Who has not heard of the story of Jonah and his three days and nights in the belly of the big fish? It is one of the most amazing events in the scriptures and even many non-believers know about it. We sometimes focus on Jonah’s preaching as the only reason the men of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes. What else caused this pagan city to repent?
It was more than just the message he delivered. He walked the streets of that massive city giving them the message God had given to him. “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). The message was from God, but was there any way that any person could know that God was the source of the message?
The answer to this question is found in Luke 11:30). “For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.” Jesus said that Jonah was more than just a preacher to the Ninevites—he was a sign. We noted in last week’s article that a sign is far more than an event which happens. It is a sign from God, and it has no earthly explanation.
How Jonah was a sign is not specified. Those sailors who tossed Jonah overboard and seeing the storm stop immediately saw truth and worshiped God. When that storm first came, they threw their cargo into the sea and reversed their course to return home (Jonah 1:13). There was no need to continue the journey. Is it possible they arrived, and their words prepared the way for Jonah? Is it possible that Jonah’s appearance showed he had been in that fish? Or was it some other way? Jonah was not just a preacher; he was a sign!
The miracles performed by the early Christians were a sign they were more than just “preachers.” Jesus said that those who believed and were baptized would perform miracles (Mark 16:16-18). After Jesus ascended, “…they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the words through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20).
Why were there miracles in the exodus from Egypt? God was confirming His words with accompanying signs. Why did Jesus perform miracles? God was confirming His words with accompanying signs.
The Bible said that those signs would cease (1 Cor. 13:8-10). While we might think that more would believe today if they saw signs, think of the words spoken to the rich man in Hades. He wanted a miracle to be shown to his brothers. Was he right? “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded though one rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). A failure to understand how God used signs can lead one to believe “lying wonders” today (2 Thess. 2:9).