The Heart of the Earth is Not the Grave

Yahshua never said he would be 3 days and 3 nights in the grave or tomb.  This is an incorrect  interpretation that does not fit the scriptures.  He said he would be 3 days and 3 nights in the "heart of the earth". 

 Now as far as we know the earth does not have a literal heart that pumps blood so we can rule that out.

If we take the meaning to be inside the earth, then the heart of the earth would actually mean the core of the earth and not in a grave or tomb on the surface of the earth. 

The heart can also be interpreted in scripture to mean the mind or seat of intellect and the earth can mean the people of the earth.  Yahshua could have meant that for 3 days and 3 nights he would be in the mind of the people while he fulfilled the prophecy in the Book of Jonah.

However, the best interpretation of the "heart of the earth" is the middle of earth's land surface ie. the Middle East.  Israel is located in the middle of the earth's land surface in the Middle East.

The Hebrew word for earth is eretz.  One of the meanings of eretz is the land of Israel.  So the "heart of the earth" can also mean the heart of the land of Israel.

So now we know what the earth means, but what is the heart of the earth?  What else could be the heart of the land of Israel, but the city of Jerusalem? 

So Yahshua is saying that he is going to be in Jerusalem for 3 days and 3 nights.  And while he is in Jerusalem for those 3 days and 3 nights he will be fulfilling a prophecy recorded in the Book of Jonah.

Matthew 12

 ³⁸Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
   ³⁹But 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:
   ⁴⁰For 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.    

Jonah 1

 ¹⁷Now Yahweh had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

All of Jonah Chapter 2 deals with exactly what happened during the 3 days and 3 nights while Jonah was in the belly of the great fish.  It also exactly parallels what happened to Yahshua from the night of his last Passover until the third day when he was resurrected and seen by his disciples.

Jonah 2

   ¹Then Jonah prayed unto Yahweh his Elohim out of the fish's belly,
   ²And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto Yahweh, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
   ³For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
   ⁴Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
   ⁵The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
   ⁶I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars(Strong's #1280 also means fugitives) was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Yahweh my Elohim.
   ⁷When my soul fainted within me I remembered Yahweh: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
   ⁸They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
   ⁹But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of Yahweh.
   ¹⁰And Yahweh spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Summary of Events:
1.  Jonah prayed out of the belly of the fish.
2.  Jonah cried by reason of his affliction out of the belly of hell.
3.  The deep, the sea, the floods, the billows,  the waves, the waters, and the depth compassed and passed over him.
4.  The weeds were wrapped around his head.
5.  The bars or fugitives of the earth were about him.
6.  When Jonah's soul fainted, then Yahweh heard his prayer.
7.  Those that observe lying vanities forsake mercy.
8.  Jonah made sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving.
9.  Jonah paid his vow.
10.  Yahweh caused the fish to vomit out Jonah.

Matthew 26

   ³⁶Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
   ³⁷And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
   ³⁸Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
   ³⁹And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
   ⁴⁰And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
   ⁴¹Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
   ⁴²He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
   ⁴³And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
   ⁴⁴And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
   ⁴⁵Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
   ⁴⁶Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
   ⁴⁷And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
   ⁴⁸Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
   ⁴⁹And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
   ⁵⁰And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.
   ⁵¹And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.
   ⁵²Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
   ⁵³Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
   ⁵⁴But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
   ⁵⁵In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.
⁵⁶But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
   ⁵⁷And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
   ⁵⁸But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.
   ⁵⁹Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
   ⁶⁰But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,
   ⁶¹And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
   ⁶²And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
   ⁶³But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
   ⁶⁴Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
   ⁶⁵Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
   ⁶⁶What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
   ⁶⁷Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
   ⁶⁸Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
   ⁶⁹Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
   ⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
   ⁷¹And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
   ⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
   ⁷³And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee.
   ⁷⁴Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
   ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Matthew 27

  ²⁷Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
   ²⁸And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
   ²⁹And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
  ³⁰And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
   ³¹And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
   ³²And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
   ³³And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
   ³⁴They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
 ³⁵And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
   ³⁶And sitting down they watched him there;
   ³⁷And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
   ³⁸Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
   ³⁹And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
   ⁴⁰And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
   ⁴¹Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
   ⁴²He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
   ⁴³He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
   ⁴⁴The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
   ⁴⁵Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
   ⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (He is quoting Psalm 22)
   ⁴⁷Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
   ⁴⁸And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
   ⁴⁹The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
   ⁵⁰Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.


Here is Psalm 22 for more insight of what exactly was being fulfilled by Yahshua when he cried out.

Psalm 22

 ¹My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
   ²O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
   ³But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
   ⁴Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
   ⁵They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
   ⁶But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
   ⁷All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
   ⁸He trusted on Yahweh that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
   ⁹But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
   ¹⁰I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my Elohim from my mother's belly.
   ¹¹Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
   ¹²Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
   ¹³They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
   ¹⁴I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
   ¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
   ¹⁶For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
   ¹⁷I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
   ¹⁸They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
   ¹⁹But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
   ²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
   ²¹Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
   ²²I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
   ²³Ye that fear Yahweh, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
   ²⁴For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
   ²⁵My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
   ²⁶The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise Yahweh that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
   ²⁷All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto Yahweh: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
   ²⁸For the kingdom is Yahweh's: and he is the governor among the nations.
   ²⁹All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
   ³⁰A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to Yahweh for a generation.
   ³¹They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

We skip now to the third day when Yahshua is resurrected and seen by his disciples.

Matthew 28

   ¹ As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
   ²And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
   ³His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
   ⁴And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
   ⁵And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
   ⁶He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
   ⁷And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
 ⁸And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
   ⁹And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
   ¹⁰Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
   ¹¹Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
   ¹²And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
   ¹³Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
   ¹⁴And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
   ¹⁵So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
   ¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
   ¹⁷And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
   ¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
   ¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
   ²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Summary of Events:
1.  After praying 3 times, a great multitude comes to arrest Yahshua with swords and staves.
2.  The priests, scribes, and elders found him guilty of blasphemy, spat on him, buffeted him, and smote him.
3.  The soldiers of the governor stripped him, mocked him, spat on him, smote him, and crucified him.
4.  The soldiers also platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head.
5.  Two thieves(fugitives) were also crucified with him.
6.  The priests, scribes, and elders continued to mock him.
7.  Yahshua quotes Psalm 22 which is also a prophecy he is fulfilling.
8.  Psalm 22 also mentions him paying his vows.
9.  Yahshua dies.
10.  The angel of Yahweh rolls back the stone to show that Yahshua has been resurrected.
11.  Yahshua is seen by his disciples and he tells them to go to Galilee.

Clarification of the 3 days and 3 nights:
1.  During the night of the 15th of Abib, Yahshua begins to be exceedingly sorrowful and heavy and prays to the Father.
2.  After Yahshua prays on the night of the 15th of Abib, then he is arrested.
3.  In the morning of the 15th of Abib Yahshua is taken to Pilate.
4.  Yahshua is crucified on the day of the 15th of Abib.
5.  Yahshua dies and is buried in the evening of the 15th of Abib.
6.  Yahshua rests in the grave during the night and day of the 16th of Abib which is also the weekly Sabbath.
7.  Yahshua is resurrected in the morning of the 17th of Abib.
8.  Yahshua is seen by his disciples during the day of the 17th of Abib which is called the third day numerous times in the scriptures.
9.  In the evening of the 17th of Abib Yahshua and his disciples go to Galilee.
10.  From the night of the 15th of Abib until the day of the 17th of Abib is exactly 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth(Jerusalem) when Yahshua fulfilled the prophecy in the Book of Jonah.
11.  The 15th night, 15th day, 16th night, 16th day, 17th night, and 17th day make exactly 3 days and 3 nights where Yahshua was in the "heart of the earth"(Jerusalem) and fulfilled the prophecy of Jonah chapter 2.