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By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them cry mightily to God; yea, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not? (Jonah 3:7-9).

The king is not satisfied with a cultic show of penance. He demands in addition a change of moral behavior, a personal turning from wicked ways, lest penance be a cloak for persistence in sin (Allen, 1976). The king further describes the needed personal reformation in acceptable Jeremiah‘s language (Jeremiah18:11). It is this section that builds up an impression of the totality of Nineveh‘s repentance by mentioning the mourning of great and small, man and beast. The people of Nineveh responded to the prophecy of Jonah, repenting from their evil ways and violent life turned their hope to the mercy of God. Thus repentance is the climax and the essence of prophecy of Jonah.

In Mathew 16:1 in order to test Jesus, the Pharisees and Sadducees asked him for a sign. That Jesus refused to give a ―sign‖ to such hostile interrogators is indicated by Mark 8:11-12 where he clearly states that ―truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation‖. However, Mathew 16:4 added that ―but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah‖. Jesus refers to these people asking the question as ―An evil and adulterous generation‖ and this statement appeared in the three instances (Mathew 12:39, Mathew 16:4 and Luke 11:29). The central point in this context of the ―sign of Jonah‖ is in Mathew 12:40 which states: ―For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly (κοιλία) of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart (καπδία) of the earth‖. It follows that the context of the ―sign of Jonah‖

raises a serious question over one common interpretation, which is often derived from Mathew 12:40.

In fact, if Jesus is refusing to give a sign to ―this evil and adulterous generation,‖ it is likely ―the sign of Jonah‖ refers to the resurrection? From this, are we to understand that Jesus simply said,

―No sign will be given to this generation, except a resurrection from the dead like Jonah‘s?

Certainly the phrase ―the sign of Jonah‖ may have connected for some of its Jewish hearers the miracle of Jonah‘s deliverance from the belly of the fish. The ―sign of Jonah‖ refers to the near-death/deliverance experience of the prophet, here understood as a prefiguring of the death and deliverance of Jesus (Limburg, 1993). Thus, the primary meaning of the ―sign of Jonah‖, according to Mathew 12:40 then is paradoxically the correspondence between Jonah‘s experience in the belly of the sea creature, and Jesus‘ experience in death, his decent into Hades (Woodhouse, 1984). The sign could be the salvation/deliverance granted to Jonah by God in Jonah 2: 10-11 since Jonah declared ―Deliverance belongs to God‖. Hence, Jonah turned out to

be a sign for the people of Nineveh. In the same way Jesus would be delivered from death to be a sign of repentance for the Jews who demand a sign in order to believe in him.

This pericope Mathew 12:38-42 concludes with two examples of how people ought to respond when a Jonah-like figure is among them. The group of people Jesus is addressing comprises the Scribes (experts in interpreting Jewish tradition) and some members of the party of the Pharisees.

Jesus seems to say that these representatives of the best in Judaism could learn something from certain non-Jewish people. The people of Nineveh when they heard Jonah‘s preaching repented.

Those who were hearing Jesus ought to have repented since the person and proclamation of Jesus is something greater than Jonah. Jesus furthermore gives example that those that surrounded him ought to emulate the action of a non-Jewish woman the queen of Sheba who attached great value to the wisdom of King Solomon. The people ought to put much value to the words of Jesus because the wisdom of Jesus is greater than that of Solomon.

Mathew 16:1-4 makes reference to the sign of Jonah without explaining it. It could be assumed that the explanation has been done in Mathew 12. Jesus tells them they can interpret the natural signs but could not interpret ―the signs of the times‖ (ζημείον ηϖν καιπϖν). Jesus ends that only the sign of Jonah is to be given. This probably may refer to the understanding of Mathew 12 earlier explained.

In Luke 11:29-32, Jesus‘ discussion on the sign of Jonah is shorter than that of Mathew 12. The meaning here is not obvious. ―For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation‖ (Luke 11:30). One questions oneself here in what way was Jonah a

―sign‖ to the people of Nineveh? Karris (2007) warns that ―Mathew 12:38-42 should not be read into this passage; Luke is not concerned about Jonah‘s three-day sojourn in the whale‘s belly‖ (p.

703). The last two verses of this pericope throw light to the possible explanation of what the sign

here means. Verse 30, 32 will make very clear that Luke‘s concern is with Jonah‘s preaching of God‘s word as the sign, for that accords with his insistence on hearing and keeping God‘s word proclaimed by Jesus. The power of God‘s word in Jonah is demonstrated by the mass conversion of the people of Nineveh. ―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‖ (Luke 11:32). Therefore, in Jesus, God‘s spokesperson, greater power is present (Karris, 2007).

Jonah as a sign being used by Jesus in Luke 11:29-32 is meant that his hearers ought to draw lesson from Jonah‘s preaching and positive response from the Ninevites. The sign of Jonah in Mathew 12:38-42 refers to the near-death/deliverance experience of the prophet, here understood as a prefiguring of the death and deliverance of Jesus. The sign in Mathew 16:1-4 brings the above two together (Mathew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32) with the sign of the momentous times when we are living. The people of Nineveh understood the time of the moment ―Forty days more‖ and believed the prophet. The New Testament people time of Jesus ought to understand the time to hear the word, repent from sin, and trust in the mercy and deliverance of God.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE BOOK OF PROPHET JONAH AND ITS APPLICATION TO CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA

In this chapter we shall be looking at how Yahweh‘s gift expressed in Jonah‘s message and experience can be relevant to the present generation especially from the researchers‘

geographical location-Nigeria. We have tried to interpret and understand the possible message intended by God, and its application is what remains. Since our cultural blind spot could not hinder our interpretation and understanding, it will not hinder our application, for as Richards and O‘Brien (2012) rightly state ―if our cultural blind spots keep us from reading the Bible correctly, then they can keep us from applying the Bible correctly‖ (p. 17).