Yes — Jesus' personal reference to Jonah confirms the account is authentic and true, not a myth.
Jesus Himself used Jonah's three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish as a comparison to His own coming death and three days in the heart of the earth. Les Feldick points out that this personal reference is why we know the Jonah account is true — it refutes those who claim the story was imagination or a myth. Jesus gives the account perfect credence by making it the only sign He promises an evil and adulterous generation. For Les, Jesus' words settle the matter: the story of Jonah is authentic.
Matthew 12:39 — Jesus identifies the sign of the prophet Jonas as the only sign He will give, showing He regards the Jonah account as real.
Matthew 12:40 — Jesus bases His own three days in the heart of the earth on Jonah's three days in the whale's belly, validating the event's authenticity.
The Bible records that when the scribes and Pharisees demanded a sign from Jesus during His earthly ministry, He answered: "But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40). In these verses Jesus does not treat Jonah as a legend, parable, or myth. He speaks of Jonah's experience in the whale's belly as a settled fact and makes it the very sign of His own coming death, burial, and resurrection. Scripture therefore presents the Jonah event as real history that foreshadowed the resurrection of Christ.
Les Feldick teaches that because Jesus Himself referred to the account of Jonah, the story is true. He states plainly that Jesus refers to the account of Jonah Himself, "so we know it's true." He also says this refutes those who claim Jonah was a product of imagination or a myth — Jesus gives the account perfect credence. Les explains how Jesus used Jonah: as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He describes Jonah's experience as, for all practical purposes, a death and resurrection — the great fish took Jonah, and after three days the fish pitched him back up on shore, bringing him back to life. In type, this pictured the resurrection of Christ.
Les Feldick teaches that because Jesus Himself referred to the account of Jonah, we know it is true. He states that this refutes those who say Jonah was imagination or a myth — Jesus gives the account perfect credence. When the religious leaders asked for a sign, Jesus answered that no sign would be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
In Matthew 12:40 Jesus said that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Les Feldick explains that this was the sign Jesus promised to an evil and adulterous generation — not a legend, but a real event that pictured His own death, burial, and resurrection.
Les Feldick describes what happened to Jonah after the great fish swallowed him: for all practical purposes he died. After three days and three nights, the fish pitched him back up on shore, bringing him back to life for all practical purposes — in type, a resurrection. Because Jesus referred to the account Himself, Les says we know it is true.
What Happens at the Midpoint of the Tribulation?
guess. And we wanted to give him the credit for it, and of course, Nancy, we've shown her. Where are you, Nancy? Nancy's back there. We've put her on the camera before. But Nancy does all the in-between footwork here in Tulsa. So she's the one that gets all the order forms ready and printed, and she's the one that just sort of ramrods the Tulsa class and finding a place to meet and so forth.
The Sign of Jonah as Death, Burial, and Resurrection
Les teaches that Jonah's three days and three nights in the fish, followed by being pitched back onto shore, was a type of resurrection — the very parallel Jesus used for His own three days in the heart of the earth.
Jesus' Reference Proves Jonah True
Les directly states that Jesus refers to the account of Jonah Himself, "so we know it's true," connecting Jonah's death-like experience in the fish to the authenticity of the story.
Jesus Gives Perfect Credence to Jonah
Les says Jesus' use of the sign of the prophet Jonah refutes those who claim Jonah was imagination or a myth — Jesus gives the account perfect credence.
The Scribes and Pharisees and the Sign of the Prophet Jonas
Les reads Matthew 12:38-40, showing Jesus answering the demand for a sign by pointing to Jonah's three days in the whale's belly as a direct parallel to His own three days in the heart of the earth.
From Adam to the Rapture: God's Plan for the Ages
He was a good Jew, and he understood that God was dealing with Jew only, and he wasn't about to go and see his archenemy, a Gentile city like Nineveh, be blessed of God and enjoy God's salvation. So, you know the story of Jonah, but he finally got there, and the Ninevites, of course, repented, and then it wasn't very long until they went right back into their same old way. But anyway, from 2000 B.
God’s Plan for Israel vs. Gentiles: Understanding the Abrahamic Covenant
Now if you know the story of Jonah, he didn't want to go, did he? Oh, he did everything to keep from going. Well, why not? Because you see, he was under this same impression that the God of Abraham was only dealing with the Jew, but he didn't recognize that a sovereign God can make exceptions, and so God tells Jonah, go and minister to the city of Nineveh, and Jonah says, there are enemies.
Why Did Jesus Only Go to Israel? Matthew 10:5-6 Explained
Now of course by the time we get to Christ's earthly ministry and on into the Book of Acts, even the Jews had lost sight of all this, and even in Jonah's day. I used that illustration in my class last night. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, what did he do? He took a ship and went west, where he should have taken a camel and gone east. But he didn't.
Matthew 12:39: But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Jesus directly identifies the story of Jonah as the only sign He will give, confirming He treats it as real.
Matthew 12:40: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus grounds His own death and resurrection in Jonah's literal three-day experience, validating the historical event.
Yes. Les points out that Jesus Himself referred to the account of Jonah, "so we know it's true." He also says this refutes those who claim Jonah was imagination or a myth, and that Jesus gives the account perfect credence.
Jesus told an evil and adulterous generation that no sign would be given except the sign of the prophet Jonas — meaning His own three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly (Matthew 12:39-40).
Three days and three nights — the same length of time Jesus said the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth. Les describes how the fish then pitched Jonah back up on shore, bringing him back to life for all practical purposes as a type of resurrection.
Watch the Teaching: What Happens at the Midpoint of the Tribulation?