Why did Jonah need to stay in the belly of the fish for 3 days? It is a question we almost never ask. Jesus mentions the 3 days and nights in the fish to point toward the resurrection. For early Christians, Jonah became a symbol of the Resurrection. Curiously, that is not the point the book of Jonah makes. The story of Jonah is about mercy.
3 Days of Judgment
Jonah is swallowed up by the fish after persuading the sailors to throw him over board. They did not want to do it. The storm, though, is taken as judgment on the prophet. Jonah knows this in admitting that he was running away from the presence of God. Jonah refuses to prophesy against the Nineveh, the Assyrian capitol. He tries one more way to escape. Jonah chooses death by drowning.
Christian teachers commonly claim that God saved Jonah by means of the fish. In truth, Jonah was judged by means of the fish. There is no escape for him. To claim, Jonah was saved from drowning misses the point. His 3 days in the fish are a period of judgment. His salvation comes after his song of repentance when the fish vomits him back on to the dry land. During the time of being in the belly of the beast, he prays for deliverance and makes promises of sacrifice.
Judgment for Time
Miriam spends a week outside the camp. Samson waits until his hair grows back. The people of Judah return after 70 years in captivity. Time for repentance and reevaluation is important in the Hebrew Bible. Jonah spends his time in the fish. After that he goes to Nineveh and states the city has 40 days before it is judged.
Abraham receives a promise to the land which his descendants will one day possess. Why not just give it now? “The iniquity of the Amorite is not complete.” But there is also a need for preparation. The children of Israel will not be ready for living in freedom until 40 years pass after being delivered from Egypt.
So what makes Jonah’s ordeal a sign?
3 Days in the Tomb
Anyone counting realizes if Jesus dies on Friday and is buried that evening before sundown, then he is not 3 days and nights in the tomb at sunrise on Sunday. What then do they symbolize?
Let’s consider Lazarus for a moment. Before he was raised, it had been four days since his death. Some teachers believed the soul would linger around the grave for 3 days until decomposition began. Once the soul no longer recognized the face of the corpse as its own, it would leave. I do not know the reason for such a belief. But the fourth day for Lazarus, means he is certainly dead and not able to be revived.
The nights and days Jesus is in the tomb points toward the judgment on the generation. Jonah is judged inside the fish. The world is judged outside Jesus’ tomb.
The Importance of Time
Time helps prove a point. During contract negotiations many years ago, management asked us if we were willing to have the rest of the workers in the plant cross our picket line. I immediately replied, “You give us 3 days, and they won’t have anything to do.” In fact, our little department had the ability to stop all Levi’s manufacturing in the eastern US. Without us, production would stop in our nearby plant and all the little “contractor” sweat shops. The union representative was surprised we had so much power. But the company mistakenly bottle-necked production through our 3 small groups of marker makers. No one could have picked up the slack.
The gospels place Jesus in the tomb for a brief amount of time. Repentance, reevaluation, and preparation is made for the gospel people to become the resurrection people. Jesus’ disciples hid, prayed, and waited for whatever would happen next. All it took was 3 days until their world was changed.
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