From: Bryant Wright Ministries

Matthew 12:40 "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." 

Are you sometimes troubled while studying the Bible? Have you ever come across passages that just don’t seem to add up? They might even appear contradictory. It can be very disconcerting, because the Word of God just shouldn’t contradict itself – right? 

For instance, in my early days as a Christian, I was troubled by the above passage in Matthew. Now, this really bothered me, because no matter how many times I counted, I couldn’t see how Jesus was in the tomb for three nights! It took several years, until a teacher explained that first century writers would count both a day and a night if an event took place on any part of that day or night. So, Jesus died on Friday and was dead for Friday night, Saturday night, and part of Sunday – thus in that day, it was considered three nights. That insight pulled it all together for me; it finally made perfect sense.

In that light – I am so thankful that we have the Holy Spirit and wise teachers to help us understand things we don’t see when we first read the Word. That’s why Bible studies are so vitally important to connect us with the Holly Spirit Who guides us. We need the Holy Spirit to give us insight into areas that we can’t understand on our own.