Hello and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Sunday afternoon Bible study. This is study #1 of Jonah, chapter 3 and I am going to read Jonah 3:1-4:
And the word of JEHOVAH came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of JEHOVAH. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
I will stop reading there. It says, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” It has always been a mystery that God commanded His prophet to go to Nineveh and proclaim this as an absolute fact. Jonah obediently did it: “Preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” It is very revealing to us that God bid him to preach a timeline. We are not going to talk about that today, but for those individuals that want nothing to do with timelines in sharing the teachings of the Bible, God does not seem to have a problem with setting a time and declaring that time to people. But, again, we are not going to look at this now, but what we are going to begin to think about is that when God said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” It did not fail to happen. Maybe the failure is with our understanding of what was said; it was incorrect or, at least, we have never properly understood what God meant when He said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” In other words, the warning to Nineveh may still stand and it may still apply to what Nineveh represented, which was the world. It is just like Egypt or Babylon can be types and figures of the world. We will eventually show from the Bible that Nineveh can also be a type or figure of the world.
So, God is sending Jonah to Nineveh, or to the world, and He is saying, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Yes, there is a lot more involved because Nineveh did repent and God lays down a Law in the Bible that states that if a nation repents He will not do the evil He said He would do unto them; and we would have to look at that.
Basically, God saved His elect out of Nineveh. He did not save the non-elect. He only saved the elect people of Nineveh and there were certainly some people in Nineveh that God did not spare. He spared them physically and God did not destroy the city in forty days, but there is much more to this. We will see that the warning still has application to this time because we have not come to the end of the “forty days,” spiritually. They have not elapsed yet. You might be asking, “How can that be?” We do not know the exact date Jonah went to Nineveh, but it was 2,600+ ago and, certainly, the 40-day period would have elapsed.
But, you know, the Book of Jonah is arranged in a very interesting way. For instance, let us go back to Jonah 1:1-2:
Now the word of JEHOVAH came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
This was the first time God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh. That is why it says in Jonah, chapter 3 that it was the second time, so this was the first commandment by God to Jonah to go to Nineveh. Then it says in Jonah 1:3:
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH.
Remember we looked at this in one of our first studies in Jonah. This is indicating that Christ became a man and entered in to the human race. We know this based on the phrase, “from the presence of JEHOVAH,” which is mentioned twice in this verse. Let us go back to Genesis, chapter 3 to the time right after Adam and Eve had sinned and made fig leaves to cover their nakedness. It says in Genesis 3:8:
And they heard the voice of JEHOVAH God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God amongst the trees of the garden.
They fled “from the presence of JEHOVAH” and that is the exact same phrase. What does it indicate? They became sinful and now sinful man is no longer in communion with God, but He hides from God and goes away from God. Jonah, a type of Christ, was commanded to go to Nineveh, but what did He do? He got on a ship and went “from the presence of JEHOVAH.” It even said that he “went with them…from the presence of JEHOVAH.” So, Jonah is a picture of Christ here, as Jesus was born in to the world and took upon himself human form; He became a man and lived among mankind and all the world is going away from the presence of JEHOVAH and it is as if Jesus is going with them from the presence of JEHOVAH.
God wanted Jonah to preach to the Ninevites and this first commandment to Jonah identifies with the birth of Christ in 7BC. When we look at the circumstances onboard the ship and how God controlled the sea and stirred up the waters to the point where they had to cast him into the sea, it all relates to Jesus’ life and his time of ministry, does it not? And this finally led Him to the point of going to the cross. According to God’s determinate counsel, God arranged things so that Jesus must go to the cross. It says in Jonah 1:17:
Now JEHOVAH had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
So, chapter 1 begins with him receiving the commandment from the Lord to go to Nineveh. And we would think he was a rebellious prophet going from the presence of the Lord, but that is where mankind is “located,” so Jonah is an excellent picture of Christ as He entered the human race that was going away from God. And this goes on until the end of Jonah, chapter 1 where it is said, “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” That ties in with what Christ said in 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.
When was Jesus three days and three nights in the heart of the earth? It was Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane, Friday night in the tomb, Saturday night in the tomb and early on Sunday when He rose. We know precisely when this took place. He was on the cross on April 1, 33AD.
So, chapter 1 covers the birth of Christ in 7BC to the cross in 33AD when Jesus experienced what Jonah had prefigured and which Jesus was pointing back to, which was His death at the foundation of the world. Then chapter 2 is about Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish, so chapters 1 and 2 cover the period from 7BC to 33AD, based on the typology and language God used and it covers 40 calendar years.
When Jonah 2, verse 10 says, “And JEHOVAH spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land,” it identifies with His resurrection, which also happened in 33AD, and then Jesus showed Himself for 40 days. So, there is a 40-year period covered in chapters 1 and 2. It is 40 calendar years because you must subtract “1” since there is no “year zero.” It equals 39 actual years, but 40 calendar years.
It is interesting that we then read in chapter 3, “And yet forty days,” there is the number “40” again. At what point in Jonah chapters 2 and 3 does the 40 days expire? It does not expire. If you read chapter 3, Jonah went into the city a day’s journey very early in the 40-day period, but then the Ninevites repented, sat in sackcloth and cried mightily unto God. That is how chapter 3 ends, as God does says, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” Did the Ninevites know this? None of them knew it. It was God’s decree in heaven, as God did not come down and tell them, “I have forgiven you because I have seen that your turned from your evil way.” They had no knowledge of this, so what would the Ninevites have continued to do? They would have continued to sit in sackcloth and cry mightily unto God. How long would they have done this? What did Jonah tell them? “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” They would have continued 40 days, but we were not told about that and God left the people of Nineveh in that humbled condition.
Then it goes into chapter 4 and after some discussion with God, Jonah goes out of the city. It says in Jonah 4:5:
So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
Jonah is in a booth and the word “booth” is the same word translated as “tabernacle.” Jonah sat outside the city for how long? How long would you have waited? “And yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” That was the preaching He had bid, so to find out what would happen to the city, Jonah would have waited forty days. But the Book of Jonah, which is only four chapters, concludes without God telling us what happened after 40 days. God simply has further conversation with Jonah and then He said in the last verse in Jonah 4:11:
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
The Book is finished. It is a very unusual way to conclude a Book. It is sort of like a “cliff hanger” or a mystery left unsolved. What happened to the city? What happened with what God had declared: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” We have sort of made some assumptions and we had assumed that the Ninevites repented and, therefore, God did not destroy the city. There is a verse that speaks to that Law in Jeremiah 18:8-10:
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
This is the Biblical principal that God followed in the Book of Jonah regarding the Ninevites.
But, again, what if God’s commandment, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” had nothing to do, spiritually, with the historical city of Nineveh, but it was a deeper spiritual commandment that had to do with the entire world and, therefore the 40-day period has not yet come to an end?
Yes, God can give commandments in His Word that you would think would have physical application and, yet, they never do have any physical application. Let me give you an example of this where God is speaking to Israel, a type of the New Testament churches. It says in Deuteronomy 28:68:
And JEHOVAH shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
God is speaking to Israel and He is saying that He will bring them into Egypt again with ships. Can anyone tell me where that chapter and verse is in the Bible where God brings Israel in ships back to Egypt and they were unloaded to return as bondservants in Egypt? You cannot find it because it does not exist. It is not even stated in a conditional way, but it is a matter-of-fact statement: “And JEHOVAH shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships.” Is it untrue? No, because it was spiritually fulfilled. What does Israel typify? It typifies the corporate church and God does liken churches to ships in Acts, chapter 27 where the ship was a picture of the end of the church age. During the Great Tribulation, the Spirit of God departed out of the midst of the churches. Where have those people that are still in the churches been taken? They were taken back into Egypt or back into spiritual bondage because salvation ended in the churches and Satan ruled there during the 23 years of the Great Tribulation; and now they are still “dead.” It is like they are in Egypt, the house of bondage and, therefore, there was a spiritual aspect to the command and God did, indeed, fulfill the command.
And if God says, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” and, yet, He does not physically destroy Nineveh in the 40-day timeline, but He does destroy the entire world regarding what the 40-day timeline represents, then He will have fulfilled the command. He will have done what He said He would do and the problem has been with the hearer or reader of this verse. We have misunderstood what God commanded His prophet Jonah to proclaim. This is one of the things we are going to look at over the course of studying Jonah, chapter 3 and Jonah, chapter 4.
We saw that Jonah, chapters 1 and 2, involve a 40-year timeline of Christ’s first coming, which would identify with God’s command to Jonah to go to Nineveh (the world) the first time. Then chapters 3 and 4 involve a 40-day timeline with the second command to Jonah. God spells that out in Jonah 3:1:
And the word of JEHOVAH came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Then Jonah went into the city only a day’s journey. But how many days’ journey was the city? It was said to be a three-day journey. If you only went into the city a day’s journey, but the entire city is a three-day journey, how much of the city have you gone through? Only “one third.” God is always concerned with bringing His Gospel to His elect. The command, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” was accomplished when the last one of the elect became saved. There is no command to preach to unregenerate or non-elect people. What would be the purpose? There is no purpose in that.
But Jonah went into the city one third of the way to indicate that the elect are typified by “one third.” Remember that ratio the Bible lays out in Zechariah? It is “one third” and “two thirds.” The “one third” hear the preaching and the “two thirds” do not hear the teaching. We see in the reaction of the people of Nineveh as they do become saved. They typify the elect’s reaction to the Gospel.
So, God commanded Jonah to go the second time to Nineveh, which typifies the world. Does anyone remember what the name “Jonah” means? It means “dove” and it is the Hebrew word, Strong’s #3124, and the word “dove” is Strong’s #3123. They are right next to one another in the concordance and they have identical consonants and identical vowel pointing, so I do not know why they differentiate the two because they are the same word. What does “dove” represent in the Bible? It represents the Holy Spirit. It says in Matthew 3:16:
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
You can read that in the other Gospel accounts, too. The Holy Spirit is like a dove. That is how God makes these connections and we can begin to see spiritual types and figures because there is normally a defining verse. Here, the defining verse says the Spirit is “like a dove.”
Jonah, in chapter 1, was told to go to Nineveh the first time. In Jonah, chapter 3 God commanded Jonah, the “dove,” to go to Nineveh the second time and that would relate to God sending forth the Holy Spirit. How many times? He sent the Holy Spirit two times. What have we learned through the Biblical calendar of history and many other teachings the Lord used Mr. Camping to teach? There were two outpourings of the Holy Spirit. It all began with the Lord Jesus who was born in 7BC. He fulfilled his 40-calendar year ministry until 33AD. In that same year, He returned to heaven after showing Himself for 40 days and then on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out to begin the church age. And, really, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit continued for the 1,955 years of the church age when the early rain was being poured out and the firstfruits were saved.
In 1988, God ended the early rain and ended the church age. Judgment began on the house of God as the Great Tribulation period began. For the first 2,300 evening mornings, from May 21, 1988 through September 7, 1994, there was “no rain” and this is what made that period so grievous. Then in September 1994 God set His hand again a second time to recover the remnant of His people with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Latter Rain.
Let us look at Isaiah 11:11:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
The first place listed is Assyria and that is where Nineveh was located. God, once again, began to evangelize the earth, the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He saved people like never before, as He saved the great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation during the last (about) seventeen years of the Great Tribulation, from 1994 to 2011. We do not know how many people God saved, but it was tens of millions all over the earth. Then He concluded the Great Tribulation and the Latter Rain and the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit ended on May 21, 2011.
When we look at the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we have learned from the Bible in verses like Revelation, chapter 7, verse 9, that the great multitude came out of Great Tribulation. When we read the Old Testament, what does it tell us about the numbers of people that were saved? How many people were saved on the ark? Eight souls. How many were saved out of Sodom and Gomorrah? Three – Lot and his two daughters. Even his wife perished. How many people were saved in other periods of Old Testament history? We normally read about a small number of individuals, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Aaron, but it is just individuals pretty much throughout. I think it is in 2Kings where God speaks of a group of seven thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal. That is a very large number for the Old Testament times, but it is nothing compared to the number of people that God saved out of Nineveh. Why? It is because it was pointing to the “second time,” spiritually, when God stretched forth His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people. It is pointing to the outpouring of the Latter Rain during the last (about) seventeen years of the Great Tribulation when God saved the great multitude. So, that is why we read of large numbers. I do not know if we can say that 120,000 were saved, but, certainly, there were more people saved than in any other Old Testament historical record. I cannot think of any other place in the Old Testament where so many were saved – it is the great multitude of the Old Testament.
Yes, there was the account in Ezekiel 37 of the valley of dry bones and it speaks of a great number coming together, but that was a vision. They were not real people. God did not bring dead bones to life again, but it was designed as a vision to instruct and teach. They were not real people that had been dead so long they were dry bones and God brought them together again. As far as an actual historical account, there is nothing like what happened to the people of Nineveh after Jonah, the “Holy Spirit,” was sent the second time to Nineveh. And, of course, it ties in with God pouring out His Spirit the second time to save the great multitude during the little season of the Great Tribulation.
Let us look, again, at Matthew 12 where Jesus refers to those that were saved in Nineveh. After saying, “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,” then Jesus says in Matthew 12:41:
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
This means these people were actually saved and they are going to rise in the resurrection. What we read in Jonah chapter 3 about the king’s decree and the putting on of sackcloth was an actual reflection of their spiritual condition. God saved many people of the city of Nineveh and He used them to typify the great multitude that would later come out of Great Tribulation.
Let us go back to Jonah to read the verse again, in Jonah 3:3:
So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of JEHOVAH. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
By the way, you can compare this to Revelation 16:19:
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell…
Nineveh was said to be a great city of three days’ journey, but he went into the city a day’s journey and Revelation speaks of a great city that has “three parts,” so that ties in to the one third/two thirds relationship.
It says in Jonah 3:4:
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
As far as the 40-day reference, there are a few times in the Bible where God speaks of 40 days and then ties it in with 40 years. For instance, it says in Numbers 14:33-34:
And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
This same kind of statement is made several times. The 40 days are related to 40 years. It was a judgment of God because ten of the spies came back with an evil report. The judgment was that they must wander in the wilderness a year for each day they had searched out the land. They searched out the land for 40 days, so they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, from 1447BC through 1407BC. Then in 1407BC Moses died and they were prepared to enter into the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. It says in Joshua 5:1-2:
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that JEHOVAH had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. At that time JEHOVAH said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
It was the second time. God said He would set His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people. God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh the second time to preach the preaching that He bid him.
But before we look at this, it is interesting that at the end of the forty days (because it was a day for a year), God commanded to “circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.” Those that had come out of Egypt were circumcised at the very beginning of their journey, but they had all perished in the wilderness. These were the younger people that had grown up in the wilderness and God was making sure they were circumcised the second time before entering the land of Canaan, the Promised Land that can typify heaven. So, at the end of 40 days, they were circumcised again the second time. In Jonah, chapter 3 it was at the beginning of a 40-day period that God told Jonah to preach a second time. It is interesting that we have 40 days in view in both places where a “second time” is mentioned. We know the preaching a “second time” identifies with the Holy Spirit.
By the way, when did God pour out the Holy Spirit the second time, according to what we have learned from the Biblical calendar of history? It was in the year 1994 which was a Jubilee Year, just as Jesus was born in 7BC, a Jubilee Year. That is where Jonah, chapter 1 would begin when he went with them from the presence of JEHOVAH. So, Jonah 1 begins in a Jubilee Year and spans 40 calendar years in chapters 1 and 2; then Jonah, chapter 3 identifies with the second sending of the “dove” or Holy Spirit and we know that identifies with the Jubilee Year of 1994. These are Biblical tie-ins or connections that the Bible makes and it comes from much study that has been done over many years now. These are things many of us are familiar with, but there may be someone that is not as familiar with it and they would have to do further Bible study, but in September 1994 when the Latter Rain began it identifies with the time when God began to save the great multitude, just as Jonah was commanded the second time by God and entered into Nineveh. And we could say that Jonah’s entry into Nineveh relates to 1994.
The Bible does speak of “a day for a year,” so if we are looking at 40 days, then it is very possible it could be pointing to 40 years from the entry into Nineveh or the command to the “dove” or Holy Spirit to rise and preach. And 40 years from 1994 would be 2034AD, but we have the historical precedent of Christ’s first coming which identifies with the first two chapters of Jonah and the first command to rise and go to Nineveh, which covered 40 calendar years and 39 actual years, so we can apply that to the command to Jonah to preach, “Yet forty days,” or 40 conclusive years. It would not be calendar years because you do not call them calendar years unless you are going from a date in the Old Testament to a date in the New Testament, but it is 40 inclusive years from 1994 to 2033.
If anyone wonders what an inclusive year is, it means you would start counting from 1994 as “year one,” rather than calculating from 1994 to 1995, with 1995 as “year one.” You can write it out, starting with 1994 and list all the years to 2033, with 1994 being “year one” and 2033 is the 40th inclusive year, which is the identical time period from the birth of Christ in 7BC to 33AD when He went to the cross. In other words, from 1994 to 2033 is the identical time period (number of years) as 7BC to 33AD. It was exactly the same and that relates to this whole idea in the Book of Jonah. To begin with, Jonah went to Nineveh and he preached and early on there was a tremendous response to his preaching, like nothing comparable in the Old Testament. They do respond and they sat in sackcloth and ashes. Then it is as if God takes the focus on them and just leaves them there in sackcloth and ashes while the 40-day period continued. Then God leaves the reader of the Book of Jonah “up in the air,” without any conclusion or summation. He just leaves it at that because it really has application to a time in history that is more than two thousand years in to the future to a time at the time at the end of the world when there will be fulfilment of that 40-day period.
Going back to Joshua, chapter 5, it is the same chapter in which God commanded that they circumcise the children of Israel the second time. How many resurrections are there in the Bible? There are two resurrections. The first resurrection is the resurrection of the soul and the second resurrection is of the body. Does the Bible view the second resurrection as salvation? Yes, because the body is sinful. Our soul was sinful and dead and we were spiritually dead when God saved our souls. It was a resurrection to “life” and circumcision can point to that. When God resurrects our physical bodies, it is the completion of His salvation program and it is the “second circumcision” because He is going to cut off the sins that are in our flesh and equip us with new resurrected spiritual bodies. When will that come? It is on the last day. So, when we find at the beginning of the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit there was a great salvation of the Ninevites, that points to the great multitude that were saved in their souls during the little season of the Great Tribulation. But in Joshua, chapter 5 it is at the end of the wilderness sojourn when they are about to cross the Jordan and enter into the Land of Canaan, which can typify the new heaven and new earth. History continued, of course, and there was the conquest of the land of Canaan and the history of Israel, but this picture of them being circumcised the second time identifies with the second resurrection, which is the putting off of the sins of the flesh in the completion of God’s salvation program.
It says in Joshua 5:5-7:
Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of JEHOVAH: unto whom JEHOVAH sware that he would not shew them the land, which JEHOVAH sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
Again, the second circumcision points to the last day. Turn over to Joshua 3:3-4:
And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of JEHOVAH your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
It was two thousand cubits. The ark went first and the Levites and the priests followed at the space of two thousand cubits, which can relate to 2,000 years. From 7BC to 1994, from Jubilee to Jubilee, how much time elapsed? It was 2,000 years (7 + 1994 – 1). It is interesting how many Jubilees, which happen every 50 years, elapsed since Christ was born in 7BC until the Jubilee of 1994. You divide 50 into 2,000 and you get 40 Jubilees from the first entry of Christ into the world, which identified with the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit, to 1994 when the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred during the Latter Rain. It was exactly 2,000 years (40 x 50) since Jesus was born. Also, when Christ went to the cross, it was all part of the first pouring out of the Spirit and when we go from 33 to 2033, it is 2,000 years (2033 – 33 = 2000) exactly. It is as though God has one time line running over here with the first coming of Christ, from 7BC to 33AD; and over there, 2,000 years later, is another time line running from 1994 to 2033. An exact 2,000 years separates the dates and that is very significant because the Bible speaks of the Messiah coming the first time after 11,000 years of history and the Bible points to Christ coming the second time after 13,000 years of history. What separates 13,000 from 11,000? It is 2,000 years, so we have a parallel timeline running that matches perfectly with the first coming of Christ, beginning with a Jubilee Year in 7BC. And this final timeline begins with a Jubilee Year in 1994.
We have that statement of God, “Yet forty days,” which starts with the second outpouring of the Jubilee or the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which identifies with 1994. So, has the 40 days or 40 years passed? The answer is, “No,” if we are understanding this correctly.
I know it seems like a long, long time – believe me. You know, I think these last few years should be credited like “dog years.” [Laughter] For every year we go through the Great Tribulation or Judgment Day, we should be credited with seven years because it is certainly difficult to live in the world at a time when God has given it up and turned it over to sin and when the church age is over.
And, yet, if you look at this timeline from this vantage point, yes, the Great Tribulation started with that grievous 2,300 evening mornings in 1988, which was a necessary period of separation between the early rain and the Latter Rain. There was a “famine” and that is a typical pattern in the Bible, as God lays things out, with famine, then rain; famine, then rain. So, there was a 2,300-day period of famine and then the Latter Rain began or separating the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit from the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We are in the year 2017, so it has been 23 years since 1994 and there would be 17 actual years (but we are not looking at 40 actual years, but 40 inclusive years), so there would be 16 inclusive years to go. I know it seems so long, but it really is not that long. How many 40-year periods have already passed?
For those of us that are a little older, time goes past and it goes quickly and this time will come. If we are correct, in Jonah, chapter 3 God has given a timeline for the period of the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit all the way to its conclusion and that is what Jonah was waiting for, but, Lord willing, we will have to talk about that another time.
Jonah was sitting under a booth. Remember the Feast of Tabernacles? He was waiting in a booth for the 40-day period to end. We will also into that another time. We are well into the 40-year period (inclusive) and there are just a few more years to go, so it is a possibility that God has given us the timeline that spans the Great Tribulation, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Latter Rain and into Judgment Day; and it will conclude with the destruction of Nineveh or the world, 40 days from the point that Jonah, the “dove,” was sent into the city. Forty years later, spiritually, God fulfills His Word. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be completed when we receive our new resurrected spiritual bodies. That is when salvation is completed because 33AD relates to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.