this i saw that and all that right you're able to connect that that's why i will tell you one more truth the spiritual truth Maybe you know it. That's why God made the fish to swallow Jonah and to vomit Jonah. Jonah moment he stepped into the land of Nineveh. What do you think he would have confessed and witnessed people first? What incident happened in the belly of the fish, right? The same God whom you're worshipping is not the real God. It's just a creation. There is a God who is above that fish, far above that fish you created, commanded your so-called fish guard to swallow me up that means who's greater your fish guard or the god who commanded the so-called fish guard this is how i think prophet uh jonah or pastor jonah would have gone and started confessing my own imagination bible doesn't talk anything about it my own imagination it's good to read bible with lots of imagination right that's when we add a lot of flavor it becomes very interesting right so putting those people's faith to shame more than putting to shame bringing those people's faith under a microscope under a microscope you will see easily a bacteria or a virus or a you know any kind of organisms which you don't tend to see in your naked eyes easily under the microscope microscopic study will examine the cells in your body within the blood and the urine culture etc isn't it likewise he's putting this fight under the microscope and these people started thinking and that's how the crowd were formed and this kind of message started traveling all the way to the ears of mr maharaja king right we will discuss about that in a moment but see the moment i start getting into my imagine imaginations it is it is endless so so should you be right next question how did god destroy Nineveh? I'm asking a few questions just to give you the context about Nineveh and the fish god and what was their belief and how it evolved and how God's attention went towards that place. So many questions we are answering one after the other. How did God destroy Nineveh? In 612 BC, 612 years before Christ was born, the Babylonians mustered their army again and joined the Median king, cyaxrus you know cyaxrus right you might have definitely read this cyaxrus cyaxrus is coming in many places actually in the book of daniel if i'm not wrong encamping against nineveh they laid siege to the city of three months and in august finally broke through the defenses and and they began to plunder and burn the city and destroy every uh men and women and they started taking all the wealth of that city. The major factor is the city's downfall was the because of this medians or medes, right? That's the historical evidence. Now, what was the population of Nineveh looking like? Many people say this is very, it was very small city. It was medium sized and all that. Roughly the census, which was recorded according to their historical standards or evidences witnesses that around 120 um 120k or 1 lakh 20 000 in indian terms around 1 lakh 1.2 lakhs people lived in nineveh not not fairly a large city but for the standards of those days it is to be considered as fairly a large city only but according to today's standards it is nothing right in the 7th century uh bc what happens is in the 7th century we are going a little later right this is from 612 to 700 BC the remains of which lied on the outskirts of Mosul all got destroyed the capital of the powerful Assyrian empire that sacked Tebes it fell victim to a civil war and by the time of Herodotus there was a king by name Herodotus 484 BC to 425 BC was already consigned to this history this is another historical evidence that really Nineveh existed. And Nineveh is nothing but Iraq. It was destroyed, but it was rebuilt. And it was once ruled by the Assyrian Empire. I'm going a little faster because I have so much to cover. We have not even gone into the word of God yet. I'm just telling you a little bit of evidences that will be collected through various sources. We would like to share it with you. Is Nineveh still existing? Many people ask this question. Nineveh, the oldest and the most popular city of the ancient Assyrian Empire, situated on the east bank of tigris river again i repeat encircled by the modern city of mosul iraq right it's not iraq by itself but it's actually encircled um yes nineveh was like the inner core and iraq was kind of an outer core okay now it has been partially rejuvenated and reconstructed uh they call it as nergal gate in nineveh it is still in iraq you can go there they have reconstructed that and they have called its name as nergal gate okay they just kept as a historical evidence right okay another question only two more questions and we are done to do assurians still exist important question no we don't hear this name we hear christians muslims buddhist hindus right and assurians we don't generally tend to hear do they really exist Assyrians of today numbers are more than 5 million that is the statistics and are the direct dissonance of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian empires immigrants from Iraq and Iran prefer to settle in the US in Australia while Assyrians from Turkey the Turkish people they have a sect of people and they are still holding to the culture of Assyria or Assyrians prefer to settle in europe now they are scattered you don't find the assyrian dominated nation they don't have a nation or a citizenship but they are believed to be settled in various parts of europe okay they technically they don't exist but logically they do exist last question and it's not over stay tuned don't don't run away how does jonah point to jesus jesus jonah see two questions we are asking at the top right was jonah dead or alive in fish belly we are going to answer that in a moment likewise why jesus compared not comparing he referred to the incident of jonah for some reasons and we are going to discuss that right um and there is no secret about his death he compared the three days where he would be dead and and buried and kept in the tomb right with the with that of jonah and we are going to discuss a little bit about that that's the next research what we have done and we are going to present it to you narratively right so far how you with me have you understood what minava is all about from historical perspective right now one last question we'll answer how does jonah point to jesus right some of it points right there is some connectivity only the miracle jonah experience would point to the truth that jesus indeed is god and he alone is the god we are going to prove it in a moment i'm just setting the context beloved just stay tuned jonah was in the belly of the big fish some people call it as whale but there are there aren't any evidences in the book of jonah itself it's referred as great fish and there are a lot of large fishes and one of them is the blue whale or whale right and let us for now call it as whale only right in the belly of whale for three days and three nights and he was given life again. Now that tells something, no? Soon Jesus would be crucified and resurrected three days later. He would die, but he too would be restored to life again. Which means what? How many of you in this room who are listening to me now have always thought that Jonah lived in the belly of fish? Trust me. Trust me or not, I will tell you the truth. Until I had to get into the meditation of this message and start collecting evidences, is i am one among you it's a secret okay i also thought he somehow lived in the belly of that fish no the moment it swallowed boom his life is taken because why there are many evidences i'm going to prove it to you in a moment why you think biologically and scientifically a man cannot survive in the in the belly of the fish see god can do any kind of wonders agreed there is no two ways about it if god has made the decision that a man should live in the belly of the fish he's going to supply that oxygen through some cylinders god is miraculous right but that is not the reason uh why the fish is swallowed jonah for two reasons it's swallowed number one is to teach a good lesson to jonah and number two is several years later jesus would pick this example right towards his death and what happens between his death and resurrection three days something happens right that experience jesus is trying to convey in a symbolic through a symbolical way or an evidential manner and he needs a kind of a forerunner who had gone through this experience and that was jonah i can't put it in a very simpler way you are able to understand know two significant reasons why this fish had to swallow jonah and the fact and the truth is jonah died yeah i was literally shocked and i was feeling very very sorry for my beloved jonah because i thought jonah somehow survived and he was still alive how merciful god is and all that this fellow is dead that's the truth okay now let's move on right now we are going to talk little bit about Jonah versus our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ first question I have answered but I'm going to explain it to you scientifically and biologically in a moment we will give more explanations and second question also we are answering I've been put it in the slide why Jesus is pointed to Jonah or why Jesus referred to Jonah as example so let's are you all prepared so far you're not feeling bored right I touched a little bit of history people who did not like history my strong belief is you would start liking history you need to learn history history is not a subject that you should memorize mug and dump it on a piece of a paper no it's very important to know history and geography right geographically historically you need to connect and that's bible okay now jesus christ now we are talking about jesus versus jonah jesus christ laid his credibility on the line when he said for as jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so some portion of bible calls it as a whale the book of jonah itself calls it as a great fish so there is no big deal leave it we call it as a whale so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth matthew chapter 12 verse 40 if you take and read you will find this paraphrase which i had read for you just now right now if therefore the story of jana is not true we have to contemplate right if the story of jonah is not true then the story of christ is also not true both are not true this is all fairy tales no historically it is proven both are true if the story of jonah is fiction then the story of christ is also fiction let's assume that but it is not true so we have to believe whenever we read bible we need to believe that it is yes and yemen second corinthians 120 right we believe that all scriptures inspired of god are without errors right that's what um book of second timothy 316 says that all scriptures is given by inspiration of god and is profitable for doctrine for reproof reproof is corrections and instructions right and for instruction in righteousness proverbs 623 which we have done a series very recently and please go through it but it is in tamil i'm sorry but we have spoken about the laws and commandments and how those instructions are very much accurate and needed for a christian walk when we are about to fall when we make mistakes errors fail failures etc that word instructs us it brings a lot of enlightenment on a path light to the lamp to the body and light a light to our feet bible says jesus christ stated clearly that jonah was a prophet of god in matthew 12 39 and in luke 11 29 right matthew uh i will read from matthew just one reference we will read we are giving a lot of references from the bible therefore we want you to read it offline if possible brothers 12 39 but he answered and said to them an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet jonah jesus calls jonah's prophet so do we right no no arguments now jesus said jesus christ he stated clearly that jonah was a prophet also second kings 14 25 um if you take turn i will i will read for you if you don't have bibles just stay and just pay attention um second kings 14 25 i'm turning my bible to the possible uh in a possible pace that i could 1425 uh-huh he restored the territory of israel from the entrance of hama to the sea of the arabah according to the word of god god of israel which had spoken through his servant jonah the son of amittai the prophet who was from gath heifer look second kings was written much before than the book of jonah so do not go by the sequence of the books many people make that mistake right the first book in the bible is book of job but it is somewhere middle right likewise the book of jonah could have been written much earlier than second kings but for some reasons they want to sequence it this way therefore there is a lot of meaningful study that could be done the chronology becomes more meaningful right so but it's not in literal to be taken in literal tense now second king 1425 states that jonah is a prophet too so Old Testament, New Testament, both ways we confirm Jonah is a prophet. Jesus said, a fool and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Luke 24, 25, we know all of this, right? We are to believe all that the prophets have spoken. So why Jesus is, some people ask for a sign. What is the sign that the son of God will be dead and resurrected and all that? He gives this example of Jonah and there was a symbolical evidence given. This is how the son of God is also going to go through experiences. But you do not have faith to believe. That's why he calls them as fools who are having the dull heart, that unfaithful heart to believe that prophets have spoken about me. Lots of prophets, they all were killed. They are dead and gone. Including David. Psalm 22 was written as a prophecy. And a lot of Psalms are there about Messiah. Isaiah was written. Micah was written. i see a full of christ prophecies right sikil also we have contrary to what many people have heard so we are explaining why jonah is pointed to jesus slowly we are getting into the subject stay focused my brothers contrary to what many people have heard jonah was not swallowed by a whale the bible states 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 jonah 117 i will read it for you 117 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 wow it could be seven days and seven nights no it could be two days and two nights god left an evidence this is how the son of god is going to stay in a place which we will explain in a moment there is a specific place the name of the place it also in the book of jonah You might have read but we won explain the bible states now the lord had prepared this fish right a fish does not breathe air see why i told right one answer i or one response i kept in reservation what is the scientific and biological evidence that the fish doesn't supply any oxygen right that great fish does not breathe air therefore he gets any supply of oxygen into the belly which where which he could use to breathe and then survive no no way to survive it would be full of carbon dioxide or nitrogen or any other gas other than oxygen you need oxygen no all of us are looking at me you all know science and biology right oxygen you need to breathe to live a fish does not breathe there it has no lungs by the way technically speaking or scientifically speaking biologically speaking but takes oxygen from the water through its gills and it then mixes with the blood streams and supplies the necessary oxygen it requires because it doesn't have the function of lungs it doesn't have a nostril like us nose through which the lung pipe is connected and then the lungs sorry the nostril air pipe is connected and then it uh it supplies oxygen and carbon dioxide is sent back we do it the big fish doesn't have a function like that so there is no then somebody asks me a funny question imagine a jaint swallows a small ant can the ant live no the ant will die why because it has to go through the acid process right now the stomach will have acid no hydrochloric acid it will it will kind of melt it so there is no way that an ant can survive similar process also was there in the belly of the fish or not tell me how the digestion process would have happened for the fish same acid process will be there right there see methodologically and biologically more or less these organs are all interconnected and the process the digestion process excretory system digestive system are all interconnected only right and i will give you more explanation now you understand from gills oxygen gets into the body through blood streams there is no way that jonah could have survived right biologically we are proving that there was there there is no possibility no chance of jonah living inside the fish of the belly understand this a whale is not a fish but a mammal or a great fish is not a not a fish but a mammal a whale has lungs and breathes air through its nostrils or vents leading its two lungs someone might say uh then it's contradicting with matthew 12 40 which we have explained right he died three days and three nights if that was true but that's not the way how the fish was formed so that's why i meant it in a Reverse order. I think you understood. In the King James translation, the word whale is used, but the Greek word is ketos. Ketos means a large fish. This is something we have also extracted from the biblical standard, the translation methods. We researched why this is whale, why this is great fish. Luke was a Greek. He wrote the book of Luke and Acts. you will see a lot of what is it Greek synonyms being converted and translated whereas other books you will see more of the Jewish Aramic or a Hebrew synonym so that's the way to translate according to those standards so we need to carefully study the Bible and understand the real meaning not to get misled is what we are trying to say certainly God could have prepared a you know smaller fish or a fish of considerable size to swallow man may not be a larger fish why because whatever way you research biologically scientifically any any any way you research you will not find any evidence of Jonah surviving in the fish belly of the fish that's the reason he prepared that kind of big fish to prove these many facts now if if God wanted him to live anyway he would have done all too often the picture we have is a distortion of what Bible really says it's a distortion many think the story of jonah is a fairy tale right fairy tales no have you read fairy fairy tales i have read few of them one girl will be letting down her hair down from the top floor the floor is almost like 30 uh storied building or something like that and the some guy will be catching the hair and he will be climbing up it's not a fairy tale like how bible is trying to describe the uh describe jonah in the in the belly of the fish he was dead it doesn't mean that Jonah was sitting in a chair in the dining table in the belly of a fish and waiting for his dinner lunch breakfast dinner lunch breakfast and you know like how that raven was bringing food to Elijah you know this fish also was swallowing some eatable things that would be supplied to Jonah's belly from my belly no that was not the story it's a fairy tale if somebody is going to explain don't believe that's not the truth right Jonah patiently some people explain right or how patiently jonah waited in the belly of the fish three days and three nights what kind of smell would be there god put him definitely into this kind of uh critical situation or a unpleasant situation to teach him a good lesson brother yes i've heard many sermons like that in fact i also tend to happen to believe such stories right taught him a good lesson then he will understand what it is to obey God then he will understand the beauty of earth and what it is how gifted we are to walk on earth without all this tension all that nothing like that happened it is all fairy tales don't believe right now Jonah died in the fish's belly it is amazing how many people think that Jonah lived in the fish's belly and therefore many well meaning Christians seek high and low and you know turn to heaven and earth and upside down in a search for a fish it would prove nothing but because jonah died in the belly of the fish is the fact is the truth so let's stick to that i hope you don't have any more questions on that if you have questions rewind the tape we have explained it very well now let's move move little advance so far you're with me right from basics we came to intermediate from intermediate we are getting into the advanced discussion and with that we will end the session i will take another 20 minutes we will try to wind it in a hour's time now jonah said something very very peculiar now this is what is going to answer what it meant between the death and resurrection the three days where jesus was is going to be answered here in the book of jonah in a specific verse jonah chapter 2 verse 2 i will read it for you then jonah prayed to the lord as god from the fish's belly and he said i would want to read actually from chapter 2 verses 1 to 10 i want to do it side by side but we will see what best to do i will read verses 1 to 2 1 and 2 jonah what jonah chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 jonah prayed to the god as god from fish's belly from fish's belly how is he able to pray that's what makes people to think that he's alive no his soul was praying from somewhere and it is translated as jonah prayed from fish's belly actually jonah physically was dead but spiritually he was alive but his spirit was lying somewhere that is what is described for more clarity people skip that verse 2 and they stick to verse 1 that's that's what leads to misconception and he said i cried out to the lord because of my affliction and he answered me but of the belly of sheol i cried from whose belly he cried not from the belly of a fish that great fish but from the belly of sheol and you heard my voice sheol translates to something else which i'm going to explain in a moment many people might know many people may not know even if you know listen to it once again you will lose nothing okay please listen okay uh don't immediately she all i know don't don't immediately forward please listen there may be some hidden facts which you may not have known or heard if you have heard already god bless you no no problem in listening twice the place in the heart of the earth john also said i went down in verse um i will read until six right we have to read this for you cast me into the deep into the hearts of into the heart of the seas and the flood surrounded me all your billows and your waves passed over me he's describing the sheol the place of sheol is somewhere in the deep that he's trying to express what he had seen and do through those three days and three nights experience physically jonah was dead his body is floating in the fish of in the belly of the fish and interestingly although this hydro hydrochloric acid everything was there to digest that large content which this fish is going to swallow good that his body is not burnt fully but we are going to explain that evidence also a little bit hang on you will find it very interesting and shocking also right for you cast me into the deep into the hearts of the sea then i said i have verse number four jonah 2 4 then i said i have been cast out of your sight out of your sight means what god's sight see there are two places i would recommend you to please go through a series called as know your enemy or go through a serious god's judgment and judge not others right in that we have explained a place called as paradise a place called as hell or place of torment and another place called as tartarus now i have no time to explain but quickly i will tell you there is a story right in the book of luke rich man and I will give you a reference in a moment and there you will see there is a gulf between gulf means the void space between the heaven not heaven paradise paradise is not heaven by the way that's why you need to listen to that series I cannot explain here it will take my entire time paradise and people going to hell people who go to hell are not already burning in the lake of fire that will be created only after the judgment in the revelation chapter 20 when the book of life is opened until then these people who were evil right and they had gone and you know joined hands with evil forces and committed all sorts of corrupt or dedicated themselves into corrupt deeds they will be thrown into that place but they are still there and people who live righteous walked in the path of righteous and blameless and honestly before god and sincere before god they will be going to paradise right now i'm coming back to this point the sheol is described to something else something else means is it paradise or hell that's a question no definitely it is not paradise it is hell i will prove to you in a moment hang on just hang on there okay i will continue to read this that is why it is called as deep see some people also described as upper paradise and lower paradise. Upper paradise refers to righteous people. Lower paradise refers to wicked people. That's why here Jonah refers as deep, deep beneath down the upper paradise. Therefore, he was surely not in paradise. He was disobedient. How can he go to paradise? It will become a very bad example, right? Then any people can be called as prophet by God. They can do any nonsense and they will still have a reservation in the in the paradise, right that's how these pentecostal christians are believing or behaving pentecostal uh culture as behavior behavior as is demonstrating something else i'm going to do a series very shortly about pentecost and we are going to there is this you know secrets of christian festivals and traditions we have done a episode one episode two we will be releasing shortly in that i will cover about pentecost and we will be discussing a lot do not miss it right when we release it please stay tuned you will understand if you are a pentecostal christian no offenses don't gnash your teeth against me i was a born catholic and then gone into pentecost now i've become a csi so i have seen all the three congregations so please don't play any fool with me i have learned all of these three very well i know who they are all three okay leave it now let's come back here then i said i've been was a little harsh sorry if i was i've been cast out of your sight i have i will look again see verse number four listen to me brother sister forget the csa catholic and all that just listen to the word of god i've been cast out of your holy sight yet i will look again towards your holy temple which means what he was definitely not in paradise from hell he is looking towards paradise god this is how i think he was screaming the waters encompassed me encompassed me verse 5 even to my soul the deep closed around me it was so um scary and weeds were wrapped around my head the weeds were wrapped around my head is a symbolical representation of the crown of thorns around the head of jesus spiritually comparing i told right jesus versus jonah this is how you should compare and study the weeds were around his head meaning what in the belly of the fish what will be there only weeds and bushes will be there no it swallows everything green that that that appears so it was circling around his body probably this fellow is seeing his physical body that is dead and floating from sheod and that's why he is described but there is a spiritual meaning also attached to it which i have explained verse number six i went down to the this is what I want to read but I want to read continuously therefore we cover everything I went down to the moorings of the mountains the earth with its bars closed behind me yet you have brought up my life from the pit oh lord my god this is this this is the symbolical evidence or significant evidence of Jonah being resurrected from dead dead understand three days he was all three days he was see it is explained and six verses but it took him three days to speak all of this right maybe there are many things that he would have spoken but holy spirit just restricted to this much and it's good enough i think so that it's it's a real prayer of repentance right as a dead man but i'll tell you what no one gets this chance never think oh i can also be wicked like jonah i can also rebel against God like Jonah and go to hell and come back to life that was left as one classical example you will not find such an example in the entire Bible one classical example where it is told or left as an evidence symbolical representation of Jesus being resurrected why because whoever looks up to the name of Jesus although they may be dead while walking on earth spiritually they will be brought back to life and that's called his grace the resurrection power of christ that will be at work in them i got all excited when i say this you understand it's not after you are judged or it's not after you're dead no it's while you are living your life you will go through these spiritual experiences of what jonah had gone through in the belly of the fish you're with me or not i hope you are with you if you're not with me rewind you will again understand okay now it's very clear no jonah's soul was in the heart of the earth three days and three nights exactly as christ was in the heart of the earth three days and three nights as it is described in matthew 12 40 which i read already for you okay now let's move on i have to explain a few more things otherwise it will become an unfinished business we have lots to cover holy spirit help me i need to close in 10 minutes the bible teaches that there is a hollow place in the center of the earth called as sheol in the old testament and it's called as hades the keys of death and hades is given into your hands some verses you have read or not remember no in the new testament also it is given keys of death and hades means you have the power to open the door and kick all the demonic forces that are battling against you into those place so don't be worried you won't get you won't open the door and sit inside right you will open the door and kick out all this demonic forces there that's the spiritual meaning but let's come back here there is a place of comfort called paradise and a place of torment that the sheol or hades separated by a huge gulf the history the biblical evidence i'm giving you i'm giving you references this is not my own imagination or my story luke chapter 16 verse 26 luke 16 talks about the rich man and lazarus parable and it's a true story otherwise jesus would not give name generally jesus don't doesn't give names right when he gives names it a historical evidence and it a true story otherwise he be calling it as parable of so what there was a farmer who was plowing the field and sowing the seeds like that he would talk there was a rich man there was a beggar no he called rich man and loceress okay so it very clear jesus gave very clear examples here and i don't know how people get fooled um so all of the dead saved and lost went to hades and she all right prior to the death or burial and resurrection of jesus christ so all of the dead so what i'm trying to say here is all of the dead physically will be going there and they'll be living there until the day of judgment right and until the resurrection of christ the paradise was living in some place in the bottom that's why this guy jonah referred as i looked from the deep towards that place and rich man in Lazarus story also you will find they're almost closely located but one small gap is there after Jesus was resurrected he took it to a different place paradise is no more in the next to no more next to Sheol you want to understand more about this again I refer please stay tuned to know your enemy series or go to the series of God's judgment in that we have explained with picture one and a half hours we have explained so go go there and stay tuned subscribe to our channel and listen to that material okay now just listen to this the saved were waiting for the payment for sin to be made the lost are still waiting to be cast into hell revelation chapter 20 verse 14 i will read it for you very quickly therefore you will be able to connect it very quickly with the heads and uh this thing then death and heads where hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death first death is what spiritually you are dead you're walking like a dead man only be many people think i'm still alive i'm still an instrument in god's and no no if you're spiritually dead you are already you have already you have already gone through the first death and the second death will happen once you're thrown into the lake of fire therefore watch out that's why you need introspect jonah what was the failure we will discuss that in a moment right jonah failed to introspect his weakness so when jesus died no he went to the heads or she all to the paradise side that that is on this paradise side when when the thief who died you know who was crucified along with christ no jesus replied verily i say to you today thou shall be with me in paradise so we learned that paradise was in the heart of the earth too i'm just giving you another example therefore you are clear to understand it was there but it is no more there it is moved to a different place and jesus was resurrected he emptied the paradise out and he took the old testament believers to heaven a new place was created heaven since calvary the believer at death enters directly into the presence of god that's the truth we are confident to say this right um we are confident and i say and willingly rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the lord second corinthians 5 8 i just read a verse for you second corinthians 5 8 i'm reading it for you in a moment i may be going little fast than the usual pace because i need to cover a lot second corinthians 5 8 um we are confident yes and well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the lord that means that the paradise thing is evidentially available and shifted right see Jonah now we are almost getting into the conclusive mode and I will be you know summarizing few things for you right there are few facts that we need to really go through I will try to cover and I will take extra 5-10 minutes if you don't have a problem So Jonah picturizes the, I mean, the book of Jonah picturizes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of us agree, you know. Jonah booked the passage on a ship to flee from the presence of the Lord. That was the rebellious act. And God sent a strong storm that threatened the lives of all that were on board. And they threw him into the sea and the big fish came and swallowed. So the spiritual meaning is when you're rebellious, God won't throw you somewhere. God will walk out of your life. That is New Testament. God will not be present in your life, which means what? Great fishes called Satan would swallow you. The demonic forces would swallow you. And you are no more controlled by the Holy Spirit, but by the bunch of evil spirits. Right? When the seaman asked how to be saved from the storm, Jonah said, take me up and throw into the sea. Jonah chapter 1 verse 12. Right? Jonah said that as a literal command. See how idiotic he was. Right? he could have prayed to god because he didn't believe in mercy or favor he was judgmental upon himself like how judas iscariot was judgmental he did not go and beg for god's mercy or he could have gone to jesus directly because anyway he was running around in the temple and synagogue only no sorry in the temple only where they were judging christ but peter made the choice to run away from that place yet he begged for mercy in his heart but this idiotic jonah was judgmental yeah anyway death is for sure this is the reward i get for rebelling against god he said you take and throw me finished matter over then he woke up and saw he is already in hedges and that's when he realized what the blunder i committed while i was alive you will not get that kind of chance brothers and sisters i'm telling you that was one typical example you can see why god spared it to be compared against the resurrection of jesus or death of jesus nobody will get the chance jonah is the luckiest guy i would say next to the thief who was hanging on the right side of the cross last moment he went into paradise jonah also last moment he was resurrected and went into when i came back to earth now jonah gave up his life jonah's body was entombed in fish's belly and Jonah was in the heart and resurrected and all that. So one more fact I'm trying to tell you is the one sign that Jesus gave to prove his identity was the sign of Jonah. His critics demanded a sign, right? Who are the critics? Scribes, Pharisees and all these guys. They are always, you know, mocking Jesus and give us a sign, give us a sign and all that. And Jesus said no sign would be given other than the story of Jonah. go and listen to it. Then these people did not believe. The Bible tells Jonah was a sign of the denavage. Jonah's body carried the marks of his death. See, this is where I am going to explain you something and which you may not have thought through. His body was in the belly of the fish that tried to digest him for three days and three nights, 72 hours. You know what it would have done to his body when the fish is swallowed? no eyelashes, no eyebrow, no hair on his head or no, no hair would be present on his body. This is how he was vomited by the fish. Why? Because that hydrochloric acid and all, right? It would have burnt the hair. It started even, you know, kind of eroding or burning his skins. Probably he didn't, he was not vomited by the fish in the seashore in the same nature or stature, how he was swallowed by the fish. and likewise if you take and read Isaiah 53 there was no calmliness or form that somebody should believe that Jesus this is the Jesus whom we handed over to you please stay tuned to the truth about the cross series where we explained about the suffering of Christ they thought they are dragging a beast and they sent some people to verify is it real Jesus whom we handed over they checked him so much they bet him brovist him that he lost his form nature they never thought it was a human being that is another way of comparing jesus with jonah right when and the fish uh vomited him this acid and all eroded his body no he came like some creature i think people would have got terrified that's where jonah starts with the confession like how he came to nineveh and the fish god and all that we explained no he started talking about that what made him to talk about that what uh gave the significant attraction towards this fellow the entire city will have to turn towards him i had i have i had talked through this many times how would he cover all the people 1,20,000 people how was he able to get that attention all he didn't go to preach people started coming towards him why because the news spread like a wildfire ah there is a guy you know he doesn't look like a human being at all come let's go and listen to what he's saying and all that we touched him yes but he's a human being but something is wrong man and people started hearing this confession and that news reached to the ears of that king king that king of that era the king of Nineveh and then he tore his clothes and then they all repented this was one of the major reasons beloved right because the see his skin must have been wrinkled and bleached by the powerful stomach acid and that was a sign and he had been resurrected and it was obvious but he did not lose that nature or so that transformed the nature for as jonah was signed to the ninevites no so shall the son of man be to this generation luke 11 30 jesus says that that is the mark right when jesus was restricted peace be to you you know all that incident not john chapter 20 uh where he mr thomas says i will put my hand into the mark behold my hands in my feet that is i myself handle me and see for a spirit has no flesh and bones as you see i have all of this look 24 39 jesus describes right but the mark is there mark is there so this is the comparison without a doubt that jesus christ is who he claims that he is his critics will all one day be confessed that jesus christ is the god yahweh and every knee shall bow to him and every mouth shall confess that jesus christ is the lord verily i say to you believe on me and then you will inherit everlasting life john 6 47 okay now i will take extra five minutes and i will talk about seven similarities between jonah and jesus and with that we will conclude i will go little fast i will give biblical references as much as possible i read enough of biblical scriptures but i will just speak through jonah spent three days inside the belly of a great fish because of his own sinful deeds and rebellion being a rebellion jesus spent three days inside the belly of the earth because of our sins that was cast upon him matthew 8 17 is the reference jesus carried all our sufferings iniquities and sinful deeds upon him that he died for us second similarity jonah ran from the difficult calling and god gave him that god gave him sorry sorry Jonah 1 3 reference Jesus perfectly obeyed the father's will coming to earth and dying on the cross although he made an effort to deny if it is not your will take away this vessel take away this cup yet he repented immediately Matthew 26 you take and read you will understand garden of testimony right he makes his prayer angels came to minister to him in the book of Luke it's written third similarity similarity or difference you can call it as but it's little different you should read jonah was asleep on the ship during his storm caused by his own disobedience that is putting to death jonah chapter 1 verses 4 to 12 jesus slept on a boat during a storm and rebuked the wind and said to the waves quiet peace be still then the wind died down and it was completely calm Mark chapter 4 verses 35 to 41. Jonah caused this storm. Jesus had authority over this storm. Jonah caused problem to everyone whom all the people who traveled along with him. He was a troublemaker. He was a troublesome instrument. But Jesus came to this world to convey a couple of promises. Matthew 11, 28. Those who are weak and heavy laden, come unto me. I will give you rest. you you need not carry all the burden upon you i am there to help you and the same jesus also tells john 14 1 27 in this world there are full of troubles but do not be afraid i have overcome and i'm an overcomer john 16 33 and i will help you to overcome and i'm the rewarder of faith hebrews 11 6 i gave you so many references read all of this carefully okay fourth i'm concluding in two minutes jonah feared the creator who had authority on earth jonah chapter 1 verse 9 jesus himself is the creator with all authority over heaven and earth oh i get goosebumps when i read when i read this or when i explain this john chapter 1 verse 3 matthew chapter 28 and verse 18 right he says i am an i am in father and father in me okay fifth similar fifth similarity or fifth comparison in the fish jonah knew that salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord. That is a wonderful song, right? Jonah chapter 2 verse 9. Jesus' name means Yahweh. I am, he says while he walks on the water. I am Yahweh. I am that I am. It was the Lord who spoke to Moses from that burning bush. Jesus also speaks in the same language. Why? Because he and Father are the same. He came as an incarnate deity. Father himself came down in the form of Jesus Christ, our Lord, blood and flesh. Jesus is the way of salvation. Jonah looked towards the God of salvation, but Jesus himself is the way of salvation. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 9. Acts chapter 4 and verse 12. Take and read offline. We don't have time to cover that. Sixth one, last but one. We will conclude. Jonah became angry with God for showing grace towards the repentant sinners. We don't have time to cover all that because you know what happened in chapter 4, right? we don't want to eat up time on the known facts jonah become very angry because god was gracious look at this fellow right how unmerciful and ruthless he is no god forgave him and raised him to death from death to life this fellow would not have mercy on these people who are sinning they don't even know bible they don't even know the truth like how you know you are a prophet man you you sinned and you came back to life jonah chapter 4 verse 2 he was ruthless jesus modeled god's grace towards repentant sinners romans 3 24 you're concluding in a moment so jesus modeled god's grace towards repentant sinners which means he is the way to salvation or way of salvation romans 3 24 is the reference lastly with that we will conclude jonah was angry enough to die until death see this guy never came back to senses yet god was patient with this fellow know what a person he is i don't know how god can call such people as prophets anyway i don't know i don't like to question god jonah was angry enough to die because of god's grace towards his enemies jonah chapter 4 verse 3 jesus was compassionate he exercised one thing jesus compassion compassion compassion wherever he went compassion and grace i forgive you do not sin again jesus was compassionate enough to die he went to the next level because of his love for his enemies Romans chapter 5 verse 10 that alone I will read for you because that's a concluding verse Romans 5 10 for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life Jesus died for us oops it was very long right I hope you have learned enough things and I hope it was useful God bless you. With our heads bowed down and eyes closed, Heavenly Father, we look up to you, God. Thank you for talking to us with these hidden facts and truths. And thank you for bringing these words of enlightenment and helping us to work by your side. Lord, take away that rebellious spirit from our hearts and may our spirit always cling to the truth and abide by the word of God. Abide in your laws and commandments. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. and bless our bless every brother and sister who are tuned to this session and may they walk in light stay tuned and we will meet you soon with another interesting session like this again we request you please subscribe to our channels uh to our channel and then listen to all the video materials forward to your friends and relatives we are not doing this for advertisement advertisement or for any popularity but uh these are the last days and we need to be instruments and vessels in the hands of God to spread this word of God. So we strongly request you, we suggest please circulate these materials to all the people. Let all of us be united in the word of God and learn it together. In Jesus name we pray and bless you. Amen.