Jonah 1

Jonah 1:1–17 (NASB)

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” 7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.” 15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Who was Jonah? (v. 1)

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying…

2 Kings 14:21–27 (NASB)

21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. 22 He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. 23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. 26 For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. 27 The Lord did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

The book was written sometime between 793 and 758 BC. This is all prior to the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Rabbinical tradition found in the Talmud teaches that Jonah was the boy who was resurrected by Elijah (I Kings 17) and he grew up as a disciple of Elisha. The Talmud also teaches that Jonah is the disciple whom Elisha sent to anoint and prophesy to Jehu (II Kings 9:1-10), and he prophesied to King Jeroboam (2 Kings 14). By the time of his prophecy to Nineveh, he was about 100 years old, and the Talmud teaches he lived to be over 120. For what it’s worth, the timeline doe check out. The book of Jonah is unique among all the other minor prophets because of it’s style. It primarily unfolds in a third-person narrative format, except for a poetic prayer in the second chapter, and it reads like a short story. None of the other minor prophets are written like this.

Nineveh: (v. 2)

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire.

2 Kings 19:36 (NASB)

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.

The book of Nahum is all about the judgement of Nineveh that took place about 150 years or so after Jonah:

Nahum 1:1 (NASB)

1 The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

Nineveh means “place of fish”. The Akkadian word for fish is “nin”. Most scholars believe Nineveh was named that for one of three reasons.

One reason is because it was a major fish market. Nineveh was located on the banks of Tigris River and the primary resource of the city was fish.

Another reason is because of the fish goddess called “Nina”. The Assyrian cuneiform for Nina looks a lot like a fish: 𒀏

The other reason was because of the Assyrian demigod, King Ninus.

According to Greek mythology, Ninus was the first king of Assyria and the founder of the city of Nineveh and named it after himself. Supposedly he was a warrior king that conquered all of Asia during his reign of terror.

Greek mythology also teaches that Ninus the first to train dogs for hunting and horses for riding. Oh, and one of his symbols was a fish. (Veggies Tales got that historically right!)

Oh, and by the way, guess who Ninus was?

Genesis 10:8–12 (NASB)

8 Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

It might not be what you want to hear.

(v. 2) “…Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it…” Nahum 3:1 calls Nineveh a “bloody” city. There was violence, filth, destruction. Think a more violent version of Sodom and Gomorrah. We slam Jonah for not wanting to go there, but doubt any of us would take that mission. How many of us would go as missionaries to the Taliban? You see, when God gives us instruction, it is often times something that requires us to trust Him. Jonah lacked trust…

You can choose to get it done or run.

(v. 3) “But Jonah ran away from the LORD…” When God gives instruction, He also gives us a choice. God doesn’t force us to obey. Some might argue with that claim, but God’s word is pretty clear. People have the ability to make choices…

God gives instruction AND He will give us the ability to obey the instruction, but it is up to us whether we will be willing to do so…However, if we decide to ignore God’s instruction, He doesn’t give up.

A Blunder Storm: (v. 3-10)

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” 7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Psalm 107:23–31 (NASB)

23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters; 24 They have seen the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep. 25 For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, Which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; Their soul melted away in their misery. 27 They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, And were at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses. 29 He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven. 31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Mark 4:35–41 (NASB)

35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

A Blunder Storm Warning:

God might use a storm to get your attention.

(v. 4) “the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm…” Jonah chose to run, and God came after him. God caused a storm to get Jonah’s attention. Since Jonah made a classic blunder by disobeying God, God brought a blunder storm to get Jonah’s attention. God does that to us too. God can and will use circumstances to get out attention. We know them as “wake up calls” or “turning points”.

Storms can affect people around you.

(v. 5) “…the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid…” Your choices, and more specifically, your blunders or bad choices, can and will negatively affect people you care about. Look at what happened to the people on the ship…

Sink or Surrender? (v. 11-17)

11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.” 15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

A few lessons:

You are powerless to change the weather.

(v. 13) “…the men did their best to row back to land. But they couldn’t, for the sea grew even wilder…” Nothing you do and nothing anyone else can do will calm a blunder storm. They did their best but couldn’t change a thing. You are powerless. God changes weather, we don’t. God is in control, we aren’t…

Surrendering to God can calm the storm.

(v. 15) “…they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.” The only thing that can calm a blunder storm is complete surrender. Jonah recognized this and decided to throw in the towel. He didn’t repent at this point, what he did was decide to die instead of do what God called Him to do. Jonah gave up, he basically sacrificed his life to God to save those that were affected by his blunder. Jonah did eventually repent, and we will look at that next time, but he didn’t do it here.

God can provide cover from the storm.

(v. 17) “…God provided a great fish” Jonah surrendered and God provided protection and cover. It was quite a unique storm shelter. It was a great fish (which incidentally was not a whale). If you surrender to God’s control over your life, let me assure you, He will provide you cover. It may not be what you expect, but He will take care of you. God has given you instruction, what will you do with it? Will you obey? Will you run? What will you do? Most people that die in tornados do so because they ignore the warning…don’t ignore this warning!

Remember God is in control: (v. 17)

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

God used a fish to save Jonah, who was supposed to be a fisher of men, and God used that fish to take Jonah to the place of fish, that worshipped fish, so that he could preach to them.

Matthew 12:39–41 (NASB)

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 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. 41 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Matthew 16:4 (NASB)

4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

Luke 11:29–32 (NASB)

29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.