Do you remember Jesus’ mysterious prophecy about the “Sign of Jonah”? Here is Luke 11:29–32:
When the crowds were increasing, [Jesus] began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them . . . The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus was never swallowed by a whale. How, then, does Jesus provide the sign of Jonah? Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days. Jesus was in the belly of the earth for three days. Is three days the sign of Jonah? Let’s look at the text of the Book of Jonah. Here is Jonah’s prayer to the Lord, his cry for help:
I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. You had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me . . . Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. (Jon. 2:2-7)
Notice that Jonah is crying for help from the “depth of Sheol,” not from the depths of the ocean, nor even the depths of a fish. Jonah is crying to God from Sheol, which is the abode of the dead. The dead.
Jonah also says “you have brought up my life from the pit,” which is another Old Testament term for the realm of the dead (Pitre 150 [emphasis added]). Jonah sinks down below the “weeds,” the “roots of the mountains,” and is “engulfed” by the great deep. Jonah’s soul is descending to the bottom of the ocean, below the depths of the oceans, deep into the earth—way past the belly of any fish or whale. Furthermore, the trip to the underworld, the land of the dead, was generally believed in the Near East to be a journey of three days (Chisholm 411). More support for Jonah’s death may be found among the Church Fathers, including Tertullian (992).
Jonah died. Not only that, Jonah was dead for three days. Being dead for three days, then rising from the dead—that is the sign of Jonah. Christ provides the sign of Jonah by being really, truly dead for three days, then resurrecting.
Look at the word God says to Jonah after the fish vomits his body unceremoniously onto the seashore. God says to Jonah, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” Does this word choice sound familiar? Jesus describes the Queen of the South and the Men of Nineveh arising from the dead in Luke 11.
The Hebrew word for “arise” is qum. Jesus uses the Aramaic version of this same word when He raises Jairus’s daughter from the dead.[1] According to Mark 5:41, Jesus “[takes] her by the hand, He said to her, ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’” The same divine command is given to both Jairus’s daughter and Jonah: “arise.”
So, did Jonah have a near-death experience? Jonah died. Jonah went to Sheol, to the pit. God restored Jonah to life. Jonah also provided us with an account of his experience. Check, check, check. So yes, he did, and Jonah’s prayer (Jon. 2:2–9, quoted above) is the account of his NDE. Jonah’s effect on Nineveh following his NDE is not only significant for the “Sign of Jonah,” but also for those who experience an NDE, as it demonstrates yet another shared characteristic.
Analyzing Jonah’s account from the perspective of a near-death experience provides great insight. Jonah “cried for help from the depth of Sheol” (Jon. 2:2); as alluded to earlier, the location of Jonah’s near-death experience is not Heaven or Hell, but Sheol. What is Sheol? “Sheol” is the Hebrew term for the underworld (Johnston 74). In the Septuagint, the Hebrew term שְׁאוֹל (sheol) was translated as the Greek term ἅδης (hadēs), which referred to both the netherworld and the Greek god of the netherworld (Shields). Apart from Jonah’s account, descriptions of Sheol are sparse, but it’s generally described as “a somnolent, gloomy existence without meaningful activity or social distinction” (Johnston 74). Sheol is similar to Purgatory, something like its precursor, a place of waiting that ultimately leads to Heaven.
Jonah talks about this proximity to Heaven: “I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless, I will look again toward Your holy temple” (Jon. 2:4). Jonah describes being exiled or “expelled” from God’s presence. He is beyond the sight of God. Nevertheless, he remains faithful to God. He does not give in to despair. Jonah keeps his eyes fixed on Heaven. He yearns for God’s holy temple in Heaven.
This accurately describes the disposition of the souls in Purgatory, as well as Sheol, though the namesake purifying fires of Purgatory were not thought to be present in Sheol. St. Margaret Mary was often beset by souls from Purgatory seeking relief from their torments. St. Margaret Mary said of these suffering souls: “If only you knew with what great longing these holy souls yearn for relief from their suffering. Ingratitude has never entered Heaven.”
Let’s return to Jonah’s prayer to God as he descends to the underworld. As you read, you may begin to feel claustrophobic. Jonah is calling to God from a place like a prison. The water “encompassed” Jonah and the deep “engulfed” him (2:5). Weeds encircled his body and “wrapped around his head,” choking him. Finally, the “bars” of the earth closed in on him “forever.” St. Teresa of Avila had a similarly confining experience in her NDE, which I have described in my book Near Death Experiences.
There is another interesting characteristic of Jonah’s story: Jonah is also believed to be another, mysterious figure in the Bible. If true, this would make Jonah the only Biblical figure resurrected twice.
The Bible does not tell us much about Jonah’s origins,[2] yet there is an ancient tradition that Jonah is mentioned again in the Bible, though not by name. Many ancient commentators, both Christian and Jewish, relate that Jonah is actually the son of the widow of Zarephath. The son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs. 17:17-23) was resurrected by Elijah. This ancient tradition is attested to by St. Jerome (Commentaries, in Jonas, Prol., P.L., XXV, 118) and Pseudo-Epiphanius (De Vitis Prophetarum, xvi, P.L., XLIII, 407), as well as in the Midrash, the collected writings and Biblical commentary of the ancient Jewish rabbis (Yalk 550).
The Midrash provides more details that help us make sense of the mysterious figure of Jonah. After being resurrected by Elijah, Jonah followed in the line of prophets of Israel, eventually succeeding Elijah and Elisha. After Elijah was assumed into heaven on a fiery chariot, Elisha took on Elijah’s mantle of prophesy and Jonah became Elisha’s disciple (Kimhhi).
There’s still more. Like Elijah, the Midrash describes Jonah as one of the people who did not die, but were taken up or assumed bodily into Paradise, like the Blessed Mother. The Rabbis relate that Jonah, being completely righteous, would enter the Garden of Eden while still alive (Midrash Tehilim 26:7). Jonah ascending into heaven like Elijah adds yet another component to the “sign of Jonah.” Like Jonah, but by His own power, Jesus will die for three days, resurrect, and ascend to heaven, all leading to a great repentance among the pagans.
Author’s Note: Due to the lack of a comprehensive Catholic account on NDEs, I wrote my book Near-Death Experiences, available from Sophia Institute Press, building off the accounts of Pope St. Gregory the Great, St. Teresa of Avila, and even Scripture itself, to provide a safe harbor into the study of the topic—a fruitful exercise that will undoubtedly increase one’s faith and awe in our merciful God!
[1] Jesus also uses the same command to raise from the dead the Widow of Nain’s Son at Luke 7:14–15: “And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.”
[2] Jonah is described as “the son of Amit′tai” (Jon. 1:1). Outside of the Book of Jonah, the Bible only mentions Jonah once more. At 2 Kings 14:25, it is stated that the restoration of the borders of Israel by Jeroboam II against foreign invaders fulfilled the “word of the Lord the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.”
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