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THE MINOR PROPHETS

 

The Prophet Jonah

Salvation for Self, but Not for Others

Lesson #6

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   When individuals hear the name Jonah, they immediately think of the man who was swallowed by a whale.

1.    This certainly is part of the prophecy of Jonah (Jonah 1:17).

 

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

 

2.    The fish, however, is only mentioned in three verses in the entire book (Jonah 1:17, 2:1, 10).

 

B.   This little book only contains 4 chapters and 48 verses.  It, however, is filled with many lessons for the Christian.

 

C.   We will begin with an introduction to the fifth book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.

1.    They are minor only due to their length.

2.    They are not minor when it comes to the message they contain.

 

D.   Before we delve into an overview of the book, let’s read a few passages that may be familiar to you.

1.    “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3).

2.    “What meanest thou, O sleeper?  Arise, call upon thy God…” (Jonah 1:6).

3.    “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah” (Jonah 1:17).

4.    “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17).

5.    “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy” (Jonah 2:8).

6.    “…preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee” (Jonah 3:2).

7.    “…yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).

8.    “…and God repented of the evil, that he said he would do unto them” (Jonah 3:10).

9.    “…it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3, 8).

 

I.             THE NAME OF THE BOOK

 

A.   The name of the book comes from the main character of the book, Jonah.

1.    In this regard, the book is somewhat unique as a prophecy.

a.    Most prophecies are simply messages to a nation or to nations.

b.    This prophecy presents its message through the experiences of the prophet.

2.    Being named for the main character makes it similar to the books of Esther and Ruth.

 

B.   The name Jonah means “dove.”

 

C.   Two other names some have given the book.

1.    The Fish Story

a.    Again, the fish occupies only a small segment of the book.

b.    “Do not become so engrossed with the great fish that you miss the great God in Jonah!” (Kackelman, p. 11).

2.    “Some have called the book of Jonah the ‘Acts of the Old Testament’ because it graphically demonstrates that God is willing to have mercy on all who seek him in humility and sincerity” (Zodiates, 1126).

 

II.           THE BACKGROUND OF JONAH

 

A.   Jonah is immediately introduced to us in the book (Jonah 1:1).

 

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying.

 

1.    The fact that God’s Word come to him proves that he was a prophet.

2.    He also had a father named Amittai.

a.    Amittai means “true” or “truthful.”

b.    All we know about him is that he fathered a son whose name would be well known through the ages.

 

B.   In Jonah 1:9, we learn that he was a Hebrew.

 

C.   These references are not the first time Jonah is mentioned in the Bible.  The first time we read of him is in II Kings 14:25.

 

He (Jeroboam II) restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.

 

1.    Jonah prophesied about an action completed by Jeroboam II (783-743 B.C.).

2.    Jonah was a servant of God.

3.    Jonah was the son of Amittai.

4.    Jonah was a prophet.

5.    Jonah was from Gath-hepher.

a.    Gath-hepher was in Galilee.

b.    It was a border town in the territory of Zebulon (Josh. 19:10, 13).

c.    It was located about 3 miles northeast of Nazareth.

 

D.   Jonah was a contemporary of Amos and possibly Joel.

 

E.   Wayne Dunaway describes Jonah as follows:

1.    A Religious Person

a.    The Lord’s servant (II King 14:25)

b.    He feared God (Jonah 1:9)

c.    He prayed to God (Jonah 2:1, 6)

2.    A Reliable Prophet – what he spoke came to pass (II Kings 14:25; Deut. 18:21-22).

3.    A Relentless Patriot – he loved and supported his country

4.    A Reluctant Preacher

 

F.    “There is an interesting Jewish tradition that claims that Jonah was the son of the widow of Zaraphath, the young boy whom Elijah brought back to life in I Kings 17:17” (Kackelman, p. 11).

 

III.         THE RECIPIENTS OF THE BOOK

 

A.   Jonah 1:2 tells us who was to receive the message of Jonah.

 

Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 

B.   Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria.

1.    Assyria was the world power for 300 years, 900 – 607 B.C.

2.    The Assyrian capital was the “Corinth” of its day, steeped in wickedness.

3.    God used Assyria to punish His rebellious people of the Northern Kingdom in 721 B.C.

a.    II Kings 17:6

 

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

 

b.    In Isaiah 10:5, the Assyrian ruler is referred to by God as “the rod of mine anger” against Israel.

 

C.   Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:5-10; Matt. 12:41).  Thus, they were spared by God.

 

D.   Nineveh’s repentance was short-lived.  A little more than 100 years after the fall of Israel, Nahum announced the doom of the cruel and wicked city (Nah. 1:1, 3:1, 5; Zeph. 2:13).

 

Woe to the bloody city!...Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts.

 

IV.         THE DATE OF THE BOOK

 

A.   The date of the book has been debated because the author of the book is not named in the text of the prophecy.

1.    Date and author always correspond.

2.    NOTE:  If the date of the writing comes after the fall of Nineveh, some will contend that the book is not really a prophecy.

 

B.   Most conservative commentators believe that Jonah was written by the prophet himself.  This would put the date of the book between 790-750 B.C.

 

C.   Some believe that Jonah 3:3 implies that Nineveh was no longer in existence.  …Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city…  If this is the case, “the book could hardly have been written before 612 B.C.” (Harrison, 916).

 

D.   “Since the Twelve Minor Prophets were known and venerated by the end of the third century B.C. (cf. Ecclus. 49:10), it would appear that the latest date that can possibly be assigned to the work would be in the early or middle portions of the third century B.C.” (Harrison, 917).

 

V.           THE THEME OF THE BOOK

 

A.   Stated:

1.    Salvation for Self, but Not for Others.

2.    A Man of God Disdains God’s Mercy

3.    More Feelings for A Gourd than for Human Beings

4.   Forty Days to Repent, or, Perish!

5.    God Is Gracious

B.   The theme enlarged:  “Forty Days to Repent, or, Perish!”

1.    Nineveh was extremely wicked (Jon. 1:2).

2.    God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach.

a.    Cry against it (Jonah 1:2).

b.    Preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee (Jonah 3:2).

3.    Jonah’s preaching (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.

 

4.    The people believed God and repented (Jonah 3:5, 8).

5.    God withheld His judgment from the city (Jonah 3:10).

 

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 did it not.

 

VI.         THE KEY VERSE OF THE BOOK

 

A.   Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).

 

But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.  Salvation is of the Lord.

 

1.    Jonah was a patriot of Israel.  He literally despised the Assyrians.  Thus, when he was called to go preach to them, he refused (Jonah 1:3).

2.    Because of his disobedience, Jonah was punished by being swallowed by a great fish (Jonah 1:17).

3.    While there, Jonah cries for salvation.

a.    “Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly” (Jonah 2:1).

b.    “And he said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord…” (Jonah 2:2).

c.    “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord:  and my prayer can in unto thee, into thine holy temple” (Jonah 2:7).

4.    Jonah knew the graciousness of God.

a.    He repented according to Jonah 2:9.

 

But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving:  I will pay that that I have vowed.  Salvation is of God.

 

b.    In his prayer in the belly of the fish, he anticipated salvation.

1)    “…yet I will look again toward thy holy temple” (Jonah 2:4).

2)    “…yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God” (Jonah 2:6).

5.    The irony:  The prophet who did not want salvation for others is crying out for salvation for himself.

6.    LESSON:  What we often do not wish others to have we long to have ourselves.

7.    NOTE:  Even after Jonah was saved, he was angry when God spared the city of Nineveh when they repented (Jonah 3:10 - 4:1).

 

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.  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

 

8.    “Salvation is of the Lord.”

a.    God can save whoever He desires to save.

b.    God sets the terms of salvation.  Those who adhere to them will find His forgiveness and grace.

c.    Even though God had chosen Israel to be His people, He still desired the salvation of all men. 

 

B.   Forty Days to Repent, or, Perish (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.

 

C.   God Is Gracious (Jonah 4:2)

 

…for I know that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of evil.

 

VII.    PURPOSES OF THE BOOK

 

A.   Initially, “…it was meant in the main to impress upon the Israelites the fact that the mercy and salvation of God extended far beyond the Chosen Race to embrace the whole of humanity” (Harrison, 918).

 

B.   “…to show that Jonah being cast into the depths of Sheol and yet brought up alive is an illustration of the death of the Messiah for sins not his own and of the Messiah’s resurrection” (Young, 263).

1.    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.

 

2.    “Thus the experience of Jonah has as its basic purpose to point forward to the experience of that One who is ‘greater than Jonas’” (Young, 263).

 

C.   The book of Jonah would eventually convict the Jews of their inveterate stubbornness and lack of faith.

1.    This was a point emphasized by Jesus (Matt. 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.

 

2.    “Many prophets had arisen, and the nation had not repented, but when Nineveh heard the words of one prophet, it repented in sackcloth and ashes” (Young, 264).

 

VIII.   THE STYLE OF THE BOOK

 

A.   “It is a narrative about the prophet more than a collection of the prophet’s oracles” (Dunn, 365).  “Unlike most prophetic books in the Bible, Jonah is mostly narrative.  It does not contain lengthy prophetic messages, but rather it is a record of events – dramatic, action-packed events” (Butler, p. 9).

 

B.   It is an interesting book in that it is written in the third person:  “he and him” instead of “I and me.”

 

IX.     THREE WAYS THE BOOK IS INTERPRETED

 

A.   The book is a historical narrative. 

1.    Thus, it is an actual history of a man named Jonah.

2.    NOTE:  WE accept this interpretation because Jesus taught that Jonah was a real man who prophesied to Nineveh who was swallowed by a great fish (Matt.l 12:39-41).

 

“Finally, the greatest argument is provided by our Lord.  As He taught, Jesus confirmed that Jonah was a real, historical person.  Jesus affirmed that Jonah did spend three days and nights in the fish’s belly (See Matthew 12:39-41; Luke 11:29-32).  Even as He prepared His disciples for His death, He spoke of Jonah’s entombment as a ‘sign’ to the unbelieving Jews.  If the story of Jonah is fiction, then our Lord did not know what He was talking about!  In fact, if Jonah is a fable then so also is Christ’s death, burial and resurrection for He said that His would be ‘like’ Jonah’s!” (Kachelman, p. 11).

 

B.   Allegorical:  In the book of Jonah there is a complete allegory in which each figure represents an element in the historical and religious experience of the Israelites.

 

C.   Parabolic:  the book is nothing more than a moral story with a diadactic aim in view, similar to the Good Samaritan.

 

X.      ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE

 

A.   The miracle of the great fish.

1.    Argument:  A true whale has such a narrow gullet that it could only swallow comparatively small fish.

2.    Answers:

a.    It was not a whale, but a great fish (Jonah 1:17) according to the Hebrew.

b.    It was a fish God prepared.  He could have prepared a whale to swallow a man.

c.    The sperm whale could probably swallow a man.

 

B.   Jonah 2:5

 

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:  the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

 

1.    Argument:  The mention of weeds in Jonah 2:5 precluded the suggestion that the prophet was in the belly of a fish, since weeds did not grow there.

2.    Answer:  “The Hebrew text, of course, says nothing about the growth of weeds, but merely refers to the prophet as though he were submerged in a locality where seaweed existed” (Harrison, p. 908).

 

C.   The dramatic conversion of the Ninevites to monotheism.

1.    Argument:  That such an occurrence happened is incredulous we are told.  “…it is difficult to believe that the Assyrians would have perpetuated a religious reformation in their own country in the name of a foreign deity” (Harrison, p. 908).

2.    Answer:  This is not impossible, especially if the superstitious Assyrians had any inkling of the adventures that had befallen the prophet Jonah prior to his arrival as depicted in the prophecy.

 

 

D.   The size of Nineveh

1.    Argument:

a.    Archaeological excavations have shown that the city was approximately eight miles in circumference and could have housed at least 175,000 people.

b.    This would not have taken a three day journey to cover (Jonah 3:3).

 

…Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey.

 

2.    Answer:  “The reference…is not to the breadth of the city itself…but to the entire administrative district of Nineveh, which is between thirty and sixty miles across” (Harrison, p. 909).

 

E.   The reference to the king as “the King of Nineveh” (Jonah 3:6).

1.    Argument:  He was the king of Assyria and not just of Nineveh.

2.    Answer:  This was a common practice in Hebrew writing.

a.    King of Edom (II Kings 3:9, 12)

b.    Behadad of Syria was called the king of Damascus (II Chron. 24:123).

c.    Ahab is described as king of Samaria (I Kings 21:1).

 

F.    Miraculous growth of the gourd

1.    Argument:  It could not be that a gourd could grow at such a rapid rate.

2.    Answer:

a.    An alternate rendering is “palm-chist.”  It may have been the ordinary caster bean, Ricinus communus L, a shrub that grows to be 12 feet high and has huge leaves excellently suited for shade.

b.    God’s hand was involved in the miraculous growth of the gourd.

 

XI.     UNIQUENESS OF THE BOOK

 

A.   Jonah was the only minor prophet in whose career miracles played a major role.  Seven miracles are recorded in the book.

1.    The mighty tempest (Jonah 1:4)

2.    The sudden calm (Jonah 1:15)

3.    The great fish (Jonah 1:17)

4.    Jonah’s deliverance (Jonah 2:10)

5.    The gourd (Jonah 4:6)

6.    The prepared worm (Jonah 4:7)

7.    The scorching east wind (Jonah 4:8)

 

B.   The only prophet whose principal activity was on foreign soil and who preached exclusively to a foreign people.

 

C.   The only minor prophet mentioned by Jesus.

 

D.   Jonah was the only Old Testament character whose record includes a trip on the Mediterranean Sea.

 

XII.    LESSONS FROM THE BOOK

 

A.   We learn a lot about God.

1.    God is always displeased with sin (Jonah 1:2-3, 14).

2.    God desires to save (Jonah 1; 4:2)

3.    God disciplines His saints (Jonah 1:4-17).

4.    God is a gracious God.

a.    Gracious to a reluctant preacher

b.    Gracious to a rebellious city

c.    Gracious to the racially prejudiced

5.    God is a God of pity (Jonah 4:10-11).

a.    The Hebrew word literally means cover, or, shield from danger.

b.    Matthew 23:37

 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not?

 

B.   Warnings to be faithful in missions.

 

C.   Christians should respond positively to God’s commands.

 

D.   Obedient and willing service

1.    “These two traits must become part of all service offered to God.  God wants us to regulate our service by total obedience to His commands.  But obedience must be willing if it is to be rewarded” (Kackelman, p. 12).

2.    Romans 16:17; II Cor. 9:7

 

XIII.   OUTLINES OF THE BOOK

 

A.   Kidwell

 

i.             PROPOSITIONED PROPHET (Jonah 1:1-2)

ii.            PROBLEM PROPHET (Jonah 1:3)

iii.          PUNISHED PROPHET (Jonah 1:4-17)

iv.           PENITENT PROPHET (Jonah 2:1-10)

v.            POWERFUL PROPHET (Jonah 3:1-10)

vi.           PRESUMPTUOUS PROPHET (Jonah 4:1-11)

 

B.   Dunaway

 

i.             JONAH’S REBELLING – Chapter 1

ii.            JONAH’S REPENTING – Chapter 2

iii.          JONAH’S RESPONDING – Chapter 3

iv.           JONAH’S RESENTING – Chapter 4

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   “As you study Jonah you will find a fellow human being who suffers with your common feelings.  Jonah was a man who experienced anger, resentment, prejudice, inflated trust in self-direction, discouragement, self-pity, joy, faith in God, and a host of other emotions.  Here you find a man who, just like you, had to struggle and agonize over God’s will.  Jonah will be one with whom you will find no identity problem – unless you find yourself too much like him!” (Kachelmen, p. 10).

 

B.   “Though it is a small book of only 4 chapters and 48 verses tucked away in the Minor Prophets; yet Jonah is big, very big in it effect and impact upon man.  Few books arouse so quickly and so deeply” (Butler, p. 9).

 

C.   Here is a way to read the prophecy of Jonah.

1.    Read the book through the first time just to come to understand the story.

2.    Read focused on the city of Nineveh, then read focused on the prophet Jonah, then read focused on the seamen in chapter 2, and, then read focused on God.

Each of us is like a stamp.

 

 

 

 

Wax Seal Stamp Kit Set Letter A, Gold Copper Head with Wooden Handle and 48  Red Wax Beads for Invitations - Walmart.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What impression will you, your words, your attitude, your service, and your life make on others this week?