Shalom All,
There has to be another understanding for the sign of Jonah.
A Sabbath on the 17th of Aviv?
Those espousing a 72 hour entombment believe that a "High-day Sabbath" took place on the 15th of Aviv, while a weekly Sabbath fell on the 17th of Aviv. A question not often asked is "Could the 17th of Aviv be a weekly Sabbath?
I should point out the fact that if the 17th of Aviv was a weekly Sabbath, then the 10th of Aviv would also have to be a weekly Sabbath. This is proven by simply doing the math. 10 + 7 = 17 / 17 " 7 = 10. So, we'll ask the question: was the 10th of Aviv a weekly Sabbath? Let us examine some passages akin to the question.
In John 12:1 we read the following concerning the Messiah's entrance to Bethany.
Then Yahweh-shua, six days before the Passover came to Bethany
I should point out that when John references us to the Passover, he speaks of the 15th of Aviv. We see this to be the case in a passage looked at earlier, written also by John; "And it was the preparation of the Passover" This verse describes the day of the crucifixion as the preparation of the Passover. This day had to be the 14th. Thus, just as the preparation for the Sabbath is the day before the Sabbath, the preparation of the Passover is the day before the Passover . Luke 22:1 also shows us that in New Testament times the days of unleavened bread were referred to as the Passover.
Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.
I do realize that the 14th day of Aviv can be called the Passover, and is many times throughout the Scriptures. However, we see that John very clearly, in John 19:14, refers to the feast of unleavened bread as the Passover, and Luke does exactly the same. It therefore stands to reason that in John 12:1, six days before the Passover, has the meaning of six days before the 15th of Aviv.
Six days before the 15th would of a surety be the 9th of Aviv. What is the significance of all this? Well, in John 12:12 we read that “…on the next day (10th) much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Yahweh-shua was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him… We find the same account written in Matthew 21:8 where we read that, “…a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way.
If the 10th of Aviv was a weekly Sabbath, what are the people doing cutting branches from trees? We should also wonder why buying and selling was going on during that day as well (Mt. 21:12). Furthermore the Messiah, on this day, healed the blind and lame that came to him (Mt. 21:14). Why no rebuke from the Jewish leaders for breaking their Sabbath traditions? Wouldn't they have rebuked the Messiah for healing on the Sabbath, as they did at other times? I can agree with Mr. Harold W. Hoehner on this point:
Since Messiah was riding on an animal, He would have been breaking the Mosaic Law which states that even animals were not to work on the Sabbath (Deut. 5:14) Since the people were cutting down branches from trees (Matt. 21:8; Mark 11: , they would have also violated the Law (cf. Deut. 5:14; Num. 15:32-36) Certainly if Messiah had violated the Sabbath and caused others to do so, it seems that His enemies would have mentioned something of this during the Passion Week.
I would also like to look a little closer at the belief that six days before the Passover is the eighth day of the month and not the ninth. There are some ministers which have stated my calculations are incorrect; reasoning that the Passover referred in John to is speaking of the 14th day of Aviv, and not the 15th. I do believe that the word Passover does at times refer to the 14th day of Aviv in Scripture, however I feel I have adequately shown that in John's epistle, he uses the term Passover in reference to the 15th day of Aviv.
Let's, however, give this belief the upper hand. Let's say six days before the Passover was the 8th of Aviv, and the following day (9th) Yahweh-shua road into the streets of Jerusalem on a donkey. With this belief system, here are a few things to consider:
1. According to this calculation the Messiah would not have as accurately fulfilled the timing of the Passover lamb. The lambs were to be put or penned up on the 10th of Aviv (Ex. 12:3), not the 9th.
2. If Yahweh-shua road into Jerusalem on the 9th, do we know what happened on the next day, i.e. the 10th? Mark's account (Mark 11:1-20) seems to indicate that the temple was entered by Yahweh-shua two days in a row. Yahweh-shua enters into the temple on the 9th, and then the next day (Mark 11:12-1 He enters the temple again; on the 10th. Thus buying and selling would have been done on both the 9th and the 10th, or more likely and accurately, on the 10th and the 11th.
All of the evidence points towards this 10th of Aviv being an ordinary working day and not a weekly Sabbath day. Therefore the 17th was not a weekly Sabbath day, and the Messiah could not have been in the grave for 72 hours. Thus, either Matthew 12:40 is to be understood as meaning parts of three days, or the phrase heart of the earth does not merely connote the grave.
Go to http://www.lunarsabbath.org/ for a comp;ete study on why the scripture does not teach 3 days and 3 nights in grave/Hell
If the Holy One saw corruption/dekay as some suggest, because after 3 days and 3 nights at that time of year a body will be well on its way rotting.
The Peace offerings were NOT to remain until the 3rd day and would not be accepted, it is an abomination and our Saviour was that pease offering bringing us back to YHWH and so making Pease.