Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 1:12am

Messianic Prophecies: Jonah 2:1

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. And he left them, and went away.

Matthew 16:4

 

Continuing our Advent look at Messianic prophecies which we began last Advent, the earlier posts of the series may be read here, here, here ,here, here, here, here, and here we come to Jonah 2:1:

[1] Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Saint Jerome writes about this passage:

‘and Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights’. The Lord shows in the Gospel the symbolism of this passage, and it is superfluous to say in the same terms or even in other terms what he who has suffered has already said. But we ask ourselves this: how was he three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. Some scholars take the view according to paraskeuen (day of preparation for the Sabbath), because of the solar eclipse from the sixth to the ninth hour when night followed day, this would be two days and nights, and adding the Sabbath, believe that we should count this as three days and three nights. But I prefer to understand this by reason of synecdoche, seeing the whole as a part: where he is dead in paraskeuen, let us count one day and one night; two with the Sabbath; the third night which arises from the day of the Lord, let us take that as the beginning of the next day, for, in Genesis the night is not of the preceding day, but of the following day, that is to say the beginning of the next day, not the end of the previous. To understand this better I will say it more simply: if a man leaves his house at nine and the next day he arrives at his other house at three. And if I say that he has been two days in travelling, I will not be reprimanded as a liar, because he has not used all the hours of two days, but only a part for his journey. Nonetheless this seems to me to be the interpretation. If someone does not agree with this, and he can explain the meaning in a clearer way, then we should follow his interpretation.

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PM
PM
Sunday, December 9, AD 2012 6:56am

The perspective of Holy Mary and her Blessed Son among the ships is a symbol of the size of the presence of the supernatural (unseen) among the natural (seen).

Taking the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:4 and applying them to this generation in the world of 2012, there is reason to stop and consider the lesson of Jonah.

It’s just one of the many, generous ways our Father is reaching for us to think of Him and love Him.

philip
philip
Sunday, December 9, AD 2012 1:17pm

How many prophets have been snuffed out because they were aborted? How many great statesmen? When Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta was asked by [ former first lady ] H.Clinton what she thought of the possibility of a woman President in Mother Theresa lifetime, Mother responded; “No. It won’t happen. That soul has already been aborted.”

A reluctant prophet was successful. Question.
How many Lord? Will you spare America if I can find ten worthy souls?

Robert A. Rowland
Robert A. Rowland
Sunday, December 9, AD 2012 1:43pm

God must have given speculation to keep humans off the street and out of real trouble.

A tip of the hat to philip.

MJ Anderson
Monday, December 10, AD 2012 5:16am

The Sign and Wonder was in front of them–

BTW, my Dad is one of Pearl Harbor veterans still alive. Thank you for the post. On war/ peace. the incomparable Fr. James Schall, S.J. wrote that “war colleges” do more to insure peace than “peace academies.” Amen to that!

philip
philip
Monday, December 10, AD 2012 4:28pm

Robert-
The “Hillary 2016” speak is turning my stomach, and I didn’t mean to mix prophets when I posted earlier. I was at the Assisted Living center having my lunch break and hurried to A.C. to enjoy the Perspectives.
I look at this site as an oasis in the parched landscapes of msm., and I should read more…text less.

The Clinton meeting with Mother Theresa was during her visit to NYC having just won the Peace Prize…..you know, when it had meaning.

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Monday, December 10, AD 2012 6:00pm

[…] Messianic Prophecies: Jonah 2:1 – Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic […]

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Sunday, December 16, AD 2012 5:39pm

[…] the earlier posts of the series may be read here, here, here ,here, here, here, here, here and here , we come to Isaiah 60: […]

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