Jonah the Faithful Servant (chap.2)
Sermon: Jonah the Faithful Servant Apr.29, 2007
Jonah 2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, `I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Entonces oró Jonás a Jehová su Dios desde el vientre del pez, 2 y dijo: Invoqué en mi angustia a Jehová, y él me oyó; Desde el seno del Seol clamé,Y mi voz oíste. 3 Me echaste a lo profundo, en medio de los mares,Y me rodeó la corriente; Todas tus ondas y tus olas pasaron sobre mí. 4 Entonces dije: Desechado soy de delante de tus ojos; Mas aún veré tu santo templo. 5 Las aguas me rodearon hasta el alma, Rodeóme el abismo; El alga se enredó a mi cabeza. 6 Descendí a los cimientos de los montes; La tierra echó sus cerrojos sobre mí para siempre; Mas tú sacaste mi vida de la sepultura, oh Jehová Dios mío. 7 Cuando mi alma desfallecía en mí, me acordé de Jehová, Y mi oración llegó hasta ti en tu santo templo. 8 Los que siguen vanidades ilusorias, Su misericordia abandonan. 9 Mas yo con voz de alabanza te ofreceré sacrificios; Pagaré lo que prometí. La salvación es de Jehová. 10 Y mandó Jehová al pez, y vomitó a Jonás en tierra.
10 PRINCIPLES FOR POWERFUL PRAYER
* How many Principles on Prayer can you find in Jonah’s prayer?
THE BEST TIME TO PRAY (felt needs, real needs)
THE BEST PLACE TO PRAY (Jesus = Garden of Gethsemane)
THE PERSONAL ASPECT OF PRAYER
2:1 From inside the [stomach of the] fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
RV60) Entonces oró Jonás a Jehová [al Señor] su Dios desde el vientre del pez,
* First time he had prayed in the story…cf prayer of sailors….cf Ninevites prayer
* pray out of affection or out of affliction….out of delight or out of danger…..spare tire prayer!
100% PRAYERS….cf Garden of Gethsemane prayer….cf Peter sinking in sea “help me”
YOU HAVE TO CALL ON THE LORD
GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
GOD LISTENS TO HIS CHILDREN
2:2 He said: "In my distress [my great trouble] I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave [Sheol; the land of the dead] I called for help, and you listened to my cry. [you heard me!, you heard my voice]
RV60) y dijo: Invoqué en mi angustia a Jehová, y él me oyó [tu me respondiste]; Desde el seno del Seol [las profundidades de la muerte] clamé [pedi auxilio] Y mi voz oíste [escuchaste]
*Why should he expect God to attend to his prayer?...on what basis?
* He thot he was in Sheol….they thot it was under the floor of the ocean
GOD IS THE FOCUS OF OUR PRAYER….NOT ME!
THE DISCIPLINE OF GOD HELPS US PRAY
MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT GOD’S MOTIVES ARE CLARIFIED IN PRAYER
2:3 You hurled me into the deep [the ocean depths], into the very heart of the seas, and the currents [mighty waters] swirled [engulfed] about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. [I was buried beneath Your wild and stormy waves]
RV60) Me echaste [arrojaste] a lo profundo en medio de los mares [lo mas hondo del mar],, Y me rodeó la corriente; Todas tus [grandes] ondas y tus olas [que tu mandaste] pasaron sobre mí.
*Song lyrics: this is my Father’s world…. These were “your” waves and breakers
*Ps.119 vv about discipline
* How do you respond to God’s disciple (Heb.12:5f…discouraged by it, resist it, learn from it]
* Jonah didn’t blame the circumstances, not the sailors, he knew it was God’s doing!
FAITH IN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY IN PRAYER
2:4 I said, `I have been banished [expelled, driven] from your sight [presence]; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'
RV60) Entonces dije: Desechado [expulsado] soy de delante de tus ojos; Mas [sin embargo] aún veré tu santo templo.
* cf roman centurion “just say the Word”
WORSENING CIRCUMSTANCES ENHANCE GOD’S GLORY THRU PRAYER
2:5 The engulfing waters threatened me [to the point of death] [I sank beneath the waves], the deep [waters] surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
RV60) Las aguas me rodearon hasta el alma [por complete], Rodeóme el abismo [lo profundo del oceano] [me cubría el mar profundo]; El alga se enredó a mi cabeza.
* down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the ocean] ….When you turn your back on God’s will, Sin leads us down down down
* He saw no possible way out of his problem
WE MUST HIT ROCK BOTTOM
GOD LIFTS US UP THROUGH PRAYER
GOD CAN RESCUE US FROM THE DEEPEST OF PROBLEMS
2:6 To the [very] roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever.[I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates locked shut forever] But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. [But You, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!]
RV60) Descendí [arrastrondome] a los cimientos [las raices] de los montes [Me hundí hasta el fondo de la tierra]; La tierra echó sus cerrojos sobre mí para siempre [¡ya me sentía su eterno prisionero!]; Mas tú sacaste mi vida de la sepulture [me salvaste], oh Jehová Dios mío.
* Why did God rescue Jonah? …not to get the job done (cf Ester), but because Jonah repented
THE TURNING POINT IN PRAYER……………[U-Turn prayer] REPENTANCE
2:7 "When my life was ebbing away [as my life was slipping away], I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
RV60) Cuando mi alma desfallecía en mí, me acordé de Jehová, Y mi oración llegó hasta ti en tu santo templo
* What have you forgotten about the Lord?....his goodness, his mercy, his love
* 1 Kings 8:38-40 covenant promises…..Pray Biblically
* when all other hope was extinguished, he put his hope in God
PRAYER HIGHLIGHTS THE GRACE OF GOD
2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols [worship false gods] forfeit the grace that could be theirs. [turn their backs on all God's mercies]
RV60) Los que [confian] siguen [a los idolos] vanidades ilusorias, Su misericordia abandonan.
[abandonan el amor de Dios]
* the light shines brightest in the darkness
* Choice: Me or God?…….His will or mine?
* Personal testimony of Jonah
THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE PART EACH OF OUR PRAYERS
SINGING SHOULD BE PART OF OUR PRAISE
PUT LEGS ON YOUR PRAYERS
2:9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving [song of praise], will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." [alone]
RV60) Mas yo con voz de [gratitude, con accion de gracias, con canticos de gratitude] alabanza te ofreceré sacrificios; Pagaré lo que prometí [cumplire las promesas que te hice]. La salvación es de Jehová. [¡Solo tú, Señor, puedes salvar!"]
* NO PETITIONS were made!!!!
* he quotes Ps.3;8; 37:37
* what did he thank God for?
* “salvation” ……a central theme of this book and of the Bible
THE ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS OFTEN SURPRISE US
2:10 and the LORD commanded [ordered] the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land [on the beach]
RV60) Y mandó Jehová [dio orden] al pez, y vomitó a Jonás en tierra.[firme]
* who was more relieved…the fish or Jonah?
* unlike Jonah, the fish obeyed immediately
SUMMARY:
* 7TH miracle of 10 in this book, greatest of all was a hard heart was changed into one of worship
* Easy to focus on what is happening in the ocean/fish but more important is what is happening in Jonah!
* He discovered that though he had forsaken God, God had not forsaken him!
* The Miracle of the Resurrection in predicted
* Spirtual maturity is a process…..Jonah mades advancement in this chapter but more is yet to come
* Salvation for the Sails….Salvation for Jonah….Salvation for the Ninevites
JM 2:2 Out of the belly of Sheol. The phrase does not necessarily indicate that Jonah actually died. “Sheol” frequently has a hyperbolic meaning in contexts where it denotes a catastrophic condition near death (Ps. 30:3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit] Later Jonah expressed praise for his deliverance “from the pit,” speaking of his escape from certain death. 2:3 In describing his watery experience, Jonah acknowledged that his circumstances were judgment from the Lord. 2:4 I have been cast out of Your sight. In 1:3, Jonah ran from the Lord’s presence; here he realizes that the Lord has temporarily expelled him. 2:5 my soul. This describes Jonah’s total person—both physically and spiritually (v. 7). 2:9 I have vowed. Jonah found himself in the same position as the mariners: offering sacrifices and making vows (1:16). In light of 3:1–4, Jonah’s vow could well have been to carry out God’s ministry will for him by preaching in Nineveh [Lord if you get me out of this mess I will go to Nineveh!] (Pss. 50:14; 66:13,14). 2:10 the Lord spoke. Just as God calls the stars by name (Is. 40:26; Ps. 147:4), so He speaks to His creation in the animal world (Num. 22:28–30). Most likely, Jonah was vomited upon the shore near Joppa.
BKC - BKC - The praise by Jonah (2:1-9) This prayer by Jonah was not a plea for deliverance for there were no petitions in it. The prayer is a psalm of thanksgiving (v. 9) to
God for using the fish to save him from drowning. The prayer was made while Jonah was in the
fish’s stomach (v. 1) but it was written of course after he was expelled from the fish’s stomach.
Sensing that the great fish was God’s means of delivering him, Jonah worshiped God for His
unfathomable mercies. Jonah praised God for delivering him from death (Ps. 30:3) in a watery
grave. The contents of Jonah 2 correspond in several ways to the contents in chapter 1:
A summary of Jonah’s experience. 2:1-2. After noting the place (inside the fish) where he voiced
this prayer, Jonah poetically recounted the story of his deliverance. Though the sailors had sacrificed
to the Lord (1:16), He was in a special sense Jonah’s God. When the sailors cast him overboard, in .
. . distress he prayed and the Lord . . . answered with a miraculous provision (the fish). The phrase
from the depths of the grave refers to the fear of death that gripped the prophet. It does not mean he
actually died. God listened to his cry for help and went to his rescue. A description of Jonah’s
experience (2:3-7). Here the prophet recorded his watery horror and God’s gracious deliverance.
2:3. Though the sailors had thrown him into the sea (1:15), actually God had hurled him into the
deep, that is, He was behind their action. As the currents of the Mediterranean swirled about Jonah,
he knew that God controls the waves and breakers (Jonah called them Your; Ps. 88:7).2:4.
Banished by God because of his sin of disobedience, the prophet evidenced repentance and renewed
faith, for he expressed confidence in approaching God (I will look again toward Your holy temple).
The ”holy temple“ may be the Jerusalem temple or, perhaps more likely, God’s heavenly abode (Ps.
11:4), for the prophet said (Jonah 2:7) his prayer ”rose“ to God in His temple. Or verse 4 could refer
to the Jerusalem temple and verse 7 to the heavenly temple. 2:5-6a. In his peril the waters
threatened to take his life and the sea surrounded him. Ocean vegetation was bound about his head
as if to imprison him. In the sea he sank to the bottoms of the mountains, and the earth was about
to entrap him permanently. This is the prophet’s description of his plunge into what appeared to be a
watery grave. 2:6b-7. At the point of Jonah’s hopelessness and utter despair, God used the fish to lift
the prophet up from the pit (”pit“ is a synonym for grave). Because God had saved his life, the
repentant prophet confessed that the Lord was his God (v. 1). Sensing that he was about to die by
drowning and that his life was ebbing away, he turned to God, praying to Him (v. 2) for
deliverance (on the holy temple; v. 4). In the gravest of perils the prophet prayed and his petitions
rose to heaven to be answered most uniquely. An expression of Jonah’s thankfulness. 2:8-9. The
statement concerning the folly of trusting worthless idols provides a dark background against which
God’s brilliant grace is evident. No lifeless idol could effect so great a deliverance as the God of
heaven, who made the sea and the land (1:9). In contrast with those who trusted weak idols for
deliverance (1:5) Jonah offered a sacrifice (1:16) of praise to the true God who effected such a
wondrous provision. Also he vowed to obey the Lord because salvation (deliverance) comes from
the Lord. Deliverance from perilous situations is a provision from a gracious God.The return of
Jonah (2:10) 2:10. After the deliverance of Jonah from the watery grave, the Lord commanded
the fish to deposit the prophet safely on dry land, presumably on the coast of Palestine after the
three-day return journey (1:17). Seven miracles have taken place already in this short narrative: God
caused a violent storm (1:4), had the lot fall on Jonah (1:7), calmed the sea when Jonah was thrown
overboard (1:15), commanded the fish to swallow Jonah (1:17), had the fish transport him safely, had
the fish throw Jonah up on dry land, and perhaps greatest of all, melted the disobedient prophet’s
heart (evidenced by his thanksgiving prayer in chap.
Wiersbe - He prayed for God’s help (Jonah 2:1–2). “Then Jonah prayed” (2:1) suggests that it was at the end of the three days and three nights when Jonah turned to the Lord for help, but we probably shouldn’t press the word “then” too far. The Hebrew text simply reads, “And Jonah prayed.” Surely Jonah prayed as he went down into the depths of the sea, certain that he would drown. That would be the normal thing for any person to do, and that’s the picture we get from verses 5 and 7. His prayer was born out of affliction, not affection. He cried out to God because he was in danger, not because he delighted in the Lord. But better that he should pray compelled by any motive than not to pray at all. It’s doubtful whether any believer always prays with pure and holy motives, for our desires and God’s directions sometimes conflict. However, in spite of the fact that he prayed, Jonah still wasn’t happy with the will of God. In chapter 1, he was afraid of the will of God and rebelled against it, but now he wants God’s will simply because it’s the only way out of his dangerous plight. Like too many people today, Jonah saw the will of God as something to turn to in an emergency, not something to live by every day of one’s life. Jonah was now experiencing what the sailors experienced during the storm: he felt he was perishing (1:6, 14). It’s good for God’s people, and especially preachers, to remember what it’s like to be lost and without hope. How easy it is for us to grow hardened toward sinners and lose our compassion for the lost. As He dropped Jonah into the depths, God was reminding him of what the people of Nineveh were going through in their sinful condition: they were helpless and hopeless. God heard Jonah’s cries for help. Prayer is one of the constant miracles of the Christian life. To think that our God is so great He can hear the cries of millions of people at the same time and deal with their needs personally! A parent with two or three children often finds it impossible to meet all their needs all the time, but God is able to provide for all His children, no matter where they are or what their needs may be. “He who has learned to pray,” said William Law, “has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.”
He accepted God’s discipline (Jonah 2:3). The sailors didn’t cast Jonah into the stormy sea; God did. “You hurled me into the deep … all your waves and breakers swept over me” (v.3). When Jonah said those words, he was acknowledging that God was disciplining him and that he deserved it. How we respond to discipline determines how much benefit we receive from it. According to Hebrews 12:5–11, we have several options: we can despise God’s discipline and fight (v. 5); we can be discouraged and faint (v. 5); we can resist discipline and invite stronger discipline, possibly even death (v. 9); we can submit to the Father and mature in faith and love (v. 7).
Discipline is to the believer what exercise and training are to the athlete (v. 11); it enables us to run the race with endurance and reach the assigned goal (vv. 1–2).
The fact that God chastened His servant is proof that Jonah was truly a child of God, for God disciplines only His own children. “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons” (v. 8). And the father chastens us in love so that “afterward” we might enjoy “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (v.11).
HE TRUSTED GOD’S PROMISES (Jonah 2:4–7). Jonah was going in one direction only—down. In fact, he had been going in that direction since the hour he rebelled against God’s plan for his life. He went “down to Joppa” and “down into the sides of the ship” (1:3, 5). Now he was going “down to the bottoms of the mountains” (2:6); and at some point, the great fish met him, and he went down into the fish’s belly (1:17). When you turn your back on God, the only direction you can go is down.
What saved Jonah? His faith in God’s promise. Which promise? The promise that involves “looking toward God’s holy temple” (2:4, 7). When King Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, he asked God for this special favor (1 Kings 8:38–40): Whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know … that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers. Jonah claimed that promise. By faith, he looked toward God’s temple (the only way to look was up!) and asked God to deliver him; and God kept His promise and answered his call. “I remembered [the] Lord” (Jonah 2:7) means, “I acted on the basis of His commitment to me.” Jonah knew God’s covenant promises and he claimed them.
HE YIELDED TO GOD’S WILL (Jonah 2:8–9). Now Jonah admits that there were idols in his life that robbed him of the blessing of God. An idol is anything that takes away from God the affection and obedience that rightfully belongs only to Him. One such idol was Jonah’s intense patriotism. He was so concerned for the safety and prosperity of his own nation that he refused to be God’s messenger to their enemies the Assyrians. We shall learn from chapter 4 that Jonah was also protecting his own reputation (4:2), for if God spared Nineveh, then Jonah would be branded a false prophet whose words of warning weren’t fulfilled. For somebody who was famous for his prophecies (2 Kings 14:25), this would be devastating. Jonah closes his prayer by uttering some solemn vows to the Lord, vows that he really intended to keep. Like the psalmist, he said: “I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble” (Ps. 66:13–14). Jonah promised to worship God in the temple with sacrifices and songs of thanksgiving. He doesn’t tell us what other promises he made to the Lord, but one of them surely was, “I will go to Nineveh and declare Your message if You give me another chance.” Jonah couldn’t save himself, and nobody on earth could save him, but the Lord could do it, for “salvation is of the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9b) This is a quotation from Psalms 3:8 and 37:39 and it is the central declaration in the book. It is also the central theme of the Bible. How wise of Jonah to memorize the Word of God; because being able to quote the Scriptures, especially the Book of Psalms, gave him light in the darkness and hope in his seemingly hopeless situation. Redemption (Jonah 2:10) “And [the fish] vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” What an ignominious way for a distinguished prophet to arrive on shore! In chapter 1, the sailors treated Jonah like dangerous cargo to be thrown overboard, and now he’s treated like a foreign substance to be disgorged from the fish’s body. But when Jonah ceased to be an obedient prophet, he cheapened himself, so he’s the one to blame. We can be sure that he was duly humbled as he once again stood on dry land. The miracle. Few miracles in Scripture have been attacked as much as this one, and Christian scholars have gathered various kinds of evidence to prove that it could happen. Since the Bible doesn’t tell us what kind of fish swallowed Jonah, we don’t have to measure sharks and whales or comb history for similar incidents. It was a “prepared” fish (1:17), designed by God for the occasion, and therefore it was adequate for the task. Jesus didn’t question the historicity of the miracle, so why should we? The sign (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Luke 11:29). The “sign of Jonah” is seen in his experience of “death,” burial, and resurrection on the third day, and it was the only sign Jesus gave to the nation of Israel. At Pentecost, Peter preached the Resurrection (Acts 2:22–26) and so did Paul when he preached to the Jews in other nations (13:26–37). In fact, the emphasis in the Book of Acts is on the resurrection of Jesus Christ; for the apostles were “witnesses of the Resurrection” (2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39). Some students are troubled by the phrase “three days and three nights,” especially since both Scripture and tradition indicate that Jesus was crucified on Friday. In order to protect the integrity of the Scripture, some have suggested that the Crucifixion be moved back to Thursday or even Wednesday. But to the Jews, a part of a day was treated as a whole day, and we need not interpret “three days and three nights” to mean seventy-two hours to the very second. For that matter, we can’t prove that Jonah was in the fish exactly seventy-two hours. The important thing is that centuries after the event, Jonah became a “sign” to the Jewish people and pointed them to Jesus Christ. Jonah was now free to obey the Lord and take God’s message to Nineveh, but he still had lessons to learn. Jonah 3–4 PREACHING AND POUTING The question is usually asked in Old Testament survey classes, “Was the great fish more relieved to be rid of Jonah than Jonah was to get out of the great fish?” Maybe their sense of relief was mutual. At any rate, we hope that Jonah gave thanks to God for the divinely provided creature that rescued him from certain death. In these two chapters, we are confronted with four marvels that we dare not take for granted:
BOICE - A Turning Point To concentrate so much on what happened inside the great fish that we miss noting what happened inside Jonah is to make a great mistake, however, as I have indicated. So we must now turn to Jonah’s prayer to God from inside the monster. As we read it we discover that the prayer reveals the truly great miracle. It shows that though Jonah had been brought to the depths of misery within the fish, he nevertheless found the mercy of God in his misery. He discovered that though he had forsaken God, God had not forsaken him, though it seemed that he had. In brief, Jonah found salvation even before the fish vomited him up on the land. With the exception of verse 10, the second chapter is a record of this prayer. Since the book is only four chapters long, it is obvious that the prayer is important. “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: ‘In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, “I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord’ ” (2:1–9). Four Principles Jonah’s prayer has four characteristics of all true prayer. These characteristics should be in our own prayers at all times, particularly when we get into trouble because of disobedience and need to repent and get ourselves back on the right path. The first is honesty. The prayer is starkly honest. So often Christians are dishonest in their prayers. They come to the Lord trying to overlook some circumstance that he has caused, ignore some sin that he has highlighted, or obtain some request that he has already clearly rejected.
What we do may be illustrated by a story frequently told by Donald Grey Barnhouse. On one occasion his daughter had come to him with a request that he had denied. “Well, then, what do you want me to do?” she asked. He told her what he wanted and then went on with his work. She remained standing in front of him. At length Mrs. Barnhouse called to the daughter from another room. “Where are you? What are you doing?” she asked. The daughter replied, “I am waiting for Daddy to tell me what he wants me to do.” At this point Barnhouse raised his head and said to her, “Whatever you are doing, you are not waiting to find out what I want you to do. I have told you what I want you to do, but you do not like it. You are actually waiting to see if you can get me to change my mind.”Any perceptive Christian can see himself in that story, for many of our prayers are attempts to get God to let us do something he has already clearly forbidden. If we go on to reject his will and thus reap the fruits of our disobedience, we frequently try to explain away the results. Christians ought to be the greatest realists in the world. But they are not, especially when they are disobeying God or running away from him. Instead of being honest about their trouble, as Jonah was, they find themselves trying to explain their miseries away. They say, “Well, I suppose things like this just happen.” Or, “It’s hard, but I can handle it; maybe if I just keep going things will get better.” Jonah did not do this. Instead, in verses 3–6 he acknowledged his trouble—he had been cast into the deep, the floods had covered him, to all appearances he was cast out of God’s sight, he had gone down to the bottoms of the mountains of the earth and, barring a miracle, the earth was about him forever. Jonah not only acknowledged his misery; he acknowledged that it was God who had caused it. “You hurled me into the deep,” he said. Not circumstances! Not the sailors! It was “your [God’s] waves and breakers.” We might argue that the sailors did have a role and that it was Jonah himself who had suggested that he be thrown overboard. But these are minor technicalities, and Jonah is done with technicalities. They do not matter. He was in desperate straits, and God was the one who was causing them. In one sense, this increased the terror of his situation. The situation was bad enough. He was far from land with no path of escape. But add the fact that God had caused it! God had addressed himself to Jonah in the character of a judge. He had summoned him to trial, witnessed against him, cast a verdict of guilty, and then sentenced him to death, proceeding at once to the implementation of the sentence—this was a terror almost beyond words! Hugh Martin, who notes this, observes, “Oh! if he found courage or composure amidst circumstances like these to address his soul in prayer, and that, too, believing prayer, to the Lord, how great a marvel or miracle of grace must that prayer be!” On the other hand, there is also a sense in which the acknowledgment of God’s presence, even in judgment, is a comfort. For it is better to fall into the hands of God, even in judgment, than to be apart from him. David is a case in point. We read at the end of 2 Samuel that David sinned in causing the people of Israel to be numbered and that God, through the prophet Gad, gave David three choices, one of which was to be God’s judgment. David could choose seven years of famine, three months of defeat before his enemies, or three days of pestilence. David chose the latter because, he said, “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men” (2 Sam. 24:14). It was a wise decision; for though the judgment came, we read that when the plague reached Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved by the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand” (v. 16). God is a God of judgment, but his judgment is tempered by the mercy that is so prominent a theme in Jonah. Repentance Jonah’s prayer is also characterized by (Repentance) penance. “Penance” is an old-fashioned word, but it is a good one. It means “confession,” “self-abasement,” or “mortification showing sorrow for and repentance of sin.” Clearly, this is a step beyond mere honesty, for it is possible to be honest about one’s situation, acknowledge that God has caused it, and yet be unrepentant about it. We can acknowledge that God caused it but still get angry. In one such instance a Christian girl married a man who was not a Christian, ignoring the advice of her pastor and friends. Then she knew great misery as the marriage turned sour and ended in divorce. She knew that the situation was her own fault and that the breakup of the marriage was only an inevitable outworking of God’s laws in her own particular situation, but she resented God for it. Instead of repenting of the sin, she drifted away from Christian friends and activities. Only much later, by the grace of God, did she return to him. We know that Jonah’s was true penance in two ways. First, he acknowledged that everything that had happened to him, while caused by God, was nevertheless his own fault. He deserved it. This is the meaning of verse 8, one of the great verses of the book: “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” An idol is anything that takes the place of God. So Jonah is saying that whenever a believer puts something else in the place of God and thereby turns from him, he inevitably also turns from God’s mercy. God is not less merciful, but the believer has rejected that mercy and therefore deserves all that comes on him. Jonah’s prayer also showed penance in that Jonah did not ask God for anything. If he had, we might suspect that his repentance had a hidden motive. Perhaps he was repenting just so he could get out of the fish and back on dry land. In reality he asked for nothing. He was genuinely sorry for his disobedience. Thanksgiving The third characteristic of Jonah’s prayer was thanksgiving. “Thanksgiving?” we might ask. “Why thanksgiving? What could Jonah, swallowed by a fish, in the midst of the ocean awaiting death, possibly be thankful about?” If we continue to ask the question in terms of a physical deliverance, there is no answer; Jonah’s attitude continues to be puzzling. But if we ask the question in spiritual terms and think of a spiritual deliverance, the answer is easy. True, Jonah had no hope of deliverance from the fish. But he had found the grace of God again—his own word is “salvation” (v. 9)—and for this he was profoundly thankful. Jonah was not thankful that God had delivered him from the fish because God had not yet delivered him. He was not thankful that God was going to deliver him, because he had no idea that God was going to do it. What he was thankful for was that God had turned him from rebellion and had caused him to call on the name of the Lord once again. He was thankful for salvation. He was thankful for the abiding grace of God. Ellul discusses the prayer in these words: “Jonah has not been answered if we take the answer to be rescue from the belly of the fish, salvation from hell. But he has been answered if we take the answer to be adoption under the care of the God who takes on the totality of our sufferings, dramas and situations. He is answered because grace does not fail in any way, and even if there is no visible, actual and personal sign, Jonah can state that the answer takes place because grace has been granted to him from all eternity. Jonah rediscovers this grace of God at the very moment his situation is hopeless and to all appearances nothing more is to be expected. His refusal and flight were clearly outside grace. Events have taken place without any indication of a favorable intervention, only signs of judgment. But suddenly, when he has accepted his condemnation, when he has acknowledged before God that he was guilty and that God was just, he sees that at no point did God cease to show him grace.…“Nothing proves this to Jonah. No fact confirms his insight. He does not have even the first beginning of deliverance. But simply in the very fact that he has been able to repent, to condemn himself, to recognize the sentence of the just judge, he has reason enough to say: ‘Thou hast delivered me.’ It is here indeed that the great decision is taken.”It is also here that the great miracles are performed. It is not when history is redirected by some supernatural, spectacular event, not when bodies are brought to life or heavenly bodies are stopped in their normal motion that the great miracles occur. It is when a person comes to acknowledge his or her sin and confess it before God and when, as a consequence, God restores the broken Creator-creature relationship. Sacrifices and Vows There is one final characteristic of Jonah’s prayer that should not escape notice, for, in terms of his rebellion, it is the most significant of all. Jonah is now ready to take his place alongside the ungodly. Earlier he had said, “I am a Jew, and I do not want to preach to the heathen.” Now he was willing to take a place beside them as one who needed God’s mercy. A person may ask, “But where do you find that in the story?” You find it in a parallel between verse 9 of this chapter and verse 16 of chapter 1. Verse 9 says, “I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good.” The earlier verse says, speaking of the sailors, “At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.” The sailors, who were heathens, learned to approach God as he must be approached—through the blood of an innocent victim sacrificed for sin and through a personal commitment expressed in a vow. Jonah, the prophet of the Lord, also approached through the sacrifice (promising to do in the future what he obviously could not do in the belly of the great fish, if that should be possible) and made a vow. It is hard to miss the point. Jonah, despite his earlier protestations, came to God, not as a Jew who deserved special privileges or concessions, but as a sinful human being who was one with all other sinful human beings and who needed God’s grace. It is thus with us all. If you come to God claiming privileges, boasting of your own special achievements and therefore expecting God to accept you or acknowledge you on the basis of your own merit, you have no hope of salvation. The Scriptures explicitly say that God will not pay court to human merit: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). On the other hand, if you come to God, admitting that you deserve nothing from him but his just wrath and condemnation, if you place your faith in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly became your sacrifice, and if you promise to serve him and be his faithful disciple till your life’s end, then he saves you and brings you into a deep experience of the grace of God. Charles W. Colson, known nationally because of his involvement in the Watergate scandal, is one who found this kind of grace. By his own confession, Colson had been driven by pride. But he came to see this one night in the living room of a good friend, Thomas Phillips, president of the Raytheon Company, who had just become a Christian. As they talked, Phillips shared the story of his conversion and then read from the chapter in Mere Christianity in which C. S. Lewis speaks of pride being “the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.” This struck Colson forcefully, and he acknowledged (privately) that it was true of him. A few minutes later, after he had left the Phillips’ home and was seated in his car, a tremendous sense of release came over him and he prayed, crying, “God, I don’t know how to find you, but I’m going to try! I’m not much the way I am now, but somehow I want to give myself to you. Take me.” At that point Colson had not yet understood the importance of the death of Jesus Christ, and he had certainly not surrendered his life to him. But the prayer was honest and repentant. Colson was coming to God as a sinner, and the God who receives sinners (and only sinners) heard him and rapidly led him to a knowledge of Christ and the assurance of salvation. No one has ever truly repented till he or she has acknowledged that there is nothing in any person that can possibly commend him or her to God. And no one has ever been saved who has not come to God on the basis of the sacrifice that he alone has provided. The last phrase of the prayer makes this plain: “Salvation comes from the Lord” (v. 9). Salvation is possible only because God makes it possible. It is of him. Jesus Savior “Salvation comes from the Lord.” This thought was a blessing to Jonah; but if it was a comfort to him, it should be even more of a comfort to us who live this side of the cross of Jesus Christ. For this is what “Jesus” means. When the angel explained the meaning of the name to Joseph he said, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). The wording is slightly different, of course; but the meaning is precisely the same: “Salvation comes from the Lord.” Thus far in our study of Jonah we have stressed that the story of the rebellious prophet is our story. But we should not miss the point that in another sense it is also the story of our Lord, who went down to hell for us bearing our sin and then was raised from the dead to bring many sons with him into glory. In other words, Jonah is a story of salvation, and this is always God’s story. Have you seen that truth? A marginal note in the New Scofield Reference Bible indicates that the sentence “Salvation is of the Lord” (v. 9) is “the theme of the Bible,” and indeed it is. We have run from God, all of us. But none need perish. God has himself provided the way into eternal life through the death of his Son.
EXPOSITORS 2:1 Some would object that Jonah would not have waited so long before he prayed. The popular idea that Jonah went straight from the deck of the ship into the fish's open mouth has no support from either the narrative or Jonah's prayer. He was half-drowned before he was swallowed. If he was still conscious, sheer dread would have caused him to faint--notice that there is no mention of the fish in his prayer. He can hardly have known what caused the change from wet darkness to an even greater dry darkness. When he did regain consciousness, it would have taken some time to realize that the all-enveloping darkness was not that of Sheol but of a mysterious safety. Jonah's Psalm of Thanksgiving (2:2-9) Most modern scholars maintain that (1) this psalm is misplaced, for it should come after 2:10, and (2) it is entirely unsuited to the position in which Jonah found himself. 1. While there are phrases, sentences, and short passages in the OT that seem undoubtedly misplaced textually, they are rare; and the misplacements can normally be explained by the general principles governing scribal errors. Here, however, no adequate reasons for misplacement have been suggested. Indeed, G.A. Smith (p. 512), though not accepting the historicity of the book, argues that this is the correct position for the psalm: "From the standpoint of the writer, Jonah was already saved, when he was taken up by the fish--saved from the deep into which he had been cast by the sailors, and the dangers of which the Psalm so vividly describes." 2. It is claimed that the psalm is unsuited to its setting because it is a psalm of thanksgiving, not a prayer (2:1), and because it praises God for rescue from drowning. To be sure the statement that someone prayed to the Lord seems everywhere else in Scripture to be followed by a petition, even if the prayer includes thanksgiving. But is this psalm purely thanksgiving? There is a sudden change in v. 9 to the future, or more accurately to the cohortative. It is questionable whether the rendering "But I ... will sacrifice ... I will make good" is adequate. Nearer the meaning is probably "may I sacrifice ... may I make good." In other words, the petition is there, though in the light of Cod's mercy already shown it is expressed in a veiled manner. As for praising God for rescue from drowning, that is exactly what the psalm does. What else should it praise him for? Jonah desired to bring a thank offering and pay his vows because of God's mercies already shown. Though Jonah did not tell us what he had vowed, the context leaves little doubt that it was complete obedience. This is also mirrored in the closing cry of confidence: "Salvation comes from the LORD," which in Jonah's mouth was equivalent to a recognition of God's absolute sovereignty. A discussion of the psalm's peculiar nature and its many parallels to other psalms may be found in the Introduction. 2-4 "From the depths of the grave" in the Hebrew is literally "from the belly of Sheol," and this should be retained. It is true that Sheol is often no more than a synonym for the grave; Jonah was not saying, however, that he thought he was buried but that he had gone to join the dead. The terrifying experience described in v. 3 brought Jonah to the realization of his plight and elicited the confession in v. 4. "Yet I will look again," though a legitimate rendering, is open to misunderstanding. It is not a statement of salvation but of Jonah's determination to pray in spite of his banishment; probably "but" would suit the sense better. 5-6 Jonah continued the description begun in v. 3 of his downward plunge into the deep. These verses vividly illustrate the hopelessness of his situation. He was, as it were, beyond human help. The "earth beneath" should probably be rendered the "land beneath," since it is in parallel to "pit," which is a synonym for Sheol. The reference is to the place of the dead, pictured as being within the earth, and once again points to Jonah's expectation of certain death.
7-8 As he plummeted through the waters, Jonah realized that "his life was ebbing away." In these fleeting moments his thought turned to the Lord and his "holy temple." Remarkably, in spite of the position in which he found himself, Jonah had a mental picture of the despairing sailors calling in vain on their gods, while he, whom they thought had been lost, was awaiting the demonstration of his God's salvation. 7. Jonah's Deliverance (2:10) 10 The literal Hebrew reads, And the Lord spoke to the fish (JB, KJV, NEB, RSV). Unlike the prophet, the fish responded promptly, as soon as it knew God's will, and did not need any express command (NAB, NASB, NIV). At what point, presumably on the Palestinian coast, the fish spewed out Jonah is not indicated; for it is completely immaterial to the story. Unfortunately some, whether they have or have not defended the historicity of the story, have allowed their fancy full scope here. Some for example, saw the fish as God's means for transporting the prophet to Alexandretta, the Mediterranean terminus of the shortest route from the sea to Nineveh. Trumbull suggested that Jonah came out of the fish "on the coast of Phoenicia, where the fish-god was a favourite object of worship." From this he deduced that "a multitude would be ready to follow the seemingly new avatar of the fish-god, proclaiming the story of his uprising from the sea, as he went on his mission to the city where the fish-god had its very centre of worship." A more acceptable form of this was advanced by Hart-Davies. He suggested that the effect of the fish's gastric juices on Jonah's face and other exposed parts of his body must have been terrible. Since the story of his miraculous deliverance had preceded him, Jonah was immediately recognized when he arrived in Nineveh. All such theories suffer from two major and insurmountable objections. They demand that we interpret Scripture by something that cannot legitimately be deduced from it. What is worse, they make the miracle of the fish a necessary ingredient in Nineveh's repentance. What would have happened if Jonah had gone there when first commanded? The suggestion that the fish acted as a kind of submarine transport for the prophet is less objectionable, but it does detract from Jonah's obedience when the second call came. Probably the majority of those who support an allegorical or parabolic interpretation of the book see in Jonah a personification of Israel and in the fish a type of the Exile. Provided we do not thereby deny the truth of the story, there is no reason why we should not at least in a measure, accept this. There is a typological purpose in many of God's OT actions. Israel's downfall and exile are clearly linked with chaos, directly as in Jeremiah 4:23-26, or through the picture of the wilderness (Jer 31:2; Ezek 20:35; Hos 2:14) or of a sea monster (Jer 51:34, 44). If the book is preexilic, Jonah's experience should have been a real consolation to those godly men who found themselves swallowed up by exile. At the same time we may not place this typology in the foreground and infer that Israel went into exile because it had failed to carry God's message to the nations. Here too the fish is secondary to the main message of the book. Far more acceptable is the view given by E.J. Young (An Introduction to the Old Testament [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1960], p. 263): "The fundamental purpose of the book of Jonah is not found in its missionary or universalistic teaching. It is rather 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. Jonah wash an Israelite and the servant of the Lord, and his experience was brought about because of the sins of the nations (Nineveh)." While Young's view does full justice to Jesus' use of the story, it faces the objection that this meaning was not even remotely accessible to the pious Israelite till the fulfillment. It also lays the stress in the wrong place, for once again it forgets that there would have been no fish had Jonah not been disobedient. It is true that Jonah had to suffer because of Nineveh and for its salvation, but the suffering was caused by his own disobedience. In Scripture God deals with human disobedience and sin in a manner that teaches both the sinner and the future generations, but there is never any suggestion that the sin occurred in order to make the lesson or type possible.
Wycliff - Prayer. 2:1-10. A. Cast Out. 2:1-4. 1. Jonah prayed. Jonah had not prayed while the storm was raging and the sailors were frantically crying out to their gods. Now he felt the desperateness of his situation. 2. I cried. Obviously the prayer was not written down while Jonah was inside the fish praying. It is in the past tense throughout, in keeping with the fact that it was composed after the experience. Unto the Lord. Jonah at least knew to whom to pray. The sailors had their own various gods but forsook them when they found out how powerful the Lord was. Jonah, however, had always known the true God. That was his difficulty. He knew God’s concern for man, and yet he had fled. Now that he was in trouble, it was this same understanding of divine love that led him back to God. He heard me. According to the Hebrew way of thinking, genuine hearing involved response. For man, hearing God involved obeying Him. For God, hearing man involved delivering him. Belly of hell. Nothing more is meant here by the Hebrew than that the inside of the fish was a kind of grave. 3. Thou hadst cast me. In the OT a typical feature of a prayer of supplication is the declaration of the cause and nature of the affliction that gives rise to the prayer. Jonah knew why he had been punished, and recognized the justice of God’s dealing with him. 4. Yet I will look again. However, Jonah saw more than justice; he saw God’s love, also, and hopefully pled for mercy.B. Brought Up. 2:5, 6. 5. Waters compassed me. The experience of being swallowed was so horrible that Jonah here returns to a graphic description of it. He had even become entangled with the other material within the fish. 6. Bottoms of the mountains. Several phrases in this verse are difficult to translate with clear sense. The word bottoms seems to refer to the bases or foundations of the mountains in the ocean. The beating of the sea waves on the shore suggests the existence of bars that prevent the sea’s encroaching upon the land (Job 38:4-11). For ever. Jonah could not see any way out of his trouble, yet he looked to God. Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption. Salvation is an act of God in the face of the impossible, and Jonah, in his words, recognized the concern of God for him personally-my God. Corruption would be better rendered grave. Paying Vows. 2:7-9. Jonah’s deliverance begot in his heart a desire to express gratitude to God in some way. 7. Soul fainted ... I remembered. When the prophet had all but given up hope, he turned to the Lord for help. This theme is repeated several times in the prayer, because the physical impossibility of deliverance stood in stark contrast to the fact of the divine intervention. This was a source of constant amazement to Jonah. Thine holy temple. Ordinarily, prayer was to be offered in the courts of the Temple at Jerusalem. But Jonah knew that God’s presence is not limited to any earthly temple and that the Lord is aware of the needs of His children wherever they are. 8. Lying vanities. A descriptive name for the idols and gods of paganism (Ps 31:6; Deut 32:21). In this context, vanity does not have the sense of “superficiality” but of “worthlessness.” Mercy. In context the word refers neither to the act of saving another, nor to the spirit of love for man, but rather to the source of salvation-God himself. Jonah reaffirmed his repudiation of idolatry as a way of worship. 9. Sacrifice ... with ... thanksgiving. In contrast to pagan concepts, the true act of sacrifice is an expression of gratitude to God, rather than an effort to appease his wrath. With the sacrifice, a complete committal to God’s will was made. In the words, I will pay that I have vowed, the prophet indicated that he was yielding to God’s desires for him. He had become certain of one thing: Salvation is a gift of God and not an achievement of man. Delivered. 2:10. The inner assurance that God saves by the act of his power was not a fancy nor an abstract idea, but was matched by an actual event. Jonah was delivered from the great fish, and found himself upon land, safe but chastened.
NEW AMERICAN - The Prophet in Prayer (2:1) 1From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2:1 The significance of this verse is found in Jonah’s willingness to pray. From a near drowning experience he awakened to find himself in a terrifying environment. Nonetheless, his ability to breathe and continue living was a cause for rejoicing. So he prayed (lit.) “from the belly of the fish.” We do not know how long Jonah was in the fish before he prayed. No doubt he found his entire experience in the sea overwhelming. That this prophet of few words finally prayed marks a turning point in the book. Although exhorted to pray earlier by the pagan captain, there is no indication Jonah did so. That Jonah prayed not only to the Lord, as the sailors did, but to “the LORD his God” is significant. (3) The Psalm of Thanksgiving (2:2–9)
These verses produce consternation in some and worship in others. Some say they are out of place. According to Glaze, “A later scribe, possibly feeling the need for a recorded prayer, probably transposed that which the author had placed following verse 10.” Many believe that these verses do not record Jonah’s actual prayer at all, but that 2:2–9 was included at a later time to illustrate Jonah’s feelings while in the fish. Arguments usually focus on alleged nconsistencies between the psalm and the surrounding narrative and on the claim that it is not necessary to the plot. A strong case, however, can be made for the genuineness of the psalm. D. Stuart laments the failure of many scholars to recognize that “the occasional citation of poems in prose contexts is an aspect of normal OT narrative style.” He also points out that “one can find at least some part of virtually any document, ancient or modern, that is not actually required for the sensible flow of logic, and which would not therefore be ‘missed’ in the strict sense if it were not present. . . . Very few literary works contain the minimum that may be said. . . . The potential for abridgment is therefore a common feature of literary works” and should not be considered evidence of interpolation. He also argues that while the psalm does not refer explicitly to Jonah’s situation, this is typical of psalms, especially of thanksgiving, and Jonah’s psalm “is as closely related thematically to the rest of the book as a psalm of its type could be.” Finally, Stuart argues that if the psalm were absent, the book would have no expression of (1) Jonah’s partial change of heart that led to his obedience in chap. 3, (2) Jonah’s thankfulness for rescue that “explicitly conveys his realization that to him personally Yahweh has shown the sort of mercy he will also show to Nineveh,” and (3) the nature of Jonah’s experience in the fish, that he was thinking and learning there. Also without the psalm the message of the Lord’s mercy, love, and forgiveness would be weakened. The book’s major irony would also be missing, that Jonah could accept thankfully the Lord’s merciful forgiveness but deny it to the Ninevites. Kennedy counters the objection that thanksgiving for deliverance is herein given while Jonah was still inside the fish by pointing out that the deliverance referred to here is not from the fish but from drowning. While some feel that the prayer would have been more suitable after Jonah was safe on land, there is no textual evidence for deleting or moving it.As many have observed, this prayer resembles other passages of Old Testament Scripture. The opening words of the prayer resemble Pss 18:6; 118:5; 120:1. But this similarity is no reason to doubt the authenticity of Jonah’s prayer. Rather, it is a good example of Hebrew psalm-poetry in which the poet drew upon the regular liturgical language common to the Book of Psalms and other poems in the Old Testament to fit the situation. It is a beautiful example of a believer who prayed biblically. Inevitably, those who know the Lord will not only speak to one another using biblical language (Eph 5:19–20) but also to God. Whether Jonah composed his prayer in this form as a psalm inside the fish or only later, we do not know; neither do we know whether Jonah himself was the one who gave it poetic expression. But there is no adequate cause to doubt that it accurately reflects his thoughts in this unusual situation. The form of the prayer is in accord with the thanksgiving prayers/psalms found elsewhere in the Old Testament. Four typical elements are reproduced: an introductory summary of answered prayer (v. 2), reports of the personal crisis (vv. 3–6a), divine rescue (vv. 6b–8), and a vow of praise (v. 9). 2:2 As Jonah came to his senses, he recognized his preservation alive in the fish’s belly as a pledge of his complete deliverance. Jonah’s earlier stated belief in God’s dominion over all the earth was personalized as he recognized that God heard his prayer even in the midst of this distressing situation. While most would quickly identify Jonah’s sojourn in the fish as his time in the “depths of the grave” and the fish as the cause of distress or even the vehicle of his judgment, Jonah did not regard it so. As this psalm explains, it was while struggling for his life in the sea, with seaweed wrapped around his head (v. 5) and seemingly sinking to his grave “banished” from the Lord’s favor that he suddenly had hope and prayed (v. 4). That he now found himself alive even in so terrifying an environment Jonah took to be a miracle of God intended as the means of his eventual deliverance. The fish was a beneficent device for returning Jonah to the place of his commission. Landes states, “It is clearly before Jonah is swallowed by the fish that he is threatened by the sea and in danger of permanent residence in the nether world.” Whether Jonah was describing the inward parts of the fish or the engulfing sea, he nonetheless described his distress as the “depths of the grave.” Literally, the word for “grave” is “Sheol” (KJV “hell”). The term “Sheol” was used in various ways. It may be said with certainty that in Hebrew thought the term referred to a place of the dead. It was spoken of as located under the earth (Amos 9:2). Normally those who were in Sheol were seen as separated from God (Ps 88:3; Isa 38:18), yet God was shown to have access to Sheol (Ps 139:8). Sheol was used as an expression for being in the grave (Pss 18:6; 30:3; 49:14; Isa 28:15). With this imagery Jonah here described his experience of being “at the very brink of death.” Fretheim agrees that the language used here goes beyond the literal sense, especially regarding Sheol: “Inasmuch as Sheol was believed to be under the floor of the ocean, Jonah was spatially near the place.” It also helps to understand at this point that in the Old Testament death is understood to be more a process than an event. As for Jonah’s place in that death process, life had ebbed so much that he could have been reckoned more among the dead than among the living. Similar idioms in modern speech are found regularly. While the vast majority of modern scholars considers Jonah’s situation in this verse to be a close brush with death, a few believe that Jonah was referring to an actual death experience. The miraculous event in this case would be resurrection as well as rescue. The rationale is that Jonah’s experience would conform more closely to that of Jesus to which it is compared in the New Testament. Such a view, however, goes beyond the language of the text and violates the nature of its imagery. The term “my distress” defines Jonah’s situation, and its poetic parallel, beten šĕ˒ôl, literally, “the belly of sheol” (“the depths of the grave”), would be understood by the reader as metonymy, the use of a term in place of that to which it compares. Jonah believed that he was as good as dead, that he had been “eaten” by death, which was often spoken of as an enemy that devours (Pss 49:14; 55:15; Prov 1:12; 27:20; Isa 5:14). Jesus’ comparison of his own coming death to this event in Jonah’s life focuses on two elements of correspondence: the time period of three days and the nature of the event as a sign (Matt 12:40; 16:4; Luke 11:29–30). While Jonah’s imagery of death supported the comparison, a literal correspondence at this point was not required by the comparison. 2:3 Perhaps the most important aspect of v. 3 is Jonah’s testimony to God’s sovereignty. He not only recognized God’s hand in his being thrown into the sea, but he also saw the “waves and breakers” that swept over him as belonging to God, tools in his hand. He finally came to grips with the author of his life. Martin Luther said: “Jonah does not say the waves and the billows of the sea went over me; but thy waves and thy billows, because he felt in his conscience that the sea with its waves and billows was the servant of God and of His wrath, to punish sin.”It may be that the sea language in this verse and others must be understood both figuratively and literally. However, it is an accurate description of Jonah’s experience after being thrown overboard. 2:4 In this passage the prophet expressed both the depths of despair and the heights of hope, his plight as well as his deep faith in the results of God’s mercy. The syntax (with the pronoun subject expressed first) indicates a contrast with the previous verse. Though overwhelmed by the sea, seemingly banished (from the verb gāraš) by the Lord, nevertheless (˒ak) Jonah suddenly said to himself in faith that he would live to pray once again. This verse is formally quite similar to Ps 31:22 (Lam 3:54). There the psalmist was the object of the Lord’s “wonderful love” but said to himself, “I am cut off [from gāraz] from your sight!” Yet (˒ākēn) the Lord heard his cries for help. The term “banished” is used in Lev 21:7 of a woman whose husband has divorced her. As discussed at 1:3, Jonah was not expressing a belief in the localization of Yahweh to Palestine. He stood with many other Old Testament prophets in believing in the all-present God of Israel. Therefore this phrase must be taken as an expression of emotional consternation at being out of the Lord’s favor. Jonah’s expression of confident faith in the latter part of the verse, “yet I will look again toward your holy temple,” may refer not to a literal visit to the temple but figuratively to his intention to pray, though he wondered whether his prayer would be heard. The context of vv. 3,5 has led some to question the appropriateness of an expression of faith at this point. Rather than “yet I will look again” the LXX translates, “Shall I indeed look again,” and the Greek translation of Theodotion has “how shall I look again?” Although these renderings would remove the difficulty of Jonah’s optimism in such a hopeless situation, the Greek translators had a Hebrew text without vowels. Furthermore, this understanding overlooks the syntax of the verse, which suggests a contrast, as well as the ability of Hebrew poetry to sandwich expressions of faith between descriptions of despair. One must beware of making textual alterations based upon the supposed unlikelihood of what a character might say or do in a given situation. L. C. Allen agrees that this verse depicts a new Jonah. He states: “He is soon to demonstrate a willing spirit by accepting the commission he formerly had rejected. In line with this change of heart, even now in this testimony to God’s grace he looks forward to seeking the special presence of God to offer his praise.” 2:5–6 To understand properly the continuity of thought, these two verses are best considered together. Verse 5 is similar to Pss 18:4 and 69:1. As Jonah lay in the great fish, he continued to reflect upon his miraculous deliverance from the sea. Not only had the currents swept him beneath the waves (v. 3); his head was even entangled in seaweed, adding to his peril. Thus this statement elaborates on Jonah’s sense of a spectacular reversal in the miraculous deliverance enabled by the Lord. Indeed, he painted a dreadful picture of the action of the water. The first phrase, “engulfing waters threatened me,” uses the term nepeš (lit., “waters engulfed me to [my] nepeš”), which is often translated in the Old Testament “soul.” Here the KJV has “even to the soul” (cf. the NASB “to the very soul”), which makes little sense. The word can also refer to the “throat” or “neck” (Pss 69:1; 105:18; Prov 23:2). The REB has “the water about me rose to my neck.” Since Jonah is describing a situation of being under the water (vv. 3,6), however, the idea of the water being up to his neck, at least in a literal sense, seems inappropriate. The NRSV makes good sense in taking it as the equivalent of a personal pronoun, translating, “The waters closed in over me.” Finally, the NIV seems to have understood the term as referring to Jonah’s life (v. 7; Lev 17:11; Deut 12:23; Ps 30:3; Prov 7:23; 19:8), which the waters were threatening. Some translate the Hebrew sûp (the name of the “Red” or “Reed” Sea, the “Yam Suph”) “seagrass,” referring to a variety of underwater plant life that grows only at the bottom of the sea. Others see this as referring to seaweed, which grows at many depths. The phrase “to the roots of the mountains I sank down” echoes the painful event of descending into his grave. “Roots of the mountains” suggests a belief that the foundations of the mountains lie in the depths of the earth, which are covered by the sea (cf. Sir 16:19). Jonah was expressing his feeling of being in the deepest part of the ocean, as far removed from the world of human habitation as it was possible to conceive. Any help or hope was completely out of reach. The phrase “the earth beneath barred me in forever” has been the cause of a great deal of discussion. It is literally, “The earth, its bars behind me forever.” While this phrase is an expression of despair on Jonah’s part, it is not certain what “bars” are referring to. In Job 38:10 is found an idea of bolts and doors of the ocean. There it seems the bolts of the sea are the walls of the sea basin, which set bounds to the sea that it cannot pass over. Consequently, the bolts of the earth may be such barriers as restrain the land from spreading over the sea. Jonah felt the weight of the waves or the great masses of water pressing upon him when he sank to the bottom of the sea, refusing him access back to the earth. The expression also may refer to the gates of Sheol, the underworld, conceived to be a fortified city (Ps 9:13; Isa 38:10). If these bars were closed behind a human being, they remained finally shut. Jonah had a sense of being entombed by the sea. These verses express Jonah’s extreme depth of despair, his utter hopelessness. As in v. 2, Jonah may have been expressing his feeling that he was virtually dead. Even beyond the deepest sea, he felt that he had passed into the underworld from which he would never escape. The phrase “but you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God” is the turning point of the prayer. Here is an expression of praise, a recognition of God’s sovereign power. Jonah was referring to God’s miraculous intervention by way of the great fish. Here begins an extremely strong contrast to the preceding description, since Jonah was acknowledging that he had been brought back alive from the depths of the sea. This is one of the many “BUT GOD” verses in the Bible (Gen 8:1; 45:7; 50:20; Josh 14:12; Pss 37:13,17,33; 49:15; John 1:18; Acts 2:24; 3:15; 10:40; 13:30; Rom 5:8; 1 Cor 1:27; 2 Cor 7:6; Eph 2:4; Phil 2:27). Jonah had been retrieved by God from a hopeless situation. The God from whom Jonah thought he was banished had reached down and pulled him out of death and despair, showing that he was still “Yahweh my God.” Jonah was overcome with praise for his God, who had shown him such compassionate grace. 2:7 While it is obvious from a reading of the entire Book of Jonah that the prophet had not reached spiritual maturity, there were some significant advances in his life. This prayer clearly shows him turning back to the Lord. This verse echoes the initial summary statement in v. 2 of Jonah’s distress and his prayer, which the Lord answered. It is accurate to call Jonah an Old Testament prodigal. L. C. Allen picks up on this theme: “Now the prodigal returns, drawn closer to him than ever before by the cords of redemptive love. Just as dire physical extremity forced the prodigal son to a decision to return home in penitence, so Jonah in his last moments thought of the one who alone could help him as Creator and controller of the sea.” As Jonah had said more than once (vv. 2,5,6), his “life” was as good as gone. The word for “life” here is different from the one used in the previous verse. Here it is the word nepeš that occurs in v. 5. It was at this desperate moment, he said, when (literally) “Yahweh I remembered.” The verb “remember” (zākar) refers here to the mental act of focusing attention on something. It is almost always the basis for action (Exod 20:8; Num 15:40; Ezek 6:9). By itself, especially in contrast to “forget” (šākaḥ), it often means “to act on the basis of knowledge” (cf. Ps 74:22–23). In 2 Sam 14:11 it is translated “invoke,” which would fit here as well. The last phrase of v. 7 is identical in Hebrew to the final phrase of v. 4. However, there is no proof that the earthly temple in Jerusalem was intended here. For example, Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8 shows the ideas of the earthly temple and the heavenly dominion of God as closely related. Simply, Jonah knew that his prayer reached God’s heart. 2:8–9 These verses that form the concluding strophe of this psalm are words of thanksgiving and praise. Jonah herein declares his conviction that Yahweh alone is the source of salvation, and he bestows it upon those who call on him. On the other hand, those who look to idols will miss “the grace that could be theirs.”
There are several difficulties of interpretation in v. 8. Syntactically, it is a sentence, with the subject in the first line, then the object and verb in the second. The subject is literally “those who guard/serve vanities of worthlessness.” The latter phrase, as the NIV has translated it, refers to idols. The entire line is found also in Ps 31:6 (Heb., v. 7): “I hate those who cling to worthless idols.” The verb in the second line (˓āzab) means to “abandon, forsake, forfeit.” The primary difficulty in the verse is with the word ḥasdām, translated “the grace that could be theirs.” It is made up of a pronominal suffix meaning “of them” and the word ḥesed, which can have several meanings, such as “loyalty, obligation, faithfulness, kindness, grace, mercy.” The problem is determining which meaning best fits in this case and whether the pronoun represents the object or subject of the ḥesed. One view is that, as the NIV interprets, idolaters forfeit “their grace” from God. Another is that unlike Jonah, who would “make good” what he had vowed (v. 9), idolaters will abandon “their loyalty” to their supposed gods when they discover how impotent they are. When we take into consideration the general thought of this strophe, the interpretation of the NIV seems preferable. The overall thought here seems to emphasize the salvation that comes from the Lord (v. 9b). Wolff probably is correct that ḥesed refers here to the divine attitude that in the Psalter is continually extolled as God’s faithfulness, goodness, and graciousness, the one true help for human beings (Pss 59:17; 144:2). The mention of sacrifice and the paying of vows in v. 9 echoes the end of chap. 1, where the pagan seamen celebrated their deliverance through the offering of sacrifices and the making of vows. In this passage Jonah also sang a song of thanksgiving and vowed sacrifice and the fulfillment of covenant vows. Though the essence of the vow is not delineated, it may have been some kind of commitment to live up to his calling as a prophet. While some doubt the genuineness of this passage, here Jonah dealt with the subject that is the basis of the book, that there is the possibility to forfeit God’s offer of salvation. Idols represent not only ineffectiveness, but worshiping them involves a rejection of Yahweh. It may be said that this line of thought is highly ironic. In this text Jonah sermonized during his prayer regarding an issue where he himself had failed. While he advocated total dependence upon the Lord and the forsaking of idols, his recent history showed that he was the one who fled and forsook God. Did Jonah express hypocrisy here? Did he fail to deal honestly with his own life? No, not at all. When we read the first part of chap. 2, we recognize that he was dealing with his own life, his failings, as well as his intent to seek change. Understanding again the context of the whole book, we realize that Jonah had not yet reached a point of total repentance. Nonetheless, he seriously considered the right path and in v. 8 expressed that way of righteousness. In the words “salvation comes from the LORD,” Jonah extolled the work of the Lord as Savior. Here also is an emphasis on the Lord’s sole sovereignty in the area of salvation. No one else can provide in such a way, though Jonah already showed in v. 8 how one might reject God’s offer. It is correct to say that this line may serve as the key verse in the book. Fretheim is possibly correct in pointing out that salvation does seem to be the key motif in the book, and this verse points to that motif. SALVATION FOR THE SAILORS IS EMPHASIZED IN CHAP. 1, FOR JONAH IN CHAP. 2, FOR THE NINEVITES IN CHAP. 3; AND IT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF GOD’S QUESTIONING OF JONAH IN CHAP. 4. Jonah recognized that he deserved death, not deliverance. He then knew, as we do, that no one deserves deliverance. It is an act of mercy by a gracious God. 2. The Prophet’s Deliverance (2:10) 10And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. 2:10 In this verse the narrative of 1:17 is resumed. The verse begins with the Lord’s speaking to the great fish. God concluded his assignment for this fish by commanding it to relieve itself of its cumbersome cargo. The word translated “vomited” in the NIV is a coarse word and is used in the Old Testament only in images that arouse disgust (Isa 19:14; Jer 48:26; Lev 18:28). While in other versions it is translated “spit” or “spewed,” the word used in the NIV is not only graphic but also accurate. Jonah’s expulsion from the ship may have landed him in the coastal area near Joppa, his “starting place.” At least one writer makes this assertion based on a probable translation of 1:13, where the seamen rowed hard to bring the ship “back” to the land. This indicated their nearness to the starting port of Joppa. The point of emphasis here is that Jonah was returned to dry land, thus completing God’s rescue. This chapter may be the “happiest” section in the entire book. These verses contain the story of miracle and grace, praise and thanksgiving, deliverance and renewed hope. In this chapter the poor fish is relieved of its cargo (few ever express sympathy for the difficult days of this marine creature). In these verses are found the education of the pouting prophet and the affirmation of God’s sovereignty. It is God who is the most important character. He is the one who affects salvation, and he is the one who enables deliverance. Neither Jonah nor the fish had control. It was God and God alone.
EL LIBRO DE JONÁS
Muchos han oído el relato del profeta que fue tragado por un gran pez, pero no han dedicado el tiempo suficiente para estudiar sus lecciones para los cristianos de la actualidad. Se le ha llamado al libro de Jonás “el libro más cristiano del AT”, y esto debido al gran mensaje que contiene: Dios ama a todas las personas que habitan la tierra y nos ha dado a los cristianos la responsabilidad de predicar el evangelio a los perdidos a fin de que se arrepientan y sean salvados de su pecado. Debemos examinar con mucho cuidado la naturaleza de este hermoso libro, descubrir quién fue su autor, en qué fecha se escribió y cuál es el mensaje para nosotros.
AUTOR Y FECHA DEL LIBRO
A simple vista parece que el autor fue el profeta nacionalista que vivió durante el reinado de Jeroboam II en Samaria, Israel, o sea entre el 793 y el 753 a. de J.C., el cual se menciona en 2 Reyes 14:25. Profetizó que ese rey enérgico iba a extender las fronteras de Israel desde Damasco en el norte hasta el mar Muerto en el sur. Efectivamente Israel conoció una prosperidad durante la época de Jeroboam que era sin igual en su corta historia. Se recomienda que uno lea en un buen libro sobre historia de Israel acerca de los logros de dicho rey, que con vigor buscó avanzar en la conquista de logros para su pueblo.
Sin embargo, al examinar Jonás en forma cuidadosa se descubren algunos datos que se deben tomar en cuenta: El libro es un escrito acerca de Jonás en vez de ser una obra suya. No contiene discursos del profeta como suele ocurrir en los libros proféticos. Se hace referencia a él en tercera persona con excepción de unos pocos versículos. El libro contiene expresiones en arameo, idioma que los judíos no conocieron hasta su cautiverio en Babilonia y Persia donde era el idioma “oficial”. El mismo hebreo del libro emplea expresiones usadas en las épocas muy posteriores al reinado de Jeroboam II. Los emperadores de Asiria nunca se conocieron por el título Rey de Nínive, ni en la Biblia ni en los escritos de Asiria. El versículo que dice que Nínive era una ciudad grande indica que el libro fue escrito después de su destrucción que ocurrió en el 612 a. de J.C. La expresión que se usa en el 1:9, Dios de los cielos, que hizo el mar y la tierra, indica una teología de un período tardío en la historia de Israel. El espíritu misionero del libro es semejante a lo que se halla en Isaías 40–55.
Dichas indicaciones y otros factores nos llevan a la conclusión de que el libro apareció durante la época de Esdras y Nehemías cuando los judíos estaban dominados por el espíritu de exclusivismo y particularismo, y no querían tener trato con otros pueblos. Dios envió este mensaje para llamarlos de nuevo a su vocación misionera. Entonces hemos de concluir que el autor es anónimo pero un maestro en el empleo del arte de la narración como vehículo profético. La fecha de su obra sería alrededor del 400 a. de J.C.
NATURALEZA Y PROPÓSITO DEL LIBRO
Por muchos años algunos eruditos en la materia han dicho que el libro es la narración de un acontecimiento que ocurrió entre el 793 y el 753 a. J.C. pero escrito mucho más tarde para animar a los judíos a asumir su responsabilidad misionera con los pueblos del mundo.
Otros eruditos dicen que el libro es una alegoría del cautiverio de los judíos en Babilonia y su posterior liberación. El pueblo de Israel es simbolizado por Jonás y el gran pez es Babilonia. Incluso el profeta Jeremías describió el cautiverio en Babilonia como “tragado como un monstruo acuático” (Jer. 51:34). Después Jeremías dijo que Dios iba a sacar al pueblo de Israel de Babilonia, la cual se los había tragado (Jer. 51:44). Por eso muchos piensan que la experiencia de Jonás en el vientre del pez es una representación simbólica del cautiverio de Israel y su regreso posterior a su tierra.
Sin embargo, los otros detalles de una alegoría faltan en el relato. El AT no habla de un llamamiento a los judíos a predicar el mensaje de su fe a los gentiles antes del cautiverio que ocurrió en el 586 a. de J.C. No hay evidencia de que la nación entera haya rehusado una misión a los gentiles. Además falta saber el significado de la calabacera, del gusano y del viento solano.
La mejor interpretación es concluir que el libro es una narración basada en un acontecimiento histórico, relatada muchos años después en el estilo literario de una parábola. Tanto el AT como el NT hacen mucho uso de la parábola para enseñar verdades importantes. Antes de estudiar en detalle el libro de Jonás uno debe leer: 2 Samuel caps. 11 y 12, Isaías 5:1–7, Lucas 10:25–37; y 15:1, 2. De esta manera uno nota enseguida que el libro de Jonás tiene la forma literaria de una parábola. Así se explica también la manera brusca en la cual termina el libro. La verdad ha sido enseñada, no hacen falta más palabras.
Desde la época de la profecía contenida en Isaías 40–55 los judíos tenían la comisión de predicar su fe a los gentiles. Basta leer Isaías 45:22; 49:9; y 55:7 para saber que las creencias de Israel deben ser compartidas con los demás pueblos de la tierra. Lamentablemente Israel nunca se esforzó en llevar el mensaje a otras naciones. Como el libro de Rut indica, ellos estaban dispuestos a recibir a personas individuales de otras naciones que quisieran convertirse a la fe de Israel, pero nunca enviaron misioneros a otras naciones.
Incluso debido a su experiencia como cautivos en Babilonia y más tarde en Persia se encerraron aun más al regresar a su tierra. Hasta Esdras y Nehemías obligaron a los judíos a divorciarse de las mujeres de otros pueblos con quienes se habían casado. (Ver Esd. 10:1–3; Neh. 13:23–28.) Durante esta época tan difícil un gran profeta anónimo usó la experiencia de Jonás para escribir una de las parábolas más importantes de la Biblia. Con esta obra magnífica nos lleva a la puerta del NT. No debemos nunca decir que es una obra ficticia. Es un mensaje profético dado en forma de parábola. Esto no es del todo extraño; es muy posible que el Señor haya visto a una persona de otra nacionalidad ayudando a un judío herido y esto lo inspirara a relatar la parábola del “Buen Samaritano”.
EL USO DEL LIBRO POR PARTE DE JESÚS
Es muy importante recordar que según Lucas 11:32 Jesús usó la experiencia de Jonás para enseñar a los judíos que la gente se arrepintió al oír el mensaje de Jonás, y que ellos tenían un corazón muy duro por no arrepentirse ante el mensaje de uno mayor que Jonás, quien les predicaba. No es que Jonás fuera un “tipo” de Cristo sino una ilustración poderosa para demostrar a los judíos de la época de Cristo que hicieron muy mal al no prestar atención al mensaje del Hijo de Dios. También en Mateo 12:40, 41 Jesús dice lo mismo y también agrega como ilustración que tal como Jonás estuvo tres días y tres noches en el vientre de un gran pez (no necesariamente una ballena), así el Hijo del Hombre iba a estar en el sepulcro tres días y tres noches, y resucitar al tercer día. Estas citas hechas por Jesús nos advierten que el libro de Jonás es muy importante y que debemos estudiarlo con mucho cuidado.
EL MENSAJE DEL LIBRO A LOS CRISTIANOS
Si el libro tenía un mensaje de suma importancia para los judíos de la época de Esdras y Nehemías, tiene un mensaje aún más importante para nosotros. Dios llama constantemente a hombres y mujeres a dejar su patria y llevar el evangelio a otros pueblos. Pero muy pocos lo hacen. En un país se calcula que el 90% de los egresados de los seminarios se queda en el país para servir y solamente el 10% se ofrecen para ser misioneros a otras naciones. El libro de Jonás, además de esta enseñanza importantísima, también nos enseña: 1. Es necio y fútil resistir la voluntad de Dios. 2. Cada persona, no importa su raza o nacionalidad, lleva en sí la capacidad de conocer a Dios y obedecerlo. 3. Dios conoce a todas las personas de la tierra, los ama y procura su salvación. 4. Nosotros limitamos a Dios por nuestra desobediencia. 5. El verdadero arrepentimiento puede salvar a las personas de consecuencias catastróficas. 6. No debemos considerar nunca una tarea para Dios como algo sin importancia y que podemos eludir. 7. Es imposible escapar de la presencia de Dios. (Ver Sal. 139:1–24 para la elaboración de esta enseñanza.) 8. Así como Dios nos ama, ama también a las demás personas que viven en este planeta y nos ha dado la tarea de predicarles el evangelio.
BOSQUEJO DE JONÁS
I. DESOBEDIENCIA. HUIR DE DIOS, 1:1-16
1. La comisión y la revelación, 1:1-3
2. La tempestad y su causa, 1:4-9
3. La salvación de los marineros, 1:10-16
II. ORACIÓN. VOLVER A DIOS, 1:17—2:10
1. Dios prepara un gran pez, 1:17
2. Angustia y esperanza, 2:1-4
3. Liberación de la muerte, 2:5-7
4. El culto falso y el culto verdadero, 2:8-10
III. PREDICACIÓN. CUMPLIR CON DIOS, 3:1-10
1. El mensaje urgente, 3:1-4
2. El gran arrepentimiento, 3:5-10
IV. EGOÍSMO. EL DISCIPLINAR DE DIOS, 4:1-11
1. El profeta enojado, 4:1-4
2. La ilustración gráfica, 4:5-8
3. La aplicación de la ilustración, 4:9-11
I. DESOBEDIENCIA. HUIR DE DIOS, 1:1-16
1. La comisión y la revelación, 1:1-3
El libro comienza como muchos libros proféticos diciendo que la palabra de Dios vino al profeta (Ose. 1:1; Joel 1:1; Miq. 1:1; Sof. 1:1; Hag. 1:1; Zac. 1:1). De esta manera se establece que es un libro profético. Para los profetas la palabra de Dios podía ser un hecho o una palabra. Una vez dada tenía su existencia propia y lograba lo que Dios había previsto. La palabra podía ser como fuego (Jer. 5:14) o un martillo (Jer. 23:29). Era eterna (Isa. 40:8) y no volvía a Dios vacía, sino que hacía lo que Dios quería (Isa. 55:11). Así el libro comienza con la actividad divina cuando Dios se comunica con el profeta. Jonás por su parte es una persona capaz de recibir y obedecer la “palabra de Dios”.
Jonás, hijo de Amitai se menciona primero en 2 Reyes 14:25 como un profeta que anunció de forma exitosa la expansión del reino de Israel. El nombre Amitai significa “verdad” y Jonás significa “paloma”. Oseas llamó a Israel una “paloma incauta, sin entendimiento”. No obstante dijo que un día Israel como paloma iba a volver a Dios (Ose. 11:11). La comisión del profeta consiste de tres imperativos Levántate… Vé… y pregona… Tal como Dios llamó a otros profetas él llamó a Jonás a una misión precisa. Tenía que anunciar el juicio de Dios sobre la ciudad de Nínive.
| Semillero homiléticoDios en acción en el libro de Jonás1:1–4:11 I. Cuando Dios insiste, 1:1–17.1. Un mensaje que Jonás no quiere oír,1:1, 2.2. La reacción de Jonás (huir de Dios), 1:3–15.3. La acción de Dios (su presencia constante), 1:4; 17. II. Cuando parece que Dios está demasiado lejos, 2:1–10.1. La angustia de Jonás, 2:1–6b.2. Jonás clama a Dios, 2:6c, 7.3. Jonás alaba a Dios, 2:8, 9.4. La salvación obrada por Dios, 2:10. III. Cuando Dios desiste de su plan, 3:1–10.1. Dios llama de nuevo a Jonás, 3:1.2. Jonás, el predicador no convencido, 3:3, 4.3. El pueblo oye y responde al mensaje, 3:5–9.4. Dios desiste de su plan de castigo, 3:10. IV. Cuando Dios es demasiado bondadoso, 4:1–11.1. La reacción de Jonás frente a la bondad de Dios, 4:1–4.2. Dios le muestra a Jonás qué es la compasión, 4:5–10.3. Dios se preocupa por la salvación de todos, 4:11. |
Nínive era la capital del Imperio de Asiria, la nación que tanto mal hizo a los israelitas hasta destruir la capital del Reino del Norte, Samaria, en el 722 a. de J.C. y llevar diez tribus de israelitas a un cautiverio del cual nunca regresaron a su patria. La ciudad estaba situada al lado del río Tigris en el territorio que Iraq ocupa en la actualidad. Nínive fue destruida en el 612 a. J.C. y nunca más se construyó una ciudad en su lugar. Era una ciudad muy grande como el libro dice (3:3) porque, como sucede con las ciudades de hoy en día, había muchas poblaciones a su alrededor. Es curioso que ni la Biblia ni los documentos asirios mencionen el gran avivamiento. También hoy en día las noticias comentan muy poco las grandes campañas de evangelización que se celebran en las grandes ciudades del mundo. Nuestro Salvador confirmó que la gente de Nínive se arrepintió (Luc. 11:32) y esto es suficiente evidencia para nosotros.
| ¿Quién irá en nombre de Dios? ¿Cree usted que se debe llevar el mensaje de salvación a los enemigos, a las personas que oprimen cruelmente a otras personas? ¿Aún a los que oprimen a su propio pueblo? El corto libro de Jonás es un libro misionero que presenta a Dios preocupado por las personas que viven en la gran ciudad de Nínive, capital de Asiria, cruel enemigo del pueblo de Dios. 1. Dios se preocupa por la maldad de las personas, 1:1. 2. Dios envía a su mensajero con el mensaje de perdón, 3:1, 2. 3. La gente se arrepiente y cree en Dios, 3:5. 4. ¿No he de preocuparme yo por…?, 4:11.Dios sigue preocupándose en nuestros días por las personas perdidas. ¿Lo está llamando a usted a ser su mensajero? ¿Cuál será su respuesta? |
Jonás recibió el mandamiento de “pregonar” contra Nínive. Es un verbo (cara) que significa “proclamar o gritar” el mensaje de Dios. La Biblia no menciona los problemas de falta de conocimiento del idioma o el peligro físico del profeta. Estos no constituyeron un problema. La Biblia dice que la maldad de Nínive ha subido delante de Dios. Tal vez el profeta Amós fue el primer profeta en anunciar que el Señor era el Dios de toda la tierra y que iba a castigar la maldad de las naciones según su culpabilidad. (1 y 2). La expresión que describe la maldad de Nínive es general y no indica pecados específicos. No obstante los judíos conocían muy bien y en carne propia la crueldad de los Asirios (Vea Nah. 2:11, 12 y 3:1–3.)
En lugar de levantarse para servir a Dios, Jonás se levantó para huir de la presencia del Señor. Jonás sabía que la presencia de Jehová no estaba restringida a la tierra de Israel (Sal. 139), pero su templo estaba allí y allí solía llamar a sus profetas. Es probable que él haya pensado que podría evitar recibir una segunda comisión si saliera del lugar donde Dios normalmente comisionó a sus siervos, los profetas. Tarsis en aquel entonces era una colonia fenicia en el sur oeste de España, o una refinería de cobre en la isla de Cerdeña. De todos modos era el destino más lejos adonde una nave podría llevarlo de Jope, que era el puerto principal de la tierra de Israel hasta que Herodes construyó el puerto artificial de Cesarea de donde Pablo fue llevado a Roma (Hech. 23:23, 24).
El texto nos hace recordar a Elías cuando huyó de Jezabel. También Elías tuvo un nuevo encuentro con Dios que transformó su vida (1 Rey. 19:1–18).
Más tarde (4:2) Jonás dice claramente por qué huyó de su comisión. Sabía que si Dios únicamente hubiera querido que diera una predicción de la caída de Nínive, dicha proclamación podía haber sido dada en Israel como Isaías, Jeremías y otros lo habían hecho en otras ocasiones. El hecho de que Dios le mandara ir a Nínive y anunciara su destrucción inminente solamente significaba que Dios quería darles la oportunidad de que se arrepintieran y fueran librados del juicio.
Los rabinos judíos enseñaban que Jonás no había querido hacerlo por ser buen patriota, porque sabía que un día Asiria iba a invadir Israel y en su corazón deseaba su destrucción para salvar a su pueblo de una invasión. También sabía que si los asirios se arrepentían y su profecía no se cumplía, la gente iba a tenerlo como “profeta falso” (Deut. 18:21, 22).
Es interesante notar que Jonás descendió de Jerusalén a Jope para buscar una nave para huir y luego “descendió” al interior de la embarcación para dormir. Su intención era “descender” de la presencia de Dios en lugar de “ascender” al puesto de servicio al cual Dios lo había llamado. En el heb. la frase que dice que pagó su pasaje dice que “pagó el precio de ella” y por eso algunos creen que él alquiló la nave para hacer un viaje especial, pero es más probable que haya pagado únicamente la tarifa de una persona hasta el destino último de la nave. De todos modos se dice dos veces en el versículo que tenía el propósito de huir de la presencia de Jehovah.
| ¿Se puede huir de Dios?Al oír el mandato de Dios de ir a la odiada ciudad de Nínive, Jonás decide huir de él. ¿Es posible huir de Dios? El salmista le hubiera dicho a Jonás que no. “A dónde me iré de tu Espíritu?¿A dónde huiré de tu presencia?Si subo a los cielos, allí estás tú;si en el Seol hago mi cama, allí tú estás.Si tomo las alas del albay habito en el extremo del mar,aun allí me guiará tu mano,y me asirá tu diestra” (Salmo 139:7–10).El libro de Jonás nos enseña que es imposible huir de Dios, y de su amor. Jonás encontró esta gran verdad desde el vientre del pez al orar a Dios y recibir su salvación. Lo vio en el trato compasivo de Dios al desistir castigar al pueblo de Nínive. Lo vio aun en la enseñanza personal de Dios al procurar ganarle al enojado profeta que no quiso tener su vida ensanchada por la visión y el amor de Dios por los enemigos. |
2. La tempestad y su causa, 1:4-9
La reacción de Dios a la conducta de su profeta desobediente no tardó en manifestarse. Dios lanzó un viento sobrenatural sobre el mar y esto causó una enorme tempestad. La palabra heb. ruaj puede significar “espíritu” igual como “viento”, pero en este caso se refiere únicamente a un viento muy fuerte. La palabra “tempestad” saar es muy gráfica y uno casi puede oír el aullido del viento y las olas. La expresión en heb. casi da cualidades humanas a la nave: “la nave pensaba que seguramente quedaría partida en pedazos”.
La tempestad era tan fuerte que aun los marineros veteranos tuvieron miedo (v. 5). Probablemente eran de distintas nacionalidades, puesto que cada uno invocaba a su dios. Pensaban que algún dios se había ofendido y los estaba castigando. Además de orar, tomaron medidas prácticas para salvar la nave. Echaron todo el cargamento (lit. lo fabricado: kely) al mar; esto incluía tanto el equipo de la nave como su carga. Sabían que una nave menos pesada no quedaría tan hundida en el agua y también respondería mejor al timón.
La acción se enfoca nuevamente sobre Jonás. Antes de la tempestad había descendido al fondo de la nave, al lugar reservado para pasajeros, y allí se quedó dormido. No obstante, su sueño no era normal; era como el sueño profundo que Dios le causó a Adán para sacarle una costilla y formar a Eva (Gén. 2:21). Pudo ser un sueño de temor (Dan. 8:l8 y 10:9), porque seguramente Jonás estaba rendido emocionalmente debido a su decisión de ir en contra de la voluntad de Dios. Es interesante observar que mientras los marineros paganos estaban orando el profeta de Dios estaba profundamente dormido.
De repente, apareció el capitán y lo reprendió por su tranquilidad ante un peligro tan grave. Por segunda vez una voz le dice a Jonás: levántate. Pero ya no es la voz de Dios sino la de un viejo “lobo de mar” que quiso usar todo recurso para salvar su nave. El capitán sabía que algún dios estaba causando una tempestad tan terrible; quiso que ese dios tuviera compasión de ellos porque ya estaban condenados a la muerte.
A pesar de las muchas oraciones la tempestad continuó con su furia y eso convenció a los marineros de que todo se debía a la culpa de alguien en la nave. Recurrieron a un método utilizado en la antigüedad para descubrir a alguien culpable de una maldad: echar suertes (durante el reinado de Saúl, 1 Sam. 14:41, 42 se realizó este tipo de “sorteo” o “echar suerte” para descubrir a un culpable). Y efectivamente la suerte cayó sobre Jonás como causante de la tempestad.
| Los marineros encontrados por JonásUna de las “enseñanzas secundarias” de Jonás es la de los marineros. Eran de distintas nacionalidades, cada uno con su propio dios, pero fueron más compasivos con Jonás que él con los ciudadanos de Nínive. Se les presenta como a personas realistas. Ven en esta tormenta extraordinaria un acto sobrenatural. Ellos tienen miedo, cada uno ora a su dios, y frente a la magnitud de la tormenta toman la decisión de echar el cargamento al mar. En esta forma vemos que eran competentes en su negocio. Al ver a Jonás que está durmiendo se dan cuenta de que él tiene algo que ver con la situación, cosa que es comprobada cuando echan suertes y la suerte cae sobre Jonás.La compasión humana de los marineros contrasta con la de Jonás para con los habitantes de Nínive. Aquellos remaban aun más fuerte para evitar echarlo al mar, pero, por fin, Jonás se da cuenta de que si no lo hacen, todos van a morir. Los marineros, aun no creyentes, le piden a Dios que no los haga responsables por la muerte de Jonás, y después, al ver la tranquilidad del mar, le ofrecieron un sacrificio e hicieron votos (1:16). A veces las personas de otras religiones nos avergüenzan por sus acciones que son aun más compasivas y correctas que las de quienes nos llamamos cristianos. |
En seguida, los marineros quisieron saber qué había hecho para causarles a todos el sufrir un peligro tan grave. Luego de pedirle una declaración clara sobre la causa del mal, le preguntaron no solamente su oficio sino el negocio que lo había motivado a subir a la nave. Al preguntarle de qué país era tal vez pensaban que su país estaba bajo la maldición de algún dios. Al caer la suerte era costumbre pedirle al mismo culpable que confesara su crimen (Jos. 7:19).
En el v. 9 Jonás responde a sus preguntas con dos afirmaciones claras. No vaciló en decir que era hebreo. Normalmente eran los extranjeros los que usaban este término para describir a los israelitas; ellos preferían decir que eran “hijos de Israel” (ver Gén. l4:13; 39:14; 41:12; 1 Sam. 4:6), y a veces los israelitas la usaron como aquí para describirse a extranjeros (Gén. 40:15; Éxo. 2:7; 3:18; Jer. 34:9, 14).
La segunda afirmación destacó que Jonás adoraba al Dios revelado a Moisés (Éxo. 3:13, 14) quien creó el mar y la tierra. De esa manera afirmó que la autoridad de Jehovah no estaba limitada a un territorio determinado sino que él era el Dios universal. Con estas palabras se ve lo ridículo de la situación de Jonás; uno no puede creer en el Dios del mar y la tierra, y al mismo tiempo huir de su presencia.
3. La salvación de los marineros, 1:10-16
Resulta ser una paradoja que Jonás, quien no quiso predicarles a los gentiles de Nínive, ahora se halle en circunstancias en las que está dispuesto a dar su vida para salvar a unos marineros gentiles. Ellos por su parte no podían entender cómo él haría algo tan estúpido como intentar huir del Dios que hizo el mar y la tierra. Jonás mismo no tiene ninguna respuesta a su pregunta (v. 10).
Solamente queda la pregunta básica: ¿Qué haremos contigo para que el mar se nos calme? El profeta egoísta reconoció que no había otro recurso más que dar su vida para salvar a los gentiles. Es importante notar la actitud tan noble de los marineros. Ellos hicieron todo lo posible para evitar la muerte de Jonás; intentaron volver a tierra para dejarlo, pero era imposible; la tempestad era más fuerte cada vez. Finalmente comprendieron que el sacrifico de Jonás era inevitable.
La oración de los marineros demuestra que ellos sabían muy bien el valor de la vida humana. Era cosa muy grave ser responsable de la muerte de otro. Jonás no les había hecho nada a ellos para merecer la pena capital y no querían cometer un asesinato. Por eso su oración termina reconociendo la voluntad de Dios tanto en la caída de las suertes como en la furia de la tempestad.
Por medio de estas circunstancias el autor del libro enseña una verdad importante: los gentiles pueden reconocer el poder y la majestad de Dios. Mientras los de Jerusalén mataron a los profetas (Mat. 23:37) estos hicieron todo lo posible para salvar la vida del profeta de Jehovah. Tuvieron compasión por uno que no tuvo compasión sobre una ciudad entera (Jon. 4:1–3, 11).
El efecto de su actuación fue inmediato; después de la furia de la tempestad reinó una perfecta calma. Con temor y respeto adoraron a Jehovah; reconocieron su poder sobre los elementos de la naturaleza. No se sabe que clase de sacrificios ofrecieron ni cuales fueron los votos que prometieron al Señor. Así el capítulo termina con el mensaje bien claro que los paganos pueden aprender a orar y servir al Señor.
| Un salmo de testimonio 2:1–10Encontramos muchos salmos en la Biblia, entre ellos este en el libro de Jonás. Es una manifestación de la interacción de Dios y Jonás donde este expresa su angustia, reconoce que su salvación viene de Dios y le responde en gratitud y adoración. 1. El recuerdo de la angustia, 2:2. 2. Un cuadro de aflicción, 2:3–6a. 3. Un grito por ayuda y la respuesta de Dios, 2:6b, 7. (Ver 2:2 con referencia a la respuesta de Dios.) 4. Reconocimiento de la acción de Dios y la promesa de Jonás, 2:8, 9. |
| Joya bíblicaDesde mi angustia invoqué a Jehovah, y él me respondió. Clamé desde el vientre del Seol, y tú escuchaste mi voz (2:2). |
II. ORACIÓN. VOLVER A DIOS, 1:17–2:10
1. Dios prepara un gran pez, 1:17
El v. 17 deja bien claro que lo que le pasó a Jonás no fue una casualidad. En el heb. dice que Dios “preparó” (manah) un gran pez con la misión especial de que se tragara a Jonás. Cuatro veces en este libro corto se emplea este verbo que significa preparar o disponer (1:17; 4:6, 7 y 8) y cada vez Dios es el sujeto de la oración. Él preparó no solamente el pez, sino también la planta de ricino, el gusano y el viento sofocante, para enseñarle importantes lecciones al profeta rebelde.
Por lo tanto es inútil investigar qué clase de pez o ballena era o si existe un pez capaz de tragarse a un hombre y mantenerlo con vida tres días. Lo importante es que Dios salvó a Jonás para darle una segunda oportunidad de ser su mensajero. La Biblia contiene relatos de milagros aun mayores y el más grande de todos es la resurrección de nuestro Salvador.
Incluso Jesús empleó la experiencia de Jonás como ilustración de su propia muerte y resurrección y para amonestar a los judíos por su incredulidad en contraste al arrepentimiento rápido y sincero de los habitantes de Nínive. Les advirtió que “uno mayor que Jonás les hablaba” (Mat. 12:38–41).
Muchos intérpretes dicen que mucho antes de la época de Cristo la experiencia de Jonás servía como símbolo de la estadía de los judíos en Babilonia durante la época de su cautiverio. Al igual que Jonás ellos tuvieron una nueva oportunidad de ser “luz a las naciones” al regresar a Palestina (Isa. 49:6).
2. Angustia y esperanza, 2:1-4
Es interesante observar que mientras los marineros oraban, Jonás dormía. Frente a la muerte el profeta comenzó a orar con fervor y en poesía. Algunos eruditos dicen que el capítulo dos consiste en un salmo antiguo que los que recopilaron el libro de Jonás se lo agregaron al texto. Llegan a esta conclusión puesto que el salmo es la oración de uno que ha sido salvado del peligro de la muerte y ahora está en condiciones de ofrecer sacrificios a Dios. No obstante, todo el libro habla de hechos pasados, no solamente el capítulo dos, y era muy lógico esperar que el autor utilizara el idioma de los Salmos para componer su oración.
| Dios y las grandes ciudades Dios quiere la salvación de todas las personas en el mundo. Se preocupa por las grandes ciudades del mundo donde hay enormes conglomerados de personas, muchas de las cuales no tienen valores morales que las orienten. Hoy Dios nos llama a compartir el mensaje de su salvación en las grandes ciudades de América Latina para que las muchedumbres puedan conocer su bondad, su amor y su perdón. 1. Dios reconoce la necesidad de la ciudad pecaminosa, 1:1. 2. Dios envía a su mensajero a la ciudad, 3:1. 3. Dios tiene compasión de los habitantes de la ciudad, 3:5–10. 4. Dios persiste en amar y perdonar a las personas de las ciudades, 4:11.Dios nos llama a unirnos con él en su búsqueda de las personas que viven en las ciudades. ¿Quiere juntarse con él en este gran esfuerzo? |
El estilo de poesía de estos versículos es el de paralelismo, o sea que la segunda parte del versículo repite en palabras similares lo que dice la primera parte. El pensamiento del autor oscila entre desesperación y esperanza. A lo profundo puede significar el mar (Sal. 68:22) o la angustia emocional (Sal. 88:7). Hay varios salmos como este que a la vez expresan llanto y acción de gracias (Sal. 18; 30; 31; 66; 116 y otros). Como en el Salmo 42:7 Jonás siente que se ahoga y que las olas le están pasando por encima. Se siente lejos de la presencia de Dios pero le queda la esperanza remota de que un día verá de nuevo el templo en Jerusalén. Es muy semejante al pensamiento de los Salmos 42 y 43. Los hebreos sabían bien que Dios no moraba en el templo pero era el lugar ideal para orar y acercarse a Dios.
3. Liberación de la muerte, 2:5-7
Los hebreos no estaban acostumbrados a navegar, por eso el mar representaba un lugar de peligro mortal para ellos (Job 22:11; Isa. 8:7; ). El profeta no solamente se sentía en el fondo del mar sino a la base de las montañas. Para muchos hebreos el destierro en Babilonia era así; pensaban que nunca volverían a ver su tierra. El regreso a Palestina era como salir de la tumba. Su oración es un testimonio de que Dios efectivamente escucha las oraciones de la persona angustiada.
| Joya bíblicaCuando mi alma desfallecía dentro de mí, me acordé de Jehovah; y mi oración llegó hasta ti, a tu santo templo (2:7). |
4. El culto falso y el culto verdadero, 2:8-10
El profeta hace el contraste entre los que abandonan su fe para adorar ídolos, vanidades ilusorias, y los que adoran al Dios verdadero. A pesar de su desobediencia Jonás nunca dejó de creer en Dios o de reconocer que era el único Dios creador de todo. Como en otros lugares de la Biblia se manifiesta que el culto a ídolos no es solamente falso sino vano (ver Isa. 44:9–20). Jonás termina su oración con la confianza de que un día va a ofrecer sus sacrificios y cumplir sus votos prometidos. No se sabe la naturaleza de los votos; Deuteronomio 23:22, 23 dice que un voto es una promesa voluntaria y algo muy serio que uno debe cumplir.
Todo el salmo es una afirmación de la gracia divina. La nota final indica que ¡la salvación pertenece a Jehovah! (v. 9b). Él puede extender su gracia a personas de cualquier nación, pero su gracia no es barata. Tuvo que enviar a su Hijo a la muerte para mostrarnos el valor de su gracia.
| El enojo del profeta frente al amor de Dios Alguien ha llamado a Jonás el profeta patriota, porque amaba a su pueblo y odiaba a sus enemigos. El llamado de Dios para ir a predicar a la ciudad de Nínive era inconcebible para Jonás, y así empezó su huida, su experiencia en el barco y en el vientre del gran pez. Al oír por segunda vez el llamado de Dios, Jonás fue a Nínive y dio el mensaje. A pesar de ser un mensajero no convencido, los habitantes respondieron y Dios desistió de su plan de castigarlos.Otra vez parece inconcebible para nosotros la reacción de Jonás. Se enoja, y acusa a Dios de ser tan clemente y compasivo que no pudo castigarlos. Dios conversa con él y procura ayudarle a ver por qué quiere la salvación de estas personas. El libro termina con Dios todavía insistiendo en la necesidad de “preocuparse por Nínive”, una ciudad con tantas personas sin valores morales y, además, “muchos animales”.El enojo de Jonás no es la última palabra de este libro, ¡y nunca podrá serlo!, sino el amor y la preocupación de Dios por las personas que necesitan este mensaje. Dios siempre tiene la última palabra, y aunque procura ayudarnos a encontrar su interpretación de las circunstancias, cuando lo rechazamos él sigue con su amor, su compasión, su deseo de que todos puedan conocerlo, arrepentirse de su maldad, recibir su perdón y recibir la vida abundante que él ofrece. |
Al fin Jonás fue librado del pez, pero su liberación no era un fin en sí mismo. Tal como Dios libró a su pueblo rebelde de cautiverio para darles una oportunidad de ser sus mensajeros al mundo (Jer. 51:44) así fue con Jonás. Dios le mandó al pez que vomitara a Jonás en tierra para que recibiera de nuevo la Palabra de Dios.
III. PREDICACIÓN. CUMPLIR CON DIOS, 3:1-10
1. El mensaje urgente, 3:1-4
Dios no reprende al profeta sino sencillamente le repite la orden que le había dado antes. Jonás ya sabía que era imposible huir de la presencia de Dios. No estaba de acuerdo con el mandato de Dios pero no había otra alternativa. Por lo menos aprendió esto en el estómago del gran pez. Dios pidió algo un poco distinto del primer encargo. Ya no era predicar contra la ciudad sino proclamar el mensaje que Dios le diera en el momento oportuno. Jonás no tenía que preparar un mensaje; Dios iba a darle el sermón para Nínive.
Es evidente que el autor vivió mucho tiempo después de la destrucción de Nínive ya que dice que era una ciudad grande. Sabemos que Nínive fue destruida en el 612 a. J.C. y nunca se construyo de nuevo. Es obvio que el libro se escribió después de esa fecha.
Es difícil entender la expresión que Nínive era… de tres días de camino. Probablemente significa que la “gran Nínive”, que incluía muchas poblaciones a su alrededor, abarcaba un área de más de 80 km cuadrados. Otra idea es que las calles eran tan estrechas y torcidas que un peatón tardaría tres días en caminar de un lado de la ciudad al otro. De todos modos podemos entender que Jonás llegó casi al centro de la ciudad y comenzó a dar su mensaje en un sector de densa población. Allí habló a oídos de gente de todo nivel social y económico.
| Joya bíblica¡La salvación pertenece a Jehovah! (2:9c). |
| Una segunda oportunidadUna de las enseñanzas más interesantes en el libro de Jonás es la segunda oportunidad que el profeta tuvo para obedecer el llamado de Dios (3:1). Los dos primeros capítulos del libro hacen claro que es la voluntad y la acción de Dios lo que ha provisto esta nueva oportunidad para el profeta rebelde. Noten la acción de Dios en 1:4, 17; 2:10. Pero Jehovah… Dios obra a nuestro favor, dándonos segundas oportunidades.Qué lástima que Jonás no pudo gozarse del éxito de su misión, por lo cual su segunda oportunidad no fue de bendición personal. Qué distinto el caso de Juan Marcos quien había dejado a los misioneros Pablo y Bernabé y le fue dada una segunda oportunidad por Bernabé (Hechos 13:13; 15:37–39). Sin duda aprovechó esta segunda oportunidad y más tarde el encarcelado misionero Pablo pidió que fuera porque me es útil para el ministerio (2 Tim. 4:11). ¡Aprovechemos de estas segundas oportunidades! Son regalos preciosos de Dios. |
Su mensaje era breve pero espantoso; una sola frase que el profeta repitió constantemente. Podemos imaginar la reacción de la gente hacia este extranjero con ropa distinta y aspecto físico diferente. Les dijo que dentro del espacio de cuarenta días la ciudad estaría puesta “patas arriba”. El verbo heb. hapak significa “revolcar” y significaría la destrucción total de la ciudad. Solamente se usa aquí y en Génesis 19:29 para describir la destrucción total de Sodoma y Gomorra. A pesar de la ausencia de alguna esperanza en el mensaje, tanto Jonás como sus oyentes sabían que Dios perdonaría a Nínive si la población se arrepentía de sus pecados.
2. El gran arrepentimiento, 3:5-10
La reacción de la gente de Nínive era lo que Jonás esperaba. La RVA indica que la sentencia de destrucción no fue realizada debido al arrepentimiento rápido y masivo del pueblo. No solamente creyeron en Dios sino que depositaron toda su confianza en él; el verbo “creer” (aman) es el mismo que se usa para describir la fe de Abraham en Génesis 15:6.
Para mostrar la sinceridad de su fe emplearon dos símbolos muy conocidos en el Medio Oriente para manifestar el arrepentimiento: el ayuno y cubrirse con cilicio, que era una tela rústica, gruesa y barata. Todos, desde los de la más alta sociedad hasta los más humildes, se unieron en la búsqueda de la misericordia de Dios. ¿Se han preguntado por qué no hay evidencia de este gran avivamiento en la historia secular de la época? Hay que reconocer que los pocos documentos que nos han llegado del período no hablan mucho de movimientos religiosos, y aun más importante, el estilo del libro es el de una parábola. La falta de evidencia externa no significa que el amor de Dios no se extienda a toda persona en todo lugar.
Es importante notar que el avivamiento comenzó con el pueblo y más tarde la “palabra” llegó al rey. Al escuchar la gravedad del mensaje y ver los resultados, el rey y sus nobles se unieron con el pueblo y expidieron un decreto de penitencia general. El libro destaca que la reacción del rey pagano era muy distinta a la de los reyes de Judá e Israel, quienes pocas veces respondieron de forma favorable a la predicación de los profetas.
Algunos eruditos comentan que en ningún otro texto se refiere al emperador de Asiria como rey de Nínive. Pero existe la posibilidad de que durante la época de Jonás Nínive no fuera la capital de Asiria, sino una de varias ciudades gobernadas por un príncipe. La palabra rey (melej) en heb. puede significar “príncipe o gobernante”.
La costumbre de cubrirse con cilicio y sentarse sobre cenizas se empleaba en momentos de tristeza o tragedia (2 Sam. 3:31; Jer. 6:26), de luto (Est. 4:1–3), de arrepentimiento (Neh. 9:1; Job 42:6; ) y humillación (Dan. 9:3–5). Cilicio era una tela rústica, gruesa y barata; el contraste con la ropa fina del rey sería algo muy evidente.
El rey y sus oficiales dieron un decreto semejante a los decretos que se hallan en Daniel y Esdras (Esd. 6:1, 3; Dan. 3:10). Lo sorprendente aquí es que se incluye a los animales en la ceremonia de arrepentimiento, pero la Biblia muchas veces dice que los animales también están bajo el cuidado de Dios. (Vea Sal. 50:10; 104:10–14.) Al verlos también a ellos con la tela de arrepentimiento daría aun más fuerza a la invocación a Dios. El libro apócrifo de Judit menciona cómo los judíos incluyeron también los animales en el ayuno y la lamentación (Judit 4:9, 10).
Lo más importante del decreto se halla al final del v. 8. El arrepentimiento no sería únicamente una ceremonia externa como Isaías 58:3–8 condena, sino un cambio radical en la moralidad. Cada uno debe dejar su mal camino, o sea el seguir un estilo de vida que se caracteriza por pecado y maldad. Deben dejar de hacer violencia; que según los profetas no solamente se ve en hechos violentos como tales sino también en la opresión a los pobres, el abuso de justicia en los tribunales y la inmoralidad en la vida personal (ver Isa. 1:16, 17; Jer. 25:5; 26:3; 36:7; Amós 2:6, 7; 5:14, 15). El verbo “arrepentirse” usado en el v. 8 es el verbo heb. shub que significa un cambio radical en la dirección de la vida, una vuelta de 180 grados. No es solamente estar triste por los pecados; es la acción de dejar un estilo malo de vida y comenzar a practicar un estilo de vida nuevo con otras metas y perspectivas.
En el v. 9 el rey expresa la misma esperanza que los marineros manifestaron en el cap. 1. No está seguro de que Dios va a perdonar a los habitantes de Nínive pero sabe que tiene el poder para hacerlo. La traducción de la RVA es mejor que otras que dicen que Dios se va a arrepentir. El v. 9 significa que Dios puede tener compasión y cambiar de parecer. No es un cambio fundamental como ocurre en el pecador arrepentido, sino la manifestación del amor y la misericordia de Dios hacia personas arrepentidas. Parece que el rey sabía de la misericordia de Dios aunque Jonás no la mencionó al predicar. Jeremías recibió una palabra de Jehovah, la cual decía que Dios estaba dispuesto a perdonar a las naciones del Medio Oriente si ellos se arrepentían de su maldad (Jer. 18:7–9).
| Joya bíblicaCúbranse de cilicio tanto hombres como animales. Invoquen a Dios con todas sus fuerzas, y arrepiéntase cada uno de su mal camino y de la violencia que hay en sus manos. ¿Quién sabe si Dios desiste y cambia de parecer, y se aparta del furor de su ira, y así no pereceremos? (3:8, 9). |
El v. 10 es de suma importancia porque nos enseña que Dios escucha las oraciones de cualquier pueblo y observa sus acciones al dejar su mal camino para seguirlo. La misericordia de Dios se extiende a cada habitante de este planeta. Tal vez sus nombres no figuran con los de los reyes y presidentes pero Dios se acuerda de ellos y está dispuesto a bendecir a los que acuden a él. Nuestro Salvador reconoció el gran significado del cambio en la vida de la gente de Nínive cuando dijo: Los hombres de Nínive se levantarán en el juicio contra esta generación y la condenarán, porque ellos se arrepintieron ante la predicación de Jonás. ¡Y he aquí uno mayor que Jonás está en este lugar! (Luc. 11:32).
Vemos en este gran texto la expresión del amor y la misericordia de Dios. Jonás no le habló a la gente de Nínive sobre el amor de Dios, pero Dios les manifestó su amor cuando ellos cambiaron radicalmente su estilo de vida. Con esto se ve que la profecía de Jonás no era una “profecía incondicional”; todo dependía de la actitud y las acciones de sus oyentes. Otros profetas sabían que Dios podía desistir del juicio si las personas cambiaban su manera de vivir (ver Jer. 18:8 ; Ezq. 33:10–20; Joel 2:13–14).
IV. EGOÍSMO. EL DISCIPLINAR DE DIOS, 4:1-11
1. El profeta enojado, 4:1-4
El capítulo comienza con una manifestación del egoísmo del profeta y su nacionalismo estrecho. Como el pecado de David “desagradó” a Dios (2 Sam. 11:27) la misericordia de Dios desagradó al profeta rebelde. La palabra enojó viene de un verbo que significa “estar caliente o prenderse” (jarah). El enojo era como fuego dentro de Jonás. Al fin Jonás reconoce el motivo de su intento de huir de la presencia de Dios. No quería que los asirios gozaran de la misericordia de Dios ni ser mensajero de Dios a ellos. En verdad, de todos los enemigos de Israel los asirios eran los más crueles; no solamente destruyeron la ciudad de Samaria y deportaron a sus habitantes sino que pusieron otra gente en la tierra de manera que los judíos ni siquiera tenían patria a la cual regresar. No solamente Jonás tendría fuertes prejuicios contra ellos; muchos de sus compatriotas tampoco hubieran ido a darles un mensaje de parte de Dios.
Otro factor que afectó a Jonás era su conocimiento de la naturaleza de Dios. Una de las tradiciones más viejas de la Biblia describe a Dios con las mismas cualidades (Éxo. 34:6, 7 y Sal. 86:5, 15; 103:8; Joel 2:13). Dios es clemente porque muestra su favor a los justos y a los injustos, es compasivo porque tiene un amor benévolo para toda la humanidad. Es paciente, lento para la ira, y grande en misericordia, que es el amor leal dispuesto a redimir al hombre de su pecado y entrar en pacto con él para siempre.
| Nínive, una ciudad grandeLa ciudad de Nínive era la capital del imperio asirio, edificado al lado del río Tigris, en la parte norteña de lo que hoy en día es Iraq. Los arqueólogos dicen que la ciudad fue ocupada siglos antes de Cristo y llegó a ser capital de Asiria durante el reinado de Senaquerib (704–681 a. de J.C.).Para las personas que vivían en Israel y Judá en aquel entonces Asiria era el país más cruel. Después de derrotar a Israel en el 722 a. de J.C. por poco capturan Jerusalén (2 Rey. 18, 19). La profecía de Nahúm demuestra el miedo y el odio que los judíos tenían para los asirios por su violencia y el terrorismo con que atacaban a sus enemigos. Nahúm le da el mensaje de Dios a la odiada Nínive, Pero acerca de ti, Jehovah ha mandado: “Nunca más sea mencionado tu nombre. De la casa de tu dios destruiré los ídolos y las imágenes de fundición, y la convertiré en sepulcro; porque fuiste vil” (Nah. 1:14). Termina su profecía con las palabras tan penetrantes, No hay medicina para tu quebranto; tu llaga es incurable (Nah. 3:19a).La ciudad de Nínive cayó frente al ataque del ejército combinado de medos y babilonios en el 612 a. de J.C. |
Entonces como Moisés y Elías habían hecho antes, Jonás pidió que Dios le quitara la vida (Núm. 11:10–15 y 1 Rey. 19:4). Es triste ver una oración tan distinta de su oración del capítulo 2. Viendo al “viejo Jonás” del cap. 1, podemos ver que obedeció el mandamiento de Dios porque sabía que no se puede huir de la presencia de Dios, pero quería morir antes de ver la salvación de los asirios.
La pregunta de Dios es una manera suave y compasiva de reprender al profeta. Debe moverlo a reconocer que su posición es absurda y a reflexionar sobre lo que él ya sabe es la naturaleza de Dios. Jonás no dijo nada y era evidente que Dios tendría que trabajar aún más con su mensajero rebelde.
2. La ilustración gráfica, 4:5-8
Puesto que Jonás era una persona tan terca es posible que él haya interpretado la pregunta de Dios como si esta significara que Dios no estaba engañado por el arrepentimiento falso de la gente, y que después de los 40 días la destrucción efectivamente caería sobre Nínive. Hizo una enramada semejante a las que los judíos hicieron para celebrar la fiesta de Tabernáculos. ¿Se puede imaginar el efecto psicológico sobre la gente de Nínive al ver al profeta de “malas noticias” esperando sobre una loma para ver los resultados de su profecía?
Una vez más vemos la intervención directa de Dios en la vida de Jonás; pues Jehovah dispuso el crecimiento de una planta de ricino. Tal como había enviado la tempestad y el gran pez, y haciendo uso del mismo verbo hebreo que en el 1:17, Dios mandó otro fenómeno de la naturaleza. Se ve que Jonás no era buen constructor puesto que su enramada no le dio toda la sombra que necesitaba para refugiarse del sol del Medio Oriente. El ricino se distingue por sus hojas anchas y su rápido crecimiento. De nuevo vemos una nota del humor fino que caracteriza al libro. Un autor argentino observa que a veces no se sabe si Jonás es profeta o payaso (ver bibliografía). Jonás se pone muy contento por la planta que hace su tiempo de espera más cómodo. Parece que pone más valor sobre las cosas que sobre las personas, especialmente la gente de Nínive.
Su felicidad duró poco. Después de apenas 24 horas Dios dispuso el gusano que destruyó la planta de igual manera que Jonás pensaba que Dios haría con Nínive. En seguida Dios envió un sofocante viento oriental, el viento seco del desierto que llena el aire de polvo y calor. Aún hoy en día los habitantes de esa zona dicen que este viento los deprime cuando llega. Se nota el humor del autor cuando por perder su comodidad el profeta pide de nuevo la muerte. Es una cosa de lamentar la liberación de los enemigos tradicionales de Israel o ser señalado como profeta falso; pero Jonás demuestra una actitud muy superficial sobre la vida al pedir la muerte por tener calor y sed.
3. La aplicación de la ilustración, 4:9-11
Otra vez Dios hace la misma pregunta del 4:4 pero esta vez con referencia a la planta. Por su respuesta Jonás demuestra su falta de madurez. El egoísmo excesivo siempre procede de la falta de madurez. Dios le demuestra que su actitud es absurda. Se desespera sobre la pérdida de una planta que ni siquiera él sembró ni cultivó; cuánto más debe pensar Dios en miles de personas que él ha creado a su imagen y semejanza. Se ve a Jonás como una persona muy impulsiva con muchos prejuicios y ahora con su escala de valores totalmente confundida.
| Joya bíblica¿Y no he de preocuparme yo por Nínive, aquella gran ciudad, donde hay más de 120.000 personas que no distinguen su mano derecha de su mano izquierda, y muchos animales? (4:11). |
La expresión más de l20.000 personas que no distinguen su mano derecha de su mano izquierda ha sido interpretada con el significado que, además de los adultos, había esta cantidad de niños demasiado pequeños para tener criterio moral. Si era así, la población total pudiera haber sido más de 600.000, que no sería imposible si uno tomara en cuenta las muchas poblaciones alrededor del centro de la ciudad. No obstante la cifra podría hacer referencia a los que no habían recibido la instrucción moral que Dios mandó a Israel a compartir con las naciones (Gén. 12:3).
La lección de la ilustración es bien clara; el Señor de toda la tierra ama a toda su creación incluso a los animales. Para los hebreos de la época del AT era una conclusión revolucionaria. Si el Señor de Israel es también el Dios de Nínive, ¿dónde están nuestros privilegios? ¿Tenemos que compartir el amor y el cuidado de Dios con gente de todas las naciones? Como bien ha dicho un autor, hay un poco de Jonás en el corazón de cada uno de nosotros, engañándonos con nuestros prejuicios y tradiciones inválidas.
Como una de la parábolas del Señor Jesús, el libro termina de repente. El mensaje resalta con claridad. El exclusivismo que restringe el amor universal de Dios está destinado a fracasar totalmente; el amor y la misericordia de Dios se extienden a cada persona sobre la faz de la tierra. Como bien se ha dicho, el libro termina mostrando el contraste entre Dios y Jonás. Dios desea salvarlos a todos, mientras Jonás quiere salvar a algunos; el punto de vista de Dios es universal, el de Jonás es particular. Entre Jonás y Dios había un conflicto de voluntad. Jonás no negó el sueño de Isaías y Miqueas, que un día gente de todas las naciones va a correr al monte de la casa de Jehovah (Isa. 2:1–4; Miq. 4:1–3). Como tantos en aquel entonces y hoy en día, pensó que Dios haría todo en la Era Mesiánica, no vió el imperativo de ser un pueblo misionero. Utilizando la figura del profeta rebelde, y un tanto cómico, el autor escribe un reto al pueblo de Israel llamándolos a cumplir con su tarea misionera a las naciones. Si no se cumpliera con dicha misión, Israel negaría el propósito de su elección a ser el pueblo de Dios. El libro no se escribió tanto para mostrar la compasión de Dios sino para desafiar a Israel a cumplir su destino como profeta a las naciones. Todos nosotros como cristianos somos herederos de esta misión profética al mundo entero.
Jonás era nativo de Galilea, 2 Reyes xiv, 25. Su liberación milagrosa del pez lo hizo tipo de nuestro bendito Señor que, como para mostrar la verdad certera de la narración, lo menciona. Todo lo hecho fue fácil para la omnipotencia del Autor y Sostenedor de la vida. Este libro nos muestra, por el ejemplo de los ninivitas, cuán grande es la paciencia y la tolerancia divina para con los pecadores. Muestra un contraste muy marcado entre la bondad y misericordia de Dios y la rebeldía, impaciencia y belicosidad de su siervo; y se entenderá mejor por los que conozcan bien sus propios corazones.—————————
CAPÍTULO I
Versículos 1—3. Jonás, enviado a Nínive, huye a Tarsis. 4—7. Demorado por una tempestad. 8—12. Su discurso a los marineros. 13—17. Echado al mar y milagrosamente preservado.
Vv. 1—3. Entristece pensar cuánto pecado se comete en las grandes ciudades. Su maldad, como la de Nínive, es afrenta franca y directa a Dios. Jonás debe irse de inmediato a Nínive, y ahí en terreno, clamar contra la maldad de ellos. —Jonás no quiere ir. Probablemente haya unos cuantos entre nosotros que no hubiesen tratado de declinar tal misión. La providencia parece darle una oportunidad para escapar; nosotros podemos salirnos del camino del deber y hasta encontrar viento a favor. El camino fácil no siempre es el camino recto. Véase lo que son los mejores hombres cuando Dios los deja librados a sí mismos; y la necesidad que tenemos, cuando nos llega la palabra del Señor, de tener al Espíritu del Señor para que lleve cautivo cada pensamiento nuestro a la obediencia a Cristo.
Vv. 4—7. Dios manda un perseguidor tras Jonás, un fuerte temporal. El pecado trae tormentas y temporales al alma, a la familia, a las iglesias y a las naciones; es cosa inquietante y perturbadora. Habiendo pedido socorro a sus dioses, los marineros hicieron lo que pudieron para ayudarse. ¡Oh, que los hombres fueran así de sabios con sus almas, y estuvieran dispuestos a separarse de la riqueza, placer y honor que no pueden conservar sin hacer naufragio en la fe y la buena conciencia y arruinar para siempre sus almas! —Jonás dormía profundamente. El pecado atonta y tenemos que hacer caso, no sea que, en cualquier momento, nuestros corazones sean endurecidos por lo engañoso de ellos. ¿Qué quieren decir los hombres con eso de dormirse en el pecado, cuando la palabra de Dios y las acusaciones de sus propias conciencias les advierten que se levanten y clamen al Señor si quieren escapar de la miseria eterna? ¿No debiéramos advertirnos unos a otros para despertar, levantarnos, clamar a nuestro Dios, si Él quisiera librarnos? —Los marineros concluyeron que la tormenta era un mensajero de la justicia divina enviado contra alguien a bordo de ese barco. Cualquiera sea el mal sobre nosotros en cualquier momento, tiene su causa; y cada uno debe orar, Señor, muéstrame en qué contiendes conmigo. —La suerte recayó en Jonás. Dios tiene muchas maneras para sacar a la luz los pecados y pecadores ocultos, y hacer manifiesta esa necedad que se pensaba oculta de los ojos de todos los vivientes.
Vv. 8—12. Jonás da cuenta de su religión, porque esa era su ocupación. Podemos tener la esperanza que él dijera esto con pena y vergüenza, justificando a Dios, condenándose así mismo y explicando a los marineros qué Dios grande es Jehová. Ellos le dijeron: ¿Por qué nos has hecho esto? Si temías al Dios que hizo el mar y la tierra seca, ¿por qué fuiste tan necio para pensar que podías huir de su presencia? Si los que profesan la fe hacen mal, lo sabrán de parte de quienes no hacen tal profesión. Cuando el pecado ha levantado una tempestad, y nos ha tirado encima las señales del descontento de Dios, debemos considerar que debe hacerse con el pecado que provocó la tormenta. —Jonás usa el lenguaje de los penitentes verdaderos que desean que nadie, sino ellos mismos, sufran lo peor por sus pecados y necedades. Jonás entiende que esto es el castigo de su iniquidad, lo acepta y justifica a Dios en ello. Cuando se despierta la conciencia, y se levanta tormenta, nada la calmará, sino dejar el pecado que causó el trastorno. Dejar nuestro dinero no pacificará la conciencia, Jonás debe ser tirado por la borda.
Vv. 13—17. Los marineros remaron contra el viento y la marea, el viento del descontento de Dios, la marea de sus consejos, pero es en vano pensar en salvarnos a nosotros mismos de otra manera que no sea destruyendo nuestros pecados. Hasta la conciencia natural no puede sino temer la culpa sangrienta. Cuando somos guiados por la providencia, Dios hace lo que le place, y debemos estar satisfechos, aunque pueda no gustarnos. —Tirar al mar a Jonás puso fin a la tempestad. Dios no afligirá por siempre, Él sólo contenderá hasta que nos sometamos y nos devolvamos de nuestros pecados. —Seguramente esos marineros paganos se levantarán en juicio contra muchos que se llaman cristianos, que ni ofrecen oraciones cuando están angustiados ni agradecen por las señales de liberación. —El Señor manda a todas las criaturas y puede hacer que cualquiera sirva a sus designios de misericordia para su pueblo. Veamos esta salvación del Señor y admiremos su poder, que así pudo salvar a un hombre que se ahogaba, y su piedad, que así pudo salvar a uno que huía de Él, y que le había ofendido. Era por las misericordias de Jehová que Jonás no fuera consumido. Jonás vivió tres días y sus noches en el pez: esto era imposible para la naturaleza, pero para el Dios de la naturaleza todas las cosas son posibles. —Jonás fue hecho tipo de Cristo por esta salvación milagrosa, como nuestro Señor bendito lo declara, Mateo xii, 40.
CAPÍTULO II
Versículos 1—9. La oración de Jonás. 10. Es librado del pez.
Vv. 1—9. Fíjese cuando ora Jonás. Cuando estaba en problemas, sometido a las señales del descontento de Dios contra él por pecar: cuando estamos afligidos debemos orar. Oró siendo mantenido con vida por milagro. El sentido de la buena voluntad de Dios para con nosotros, a pesar de nuestras ofensas, abre en oración los labios que estaban cerrados con el miedo a la ira. También, donde oró; en el vientre del pez. Ningún lugar es malo para orar. Los hombres pueden impedirnos la comunión de unos con otros, pero no la comunión con Dios. A quién oró; al Señor su Dios. Esto anima a retornar aun a los descarriados. Qué fue su oración. Esto parece relatar su experiencia y reflexiones, entonces y después, más que ser la forma o sustancia de su oración. Jonás reflexiona en el fervor de su oración y la prontitud de Dios para oír y responder. Si nos volvemos buenos por nuestros problemas, debemos notar la mano de Dios en ellos. Había huido malamente de la presencia del Señor, que podía quitarle con justicia su Espíritu Santo, para nunca más visitarlo. Son miserables sólo aquellos a quienes Dios no reconoce ni favorece más. Aunque estaba perplejo, no estaba desesperado, Jonás reflexiona en el favor de Dios para él, cuando buscó a Dios y confió en Él en su angustia. —Amonesta a los demás, y les dice que se mantengan cerca de Dios. Los que abandonan su deber, abandonan su propia misericordia; los que huyen de la obra de su lugar y día, huyen del consuelo de ella. En cuanto un creyente copia a los que siguen las vanidades mentirosas, se olvida de su propia misericordia, y vive por debajo de sus privilegios. Pero la experiencia de Jonás estimula a los demás, de todas las épocas, a confiar en Dios como Dios de salvación.
V. 10. La liberación de Jonás puede ser considerada como ejemplo del poder de Dios sobre todas las criaturas. Como ejemplo de la misericordia de Dios para un pobre penitente que, en angustia, ora a Él: y como tipo y figura de la resurrección de Cristo. En medio de todas nuestras diversas experiencias y de los cambiantes escenarios de la vida, tenemos que mirar por fe, fijamente, a nuestro Redentor, una vez sufriente y moribundo, pero ahora resurrecto y ascendido. Confesemos nuestros pecados, consideremos la resurrección de Cristo como primicia de la propia, y recibamos agradecidos cada temporal y liberación espiritual como señal de nuestra redención eterna.
CAPÍTULO III
Versículos 1—4. Jonás, enviado nuevamente a Nínive, predica allí. 5—10. Nínive se salva por el arrepentimiento de sus habitantes.
Vv. 1—4. Dios vuelve a emplear a Jonás a su Servicio. Que nos use indica que está en paz con nosotros. —Jonás fue desobediente. No trató de eludir la orden ni rehusó obedecerla. Véase aquí la naturaleza del arrepentimiento; es nuestro cambio de idea y conducta y el regreso a nuestra obra y deber. También, el beneficio de la aflicción; lleva de regreso a su lugar a los que habían desertado. Véase el poder de la gracia divina, porque la aflicción, por sí misma, más bien alejaría de Dios a los hombres antes que acercarlos. Los siervos de Dios deben ir donde Él los mande, ir cuando los llame, y hacer lo que les ordene; debemos hacer lo que manda la palabra de Dios. —Jonás cumplió su diligencia fiel y directamente. No es seguro que Jonás haya dicho más para mostrar la ira de Dios contra ellos o si sólo repitió esas palabras una y otra vez, pero este era el propósito de su mensaje. Cuarenta días es mucho tiempo para que el justo Dios demore juicios, pero es poco tiempo para que un pueblo impío se arrepienta y se reforme. ¿No debiera despertarnos para alistarnos para la muerte la consideración de que no podemos estar tan seguros de vivir cuarenta días, como entonces lo estuvo Nínive de durar cuarenta días? Debiera alarmarnos si tuviéramos la seguridad de no vivir un mes, pero somos negligentes aunque no estamos seguros de vivir ni siquiera un día.
Vv. 5—10. Hubo un prodigio de la gracia divina en el arrepentimiento y reforma de Nínive, que condena a los hombres de la generación del evangelio, Mateo xii, 41. Un grado muy pequeño de luz puede convencer a los hombres de que humillarse ante Dios, y confesar sus pecados con oración y abandonándolos, son medios para escapar de la ira y obtener misericordia. La gente siguió el ejemplo del rey. Se volvió acto nacional y fue necesario que así fuera, cuando era para impedir la destrucción nacional. —Aun los gritos y gemidos de las bestias brutas por falta de comida, recuerdan a sus dueños que deben clamar a Dios. En oración debemos clamar con fuerza, con pensamiento fijo, fe firme y afectos devotos. Nos interesa orar para revolver todo lo que está dentro de nosotros. No basta con ayunar por el pecado; debemos ayunar del pecado, y para el éxito de nuestras oraciones, no debemos albergar más iniquidad en nuestros corazones, Salmo lxvi, 18. La obra de un día de ayuno no se termina con el día. —Los ninivitas esperaban que Dios se volviera de su furor; y que así evitarían su destrucción. Ellos no podían tener tanta confianza de hallar misericordia por arrepentirse como nosotros, que tenemos la muerte y los méritos de Cristo, en los que podemos confiar para recibir perdón al arrepentirnos. Ellos no se atrevieron a presumir, pero no se desesperaron. La esperanza de misericordia es el gran aliento para arrepentirse y reformarse. Arrojémonos osadamente al estrado de la gracia gratuita, y Dios nos mirará con compasión. —Dios ve al que se convierte de sus malos caminos y al que no. Así salvó a Nínive. No leemos de sacrificios ofrecidos a Dios para expiar el pecado, pero no despreciará al corazón contrito y humillado, como el que tuvieron los ninivitas.
CAPÍTULO IV
Versículos 1—4. Jonás se enoja por la misericordia de Dios con Nínive, y es reprendido. 5—11. Se le enseña que hizo, por medio una calabacera que se marchita.
Vv. 1—4. Jonás hizo tema de reflexión sobre Dios lo que todos los santos hacen tema de gozo y alabanza; como si mostrar misericordia fuera una imperfección de la naturaleza divina, que es la mayor gloria suya. A su misericordia que perdona y salva todos debemos estar fuera del infierno. —Él desea la muerte; este era lenguaje de la necedad, la pasión y la corrupción intensa. Surgen en Jonás restos de un espíritu orgulloso y nada caritativo; él no esperaba ni deseaba el bienestar de los ninivitas, sino que sólo había venido a declarar y presenciar su destrucción. No se había humillado debidamente por sus propios pecados, ni estaba dispuesto a confiar en el Señor con su crédito y seguridad. Con este estado mental, despreció el bien del prójimo para los que él había sido un instrumento, y la gloria de la misericordia divina. A menudo debemos preguntarnos, ¿está bien hablar así, hacer así? ¿Puedo justificarlo? ¿Hago bien en enojarme tan rápido, tan a menudo, por tanto tiempo y hablar mal a los demás en mi enojo? ¿Hago bien al enojarme con la misericordia de Dios para los pecadores arrepentidos? Ese fue el delito de Jonás. ¿Hago bien al enojarme con eso que es para la gloria de Dios y el avance de su reino? Que la conversión de los pecadores, que es el gozo del cielo, sea nuestro gozo y nunca nuestra tristeza.
Vv. 5—11. Jonás salió de la ciudad, pero se quedó cerca, como si esperara y deseara su destrucción. Los que tienen espíritus inquietos y afanosos a menudo se crean problemas para tener algo de que quejarse. Véase cuán tierno es Dios con su pueblo en sus aflicciones, aunque ellos sean necios y atrevidos. Una cosa pequeña en sí misma, pero que llega a tiempo, puede ser una bendición valiosa. Una calabacera en el lugar preciso puede servirnos más que un cedro. Las criaturas menores pueden ser grandes plagas o gran consuelo según le plazca a Dios hacerlas. —Las personas de pasiones fuertes son proclives a decaer ante cualquier fruslería que les moleste o a elevarse con cualquier cosa vana que les guste. Véase qué son nuestros consuelos humanos y qué podemos esperar que sean; son cosas que se están agostando. Un gusanillo en la raíz destruye una calabacera grande: nuestras calabaceras se marchitan y no sabemos cuál es la causa. Quizá nos sean continuados los consuelos de criaturas, pero nos son amargados; la criatura continúa, pero el consuelo se va. Dios preparó un viento para hacer que Jonás sintiera la falta de la calabacera. Justo es que se queden sin nada de que quejarse quienes aman el quejarse. Cuando las providencias que afligen se llevan las relaciones, las posesiones y los goces, no debemos enojarnos con Dios. Lo que debe silenciar especialmente al descontento es que al desaparecer nuestra calabacera, nuestro Dios no desaparece. El pecado y la muerte son muy espantosos, pero Jonás, en su ardor, se los toma a la ligera a ambos. —Un alma es de más valor que todo el mundo; entonces, por cierto que un alma tiene más valor que muchas calabaceras: debemos interesarnos más por las almas preciosas, las nuestras y las del prójimo, que por las riquezas y goces de este mundo. Gran aliento es tener esperanza de hallar misericordia en el Señor, que Él esté listo para mostrar misericordia. Habrá que hacer que los murmuradores entiendan que, por muy dispuestos que estén a conservar la gracia divina para sí y los que son como ellos, hay un solo Señor sobre todos, que es rico en misericordia para con los que le invocan. —¿Nos maravillamos por la paciencia de Dios hacia su perverso siervo? Estudiemos nuestros corazones y modales; no olvidemos nuestra ingratitud y obstinación; y quedémonos atónitos con la paciencia de Dios con nosotros.
Jonah 1:1 Vino palabra de Jehová [El Señor se dirigió a Jonás] a Jonás hijo de Amitai, diciendo:
Before: 2Rey 14:25 He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Leboa Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah,b in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.
After: Mat 12:39–41 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here
* Vino palabra del Señor. Esta frase es una expresión común usada en el A.T. por los profetas para dar a conocer la fuente y autoridad del mensaje
* Jonás se menciona en 2 Ry 14.25. Profetizó en tiempos de Jeroboam II, rey de Israel de 793–753 Dios le dijo a Jonás que predicara en Nínive, la ciudad más importante de Asiria, un incipiente poder mundial en los días de Jonás. En menos de cincuenta años, Nínive sería ya la capital del vasto imperio asirio.
* Jonás no habla mucho de la maldad de Nínive, pero el profeta Nahum nos ofrece mayor información. Dice Nahum que Nínive había caído en pecados como (1) pensar cosas malas contra Dios (Nahum 1.9), (2) explotar al desvalido (Nahum 2.12), (3) ser cruel en la guerra (Nahum 2.12, 13), (4) adorar ídolos, prostitución y brujería (Nahum 3.4).
* Dios le dijo a Jonás que fuera a Nínive, como ochocientos kilómetros al nordeste de Israel, a advertirles del inminente castigo y a declarar que podían alcanzar misericordia y perdón si se arrepentían.
1:2 Levántate y ve a Nínive, aquella gran ciudad, y pregona [proclama] contra ella; porque ha subido su maldad delante de mí ….[anuncia que voy a destruirla, porque hasta mí ha llegado la noticia de su maldad]
* Maldad: La palabra hebrea también se traduce como «problema», «miseria», «dificultad» y «daño». Dios está preocupado por las miserias de Nínive y sus caminos de maldad. Su situación es lo suficientemente grave como para llamar la atención de Dios
* La gran ciudad de Nínive: Era la capital de Asiria, el imperio que en el 721 a.C. destruyó el reino del norte (Israel) y envió al exilio a muchos israelitas (2 R 14.1–23). Los profetas Nahúm (1.14–3.19) y Sofonías (2.13–15) anunciaron su destrucción, hecho que tuvo lugar en el año 612 a.C. Cuando se redactó el libro de Jonás, esa ciudad era símbolo de crueldad, de violencia y de hostilidad hacia el pueblo de Dios
* Gen.18:20-21 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
* Hosea 7:2 but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.
* key Word: “gran”
1:3 Y Jonás se levantó para huir de la presencia de Jehová [del Señor] a Tarsis, y descendió a Jope, y halló una nave que partía para Tarsis; y pagando su pasaje, entró en ella para irse con ellos a Tarsis, lejos de la presencia de Jehová [Pero Jonás, en lugar de obedecer, trató de huir del Señor; Jonás se levantó, pero para huir a Tarsis, lejos de la presencia del Señor]
* para huir. En 4:1, 2, Jonás da las razones de por qué huía.
* Tarsis. Probablemente esta ciudad sea la antigua Tartesos en el suroeste de España. Según Is 66:19, la ciudad estaba tan lejos de Israel que la gente no había oído el nombre del Señor.
* la presencia del Señor. Jonás sabía muy bien que en realidad era imposible huir…de la presencia del Señor. Sal 139:7–12 expresa dramáticamente la imposibilidad de huir de Dios
* Nínive era una ciudad poderosa y perversa. Desde niño Jonás había aprendido a odiar a los asirios y temer sus atrocidades. Los aborrecía tanto que no quería que recibieran misericordia de Dios. Jonás temía que se arrepintieran (4.2, 3). Su actitud era representativa de la renuencia de Israel a hablar a los demás del amor y la misericordia de Dios, aunque esa era la misión que Dios les había dado (Génesis 12.3). Ellos, como Jonás, no querían que los que no fueran judíos (gentiles) obtuvieran el favor de Dios.
* Jonás sabía que Dios tenía una tarea para él, pero no quería cumplirla. Tarsis puede haber sido uno de los tantos puertos occidentales de Fenicia. Nínive estaba al este. Jonás trató de irse lo más al oeste posible. Cuando Dios nos ordena algo en su Palabra, a veces huimos por temor o terquedad, con la excusa de que Dios nos está pidiendo demasiado. Quizás fue temor, o enojo por la amplitud de la misericordia de Dios, lo que hizo que Jonás huyera. Pero la huida lo metió en problemas peores. Al final, Jonás entendió que es mejor hacer lo que Dios manda. Pero ya había tenido que pagar un alto precio por huir. Es mejor obedecer desde un principio
* Tarsis: Muchos consideran que se trataba de la ciudad de Tartessos, en la costa sudoccidental de España. Como tal, representaba un lugar distante a donde no había llegado aún el conocimiento de Dios. Jonás estaba tratando de escapar de la presencia de Jehová. Esto indica que tenía una visión muy estrecha respecto a la localización de la presencia de Dios, o que quizás pensaba que el Espíritu de profecía no lo seguiría hasta allí. Comenzó su viaje en la ciudad portuaria de Jope, alrededor de 60 km al noroeste de Jerusalén, puerto marítimo de Israel
Key word: “descendio”
Key phrase: “la prescencia de Jehová”
4:10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
4:11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
2347 חוּס [chuwc /khoos/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 626; GK 2571; 24 occurrences; AV translates as “spare” 16 times, “pity” seven times, and “regard” once. 1 (Qal) to pity, have compassion, spare, look upon with compassion
חוּס ḥûs: A verb meaning to show pity or mercy. It is used in the sense that the subject of the verb is not to be concerned or worried about himself or herself, i.e., do not pity yourself (Gen. 45:20). It is used of pitying an object or other person (Deut. 19:21; Ezek. 16:5; Jon. 4:10, 11). The righteous person was to have pity or compassion on the poor (Ps. 72:13). It extends to sparing a person’s life, even an enemy if he were the anointed of the Lord (1 Sam. 24:10[11]). The Lord is said to show no pity to His people (Jer. 13:14 I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.'")
TWOT 626 חוּס (ḥûs) pity, spare. The ASV and RSV translate about the same. The basic meaning of ḥûs is “to look with pity” often with the added nuance “spare.” It refers to the feeling which goes out toward one who is in trouble. It should be distinguished from ḥāmal “to spare,” and rāḥam “to love, have mercy upon,” although the distinctions sometimes fade. The word occurs twenty-four times. This word is used primarily in Deut and the prophets, especially Ezk. The people are told not to feel sorry for murderers (Deut 19:13), those who bear false witness (Deut 19:21), or a woman who seizes the genitals of a man who is engaged in a fight ( Deut 25:12). These all deserve their punishment so must not be spared out of pity. In Deut 13:8 it is used in a negative sense with ḥāmal. Thus God describes how he wants his people to react toward the idolator: let not your eye pity and do not spare; they have earned their reward! So, they were not to feel sorry for the Canaanites (Deut 7:16); they were not to be spared. In Ezk the people are reminded that they received favorable treatment at their birth (as a nation) from God alone who pitied them (ḥûs) and spared them (ḥāmal) from certain destruction (16:5). They are reminded of their subsequent lack of obedient and loving response when they continually engaged in idolatry. Therefore, God intones the judgment of Deut 13:8 [H 9] (Ezk 5:11; 7:9), death. The translations both render ḥûs, as “spare,” and ḥāmal “pity.” But there appears to be no apparent reason for this switch in meaning, especially since Ezekiel’s usages clearly recall Deut 13:8 [H 9] (where both ASV and RSV render ḥûs “pity,” and ḥāmal “spare”). Jeremiah uses ḥûs twice with both ḥāmal and rāḥam; cf. rāḥam. The basic meaning of ḥûs surfaces in Ezk 24:14 where it appears after “go back” and before “repent” apparently being parallel with both. All three are spoken by God who refuses to cancel the coming judgment. So, our word denotes God’s refusal to spare the people out of pity from the anticipated judgment. Similarly in Jon 4:10 God reminds the prophet that he felt sorry for the gourd even as God felt sorry for and spared the creatures (babes and cattle) of Nineveh. Pharaoh tells Joseph’s family to abandon most of their material possessions and not to attach themselves to them emotionally, i.e. have no regard (ḥûs) for them (Gen 45:20). Sometimes ḥûs is hard to distinguish from ḥāmal “to spare,” as in Ezk 20:17 where it is parallel to “I destroyed them not” (cf. Ps 72:13 where it is parallel to “save”). Elsewhere it appears to approach rāḥam, the inner feeling of compassion arising out of a natural bond (or, with God, due to adoption). Cf. Neh 13:22 where God is asked to remember on the basis of ḥûs and lovingkindness.
2571 חוּס (ḥûs): v.; ≡ Str 2347; TWOT 626—1. LN 88.75-88.82 (qal) take pity, show mercy, have compassion, with a focus on sparing or delivering one from a great punishment (Dt 7:16; 13:9[EB 8]; 19:13, 21; 25:12; 1Sa 24:11[EB 10]; Ne 13:22; Ps 72:13; Isa 13:18; Jer 13:14; 21:7; Eze 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:5, 10; 16:5; 20:17; 24:14; Joel 2:17; Jnh 4:10, 11+); 2. LN 30.38 unit: עַיִן ־כֶם אַל חוּס (˓ǎ∙yin -ḵěm ˒ǎl ḥûs) pay no attention, ignore, formally, your eye has no mercy (Ge 45:20+)
2347. חוּס chus (299b); from the same as 2345; to pity, look upon with compassion:— concern*(1), had compassion(1), have compassion(3), have pity(1), have...pity(4), looked with pity(1), pity(6), show pity(2), show...pity(1), sorry(1), spare(2), spared(1)
חוס QAL: 1) Preocuparse por algo, echar de menos (Gén. 45:20). 2) Tener lástima o compasión (Deut. 19:21)
4:2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
4:1,2 Jonah, because of his rejection of Gentiles and distaste for their participation in salvation, was displeased at God’s demonstration of mercy towards the Ninevites, thereby displaying the real reason for his original flight to Tarshish. From the very beginning, Jonah had clearly understood the gracious character of God (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9).
1Tim 2:4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
2Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
He had received pardon, but didn’t want Nineveh to know God’s mercy (a similar attitude in Luke 15:25ff.)
Luke 15:25-32 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 Your brother has come,' he replied, `and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, `Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31 "`My son,' the father said, `you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"
4:2. Out of anger and disgust the prophet rebuked his Lord, saying in essence, ”I know that You are forgiving and now look what has happened!“ Jonah admitted that he fled toward Tarshish because he did not want the Ninevites to be saved from judgment. (He wanted to be delivered from calamity, 2:2, 7, but he did not want the Ninevites to be kept from disaster.) The Ninevites were more ready to accept God’s grace than Jonah was. Jonah, an object of God’s compassion, had no compassion for Nineveh’s people. Jonah knew God is willing to forgive but he did not want his enemies to know it. Their threat of doom (3:4) could be diverted if his hearers turned to his forgiving God. The prophet certainly had a clear grasp of God’s character, as reflected in his near-quotation of Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."] In fact Jonah’s words about God are almost identical with:
Joel 2:13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Neh 9:17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,
Ps 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Ps 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
Ps 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Ps 111:4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
Ps 112:4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
God is gracious (He longs for and favors others) and compassionate (tender in His affection), slow to anger (He does not delight in punishing the wicked; 2Pet 3:9), and abounding in love (ḥeseḏ, ”loyal love, or faithfulness to a covenant“). The psalmists often spoke of God being ”gracious“ and ”compassionate,“ though sometimes in reverse order (Pss. 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 145:8). Jonah also said He knew God relents from sending calamity. The prophet feared that all these attributes of God would be extended toward the despicable, cruel Ninevites—and it happened!
4:2 I know: Jonah himself had experienced the excellencies of God. Gracious and merciful may be rephrased as “marvelously gracious.” Lovingkindness can also mean “loyal love.” This is the same word that Jonah had used in his praise of God in [2:8?]. One who relents from doing harm: In this recital of God’s blessed character, Jonah built on the revelation of the Lord to Moses (Ex. 34:6,7).
slow to anger: (Heb. ˒arek; ˒aph) (4:2; Num. 14:18 `The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation; Prov. 14:29 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.) Strong’s #750; 639: The idiom for anger in the OT translated literally is “the nose burns” or “the nose becomes hot” (Ex. 4:14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you; Gen. 30:2 Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"). The Hebrew idiom for “patient,” or “slow to anger” is literally “long of nose” (Ps. 86:15; 103:8). The nose is symbolic of anger because an angry person breathes heavily or noisily. The Hebrew idiom for slow to anger is frequently applied to God to describe His great mercy and kindness (Ps. 145:8; Joel 2:13).
4:2 oró al Señor. La oración de Jonás refleja su impaciencia y frustración ante lo grande y amplio de la compasión de Dios. El sabía que Dios es clemente y compasivo, y que si los asirios se arrepentían, El extendería su misericordia hacia ellos; pero el profeta no quería tener parte en este proceso. Jonás conocía bien el carácter de Dios (Ex 34:6, 7; Nm 14:18; Neh 9:17; Sal 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Jl 2:13)
I knew that thou art a gracious God. At last the secret was out. Jonah was not ignorant of the character of his God. He had fled to Tarshish not because he was afraid of the Ninevites, but because he did not want them to be saved. He knew that every threat of God was conditional, no matter how stated. God was gracious, meaning that He had the welfare of man upon His heart, and passionately desired to lift him from his sin. Even Jonah’s own nation could not have come into being if God had not been gracious to the children of Israel at the very beginning (Ex 34:6, 7). Any deliverance from slavery, oppression, famine, or destruction is an evidence of God’s gracious love toward man (Isa 30:18), and the Lord forgives sins because He is gracious (Hos 14:2). Merciful. A companion word with gracious, pointing to the love of God which is poured upon the undeserving sinner who repents of his sins. God retains the right to help those who show genuine sorrow for sin and who trust in His kindness. Slow to anger. It is not God’s first wish to punish the wayward. He endures much of man’s wickedness. But when it becomes evident, in any given situation, that men are too proud and headstrong to be guided by easy, agreeable discipline, He begins to teach them the “hard way,” by expressing His displeasure toward sin. Of great kindness. To the prophet, the love of God is so great that he can only multiply phrases in trying to express it. Kindness is a translation of the Hebrew word ḥesed, meaning loyalty to a covenant promise. The expression of kindness is not exhausted when the covenant is broken by the other party, but reaches out after the wayward one to draw him back to an intimate personal relation. God’s kindness is so great that He is glad to put aside judgment so that the penitent sinner may re-enter the covenant relation
4:2 In this verse Jonah shared with the Lord his reason for anger and turmoil. At least Jonah did express this to the Lord in prayer. Instead of complaining about God, he complained to God. However, this prayer was quite unlike Jonah’s prayer in 2:1. Obviously, differing circumstances call for different kinds of prayers. But often differing kinds of prayers suggest varying stages of maturity or serve as an indication of swings in commitment. In this prayer we find a reversion to the “old Jonah” who ran away from God’s stated wish. The prayer begins with a particle of entreaty, but the petition does not appear until the end. The selfishness of this prayer needs to be noted. The word “I” or “my” occurs no fewer than nine times in the original. Not only does this prayer show an extreme selfishness, but it also indicates Jonah’s shortsightedness. As stated in the prayer, he had already told the Lord what he dreaded, and yet the Lord, by his action, had brought it about. This was a grave offense to Jonah. He presumptuously felt that the Lord should have shaped his course according to his (Jonah’s) mind. Jonah did not want God to do what was right and proper according to his merciful nature. Instead of bestowing upon Nineveh the kind of grace God had granted to Israel, Jonah wished the Ninevites’ destruction without any chance to repent. It is easier to assume that God is with “us” more than he is with our foes. The natural tendency of Jonah and his readers would have been to presume that God could never be “on the side” of the Ninevites. Jonah audaciously stated, in essence, “I told you so.” Then he acted as though this was sufficient to excuse his running to Tarshish. The second half of v. 2 rehearses God’s compassionate nature. In this segment Jonah went on to argue with God by complaining about God’s goodness! To Jonah the most recent occurrences in Nineveh seemed a theological embarrassment and a divine faux pas. In this sarcastic complaint Jonah cited an ancient formula that is basically a quotation of Exod 34:6–7. The wording used here is descriptive of God’s character.
First, God is seen as a “gracious” (ḥannûn) God. This word communicates the attitude of the Lord toward those who are undeserving, thereby expressing benevolence in the ultimate sense. Second, the next word used to describe God is the word “compassionate” (raḥûm). This word is translated in many ways and can mean “loving” or “merciful.” It also expresses the understanding and loving compassion of a mother to her child, hence the idea of understanding and loving favor.
Third, God is also described as “slow to anger” (˒erek ˒appayim). This speaks to the patience and longsuffering of the Lord. Nineveh was the obvious recipient of this characteristic of the Lord. Fourth, the next phrase used to describe God in this segment is “abounding in love” (rab ḥesed). The word ḥesed refers to the covenant love of God. This attribute expresses itself in redemption from sin. It encompasses the qualities of kindness, loyalty, and unfailing love. No one term in English adequately and accurately expresses the meaning of ḥesed.
Fifth, this this covenant love issues itself in God’s being “a God who relents [niḥam] from sending calamity” (rā˓â).
Amazingly, Jonah did not use these words in praise to the Lord but as a tirade against him.
This verse is an extremely disturbing one. It indicates that while Jonah had become obedient, he still lacked a spirit of submission. Lest we judge Jonah too harshly, we should remember the common frailty of murmuring against God’s sovereign will. Throughout the pages of history, believers have stood in direct opposition to God’s revealed will and sought the implementation of their own wishes.
4:2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
TCWSOT
“KNEW”
3045. יָדַע yāḏa˓: A verb meaning to know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, to experience, to confess, to consider, to know people relationally, to know how, to be skillful, to be made known, to make oneself known, to make to know. The simple meaning, to know, is its most common translation out of the eight hundred or more uses. One of the primary uses means to know relationally and experientially: it refers to knowing or not knowing persons (Gen. 29:5; Ex. 1:8) personally or by reputation (Job 19:13). The word also refers to knowing a person sexually (Gen. 4:1; 19:5; 1 Kgs. 1:4). It may even describe knowing or not knowing God or foreign gods (Ex. 5:2; Deut. 11:28; Hos. 2:20[22]; 8:2), but it especially signifies knowing what to do or think in general, especially with respect to God (Isa. 1:3; 56:10). One of its most important uses is depicting God’s knowledge of people: The Lord knows their hearts entirely (Ex. 33:12; 2 Sam. 7:20; Ps. 139:4; Jer. 17:9; Hos. 5:3); God knows the suffering of His people (Ex. 2:25), and He cares.
The word also describes knowing various other things: when Adam and Eve sinned, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:22); knowing nothing (1 Sam. 20:39); and knowing the way of wisdom (Job 28:23). One could know by observation (1 Sam. 23:22, 23), as when Israel and Pharaoh came to know God through the plagues He brought on Egypt (Ex. 10:2). People knew by experience (Josh. 23:14) that God kept His promises; this kind of experience could lead to knowing by confession (Jer. 3:13; 14:20). Persons could be charged to know what they were about to do (Judg. 18:14) or what the situation implied (1 Kgs. 20:7) so they would be able to discriminate between right and wrong, good and bad, what was not proper or advantageous (Deut. 1:39; 2 Sam. 19:35[36]). The word describes different aspects of knowing in its other forms. In the passive forms, it describes making something or someone known. The most famous illustration is Exodus 6:3 when God asserted to Moses that He did not make himself known to the fathers as Yahweh.
דָּעָה, יָדַע [yada` /yaw·dah/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 848; GK 1977 and 3359; 947 occurrences; AV translates as “know” 645 times, “known” 105 times, “knowledge” 19 times, “perceive” 18 times, “shew” 17 times, “tell” eight times, “wist” seven times, “understand” seven times, “certainly” seven times, “acknowledge” six times, “acquaintance” six times, “consider” six times, “declare” six times, “teach” five times, and translated miscellaneously 85 times. 1 to know. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to know. 1a1a to know, learn to know. 1a1b to perceive. 1a1c to perceive and see, find out and discern. 1a1d to discriminate, distinguish. 1a1e to know by experience. 1a1f to recognise, admit, acknowledge, confess. 1a1g to consider. 1a2 to know, be acquainted with. 1a3 to know (a person carnally). 1a4 to know how, be skilful in. 1a5 to have knowledge, be wise. 1b (Niphal). 1b1 to be made known, be or become known, be revealed. 1b2 to make oneself known. 1b3 to be perceived. 1b4 to be instructed. 1c (Piel) to cause to know. 1d (Poal) to cause to know. 1e (Pual). 1e1 to be known. 1e2 known, one known, acquaintance (participle). 1f (Hiphil) to make known, declare. 1g (Hophal) to be made known. 1h (Hithpael) to make oneself known, reveal oneself.
“GRACIOUS”
2587. חַנּוּן ḥannûn: An adjective meaning gracious, merciful. This word is used solely as a descriptive term of God. The Lord used this word when He revealed Himself to Moses (Ex. 34:6), as One who is, above all else, merciful and abounding in compassion (Ps. 86:15; 103:8). Elsewhere, it expresses the Lord’s response to the cry of the oppressed (Ex. 22:27[26]); His treatment of those that reverence Him (Ps. 111:4; 112:4); His attitude toward those who repent (Joel 2:13); His mercy in the face of rebellion (Neh. 9:17, 31; Jon. 4:2); and His leniency toward His people in the midst of judgment (2 Chr. 30:9)
Enhanced Strong's Lexicon: 2587 חַנּוּן [channuwn /khan·noon/] adj. From 2603; TWOT 694d; GK 2843; 13 occurrences; AV translates as “gracious” 13 times. 1 gracious.
COMPASSIONATE
7349. רַחוּם raḥûm: An adjective meaning compassionate, merciful. It indicates a merciful and forgiving character and attitude. It is an important word defining the character of God, and every use is in reference to God. It is part of the moral definition of God given in Exodus 34:6 (Deut. 4:31; Ps. 78:38; 86:15; 103:8). It is used in the phrase ḥannûn weraḥûm, gracious and compassionate (2 Chr. 30:9; Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps. 111:4; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2).
רַחוּם [rachuwm /rakh·oom/] adj. From 7355; TWOT 2146c; GK 8157; 13 occurrences; AV translates as “merciful” eight times, and “compassion” five times. 1 compassionate. 1a always of God with one possible exception.
This root refers to deep love (usually of a “superior” for an “inferior”) rooted in some “natural” bond. In the Piel it is used for the deep inward feeling we know variously as compassion, pity, mercy. Probably rāḥam is related to Akkadian rêmu (cf. Ugaritic rḥm, G. Schmuttermayr, “RHM—Eine lexikalische Studie,” Bib 51:499ff.). This root is to be distinguished in emphasis from ḥûs and ḥāmal. Sometimes ḥānēn is rendered “mercy” with emphasis on the graciousness with which such is extended. This verb and its derivatives occur 133 times.
rāḥam is used infrequently (twelve of forty-seven times) of men. It is used only once in the Qal when the Psalmist confesses his love for Jehovah (18:1 [H 2]). The depth of this love is shown by the connection of this word with reḥem/raḥam. Compare. Isaiah (49:15) who uses it of a mother’s love toward her nursing baby. It can also refer to a father’s love (Ps 103:13). Apparently. this verb connotes the feeling of mercy which men have for each other by virtue of the fact that they are human beings (Jer 50:42) and which is most easily prompted by small babies (Isa 13:18) or other helpless people. It is this natural mercy for the helpless that Israel’s and Babylon’s enemies will lack in their cruelty (Isa 13:18; Jer 6:23), although God may give Israel’s enemies such feeling (compassion) (I Kgs 8:50; Jer 42:12). Indeed, the prophets (Isa 13:18) conjoin ḥûs (the feeling which flows from one to another), ḥāmal (the strength of feeling which leads one to action in behalf of another, i.e. to spare them some difficulty), and rāḥam (the deep inner feeling based on some “natural” bond) when describing what Babylon (Jer 21:7) and God (Jer 13:14) will lack toward Israel. This root is frequently used of God. It incorporates two concepts: first, the strong tie God has with those whom he has called as his children (Ps 103:13). God looks upon his own as a father looks upon his children; he has pity on them (cf. Mic 7:17). The second concept is that of God’s unconditioned choice (ḥānēn, grace). God tells Moses that he is gracious and merciful to whomever he chooses (Ex 33:19). There are several ideas attached to God’s deep, tender love: first, the unconditional election of God (Ex 33:19); next, his mercy and forgiveness toward his people in the face of deserved judgment and upon the condition of their repentance (Deut 13:17 [H 18]); also, God’s continuing mercy and grace in preserving his unrepentant people from judgment (II Kgs 13:23). Thus this attribute becomes the basis in part of an eschatological hope (cf. Isa 14:1; 49:13; 54:7; Jer 12:15; 33:26; Ezk 34:25; Mic 7:19; Zech 1:16). It is noteworthy that Deuteronomy (30:3) prophesies the exile because of Israel’s sin, stipulating that repentance will meet with God’s tender compassion. So we read of the withdrawal of God’s mercy resulting in harsh judgment at the hands of Babylon (Isa 9:17 [H 16]; 27:11; Hos 2:4 [H 6]). During the exile Israel’s leaders encouraged the people with God’s electing love and tender-mercy (Lam 3:32), and led them in humbling themselves in repentance, calling upon God to reinstate his fatherlike compassion (Zech 1:12). The restitution of the father-son relationship and the return from the exile witnesses this accompanying loving care (Hos 2:23 [H 25]). Scripture makes it certain that the exile was brought by God and terminated by God (Ezk 39:25) according to his sovereign providence (Isa 30:18; cf. E. J. Young, The Bool of Isaiah, II, p. 353f.). Finally, the prophets’ message regarding the return from the exile opens onto a permanent state where the father-son relationship will never be broken (Hos 2:23 [H 25]; Isa 54:8, 10).
SLOW to ANGER
750. אָרֵךְ ˒ārēḵ: An adjective meaning long, drawn out, or slow. This word primarily describes feelings pertaining to a person: either being slow of temper or patient. In wisdom literature, the person who is patient and does not anger quickly is extolled as a person of understanding (Prov. 14:29; Eccl. 7:8). When used to describe God, the Hebrew word means slow to anger and is immediately contrasted with God’s great love, faithfulness, and power, demonstrating His true nature and His long-suffering (Ex. 34:6). Also, this Hebrew word is used of an eagle’s long pinions or feathers (Ezek. 17:3).
750 אָרֵךְ, אֶרֶךְ [’arek /aw·rake/] adj. From 748; TWOT 162b; GK 800 and 803; 15 occurrences; AV translates as “slow” nine times, “longsuffering + 639” four times, “longwinged + 83” once, and “patient” once. 1 long (pinions). 2 patient, slow to anger.
639. אַף ˒ap̱: A masculine noun meaning nose, nostril, and anger. These meanings are used together in an interesting wordplay in Proverbs 30:33. This word may, by extension, refer to the whole face, particularly in the expression, to bow one’s face to the ground (Gen. 3:19; 19:1; 1 Sam. 24:8[9]). To have length of nose is to be slow to wrath; to have shortness of nose is to be quick tempered (Prov. 14:17, 29; Jer. 15:14, 15). This Hebrew term is often intensified by being paired with another word for anger or by associating it with various words for burning (Num. 22:27; Deut. 9:19; Jer. 4:8; 7:20). Human anger is almost always viewed negatively with only a few possible exceptions (Ex. 32:19; 1 Sam. 11:6; Prov. 27:4). The anger of the Lord is a frequent topic in the Old Testament. The Old Testament describes how God is reluctant to exercise His anger and how fierce His anger is (Ex. 4:14; 34:6; Ps. 30:5[6]; 78:38; Jer. 51:45).
639 אַף, אַפַּיִם [’aph /af/] n m. From 599; TWOT 133a; GK 678 and 690; 276 occurrences; AV translates as “anger” 172 times, “wrath” 42 times, “face” 22 times, “nostrils” 13 times, “nose” 12 times, “angry” four times, “longsuffering + 750” four times, “before” twice, “countenance” once, “forbearing” once, “forehead” once, “snout” once, and “worthy” once. 1 nostril, nose, face. 2 anger.
אַף (˒ap). Nostril, face, anger. The term ˒ap in Hebrew refers first of all to a part of the body, specifically the nose, nostril, (snout of pigs, Prov 11:22) and also face (II Sam 25:23) or countenance (cf. UT 19: no. 264, an opening of the body, or possibly the body itself, e.g., nose, nipple). It is considered a vital part of the body. God made man a living being by breathing into his nose/nostrils (Gen 2:7). The nose, although referred to as the organ for smelling (Deut 33:10) or a place for ornaments (Isa 3:21) or for hooks by which to lead captives (II Kgs 19:28), is also spoken of as an organ necessary if a man’s or animal’s life is to continue (Isa 2:22). By the act of breathing, emotions can be expressed. Perhaps it was observed that the nose dilates in anger. God is said to be “˒erek ˒appayim” (lit. “long of anger,” i.e. long before getting angry) in such passages as Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Ps 86:15; Neh 9:17. The thought is that God takes a long, deep breath as he holds his anger in abeyance. A ruler is said to be persuaded by a display of forbearance, patience, i.e. “the long of breath” (Prov 25:15). The main use of ˒ap is to refer to the anger of men and of God. This anger is expressed in the appearance of the nostrils. ˒ap gives specific emphasis to the emotional aspect of anger and wrath, whereas its synonyms and terms related to them give particular expression to other aspects. The anger of God is particularly related to the sin of his people, which pains and deeply displeases him (II Kgs 13:3). Sin offends and wounds his love. The emotional response to this is divine anger. This anger, though fierce (Jer 25:37) is not sinful, evil, or the source of capricious attitudes or deeds. However, it is expressed in chastisement (Ps 6:1 [H 2]; Isa 12:1) and punishment (II Sam 6:7; Jer 44:6). Man’s anger can be legitimate (II Sam 12:5). But the ot Scriptures warn that anger can be outrageous (Prov 27:4) and, stirs up strife (Prov 29:22). In contrast, it is said that the man slow to anger appeases strife (Prov 15:18) and a wise man turns from it (Prov 29:8).
ABOUNDING in LOVE (hesed)
2617. חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ: A masculine noun indicating kindness, lovingkindness, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, acts of kindness. This aspect of God is one of several important features of His character: truth; faithfulness; mercy; steadfastness; justice; righteousness; goodness. The classic text for understanding the significance of this word is Psalm 136 where it is used twenty-six times to proclaim that God’s kindness and love are eternal. The psalmist made it clear that God’s kindness and faithfulness serves as the foundation for His actions and His character: it underlies His goodness (Ps. 136:1); it supports His unchallenged position as God and Lord (Ps. 136:2, 3); it is the basis for His great and wondrous acts in creation (Ps. 136:4–9) and delivering and redeeming His people from Pharaoh and the Red Sea (Ps. 136:10–15); the reason for His guidance in the desert (Ps. 136:16); His gift of the land to Israel and defeat of their enemies (Ps. 136:17–22); His ancient as well as His continuing deliverance of His people (Ps. 136:23–25); His rulership in heaven (Ps. 136:26). The entire span of creation to God’s redemption, preservation, and permanent establishment is touched upon in this psalm. It all happened, is happening, and will continue to happen because of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and kindness. The other more specific uses of the term develop the ideas contained in Psalm 136 in greater detail. Because of His kindness, He meets the needs of His creation by delivering them from enemies and despair (Gen. 19:19; Ex. 15:13; Ps. 109:26; Jer. 31:3); He preserves their lives and redeems them from sin (Ps. 51:1[3]; 86:13). As Psalm 136 demonstrates, God’s kindness is abundant, exceedingly great, without end, and good (Ex. 34:6; Num. 14:19; Ps. 103:8; 109:21; Jer. 33:11). The plural of the noun indicates the many acts of God on behalf of His people (Gen. 32:10[11]; Isa. 63:7). He is the covenant-keeping God who maintains kindness and mercy (Deut. 7:9) to those who love Him. People are to imitate God. They are to display kindness and faithfulness toward each other (1 Sam. 20:15; Ps. 141:5; Prov. 19:22), especially toward the poor, weak, and needy (Job 6:14; Prov. 20:28). Israel was to show kindness and faithfulness toward the Lord but often failed. In its youth, Israel showed faithfulness to God, but its devotion lagged later (Jer. 2:2). It was not constant (Hos. 6:4), appearing and leaving as the morning mist even though God desired this from His people more than sacrifices (Hos. 6:6; cf. 1 Sam 15:22). He looked for pious people (Isa. 57:1) who would perform deeds of piety, faithfulness, and kindness (2 Chr. 32:32; 35:26; Neh. 13:14); the Lord desired people who would maintain covenant loyalty and responsibility so that He could build His righteous community.
3045 דָּעָה, יָדַע [yada` /yaw·dah/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 848; GK 1977 and 3359; 947 occurrences; AV translates as “know” 645 times, “known” 105 times, “knowledge” 19 times, “perceive” 18 times, “shew” 17 times, “tell” eight times, “wist” seven times, “understand” seven times, “certainly” seven times, “acknowledge” six times, “acquaintance” six times, “consider” six times, “declare” six times, “teach” five times, and translated miscellaneously 85 times. 1 to know. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to know. 1a1a to know, learn to know. 1a1b to perceive. 1a1c to perceive and see, find out and discern. 1a1d to discriminate, distinguish. 1a1e to know by experience. 1a1f to recognise, admit, acknowledge, confess. 1a1g to consider. 1a2 to know, be acquainted with. 1a3 to know (a person carnally). 1a4 to know how, be skilful in. 1a5 to have knowledge, be wise. 1b (Niphal). 1b1 to be made known, be or become known, be revealed. 1b2 to make oneself known. 1b3 to be perceived. 1b4 to be instructed. 1c (Piel) to cause to know. 1d (Poal) to cause to know. 1e (Pual). 1e1 to be known. 1e2 known, one known, acquaintance (participle). 1f (Hiphil) to make known, declare. 1g (Hophal) to be made known. 1h (Hithpael) to make oneself known, reveal oneself.
For centuries the word ḥesed was translated with words like mercy, kindness, love. The LXX usually uses eleos “mercy,” and the Latin misericordia.
The word “lovingkindness” of the KJV is archaic, but not far from the fulness of meaning of the word.
RELENTS from sending CALAMITY
5162. נָחַם nāḥam: A verb meaning to be sorry, to pity, to comfort, to avenge. The verb often means to be sorry or to regret: the Lord was sorry that He had made people (Gen. 6:6); He led Israel in a direction to avoid war when they left Egypt, lest they became so sorry and grieved that they would turn back (Ex. 13:17). The Lord had compassion on His people (i.e., He became sorry for them because of the oppression their enemies placed on them [Judg. 2:18]). While the Lord could be grieved, He did not grieve or become sorry so that He changed His mind as a human does (1 Sam. 15:29). The word also means to comfort or console oneself. Isaac was comforted after Sarah, his mother, died (Gen. 24:67).
The verb always means to console or comfort. Jacob refused to be comforted when he believed that Joseph had been killed (Gen. 37:35). To console is synonymous with showing kindness to someone, as when David consoled Hanun, king of the Ammonites, over the death of his father (2 Sam. 10:2). God refused to be consoled over the destruction of His people (Isa. 22:4; 40:1); yet He comforts those who need it (Ps. 119:82; Isa. 12:1). The passive form of the word means to be comforted: the afflicted city of Zion would be comforted by the Lord (Isa. 54:11; 66:13). In the reflexive stem, it can mean to get revenge for oneself (Gen. 27:42; Ezek. 5:13); to let oneself be sorry or have compassion (Num. 23:19; Deut. 32:36); and to let oneself be comforted (Gen. 37:35; Ps. 119:52).
5162 נָחַם [nacham /naw·kham/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 1344; GK 5714; 108 occurrences; AV translates as “comfort” 57 times, “repent” 41 times, “comforter” nine times, and “ease” once. 1 to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted. 1a (Niphal). 1a1 to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion. 1a2 to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent. 1a3 to comfort oneself, be comforted. 1a4 to comfort oneself, ease oneself. 1b (Piel) to comfort, console. 1c (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled. 1d (Hithpael). 1d1 to be sorry, have compassion. 1d2 to rue, repent of. 1d3 to comfort oneself, be comforted. 1d4 to ease oneself.
The origin of the root seems to reflect the idea of “breathing deeply,” hence the physical display of one’s feelings, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort. The root occurs in Ugaritic (see “to console” in UT 19: no. 1230) and is found in ot proper names such as Nehemiah, Nahum, and Menehem. The LXX renders nḥm by both metanoeō and metamelomai. The KJV translates the Niphal of nḥm “repent” thirty-eight times. The majority of these instances refer to God’s repentance, not man’s. The word most frequently employed to indicate man’s repentance is šûb (q.v.), meaning “to turn” (from sin to God). Unlike man, who under the conviction of sin feels genuine remorse and sorrow, God is free from sin. Yet the Scriptures inform us that God repents (Gen 6:6–7: Ex 32:14; Jud 2:18; I Sam 15:11 et al.), i.e. he relents or changes his dealings with men according to his sovereign purposes. On the surface, such language seems inconsistent, if not contradictory, with certain passages which affirm God’s immutability: “God is not a man … that he should repent” (I Sam 15:29 contra v. I I); “The lord has sworn and will not change his mind” (Ps 110:4). When nāḥam is used of God, however, the expression is anthropopathic and there is not ultimate tension. From man’s limited, earthly, finite perspective it only appears that God’s purposes have changed. Thus the ot states that God “repented” of the judgments or “evil” which he had planned to carry out (I Chr 21:15; Jer 18:8; 26:3, 19; Amos 7:3, 6; Jon 3:10). Certainly Jer 18:7–10 is a striking reminder that from God’s perspective, most prophecy (excluding messianic predictions) is conditional upon the response of men. In this regard, A. J. Heschel (The Prophets, p. 194) has said, “No word is God’s final word. Judgment, far from being absolute, is conditional. A change in man’s conduct brings about a change in God’s judgment.” The second primary meaning of nāḥam is “to comfort” (Piel) or “to be comforted” (Niphal, Pual, and Hithpael). This Hebrew word was well known to every pious Jew living in exile as he recalled the opening words of Isaiah’s “Book of Consolation,” naḥămû naḥămû ˓ammı̂ “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people” (Isa 40:1). The same word occurs in Ps 23:4, where David says of his heavenly Shepherd, “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” Many passages. however, deal with being comforted for the dead (II Sam 10:2; I Chr 19:2; Isa 61:2; Jer 16:7; 31:15). People were consoled for a death of an infant child (II Sam 12:24), teenage son (Gen 37:35), mother (Gen 24:67), wife (Gen 38:12) et al. A mother might comfort her child (Isa 66:13) but it is God who comforts his people (Ps 71:21; 86:17; 119:82; Isa 12:1; 49:13; 52:9). God’s “compassion (niḥûm, a derivative of nḥm) grows warm and tender” for Israel (Hos 11:8)
CALAMITY [evil]
9567 (7463a). raah (949a); from the same as 07455 ; evil, misery, distress, injury :-- adversity(7), afflictions(1),calamities(1), calamity(47), disaster(19), discomfort(1), distress(2), distresses(1), evil(115), evildoer*(1), evildoing(1), evils(5), great wickedness(1), harm(19), hurt(5), ill(1), injure(2), misery(2), misfortune(6), misfortunes(1), pain(1), situation(1), sorrow(m)(1), trouble(9), troubles(1), very*(1), wicked(3), wicked deeds(1), wickedly(1), wickedness(39), woe(1), wretchedness(1), wrong(4), wrongdoing(1).
07451 ra` {rah}from 07489; TWOT - 2191a,2191c AV - evil 442, wickedness 59, wicked 25, mischief 21, hurt 20, bad 13, trouble 10, sore 9, affliction 6, ill 5, adversity 4, favoured 3, harm 3, naught 3, noisome 2, grievous 2, sad 2, misc 34; 663 Adj
The Targum and Syriac use frequently a cognate of ṭob. The root is not found in Akkadian or Ugaritic. The lexicons up through BDB and GB (which said Liebe, Gunst, Gnade, love, goodness, grace) are similar. KB however is the “mutual liability of those … belonging together.” In 1927 Nelson Glueck, shortly preceded by I. Elbogen, published a doctoral dissertation in German translated into English by A. Gottschalk, Hesed in the Bible with an introduction by G. A. LaRue which is a watershed in the discussion. His views have been widely accepted. In brief, Glueck built on the growing idea that Israel was bound to its deity by covenants like the Hittite and other treaties. He held that God is pictured as dealing basically in this way with Israel. The Ten Commandments, etc. were stipulations of the covenant, Israel’s victories were rewards of covenant keeping, her apostasy was covenant violation and God’s hesed was not basically mercy, but loyalty to his covenant obligations, a loyalty which the Israelites should also show. He was followed substantially by W. F. Lofthouse (1933), N. H. Snaith (1944), H. W. Robinson (1946), Ugo Masing (1954), and many others. There were others, however, who disagreed. F. Assension (1949) argued for mercy, basing his views on the ot versions. H. J. Stoebe (doctoral dissertation 1951, also articles in 1952 VT and in THAT) argued for good-heartedness, kindness. Sidney Hills and also Katherine D. Sakenfeld (The Meaning of Ḥesed in the Hebrew Bible, a Nevi Inquiry), held in general that ḥesed denotes free acts of rescue or deliverance which in prophetic usage includes faithfulness. For this historical survey and references see Sakenfeld pp. 1–13 (hereafter called Sak.); also LaRue in the book by Glueck (here called G.) The writer would stress that the theological difference is considerable whether the Ten Commandments are stipulations to a covenant restricted to Israel to which God remains true and to which he demands loyalty, or whether they are eternal principles stemming from God’s nature and his creation to which all men are obligated and according to which God will judge in justice or beyond that will show love, mercy and kindness.
On the meaning of our word ḥesed it is convenient to start, as G. and Sak. have done, with the secular usage, i.e. between man and man. Glueck argues that ḥesed is practiced in an ethically binding relationship of relatives, hosts, allies, friends and rulers. It is fidelity to covenantal obligations real or implied. Sakenfeld goes over the same material and concludes that indeed a relationship is present (love almost necessitates a subject-object relation) but that the ḥesed is freely given. “Freedom of decision” is essential. The help is vital, someone is in a position to help, the helper does so in his own freedom and this “is the central feature in all the texts” (p. 45). Glueck certainly seems to find obligation where there is none. Stoebe gives an extensive treatment of ḥesed in THAT (pp. 599–622) and remarks (p. 607) that I Kgs is an instance where ḥesed is unexpected. Benhaded was defeated. He could claim no obligation. He hoped for mercy, kindness. Stoebe cites the men of Jabesh also (II Sam 2:5). Saul had died in defeat. The care of Saul’s body seems clearly to have been a free act of kindness. Also Laban’s willingness to send Rebekah to Isaac was not from any covenant obligation (though G. cites the appeal to providence in v. 50). It was a kindness to a long-lost relative. He could easily have said “no.” The beautiful story of Ruth is tarnished by considering Ruth’s action as motivated by contractual obligations. The Lord had no obligation to get the widows new husbands in Moab (1:8–9). Ruth went with Naomi from pure love. Boaz recognized her action as goodness in 2:11–12 and calls it ḥesed in 3:10. Even Glueck inclined toward kindness here. The action of Rahab was kindness (Josh 2:12). Her loyalty would naturally and legally be to her king and city. The angels in Gen 19:19 were hardly bound by covenant obligation—or any obligation—to Lot. Indeed the basis of their action is said in v. 16 to have been their compassion (cf. Isa 63:9). In Gen 21:23 Abimelech cites his previous ḥesed as grounds for making the covenant with Abraham which required further ḥesed. Glueck makes something of I Sam 20:8, 14, 15 where David and Jonathan swore friendship. This covenant, says G. was the basis of the ḥesed. Here, perhaps, is G’s major mistake. He forgets that covenants arise on the basis of a relationship and that the obligations are often deeper than the covenant. Verse 17 shows that Jonathan’s love moved him to make the covenant. When Jonathan died, David lamented for him out of love, not obligation (II Sam 1:26). David’s ḥesed to Saul’s house is said to be for the sake of Jonathan, not because of a legal obligation (II Sam 9:1, 3, 7). Glueck seems to miss the mark widely when he says it was neither grace nor mercy; it was brotherliness required by covenantal loyalty. Such a view has failed to see the depth of David’s character. Stoebe calls it the spontaneous proof of a cordial friendly attitude (herzlich freundlich Gesinnung). Other examples must be omitted, but they are similar. All parties agree that in Est 2:9, 17 the word is used of favor, kindness, but some try to make this usage unusual being post-exilic. When we come to the ḥesed of God, the problem is that of course God was in covenant relation with the patriarchs and with Israel. Therefore his ḥesed can be called covenant ḥesed without contradiction. But by the same token God’s righteousness, judgment, fidelity, etc. could be called covenant judgment, etc. The question is, do the texts ascribe his ḥesed to his covenants or to his everlasting love’? Is not ḥesed as Dom Sorg observed (see Bibliography) really the ot reflex of “God is love”? A prominent early usage is in God’s declaration of his own character: Ex 20:6 parallel to Deut 5:10 and also Ex 34:6–7. These passages are discussed by G., Sak. and Stoebe from the viewpoint of documentary division first. But aside from this Sak. emphasizes the freedom of God’s ḥesed. in all these passages. She notes the proximity to words for mercy in Ex 34:6–7 and remarks that it is “this aspect of God’s ḥesed (as his mercy) which takes on greater importance in exilic and postexilic writing”—of which she envisions a good bit—(p. 119). However, she considers Ex 20 and Deut 5 as in a “covenantal context” (p. 131) and holds that “those who are loyal (loving) will receive ḥesed while those who are disloyal (hating) will be punished” (p. 131). She is led into this covenantal emphasis by the prior idea that since secular treaties speak of love, brotherhood and friendship between suzerain and vassal, that therefore these are covenant words and show that a covenant was at least implied. This view forgets that love is a covenant word because kings borrowed it from general use to try to render covenants effective. They tried to make the vassal promise to act like a brother, friend and husband. It does not follow that God’s love is merely a factor in a covenant; rather the covenant is the sign and expression of his love. McCarthy more acceptably says, “the form of the Sinai story in Ex 19–24 which is reflected in the text without later additions does not bear out the contention that the story reflects an organization according to covenant form.” His view is that the power and glory of Yahweh and the ceremonies conducted effected the union “more than history, oath, threat and promise” (McCarthy, D. J., Treaty and Covenant, Pontif. Bib. Inst., ed. of 1963, p. 163). The text itself of Ex 20 and Deut 5 simply says that God’s love (ḥesed) to those who love him (˒āhab) is the opposite of what he will show to those who hate him. The context of these commands is surely God’s will for all mankind, although his special care, indeed his covenant, is with Israel. That ḥesed refers only to this covenant and not to the eternal divine kindness back of it, however, is a fallacious assumption. The text of Ex 34:6–7 is fuller and more solemn, coming as it does after the great apostasy. It was a tender revelation of God’s self to Moses. Sakenfeld is right here “that forgiveness must always have been latent [at least!] in the theological usage of ḥesed” even before the exile (p. 119). The association with divine mercy is surely patent in the words and in the context of the occasion of the apostasy. The word raḥûm with its overtones of mother love, and ḥannûn “grace” combined with the phrase “slow to anger” all emphasize the character of God who is love. He is great in ḥesed and ˒emet (of which more later). He keeps ḥesed for thousands which is immediately related to forgiveness of sin. That all this simply says that God keeps his oath seems trivial. The oath is kept because it is the loving God who speaks the oath. Sakenfeld nicely brings together the several passages dependent on Ex 34:6–7. They are: Num 14:18–19; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 103:8; 145:8 (cf. 9 and 10); Joel 2:13; and Jon 4:2. Of these passages, only Ps 86:15 includes the word ˒emet after ḥesed. They all speak of the love of the Lord and some mention his forgiveness. None specifically ground the ḥesed in covenant.
The phrase ḥesed and ˒emet “truth” mentioned above is thought by some to argue for the concept of loyalty or fidelity in ḥesed. It occurs some twenty-five times with about seven more in less close connection. Most agree it is a hendiadys and one noun serves to describe the other. Therefore the phrase means “faithful love” or “true kindness” or the like. Kindness and faithfulness is a fair equivalent hendiadys in English. The combination hardly seems to further the idea of fidelity to a covenant in the word ḥesed. If the term already meant that, why would the qualifier “faithful” be added? Usually, as in the usage of ḥesed alone, there is no covenant expressed to which fidelity is due. It is alleged in I Kgs 3:3, but although God’s ḥesed to David in making his son king was indeed according to covenant; it was also according to his love which lay back of his covenant. The text does not ascribe it to covenant loyalty. Stoebe points out in Ps 89 that the covenant of v. 3 is based on the ḥesed of v. 2 [H 4 and 3] (THAT, p. 615). Another pair of nouns is covenant, bĕrı̂t, and ḥesed used seven times with some other instances of use in near contexts. The main instance is Deut 7:9, 12 which has echoes in I Kgs 8:23; II Chr 6:14; Neh 1:5; 9:32; and Dan 9:4. It itself is called by Stoebe (THAT, p. 616) a paraphrase of Ex 34:6. He remarks that Deut 7:8 already bases all God’s favor on his love. If this pair be translated “covenantal love” or “covenant and love,” it should be remembered that the love is back of the covenant. This point is illustrated by Jer 2:2 where the ḥesed of Israel’s youth is likened to the love of a bride. The love of a bride is the basis of the promise, not the result. It should be mentioned that ḥesed is also paired about fifteen times with nouns of mercy like raḥûm, e.g. Ps 103:4; Zech 7:9 (and cf. Ex 34:6–7 above), ḥēn, e.g. Gen 19:19; Ps 109:12, tanḥûm, Ps 94:18–19, etc. These instances usually stand as paired nouns not really in an adjectival relation. The implication is that ḥesed is one of the words descriptive of the love of God. So, it is obvious that God was in covenant relation with Israel, also that he expressed this relation in ḥesed, that God’s ḥesed was eternal (Note the refrain of Ps 136)—though the ḥesed of Ephraim and others was not (Hos 6:4). However, it is by no means clear that ḥesed necessarily involves a covenant or means fidelity to a covenant. Stoebe argues that it refers to an attitude as well as to actions. This attitude is parallel to love, raḥûm goodness, ṭôb, etc. It is a kind of love, including mercy, ḥannûn, when the object is in a pitiful state. It often takes verbs of action, “do,” “keep,” and so refers to acts of love as well as to the attribute.
Matt.21:28 "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, `Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 29 "`I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, `I will, sir,' but he did not go. 31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Jonah 1:1 The word of the LORD [Yhvh] came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God [elohim] of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God [elohim]
Jonah 2:3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."
Jonah 3: 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.
7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered.
8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
LAST WEEK (CHAPTER 1 SERMON)
Chapter 1 -
What is the Book of Jonah about? Well, it’s not simply about a great fish (mentioned only four times), or a great city (named nine times), or even a disobedient prophet (mentioned eighteen times). It’s about God! God is mentioned thirty-eight times in these four short chapters, The Book of Jonah is about the will of God and how we respond to it. It’s also about the love of God and how we share it with others. In these first two chapters, Jonah has three experiences.
Jonah (meaning “dove
According to 2 Kin. 14:25, Jonah came from Gath-hepher near Nazareth. The context places him during the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (ca. 793–758 b.c.), making him a prophet to the northern tribes just prior to Amos during the first half of the eighth century b.c., ca. 760 b.c.
Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and infamous for its cruelty, was an historical nemesis of Israel and Judah. The focus of this book is on that Gentile city, which was founded by Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah (Gen. 10:6–12). Perhaps the largest city in the ancient world (1:2; 3:2,3; 4:11), it was nevertheless destroyed about 150 years after the repentance of the generation in the time of Jonah’s visit (612 b.c.), as Nahum prophesied (Nah. 1:1ff.).
The book of Jonah reveals God’s sovereign rule over man and all creation.
Matt. 12:38–41; Luke 11:29–32). The heathen city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of a reluctant prophet, but the Pharisees would not repent at the preaching of the greatest of all prophets, in spite of overwhelming evidence that He was actually their Lord and Messiah. Jonah is a picture of Israel, who was chosen and commissioned by God to be His witness (Is. 43:10–12; 44:8), who rebelled against His will (Ex. 32:1–4; Judg. 2:11–19; Ezek. 6:1–5; Mark 7:6–9), but who has been miraculously preserved by God through centuries of exile and dispersion to finally preach His truth
Jonah was one of four OT prophets whose ministries were referred to by Christ (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32). others were Elijah (Matt. 17:11-12), Elisha (Luke 4:27), and Isaiah (Matt. 15:7).
Jonah a contemporary of both Hosea and Amos
The prophecies of Hosea and Amos may explain Jonah’s reluctance to preach in Nineveh. He feared he would be used to help the enemy that would later destroy his own nation. Nineveh was located on the east bank of the Tigris River, about 550 miles from Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom. Nineveh was large and, like Babylon, was protected by an outer wall and an inner wall. The inner wall was 50 feet wide and 100 feet high. Before Jonah arrived at this seemingly impregnable fortress-city, two plagues had erupted there (in 765 and 759 b.c.) and a total eclipse of the sun occurred on June 15, 763. These were considered signs of divine anger and may help explain why the Ninevites responded so readily to Jonah’s message, around 759.
Also in one sense Jonah is not the principal person in the book; God is. The Lord had the first word (Jonah 1:1-2) and the last (4:11). God commanded the prophet twice (1:2; 3:2); He sent a violent storm on the sea (1:4); He provided a great fish to rescue Jonah (1:17); He commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land (2:10); He threatened Nineveh with judgment and relented in compassion (3:10); He provided a vine to shade His prophet (4:6); He commissioned a worm to destroy the plant (4:7); and He sent a scorching wind to discomfort Jonah (4:8).
What then is the message God was seeking to deliver to Israel through His dealings with Jonah, the Ninevites, and natural phenomena? (the sea, animal life, plant life, and the wind)
First, one apparent message to Israel is God’s concern for Gentile peoples. The Lord’s love for the souls of all people was supposed to be mediated through Israel, God’s elect and covenant nation. Through Israel the blessing of His compassion was to be preached to the nations (Isa. 49:3). The Book of Jonah was a reminder to Israel of her missionary purpose.
Second, the book demonstrates the sovereignty of God in accomplishing His purposes. Though Israel was unfaithful in its missionary task, God was faithful in causing His love to be proclaimed. In praise to God for miraculously delivering him, Jonah confessed, ”Salvation [deliverance] comes from the Lord“ (Jonah 2:9). Israel failed to proclaim God’s mercies, but His work gets done in spite of human weakness and imperfection.
Third, the response of the Gentiles served as a message of rebuke to God’s sinful nation Israel The spiritual insight of the mariners (1:14-16) and their concern for the Jewish prophet contrast starkly with Israel’s lack of concern for the Gentile nations. Jonah’s spiritual hardness illustrated and rebuked Israel’s callousness. Nineveh’s repentance contrasted sharply with Israel’s rejection of the warnings of Jonah’s contemporaries, Hosea and Amos.
Fourth, Jonah was a symbol to Israel of her disobedience to God and indifference to the religious plight of other nations. Hosea, Jonah’s contemporary, graphically portrayed the unending love of God for His people by loving a prostitute (who was a symbol of Israel’s religious waywardness). Similarly Jonah symbolized Israel by his disobedience and disaffection. God’s punishment of Jonah shows His wrath on Israel. Yet the Lord’s gentle, miraculous dealings with Jonah also picture His tender love and slowness of anger with the nation. As Jonah wrote the book from a repentant heart, God desired that the nation would heed the lesson Jonah learned and repent as Jonah and Nineveh had done.
Mercy and Sovereignty There are other reasons beyond the miraculous to study this book. An obvious one is for what it teaches of the mercy of God. What is the story about if not God’s mercy? There is the mercy of God to Nineveh, which made Jonah angry. There is the mercy of God to Jonah himself, for Jonah certainly did not deserve it. There is even the mercy of God to the pagan sailors mentioned in Jonah 1. All were recipients of God’s mercy. If we understand the book at this point, we will find ourselves identifying with those who perhaps, from our natural point of view, are unworthy of such mercy
JM 1:1 Jonah the son of Amittai. Jonah’s name is Heb. for “dove
1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh. While other prophets prophesied against Gentile nations, this is the only case of a prophet actually being sent to a foreign nation to deliver God’s message against them. Nineveh, which dates back to Nimrod (Gen. 10:11), was located on the banks of the Tigris River approximately 500 mi. NE of Israel. It was always one of Assyria’s royal cities and for many years served as the capital. The people worshiped the fish goddess Nanshe and Dagon the fish god who was represented as half man and half fish.
that great city. Nineveh was great both in size (3:3) and in power, exerting significant influence over the Middle East until her destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 612 b.c. It was possibly the largest city in the world at this time. According to historians, magnificent walls almost 8 mi. long enveloped the inner city, with the rest of the city/district occupying an area with a circumference of some 60 miles. Its population could have approached 600,000 (4:11).
their wickedness has come up before Me. Nineveh was the center of idolatrous worship of Assur and Ishtar. A century later, Nahum pronounced doom upon Assyria for her evil ways and cruelty (Nah. 3), which was carried out by Nebuchadnezzar in 612 b.c.
1:3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish. This is the only recorded instance of a prophet refusing God’s commission (Jer. 20:7–9).O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9 But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.]
The location of Tarshish, known for its wealth (Ps. 72:10; Jer. 10:9; Ez. 27:12,25), is uncertain. The Gr. historian Herodotus identified it with Tartessus, a merchant city in southern Spain. The prophet went as far W in the opposite direction as possible, showing his reluctance to bring salvation blessing to Gentiles.
from the presence of the Lord. While no one can escape from the Lord’s omnipresence (Ps. 139:7–12), it is thought that the prophet was attempting to flee His manifest presence in the temple at Jerusalem (Gen. 4:16; Jon. 2:4).
Joppa. Joppa (today Jaffa), located on the Mediterranean coast near the border of Judah and Samaria, was also the location of Peter’s vision in preparation for his visit to Cornelius, a Gentile (Acts 10).
1:4 a great wind. This is not an ordinary storm, but an extreme one sent (lit. “hurled”) from God. Sailors, accustomed to storms, were afraid of this one (v. 5), a fear which served God’s purpose (Ps. 104:4).
1:7 cast lots. The last resort is to ascertain whose guilt has caused such divine anger. God could reveal His will by controlling the lots, which He did. This method of discernment by casting lots, the exact procedure of which is not known, was not forbidden in Israel (Prov. 16:33; Josh. 7:14ff.; 15:1; 1 Sam 14:36–45; Acts 1:26).
1:9 I am a Hebrew. Jonah identified himself by the name that Israelites used among Gentiles (1 Sam. 4:6,9; 14:11).
the God of heaven. This title, in use from earliest times (Gen. 24:3,7), may have been specifically chosen by Jonah to express the sovereignty of the Lord in contrast to Baal, who was a sky god (1 Kin. 18:24). Spoken to sailors who were most likely from Phoenicia, the center of Baal worship, the title bears significant weight, especially when coupled with the phrase “who made the sea and the dry land.” This was the appropriate identification when introducing the true and living God to pagans who didn’t have Scripture, but whose reason led them to recognize the fact that there had to be a Creator (Rom 1:18–23). To begin with creation, as in Acts 14:14–17 and 17:23b–29, was the proper starting point. To evangelize Jews, one can begin with the OT Scripture.
| Ten Miracles in Jonah | ||
| 1. | 1:4 | “the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea” |
| 2. | 1:7 | “the lot fell on Jonah” |
| 3. | 1:15 | “the sea ceased from its raging” |
| 4. | 1:17 | “the Lord had prepared a great fish” |
| 5. | 1:17 | “to swallow Jonah (alive)” |
| 6. | 2:10 | “the Lord spoke to the fish…it vomited Jonah onto dry land” |
| 7. | 3:10 | “God saw their works…they turned from their evil way” |
| 8. | 4:6 | “the Lord God prepared a plant” |
| 9. | 4:7 | “God prepared a worm” |
| 10. | 4:8 | “God prepared a vehement east wind” |
1:11,12 Unwilling to go to Nineveh and feeling guilty, Jonah was willing to sacrifice himself in an effort to save the lives of others. Apparently, he would rather have died than go to Nineveh. 1:13,14 Heathen sailors had more concern for one man than Jonah had for tens of thousands in Nineveh. The storm, Jonah’s words, and the lots all indicated to the sailors that the Lord was involved; thus they offered sacrifices to Him and made vows, indicating Jonah had told them more about God than is recorded here.
1:15 the sea ceased. This was similar to Christ’s quieting the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 8:23–27). 1:17 a great fish. The species of fish is uncertain; the Heb. word for whale is not here employed. God sovereignly prepared (lit. “appointed”) a great fish to rescue Jonah. Apparently Jonah sank into the depth of the sea before the fish swallowed him (2:3,5,6). three days and three nights. See Matt. 12:40; 16:4. 2:1–9 Jonah acknowledged God’s sovereignty (vv. 1–3) and submitted to it (vv. 2:4–9).
1:1-2. The God of Israel commanded Jonah a prophet (2 Kings 14:25; Matt. 12:39), to travel to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it. (”Great“ and ”greatly“ occur frequently in the book: ”great city,“ Jonah 1:2; 3:2; 4:11; ”great wind,“ 1:4; ”great storm,“ v. 12; ”greatly feared,“ v. 16; ”great fish,“ v. 17; ”greatly displeased,“ 4:1; and ”very [lit., greatly‘] happy,“ 4:6.)
The message he was to preach is stated in 3:4. Jonah had divine authority for this message because the word of the Lord came to him. It was authoritative because of its origin. The city of Nineveh was located on the east side of the Tigris River about 550 miles northeast of Samaria (see the map ”The Assyrian Empire“). That distance required a journey of more than a month, if Jonah traveled the normal distance of 15-20 miles a day. The great city was second in size only to Babylon. (4:11.) It was in modern-day Iraq opposite the modern town of Mosul. Nineveh was built by Nimrod (Gen. 10:11). After Jonah’s day, it became the capital of the Assyrian Empire under Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.), the successor of Sargon II (722-705 b.c.) who destroyed the Northern Kingdom. The reason God sent Jonah to preach ”against“ Nineveh (to pronounce its doom under God’s judgment) is that its wickedness had come up before Him, that is, the people were relentless and persistent in their sins. The Assyrian king acknowledged that his people’s ways were ”evil“ and characterized by ”violence“ (Jonah 3:8). And they were ”carefree“ (Zeph. 2:15), thinking themselves invincible. The Prophet Nahum wrote about several of their crimes (Nahum 3:1, 4, 16). Nineveh was well known in the ancient Near East for the brutal atrocities it inflicted on its war captives. This city was also known for its idolatry; it had temples dedicated to the gods Nabu, Asshur, and Adad; the Ninevites also worshiped Ishtar, a goddess of love & war
1:3. Though Jonah apparently understood and appreciated God’s wrath against Assyria, he was not nearly so compassionate as God was. Motivated by patriotic duty that clouded religious obligation, and knowing God’s forgiving mercy (4:2), Jonah shirked his responsibility. It is strange that a prophet of God would not follow God’s command to preach condemnation. Instead of traveling northeast he fled by sea in the opposite direction. He boarded a ship at Joppa (modern Jaffa), on Israel’s coast about 35 miles from Samaria and about the same distance from Jerusalem. The ship was bound for Tarshish, probably Tartessus in southern Spain, about 2,500 miles west of Joppa. Since Tarshish was a Phoenician colony, the ship’s sailors may have been Phoenicians. Phoenicians were known for their seagoing vessels and skill on the seas.
The principal person in the narrative was God, not Jonah. To accomplish His purposes, God
sovereignly controlled various events recorded in the book, overcame Jonah’s rebellion, and opened
the Ninevites’ hearts. Here He miraculously altered the direction of His servant’s itinerary.
1:4-5a. God sent (”hurled“) a . . . wind on the Mediterranean Sea. The wind was so great that it
caused a violent storm. So terrible was the storm that the sailors thought the ship would break up.
No wonder they were afraid! The fact that each sailor cried out to his own god suggests that many
individual deities were worshiped by the Phoenicians. As seasoned seamen they also lightened the
ship by tossing the cargo overboard (Acts 27:17-18), hoping that the lighter ship would not sink.
1:5b-6. In contrast with the concern of the mariners Jonah’s reaction is amazing. He went below
deck and fell asleep, undisturbed by the storm’s tossing the ship. Perhaps he felt secure there.
Obviously he was insensitive to the danger. Ironically a pagan ship captain had to call a man of God
to prayer. The captain was desperate; every known god should be appealed to so that one might grant
relief from their peril (we will not perish, v. 6). The need was so great that the men despaired for
their lives; yet God’s servant slept. What an object lesson to God’s people then and now to awaken
from apathy as crying people perish on the sea of life.
1:7. While the captain attempted to arouse Jonah (v. 6), the sailors concluded that the tragic storm
was the result of divine wrath on the wrongdoing of some man on board. The casting of lots to
determine a decision, in this case to find a culprit, was common in Israel and other countries in the
ancient Near East (Lev. 16:8; Josh. 18:6; 1 Sam. 14:42; Neh. 10:34; Es. 3:7; Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:26).
Perhaps marked stones were put in a container, and one was taken out. God expressed His
sovereignty over Jonah’s affairs, causing the lot to ”fall“ on His disobedient prophet.
1:8-9. Though rebellious against God’s command (vv. 2-3) Jonah responded to the sailors’
barrage of five questions by stating with no uncertainty his nationality (I am a Hebrew) and the
worth and power of His God. Though disobedient to God, Jonah at least knew what He is like. Jonah
said that God is the Lord (Yahweh), the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God of Israel. The
prophet also said his God is the God of heaven (Gen. 24:3,7; Ezra 1:2), the one true Sovereign, in
contrast with the sailors’ many false gods (Jonah 1:5). Jonah also affirmed that Yahweh is the
Creator, the One who made the sea and the land (Ex. 20:11; Ps. 95:5). As Creator of the world He
can control nature, including storms on the sea (Ps. 89:9). The sailors clearly acknowledged this fact
in their question (Jonah 1:11). It may seem strange that Jonah claimed to worship this God when he
did not obey Him, but this is often true of believers.
1:10. Hearing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, and knowing that Jonah was rebelling against his
God, the sailors concluded that the upheaval of the sea evidenced God’s displeasure with him. This
brought fear to the sailors, for they felt helpless in appeasing someone else’s god. Perhaps too they
sensed, superstitiously, that Jonah’s God was holding them responsible as accomplices in Jonah’s
”crime.“ By their question, What have you done? the seamen chided the prophet for his senseless
action. This question affirmed emphatically that he was responsible for their predicament. It was
more a statement of horror at Jonah’s disobedience than a question of inquiry. The pagan sailors
seemed to grasp the seriousness of his disobedience more than the prophet did!
1:11. The sailors’ perceptiveness is again evident. Believing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, as he
had told them (v. 9), they appealed to Jonah for a resolution to their heightening dilemma. They
sensed that since he was responsible for the storm, they needed to do something to him. Only then
would the storm be abated.
1:12. Jonah’s response was penitent. Recognizing the gravity of his disobedience that resulted in the
great storm, he was willing to endure punishment, even death. So he told them to throw him into
the sea. Only then, when he was overboard, would the sea be calm. Perhaps Jonah also thought this
would be a way out of his assignment (4:3, 8). But God had another plan!
1:13-14. The sailors, however, were not anxious to take human life for fear they would be held
accountable for murder. This contrasts sharply with Jonah’s lack of compassion for the Ninevites (
4:1-2). So the men on the ship (except for Jonah) tried again to get back to land. But against the
sovereign God, the sailors’ meager efforts brought no relief. In fact the storm intensified.
Recognizing the futility of their efforts, and believing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, they realized
Jonah’s instructions had to be carried out. Yet those Gentiles, not having the Law of God,
instinctively recognized the worth of human life and pleaded for His mercy on them for killing an
innocent man. By their words, You, O Lord, have done as You pleased, the sailors were
acknowledging His divine sovereignty/providence in the storm (1:4) and casting of the lots (v. 7).
1:15-16. Following the prophet’s instructions (v. 12), the sailors threw Jonah into the raging
sea and it became calm. This showed them the reality and power of the God of Israel. They stood in
awe of (feared) the Lord. He had done what their gods could not do. The sudden calm was an
answer to the sailors’ prayers (v. 5). The calm also revealed that the storm had resulted from Jonah’s
disobedience and that an innocent life had not been snuffed out in casting him overboard. Utterly
amazed at the sudden calm, they offered a sacrifice in praise to the Lord (Yahweh, Israel’s God)
and promised (made vows) to continue their praise. Again the sailors are seen in contrast with their
former passenger. Whereas Jonah was disobedient to God, they were praising Him!
1:17. The prophet’s expected death did not occur. The sovereignty and centrality of God as the major figure in this historical narrative are evidenced in His providing a fish to swallow Jonah. This is the first of four things in this book He provided (4:6-8). The great fish was possibly a mammal, a sperm whale, or perhaps a whale shark God controls not only the sea but all that is in it. By means of the large sea monster God preserved Jonah alive and later deposited him unhurt on land. The phrase three days and three nights need not be understood as a 72-hour period, but as one 24-hour day and parts of two other days (Es.4:16 with 5:1 and Matt. 12:40, where Jesus said His burial would be the same length of time as Jonah’s interment in the fish’s stomach).
Rebellion (Jonah 1:1–17) Jonah must have been a popular man in Israel, because his prediction had been fulfilled that the nation would regain her lost territory from her enemies (2 Kings 14:25). Those were days of peace and prosperity for Israel, but they were autumn days just before the terrible winter of judgment.
1:1–3 Jonah the prophet disobeys God’s call). Jonah got into trouble because his attitudes were wrong. To begin with, he had a wrong attitude toward the will of God. Obeying the will of God is as important to God’s servant as it is to the people His servants minister to. It’s in obeying the will of God that we find our spiritual nourishment (John 4:34), enlightenment (7:17), and enablement (Heb. 13:21). To Jesus, the will of God was food that satisfied Him; to Jonah, the will of God was medicine that choked him. Jonah’s wrong attitude toward God’s will stemmed from a feeling that the Lord was asking him to do an impossible thing. God commanded the prophet to go to Israel’s enemy, Assyria, and give the city of Nineveh opportunity to repent, and Jonah would much rather see the city destroyed. The Assyrians were a cruel people who had often abused Israel and Jonah’s narrow patriotism took precedence over his theology. Jonah forgot that the will of God is the expression of the love of God (Ps. 33:11), and that God called him to Nineveh because He loved both Jonah and the Ninevites. Jonah also had a wrong attitude toward the Word of God. When the Word of the Lord came to him, Jonah thought he could “take it or leave it.” However, when God’s Word commands us, we must listen and obey. Disobedience isn’t an option. “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46. Jonah forgot that it was a great privilege to be a prophet, to hear God’s Word, and know God’s will. That’s why he resigned his prophetic office and fled in the opposite direction from Nineveh. Jonah knew that he couldn’t run away from God’s presence (Ps. 139:7–12), but he felt he had the right to turn in his resignation. He forgot that “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). At one time or another during their ministries, Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah felt like giving up, but God wouldn’t let them. Jonah needed Nineveh as much as Nineveh needed Jonah. It’s in doing the will of God that we grow in grace and become more like Christ. Jonah had a wrong attitude toward circumstances; he thought they were working for him when they were really working against him. He fled to Joppa and found just the right ship waiting for him! He had enough money to pay the fare for his long trip, and he was even able to go down into the ship and fall into a sleep so deep that the storm didn’t wake him up. It’s possible to be out of the will of God and still have circumstances appear to be working on your behalf. You can be rebelling against God and still have a false sense of security that includes a good night’s sleep. God in His providence was preparing Jonah for a great fall. Finally, Jonah had a wrong attitude toward the Gentiles. Instead of wanting to help them find the true and living God, he wanted to abandon them to their darkness and spiritual death. He not only hated their sins—and the Assyrians were ruthless enemies—but he hated the sinners who committed the sins. Better that Nineveh should be destroyed than that the Assyrians live and attack Israel.
1:4–10). Jonah the Jew becomes a curse instead of a blessing God called the Jews to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:1–3), but whenever the Jews were out of the will of God, they brought trouble instead of blessing. Twice Abraham brought trouble to people because he lied (vv. 10–20; 20:1–18); Achan brought trouble to Israel’s army because he robbed God (Josh. 7); and Jonah brought trouble to a boatload of pagan sailors because he fled. Consider all that Jonah lost because he wasn’t a blessing to others. First of all, he lost the voice of God (Jonah 1:4). We don’t read that “the word of the Lord came to Jonah,” but that a great storm broke loose over the waters. God was no longer speaking to Jonah through His word; He was speaking to him through His works: the sea, the wind, the rain, the thunder, and even the great fish. Everything in nature obeyed God except His servant! God even spoke to Jonah through the heathen sailors (vv. 6, 8, 10) who didn’t know Jehovah. It’s a sad thing when a servant of God is rebuked by pagans. Jonah also lost his spiritual energy (v. 5b). He went to sleep during a fierce storm and was totally unconcerned about the safety of others. The sailors were throwing the ship’s wares and cargo overboard, and Jonah was about to lose everything, but he still slept on. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man” (Prov. 24:33). He lost his power in prayer (Jonah 1:5a, 6). The heathen sailors were calling on their gods for help while Jonah slept through the prayer meeting, the one man on board who knew the true God and could pray to Him. Of course, Jonah would first have had to confess his sins and determine to obey God, something he wasn’t willing to do. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps. 66:18). If Jonah did pray, his prayer wasn’t answered. Loss of power in prayer is one of the first indications that we’re far from the Lord and need to get right with Him. Sad to say, Jonah lost his testimony (Jonah 1:7–10). He certainly wasn’t living up to his name, for Jonah means “dove,” and the dove is a symbol of peace. Jonah’s father’s name was Ammitai, which means “faithful, truthful,” something that Jonah was not. We’ve already seen that he wasn’t living up to his high calling as a Jew, for he had brought everybody trouble instead of blessing, nor was he living up to his calling as a prophet, for he had no message for them from God. When the lot pointed to Jonah as the culprit, he could no longer avoid making a decision. Jonah had already told the crew that he was running away from God, but now he told them he was God’s prophet, the God who created the heaven, the earth, and the sea. This announcement made the sailors even more frightened. The God who created the sea was punishing His servant and that’s why they were in danger!
1:11–17). Jonah the rebel suffers for his sins Charles Spurgeon said that God never allows His children to sin successfully, and Jonah is proof of the truth of that statement. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6). We must not make the mistake of calling Jonah a martyr, for the title would be undeserved. Martyrs die for the glory of God, but Jonah offered to die because selfishly he would rather die than obey the will of God! He shouldn’t be classified with people like Moses (Ex. 32:30–35), Esther (Es. 4:13–17), and Paul (Rom. 9:1–3) who were willing to give their lives to God in order to rescue others. Jonah is to be commended for telling the truth but not for taking his life in his own hands. He should have surrendered his life to the Lord and let Him give the orders. Had he fallen to his knees and confessed his sins to God, Jonah might have seen the storm cease and the door open to a great opportunity for witness on the ship. It’s significant that the heathen sailors at first rejected Jonah’s offer and began to work harder to save the ship. They did more for Jonah than Jonah had been willing to do for them. When they saw that the cause was hopeless, they asked Jonah’s God for His forgiveness for throwing Jonah into the stormy sea. Sometimes unsaved people put believers to shame by their honesty, sympathy, and sacrifice. However, these pagan sailors knew some basic theology: the existence of Jonah’s God, His judgment of sin, their own guilt before Him, and His sovereignty over creation. They confessed, “For you, O Lord, have done as You pleased” (Jonah 1:14). However, there’s no evidence that they abandoned their old gods; they merely added Jehovah to their “god shelf.” They threw themselves on God’s mercy and then threw Jonah into the raging sea, and God stopped the storm. When the storm ceased, the men feared God even more and made vows to Him. How they could offer an animal sacrifice to God on board ship is a puzzle to us, especially since the cargo had been jettisoned, but then we don’t know what the sacrifice was or how it was offered. Perhaps the sense of verse 16 is that they offered the animal to Jehovah and vowed to sacrifice it to Him once they were safe on shore. The seventeenth-century English preacher Jeremy Taylor said, “God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.” He was referring, of course, to being happy with God’s will for our lives. For us to rebel against God’s will, as Jonah did, is to invite the chastening hand of God. That’s why the Westminster Catechism states that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” We glorify God by enjoying His will and doing it from our hearts (Eph. 6:6), and that’s where Jonah failed. Jonah could say with the psalmist, “The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death” (Ps. 118:18). God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and protect his life for three days and three nights. We’ll consider the significance of this later in this study.
We can visualize the geography if we imagine Jonah coming out of his house in Palestine, looking left down the long road that led around the great Arabian desert to the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and then turning on his heel and going down the road to his right. Why did he do it? We can imagine some reasons. We can imagine, first, that Jonah was overcome by thoughts of the mission’s difficulties, which are expressed very well in the commission. God told Jonah that Nineveh was a very “great city,” and indeed it was. In addition to what the book itself tells us—that the city was so large that it took three days to cross it and that it had 120,000 infants or small children (4:11)—we also know that it was the capital of the great Assyrian empire, that it had walls a hundred feet high and so broad that three chariots could run abreast around them. Within the walls were gardens and even fields for cattle. For one man to arrive all alone with a message from an unknown God against such a city was ludicrous in the extreme. What could one man do? Who would listen? Where were the armies that could break down such walls or storm such garrisons? The men of Nineveh would ridicule the strange Jewish prophet. “Certainly,” as Hugh Martin, one of the most comprehensive commentators on this book, has written, “Jonah could not foresee that some such reception in ‘that great city’ was about the most friendly he could anticipate. To be despised and simply laughed at, as a fanatic and fool, must have appeared to him inevitable, if indeed his fate should not be worse.” If Jonah had been overcome with the thought of the difficulties of such a mission and because of them had fled to Tarshish, we could well understand him. Yet not a word in the story indicates that it was the difficulties that upset this rebellious prophet. Perhaps it was danger?
The second word in God’s description of the city is “wickedness.” If Jonah had taken note of that wickedness and had refused to obey for that reason, this too would be understandable. Indeed, the more we learn of Nineveh the more dangerous the mission seems. We think of the prophecy of Nahum. Nahum’s entire prophecy was against the wickedness of Nineveh, and the descriptions of it are vivid. “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft” (3:1–4). What was one poor preacher to do against such wickedness? Indeed, would people like this not simply kill him and add his body to the already high heap of carcasses? Thoughts like these could have made Jonah afraid; and if he had been afraid, we would not blame him. But again, not a word in the story indicates that it was danger that turned Jonah in the opposite direction.
What was the reason then? In the fourth chapter of the book, after God has already brought about the revival and has spared the Ninevites from judgment, Jonah explains the reason, arguing that it was precisely because of this outcome that he had disobeyed originally. He knew that God was gracious and that God was not sending him to Nineveh only to announce a pending judgment. He was sending him so Nineveh might repent. Jonah’s own words are: “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (4:2). As we read these words carefully we realize the reason why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. Those who lived there were enemies of his people, the Jews, and he was afraid that if he did go to them with his message of judgment, they would believe it and repent, and God would bless them. He did not want them blessed! God could bless Israel. But Jonah would be damned (literally) before he would see God’s blessing shed on these enemies. He fled to Tarshish. We can understand the geography and Jonah’s motives if we can imagine the word of the Lord coming to a Jew who lived in New York during World War II, telling him to go to Berlin to preach to Nazi Germany, and instead of this, he goes to San Francisco and takes a boat for Hong Kong. Are we in the spiritual ancestry of Jonah? We have never been sent to Nineveh. We may never have had to run away to Tarshish. But the commission that has been given to us is no less demanding than Jonah’s, if we are Christians. Is it not true that our attempts to avoid it are often no less determined than Jonah’s when he tried to run away? Most Christians come into contact with the world in at least three places: in their neighborhoods, at work (unless they work for a totally Christian organization), and in their spare-time activities—clubs, hobbies, sports, and adult education courses. The people they meet in these places all have great needs. They need Christ, first of all, if they are not Christians. But they also need friendship, understanding, achievement. In some cases, there are even physical needs brought on by sickness, poverty, or some other physical deprivation. Christians are often strangely insensitive to these needs and often make excuses to avoid the personal sacrifices necessary to carry out the work of Christ. They say—we have all heard the excuses and, I am afraid, often make them ourselves—“I am too busy,” “I have too many problems of my own,” “Charity begins at home,” or even “I am not called.” Jonah’s commission consisted of two main words. He was to “go,” and he was to “preach”—precisely what we have been told to do in the Great Commission. We are to go into all the world. And we are to preach (or teach) all that we have been taught by Jesus. Matthew’s form of the Great Commission says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20). We are to go; but we remain inactive. We are to preach; but our tongues are often strangely silent. Strangely silent! Strange that we should be silent when there is such a wonderful story to tell!
Wings of the Dawn Verse 3 tells of Jonah’s attempt to get away from God and gives the consequences of that attempt. It is surprising that Jonah did not think of these consequences before he ran or consider how impossible it is to escape from God. Jonah lived relatively late in Old Testament history, certainly long after the Psalms were written. He therefore had ample opportunity to know those great words in Psalm 139: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (vv. 7–10). Did Jonah know these words? Probably.
God’s Sovereignty At this point we find our first great lesson regarding God’s sovereignty. Built into Jonah’s first attempts to get away from God are two results that will follow anyone who tries to disobey him. First, Jonah’s course was downhill. He would not have described it that way. He would have said that he was improving his life, just as we do when we choose our own course instead of God’s. But it was downhill nevertheless. This is suggested in verse 3, where we are told that Jonah went “down” to Joppa. It is always that way when a person runs from the presence of the Lord. The way of the Lord is up! Consequently, any way that is away from him is down. The way may look beautiful when we start. The seas may look peaceful and the ship attractive, but the way is still down. There was another result. In his excellent preaching on Jonah, Donald Grey Barnhouse often called attention to it by highlighting the phrase about Jonah “paying the fare.” He noted that Jonah did not get to where he was going, since he was thrown overboard, and that he obviously did not get a refund on his ticket. So he paid the full fare and did not get to the end of his journey. Barnhouse said, “It is always that way. When you run away from the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own fare. On the other hand, when you go the Lord’s way you always get to where you are going, and he pays the fare Jonah illustrates one half of that statement. The story of Moses’ mother, Jochebed, illustrates the other half. Jochebed conceived Moses during a time of great persecution by the Egyptians, a time in which Hebrew male infants were being thrown into the Nile River to die. When the child was born, Jochebed and her husband, Amran, tried to hide him as long as possible, suspecting, I believe, that this was the one who had been promised by God to be the deliverer of the people. But at last the baby’s cries grew too loud, and another plan was necessary. The mother made a little boat of bulrushes, covering it with tar. She placed Moses in it and set it in the reeds by the riverbank. Then she stationed Miriam, Moses’ sister, at a distance to see what would become of him. Though she wanted her baby more than anything else in the world, Jochebed entrusted the matter to God, allowing him to do as he wished with the child. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river, saw the ark in the water, and sent her maids to fetch it. When it was opened, she saw the baby. He was crying. This so touched the woman’s heart that she determined to save him and raise him in the palace. But what was she to do? The child needed a wet nurse. Where could she find one? At this point, Miriam, who had been watching from a distance, came forward and asked if she could be of assistance. “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” Miriam asked. “Yes,” said the princess. Jochebed was brought. Jochebed was about to receive back the child she most dearly wanted. She would have done anything to have kept him. She would have scrubbed floors in the palace! In fact, if the daughter of the Pharaoh had said, “I am going to give you this child to raise, but I want you to know that I have seen through your stratagem. I know that this young girl was not up on that hill watching by accident. She must be the sister of this baby and, therefore, you must be the mother. You can have your child. But as a sign of your disobedience to the Pharaoh, I am going to cut off your right hand”—if she had said that, Moses’ mother would probably have held out both hands, if only she could have had the child back. But that is not what happened. Instead, Pharaoh’s daughter gave the child back, declaring, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you” (Exod. 2:9). “I will pay you.” That is the point for which I tell the story. Jonah went his own way, paid his own fare, and got nothing. Jochebed went God’s way. Consequently, God paid the fare, and she got everything. I repeat it once more: When you run away from the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own fare. But when you go the Lord’s way you always get to where you are going, and he pays the fare.
But the Lord In one sense Jonah’s story is over at this point; that is, the story of his choice, his disobedience, is over. God has given his command. Jonah has disobeyed. Now Jonah must sit back and suffer the consequences as God intervenes supernaturally to alter the story. This is made clear by the contrast between the first two words of verse 3 (“But Jonah” ) and the first three words of verse 4 (“Then the Lord”). It is true that Jonah had rejected God. He had voiced his little “but,” as we sometimes do. He is allowed to do it. God’s sovereignty does not rule it out. But now God is to act, and his actions will be more substantial than Jonah’s. What did God do? He did three great things. First, he sent a GREAT STORM. The text indicates that it was a storm of unusual ferocity, so fierce that even experienced sailors were frightened. Each time I read about it I think of that other storm that also frightened experienced men on the Sea of Galilee. The men were Christ’s disciples, and Christ was with them, though asleep in the boat. For a while they rowed. But they were in danger of sinking and were afraid. So they awoke Jesus and cried, “Lord, save us!” Jesus replied, “Why are you so afraid?” Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The disciples asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matt. 8:26–27). Note the contrast. The Lord who can calm the troubled waters of your life is the same Lord who can stir them up to great frenzy. What he does depends on whether he is with you in the boat or, a better way of putting it, whether or not you are with him. If Jesus is in your boat—if you are going his way and are trusting him—then, when the storms come, you can cry out, “Master, help me!” and he will calm the violence. But if you are running from him—if he is not in your boat and you are disobeying him—then he will stir the waves up.
Second, the Lord prepared a GREAT FISH. Farther on in the story God also prepared a small worm to eat the root and so destroy the plant that shaded Jonah. On the one hand, God used one of the largest creatures on earth to do his bidding. On the other hand, he used one of the smallest. Apparently it makes no difference to God. He will use whatever it takes to get the disobedient one back into the place of blessing. Are you running away from God? If so, he may use the cankerworm to spoil your harvest. He may use the whirlwind to destroy your barns and buildings. If necessary, he will touch your person. He will use whatever it takes, because he is faithful to himself, to you, and to his purposes.
Finally, God saved a GREAT CITY. This last act, like the others, is an act of mercy. The city did not deserve saving. Yet he saved it, thereby preserving it from destruction for a time. A Continuous Performance God’s perseverance will be discussed in later chapters, but it is important to look at one aspect of it in this present connection. The apostle Paul wrote: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). Quite often we look at that verse merely as a statement of the “eternal security” of the Christian, which is all right. God will certainly continue his work with us, regardless of what happens, and will preserve us for heaven. But this verse also means—we must not miss it—that God is so determined to perfect his good work in us that he will continue to do so with whatever it takes, regardless of the obedience or disobedience of the Christian. Will you go in his way? Then he will bless your life and encourage you. Will you run, as Jonah ran? Then he will trouble your life. If necessary, he will even break it into little pieces, if by so doing he enables you to walk in his way once again. If you disobey, you will find your initial disobedience easy. But after that the way will grow hard. If you obey him, you will find the way paved with blessing.
1:4–16 The God Who Will Not Let Go Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
The lessons of the first three verses of Jonah are great, for they concern the impossibility of running away from God and the consequences of such an attempt. The consequences are that the path we take is downhill, that we never get to where we are going, and that we always pay our own bills. At this point of the story, however, God himself intervened in a supernatural way, so that the lessons of the remainder of the chapter are as great as those at the beginning. We learn that disobedience always involves others in peril. We learn how God acts when his will is opposed.
Special Intervention The way God operates when his will is opposed leads again to the issue of God’s sovereignty and carries us a step farther in our understanding of it. First, we saw that God’s sovereignty expresses itself in what we might call a natural spiritual order. According to this principle, no path of disobedience is ever blessed. Now we also learn that God will intervene in special ways to insure the accomplishment of his purposes. This special intervention occurs twice in the first chapter. The first is in the way God dealt with Jonah when he ran away. The second is in God’s dealing with the sailors. Jonah had sinned. According to some theologies, in which almost everything depends on man’s obedience to God and very little on God’s elective purposes with man, this should have been the end of the matter. If Jonah had sinned, God should simply have said, “Jonah, you have done it now. You have disobeyed me, and as a result of that, you have forfeited the right to be called my child. I am casting you off.” That kind of response makes sense according to a man-centered theology. But it is not the way God operates. To put it in theological language, God had elected Jonah to a special task and had determined that the task be accomplished. God took his election of Jonah so seriously that he would actually sink the ship on which the disobedient prophet was sailing, if necessary, rather than allow him to get on to his own destination. The story says, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up” (v. 4).
One verse earlier we read the words “but Jonah.” That verse tells us of Jonah’s act of disobedience. We might say that those two words, “but Jonah,” represent human depravity expressing itself through the old nature. In verse 4, in place of the words “but Jonah,” we have the words “then the Lord.” “Then the Lord” is an expression of the sovereign grace of God persevering with his people. There is no question about our being allowed to resist God or disobey him. We all do it. We do it easily. Though a pagan, Virgil wrote correctly, “Facilis descensus Averno” (“The descent to hell is easy”). When we disobey God, he does not rearrange the stars of heaven to say, “Stop, do not go farther.” He lets us go. At first he does not put great obstacles in our path. If we choose to stop reading our Bibles, he does not send a special prophet to get us reading them again. If we stop praying, he does not send a disaster into our lives to make us turn to him. Not at first! He simply allows us to go downhill and to pay for our own foolish choices. However, when we persist in our disobedience, he gets rougher. He begins gently, just as we gently disobey. But in the end he sends a tempest. The outcome of the great storm was that by means of it God accomplished his purposes with Jonah. He accomplished his purposes with the people of Nineveh. He even accomplished his purposes in an ironic and preparatory way with the unbelieving sailors, for the story suggests that they came to believe on him. The Sailors The disobedience of one of God’s servants always involves others in peril, even innocent people. For Achan’s sin, all Israel was defeated at Ai. For the sin of David in numbering the people, 70,000 died of pestilence. Similarly, because of Jonah’s sin, innocent sailors were on the verge of drowning. They knew how to sail a ship, but this storm was beyond them. We are told that they were “afraid” of it and that “each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (v. 5). The sailors were like today’s world leaders who, though they are not godly men, nevertheless do as well to cope with our problems as they know how. I admire the sailors. As I read the story, I find them to be hard-working, courageous men who knew their business well. These men had been in storms before. They knew what to do. They knew that in great storms the solution was to lighten the ship by casting the cargo overboard, which they did. Nevertheless, the storm was so great it frightened them, even though they had done all they could to save the situation. When they could do nothing more, they called on their gods. Is this not a picture of today’s world, a picture of government and politics? The trouble with our leaders is not that they are incompetent men. It is rather that the problems they are attempting to tackle are just too big for them. I am glad I do not have to deal with the world’s sagging economy. I am glad I do not have to struggle to eliminate misunderstanding between nations in order to advance world peace. These enormous problems are beyond any human ability, regardless of how talented the statesmen are. So we see such men trying everything possible and then, when all else fails, calling on God. We must not be smug at this point and overly blame the sailors, for we remember that the trouble that came on them had come because of Jonah. This means that, in some situations at least, problems come to the world because of God’s judgment on his own children. What do these sailors do? First, they do all they humanly can; while Jonah sleeps, they try all human methods to save the vessel, to keep the enterprise going (v. 5). What experience, nautical science, reason, and common sense teach them to do, they do. In this sense they do their duty. The sailors are in charge of the world, and in normal conditions they discharge their task correctly. We can ask no more of them. The tragic thing here, however, is that if conditions cease to be normal, it is not the fault of the sailors, the pagans; it is the fault of the Christian who had sailed with them. It is because of him that the situation is such that the knowledge and tradition of the sailors can do no more. We have to realize once again that this is how it usually is with the world; the storm is unleashed because of the unfaithfulness of the church and Christians. This being so, if the tempest is God’s will to constrain his church, a will by which the whole human enterprise is endangered, one can easily see why man’s technical devices are of no avail.” While the storm was raging, Jonah, who represents the church, was asleep deep within the hold of the ship. How many of God’s people are asleep today? How many are impervious while the tempest rages? You Can’t Sleep Forever
When Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to sleep, seemingly in drugged indifference to the calling of God, he must have thought himself alone and safe, at least for the time being. But suddenly his sleep was interrupted by the captain. This man was a pagan, like the sailors. He did not know the true God. His ideas of religion were undoubtedly filled with superstitions. Nevertheless, he believed enough in united prevailing prayer to want all on board to pray together. Since he did not know Jonah or what god he worshiped, it was just possible that Jonah worshiped a god who could do something if the other gods failed. His words were abrupt, for he was disturbed that Jonah could sleep when the ship was in peril. “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish” (v. 6). Even a Christian is not allowed to ignore reality forever. Meanwhile, up on the deck of the ship, the sailors had been discussing the storm and had concluded that it was not at all like other storms they had witnessed. They had been able to handle other storms. But this storm was ferocious, supernatural. Verse 4 (“the Lord sent a great wind on the sea”) says literally that the Lord “hurled” the tempest. The sailors had concluded that the storm was a judgment against one of their number who had done something horrible. So they decided to cast lots to discover the culprit. It was at this moment that Jonah arrived from below deck. Nothing in life ever really happens by chance. So when the lot was cast, the lot inevitably singled out Jonah. People may think that such things are determined by chance. They speak of “Lady Luck” or work out “mathematical” odds. But God tells us that he controls what happens. A verse in Proverbs says: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). In this case the lot was something like a pair of dice, made from the anklebone of a sheep; the lap was the flat surface made when a man, who in those days normally wore a long garment, would squat down and spread his knees. The dice were cast into the lap, but God determined the outcome. Donald Grey Barnhouse often paraphrased this verse by saying that “man throws the dice; but it is God who makes the spots come up.”Many Questions As soon as Jonah was singled out by lot, a flurry of questions came from the troubled sailors. This would have happened in any case, but it was especially true in Jonah’s in that no one really knew him. We catch some of the flavor of this from the writing: “So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’ ” (v. 8). Undoubtedly there were more questions even than these. Every man would have had one. But at last they were all out, and Jonah had his turn to speak. Notice the irony. Jonah had run away from God and was in this difficult position because he would not preach to pagans. But here he was, in spite of himself, about to do precisely that. It is even possible that there were men of Nineveh among these sailors. God was about to show that his purposes will always be accomplished, even (if he so wills it) by one who is obstinately disobedient. It is amusing to me that, in spite of his determination to disobey God and the rupture of fellowship between himself and God that must have caused, Jonah gave a very good testimony. Perhaps he had been a preacher too long and the habit of it was with him. Or perhaps, like Peter at the campfire of the high priest, he was just unable to lie convincingly. Logically, he might have been able to tell just the bare facts and let it go at that. Verse 10 says that he rehearsed his story, culminating in his running away. But Jonah could not stop at that point, it seems. So even in his state of disobedience and in the trauma of the moment, Jonah told of his background and indicated that he was a servant of the Creator and covenant-keeping God, Jehovah. Moreover, he was brilliantly relevant as he said it. “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea [they needed a god who made the sea just then] and the land [the very place where each of them most wanted to be]” (v. 9). Gaebelein writes of this testimony, “In addition to acknowledging himself a Hebrew, [Jonah] gave a witness then and there for his Lord. He may have been endeavoring to resign his commission, but he could not change his heart, which remained that of a true prophet. So he pointed these mariners to the only Lord God.” An interesting phrase appears here, for, having been told of Jonah’s testimony, we are immediately informed that the sailors were “terrified.” We have already been told once that the men were afraid; they were afraid of the storm. We will be told once more that as a result of God’s act in calming it they “greatly feared [that is, reverenced] the Lord” (v. 16). But why, we might ask, were the men exceedingly afraid at this point, more afraid apparently than they were of the storm itself? The reason was that they knew about Jonah’s God. These were men who had traveled from port to port around the Mediterranean Sea, hearing many stories of other people and their gods. Are we to think they had never heard of the Hebrew people or of the Hebrew God, Jehovah? Of course, they had heard of him! He was the God who had brought down the plagues on Egypt so that his people might be led out. He was the God who had parted the waters of the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape into the desert and who had then closed the waters on the pursuing Egyptian forces. He had led the Hebrews in the wilderness for forty years, protecting them by a cloud that spread out over their encampment during the daytime to give them shade but turned into a pillar of fire by night to give them light and heat. He had provided manna to eat and water to drink. He had parted the waters of the Jordan River to enable them to cross over into Canaan. He had leveled the walls of Jericho. He had caused the sun to stand still at Gibeon so that Joshua would have time to achieve a full victory over the fleeing Amorites. This was a great God, this God of the Hebrews; and it was this God, not a weak god, who was pursuing them for the sake of Jonah. No wonder the men were terrified! “What have you done?” they asked. “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” was their next question (v. 11).Two More Questions It is too bad that Jonah did not learn as much from the questions the sailors asked him as they had from his testimony, or he would not have answered their questions as he did. The sailors had asked, “What have you done?” This was a rebuke. If Jonah had answered properly, it would have led to his repentance. There was no answer but the full confession of sin. Martin deals well with this question. “Suppose yourself in Jonah’s place, and hear the question put to you—to you, a man of God, by heathen men, ‘Why hast thou done this?’ Did your God provoke you to flee from him? Did he deal so hardly and unkindly with you that you had no alternative but flight? Were you tired of your God? Had you found him out—as no more worthy of your trust and obedience? Had you got to the end of all the duty that you owed to him—or of all the protection and support that he could afford to you? [Why didn’t you listen to him?] “Produce your strong reasons. Has God been a wilderness to you? Have you found a better friend? Have you found a worthier portion? Have you found a sweeter employment than meditation in his word and calling on his name?…“Have you found him unfaithful to his promise? Have you discovered that he discourages his people? Will you say that the more you have known him, the less you have thought of him? It looks like it, O backslider. It looks like it, if you can remember days when you loved him more, and served him better than now.” If Jonah had been able to think clearly along these lines, he would have acknowledged that nothing God had done or could ever do could deserve his disobedience, and he might have repented. But Jonah was like many of God’s people when they sin. Instead of thinking clearly, he hardened his heart, kept his back turned to God, and plunged on into even greater alienation.
The state of Jonah’s heart is revealed in his answer to the second question: “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” Notice that it was not the sailors who thought up the idea of throwing Jonah overboard. That was Jonah’s idea. They said, “Tell us what to do to get out of this; we’ll do anything you say.”And what did Jonah say? He might have called on them to repent of their sin and turn to Jehovah in order to become his followers. Jonah was in the midst of sin himself, so this answer was hardly open to him. Again, he might have tried to bluff his way out of the situation. He might have said, “I don’t know what to do. God hasn’t shown me. Here, give me an oar. I’ll help you out.” Jonah could not say this either, for he knew what the consequences of such indifference would be. The storm would have gotten worse, and eventually everyone on board would have drowned. He could have said, “It is obvious what we must do. God wants me to go to Nineveh, and we will not be safe until I do. Turn the boat around. Let’s go back. Then the storm will stop.” I think that if Jonah had followed this course, not only would the storm have stopped, but they would have had the best wind back to Joppa imaginable. This is not what Jonah said either. Jonah’s actual answer is a sad one. So determined was he to resist the Lord’s will that he actually said, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, … and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you” (v. 12). Jonah meant, “I would rather die than do God’s will.” Can a Christian become so hardened that he prefers death to what God wants him to do? I wish we could say no to that question, but unfortunately the answer is yes. A Christian can become hardened. This is the course of sin. What begins easily with just a step to the west instead of to the east soon accelerates into a maelstrom of self-destruction. True Conversions Someone has said that non-Christians never look better than when they are compared with some Christians, and that is certainly true if the Christians are disobedient ones. It is true in this story. Jonah, in his disobedience, is quite willing that all the inhabitants of Nineveh perish; for his message is one of impending judgment, and his fear is that it might be suspended if he should preach to them and they should repent. But the sailors, themselves pagans like the people of Nineveh, are unwilling that Jonah (just one man) should perish even though he has brought them into a position of great danger. Jonah has said that he should be thrown overboard. The sailors have every right to heed him. But they are unwilling to see him die if it can be prevented. They do their best to save him. The Hebrew text says literally, “Nevertheless, the men digged to bring it to the land” (v. 13).
Even pagans have their limits, however. So at last, when it was evident that they could not win against the waves, they asked Jehovah to hold them guiltless for Jonah’s death and then threw the rebellious prophet overboard. At once the sea ceased its raging, and the men were left in silent wonder on the gently rolling deck. What happens next is the climax of chapter 1, in spite of the fact that the final verse tells of Jonah being swallowed by the great fish. That verse should really begin chapter 2, and the verse that should end chapter 1 is verse 16. “At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.” This seems to mean, quite simply, that the sailors were converted through their experience with Jonah. It means that in an ironic way God was already accomplishing his purposes in spite of his prophet’s stubborn rebellion. The fact that the sailors were saved is evident in practically every word used. To begin with, this is the third time that the men are said to have feared something or somebody. The first was the storm (v. 5). The second was the disclosure that Jonah was a Hebrew who worshiped Jehovah (v. 10). This time they are said to have feared (that is, respected) Jehovah himself. There is a progression. Moreover, they were worshiping Jehovah. Earlier, when we were told of their prayers, we read: “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god,” that is, to idols. Now, after Jonah has been thrown overboard and the wind has stopped, we are told that they prayed to Jehovah, Jonah’s God. And how did they worship? Well, they performed a sacrifice—this was the Jewish means of approach to God—and they made vows. If the sailors had made their vows before their deliverance, I would not be so impressed. Theirs may have been only a foxhole conversion. We may imagine a situation in which a soldier is crouching in a foxhole looking down a hill against which an enemy is advancing. Naturally he is afraid for his life. He begins to pray: “O God, if there is a God, don’t let me get killed! I don’t want to die! Save me! If you save me, I will do anything you want! I’ll even … yes, I’ll even become a missionary!” Suddenly the soldiers turn off in another direction. The battle shifts, and he is saved. Does he remember his conversion? Not at all. He turns to his buddy and says, “Boy, we sure had a close call that time. Let’s celebrate when we get our next leave. I know where we can drink and gamble and sin our fill.” That is a foxhole conversion, but that is not what happened to the sailors. They made their vows after they had been delivered. Consequently, I believe that they were converted and that they must have vowed to serve Jehovah all their days.
Irony and Great Grace This is a great irony. We remember that Jonah was running from God because he did not want God to save the heathen in Nineveh. But the first great event in the story was the conversion of the heathen sailors, who were in many respects just like the pagans of Nineveh. And Jonah was not there to see it! This carries us farther in the lessons of this book about God’s sovereignty. What God is going to do, he will do. If he has determined to save Mary Jones, God will save Mary Jones. If he has determined to save John Smith, God will save John Smith. Moreover, those whom he saves will never perish, neither will anyone pluck them out of Christ’s hand (John 10:28). But notice, God can do this through the obedience of his children, as he does later with Nineveh through Jonah, in which case they share in the blessing. Or he can do it through his children’s disobedience, as here, in which case they miss the blessing. Either way, God blesses those whom he will bless. But the one case involves happiness for his people while the other involves misery. Which will it be in your case? Will you resist him? Will you refuse his Great Commission? Or will you obey him in this and in all matters? Perhaps you are not yet a Christian. If not, then learn from God’s grace to the sailors. You have not yet perished in your godless state because God, who made the sea around you and the dry land on which you walk, preserves you. Do not remain indifferent to him. Turn to him. Approach him on the basis of the perfect sacrifice for sin made once by his own Son, Jesus Christ, and follow him throughout your days.
Expositors
1 "The word of the LORD came to Jonah" literally means the word of the Lord "was" or "became" to Jonah. There is no indication how God communicated his will to Jonah "Jonah son of Amittai" is the only prophetic name recorded for the North in the nearly forty years between the death of Elisha and the ministry of Amos (2 Kings 14:25
3 It is equally baseless to suggest that Jonah thought that the Lord's writ did not extend to Tarshish. If he was convinced that God could and would bring destruction on Nineveh in the east, he knew that God could do it equally in Tarshish to the west, even if it was farther away. With typical human shortsightedness, the prophet could see only one reason for this--that penitent and spared Assyria should be God's scourge for Israel, which had been threatened by its power at least three times in the past (under Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III).
11 The sailors found themselves in a new and unexpected position. They realized that they were not dealing with a heinous criminal, or even with someone who had accidentally transgressed the regulations of some deity. Here was a god's servant who had fallen out with his lord. In a culture in which correct procedure in the service of the gods was essential, they had not merely to do the will of Yahweh but also to do it correctly. Only Jonah could guide them. "What should we do to you?" they asked.
12 Jonah's answer to the distraught sailors was, in essence, "Hand me over to my God." It is easy to overlook Jonah's spiritual greatness. Once the lot had pointed to him, he accepted that the storm was not simply "a natural phenomenon." So on the one hand, Jonah was willing to be handed over to his God, whom he had offended though without realizing the seriousness of his act. On the other hand, he knew that the God of 4:2 would not make the sailors pay for what had been an innocent act on their part. Yahweh was not a nonmoral god like Baal, making them suffer out of sheer pique. So Jonah was confident that the sea would calm down once he was no longer in the ship. This shows that he had a far deeper understanding of God than he is often given credit for.
13-14 Since the sailors' religious outlook could make no sense of a god of heaven's creating and controlling the sea--they probably did not even think of the sea as created but rather as a remnant of the original chaos--to throw Jonah overboard was equivalent to murdering him. (After all, even Christians do not always take God's complete control of his creation seriously.) They could not know for certain whether they were doing Yahweh's will, and they feared that he might punish them for the death of his servant. So they tried hard to set him ashore, even though it involved great risk to the ship. That they were near enough to the coast to make the attempt shows that it was an on-shore wind, which could so easily have wrecked them on a lee shore. When the increasing storm made this impossible, they prayed that they should not be held guilty of Jonah's death (v. 14); for dearly the Lord had done as he pleased. When they called Jonah "innocent" (naqi), they were not impugning God's actions; they were merely stating that no human tribunal had passed sentence on him.
15-16 So far as the sailors knew, Jonah had been dealt with by his angry god and master. Even had they seen him swallowed by the fish, which is highly improbable and not suggested by the story, they would never have guessed that it was the instrument of God's mercy. But the immediate cessation of the storm after they threw Jonah overboard showed them that Yahweh really had control of the sea. So "they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him." So when such faith is sincerely held, it should affect others. In the book as a whole, however the sailors' faith plays a very minor part. In accordance with its terse style, the story does not tell us what the vows were, nor the size and number of the sacrifices.
17 The sea did not change its nature when Jonah splashed into it, for God respects the qualities he has given his creation. Jonah did not suddenly develop into a champion swimmer, for normally God expects the abilities he has given to be suitably trained. But the necessary protection was there for all that. There is no suggestion that the fish was a special creation for the purpose, or that Jonah's preservation within it was miraculous. The power of God ensured that the fish was there at exactly the right time.. We should, however, ask ourselves why God chose this means of preserving Jonah's life. As we have already seen, the ship was not far from the shore; and God could easily have provided a piece of floating wreckage to which Jonah could have clung, till he washed up on the beach half-drowned. Miracle is not the gratuitous display of God's omnipotence, nor is it called out merely because of human need. Taken in its setting, it is probable that every miracle has a spiritual significance hence the use of "sign" to describe it in John. This must surely be the case here, and all the more so when we remember that Jesus was prepared to use Jonah's experience as a picture of his resurrection (Matt 12:39-40). So we should ask ourselves what the fish meant to Jonah and to those who first heard the story. For the sailors the raising of the storm and its subsequent quieting were indubitable evidence of Yahweh's control of chaos. This lesson had to be brought home to Jonah also. Yet he did not experience the sudden stilling of the storm, nor was he sufficiently versed in the ways of the sea to appreciate the miracle involved.
Title: Following the lead of the Hebrew Masoretic text (MT), the title of the book is derived from the principal character, Jonah (meaning “dove”), the son of Amittai (1:1). Both the Septuagint (LXX) and the Latin Vulgate (Vg.) ascribe the same name.Author and Date
The book makes no direct claim regarding authorship. Throughout the book, Jonah is repeatedly referred to in the third person, causing some to search for another author. It was not an uncommon OT practice, however, to write in the third person (Ex. 11:3; 1 Sam. 12:11). Furthermore, the autobiographical information revealed within its pages clearly points to Jonah as the author. The firsthand accounts of such unusual events and experiences would be best recounted from the hand of Jonah himself. Nor should the introductory verse suggest otherwise, since other prophets such as Hosea, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah have similar openings. According to 2 Kin. 14:25, Jonah came from Gath-hepher near Nazareth. The context places him during the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (ca. 793–758 b.c.), making him a prophet to the northern tribes just prior to Amos during the first half of the eighth century b.c., ca. 760 b.c. The Pharisees were wrong when they said “no prophet has arisen out of Galilee” (John 7:52), because Jonah was a Galilean. An unverifiable Jewish tradition says Jonah was the son of the widow of Zarephath whom Elijah raised from the dead (1 Kin. 17:8–24). Background and Setting As a prophet to the 10 northern tribes of Israel, Jonah shares a background and setting with Amos. The nation enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity. Both Syria and Assyria were weak, allowing Jeroboam II to enlarge the northern borders of Israel to where they had been in the days of David and Solomon (2 Kin. 14:23–27). Spiritually, however, it was a time of poverty; religion was ritualistic and increasingly idolatrous, and justice had become perverted. Peacetime and wealth had made her bankrupt spiritually, morally, and ethically (2 Kin. 14:24; Amos 4:1ff.; 5:10–13). As a result, God was to punish her by bringing destruction and captivity from the Assyrians in 722 b.c. Nineveh’s repentance may have been aided by the two plagues (765 and 759 b.c.) and a solar eclipse (763 b.c.), preparing them for Jonah’s judgment message. Historical and Theological Themes Jonah, though a prophet of Israel, is not remembered for his ministry in Israel which could explain why the Pharisees erringly claimed in Jesus’ day that no prophet had come from Galilee (John 7:52). Rather, the book relates the account of his call to preach repentance to Nineveh and his refusal to go. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and infamous for its cruelty, was an historical nemesis of Israel and Judah. The focus of this book is on that Gentile city, which was founded by Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah (Gen. 10:6–12). Perhaps the largest city in the ancient world (1:2; 3:2,3; 4:11), it was nevertheless destroyed about 150 years after the repentance of the generation in the time of Jonah’s visit (612 b.c.), as Nahum prophesied (Nah. 1:1ff.). Israel’s political distaste for Assyria, coupled with a sense of spiritual superiority as the recipient of God’s covenant blessing, produced a recalcitrant attitude in Jonah toward God’s request for missionary service. Jonah was sent to Nineveh in part to shame Israel by the fact that a pagan city repented at the preaching of a stranger, whereas Israel would not repent though preached to by many prophets. He was soon to learn that God’s love and mercy extends to all of His creatures (4:2,10,11), not just His covenant people (Gen. 9:27; 12:3; Lev. 19:33,34; 1 Sam. 2:10; Is. 2:2; Joel 2:28–32). The book of Jonah reveals God’s sovereign rule over man and all creation. Creation came into being through Him (1:9) and responds to His every command (1:4,17; 2:10; 4:6,7; cf. Mark 4:41). Jesus employed the repentance of the Ninevites to rebuke the Pharisees, thereby illustrating the hardness of the Pharisees’ hearts and their unwillingness to repent (Matt. 12:38–41; Luke 11:29–32). The heathen city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of a reluctant prophet, but the Pharisees would not repent at the preaching of the greatest of all prophets, in spite of overwhelming evidence that He was actually their Lord and Messiah. Jonah is a picture of Israel, who was chosen and commissioned by God to be His witness (Is. 43:10–12; 44:8), who rebelled against His will (Ex. 32:1–4; Judg. 2:11–19; Ezek. 6:1–5; Mark 7:6–9), but who has been miraculously preserved by God through centuries of exile and dispersion to finally preach His truth (Jer. 30:11; 31:35–37; Hos. 3:3–5; Rev. 7:1–8; 14:1–3). Interpretive Challenges The primary challenge is whether the book is to be interpreted as historical narrative or as allegory/parable. The grand scale of the miracles, such as being kept alive 3 days and nights in a big fish, has led some skeptics and critics to deny their historical validity and substitute spiritual lessons, either to the constituent parts (allegory) or to the book as a whole (parable). But however grandiose and miraculous the events may have been, the narrative must be viewed as historical. Centered on an historically identifiable OT prophet who lived in the eighth century b.c., the account of whom has been recorded in narrative form, there is no alternative but to understand Jonah as historical. Furthermore, Jesus did not teach the story of Jonah as a parable but as an actual account firmly rooted in history (Matt. 12:38–41; 16:4; Luke 11:29–32).
Outline
I. Running from God’s Will (1:1–17)
A. The Commission of Jonah (1:1, 2)
B. The Flight of Jonah (1:3)
C. The Pursuit of Jonah (1:4–16)
D. The Preservation of Jonah (1:17)
II. Submitting to God’s Will (2:1–10)
A. The Helplessness of Jonah (2:1–3)
B. The Prayer of Jonah (2:4–7)
C. The Repentance of Jonah (2:8, 9)
D. The Deliverance of Jonah (2:10)
III. Fulfilling God’s Will (3:1–10)
A. The Commission Renewed (3:1, 2)
B. The Prophet Obeys (3:3, 4)
C. The City Repents (3:5–9)
D. The Lord Relents (3:10)
IV. Questioning God’s Will (4:1–11)
A. The Prophet Displeased (4:1–5)
B. The Prophet Rebuked (4:6–11)
1:1 Jonah the son of Amittai. Jonah’s name is Heb. for “dove,” while that of his father means “truthful” or “loyal.” 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh. While other prophets prophesied against Gentile nations, this is the only case of a prophet actually being sent to a foreign nation to deliver God’s message against them. This was for the salvation of that city and for the shame and jealousy of Israel, as well as a rebuke to the reluctance of the Jews to bring Gentiles to the true God. Nineveh, which dates back to Nimrod (Gen. 10:11), was located on the banks of the Tigris River approximately 500 mi. NE of Israel. It was always one of Assyria’s royal cities and for many years served as the capital. The name Nineveh, is thought to derive from “ninus,” i.e., Nimrod, and means the residence of Nimrod or “nunu” (Akkadian for “fish”). The people worshiped the fish goddess Nanshe (the daughter of Ea, the goddess of fresh water) and Dagon the fish god who was represented as half man and half fish. that great city. Nineveh was great both in size (3:3) and in power, exerting significant influence over the Middle East until her destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 612 b.c. It was possibly the largest city in the world at this time. According to historians, magnificent walls almost 8 mi. long enveloped the inner city, with the rest of the city/district occupying an area with a circumference of some 60 miles. Its population could have approached 600,000 (4:11). their wickedness has come up before Me. Nineveh was the center of idolatrous worship of Assur and Ishtar. A century later, Nahum pronounced doom upon Assyria for her evil ways and cruelty (Nah. 3), which was carried out by Nebuchadnezzar in 612 b.c. 1:3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish. This is the only recorded instance of a prophet refusing God’s commission (Jer. 20:7–9).O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9 But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.] The location of Tarshish, known for its wealth (Ps. 72:10; Jer. 10:9; Ezek. 27:12,25), is uncertain. The Gr. historian Herodotus identified it with Tartessus, a merchant city in southern Spain. The prophet went as far W in the opposite direction as possible, showing his reluctance to bring salvation blessing to Gentiles. from the presence of the Lord. While no one can escape from the Lord’s omnipresence (Ps. 139:7–12), it is thought that the prophet was attempting to flee His manifest presence in the temple at Jerusalem (Gen. 4:16; Jon. 2:4). Joppa. Joppa (today Jaffa), located on the Mediterranean coast near the border of Judah and Samaria, was also the location of Peter’s vision in preparation for his visit to Cornelius, a Gentile (Acts 10). 1:4 a great wind. This is not an ordinary storm, but an extreme one sent (lit. “hurled”) from God. Sailors, accustomed to storms, were afraid of this one (v. 5), a fear which served God’s purpose (Ps. 104:4). 1:7 cast lots. The last resort is to ascertain whose guilt has caused such divine anger. God could reveal His will by controlling the lots, which He did. This method of discernment by casting lots, the exact procedure of which is not known, was not forbidden in Israel (Prov. 16:33; Josh. 7:14ff.; 15:1; 1 Sam 14:36–45; Acts 1:26).
| Ten Miracles in Jonah | ||
| 1. | 1:4 | “the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea” |
| 2. | 1:7 | “the lot fell on Jonah” |
| 3. | 1:15 | “the sea ceased from its raging” |
| 4. | 1:17 | “the Lord had prepared a great fish” |
| 5. | 1:17 | “to swallow Jonah (alive)” |
| 6. | 2:10 | “the Lord spoke to the fish…it vomited Jonah onto dry land” |
| 7. | 3:10 | “God saw their works…they turned from their evil way” |
| 8. | 4:6 | “the Lord God prepared a plant” |
| 9. | 4:7 | “God prepared a worm” |
| 10. | 4:8 | “God prepared a vehement east wind” |
1:9 I am a Hebrew. Jonah identified himself by the name that Israelites used among Gentiles (1 Sam. 4:6,9; 14:11). the God of heaven. This title, in use from earliest times (Gen. 24:3,7), may have been specifically chosen by Jonah to express the sovereignty of the Lord in contrast to Baal, who was a sky god (1 Kin. 18:24). Spoken to sailors who were most likely from Phoenicia, the center of Baal worship, the title bears significant weight, especially when coupled with the phrase “who made the sea and the dry land.” This was the appropriate identification when introducing the true and living God to pagans who didn’t have Scripture, but whose reason led them to recognize the fact that there had to be a Creator (Rom 1:18–23). To begin with creation, as in Acts 14:14–17 and 17:23b–29, was the proper starting point. To evangelize Jews, one can begin with the OT Scripture. 1:11,12 Unwilling to go to Nineveh and feeling guilty, Jonah was willing to sacrifice himself in an effort to save the lives of others. Apparently, he would rather have died than go to Nineveh. 1:13,14 Heathen sailors had more concern for one man than Jonah had for tens of thousands in Nineveh. The storm, Jonah’s words, and the lots all indicated to the sailors that the Lord was involved; thus they offered sacrifices to Him and made vows, indicating Jonah had told them more about God than is recorded here. 1:15 the sea ceased. This was similar to Christ’s quieting the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 8:23–27). 1:17 a great fish. The species of fish is uncertain; the Heb. word for whale is not here employed. God sovereignly prepared (lit. “appointed”) a great fish to rescue Jonah. Apparently Jonah sank into the depth of the sea before the fish swallowed him (2:3,5,6). three days and three nights. See Matt. 12:40; 16:4. 2:1–9 Jonah acknowledged God’s sovereignty (vv. 1–3) and submitted to it (vv. 2:4–9).
BKC - Author. Jonah, whose name means ”dove,“ was a servant of the Lord from Gath Hepher (2 Kings 14:25), a town in the tribe of Zebulun (Josh. 19:10, 13). Jonah lived when Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom was king (2 Kings 14:23-25). The Prophet Jonah’s prediction that Israel’s boundaries (2 Kings 14:25) would extend under Jeroboam came true. This prophet, a Hebrew (Jonah 1:9) and the son of Amittai (1:1; Amittai means ”[my] true one“), was the only Old Testament prophet to attempt to run from God. Jonah was one of four OT prophets whose ministries were referred to by Christ (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32). The others were Elijah (Matt. 17:11-12), Elisha (Luke 4:27), and Isaiah (Matt. 15:7). Jonah’s ministry had some parallels to his immediate predecessors, Elijah (1 Kings 17-19; 21; 2 Kings 1-2) and Elisha (2 Kings 2-9; 13), who ministered to Israel and also were called to Gentile missions in Phoenicia and Aram.
Some have suggested that Jonah was not the author of the book because he is referred to in the third person (1:3, 5, 9, 12; 2:1; 3:4; 4:1, 5, 8-9). This, however, is not a strong argument. Moses, author of the Pentateuch, often used the third person when describing his own actions. Also Isaiah and Daniel sometimes wrote of themselves in the third person (Isa. 37:21; 38:1; 39:3-5; Dan. 1:1-7:1). However, since all of the Book of Jonah is in the third person some scholars believe this book was written by a prophet other than Jonah soon after the events. Date. Since 2 Kings 14:25 relates Jonah to the reign of Jeroboam II, the events in the Book of Jonah took place some time in Jeroboam’s reign (793-753 b.c.). Jonah’s prophecy about Israel’s boundaries being extended may indicate that he made that prophecy early in Jeroboam’s reign. This makes Jonah a contemporary of both Hosea and Amos (Hosea 1:1; Amos 1:1). Jonah’s reference to Nineveh in the past tense (Jonah 3:3) has led some to suggest that Jonah lived later, after the city’s destruction in 612 b.c. However, the tense of the Hebrew verb can just as well point to the city’s existence in Jonah’s day. Historical Setting. Jeroboam II, in whose reign Jonah prophesied, was the most powerful king in the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 14:23-29). Earlier the Assyrians had established supremacy in the Near East and secured tribute from Jehu (841-814 b.c.). (On the atrocious nature of the Assyrians, see the Book of Nahum.) However, after crushing the Arameans, the Assyrians suffered temporary decline because of internal dissension. In the temporary setback of Assyrian imperialistic hopes, Israel’s Jeroboam was able to expand his nation’s territories to their greatest extent since the time of David and Solomon by occupying land that formerly belonged to Aram (northeast toward Damascus and north to Hamath). However, the religious life of Israel was such that God sent both Hosea and Amos to warn of impending judgment. Because of Israel’s stubbornness, the nation would fall under God’s chosen instrument of wrath, a Gentile nation from the east. Amos warned that God would send Israel ”into exile beyond Damascus“ (Amos 5:27). Hosea specifically delineated the ravaging captor as Assyria: ”Will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?“ (Hosea 11:5) So Assyria, then in temporary decline, would awake like a sleeping giant and devour the Northern Kingdom of Israel as its prey. This prediction was fulfilled in 722 b.c. when Sargon II carried the Northern Kingdom into captivity (2 Kings 17). The prophecies of Hosea and Amos may explain Jonah’s reluctance to preach in Nineveh. He feared he would be used to help the enemy that would later destroy his own nation. Nineveh was located on the east bank of the Tigris River, about 550 miles from Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom. Nineveh was large and, like Babylon, was protected by an outer wall and an inner wall. The inner wall was 50 feet wide and 100 feet high. Before Jonah arrived at this seemingly impregnable fortress-city, two plagues had erupted there (in 765 and 759 b.c.) and a total eclipse of the sun occurred on June 15, 763. These were considered signs of divine anger and may help explain why the Ninevites responded so readily to Jonah’s message, around 759. Message. This record of Jonah’s episode and mission to Nineveh was addressed to Israel. The book was written not simply to record a historical narrative; in addition it conveyed a message to the Northern Kingdom. Also in one sense Jonah is not the principal person in the book; God is. The Lord had the first word (Jonah 1:1-2) and the last (4:11). God commanded the prophet twice (1:2; 3:2); He sent a violent storm on the sea (1:4); He provided a great fish to rescue Jonah (1:17); He commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land (2:10); He threatened Nineveh with judgment and relented in compassion (3:10); He provided a vine to shade His prophet (4:6); He commissioned a worm to destroy the plant (4:7); and He sent a scorching wind to discomfort Jonah (4:8).
What then is the message God was seeking to deliver to Israel through His dealings with Jonah, the Ninevites, and natural phenomena? (the sea, animal life, plant life, and the wind)
First, one apparent message to Israel is God’s concern for Gentile peoples. The Lord’s love for the souls of all people was supposed to be mediated through Israel, God’s elect and covenant nation. Through Israel the blessing of His compassion was to be preached to the nations (Isa. 49:3). The Book of Jonah was a reminder to Israel of her missionary purpose.
Second, the book demonstrates the sovereignty of God in accomplishing His purposes. Though Israel was unfaithful in its missionary task, God was faithful in causing His love to be proclaimed. In praise to God for miraculously delivering him, Jonah confessed, ”Salvation [deliverance] comes from the Lord“ (Jonah 2:9). Israel failed to proclaim God’s mercies, but His work gets done in spite of human weakness and imperfection.
Third, the response of the Gentiles served as a message of rebuke to God’s sinful nation Israel (John H. Stek, ”The Message of the Book of Jonah,“ Calvin Theological Journal 4. 1969:42-3). The spiritual insight of the mariners (1:14-16) and their concern for the Jewish prophet contrast starkly with Israel’s lack of concern for the Gentile nations. Jonah’s spiritual hardness illustrated and rebuked Israel’s callousness. Nineveh’s repentance contrasted sharply with Israel’s rejection of the warnings of Jonah’s contemporaries, Hosea and Amos.
Fourth, Jonah was a symbol to Israel of her disobedience to God and indifference to the religious plight of other nations. Hosea, Jonah’s contemporary, graphically portrayed the unending love of God for His people by loving a prostitute (who was a symbol of Israel’s religious waywardness). Similarly Jonah symbolized Israel by his disobedience and disaffection. God’s punishment of Jonah shows His wrath on Israel. Yet the Lord’s gentle, miraculous dealings with Jonah also picture His tender love and slowness of anger with the nation. As Jonah wrote the book from a repentant heart, God desired that the nation would heed the lesson Jonah learned and repent as Jonah and Nineveh had done. Authenticity and Historicity. Critical scholars, with their antisupernatural bias, have denied the authenticity of the Book of Jonah for several reasons. First, critics scoff at the miracle of a great fish swallowing the prophet. But scholars have demonstrated the validity of such an event (e.g., A.J. Wilson, ”Sign of the Prophet Jonah and Its Modern Confirmations,“ Princeton Theological Review 25. October 1927, pp. 630-42; George F. Howe, ”Jonah and the Great Fish,“ Biblical Research Monthly. January 1973, pp. 6-8). The ”great fish“ was possibly a mammal, a sperm whale (Catodon Macrocephalus). Sperm whales are known to have swallowed unusually large objects including even a 15-foot shark (Frank T. Bullen, Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World after Sperm Whales. London: Smith, 1898). Others have written that whale sharks (the Rhineodon Typicus) have swallowed men who later were found alive in the sharks’ stomachs. Second, some scholars have questioned the size of Nineveh (3:3) and its population (4:11). True, the circumference of Nineveh’s inner wall, according to archeologists, was less than eight miles. So the diameter of the city, less than two miles, was hardly a three-day journey. (One day’s journey in open territory was usually about 15-20 miles.) However, two answers may be given to this objection: (1) ”The city“ probably included the surrounding towns that depended on Nineveh. Three such cities related to Nineveh are mentioned in Genesis 10:11-12. (2) Taking three days to go through such a city and its suburbs is reasonable since Jonah stopped and preached along the way (Jonah 3:3-4). (On the population of Nineveh see comments on 4:11.) A city of two miles diameter was a colossal size in the ancient Near East. So it is not surprising that it was called a great city (1:2; 3:2-4, 7; 4:11).
Third, the reference to the king of Assyria as ”the king of Nineveh“ (3:6), has puzzled some, but to substitute a capital city (e.g., Nineveh) for the particular country (e.g., Assyria) is fairly common in the Old Testament. Ahab of Israel is called ”king of Samaria“ (1 Kings 21:1), Ahaziah of Israel is also called ”the king of Samaria“ (2 Kings 1:3), and Ben-Hadad of Aram is referred to as the ”king of Damascus“ (2 Chron. 24:23). Fourth, some reject the Book of Jonah because of the sudden repentance of the Ninevites. This, however, denies the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. If Jonah had gone to the city during the reign of the Assyrian king Ashur-dan III (772-754 b.c.; see the chart ”Kings of Assyria in the Middle and New Assyrian Kingdoms“), the prophet may have found the city psychologically prepared for his message by two foreboding famines (in 765 and 759) and a total solar eclipse on June 15, 763. People in those days often took such events as indicators of divine wrath. Fifth, some scholars reject the authenticity of the book because of the rapid growth of the vine (Jonah 4:6). This plant, however, was probably the castor bean known for its rapid growth, tall height, and large leaves (4:6). Several arguments support the historicity of the book: (1) Known cities are mentioned in the book, including Nineveh (1:2; 3:2-4, 6-7; 4:11), Tarshish (1:3; 4:2), and Joppa (1:3). (2) Jonah is viewed as a historical person, not a fictional character. He was said to be a prophet from Gath Hepher (2 Kings 14:25) who lived in the reign of a historical person, Jeroboam II. (3) Jesus recognized the historicity of Jonah (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:29-30, 32) and called him a prophet (Matt. 12:39), assenting to the great miracle of Jonah’s recovery from the fish (Matt. 12:40). Jesus based His call to repentance in His day on the validity of Jonah’s message of repentance (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:29-32). If the story of Jonah is nonliteral (fiction, allegory, or parable), such a literary form is highly unusual, different from all the other prophetic books.
OUTLINE
I. The Disobedience of Jonah (chaps. 1-2)
A. The commission of the prophet (1:1-2)
B. The disobedience of the prophet (1:3)
C. The consequences of the prophet’s disobedience (1:4-2:10)
1. The great wind (1:4-16)
2. The great fish (1:17-2:10)
II. The Obedience of Jonah (chaps. 3-4)
A. The recommissioning of the prophet (3:1-2)
B. The obedience of the prophet (3:3-4)
C. The conversion of the Ninevites (3:5-10)
1. The action of the people (3:5)
2. The action of the king (3:6-9)
3. The action of God (3:10)
D. The sorrow of the prophet (chap. 4)
1. The displeasure of Jonah (4:1-5)
2. The explanation of the Lord (4:6-11)
The Disobedience of Jonah (chaps. 1-2)
The commission of the prophet (1:1-2) 1:1-2. The God of Israel commanded Jonah a prophet (2 Kings 14:25; Matt. 12:39), to travel to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it. (”Great“ and ”greatly“ occur frequently in the book: ”great city,“ Jonah 1:2; 3:2; 4:11; ”great wind,“ 1:4; ”great storm,“ v. 12; ”greatly feared,“ v. 16; ”great fish,“ v. 17; ”greatly displeased,“ 4:1; and ”very [lit., greatly‘] happy,“ 4:6.) The message he was to preach is stated in 3:4. Jonah had divine authority for this message because the word of the Lord came to him. It was authoritative because of its origin. The city of Nineveh was located on the east side of the Tigris River about 550 miles northeast of Samaria (see the map ”The Assyrian Empire“). That distance required a journey of more than a month, if Jonah traveled the normal distance of 15-20 miles a day. The great city was second in size only to Babylon. (4:11.) It was in modern-day Iraq opposite the modern town of Mosul. Nineveh was built by Nimrod (Gen. 10:11). After Jonah’s day, it became the capital of the Assyrian Empire under Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.), the successor of Sargon II (722-705 b.c.) who destroyed the Northern Kingdom. The reason God sent Jonah to preach ”against“ Nineveh (to pronounce its doom under God’s judgment) is that its wickedness had come up before Him, that is, the people were relentless and persistent in their sins. The Assyrian king acknowledged that his people’s ways were ”evil“ and characterized by ”violence“ (Jonah 3:8). And they were ”carefree“ (Zeph. 2:15), thinking themselves invincible. The Prophet Nahum wrote about several of their crimes (Nahum 3:1, 4, 16). Nineveh was well known in the ancient Near East for the brutal atrocities it inflicted on its war captives. (For more on Nineveh’s brutalities, see the Introduction to Nahum.) This city was also known for its idolatry; it had temples dedicated to the gods Nabu, Asshur, and Adad; the Ninevites also worshiped Ishtar, a goddess of love and war. The disobedience of the prophet (1:3) 1:3. Though Jonah apparently understood and appreciated God’s wrath against Assyria, he was not nearly so compassionate as God was. Motivated by patriotic duty that clouded religious obligation, and knowing God’s forgiving mercy (cf. 4:2), Jonah shirked his responsibility. It is strange that a prophet of God would not follow God’s command to preach condemnation. Instead of traveling northeast he fled by sea in the opposite direction. He boarded a ship at Joppa (modern Jaffa), on Israel’s coast about 35 miles from Samaria and about the same distance from Jerusalem. The ship was bound for Tarshish, probably Tartessus in southern Spain, about 2,500 miles west of Joppa. Since Tarshish was a Phoenician colony, the ship’s sailors may have been Phoenicians. Phoenicians were known for their seagoing vessels and skill on the seas. The consequences of the prophet’s disobedience (1:4-2:10) The structure of 1:4-16 is a chiasm, as seen in the following chart (adapted from Yehuda Radday, ”Chiasmus in Hebrew Biblical Literature,“ in Chiasmus in Antiquity: Structures, Analyses, Exegesis. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1981, p. 60).
a. The sailors’ fright (vv. 4-5a)
b. The sailors’ prayer to their gods (v. 5b)
c. The sailors’ unloading the ship (v. 5c)
d. The captain’s speech to Jonah (v. 6)
e. The sailors’ word to each other (v. 7a)
f. The sailors’ question to Jonah, Who are you? (vv. 7b-8)
g. Jonah’s confession (v. 9)
f‘. The sailors’ question to Jonah, What have you done? (v. 10a)
e’. The sailors’ question to Jonah, What shall we do? (vv. 10b-11)
d‘. Jonah’s words to the sailors (v. 12)
c’. The sailors’ rowing of the ship (v. 13)
b‘. The sailor’s prayer to the Lord (v. 14)
a’. The sailors’ fear of the Lord (vv. 15-16)
the great wind (1:4-16)
The principal person in the narrative was God, not Jonah. To accomplish His purposes, God
sovereignly controlled various events recorded in the book, overcame Jonah’s rebellion, and opened
the Ninevites’ hearts. Here He miraculously altered the direction of His servant’s itinerary.
The distress of the sailors (1:4-5a)
1:4-5a. God sent (ṭûl, ”hurled“) a . . . wind on the Mediterranean Sea. The wind was so great that it
caused a violent storm. So terrible was the storm that the sailors thought the ship would break up.
No wonder they were afraid! The fact that each sailor cried out to his own god suggests that many
individual deities were worshiped by the Phoenicians. As seasoned seamen they also lightened the
ship by tossing the cargo overboard (Acts 27:17-18), hoping that the lighter ship would not sink.
The complacency of Jonah (1:5b-6)
1:5b-6. In contrast with the concern of the mariners Jonah’s reaction is amazing. He went below
deck and fell asleep, undisturbed by the storm’s tossing the ship. Perhaps he felt secure there.
Obviously he was insensitive to the danger. Ironically a pagan ship captain had to call a man of God
to prayer. The captain was desperate; every known god should be appealed to so that one might grant
relief from their peril (we will not perish, v. 6). The need was so great that the men despaired for
their lives; yet God’s servant slept. What an object lesson to God’s people then and now to awaken
from apathy as crying people perish on the sea of life.
The reasons for the dilemma (1:7-9)
1:7. While the captain attempted to arouse Jonah (v. 6), the sailors concluded that the tragic storm
was the result of divine wrath on the wrongdoing of some man on board. The casting of lots to
determine a decision, in this case to find a culprit, was common in Israel and other countries in the
ancient Near East (Lev. 16:8; Josh. 18:6; 1 Sam. 14:42; Neh. 10:34; Es. 3:7; Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:26).
Perhaps marked stones were put in a container, and one was taken out. God expressed His
sovereignty over Jonah’s affairs, causing the lot to ”fall“ on His disobedient prophet.
1:8-9. Though rebellious against God’s command (cf. vv. 2-3) Jonah responded to the sailors’
barrage of five questions by stating with no uncertainty his nationality (I am a Hebrew) and the
worth and power of His God. Though disobedient to God, Jonah at least knew what He is like. Jonah
said that God is the Lord (Yahweh), the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God of Israel. The
prophet also said his God is the God of heaven (Gen. 24:3,7; Ezra 1:2), the one true Sovereign, in
contrast with the sailors’ many false gods (Jonah 1:5). Jonah also affirmed that Yahweh is the
Creator, the One who made the sea and the land (Ex. 20:11; Ps. 95:5). As Creator of the world He
can control nature, including storms on the sea (Ps. 89:9). The sailors clearly acknowledged this fact
in their question (Jonah 1:11). It may seem strange that Jonah claimed to worship this God when he
did not obey Him, but this is often true of believers.
The calming of the sea (1:10-16)
1:10. Hearing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, and knowing that Jonah was rebelling against his
God, the sailors concluded that the upheaval of the sea evidenced God’s displeasure with him. This
brought fear to the sailors, for they felt helpless in appeasing someone else’s god. Perhaps too they
sensed, superstitiously, that Jonah’s God was holding them responsible as accomplices in Jonah’s
”crime.“ By their question, What have you done? the seamen chided the prophet for his senseless
action. This question affirmed emphatically that he was responsible for their predicament. It was
more a statement of horror at Jonah’s disobedience than a question of inquiry. The pagan sailors
seemed to grasp the seriousness of his disobedience more than the prophet did!
1:11. The sailors’ perceptiveness is again evident. Believing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, as he
had told them (v. 9), they appealed to Jonah for a resolution to their heightening dilemma. They
sensed that since he was responsible for the storm, they needed to do something to him. Only then
would the storm be abated.
1:12. Jonah’s response was penitent. Recognizing the gravity of his disobedience that resulted in the
great storm, he was willing to endure punishment, even death. So he told them to throw him into
the sea. Only then, when he was overboard, would the sea be calm. Perhaps Jonah also thought this
would be a way out of his assignment (cf. 4:3, 8). But God had another plan!
1:13-14. The sailors, however, were not anxious to take human life for fear they would be held
accountable for murder. This contrasts sharply with Jonah’s lack of compassion for the Ninevites (
4:1-2). So the men on the ship (except for Jonah) tried again to get back to land. But against the
sovereign God, the sailors’ meager efforts brought no relief. In fact the storm intensified.
Recognizing the futility of their efforts, and believing that Jonah’s God controls the sea, they realized
Jonah’s instructions had to be carried out. Yet those Gentiles, not having the Law of God,
instinctively recognized the worth of human life and pleaded for His mercy on them for killing an
innocent man. By their words, You, O Lord, have done as You pleased, the sailors were
acknowledging His divine sovereignty and providence in the storm (1:4) and in the casting of the lots
(v. 7). 1:15-16. Following the prophet’s instructions (v. 12), the sailors threw Jonah into the raging
sea and it became calm. This showed them the reality and power of the God of Israel. They stood in
awe of (feared) the Lord. He had done what their gods could not do. The sudden calm was an
answer to the sailors’ prayers (v. 5). The calm also revealed that the storm had resulted from Jonah’s
disobedience and that an innocent life had not been snuffed out in casting him overboard. Utterly
amazed at the sudden calm, they offered a sacrifice in praise to the Lord (Yahweh, Israel’s God)
and promised (made vows) to continue their praise. Again the sailors are seen in contrast with their
former passenger. Whereas Jonah was disobedient to God, they were praising Him!
the great fish (1:17-2:10)The swallowing of Jonah (1:17) 1:17. The prophet’s expected death
did not occur. The sovereignty and centrality of God as the major figure in this historical narrative
are evidenced in His providing a fish to swallow Jonah. This is the first of four things in this book He
provided (4:6-8). The great fish was possibly a mammal, a sperm whale, or perhaps a whale shark
God controls not only the sea but all that is in it. By means of the large sea monster God preserved
Jonah alive and later deposited him unhurt on land. The phrase three days and three nights need
not be understood as a 72-hour period, but as one 24-hour day and parts of two other days (Es.
4:16 with 5:1 and Matt. 12:40, where Jesus said His burial would be the same length of time as
Jonah’s interment in the fish’s stomach).
WIERSBE - Those who consider the Book of Jonah an allegory or a parable should note that 2 Kings 14:25 identifies Jonah as a real person, a Jewish prophet from Gath Hepher in Zebulun who ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (793–753 B.C.) . They should also note that our Lord considered Jonah a historic person and pointed to him as a type of His own death, burial, and resurrection (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32). The reign of Jeroboam II was a time of great prosperity in Israel; the nation regained lost territory and expanded both its boundaries and influence. But it was a time of moral and spiritual decay as the nation rapidly moved away from God and into idolatry. Jonah’s contemporaries Hosea and Amos both courageously denounced the wickedness of the rulers, priests, and people. It’s worth noting that Hosea and Amos also showed God’s concern for other nations, which is one of the major themes of Jonah. While Jonah had a ministry to Nineveh, a leading city in Assyria, he also had a ministry to Israel through this little book. He discovered God’s compassion for those outside Israel, even those who were their enemies. God had called His people to be a blessing to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:1–3), but, like Jonah, the Jews refused to obey. And, like Jonah, they had to be disciplined; for Assyria would conquer Israel and Babylon would take Judah into captivity. Jonah’s book magnifies the sovereignty of God as well as the love and mercy of God. Jehovah is the “God of the second chance,” even for rebellious prophets!
Outline Key idea: Obeying God’s will brings blessings to us and to others through us; disobedience brings discipline.
Jonah 2:9
I. God’s patience with Jonah—1:1–17
1. Jonah’s disobedience — 1:1–3
2. Jonah’s indifference — 1:4–10
3. Jonah’s impenitence — 1:11–17
II. God’s mercy toward Jonah—2:1–10
1. He hears his prayer — 2:1–2
2. He disciplines him — 2:3
3. He honors his faith — 2:4–7
4. He accepts his confession — 2:8–9
5. He restores his ministry — 2:10
III. God’s power through Jonah—3:1–10
1. The gracious Lord — 3:1–2
2. The obedient servant — 3:3–4
3. The repentant people — 3:5–9
4. The postponed judgment — 3:10
IV. God’s ministry to Jonah—4:1–11
1. God hears him — 4:1–4
2. God comforts him — 4:5–8
3. God teaches him — 4:9–11
Jonah 1–2 Patience and Pardon Most people are so familiar with the story of Jonah that nothing in it surprises them anymore, including the fact that it begins with the word “and.” If I opened one of my books with the word “and,” the editor would probably wonder if something had been lost, including my ability to use the English language. Jonah is one of fourteen Old Testament books that open with the little word “and.” These books remind us of God’s “continued story” of grace and mercy. Though the Bible is comprised of sixty-six different books, it tells only one story; and God keeps communicating that message to us, even though we don’t always listen too attentively. How long-suffering He is toward us! What is the Book of Jonah about? Well, it’s not simply about a great fish (mentioned only four times), or a great city (named nine times), or even a disobedient prophet (mentioned eighteen times). It’s about God! God is mentioned thirty-eight times in these four short chapters, and if you eliminated Him from the book, the story wouldn’t make sense. The Book of Jonah is about the will of God and how we respond to it. It’s also about the love of God and how we share it with others. In these first two chapters, Jonah has three experiences. Rebellion (Jonah 1:1–17) Jonah must have been a popular man in Israel, because his prediction had been fulfilled that the nation would regain her lost territory from her enemies (2 Kings 14:25). Those were days of peace and prosperity for Israel, but they were autumn days just before the terrible winter of judgment. Jonah the prophet disobeys God’s call (Jonah 1:1–3). Jonah got into trouble because his attitudes were wrong. To begin with, he had a wrong attitude toward the will of God. Obeying the will of God is as important to God’s servant as it is to the people His servants minister to. It’s in obeying the will of God that we find our spiritual nourishment (John 4:34), enlightenment (7:17), and enablement (Heb. 13:21). To Jesus, the will of God was food that satisfied Him; to Jonah, the will of God was medicine that choked him. Jonah’s wrong attitude toward God’s will stemmed from a feeling that the Lord was asking him to do an impossible thing. God commanded the prophet to go to Israel’s enemy, Assyria, and give the city of Nineveh opportunity to repent, and Jonah would much rather see the city destroyed. The Assyrians were a cruel people who had often abused Israel and Jonah’s narrow patriotism took precedence over his theology. Jonah forgot that the will of God is the expression of the love of God (Ps. 33:11), and that God called him to Nineveh because He loved both Jonah and the Ninevites. Jonah also had a wrong attitude toward the Word of God. When the Word of the Lord came to him, Jonah thought he could “take it or leave it.” However, when God’s Word commands us, we must listen and obey. Disobedience isn’t an option. “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46. Jonah forgot that it was a great privilege to be a prophet, to hear God’s Word, and know God’s will. That’s why he resigned his prophetic office and fled in the opposite direction from Nineveh. Jonah knew that he couldn’t run away from God’s presence (Ps. 139:7–12), but he felt he had the right to turn in his resignation. He forgot that “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). At one time or another during their ministries, Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah felt like giving up, but God wouldn’t let them. Jonah needed Nineveh as much as Nineveh needed Jonah. It’s in doing the will of God that we grow in grace and become more like Christ. Jonah had a wrong attitude toward circumstances; he thought they were working for him when they were really working against him. He fled to Joppa and found just the right ship waiting for him! He had enough money to pay the fare for his long trip, and he was even able to go down into the ship and fall into a sleep so deep that the storm didn’t wake him up. It’s possible to be out of the will of God and still have circumstances appear to be working on your behalf. You can be rebelling against God and still have a false sense of security that includes a good night’s sleep. God in His providence was preparing Jonah for a great fall. Finally, Jonah had a wrong attitude toward the Gentiles. Instead of wanting to help them find the true and living God, he wanted to abandon them to their darkness and spiritual death. He not only hated their sins—and the Assyrians were ruthless enemies—but he hated the sinners who committed the sins. Better that Nineveh should be destroyed than that the Assyrians live and attack Israel.
Jonah the Jew becomes a curse instead of a blessing (Jonah 1:4–10). God called the Jews to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:1–3), but whenever the Jews were out of the will of God, they brought trouble instead of blessing. Twice Abraham brought trouble to people because he lied (vv. 10–20; 20:1–18); Achan brought trouble to Israel’s army because he robbed God (Josh. 7); and Jonah brought trouble to a boatload of pagan sailors because he fled. Consider all that Jonah lost because he wasn’t a blessing to others. First of all, he lost the voice of God (Jonah 1:4). We don’t read that “the word of the Lord came to Jonah,” but that a great storm broke loose over the waters. God was no longer speaking to Jonah through His word; He was speaking to him through His works: the sea, the wind, the rain, the thunder, and even the great fish. Everything in nature obeyed God except His servant! God even spoke to Jonah through the heathen sailors (vv. 6, 8, 10) who didn’t know Jehovah. It’s a sad thing when a servant of God is rebuked by pagans. Jonah also lost his spiritual energy (v. 5b). He went to sleep during a fierce storm and was totally unconcerned about the safety of others. The sailors were throwing the ship’s wares and cargo overboard, and Jonah was about to lose everything, but he still slept on. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man” (Prov. 24:33). He lost his power in prayer (Jonah 1:5a, 6). The heathen sailors were calling on their gods for help while Jonah slept through the prayer meeting, the one man on board who knew the true God and could pray to Him. Of course, Jonah would first have had to confess his sins and determine to obey God, something he wasn’t willing to do. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps. 66:18). If Jonah did pray, his prayer wasn’t answered. Loss of power in prayer is one of the first indications that we’re far from the Lord and need to get right with Him. Sad to say, Jonah lost his testimony (Jonah 1:7–10). He certainly wasn’t living up to his name, for Jonah means “dove,” and the dove is a symbol of peace. Jonah’s father’s name was Ammitai, which means “faithful, truthful,” something that Jonah was not. We’ve already seen that he wasn’t living up to his high calling as a Jew, for he had brought everybody trouble instead of blessing, nor was he living up to his calling as a prophet, for he had no message for them from God. When the lot pointed to Jonah as the culprit, he could no longer avoid making a decision. Jonah had already told the crew that he was running away from God, but now he told them he was God’s prophet, the God who created the heaven, the earth, and the sea. This announcement made the sailors even more frightened. The God who created the sea was punishing His servant and that’s why they were in danger! Jonah the rebel suffers for his sins (Jonah 1:11–17). Charles Spurgeon said that God never allows His children to sin successfully, and Jonah is proof of the truth of that statement. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6). We must not make the mistake of calling Jonah a martyr, for the title would be undeserved. Martyrs die for the glory of God, but Jonah offered to die because selfishly he would rather die than obey the will of God! He shouldn’t be classified with people like Moses (Ex. 32:30–35), Esther (Es. 4:13–17), and Paul (Rom. 9:1–3) who were willing to give their lives to God in order to rescue others. Jonah is to be commended for telling the truth but not for taking his life in his own hands. He should have surrendered his life to the Lord and let Him give the orders. Had he fallen to his knees and confessed his sins to God, Jonah might have seen the storm cease and the door open to a great opportunity for witness on the ship. It’s significant that the heathen sailors at first rejected Jonah’s offer and began to work harder to save the ship. They did more for Jonah than Jonah had been willing to do for them. When they saw that the cause was hopeless, they asked Jonah’s God for His forgiveness for throwing Jonah into the stormy sea. Sometimes unsaved people put believers to shame by their honesty, sympathy, and sacrifice.
However, these pagan sailors knew some basic theology: the existence of Jonah’s God, His judgment of sin, their own guilt before Him, and His sovereignty over creation. They confessed, “For you, O Lord, have done as You pleased” (Jonah 1:14). However, there’s no evidence that they abandoned their old gods; they merely added Jehovah to their “god shelf.” They threw themselves on God’s mercy and then threw Jonah into the raging sea, and God stopped the storm. When the storm ceased, the men feared God even more and made vows to Him. How they could offer an animal sacrifice to God on board ship is a puzzle to us, especially since the cargo had been jettisoned, but then we don’t know what the sacrifice was or how it was offered. Perhaps the sense of verse 16 is that they offered the animal to Jehovah and vowed to sacrifice it to Him once they were safe on shore. The seventeenth-century English preacher Jeremy Taylor said, “God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.” He was referring, of course, to being happy with God’s will for our lives. For us to rebel against God’s will, as Jonah did, is to invite the chastening hand of God. That’s why the Westminster Catechism states that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” We glorify God by enjoying His will and doing it from our hearts (Eph. 6:6), and that’s where Jonah failed. Jonah could say with the psalmist, “The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death” (Ps. 118:18). God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and protect his life for three days and three nights. We’ll consider the significance of this later in this study.
Repentance (Jonah 2:1–9) From an experience of rebellion and discipline, Jonah turns to an experience of repentance and dedication, and God graciously gives him a new beginning. Jonah no doubt expected to die in the waters of the sea, but when he woke up inside the fish, he realized that God had graciously spared him. As with the Prodigal Son, whom Jonah in his rebellion greatly resembles (Luke 15:11–24), it was the goodness of God that brought him to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Notice the stages in Jonah’s spiritual experience as described in his prayer.
3:1,2 Gracious in giving Jonah a second chance, God again commissioned him to go to Nineveh. Jonah is the only prophet actually sent by God to preach repentance in a foreign land. 3:3 an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey. Lit. “a great city to God,” the text emphasizes not only its size (1:2) but its importance (4:11). A metropolitan city the size of Nineveh, with a circumference of about 60 mi., would require 3 days just to get around it. These dimensions are confirmed by historians. Stopping to preach would only add to the time requirement. 3:4 Yet forty days. The time frame may harken back to Moses’ supplication for 40 days and nights at Sinai (Deut. 9:18,25). Jonah’s message, while short, accomplishes God’s intended purpose. 3:5 the people … believed God. Jonah’s experience with the fish (2:1–10), in light of the Ninevites pagan beliefs (1:2), certainly gained him an instant hearing. From the divine side, this wholesale repentance was a miraculous work of God. Pagan sailors and a pagan city responded to the reluctant prophet, showing the power of God in spite of the weakness of His servant. 3:6 The king of Nineveh, thought to be either Adad-nirari III (ca. 810–783) or Assurdan III (ca. 772–755), exchanged his royal robes for sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6; Is. 58:5). Reports of Jonah’s miraculous fish experience may have preceded him to Nineveh, accounting for the swift and widespread receptivity of his message ( 1:2). It is generally believed that acid from the fish’s stomach would have bleached Jonah’s face, thus validating the experience. 3:7–9 man nor beast. It was a Persian custom to use animals in mourning ceremonies. 3:10 God saw … God relented. See Gen. 6:6 (Jer. 18:7,8). The Ninevites truly repented. 4:1,2 Jonah, because of his rejection of Gentiles and distaste for their participation in salvation, was displeased at God’s demonstration of mercy towards the Ninevites, thereby displaying the real reason for his original flight to Tarshish. From the very beginning, Jonah had clearly understood the gracious character of God (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). He had received pardon, but didn’t want Nineveh to know God’s mercy (a similar attitude in Luke 15:25ff.). 4:3 better … to die than to live! Perhaps Jonah was expressing the reality of breaking his vow (2:9) to God a second time (Num. 30:2; Eccl. 5:1–6). 4:6 a plant. The identity is uncertain, but it possibly could be the fast growing castor oil plant, which in hot climates grows rapidly to give shade with its large leaves. 4:8 vehement east wind. A hot, scorching wind, normally called “sirocco,” blowing off the Arabian desert. The shelter Jonah made for himself (v. 5) would not exclude this “agent” of God’s sovereignty. 4:10,11 God’s love for the people of Nineveh, whom He had created, is far different from Jonah’s indifference to their damnation and greater than Jonah’s warped concern for a wild plant for which he had done nothing. God was ready to spare Sodom for 10 righteous; how much more a city which includes 120,000 small children, identified as those who cannot discern the right hand from the left (Gen. 18:22,23). With that many 3 or 4 year old children, it is reasonable to expect a total population in excess of 600,000.
The Obedience of Jonah (chaps. 3-4)
The recommissioning of the prophet (3:1-2) 3:1-2. After turning Jonah from willful
disobedience the Lord again commanded the prophet to fulfill his appointed task (1:2). Three times
Nineveh is described as a great city (1:2; 3:2; 4:11; ”very large city,“ 3:3). As noted in the
Introduction the city was surrounded by an inner wall and an outer wall. The huge inner wall (50 feet
wide and 100 feet high) was about eight miles in circumference while the outer wall encompassed
fields and smaller towns (Gen. 10:11-12). The words ”great city“ probably included the city of
Nineveh proper and its administrative environs. His instructions were simply to travel those 550
miles to Nineveh and preach the message the Lord would provide at the appropriate time (Jonah
3:4). Interestingly in His recommissioning the prophet, God did not repeat the reason for the
proclamation (1:2b). The obedience of the prophet (3:3-4) 3:3. The prophet’s response here
differs from his response in chapter 1. Here he obeyed the . . . Lord and made his way northeast to
Nineveh. Earlier (1:3) he disobeyed the Lord and went west. Jonah again mentioned the great size of
the city, commenting that it took three days to go all through it, that is, through Nineveh and its
suburbs (3:2). 3:4. Going a day’s journey does not mean that Jonah traveled into the city for a
whole day before preaching. Instead it means on the first day he entered the city he began preaching.
The message God gave the prophet was the threat of complete destruction of Nineveh within 40 . . .
days. Perhaps this was a period of grace, giving the people an opportunity to repent before the
judgment fell. Jonah continued this proclamation for three days before going ”east of the city“ (4:5).
The conversion of the Ninevites (3:5-10) the action of the people (3:5) 3:5. The words of
Jonah spread rapidly through every quarter of greater Nineveh. The Ninevites accepted Jonah’s
message and believed God. As the prophet preached doom, the people—ironically—changed. Earlier
Jonah had repented, and now these Gentiles repented. As outward symbols of inward contrition and
humiliation they fasted (1 Sam. 7:6; 2 Sam. 1:12; Neh. 1:4; Zech. 7:5) and put on sackcloth (coarse
cloth; Gen. 37:34; 1 Kings 21:27; Neh. 9:1; Es. 4:1-4; Lam. 2:10; Dan. 9:3; Joel 1:8). People in every
social strata, from the greatest to the least, hoped that God might turn from His anger and spare
them. As previously noted, some scholars find such an extensive turning to God incredible. True,
Assyrian records make no mention of this city-wide penitence, but official historical records often
delete events, especially those that might embarrass them (Egyptian records do not refer to the
Israelites’ crossing the Red Sea or did the Assyrians record the loss of 185,000 soldiers in Jerusalem,
2 Kings 19:35). Another question about the Ninevites is whether their conversion was genuine. Was
their religious response superficial as in the case of Ahab? (1 Kings 21:27-29) If the Ninevites’
conversion was genuine, it may be difficult to explain why the Assyrians continued their violence
and why they soon destroyed Israel (ca. 37 years later, in 722 b.c., the Assyrians destroyed the
Northern Kingdom). Perhaps the next generation reverted to the Assyrians’ typical violence. Also
Jonah’s message concerned repentance from evil to avoid judgment; perhaps many believed Jonah’s
words without becoming genuinely converted. They could have believed the fact of God’s threat of
judgment without trusting in Yahweh as the only true God. C.F. Keil wrote, ”But however deep the
penitential mourning of Nineveh might be, and however sincere the repentance of the people . . . they
acted according to the king’s command; the repentance was not a lasting one, or permanent in its
effects“ (”Jonah,“ in Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, 10:409). Apparently the
Ninevites responded from fear (Jonah 3:8-9) under the power of Jonah’s proclamation. Though the
people were outwardly contrite (fasting and wearing sackcloth) there may have been no enduring
spiritual change. At any rate, the preaching of Jonah occasioned extensive and intensive, if not
durative, religious effects. the action of the king (3:6-9) His repentance (3:6) 3:6. Word of the
religious humiliation of the people reached the king of Nineveh (probably Ashur-dan III). Though
Nineveh did not become capital of the Assyrian Empire until some time in the reign of Sennacherib
(705-681 b.c.), some of her kings did reside there. Such news of pending, almost immediate doom
caused the king to respond in the way his people did (v. 5). Wearing sackcloth, a coarse garment,
and sitting in dust (Isa. 47:1) showed he was contrite and believed the prophet’s message. His
proclamation (3:7-9) 3:7-8. The king’s remorse led him and his nobles to issue a royal decree.
The decree instructed the people to fast (this decree may have been the reason for the fast referred to
in v. 5), to wear sackcloth (v. 5), to call urgently on God, and to relinquish their wickedness (evil
ways; v. 10). Even the animals were not allowed to eat, and were draped with sackcloth. This
practice was not strange in the Near East; it was another sign of the people’s remorse. 3:9. Who
knows? (2 Sam. 12:22; Joel 2:14) hints at the possibility of God’s withdrawing His threat. By their
contrition the king hoped that Jonah’s God would relent of His judgment and turn from His . . .
anger, thereby sparing the city. (we will not perish, in Jonah 1:6.) This fear of judgment from God is
startling because the Assyrians were a cruel, violent nation (Nahum 3:1, 3-4) fearing no one (2 Kings
18:33-35). the action of god (3:10) 3:10. The prophet’s message may have included conditions
whereby the threats of God could be rescinded. As an evidence of His mercy to the Ninevites God
sent Jonah to them, told him what to proclaim to them, and opened the hearts of a vast population.
Also, seeing their repentant actions, God relented of His threat of destruction. He had spared Jonah
(chap. 2); now He spared Nineveh. God’s mercies are always unmerited; His grace is never earned.
Repentance is never a work to be rewarded. But this is not to say that God does not act in response to
such repentance. Nineveh’s repentance delayed God’s destruction of the city for about 150 years. The
people evidently fell into sin again, so that later the city was destroyed, in 612 b.c. (see Nahum).
When God threatened punishment He provided a dark backdrop on which to etch most vividly His
forgiving mercies. This emphasized His grace most forcefully to the sinners’ hearts. God’s readiness
to have compassion on a wicked but repentant people and to withhold threatened destruction showed
Israel that her coming judgment at God’s hand was not because of His unwillingness to forgive but
because of her impenitence. The sorrow of the prophet (chap. 4) the displeasure of jonah
(4:1-5) Jonah’s anger (4:1) 4:1. Jonah blatantly rejected and repudiated the goodness of God to
the Ninevites. In that attitude he symbolized the nation Israel. Jonah’s self-interests were a reminder
to Israel of her lack of concern for the ways and mercies of God. The word but points up the contrast
between God’s compassion (3:10) and Jonah’s displeasure, and between God’s turning from His
anger (3:9-10) and Jonah’s turning to anger. Jonah’s anger (became angry is lit., ”became hot“) at
God for sparing Nineveh stemmed from his unbalanced patriotic fervor. Jonah probably knew from
Amos and Hosea that Assyria would be Israel’s destroyer. Jonah’s fickle attitude toward God’s
dealings with him are remarkably abrupt and variegated (disobedience, chap. 1; thanksgiving, chap.
2; obedience, chap. 3; displeasure, chap. 4). Jonah’s prayer (4:2-3) 4:2. Out of anger and disgust
the prophet rebuked his Lord, saying in essence, ”I know that You are forgiving and now look what
has happened!“ Jonah admitted that he fled toward Tarshish because he did not want the Ninevites
to be saved from judgment. (He wanted to be delivered from calamity, 2:2, 7, but he did not want the
Ninevites to be kept from disaster.) The Ninevites were more ready to accept God’s grace than Jonah
was. Jonah, an object of God’s compassion, had no compassion for Nineveh’s people. Jonah knew
God is willing to forgive but he did not want his enemies to know it. Their threat of doom (3:4) could
be diverted if his hearers turned to his forgiving God. The prophet certainly had a clear grasp of
God’s character, as reflected in his near-quotation of Exodus 34:6. In fact Jonah’s words about God
are almost identical with Joel’s description of Him (Joel 2:13; Neh. 9:17; Pss. 103:8; 145:8). God is
gracious (He longs for and favors others) and compassionate (tender in His affection), slow to
anger (He does not delight in punishing the wicked; 2 Peter 3:9), and abounding in love (ḥeseḏ,
”loyal love, or faithfulness to a covenant“). The psalmists often spoke of God being ”gracious“ and
”compassionate,“ though sometimes in reverse order (Pss. 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 145:8). Jonah
also said He knew God relents from sending calamity. The prophet feared that all these attributes of
God would be extended toward the despicable, cruel Ninevites—and it happened! 4:3. Jonah’s
anguish over what God did led him to request that he might die (Jonah 4:8; 1 Kings 19:4). Earlier he
had prayed to live (Jonah 2:2). Perhaps now he was embarrassed that his threat was not carried out.
Because God relented of His wrath and did not destroy the city, Jonah was so emotionally
disappointed that he lost all reason for living. God was concerned about the city (4:11) but Jonah was
not. Jonah’s action (4:4-5) 4:4-5. Though Jonah knew that God is slow to anger (v. 2) he still
wanted the Lord to execute His wrath swiftly. Yet God, hesitant to be angry with even His prophet,
sought to reason with him. God asked the sulking messenger whether his anger was justified (v.9).
This question implied a negative response: Jonah had no right to be angry. A person should never
angrily question what God does, even when it differs from what he expects or wants. Jonah was so
distraught that he did not reply to God. Instead he left the city and built a crude shelter, perhaps from
tree branches, and sat down (the king’s sitting in the dust, 3:6) in its shade (Elijah under a broom
tree, 1 Kings 19:4). Apparently Jonah had a clear view of the city. Why he waited to see what would
happen to the city is difficult to understand. Perhaps he felt that God would answer his plea and
judge the city anyway. Unable to imagine God not carrying out His justice on people who deserved
it, Jonah was determined to wait till Nineveh was in fact judged. But he was wrong and his action
was childish. Obviously he had forgotten that he, who also deserved death for disobedience, was
delivered by God (chap. 2). the explanation of the lord (4:6-11) The illustration prepared
(4:6-8) God, being slow to anger (v. 2), again attempted to reason with Jonah (v. 4). This time
God gave him a visual lesson. God erected an object of Jonah’s affection (creaturely comfort) and
contrasted it with the object of His own concern (the souls of people). God rebuked Jonah, not
through a storm in this instance, but by exposing the selfishness of his likes and dislikes. 4:6. God
provided (”provided“ in 1:17; 4:7-8) a vine to give the prophet shade that his crude shelter (v. 5)
could not provide. The God of the sea, who could provide a fish to swallow Jonah, is also the God of
the land (1:9) and its vegetation. Here is evidence that God is compassionate (4:2)—even when His
servants are upset and depressed. As this plant grew it covered the prophet’s hut. The shade from the
green plant, covering his booth with its dense foliage, protected him from the rays of the desert sun.
The plant (qîqāyôn) may have been a castor-bean plant (Ricinus communis), which grows rapidly in
hot climates to a height of 12 feet and has large leaves. It easily withers if its stalk is injured. The fact
that the plant grew overnight (”at dawn the next day,“ v. 7, and note v. 10) shows that more-than-
usual rapid growth was as much a miracle as God’s providing the fish for Jonah. Delighted with this
relief, Jonah, though he had been angry and depressed, was now overjoyed. Ironically he was glad
for his own comfort but not for the Ninevites’ relief from judgment. 4:7-8. Early the next day God
provided (”provided“ in 1:17; 4:6) a worm that destroyed the plant that had brought joy to the
prophet. Then the following day God provided a scorching east wind that left Jonah comfortless
and faint. The prophet’s own shelter was not enough to protect him from the terribly hot wind from
the east. Strikingly in chapter 1 God intervened by a storm and a huge fish; now He intervened with a
lowly worm and a sultry wind. Again the prophet was so discomforted—first by Nineveh’s
repentance and now by the loss of the shade from the vine—that he wanted to die (4:3).The
explanation stated (4:9-11) 4:9. God asked Jonah the same question He posed earlier. Do you
have a right to be angry? (v. 4) But here He added the words about the vine. God was wanting
Jonah to see the contrast between His sparing Nineveh and His destroying the vine—the contrast
between Jonah’s lack of concern for the spiritual welfare of the Ninevites and his concern for his
own physical welfare. Both Jonah’s unconcern (for Nineveh) and concern (for himself) were selfish.
Jonah replied that his anger over the withered plant was justified, and that he was so angry he wanted
to die. ”Life for Jonah [is] a series of disconcerting surprises and frustrations. He tries to escape
from God and is trapped. He then gives up, accepts the inevitability of perishing, and is saved.
He obeys when given a second chance, and is frustratingly, embarrassingly successful. He blows
up; his frustration is intensified“ (Judson Mather, ”The Comic Act of the Book of Jonah,“
Soundings 65. Fall 1982, p. 283). 4:10-11. God wanted Jonah to see that he had no right to be angry
over Nineveh or the vine because Jonah did not give life to or sustain either of them. Nor was he
sovereign over them. He had no control over the plant’s growth or withering. The vine was quite
temporal (it sprang up overnight and died overnight) and was of relatively little value. Yet Jonah
grieved over it. Whereas Jonah had no part in making the plant grow, God had created the Ninevites.
Jonah’s affections were distorted; he cared more for a vine than for human lives. He cared more for
his personal comfort than for the spiritual destiny of thousands of people. What a picture of Israel in
Jonah’s day. God’s words to the prophet indicate that Jonah had no right to be angry. Donald E.
Baker paraphrases the Lord’s response this way: ”Let’s analyze this anger of yours, Jonah. . . . It
represents your concern over your beloved plant—but what did it really mean to you? Your
attachment to it couldn’t be very deep, for it was here one day and gone the next. Your concern was
dictated by self-interest, not by genuine love. You never had the devotion of a gardener. If you feel as
bad as you do, what would you expect a gardener to feel like, who tended a plant and watched it
grow only to see it wither and die? This is how I feel about Nineveh, only much more so. All those
people, all those animals—I made them; I have cherished them all these years. Nineveh has cost Me
no end of effort, and it means the world to Me. Your pain is nothing compared to Mine when I
contemplate their destruction“ (”Jonah and the Worm,“ His. October 1983, p. 12). Whereas Jonah
had thought God was absurd in sparing the Assyrians, God exposed Jonah as the one whose thinking
was absurd. In contrast with an insignificant vine, greater Nineveh was significant; it had more than
120,000 people. The words, who cannot tell their right hand from their left, may refer to young
children, in which case the population of Nineveh and its environs may have been, as some
commentators state, about 600,000. But other commentators suggest that the 120,000 were adults,
who were as undisciplined or undiscerning as children, thus picturing their spiritual and moral
condition without God. (In that case the total population may have been about 300,000.) The figure
of 120,000 for Nineveh proper accords with the adult population of Nimrod (Gen. 10:11-12; also
known as Calah, a suburb of Nineveh). An inscription states that Ashurnaṣirpal II (883-859) invited
69,574 people of Nimrod to a feast (Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah,
p. 234, n. 27; Daniel David Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1924, p. 116). And according to Donald J. Wiseman, Nineveh’s walls enclosed an area twice
that of Calah (”Jonah’s Nineveh,“ Tyndale Bulletin 30. 1979, p. 37). Jonah is a remarkably tragic
example of the plight of the nation Israel. Both Jonah and Israel were accused of religious
disobedience and disaffection. What a tragedy when God’s people care more for creaturely comforts
than for the interests of God’s will among men. By contrast, God is unselfish. He has a right to be
concerned about (ḥûs, ”to spare“; Joel 2:17) that great city, a city with many people who needed
His grace. The two Minor Prophets that deal almost exclusively with Nineveh—Jonah and Nahum—
each end with a question (Nahum 3:19). The question in Jonah 4:11 leaves the reader with a sense of
uneasiness, for the curtain seems to drop abruptly. No response from Jonah is recorded. How is this
silence to be understood? Most likely Jonah could not have written the book unless he had learned
the point God was seeking to bring home to him. Apparently Jonah perceived his error and then
wrote this historical-biographical narrative to urge Israel to flee from her disobedience and spiritual
callousness. As the book concludes, Jonah was angry, depressed, hot, and faint. And he was left to
contemplate God’s words about his own lack of compassion and God’s depth of compassion. The
Lord had made His points:
(a) He is gracious toward all nations, toward Gentiles as well as Israelites;
(b) He is sovereign;
(c) He punishes rebellion;
(d) He wants His own people to obey Him, to be rid of religious sham, and to place no limits on His
universal love and grace.
THE MARVEL OF AN UNDESERVED COMMISSION (Jonah 3:1–2) Did anybody see Jonah emerge when the great fish disgorged him on the dry land? If so, the story must have spread rapidly and perhaps even preceded him to Nineveh, and that may help explain the reception the city gave him. Had Jonah been bleached by the fish’s gastric juices? Did he look so peculiar that nobody could doubt who he was and what had happened to him? Since Jonah was a “sign” to the Ninevites (Matt. 12:38–41), perhaps this included the way he looked. What the people saw or thought really wasn’t important. The important thing was what God thought and what He would do next to His repentant prophet. “The life of Jonah cannot be written without God,” said Charles Spurgeon; “take God out of the prophet’s history, and there is no history to write.” GOD MET JONAH. We don’t know where the great fish deposited Jonah, but we do know that wherever Jonah was, the Lord was there. Remember, God is more concerned about His workers than He is about their work, for if the workers are what they ought to be, the work will be what it ought to be. Throughout Jonah’s time of rebellion, God was displeased with His servant, but He never once deserted him. It was God who controlled the storm, prepared the great fish, and rescued Jonah from the deep. His promise is, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5; see Josh 1:5). “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2). GOD SPOKE TO JONAH. After the way Jonah had stubbornly refused to obey God’s voice, it’s a marvel that the Lord spoke to him at all. Jonah had turned his back on God’s word, so the Lord had been forced to speak to him through thunder and rain and a stormy sea. But now that Jonah had confessed his sins and turned back to the Lord, God could once again speak to him through His word. One of the tests of our relationship to God is, “Does God speak to me as I read and ponder His Word?” If we don’t hear God speaking to us in our hearts, perhaps we have some unfinished business that needs to be settled with Him. GOD COMMISSIONED JONAH. “The victorious Christian life, “ said George H. Morrison, “is a series of new beginnings.” When we fall, the enemy wants us to believe that our ministry is ended and there’s no hope for recovery, but our God is the God of the second chance. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time” (Jonah 3:1). “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8).
You don’t have to read very far in your Bible to discover that God forgives His servants and restores them to ministry. Abraham fled to Egypt, where he lied about his wife, but God gave him another chance (Gen. 12:10–13:4). Jacob lied to his father Isaac, but God restored him and used him to build the nation of Israel. Moses killed a man (probably in self-defense) and fled from Egypt, but God called him to be the leader of His people. Peter denied the Lord three times, but Jesus forgave him and said, “Follow Me” (John 21:19). However encouraging these examples of restoration may be, they must never be used as excuses for sin. The person who says, “I can go ahead and sin, because I know the Lord will forgive me” has no understanding of the awfulness of sin or the holiness of God. “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared” (Ps. 130:4). God in His grace forgives our sins, but God in His government determines that we shall reap what we sow, and the harvest can be very costly. Jonah paid dearly for rebelling against the Lord. GOD CHALLENGED JONAH. Four times in this book, Nineveh is called a “great city” (1:2; 3:2–3; 4:11), and archeologists tell us that the adjective is well-deserved. It was great in history, having been founded in ancient times by Noah’s great-grandson Nimrod (Gen. 10:8–10). It was also great in size. The circumference of the city and its suburbs was sixty miles, and from the Lord’s statement in Jonah 4:11, we could infer that there were probably over 600,000 people living there. One wall of the city had a circumference of eight miles and boasted 1,500 towers. The city was great in splendor and influence, being one of the leading cities of the powerful Assyrian Empire. It was built near the Tigris River and had the Khoser River running through it. (This fact will prove to be important when we study the Book of Nahum.) Its merchants traveled the empire and brought great wealth into the city, and Assyria’s armies were feared everywhere. Nineveh was great in sin, for the Assyrians were known far and wide for their violence, showing no mercy to their enemies. They impaled live victims on sharp poles, leaving them to roast to death in the desert sun; they beheaded people by the thousands and stacked their skulls up in piles by the city gates; and they even skinned people alive. They respected neither age nor sex and followed a policy of killing babies and young children so they wouldn’t have to care for them (Nahum 3:10). It was to the wicked people of this great city that God sent His servant Jonah, assuring him that He would give him the message to speak. After making the necessary preparations, it would take Jonah at least a month to travel from his own land to the city of Nineveh, and during that trip, he had a lot of time available to meditate on what the Lord had taught him.The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God can’t keep you and the power of God can’t use you. “And who is sufficient for these things? … Our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor. 2:16 and 3:5). THE MARVEL OF AN UNPARALLELED AWAKENING (Jonah 3:3–10) From a human perspective, this entire enterprise appears ridiculous. How could one man, claiming to be God’s prophet, confront thousands of people with this strange message, especially a message of judgment? How could a Jew, who worshiped the true God, ever get these idolatrous Gentiles to believe what he had to say? For all he knew, Jonah might end up impaled on a pole or skinned alive! But, in obedience to the Lord, Jonah went to Nineveh. Jonah’s message to Nineveh (Jonah 3:3–4). “Three days’ journey” means either that it would take three days to get through the city and its suburbs or three days to go around them. The NIV translation of verse 3 suggests that it would take three days to visit all of the area. According to Genesis 10:11–12, four cities were involved in the “Nineveh metroplex”: Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen. However you interpret the “three days,” one thing is clear: Nineveh was no insignificant place. When Jonah was one day into the city, he began to declare his message: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Throughout Scripture, the number forty seems to be identified with testing or judgment. During the time of Noah, it rained forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:4, 12, 17). The Jewish spies explored Canaan forty days (Num. 14:34), and the nation of Israel was tested in the wilderness forty years (Deut. 2:7). The giant Goliath taunted the army of Israel forty days (1 Sam. 17:16), and the Lord gave the people of Nineveh forty days to repent and turn from their wickedness.
At this point, we must confess that we wish we knew more about Jonah’s ministry to Nineveh. Was this the only message he proclaimed? Surely he spent time telling the people about the true and living God, for we’re told, “The people of Nineveh believed God” (Jonah 3:5). They would have to know something about this God of Israel in order to exercise sincere faith (Acts 17:22ff). Did Jonah expose the folly of their idolatry? Did he recount his own personal history to show them that his God was powerful and sovereign? We simply don’t know. The important thing is that Jonah obeyed God, went to Nineveh, and declared the message God gave him. God did the rest. Nineveh’s message to God (Jonah 3:5–9). In the Hebrew text, there are only five words in Jonah’s message; yet God used those five words to stir the entire population, from the king on the throne to the lowest peasant in the field. God gave the people forty days of grace, but they didn’t need that long. We get the impression that from the very first time they saw Jonah and heard his warning, they paid attention to his message. Word spread quickly throughout the entire district and the people humbled themselves by fasting and wearing sackcloth. When the message got to the king, he too put on sackcloth and sat in the dust. He also made the fast official by issuing an edict and ordering the people to humble themselves, cry out to God, and turn from their evil ways. Even the animals were included in the activities by wearing sackcloth and abstaining from food and drink. The people were to cry “mightily” (“urgently,”) to God, for this was a matter of life and death. When Jonah was in dire straits, he recalled the promise concerning Solomon’s temple (Jonah 2:4, 7; 1 Kings 8:38–39; 2 Chron. 6:36–39), looking toward the temple, and called out for help. Included in Solomon’s temple prayer was a promise for people outside the nation of Israel, and that would include the Ninevites. “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel … when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You” (2 Chron. 6:32–33). Jonah certainly knew this promise, and perhaps it was the basis for the whole awakening. Like the sailors in the storm, the Ninevites didn’t want to perish (Jonah 3:9; 1:6, 14). That’s what witnessing is all about, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). Their fasting and praying, and their humbling of themselves before God, sent a message to heaven, but the people of Nineveh had no assurance that they would be saved. They hoped that God’s great compassion would move Him to change His plan and spare the city. Once again, how did they know that the God of the Hebrews was a merciful and compassionate God? No doubt Jonah told them, for this was a doctrine he himself believed (Jonah 4:2). God’s message (Jonah 3:10). At some point, God spoke to Jonah and told Him that He had accepted the people’s repentance and would not destroy the city. The phrase “God repented” might better be translated “God relented,” that is, changed His course. From the human point of view, it looked like repentance, but from the divine perspective, it was simply God’s response to man’s change of heart. God is utterly consistent with Himself; it only appears that he is changing His mind. The Bible uses human analogies to reveal the divine character of God (Jer. 18:1–10). How deep was the spiritual experience of the people of Nineveh? If repentance and faith are the basic conditions of salvation (Acts 20:21), then we have reason to believe that they were accepted by God; for the people of Nineveh repented and had faith in God (Jonah 3:5). The fact that Jesus used the Ninevites to shame the unbelieving Jews of His day is further evidence that their response to Jonah’s ministry was sincere (Matt. 12:38–41). THE MARVEL OF AN UNHAPPY SERVANT (Jonah 4:1–11) If this book had ended at the last verse of chapter 3, history would have portrayed Jonah as the greatest of the prophets. After all, preaching one message that motivated thousands of people to repent and turn to God was no mean accomplishment. But the Lord doesn’t look on the outward things; He looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7) and weighs the motives (1 Cor. 4:5). That’s why Chapter 4 was included in the book, for it reveals “the thoughts and intents” of Johah’s heart and exposes his sins. If in chapter 1 Jonah is like the Prodigal Son, insisting on doing his own thing and going his own way (Luke 15:11–32); then in chapter 4, he’s like the Prodigal’s Elder Brother—critical, selfish, sullen, angry, and unhappy with what was going on. It isn’t enough for God’s servants simply to do their Master’s will; they must do “the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6). The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart, and that’s where Jonah’s problems were to be found. “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry” (Jonah 4:1). The remarkable thing is that God tenderly dealt with His sulking servant and sought to bring him back to the place of joy and fellowship. God listened to Jonah (Jonah 4:1–4). For the second time in this account, Jonah prays, but his second prayer was much different in content and intent. He prayed his best prayer in the worst place, the fish’s belly, and he prayed his worst prayer in the best place, at Nineveh where God was working. His first prayer came from a broken heart, but his second prayer came from an angry heart. In his first prayer, he asked God to save him, but in his second prayer, he asked God to take his life! Once again, Jonah would rather die than not have his own way. This prayer lets us in on the secret of why Jonah tried to run away in the first place. Being a good theologian, Jonah knew the attributes of God, that He was “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (v. 2). Knowing this, Jonah was sure that if he announced judgment to the Ninevites and they repented, God would forgive them and not send His judgment, and then Jonah would be branded as a false prophet! Remember, Jonah’s message merely announced the impending judgment; it didn’t offer conditions for salvation. Jonah was concerned about his reputation, not only before the Ninevites, but also before the Jews back home. His Jewish friends would want to see all of the Assyrians destroyed, not just the people of Nineveh. When Jonah’s friends found out that he had been the means of saving Nineveh from God’s wrath, they could have considered him a traitor to official Jewish foreign policy. Jonah was a narrow-minded patriot who saw Assyria only as a dangerous enemy to destroy, not as a company of repentant sinners to be brought to the Lord.
When reputation is more important than character, and pleasing ourselves and our friends is more important than pleasing God, then we’re in danger of becoming like Jonah and living to defend our prejudices instead of fulfilling our spiritual responsibilities. Jonah certainly had good theology, but it stayed in his head and never got to his heart, and he was so distraught that he wanted to die! God’s tender response was to ask Jonah to examine his heart and see why he really was angry. God comforted Jonah (Jonah 4:5–8). For the second time in this book, Jonah abandoned his place of ministry, left the city, and sat down in a place east of the city where he could see what would happen. Like the Elder Brother in the parable, he wouldn’t go in and enjoy the feast (Luke 15:28). He could have taught the Ninevites so much about the true God of Israel, but he preferred to have his own way. What a tragedy it is when God’s servants are a means of blessing to others but miss the blessing themselves! God knew that Jonah was very uncomfortable sitting in that booth, so He graciously caused a vine (gourd) to grow whose large leaves would protect Jonah from the hot sun. This made Jonah happy, but the next morning, when God prepared a worm to kill the vine, Jonah was unhappy. The combination of the hot sun and the smothering desert wind made him want to die even more. As He had done in the depths of the sea, God was reminding Jonah of what it was like to be lost: helpless, hopeless, miserable. Jonah was experiencing a taste of hell as he sat and watched the city. A simple test of character is to ask, “WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY? WHAT MAKES ME ANGRY? WHAT MAKES ME WANT TO GIVE UP? Jonah was “a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8, nkjv). One minute he’s preaching God’s Word, but the next minute he’s disobeying it and fleeing his post of duty. While inside the great fish, he prayed to be delivered, but now he asks the Lord to kill him. He called the city to repentance, but he wouldn’t repent himself! He was more concerned about creature comforts than he was about winning the lost. The Ninevites, the vine, the worm, and the wind have all obeyed God, but Jonah still refuses to obey, and he has the most to gain. God instructed Jonah (Jonah 4:9–11). God is still speaking to Jonah and Jonah is still listening and answering, even though he’s not giving the right answers. Unrighteous anger feeds the ego and produces the poison of selfishness in the heart. Jonah still had a problem with the will of God. In chapter 1, his mind understood God’s will, but he refused to obey it and took his body in the opposite direction. In chapter 2, he cried out for help, God rescued him, and he gave his body back to the Lord. In chapter 3, he yielded his will to the Lord and went to Nineveh to preach, but his heart was not yet surrendered to the Lord. Jonah did the will of God, but not from his heart. Jonah had one more lesson to learn, perhaps the most important one of all. In chap 1, he learned the lesson of God’s PROVIDENCE And Patience, that you can’t run away from God. In chapter 2, he learned the lesson of God’s PARDON, that God forgives those who call upon Him. In chapter 3, he learned the lesson of God’s POWER as he saw a whole city humble itself before the Lord. Now he had to learn the lesson of God’s PITY, that God has compassion for lost sinners like the Ninevites; and his servants must also have compassion. It seems incredible, but Jonah brought a whole city to faith in the Lord and yet he didn’t love the people he was preaching to! The people who could not “discern between their right hand and their left hand” (4:11) were immature little children (Deut. 1:39), and if there were 120,000 of them in Nineveh and its suburbs, the population was not small. God certainly has a special concern for the children (Mark 10:13–16); but whether children or adults, the Assyrians all needed to know the Lord. Jonah had pity on the vine that perished, but he didn’t have compassion for the people who would perish and live eternally apart from God. Jeremiah and Jesus looked on the city of Jerusalem and wept over it (Jer. 9:1, 10; 23:9; Luke 19:41), and Paul beheld the city of Athens and "was greatly distressed” (Acts 17:16), but Jonah looked on the city of Nineveh and seethed with anger. He needed to learn the lesson of God’s pity and have a heart of compassion for lost souls. THE MARVEL OF AN UNANSWERED QUESTION (Jonah 4:11) Jonah and Nahum are the only books in the Bible that end with questions, and both books have to do with the city of Nineveh. Nahum ends with a question about God’s punishment of Nineveh (Nahum 3:19), while Jonah ends with a question about God’s pity for Nineveh.This is a strange way to end such a dramatic book as the Book of Jonah. God has the first word (Jonah 1:1–2) and God has the last word (4:11), and that’s as it should be, but we aren’t told how Jonah answered God’s final question. It’s like the ending of Frank Stockton’s famous short story “The Lady or the Tiger?” When the handsome youth opened the door, what came out: the beautiful princess or the man-eating tiger? We sincerely hope that Jonah yielded to God’s loving entreaty and followed the example of the Ninevites by repenting and seeking the face of God. The famous Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte believed that Jonah did experience a change of heart. He wrote, “But Jonah came to himself again during those five-and-twenty days or so, from the east gate of Nineveh back to Gath Hepher, his father’s house.” Spurgeon said, “Let us hope that, during the rest of his life, he so lived as to rejoice in the sparing mercy of God.” After all, hadn’t Jonah himself been spared because of God’s mercy? God was willing to spare Nineveh, but in order to do that, He could not spare His own Son. Somebody had to die for their sins or they would die in their sins. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). Jesus used Jonah’s ministry to Nineveh to show the Jews how guilty they were in rejecting His witness. “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here” (Matt. 12:41). How is Jesus greater than Jonah? Certainly Jesus is greater than Jonah in His person, for though both were Jews and both were prophets, Jesus is the very Son of God. He is greater in His message, for Jonah preached a message of judgment, but Jesus preached a message of grace and salvation (John 3:16–17). Jonah almost died for his own sins, but Jesus willingly died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). Jonah’s ministry was to but one city, but Jesus is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14). Jonah’s obedience was not from the heart, but Jesus always did whatever pleased His father (John 8:29). Jonah didn’t love the people he came to save, but Jesus had compassion for sinners and proved His love by dying for them on the cross (Rom. 5:6–8). On the cross, outside the city, Jesus asked God to forgive those who killed Him (Luke 23:34), but Jonah waited outside the city to see if God would kill those he would not forgive.Yes, Jesus is greater than Jonah, and because He is, we must give greater heed to what He says to us. Those who reject Him will face greater judgment because the greater the light, the greater the responsibility. But the real issue isn’t how Jonah answered God’s question; the real issue is how you and I today are answering God’s question. Do we agree with God that people without Christ are lost? Like God, do we have compassion for those who are lost? How do we show this compassion? Do we have a concern for those in our great cities where there is so much sin and so little witness? Do we pray that the Gospel will go to people in every part of the world, and are we helping to send it there? Do we rejoice when sinners repent and trust the Savior?All of those questions and more are wrapped up in what God asked Jonah. We can’t answer for him, but we can answer for ourselves. Let’s give God the right answer.
BOICE - The Prophet Who Ran Away Jonah 1:1–3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Many years ago in Chicago two homosexuals by the names of Leopold and Loeb were brought to trial for the murder of a young lad. Their lawyer was the well-known agnostic defense attorney Clarence Darrow, the man famous for his arguments at the Scopes’ trial regarding the teaching of evolution in the public schools of Tennessee. The Chicago trial was a long one, but at last it drew to a close and Darrow found himself summing up the evidence. The testimony of one witness had been particularly damaging. So Darrow referred to it, saying, “Why, a person could as easily believe this man’s testimony as he could believe that the whale swallowed Jonah.” There were some people on the jury who believed that the whale had indeed swallowed Jonah. Moreover, they believed that Leopold and Loeb were guilty and convicted them. But the statement, “A person can as easily believe that as believe that the whale swallowed Jonah,” became a rallying cry for many who wished to deny the truthfulness of this narrative. Sign of Jonah We live somewhat later in history and have knowledge about fish that was not available to those living in Darrow’s day. Christians are less inclined to insist that the fish was a whale; neither the Old Testament Hebrew nor the New Testament Greek says “whale.” The references are only to “a great fish.” Nevertheless, those who adhere to the total trustworthiness of the Bible, now as then, rightly insist that Jonah was literally swallowed and was thus preserved alive for three days by the fish’s action. To those who believe in the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, such an event is not at all impossible. Moreover, there is a direct connection between the two. When unbelieving scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign that might substantiate his extraordinary claims, Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:39–40). Jesus referred to the experience of Jonah as a historical illustration of his own literal resurrection, thus reinforcing the truthfulness of this narrative.
To believe this is not popular, of course. It will not gain the world’s attention. If Christian people, particularly a Christian minister, deny such things—if I should say, “Now, of course, a whale cannot swallow a man, and therefore we know that we should not take the story of Jonah literally”—some people at least would pay attention. They would say, “Dr. Boice is denying the Bible. He does not believe in Jonah.” This would be news. But if I maintain, as I do, that this story is factual and, furthermore, that the words of Christ also indicate that this is true, people shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, what do you expect a preacher to believe?” To regard Jonah as factual is not calculated to gain either respect or attention. Yet the book is true, and it is only when we regard it as true that it speaks to us forcefully. There are a number of reasons why many will not believe the historical nature of Jonah’s experience. They are summarized by Frank E. Gaebelein in Four Minor Prophets: (1) the abundance of the supernatural; (2) the unprecedented nature of Jonah’s mission to Nineveh; (3) the reference to Nineveh is the past tense, “was”; (4) the supposed grossly exaggerated size of Nineveh; (5) supposed inaccuracies; and (6) the fact that the book contains late words supposedly incompatible with vocabulary used during the time Jonah was living. But there are answers to each of these points, as Gaebelein shows. First, the problem with miracles begs the question of God’s omnipotence; for if God is able to raise up Jesus, he is certainly able to preserve Jonah and do the other supernatural acts attributed to him. Second, other prophets also went to foreign nations—Elijah to Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8–24; Luke 4:26), Elisha to Damascus (2 Kings 8:7–15). Third, the use of “was” is merely a convention of narrative writing. Fourth, the reported size of Nineveh may well include the adjacent populations, what we would call suburbs. Fifth, the so-called inaccuracies are unproven. Sixth, so-called late words occur in Old Testament books from both early and late periods. Mercy and Sovereignty There are other reasons beyond the miraculous to study this book. An obvious one is for what it teaches of the mercy of God. What is the story about if not God’s mercy? There is the mercy of God to Nineveh, which made Jonah angry. There is the mercy of God to Jonah himself, for Jonah certainly did not deserve it. There is even the mercy of God to the pagan sailors mentioned in Jonah 1. All were recipients of God’s mercy. If we understand the book at this point, we will find ourselves identifying with those who perhaps, from our natural point of view, are unworthy of such mercy. These will be people like the woman next door who lets her dog run through your flower bed, or like the couple down the street who are “swingers.” They will be Jews or blacks, rich or poor, those of some other ethnic background, or someone who has wronged you by slander or a hostile act. These are the ones we should love for Christ’s sake. As Gaebelein writes: “In a day when prejudice and hate inflame men’s emotions and pervert their judgment, Jonah speaks with compelling force about limiting our love and sympathies only to some of our fellow human beings and excluding others from our pity and compassion.” Jonah should also be studied for what it teaches about God’s sovereignty, the point on which the book is most informative and most profound. Understanding God’s sovereignty is a problem for some Christians, though there are some features of sovereignty that are not a problem. Most of us do not have problems with God’s sovereign rule in natural law. Gravity is one illustration. God exercises his rule through gravity, and we do not have difficulty at this point. In fact, we are even somewhat reassured that objects conform to such laws. The point at which we do have problems is when the sovereign will of God comes into opposition with a contrary human will. For example, there is the Christian who is married to another Christian but who, for whatever reason, is seeking a divorce. The Scriptures are plain. The couple are to remain together. But one of them declares, “I know what the Bible says, but I don’t care. I have had it! I am going to get a divorce anyway.” What happens here? Again, we may imagine a person who begins to get far from the Lord and who therefore gives up his or her times of Bible reading, fellowship with Christian friends, church attendance, and giving to support the Lord’s work. Each of these duties is clearly prescribed in the pages of God’s Word, but the Christian neglects them, sometimes with great energy and determination. What happens at that point? God could crush the human will and thereby accomplish his own purpose with a ruthless hand. There are times when he has done this, as in the contest between Moses and Pharaoh. But generally he does not. What happens in such cases? Does God give up? Does he change his mind? Or does he accomplish his purposes in some other way, perhaps indirectly? The answer is in the Book of Jonah. A Great Commission Interestingly enough, the book starts with a lesson on sovereignty—a commission to Jonah, and with Jonah’s refusal to heed it. That is, it begins with a formal expression of God’s sovereign will and a man’s determined opposition to it. We read, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish” (1:1–3). The location of Tarshish is disputed. It has been identified with one of the cities of Phoenicia, which is unlikely. It has also been identified with ancient Carthage. Most probably, Tarshish was on the far coast of Spain, beyond Gibraltar. If this is right, it means that Jonah was determined to go as far as possible in the opposite direction from which God was sending him. Nineveh was east. Tarshish was west. We can visualize the geography if we imagine Jonah coming out of his house in Palestine, looking left down the long road that led around the great Arabian desert to the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and then turning on his heel and going down the road to his right. Why did he do it? We can imagine some reasons. We can imagine, first, that Jonah was overcome by thoughts of the mission’s difficulties, which are expressed very well in the commission. God told Jonah that Nineveh was a very “great city,” and indeed it was. In addition to what the book itself tells us—that the city was so large that it took three days to cross it and that it had 120,000 infants or small children (4:11)—we also know that it was the capital of the great Assyrian empire, that it had walls a hundred feet high and so broad that three chariots could run abreast around them. Within the walls were gardens and even fields for cattle. For one man to arrive all alone with a message from an unknown God against such a city was ludicrous in the extreme. What could one man do? Who would listen? Where were the armies that could break down such walls or storm such garrisons? The men of Nineveh would ridicule the strange Jewish prophet. “Certainly,” as Hugh Martin, one of the most comprehensive commentators on this book, has written, “Jonah could not foresee that some such reception in ‘that great city’ was about the most friendly he could anticipate. To be despised and simply laughed at, as a fanatic and fool, must have appeared to him inevitable, if indeed his fate should not be worse.” If Jonah had been overcome with the thought of the difficulties of such a mission and because of them had fled to Tarshish, we could well understand him. Yet not a word in the story indicates that it was the difficulties that upset this rebellious prophet. Perhaps it was danger? The second word in God’s description of the city is “wickedness.” If Jonah had taken note of that wickedness and had refused to obey for that reason, this too would be understandable. Indeed, the more we learn of Nineveh the more dangerous the mission seems. We think of the prophecy of Nahum. Nahum’s entire prophecy was against the wickedness of Nineveh, and the descriptions of it are vivid. “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft” (3:1–4). What was one poor preacher to do against such wickedness? Indeed, would people like this not simply kill him and add his body to the already high heap of carcasses? Thoughts like these could have made Jonah afraid; and if he had been afraid, we would not blame him. But again, not a word in the story indicates that it was danger that turned Jonah in the opposite direction. What was the reason then? In the fourth chapter of the book, after God has already brought about the revival and has spared the Ninevites from judgment, Jonah explains the reason, arguing that it was precisely because of this outcome that he had disobeyed originally. He knew that God was gracious and that God was not sending him to Nineveh only to announce a pending judgment. He was sending him so Nineveh might repent. Jonah’s own words are: “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (4:2). As we read these words carefully we realize the reason why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. Those who lived there were enemies of his people, the Jews, and he was afraid that if he did go to them with his message of judgment, they would believe it and repent, and God would bless them. He did not want them blessed! God could bless Israel. But Jonah would be damned (literally) before he would see God’s blessing shed on these enemies. He fled to Tarshish. We can understand the geography and Jonah’s motives if we can imagine the word of the Lord coming to a Jew who lived in New York during World War II, telling him to go to Berlin to preach to Nazi Germany, and instead of this, he goes to San Francisco and takes a boat for Hong Kong. Are we in the spiritual ancestry of Jonah? We have never been sent to Nineveh. We may never have had to run away to Tarshish. But the commission that has been given to us is no less demanding than Jonah’s, if we are Christians. Is it not true that our attempts to avoid it are often no less determined than Jonah’s when he tried to run away? Most Christians come into contact with the world in at least three places: in their neighborhoods, at work (unless they work for a totally Christian organization), and in their spare-time activities—clubs, hobbies, sports, and adult education courses. The people they meet in these places all have great needs. They need Christ, first of all, if they are not Christians. But they also need friendship, understanding, achievement. In some cases, there are even physical needs brought on by sickness, poverty, or some other physical deprivation. Christians are often strangely insensitive to these needs and often make excuses to avoid the personal sacrifices necessary to carry out the work of Christ. They say—we have all heard the excuses and, I am afraid, often make them ourselves—“I am too busy,” “I have too many problems of my own,” “Charity begins at home,” or even “I am not called.” Jonah’s commission consisted of two main words. He was to “go,” and he was to “preach”—precisely what we have been told to do in the Great Commission. We are to go into all the world. And we are to preach (or teach) all that we have been taught by Jesus. Matthew’s form of the Great Commission says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20). We are to go; but we remain inactive. We are to preach; but our tongues are often strangely silent. Strangely silent! Strange that we should be silent when there is such a wonderful story to tell! John R. W. Stott illustrates in his book Our Guilty Silence what we often do. He describes how he was on an overnight train from London to Pembrokeshire in South Wales and how a young land agent, who shared the sleeper, repeatedly took the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in vain. He had the upper bunk. In the morning, while getting ready to wash, he accidentally dropped his shaving equipment and swore about it. At this point Stott remained silent, making all the usual excuses—“It’s none of your business”; “You’ve no responsibility for him”; “He’ll only laugh at you.” It was only after an inner struggle of some fifteen minutes that Stott eventually spoke of Christ and managed to leave the man an evangelistic booklet. We all have these difficulties. Only not all of us eventually overcome them and actually share the gospel. Wings of the Dawn Verse 3 tells of Jonah’s attempt to get away from God and gives the consequences of that attempt. It is surprising that Jonah did not think of these consequences before he ran or consider how impossible it is to escape from God. Jonah lived relatively late in Old Testament history, certainly long after the Psalms were written. He therefore had ample opportunity to know those great words in Psalm 139: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (vv. 7–10). Did Jonah know these words? Probably. Then why did he not remember them as he set out in the ship for Tarshish? As I read that psalm I find myself wondering if the name of the ship on which Jonah set out might not have been The Wings of the Dawn. The story does not give the name. But that would have been a good name for a ship; and if the ship mentioned in Jonah were so named, how well suited it would have been to Jonah’s situation! Did he notice the name, if this is what it was? Did he notice the rats getting off as he stepped on? If I understand sin and disobedience at all, I suspect that Jonah noticed none of these things, so set was he on disobedience. No more do we when we take our “wings of the dawn”—whether they be preoccupations with a job, an attitude, a cherished sin, or some other form of disobedience—to sail away from God. God’s Sovereignty At this point we find our first great lesson regarding God’s sovereignty. Built into Jonah’s first attempts to get away from God are two results that will follow anyone who tries to disobey him. First, Jonah’s course was downhill. He would not have described it that way. He would have said that he was improving his life, just as we do when we choose our own course instead of God’s. But it was downhill nevertheless. This is suggested in verse 3, where we are told that Jonah went “down” to Joppa. It is always that way when a person runs from the presence of the Lord. The way of the Lord is up! Consequently, any way that is away from him is down. The way may look beautiful when we start. The seas may look peaceful and the ship attractive, but the way is still down. There was another result. In his excellent preaching on Jonah, Donald Grey Barnhouse often called attention to it by highlighting the phrase about Jonah “paying the fare.” He noted that Jonah did not get to where he was going, since he was thrown overboard, and that he obviously did not get a refund on his ticket. So he paid the full fare and did not get to the end of his journey. Barnhouse said, “It is always that way. When you run away from the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own fare. On the other hand, when you go the Lord’s way you always get to where you are going, and he pays the fare.” That is worth repeating: When you run away from the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own fare. But when you go the Lord’s way you always get to where you are going, and he pays the fare. Jonah illustrates one half of that statement. The story of Moses’ mother, Jochebed, illustrates the other half. Jochebed conceived Moses during a time of great persecution by the Egyptians, a time in which Hebrew male infants were being thrown into the Nile River to die. When the child was born, Jochebed and her husband, Amran, tried to hide him as long as possible, suspecting, I believe, that this was the one who had been promised by God to be the deliverer of the people. But at last the baby’s cries grew too loud, and another plan was necessary. The mother made a little boat of bulrushes, covering it with tar. She placed Moses in it and set it in the reeds by the riverbank. Then she stationed Miriam, Moses’ sister, at a distance to see what would become of him. Though she wanted her baby more than anything else in the world, Jochebed entrusted the matter to God, allowing him to do as he wished with the child. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river, saw the ark in the water, and sent her maids to fetch it. When it was opened, she saw the baby. He was crying. This so touched the woman’s heart that she determined to save him and raise him in the palace. But what was she to do? The child needed a wet nurse. Where could she find one? At this point, Miriam, who had been watching from a distance, came forward and asked if she could be of assistance. “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” Miriam asked. “Yes,” said the princess. Jochebed was brought. Jochebed was about to receive back the child she most dearly wanted. She would have done anything to have kept him. She would have scrubbed floors in the palace! In fact, if the daughter of the Pharaoh had said, “I am going to give you this child to raise, but I want you to know that I have seen through your stratagem. I know that this young girl was not up on that hill watching by accident. She must be the sister of this baby and, therefore, you must be the mother. You can have your child. But as a sign of your disobedience to the Pharaoh, I am going to cut off your right hand”—if she had said that, Moses’ mother would probably have held out both hands, if only she could have had the child back. But that is not what happened. Instead, Pharaoh’s daughter gave the child back, declaring, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you” (Exod. 2:9). “I will pay you.” That is the point for which I tell the story. Jonah went his own way, paid his own fare, and got nothing. Jochebed went God’s way. Consequently, God paid the fare, and she got everything. I repeat it once more: When you run away from the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own fare. But when you go the Lord’s way you always get to where you are going, and he pays the fare. But the Lord In one sense Jonah’s story is over at this point; that is, the story of his choice, his disobedience, is over. God has given his command. Jonah has disobeyed. Now Jonah must sit back and suffer the consequences as God intervenes supernaturally to alter the story. This is made clear by the contrast between the first two words of verse 3 (“But Jonah” ) and the first three words of verse 4 (“Then the Lord”). It is true that Jonah had rejected God. He had voiced his little “but,” as we sometimes do. He is allowed to do it. God’s sovereignty does not rule it out. But now God is to act, and his actions will be more substantial than Jonah’s. What did God do? He did three great things. First, he sent a GREAT STORM. The text indicates that it was a storm of unusual ferocity, so fierce that even experienced sailors were frightened. Each time I read about it I think of that other storm that also frightened experienced men on the Sea of Galilee. The men were Christ’s disciples, and Christ was with them, though asleep in the boat. For a while they rowed. But they were in danger of sinking and were afraid. So they awoke Jesus and cried, “Lord, save us!” Jesus replied, “Why are you so afraid?” Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The disciples asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matt. 8:26–27). Note the contrast. The Lord who can calm the troubled waters of your life is the same Lord who can stir them up to great frenzy. What he does depends on whether he is with you in the boat or, a better way of putting it, whether or not you are with him. If Jesus is in your boat—if you are going his way and are trusting him—then, when the storms come, you can cry out, “Master, help me!” and he will calm the violence. But if you are running from him—if he is not in your boat and you are disobeying him—then he will stir the waves up. Second, the Lord prepared a GREAT FISH. Farther on in the story God also prepared a small worm to eat the root and so destroy the plant that shaded Jonah. On the one hand, God used one of the largest creatures on earth to do his bidding. On the other hand, he used one of the smallest. Apparently it makes no difference to God. He will use whatever it takes to get the disobedient one back into the place of blessing. Are you running away from God? If so, he may use the cankerworm to spoil your harvest. He may use the whirlwind to destroy your barns and buildings. If necessary, he will touch your person. He will use whatever it takes, because he is faithful to himself, to you, and to his purposes. Finally, God saved a GREAT CITY. This last act, like the others, is an act of mercy. The city did not deserve saving. Yet he saved it, thereby preserving it from destruction for a time. A Continuous Performance God’s perseverance will be discussed in later chapters, but it is important to look at one aspect of it in this present connection. The apostle Paul wrote: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). Quite often we look at that verse merely as a statement of the “eternal security” of the Christian, which is all right. God will certainly continue his work with us, regardless of what happens, and will preserve us for heaven. But this verse also means—we must not miss it—that God is so determined to perfect his good work in us that he will continue to do so with whatever it takes, regardless of the obedience or disobedience of the Christian. Will you go in his way? Then he will bless your life and encourage you. Will you run, as Jonah ran? Then he will trouble your life. If necessary, he will even break it into little pieces, if by so doing he enables you to walk in his way once again. If you disobey, you will find your initial disobedience easy. But after that the way will grow hard. If you obey him, you will find the way paved with blessing. The God Who Will Not Let Go Jonah 1:4–16
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
The lessons of the first three verses of Jonah are great, for they concern the impossibility of running away from God and the consequences of such an attempt. The consequences are that the path we take is downhill, that we never get to where we are going, and that we always pay our own bills. At this point of the story, however, God himself intervened in a supernatural way, so that the lessons of the remainder of the chapter are as great as those at the beginning. We learn that disobedience always involves others in peril. We learn how God acts when his will is opposed. Special Intervention The way God operates when his will is opposed leads again to the issue of God’s sovereignty and carries us a step farther in our understanding of it. First, we saw that God’s sovereignty expresses itself in what we might call a natural spiritual order. According to this principle, no path of disobedience is ever blessed. Now we also learn that God will intervene in special ways to insure the accomplishment of his purposes. This special intervention occurs twice in the first chapter. The first is in the way God dealt with Jonah when he ran away. The second is in God’s dealing with the sailors. Jonah had sinned. According to some theologies, in which almost everything depends on man’s obedience to God and very little on God’s elective purposes with man, this should have been the end of the matter. If Jonah had sinned, God should simply have said, “Jonah, you have done it now. You have disobeyed me, and as a result of that, you have forfeited the right to be called my child. I am casting you off.” That kind of response makes sense according to a man-centered theology. But it is not the way God operates. To put it in theological language, God had elected Jonah to a special task and had determined that the task be accomplished. God took his election of Jonah so seriously that he would actually sink the ship on which the disobedient prophet was sailing, if necessary, rather than allow him to get on to his own destination. The story says, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up” (v. 4).
One verse earlier we read the words “but Jonah.” That verse tells us of Jonah’s act of disobedience. We might say that those two words, “but Jonah,” represent human depravity expressing itself through the old nature. In verse 4, in place of the words “but Jonah,” we have the words “then the Lord.” “Then the Lord” is an expression of the sovereign grace of God persevering with his people. There is no question about our being allowed to resist God or disobey him. We all do it. We do it easily. Though a pagan, Virgil wrote correctly, “Facilis descensus Averno” (“The descent to hell is easy”). When we disobey God, he does not rearrange the stars of heaven to say, “Stop, do not go farther.” He lets us go. At first he does not put great obstacles in our path. If we choose to stop reading our Bibles, he does not send a special prophet to get us reading them again. If we stop praying, he does not send a disaster into our lives to make us turn to him. Not at first! He simply allows us to go downhill and to pay for our own foolish choices. However, when we persist in our disobedience, he gets rougher. He begins gently, just as we gently disobey. But in the end he sends a tempest. The outcome of the great storm was that by means of it God accomplished his purposes with Jonah. He accomplished his purposes with the people of Nineveh. He even accomplished his purposes in an ironic and preparatory way with the unbelieving sailors, for the story suggests that they came to believe on him. The Sailors The disobedience of one of God’s servants always involves others in peril, even innocent people. For Achan’s sin, all Israel was defeated at Ai. For the sin of David in numbering the people, 70,000 died of pestilence. Similarly, because of Jonah’s sin, innocent sailors were on the verge of drowning. They knew how to sail a ship, but this storm was beyond them. We are told that they were “afraid” of it and that “each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (v. 5). The sailors were like today’s world leaders who, though they are not godly men, nevertheless do as well to cope with our problems as they know how. I admire the sailors. As I read the story, I find them to be hard-working, courageous men who knew their business well. These men had been in storms before. They knew what to do. They knew that in great storms the solution was to lighten the ship by casting the cargo overboard, which they did. Nevertheless, the storm was so great it frightened them, even though they had done all they could to save the situation. When they could do nothing more, they called on their gods. Is this not a picture of today’s world, a picture of government and politics? The trouble with our leaders is not that they are incompetent men. It is rather that the problems they are attempting to tackle are just too big for them. I am glad I do not have to deal with the world’s sagging economy. I am glad I do not have to struggle to eliminate misunderstanding between nations in order to advance world peace. These enormous problems are beyond any human ability, regardless of how talented the statesmen are. So we see such men trying everything possible and then, when all else fails, calling on God. We must not be smug at this point and overly blame the sailors, for we remember that the trouble that came on them had come because of Jonah. This means that, in some situations at least, problems come to the world because of God’s judgment on his own children. The brilliant French writer Jacques Ellul has a paragraph in which he shows how inseparably the lives of Christians and non-Christians are linked. He writes, “The safety of all depends on what each does. But each has his own thing to do. They are in the same storm, subject to the same peril, and they want the same outcome. They are in a unique enterprise, and this ship typifies our situation. What do these sailors do? First, they do all they humanly can; while Jonah sleeps, they try all human methods to save the vessel, to keep the enterprise going (v. 5). What experience, nautical science, reason, and common sense teach them to do, they do. In this sense they do their duty. The sailors are in charge of the world, and in normal conditions they discharge their task correctly. We can ask no more of them. The tragic thing here, however, is that if conditions cease to be normal, it is not the fault of the sailors, the pagans; it is the fault of the Christian who had sailed with them. It is because of him that the situation is such that the knowledge and tradition of the sailors can do no more. We have to realize once again that this is how it usually is with the world; the storm is unleashed because of the unfaithfulness of the church and Christians. This being so, if the tempest is God’s will to constrain his church, a will by which the whole human enterprise is endangered, one can easily see why man’s technical devices are of no avail.” While the storm was raging, Jonah, who represents the church, was asleep deep within the hold of the ship. How many of God’s people are asleep today? How many are impervious while the tempest rages? You Can’t Sleep Forever
When Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to sleep, seemingly in drugged indifference to the calling of God, he must have thought himself alone and safe, at least for the time being. But suddenly his sleep was interrupted by the captain. This man was a pagan, like the sailors. He did not know the true God. His ideas of religion were undoubtedly filled with superstitions. Nevertheless, he believed enough in united prevailing prayer to want all on board to pray together. Since he did not know Jonah or what god he worshiped, it was just possible that Jonah worshiped a god who could do something if the other gods failed. His words were abrupt, for he was disturbed that Jonah could sleep when the ship was in peril. “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish” (v. 6). Even a Christian is not allowed to ignore reality forever. Meanwhile, up on the deck of the ship, the sailors had been discussing the storm and had concluded that it was not at all like other storms they had witnessed. They had been able to handle other storms. But this storm was ferocious, supernatural. Verse 4 (“the Lord sent a great wind on the sea”) says literally that the Lord “hurled” the tempest. The sailors had concluded that the storm was a judgment against one of their number who had done something horrible. So they decided to cast lots to discover the culprit. It was at this moment that Jonah arrived from below deck. Nothing in life ever really happens by chance. So when the lot was cast, the lot inevitably singled out Jonah. People may think that such things are determined by chance. They speak of “Lady Luck” or work out “mathematical” odds. But God tells us that he controls what happens. A verse in Proverbs says: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). In this case the lot was something like a pair of dice, made from the anklebone of a sheep; the lap was the flat surface made when a man, who in those days normally wore a long garment, would squat down and spread his knees. The dice were cast into the lap, but God determined the outcome. Donald Grey Barnhouse often paraphrased this verse by saying that “man throws the dice; but it is God who makes the spots come up.”Many Questions As soon as Jonah was singled out by lot, a flurry of questions came from the troubled sailors. This would have happened in any case, but it was especially true in Jonah’s in that no one really knew him. We catch some of the flavor of this from the writing: “So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’ ” (v. 8). Undoubtedly there were more questions even than these. Every man would have had one. But at last they were all out, and Jonah had his turn to speak. Notice the irony. Jonah had run away from God and was in this difficult position because he would not preach to pagans. But here he was, in spite of himself, about to do precisely that. It is even possible that there were men of Nineveh among these sailors. God was about to show that his purposes will always be accomplished, even (if he so wills it) by one who is obstinately disobedient. It is amusing to me that, in spite of his determination to disobey God and the rupture of fellowship between himself and God that must have caused, Jonah gave a very good testimony. Perhaps he had been a preacher too long and the habit of it was with him. Or perhaps, like Peter at the campfire of the high priest, he was just unable to lie convincingly. Logically, he might have been able to tell just the bare facts and let it go at that. Verse 10 says that he rehearsed his story, culminating in his running away. But Jonah could not stop at that point, it seems. So even in his state of disobedience and in the trauma of the moment, Jonah told of his background and indicated that he was a servant of the Creator and covenant-keeping God, Jehovah. Moreover, he was brilliantly relevant as he said it. “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea [they needed a god who made the sea just then] and the land [the very place where each of them most wanted to be]” (v. 9). Gaebelein writes of this testimony, “In addition to acknowledging himself a Hebrew, [Jonah] gave a witness then and there for his Lord. He may have been endeavoring to resign his commission, but he could not change his heart, which remained that of a true prophet. So he pointed these mariners to the only Lord God.” An interesting phrase appears here, for, having been told of Jonah’s testimony, we are immediately informed that the sailors were “terrified.” We have already been told once that the men were afraid; they were afraid of the storm. We will be told once more that as a result of God’s act in calming it they “greatly feared [that is, reverenced] the Lord” (v. 16). But why, we might ask, were the men exceedingly afraid at this point, more afraid apparently than they were of the storm itself? The reason was that they knew about Jonah’s God. These were men who had traveled from port to port around the Mediterranean Sea, hearing many stories of other people and their gods. Are we to think they had never heard of the Hebrew people or of the Hebrew God, Jehovah? Of course, they had heard of him! He was the God who had brought down the plagues on Egypt so that his people might be led out. He was the God who had parted the waters of the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape into the desert and who had then closed the waters on the pursuing Egyptian forces. He had led the Hebrews in the wilderness for forty years, protecting them by a cloud that spread out over their encampment during the daytime to give them shade but turned into a pillar of fire by night to give them light and heat. He had provided manna to eat and water to drink. He had parted the waters of the Jordan River to enable them to cross over into Canaan. He had leveled the walls of Jericho. He had caused the sun to stand still at Gibeon so that Joshua would have time to achieve a full victory over the fleeing Amorites. This was a great God, this God of the Hebrews; and it was this God, not a weak god, who was pursuing them for the sake of Jonah. No wonder the men were terrified! “What have you done?” they asked. “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” was their next question (v. 11).Two More Questions It is too bad that Jonah did not learn as much from the questions the sailors asked him as they had from his testimony, or he would not have answered their questions as he did. The sailors had asked, “What have you done?” This was a rebuke. If Jonah had answered properly, it would have led to his repentance. There was no answer but the full confession of sin. Martin deals well with this question. “Suppose yourself in Jonah’s place, and hear the question put to you—to you, a man of God, by heathen men, ‘Why hast thou done this?’ Did your God provoke you to flee from him? Did he deal so hardly and unkindly with you that you had no alternative but flight? Were you tired of your God? Had you found him out—as no more worthy of your trust and obedience? Had you got to the end of all the duty that you owed to him—or of all the protection and support that he could afford to you? [Why didn’t you listen to him?] “Produce your strong reasons. Has God been a wilderness to you? Have you found a better friend? Have you found a worthier portion? Have you found a sweeter employment than meditation in his word and calling on his name?…“Have you found him unfaithful to his promise? Have you discovered that he discourages his people? Will you say that the more you have known him, the less you have thought of him? It looks like it, O backslider. It looks like it, if you can remember days when you loved him more, and served him better than now.” If Jonah had been able to think clearly along these lines, he would have acknowledged that nothing God had done or could ever do could deserve his disobedience, and he might have repented. But Jonah was like many of God’s people when they sin. Instead of thinking clearly, he hardened his heart, kept his back turned to God, and plunged on into even greater alienation.
The state of Jonah’s heart is revealed in his answer to the second question: “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” Notice that it was not the sailors who thought up the idea of throwing Jonah overboard. That was Jonah’s idea. They said, “Tell us what to do to get out of this; we’ll do anything you say.”And what did Jonah say? He might have called on them to repent of their sin and turn to Jehovah in order to become his followers. Jonah was in the midst of sin himself, so this answer was hardly open to him. Again, he might have tried to bluff his way out of the situation. He might have said, “I don’t know what to do. God hasn’t shown me. Here, give me an oar. I’ll help you out.” Jonah could not say this either, for he knew what the consequences of such indifference would be. The storm would have gotten worse, and eventually everyone on board would have drowned. He could have said, “It is obvious what we must do. God wants me to go to Nineveh, and we will not be safe until I do. Turn the boat around. Let’s go back. Then the storm will stop.” I think that if Jonah had followed this course, not only would the storm have stopped, but they would have had the best wind back to Joppa imaginable. This is not what Jonah said either. Jonah’s actual answer is a sad one. So determined was he to resist the Lord’s will that he actually said, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, … and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you” (v. 12). Jonah meant, “I would rather die than do God’s will.” Can a Christian become so hardened that he prefers death to what God wants him to do? I wish we could say no to that question, but unfortunately the answer is yes. A Christian can become hardened. This is the course of sin. What begins easily with just a step to the west instead of to the east soon accelerates into a maelstrom of self-destruction. An apparent illustration of this is the life of the late Bishop James Pike, who rose to national fame through his controversial opinions and frequent denials of church doctrines. At the beginning his denials were not very extreme. He denied the Virgin Birth (or at least questioned it) and presumably had a less-than-orthodox view of the Scriptures. But these wrong steps soon led to others. His ecclesiastical rise—he was the Episcopal bishop who in 1958, together with the Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian Church, Eugene Carson Blake, launched the proposal for a gigantic merger of protestant denominations later known as the Consultation on Church Union—was accompanied by an increasing decline of his commitment to other important doctrines. Even his own relatively liberal church was embarrassed, and there were several charges of heresy, though a heresy trial was avoided. There were also personal tragedies. Pike developed a drinking problem that led to his joining Alcoholics Anonymous. He had three marriages, the first being annulled and the second ending in divorce after producing four children. One son committed suicide. Pike drifted into the occult and claimed to have made contact with his deceased son through a Philadelphia medium named Arthur Ford. Finally, he left the church and died at last in 1969 in the Judean desert while researching a book on the historical Jesus; he had told friends it would be the most sensational of his writings yet. Pike’s story is particularly tragic, both for his own sake and for those who were involved in his fate. But it is a pattern played out on a less dramatic level in the lives of many disobedient Christians. Disregard of God’s Word or of others’ fates (as Jonah of the fate of Nineveh) soon leads to a disregard of one’s own. We must be warned and must follow another path. Instead of brazening it out, we must learn to say with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23–24). True Conversions Someone has said that non-Christians never look better than when they are compared with some Christians, and that is certainly true if the Christians are disobedient ones. It is true in this story. Jonah, in his disobedience, is quite willing that all the inhabitants of Nineveh perish; for his message is one of impending judgment, and his fear is that it might be suspended if he should preach to them and they should repent. But the sailors, themselves pagans like the people of Nineveh, are unwilling that Jonah (just one man) should perish even though he has brought them into a position of great danger. Jonah has said that he should be thrown overboard. The sailors have every right to heed him. But they are unwilling to see him die if it can be prevented. They do their best to save him. The Hebrew text says literally, “Nevertheless, the men digged to bring it to the land” (v. 13).
Even pagans have their limits, however. So at last, when it was evident that they could not win against the waves, they asked Jehovah to hold them guiltless for Jonah’s death and then threw the rebellious prophet overboard. At once the sea ceased its raging, and the men were left in silent wonder on the gently rolling deck. What happens next is the climax of chapter 1, in spite of the fact that the final verse tells of Jonah being swallowed by the great fish. That verse should really begin chapter 2, and the verse that should end chapter 1 is verse 16. “At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.” This seems to mean, quite simply, that the sailors were converted through their experience with Jonah. It means that in an ironic way God was already accomplishing his purposes in spite of his prophet’s stubborn rebellion. The fact that the sailors were saved is evident in practically every word used. To begin with, this is the third time that the men are said to have feared something or somebody. The first was the storm (v. 5). The second was the disclosure that Jonah was a Hebrew who worshiped Jehovah (v. 10). This time they are said to have feared (that is, respected) Jehovah himself. There is a progression. Moreover, they were worshiping Jehovah. Earlier, when we were told of their prayers, we read: “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god,” that is, to idols. Now, after Jonah has been thrown overboard and the wind has stopped, we are told that they prayed to Jehovah, Jonah’s God. And how did they worship? Well, they performed a sacrifice—this was the Jewish means of approach to God—and they made vows. If the sailors had made their vows before their deliverance, I would not be so impressed. Theirs may have been only a foxhole conversion. We may imagine a situation in which a soldier is crouching in a foxhole looking down a hill against which an enemy is advancing. Naturally he is afraid for his life. He begins to pray: “O God, if there is a God, don’t let me get killed! I don’t want to die! Save me! If you save me, I will do anything you want! I’ll even … yes, I’ll even become a missionary!” Suddenly the soldiers turn off in another direction. The battle shifts, and he is saved. Does he remember his conversion? Not at all. He turns to his buddy and says, “Boy, we sure had a close call that time. Let’s celebrate when we get our next leave. I know where we can drink and gamble and sin our fill.” That is a foxhole conversion, but that is not what happened to the sailors. They made their vows after they had been delivered. Consequently, I believe that they were converted and that they must have vowed to serve Jehovah all their days. Irony and Great Grace This is a great irony. We remember that Jonah was running from God because he did not want God to save the heathen in Nineveh. But the first great event in the story was the conversion of the heathen sailors, who were in many respects just like the pagans of Nineveh. And Jonah was not there to see it! This carries us farther in the lessons of this book about God’s sovereignty. What God is going to do, he will do. If he has determined to save Mary Jones, God will save Mary Jones. If he has determined to save John Smith, God will save John Smith. Moreover, those whom he saves will never perish, neither will anyone pluck them out of Christ’s hand (John 10:28). But notice, God can do this through the obedience of his children, as he does later with Nineveh through Jonah, in which case they share in the blessing. Or he can do it through his children’s disobedience, as here, in which case they miss the blessing. Either way, God blesses those whom he will bless. But the one case involves happiness for his people while the other involves misery. Which will it be in your case? Will you resist him? Will you refuse his Great Commission? Or will you obey him in this and in all matters? Perhaps you are not yet a Christian. If not, then learn from God’s grace to the sailors. You have not yet perished in your godless state because God, who made the sea around you and the dry land on which you walk, preserves you. Do not remain indifferent to him. Turn to him. Approach him on the basis of the perfect sacrifice for sin made once by his own Son, Jesus Christ, and follow him throughout your days. Prayer from the Depths Jonah 1:17–2:10 But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ … Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.”
When Jonah was turning his back on God, it did not bother him at all that God was thus abandoned by him. But suddenly, when Jonah was thrown overboard to his death, he found himself in the position of apparently being abandoned by God, and he did not like this at all. In the water and then in the great fish, he learned what hell was like, and it was there at the nadir of this misery that he repented and turned to God again. Jonah was not really abandoned by God, but he felt that he was. It was in this last extremity that the hand of the Lord was, from our perspective, most evident. Ellul states clearly: “We should remember the significance of water in the Old Testament and then in the church. Water denotes swallowing up and death. Yet it is also closely linked with the presence of the Spirit of God. This is part of the general principle that in God’s revelation no sign is ever purely negative because God’s own action is never negative. Most signs are ambivalent, and that which denotes death also has within it the promise of life. At the beginning of the creation story the waters symbolize the void, nothingness, the abyss. But we cannot stop there: the Spirit of God moves over the face of the waters.” What Ellul says of the water is also true of the fish with which this section begins. On the one hand, it was a symbol of total abandonment, of hell. Jonah even spoke of it in those terms. “From the depths of the grave [literally Sheol] I called for help, and you listened to my cry” (2:2). But on the other hand, it was (unknown to Jonah) the means God would use to deliver him from the deep. The Great Fish It is almost a pity that the fish mentioned in Jonah has attracted so much attention, for in doing this it has detracted from the other very valuable lessons of this book. What has happened has been described by Thomas John Carlisle, who wrote, “I was so obsessed with what was going on inside the whale that I missed seeing the drama inside Jonah.” Nevertheless, in being sensitive to the one danger we do not want to fall into the other danger of neglecting the miraculous nature of the story entirely. So what of the great fish? Was it a whale? Did it really swallow Jonah? Can a person actually believe in such a story? Or is it so ludicrous as to make all refutation unnecessary? On one level, a discussion of this problem is hardly necessary. Those who believe in the God of the Bible will have little difficulty believing that such a miracle is possible. If the God of the Bible can raise up Jesus Christ from the dead, he can certainly cause a great monster of the deep to be alongside the ship when his prophet is thrown overboard and can cause it to swallow him. On the other side, for those who disbelieve in miracles, the evidence, whatever it may be, is meaningless. If miracles do not happen, then this story about Jonah did not happen. It will not even help to point out that, strictly speaking, the swallowing of Jonah is not even a miracle, for to such minds the story will clearly be seen as a myth, not a fact. On another level, however, a discussion of the miracle does have value. For instance, it shows that Christians who believe in such things are at least not totally unaware of the difficulties that may be involved. Or again, it may also show skeptics that the situation is not so unbelievable as they, perhaps without much thought or evidence, conceived that it was. It should be interesting to many skeptics that the Library Research Service of the Encyclopedia Britannica regularly distributes information supportive of the biblical narrative. This service is available to anyone who purchases a set of the Encyclopedia. Anyone researching a subject and not finding that the Encyclopedia has covered it adequately, may write and ask for information on his subject, and a mimeographed report (generally pre-prepared) will be sent to him. If a person requests information on the possibility of a whale having swallowed Jonah, a four-page report will be mailed, the bulk of which consists of information taken from an article on the “Sign of the Prophet Jonah and Its Modern Confirmations,” which was published in the Princeton Theological Review in 1927. It is followed by a bibliography in which some of the articles are supportive of the incident and some are not. The article itself concludes: “The story of Jonah occurs in Hebrew literature and tradition as an historical record. It can hardly be disputed that the tests applied to it are in fairness bound to be the most careful, accurate, and dispassionate that science and history can supply. Physiological tests entirely disprove the alleged impossibility of the story. It is shown by study of the structure of the sperm whale and its habits that it is perfectly possible for man to be swallowed alive and after an interval vomited up again, also for him to remain alive for two or three days within the whale. Historical tests show that a similar event has happened in later times in at least one case, and that it is quite possible for an authentic record to have survived over even a much longer period than 700 years.” The article leading up to this conclusion is in two parts. The first part distinguishes, as all honest writing on the subject has done, between those whales or other great fish that could conceivably swallow a man and those that could not. A generation ago one heard that a whale could not swallow Jonah simply because the throat of the whale is too small. “A whale has difficulty swallowing an orange,” was the viewpoint. This objection arose from a failure to distinguish between the Greenland whale, which does have a very small throat and which was the whale best known to seamen of an earlier generation, and the sperm whale or cachalot, which has an enormous mouth, throat, and stomach. An average specimen of the sperm whale might have a mouth 20 feet long, 15 feet high, and 9 feet wide; that is, the mouth would be larger than most rooms in an average-sized house.It is known that the sperm whale feeds largely on squid, which are often much larger than a man. Whalers have sometimes found whole squid of this size in a dead whale’s stomach.As to whether a man could survive in a whale’s stomach, the Britannica article maintains that he certainly could, though in circumstances of very great discomfort. There would be air to breathe, of a sort. It is needed to keep the animal afloat. But there would be great heat, about 104–108°F. Unpleasant contact with the animal’s gastric juices might easily affect the skin, but the juices would not digest living matter; otherwise they would digest the walls of the creature’s own stomach. But has there ever been a case of a man actually having been swallowed by a whale and then regurgitated or saved by some means? This is the matter dealt with in the second half of the journal article, and apparently there are such cases. One case concerns a voyage of the whaling ship Star of the East, which in February 1891, spotted a large sperm whale in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands. Two boats were launched, and in a short while one of the harpooners was able to spear the whale. Those in the second boat attempted to attach a second harpoon, but the boat capsized in the process and one man was drowned. A second sailor, James Bartley, disappeared and could not be found. In time the whale was killed and drawn to the side of the ship where it was made fast and the blubber removed. The next day the stomach was hoisted on deck. When it was opened, the missing sailor was found inside. He was unconscious but alive. Eventually he was revived by sea water and after a time resumed his duties on board the whaling vessel. It is also possible, as the article shows, that the fish in Jonah’s case may not even have been a whale. The Hebrew text merely says dag, which may be any kind of great fish. It may have been a species of shark, a Rhineodon or “Sea Dog,” for instance; if this is so, then there are other accounts of men being swallowed that are also relevant. The Sea Dog, while a member of the shark family, does not have the terrible teeth generally associated with sharks and grows to a size comparable to that of many whales. In his widely read book, Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl describes such a shark that followed his raft for a time in the mid-Pacific.
Jonah and Nineveh In addition to the data on whales, there are a number of links between the prophet Jonah and Nineveh that are also supportive of the Old Testament story. A few of these are cited by Gaebelein. First there is a seal belonging to the reign of Amasis II of Egypt (570–526 b.c.) that shows with remarkable clarity a man emerging from a sea monster. This seal is cited by an archaeologist named Knight in a volume entitled Nile and the Jordan, published in 1921. The figure has been identified as Jonah. A second interesting bit of information is the name of the mound in the upper Tigris valley under which the remains of ancient Nineveh were discovered. The site of Nineveh had long been lost. But the mound had been called “Neby Yunas” (“The Prophet Jonah”) for centuries. Gaebelein points out that the association of Jonah and his story with ancient Nineveh may have been preserved due to the worship of the fish-god Dagon that went on there. In any other city Jonah’s experiences would have had little effect on the response to the preaching. But if Jonah had been swallowed by a great fish and had then been thrown up on the coast of Phoenicia, perhaps in sight of witnesses who may have conveyed this tale to those in Nineveh, it is easy to see how a population that worshiped a fish-god may have received him as a divine messenger and have remembered and preserved the tale long afterward. Whatever the case, the association of Jonah with Nineveh seems to be an old one.
The Greatest Revival in History Jonah 3:1–10 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
The third chapter of Jonah contains the high point of this remarkable story, for however remarkable the preceding action has been and however great the miracles, the most remarkable action and the greatest miracles are in the results of Jonah’s preaching. The result was the greatest and most thorough revival that has ever taken place. Writes Gaebelein, “Heretofore the emphasis has been upon the prophet’s preparation; tremendous as the miracle of Jonah’s preservation in the sea monster has been, it is more a preface than a conclusion. Now the veil is drawn aside, and something of the strange purpose of the Almighty in dealing with his prophet is revealed. If the miracle of the fish is great, that of this chapter is greater. For here is the record of nothing less than the greatest mass conversion in history. Though generalities must always be used with caution, we may say that never again has the world seen anything quite like the result of Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh.” The first noteworthy fact about this revival is that it began with God’s call to just one man: Jonah. And even that was after he had apparently disqualified himself from future service. The Second Time We cannot really imagine what it would be like if we were in the place of God, nor should we. But if we were God and if we were confronted with the situation as we have found it at the end of chapter 2, I imagine that at this point we would say that we had had just about enough of Jonah. We would recall that Jonah was a man whom we had chosen to be a prophet and to whom we had imparted a special measure of understanding in spiritual things. We would remember that we had already given him a full and blessed ministry in Israel and that we had then called him to do a tremendous work in Nineveh. Jonah should have been delighted. But instead of being delighted, he had refused this call. Finally, he had become so set in his determination that he had declared that he would rather die than return to the place of blessing. He had requested to be thrown overboard. We would recall that even then we had been gracious to him. Instead of allowing him to die, we had saved him. We had brought him to a place of repentance. Then we had spoken to the fish, and it had returned Jonah to the land.
How gracious we had been! No one could expect more. So if we were God and if we should reason at this point that we had saved Jonah but that he had nevertheless disqualified himself from ever being a prophet again, who could blame us? If we were to say, “Go home now, Jonah. I am glad you have repented of your disobedience, but you are no longer useful to me,” we would be just and reasonable in so doing. But this is not God’s way. Thus, instead of reading of God’s rejection of Jonah, we find these words: “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you’ ” (vv. 1–2). The important point is that God came to Jonah the second time and that the commission was the same as on the first occasion. Does God always do that? Does God stoop to use those who have rejected his calling, turned a deaf ear to his word, and pursued a course of determined disobedience? Yes, he is like that. Yes, he does use such messengers. If he did not, none of us could serve him. We find the principle of the Lord coming to an individual a second time quite often in Scripture. Take the case of Abraham. The word of the Lord came to Abraham when he was a devil worshiper living in Mesopotamia, like all his family. The fact that they were a family of idol and, therefore, devil worshipers is stated in several Old Testament passages (Josh. 24:2–3, 14; Isa. 51:1–2). The story of Rachel’s having hidden the idols of her father (Gen. 31) shows that Abraham’s relatives still owned and cherished idols at least three generations after God had called him out of Mesopotamia. But God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees and sent him around the northern edge of the great Arabian desert to Palestine, which God was giving him. Stephen recalls this word in his speech, saying, “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you’ ” (Acts 7:2–3). We might think that such a revelation and promise would have caused Abraham to travel all the way to the land God was giving. But when we read the account (Gen. 11–12), we find that he did not. Abraham left Ur, it is true. But he stopped at Haran, still hundreds of miles from Palestine. He would have stayed there had God not come to him a second time. God said on this occasion: “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you; I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:1–2). The same is true of Moses who became, under God, one of the great leaders of history. We are not told much detail of the early life of Moses, only that he was raised by his mother with the blessing of the daughter of Pharaoh for the first months or years of life and that he was afterward raised in the palace of Pharaoh. Still, we know that God had revealed himself to Moses during this period. In the same speech of Stephen that mentions Abraham, we read that when Moses killed the Egyptian he did so supposing that “his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them” (Acts 7:25). This was Moses’ way of bringing about a deliverance, but it was not God’s. Consequently, Moses had to flee from Egypt to Midian, where he lived for the next forty years. We might say that Moses had ruined his chances and destroyed his future ministry. Yet after he had lived in Midian for this long period of time and when he was eighty years old, God appeared to him in a burning bush, saying, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exod. 3:10). God had appeared to Moses a second time. We find the same thing in the case of the apostle Peter. Peter had boasted that no matter what should happen he would not desert the Lord. “I am ready to go with you to prison and to death,” Peter said (Luke 22:33). Jesus revealed that Peter would deny him three times before morning. And Peter did (Luke 22:54–62)! What shall be done with Peter now? Shall he be cast off? Shall he be disqualified from future service? The Lord appears to Peter to recommission him to service, asking on three separate occasions (corresponding to Peter’s three denials), “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” (John 21:15–17). When Peter answers on each occasion, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you,” Jesus responds, “Feed my sheep.” The Lord came to Peter a second time. A number of years ago a young girl in Philadelphia felt the call of God to Christian service. But she married a non-Christian, who soon left her to go his own way. The experience brought the girl back to desiring God’s will. But what was she to do? Should she divorce her husband? The Scriptures taught that she should not follow this course. According to 1 Corinthians 7, she was to be open to any possible reconciliation. She decided to leave the matter in God’s hands. Having confessed her sin to God, she let her separated husband know that she was open to reconciliation if he desired it. When he declined, she let the matter rest. Within a few months her husband was killed in a car accident, and God directed her to apply to Wycliffe Bible Translators for missionary work. The word of the Lord clearly came to her a second time.The Lord comes a second time to all who are his true children. Have we never, like Abraham, stopped at our Harans? Of course, we have. We are sent on errands, but some sin or preoccupation detains us. Have we never, like Moses, taken matters into our own hands and formulated our own plans? Of course, we have. Like Peter, we have even denied our Lord on occasions when we should have spoken for him. We have disobeyed him. We have run away from him. Some of us, like Jonah, have run very far indeed. Does God cast us off? Does he disown us? No! He disciplines us, it is true. But, having done that and having brought us to the place of repentance, he returns the second time to recommission us to service. Moreover, he comes a third, a fourth, a hundredth, a thousandth time, if necessary, as it often is. None of us would be where we are now in our Christian lives if God had not dealt thus with us. Oh, the greatness of the unmerited grace of God! We deserve nothing. Yet we receive everything, even when we foolishly turn from it. William Banks speaks of how grace comes to people today: “We are moved to speak of Jonah’s God as the God of the Second Chance. But honest sober reflection compels the saint to speak of Him as the God of the 999th chance! Such gracious mercy as was extended to Jonah here, and to David, and to the thief dying upon the cross, and to Peter—surely it has been granted to all believers through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.” Two More Lessons Two additional lessons appear in this passage. First, when the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, it came with the same commission he had received the first time. We often think, when we are on the verge of running away from God, that if we run away and if the Lord should nevertheless speak to us again, he might take note of the fact that we have run away and therefore change the command. He does not. When we think or act in this disobedient way, we are acting like children who do not like what they are being told to do and who therefore throw a tantrum, thinking that this might get the parents to change their minds. An indulgent or foolish parent might fall for this manipulation, but a wise parent will not. Nor does God! Consequently, after he has dealt with the tantrum, sometimes by means of a spanking, God returns to us with the same commission as before. Why try to resist it? Learn that if you try to run away from God, sooner or later he is going to catch up with you and that when he does you will have to face the very thing you are running away from. Experience his grace now instead of judgment. The second lesson is found in the one change in the second expression of the commission. The first commission had two key verbs in it: “go” and “preach.” In this commission the first verb is the same. But the second phrase, “preach against it,” is changed to “proclaim to it the message I give you.” When we remember that the greatest revival in history followed Jonah’s doing precisely that, we may reason that the spiritual life of our own time would be quite different if only those words were followed by the thousands of clergymen who fill our pulpits each Sunday. They preach. No one doubts that. But is their sermon the message God has given them? Is their preaching that which he has bid them proclaim? Today God’s ministers are called to proclaim the message of the Bible, embodying all the counsel of God. But many consider this unsophisticated or old-fashioned and so substitute the supposed wisdom of men. Their words lack power, and they bring judgment on their own heads. Obedient at Last
The first time the word of the Lord came to Jonah telling him to go to Nineveh, Jonah ran away. This time, having learned the consequences of running away, he obeyed. The contrast is with the similar command recorded in chapter 1. In that chapter, after God had told Jonah, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it,” we see the prophet’s disobedience: “But Jonah.” Here, after the identical commission, we read, “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh” (v. 3). This is something we should covet for every true Christian. Too often we try to outguess or outmaneuver God. We try to “out-but” him. Our response should be obedience. Did God say it? Then let us do it. Let it be said of us, “John Smith, Mary Jones (or whatever your name may be) obeyed the word of the Lord.” What will the result be? In the first chapter, after Jonah had voiced his “but” to God, he found that God opposed him. God sent the storm. On this occasion, Jonah obeyed and “the Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth” (v. 5). Jonah’s obedience was followed by the outpouring of God’s power. The difference was that Jonah was now walking according to “the word of the Lord.” In the first instance, he was trying to get away from God’s word. In the second instance, the Word was with him. The author of Hebrews says rightly: “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). It is through his word alone that God brings blessing and opens the closed and rebellious hearts of men. A Great Revival When Jonah entered Nineveh he began to proclaim his message: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned” (3:4). This does not seem to be a very impressive message. In the English Bible it is only eight words, and in Hebrew it is even shorter: five (˓od arba˓im yom wenineweh nehpaketh). The words are a simple prophecy of judgment. Yet they were greatly blessed, because they were truly God’s words and not the words of a mere man. According to the following verses, they were used of God to bring about a genuine and pervasive revival in the city. We can almost see Jonah as he entered a day’s journey into the city and began to cry out his message. What would his reception be? Would the Ninevites laugh? Would they turn against Jonah and persecute him? As he cried out people stopped to listen. The hum of commerce died down and a holy hush stole over the collecting multitudes. Soon there were weeping and other signs of a genuine repentance of sin. At last the message of Jonah entered even the palace, and the king, divesting himself of his magnificent robes, took the place of a mourner alongside his repenting subjects. We read, “When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “ ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish’ ” (vv. 6–9). What did the people believe? Whom did they believe? We are not told that the people believed Jonah, in spite of his deliverance and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ later declared that Jonah was himself a “sign” to the Ninevites (Luke 11:30). We are told that the people “believed God.” Faith should never rest in the messenger, but in God who gives the message. This is one mark of all true revival and true preaching. Scholars have sometimes objected to this on grounds that the information furnished about the city is not accurate. It has been pointed out that though the city was indeed large—the circumference of the inner walls was about seven and three-fourth miles—it is hardly possible, even with extremely crowded streets, that it would have taken Jonah three days to cross it. But the answer to this is that the description probably refers to what we would call the fullest extent of the city including the suburbs. It may even refer to a fuller, geographical area including farms and outlying fortifications. A parallel comes from the cities of the Middle Ages. In Europe during the Middle Ages people lived near walled cities in order to be able to retreat into them when danger threatened. In times of peace, when no danger threatened, people spilled beyond the walls to farm and pursue other occupations. This was true of hundreds and thousands of cities, even little ones. It would be true of a large capital city such as Nineveh. It is breath-taking to come to the true high point of the story in the account of God’s repentance from bringing judgment: “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened” (v. 10).
The Repentance of God That this and other verses in the Bible speak of God changing his mind (literally, “repenting”) has been a problem for some students of Scripture. But it should not be, once the phrase is understood. To begin with, this is clearly a case of employing human language to describe that which is ultimately beyond human language. God is always beyond our understanding. Consequently, we should not be surprised when phrases like this tend to confuse us. We should balance them with other statements—like that of Balaam, who said, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Num. 23:19). If we must choose between apparent contradictions, we must side with the truth that God is not changeable and that he does not deal falsely in the revelation of himself to us. Second, we must realize that in this case there is not even a true contradiction, for the city that God had promised to destroy, the wicked city of Nineveh, ceased to exist after Jonah’s preaching. True, it came back, as Nineveh slipped into sin again years later. We find Nahum writing of a judgment that did eventually come. But for now the city ceased to exist as sinful Nineveh and therefore came to enjoy God’s blessing. Here Martin writes perceptively: “It was wicked, violent, unrighteous, atheistical, proud, and luxurious Nineveh which God had threatened to destroy. A city sitting in sackcloth and ashes, humbled in the depths of self-abasement, and appealing as lowly suppliants to his commiseration—a Nineveh like that—that Nineveh, he had never threatened. That Nineveh he visited not with ruin. He had never said he would. The Nineveh which God threatened to destroy passed away; it became totally another city—far more so, in virtue of this change in moral state, than if it had been translated from its olden geographical position, and wholly transformed in its architectural appearance. Surely its great moral change had made it more truly another place—a kind of new creature, old things having passed away, and all things become new—than any alteration in its physical aspect could have done. It really, in God’s estimation, is not the Nineveh he threatened at all. The terrific threatening does not apply now. ‘God saw their works’—their fruits meet for repentance, namely, that they turned from their evil way—and God ‘repented of the evil that he said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.’ ” Ultimately, however, the problem posed by the repentance of God is solved, not by observing the repentance of men and women, but by noticing that God repents of the evil he would do by taking the punishment for that evil on himself. When the Hebrew speaks of God repenting, most often the word is nacham. It refers to an inner suffering needing to be consoled. Did God suffer? Not at the time of Jonah and the Ninevites. But he did so later in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God took the world’s evil on himself precisely so that he might repent of the need to visit the outworking of that evil on men. Ellul sees this clearly. “In reality God’s repenting in the face of man’s repentance is Jesus Christ. Each time there is any question of this repenting in Scripture we thus have a new prophecy of Jesus Christ who puts into effect both the justice of God and also the love of God without doing despite to either the one or the other.” Here the message of Jonah hits quite close to home. Like Jonah and the Ninevites, each of us today needs to repent of sin and turn to the righteous and merciful God of the universe. But our repentance from sin, assuming we do repent, is made possible only because God himself first repented of the evil by taking our judgment on himself. Jesus bore our judgment. Consequently, our turning from sin must be at the same time a turning to Jesus through whom alone we have forgiveness. Steps to Revival
The repentance of the Ninevites suggests the steps we should follow if we have not come to that kind of repentance. It suggests “four distinct steps” to a revival of true godliness and religion, as Gaebelein indicates in his perceptive study. First, there must be a faithful preaching and a faithful hearing of the Word of God. Jonah preached what God had given him to preach, and it was highly effective. It was not a lengthy message, but that did not matter. It was not an intellectual message, but that did not matter either. Perhaps it was not even an eloquent message, but neither did that matter. All that was necessary was that it was God’s message, preached and heard in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers who ever lived, was saved by such a message. He was a boy at the time, and he had gone to a primitive Methodist chapel whose pulpit was filled on that particular morning by a man who had no education and could barely read or write. He preached on the text, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved.” He stuck to it, for he had little else to say. “My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, ‘Look.’ Now lookin’ don’t take a deal of pain. It ain’t liftin’ your foot or your finger; it is just, ‘Look.’ Well, a man needn’t go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn’t be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But then the text says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Ay, many of ye are lookin’ to yourselves, but it’s no use lookin’ there. You’ll never find any comfort in yourselves. … Look to Christ. The text says, ‘Look unto Me.’ ” After about ten minutes of such preaching the speaker had quite exhausted what he had to say. But he noticed the young Spurgeon sitting under the balcony, and fixing his eyes on him, he went on, “Young man, you look very miserable. And you always will be miserable—miserable in life, and miserable in death—if you don’t obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved. Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look!” It was not a polished sermon. But it was a true sermon based on God’s Word, and God blessed it. Spurgeon did look and was converted. We need this preaching today. There is no greater need in America or in any other part of the world than to hear the clear preaching of the timeless truths of the Word of God. If we would have blessing in our personal lives, it must come by response to the teachings of this Book. If we would have blessing in our churches and in our land, the same response is necessary. So flock to any faithful preaching of God’s Word, and fill your mind with it. If you are in a position to share it with others, do so clearly and without apology. Do not mind that unbelievers scoff. Do not mind that liberal scholars pronounce it untrue. God will send blessing. Second, there must be belief in God. Notice that the Ninevites did more than just hear Jonah’s message. As soon as they heard, they responded by believing God. This is the way it has always been and must be. People are not led to faith through visions. Give a person a vision of God, and he will declare it interesting. It will not lead him to faith. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Third, having heard the word of God and having believed God, the city then took action on its faith by proclaiming a fast and putting on the clothes of mourning. There is no true belief without some corresponding action. In the Book of Hebrews, in that great chapter on faith (chap. 11), we are told that Abel believed God and offered a proper sacrifice; Enoch pleased God by walking close to him; Noah built an ark; Abraham obeyed and went from his own home to a new land that God would show him; Isaac blessed Jacob according to God’s instructions; Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph; Joseph gave instructions for his body to be brought back to Canaan at the time of the Exodus; Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter but chose rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time. In each case belief resulted in specific action by which the person’s trust in God was demonstrated. In the 19th century there was an acrobat (Jean Francois Gravelet) who was known by the stage name Blondin because of his fair coloring. Blondin gained a reputation for himself in Europe before coming to America, and once here he gained even greater fame by walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Thereafter he was associated in everyone’s mind with the Falls. He did numerous stunts on his crossings. On one occasion he pushed a wheelbarrow across. On another he paused to eat an omelet. Once or twice he carried his manager on his back. On one of these latter occasions, after he had reached the edge again, he is said to have turned to a man in the crowd and to have asked him, “Do you believe I could do that with you?” “Of course,” answered the man. “I’ve just seen you do it.”
“Well, then, hop on,” invited the acrobat. “I’ll carry you across.”“Not on your life!” replied the spectator. There was clearly a form of belief in the man’s first response, but it did not result in action. What is called for spiritually is a belief that will fully commit itself to Jesus, thereby allowing him to carry the believing one over the troubled waters of this life. Tom Skinner, one of the most effective black evangelists in America, demonstrated the reality of his new belief in Christ by immediately informing the members of his New York City street gang of his conversion, even though he knew that it would be interpreted as a sign of weakness and that some would welcome the opportunity to turn on him. Finally, as part of this action, there must be a turning from specific sin. The Ninevites turned from the sin that was most characteristic of them: violence. We read in verse 8: “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.” We too must turn from our specific sins, whether sexual indulgence, pride, selfishness, lack of love for our Christian brothers and sisters, laziness, materialism—whatever it may be. We must not repent in vague terms. We must repent specifically, if we would be blessed by God and come to know him fully.
God More Merciful Than His Prophet Jonah 4:1–11 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”“I do,” he said, “I am angry enough to die.”But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
I doubt if there ever has been a story of God’s dealings with men that should give more cause for rejoicing than the story of Jonah. Jonah’s story is a story of God’s mercy. First, there had been mercy for Jonah, who had been given a great commission. Even though he rebelled at the idea of preaching to the pagans of Nineveh, God persevered with him to turn him from his folly and brought him at last to that great capital city of Assyria. God’s mercy to Jonah involved the storm, the great fish, and the repentance of Jonah within the fish, and then God’s recommissioning of him after he had been cast up on the shore. We read at that point that “the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time” (3:1). Parallel to the story of God’s dealing with Jonah is God’s mercy dealing with the sailors who were manning the ship taking him to Tarshish. This too shows God’s mercy. The sailors were pagans at the beginning of the story. We are told that in the midst of the storm “each cried out to his own god” (1:5). By the end, after they had heard Jonah’s testimony and had witnessed the calming of the sea after the rebellious prophet had been thrown overboard, we find them worshiping Jehovah, offering sacrifices, and making vows.
Finally, and greatest of all, there is the account of God’s mercy to Nineveh. Nineveh was not godly. On the contrary, it was a particularly wicked city. But God used the preaching of Jonah to bring a revival to Nineveh, probably the greatest revival in history. We read that “the Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth” (3:5). This repentance was so great that even the king was affected. God postponed the judgment that Jonah had prophesied. If there had ever been a cause for rejoicing, certainly those three evidences of God’s mercy—first to his prophet, then to the sailors, and eventually to Nineveh—should provide it, and we should expect Jonah himself to be literally leaping with joy and thanksgiving. Instead, when we come to the fourth and final chapter, we find Jonah in the worst “blue funk” imaginable. In fact, he was angry about what had happened, violently angry. He was angry with God. We find a series of additional lessons in this chapter as God deals with Jonah at the depth of his attitudes. In these final encounters the book more or less comes full circle. At the beginning it was the story of just two personalities: Jonah and God. After Jonah had run away, the sailors came into the story and then eventually all the people of Nineveh. Now, at the end, we are again back to God and his rebellious prophet. It is always that way. God gives us work to do; the work involves other people. But in the end, when it gets right down to basics, it is always a question of each of us as an individual and God. It is a question of whether or not we have obeyed him. Jonah’s Displeasure Jonah’s anger at God’s mercy to the people of Nineveh is disclosed in the first three verses of chapter 4, so we turn to them for an analysis of Jonah’s mood. The verses say, “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live’ ” (4:1–3).
Obviously, Jonah is angry. He had obeyed God, doing what God wanted; but God had not done what Jonah wanted. Jonah had told the Ninevites that judgment was coming in forty days, but it had not come. He felt betrayed. He felt that God had let him down by not destroying the city as he, Jonah, had predicted. Moreover, in all this he had not the slightest interest in the people of Nineveh. He should have been happy at their deliverance. Instead, he was displeased that God had not wiped them from the face of the earth. If God had destroyed the city, he would have returned home delighted. In Jonah’s anger at God we notice three significant things. First, he tried to justify himself both in his own eyes and in the eyes of God. That is, he tried to justify his former disobedience. He said, in effect, “This is why I refused to go to Nineveh when you first called me; what is more, I was right in refusing.” The point of my illustration is that we all do what Jonah did. Things do not turn out as we wish, so we seek to justify our disobedience. We need to learn that we are not sufficient to pass on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the outcome, nor are we responsible for it. We are responsible only for performing the whole will of God. The second thing Jonah did in his anger is somewhat harder to explain, though it is easy to notice. Jonah tried to turn God against God. Or to put the same thing in another language, he tried to quote God’s word back to him in his warped desire to show that he, Jonah, was right and that God was wrong. This is what he was doing in verse 2. Jonah was probably thinking of Exodus 34:6–7 as he argued. The verses in Exodus say, “And he [the Lord] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”“Now,” said Jonah, “is that or is that not what you have said? And if it is what you have said, why did you send me to Nineveh with a message that you never intended to fulfill? Is it not true that I, Jonah, am the consistent one and that you are wrong?”We should find this frightening. It is frightening in itself and also because of its parallels. What is the most infamous of all attempts to turn the word of God against God? It is Satan’s use of Scripture in his temptation of Christ. Jesus had replied to Satan’s first temptation to turn stones into bread by quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3: “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ ” (Matt. 4:4). Satan retaliated by quoting some Scripture of his own. He took Jesus to a pinnacle of the temple and challenged him to throw himself down, saying, “It is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’ ” (Matt. 4:6). It was a quotation of Psalm 91:11–12, but he used it wrongly, as Jesus next pointed out. Jesus replied that it is not possible to use one verse of Scripture to overthrow another, and the Bible clearly says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matt. 4:7; Deut. 6:16). Satan was using the Bible, the Word of God, to justify evil and show that the course God had set for Jesus was not right. This is what Jonah was doing. So at no point is the diabolical nature of his rebellion more evident than here. In seeking to justify himself and prove God wrong by Scripture, Jonah took a place as Satan’s spiritual progeny. Ellul applies this to our own tendencies to self-justification. “This is a grave warning; it is not enough to lean on a biblical text to be right; it is not enough to adduce biblical arguments, whether theological or pietistic, to be in tune with God. All this may denote opposition to God. It may even be a way of disobeying him. The using of God’s word to tempt God is a danger which threatens all Christians. Every time the Christian thinks he has God’s Word in store to be used as needed, he commits this sin, which is that of Satan himself against Christ. This is the attitude of the historian who dissects Scripture to set it against Scripture, of the theologian who uses a text to construct this doctrine or philosophy, or of the simple Christian who opens his Bible to find himself justified there, or to find arguments against non-Christians or against Christians who do not hold the same views, arguments which show how far superior my position is to that of others. It is not for nothing the Bible shows us that this attitude of Jonah is that of Satan. … This should stir us to great caution in the reading and use of the Bible. It is not a neutral book which one can read and then take arguments from it. It is an explosive power which must be handled with care.” This does not mean that we should leave the Bible alone and not study it, of course. We avoid the danger Ellul speaks of by faithfully applying this formula: When we find ourselves reading the Bible to find verses and passages that justify our own behavior, we are wrong and are in danger; when we read the Bible and find verses that expose our sin and thereby draw us increasingly closer to God, who will forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, then we are on the right track and will find blessing. Ellul writes: “What revelation teaches us about ourselves is all to the effect that we are not righteous, that we have no means of justifying ourselves, that we have no possibility of disputing with God, that we have no right to condemn others and be in the right against them, and that in this extreme distress only a gracious act of God which is external to us (though it becomes internal) can save us. This is what Scripture teaches us, and if we stick to this, reading the Bible is useful and healthy and brings forth fruit in us.” Jonah did one more thing in his anger, and at that point it was almost comic: He asked for death again. “Now, O Lord take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (v. 3). It is hard to understand the prophet’s apparent death wish. When he had run from God and God had caught up to him in the storm, he thought it would be better to die than obey. He asked the sailors to throw him overboard. Now, having obeyed, he is still unhappy and says once more that he would rather die and get it all over with. It is a warning that it is possible to obey God but to do so with such a degree of unwillingness and anger that, so far as we are concerned, the obedience is no better than disobedience.What is Wrong, Jonah? At this point of the story we rightly ask ourselves, “But what is wrong with Jonah?” He should have been happy; he is unhappy. He had been instrumental in the gift of spiritual life to thousands; he prefers death. He claimed to be cognizant of God’s grace and mercy, which he himself had experienced; he resents God for it and says that he would have preferred wrath for Nineveh. One thing wrong with Jonah is that he is not reconciled to the will of God even yet. He had been opposed to God’s will at the beginning and had run away because of his opposition. God had pursued him and had brought him to the point of obedience. He had even experienced the marvels of a rediscovery of God’s grace while in the belly of the great fish and had repented of his sin with one of the most moving and genuine prayers in all Scripture. Perhaps only David’s great psalm of repentance can be said to rival it (Ps. 51). Yet, in spite of this, Jonah’s attitudes had not really changed. He was still unwilling to see the people of Nineveh saved, and he resented the God of mercy for having saved them.We often act the same, even when we are apparently obeying God. We are doing what we think we should be doing, living the kind of life we think a Christian should live. But secretly we are unhappy and angry with God for making the requirement. For this reason many Christians look and act miserable much of the time. Second, Jonah had forgotten God’s mercy to him. We object, “But how could Jonah of all people forget God’s mercy? And forget it so quickly?” Jonah should have perished miserably inside the great fish. He had renounced God. It would have been only proper if God had renounced him. Yet God had showed him great mercy, first in bringing him to repentance and then in saving him and recommissioning him to preach in Nineveh. Jonah had certainly experienced mercy at the hand of God. But there was the long journey across the desert, and man’s memory is short. Jonah had forgotten God’s mercy and was therefore ill-prepared to appreciate it when God showed the same mercy to others. We must remember this when we find ourselves wondering, somewhat regretfully, why God does not judge someone else for his sin. When we do that—as we all do—we are forgetting that we were once where that other person is now and that we would not be where we are now were it not for God’s great mercy to us. The third reason why Jonah was angry was that he did not know God as well as he thought he did. Undoubtedly he was proud of his knowledge of God. He was a Jew, first of all, and Jews had received an accurate revelation of God which the pagans did not possess; they had the Law and the record of God’s dealings in history. Moreover, Jonah was a prophet—not just any Jew, but rather one who had studied the Law and who had been commissioned by God and given special revelations by him. If anybody knew God, it was Jonah! But did he? He knew something of God, it is true. But he did not know God well enough to grieve over sin as God grieves over sin, or to rejoice at the repentance of the sinner. Instead, he was like the older son of Christ’s parable, who sulked while the father celebrated and felt cheated by the prodigal’s return.
In our day we sometimes find ourselves wishing that the Lord Jesus Christ would return, usher in the final judgment, and escort his own into heaven, and we are grieved when unbelievers scorn our belief in the Second Coming. We wish Jesus would come. We cannot understand his delay. This is because we do not understand God well enough. Peter knew people who thought like this, and he wrote an explanation to them, saying, “In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ … But… , dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:3–4, 8–9).
Peter explained the delay of God’s judgment by God’s mercy, saying that Jesus has not yet returned in order that all whom God desires to call to faith in him might be born, have the gospel preached to them, and believe. Aren’t you glad that Jesus did not return before you were born and believed in him? Well, then, rejoice that his delay makes possible the salvation of countless others. God is a God of judgment. But he is also a God of mercy. We need to know him as that.
Three Questions Jonah had not learned this, however. So God began to teach him more about his mercy, doing so by means of three significant questions that conclude the book. God likes to ask questions because they are effective in helping us see the state of our hearts. God asked questions of Adam and Eve: “Where are you? … Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? … What is this you have done?” (Gen. 3:9, 11, 13). He questioned Cain after he had murdered his brother: “Where is your brother Abel? … What have you done?” (Gen. 4:9–10). Saul was asked the same thing after he had foolishly intruded into the priest’s office by offering sacrifices: “What have you done?” (1 Sam. 13:11). After David had sinned in committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband killed, Nathan came to ask him, “Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?” (2 Sam. 12:9). God asked Isaiah, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (Isa. 6:8). Jesus asked Judas, “Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48). It is the same in the Book of Jonah. God asks, “Have you any right to be angry? … Do you have a right to be angry about the vine? … Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (vv. 4, 9, 11). What does God’s first question to his sulking prophet mean? Quite simply it is a challenge to Jonah to judge whether the angry prophet or the great and holy God of the universe is right. It is as though God had said, “We are looking at the identical situation in two different ways, Jonah. I am pleased with it. You are angry. Which of us has the proper perspective?” Whenever God asks that type of question, we must recognize that, whatever our thoughts or feelings may be, it is always God who is correct and not we. “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). Jonah did not think like that. He did not confess his error. Instead, he became even angrier and left the city. On its outskirts he constructed a little shelter for himself and then waited to see if God might not destroy the city after all. Suddenly God’s promise to destroy Nineveh seemed very important to him. Here Jonah made three errors, as Ellul points out. First, he quit. He abandoned his mission to Nineveh even though he had no right or instruction by God to do it. Since God had sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach to the people and since, as a result of Jonah’s preaching, they had repented and turned to Jehovah, Jonah should have stayed and taught them more perfectly, becoming a Calvin to Nineveh as the great Protestant reformer was blessed to the city of Geneva. But Jonah was not willing to do this for the city. In the same way, many Christians today abandon the work God has given them because God does not carry through according to their expectations or their timetable. Students abandon their work when it begins to prove difficult. Parents give up on their children. Many abandon their jobs. Ministers quit the ministry. We have no right to do that. Second, Jonah built a little shelter for himself, a private retreat, which again he had no right to do. Were there no shelters in Nineveh? No homes? No places where the prophet of Israel, who had been the vehicle of such great spiritual blessing, would be welcome? Of course, there were. But Jonah was not interested in these shelters. He still secretly despised the people and hoped that God would judge them. To put it starkly, Jonah launched a little separatist movement in which he established his own independent church or denomination—all because he disliked the people of Nineveh. Ellul says, “He creates his own domain in the shade where he will be at peace according to his own measure, just as Christians try to make a church according to their own measure—it is not the body of Christ—and a divine kingdom according to their own measure, full of intentions which are good and effective and well constructed, but which are only a fresh demonstration of their autonomy in relation to God.”
Jonah’s third error was to become a spectator. He sat in the shadow of his shelter “to see what would happen to the city” (v. 5). He was not called to be a spectator, any more than Christians are called to be spectators of the world’s ills and misfortunes today. He was called to identify with those people and help them as best he could by the grace of God. Something for Jonah
Jonah had still not come around to God’s way of thinking, but God had not given up on him. God had a second question. But before he asked it, he did something to prepare Jonah’s heart for the message. First, he caused an unusually fast-growing vine to spring up next to Jonah’s rude shelter. We are told that it became a shadow for him, that is, a protection from the blazing desert sun. We read, “Jonah was very happy about the vine” (v. 6). This is remarkable—that Jonah was “very happy.” It is the first time in the story that Jonah has been happy about anything. The first thing we read about in the story was God’s commission to him to preach in Nineveh; he had not liked that. Then there was the storm; he had not liked that. He did not like the great fish, even though it had been the means of saving him from certain death. Apparently, he had not been happy even with the second commission. He had not been happy with the repentance of Nineveh. Nothing pleased him. But here at last “Jonah was very happy.” Why? The answer is obvious. Jonah was pleased because at last, after all the compassion of God for other people, God was finally doing something for Jonah. Selfish? Of course, it was. And petty too! For the vine was a trifle compared with the conversion of the entire city of Nineveh. Having caused the vine to spring up, God then did something else. He caused a worm to attack the vine so that the plant withered. And after that he caused a vehement east wind to blow from the desert that brought Jonah to the point of fainting from the terrible heat. Now Jonah became angrier than ever, and again he expressed a wish to die. At this point God asked his second question. His first question had been, “Have you any right to be angry?” It was a question as to who was right, God or Jonah. This time God asked, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” By this question God exposed Jonah’s pettiness, for his anger had brought him from the grandeur of being angry at God—one who is at least a worthy opponent—to being angry at such a petty thing as a vine or worm. The same thing happens when we become angry. We begin by being angry at big things, but quickly we become angry at petty things. First we are angry with God. Next we express our anger at circumstances, then minor circumstances. Finally, our shoelace breaks one morning, and we find ourselves swearing. God was showing this to Jonah, saying, in effect, “Look where your anger has taken you, Jonah. Is this right? Is this the way you want to live? Do you want to spend the rest of your life swearing at petty annoyances?”At last God asked his final question, and it is with this question that the book closes. God said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (vv. 10–11). Jonah had been sorry for the vine. So God does not talk to him about the adult population of the city, who undoubtedly deserved the judgment Jonah was so anxious to have fall on them. God talks about the cattle, who were innocent, and the smallest children, designated as those who could not yet discern between their right hand and their left. Was God not right to show mercy for their sake, if not for the adult population? Does not even Jonah’s compassion for the vine vindicate God’s judgment? Wideness in God’s Mercy The book ends with a question, a question that has no written answer. This is not a mistake. It ends on a question in order that each one who reads it might ask himself or herself the same question: Is God not right? Is he not great for showing mercy? The lessons of this book are many. There are lessons that concern Jonah himself. He is a type of practically everything: a type of Christ (who was buried but who rose again), a type of Israel, a type of all believers (for we all run away from God at times and need to be disciplined). There are lessons that concern Nineveh and the true meaning of repentance. There are lessons relating to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty over men and nature. But greater than all these lessons is the lesson of the greatness of the mercy of God. How great is God’s mercy? We have a hymn that says, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.” But even that is not wide enough. The real measure of the wideness of the mercy of God is that of the outstretched arms of the Lord Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross to die for our salvation. That is the wideness of God’s mercy. That is the measure of the length to which the love of God will go.How can we, who have known that mercy and benefited from it, be less than merciful to others? How can we do less than love them and carry the gospel to them with all the strength at our disposal?
EXPOSITORS - The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10) 1. Jonah's Flight (1:1-3)
1 Our story begins without preparation, with the conjunction wa (untr. in NIV), which is so common in Hebrew narrative (KJV, RV, RSV, now). We have a similar beginning to Judges, 1 Samuel, and Ruth. It may be merely the storyteller's natural style; but it could possibly indicate that our narrative was taken from a larger collection of stories about Jonah or about prophets generally. For our understanding, however, this is immaterial. Even with a prophet, not everything he did or said had revelatory meaning for posterity. "The word of the LORD came to Jonah" literally means the word of the Lord "was" or "became" to Jonah. There is no indication how God communicated his will to Jonah. In fact, it is rare for prophets to relate how any particular message was received. In many cases there must have been the overwhelming certainty of the divine message without any consciousness of how it had come. "Jonah son of Amittai" is the only prophetic name recorded for the North in the nearly forty years between the death of Elisha and the ministry of Amos (2 Kings 14:25). It would be illegitimate, however, to argue from silence that he was the only prophet available. Later rabbinic tradition tried to fill the gap in our knowledge. Relying on a wordplay, it claimed that Jonah was the widow's son brought back to life by Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24). Jonah was also credited with a successful mission to Jerusalem similar to that to Nineveh. Both rabbinic tradition and many Christian commentators assume he had some relationship with the Jerusalem temple. (Did this exist for Elijah and Elisha, too? Scripture does not tell us.) The modern tendency, not necessarily to be rejected, is for the expositor to fit the prophet into his background. Here we are not dealing with revelation in the normal prophetic sense, for it is God's actions that are the real message. So the instrument is not more closely defined or described. So far as we know, Jonah was not picked because he was particularly suited to the task. When Jonah fled, God could have turned to someone else; but since it is the sovereignty of God that is being particularly stressed, God held to his choice (1 Cor 9:16).
2 "The great city of Nineveh" goes back to early postdiluvian days (Gen 10:11); archaeologists date the oldest of the discovered remains about 4500 B.C. Though it was not always the capital city of Assyria, Nineveh was always one of its principal towns. (For further information, see note at 3:3.) In the light of 4:11, it might be better to translate "great city" as "big city"; for it is the number of its inhabitants that is being stressed. "Preach against it" has a shade of meaning that is not justified by the Hebrew. Probably JB has caught the sense best by "inform them that their wickedness has become known to me." We may infer from the Assyrians' own inscriptions that God was particularly concerned with their self-confident pride (Isa 10:13) and cruelty (Nah 3:1, 10, 19) ( 3:8). It is often unwise for the stranger and outsider to put his finger on the faults of others. Resentment may stifle the voice of conscience; so Jonah had merely to announce imminent judgment, leaving it to his hearers' conscience to judge why it was coming.
3 Apparently "Tarshish" comes from a Semitic root meaning "to smelt"; so there were a number of places involved in the mineral trade with this name on the Mediterranean coast. It is highly probable that the most distant of them, Tartessus in Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, is intended. However, nothing depends on our identification. We need not go beyond Jonah's own words (4:2) to find his motive for not wanting to go to Nineveh, but this does not explain why he tried to run away. There is nowhere a suggestion that Jonah considered himself to be the Lord's only representative. He knew that if he refused to go, there were others who could be sent in his place. The Bible gives no support to the common modern superstition that a Christian is indispensable or irreplaceable. It is equally baseless to suggest that Jonah thought that the Lord's writ did not extend to Tarshish. If he was convinced that God could and would bring destruction on Nineveh in the east, he knew that God could do it equally in Tarshish to the west, even if it was farther away. Jonah's words to the sailors (1:10) can hardly be quoted against this, for it is unlikely that he discussed his theological motivations with them in detail. Even less can we build on the statement that he "ran away from the LORD"; for it is characteristic of the Scriptures--as of Oriental storytelling generally--to describe actions objectively, allowing the underlying motives to show themselves in the course of the story. Jonah knew full well that his commission showed God's desire to spare Assyria something that as "Judge of all the earth" (Gen 18:25) he could not do unless it repented of its sins. With typical human shortsightedness, the prophet could see only one reason for this--that penitent and spared Assyria should be God's scourge for Israel, which had been threatened by its power at least three times in the past (under Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III). Israel was involved in the battle of Qarqar in 853 B.C. and under Jehu paid tribute to Assyria in 841 B.C. If Assyria were to be spared now, it could only be that the doom pronounced at Horeb to Elijah (1 Kings 19:15-18) should go into full effect. Sick at heart from the foreshortened view of the future, so common to the prophets in foretelling the coming judgments of God, Jonah wished to escape, not beyond the power of God, but away from the stage on which God was working out his purposes and judgments. The Christian worker anxious to avoid the full impact of modern problems should have no difficulty in understanding Jonah's action. "To flee from the LORD" is here probably the equivalent of "to flee from the LORD's land."
2. The Storm (1:4-6)
4 For the ancient Near East, the gods had created order by defeating the powers of chaos; but these had been tamed, not abolished, and so remained a constant threat. The embodiment of these lawless and chaotic forces was the sea, which men could not control or tame. In Greek mythology Poseidon (Neptune), the god of the sea, was also the god of the earthquake. Frequently God's control of the sea is used to stress his complete lordship over creation (Pss 24:2; 33:7; 65:7; 74:13; 77:19; 89:9; 114:3, 5; Isa 27:1; 51:10; 63:11; Jer 5:22; 31:35; et al.).
5-6 RSV's "each cried to his god" expresses the Hebrew better. The crew were probably all Phoenicians, whose language differed only slightly from Jonah's; so the crew would have shared in a common religion and pantheon. In a developed polytheism, however, individuals tended to concentrate on favorite deities; in addition, all sorts of attractive foreign deities tended to be adopted by sailors. A rabbinic idea is that the seventy nations of men were represented in the crew, and so the inadequacy of all heathen gods was being demonstrated. There are no grounds for attributing Jonah's sound sleep either to his reaction after his hurried flight to Joppa, though this might have played a part, or to an easy conscience. The storm that can terrify the sailor can reduce the landsman to physical impotence and unconsciousness, as indeed the verb radam ("deep sleep") suggests (cf. Gen 2:21; 15:12; Judg 4:21). The captain's command to Jonah that he pray (v. 6) reflects both the heathen concept that the amount of prayer is of importance (Matt 6:7) and the fact that under a polytheistic system one could seldom be sure which god had been displeased and had, therefore, to be appeased.
3. Jonah's Responsibility (1:7-10)
7 "Come, let us cast lots" assumes that Jonah had joined in the chorus of prayer. Some assume also that because he had a guilty conscience--if indeed he did--he would not have prayed. It was probably the first time in Jonah's life that he had been on the sea. Though he may well have been terrified, he would hardly have realized, as did the sailors, that anything exceptional was happening. The lack of result from prayer and the rarity of such storms in the sailing season ( Acts 27:9) made the sailors conclude that someone on board must be responsible for their plight. In 1 Samuel 14:36-42 we have an example within Israel where it was assumed that a failure of God to answer the oracle must be due to someone's breach of divine law.
8 When the lot pointed to Jonah, the sailors' flood of questions was essentially an outcome of their heathen polytheism. Their gods were basically nonmoral; so their anger might equally be directed against the moral outcast, the one who had accidentally and even unknowingly sinned against them, or the one against whom the gods had taken a dislike as the result of a whim. With the generosity of men who constantly risked their lives in their daily work, they wanted to know whether Jonah was one who fully deserved his fate (Acts 28:4), or whether there were extenuating circumstances that would justify their taking risks to try to save him.
9 Jonah's answer was simple. In saying "I am a Hebrew," he was using the term by which the Israelite was known to his neighbors (1 Sam 4:6, 9; 14:11). We may be sure that the earlier note of contempt in the term had by this time disappeared. In exactly the same way in NT times, the Israelite was an Israelite at home and a Jew among strangers. It may be that Israel's special relationship with Yahweh was felt to be something not to be flaunted in the face of strangers. It is widely suggested that the title "the God of heaven," frequently used in postexilic books (Ezra 1:2; 7:12; Neh 1:4; Dan 2:8), is evidence that Jonah is postexilic. But it is far more likely that Israel deliberately chose the title to express the sovereignty of Yahweh in the contrast to Baal, who was himself a sky god. (See the conflict on Mount Carmel, where Elijah challenged Baal to bring down fire from heaven [1 Kings 18:24]. Note also the very much earlier use of the title in Gen 24:3, 7.) In a polytheistic society, it was difficult to find a title that would more perfectly express the supremacy of Yahweh. What terrified the sailors was the addition of "who made the sea and the land." They knew that Jonah was running away from Yahweh (v. 10), whom they knew to be the God of Israel. They had evidently regarded his action as reasonable, possibly amusing. As Phoenicians they did not take seriously Jonah's claim that Yahweh was superior to Baal. But now Jonah had claimed that Yahweh was the Creator of the sea. Terrified they said (not "asked"), "What have you done!" It is an exclamation, not a question (cf. Gen 4:10).
4. Jonah's Rejection (1:11-16)
11 The sailors found themselves in a new and unexpected position. They realized that they were not dealing with a heinous criminal, or even with someone who had accidentally transgressed the regulations of some deity. Here was a god's servant who had fallen out with his lord. In a culture in which correct procedure in the service of the gods was essential, they had not merely to do the will of Yahweh but also to do it correctly. Only Jonah could guide them. "What should we do to you?" they asked.
12 Jonah's answer to the distraught sailors was, in essence, "Hand me over to my God." It is easy to overlook Jonah's spiritual greatness. Once the lot had pointed to him, he accepted that the storm was not simply "a natural phenomenon." So on the one hand, Jonah was willing to be handed over to his God, whom he had offended though without realizing the seriousness of his act. On the other hand, he knew that the God of 4:2 would not make the sailors pay for what had been an innocent act on their part. Yahweh was not a nonmoral god like Baal, making them suffer out of sheer pique. So Jonah was confident that the sea would calm down once he was no longer in the ship. This shows that he had a far deeper understanding of God than he is often given credit for.
13-14 Since the sailors' religious outlook could make no sense of a god of heaven's creating and controlling the sea--they probably did not even think of the sea as created but rather as a remnant of the original chaos--to throw Jonah overboard was equivalent to murdering him. (After all, even Christians do not always take God's complete control of his creation seriously.) They could not know for certain whether they were doing Yahweh's will, and they feared that he might punish them for the death of his servant. So they tried hard to set him ashore, even though it involved great risk to the ship. That they were near enough to the coast to make the attempt shows that it was an on-shore wind, which could so easily have wrecked them on a lee shore. When the increasing storm made this impossible, they prayed that they should not be held guilty of Jonah's death (v. 14); for dearly the Lord had done as he pleased. When they called Jonah "innocent" (naqi), they were not impugning God's actions; they were merely stating that no human tribunal had passed sentence on him.
15-16 So far as the sailors knew, Jonah had been dealt with by his angry god and master. Even had they seen him swallowed by the fish, which is highly improbable and not suggested by the story, they would never have guessed that it was the instrument of God's mercy. But the immediate cessation of the storm after they threw Jonah overboard showed them that Yahweh really had control of the sea. So "they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him." It is quite likely that the Targum gives the sense in the rendering "They promised to offer sacrifices" as soon as they reached the shore. The Midrash understands this to mean that they threw their idols into the sea, returned to Joppa, went up to Jerusalem, and became proselytes. This is as fanciful as the modern idea that Jonah had become a missionary, even against his will. Certainly there was a new respect for the God of Israel, a new understanding of his power; but there is no suggestion that these Phoenician sailors renounced their ancestral religion or made any efforts to discover what, apart from power, distinguished Yahweh from Baal and Ashtoreth. In other words, they had been brought to the position envisaged by Paul in Romans 1:19-20, and that was not inconsiderable. But there is no evidence that their spiritual apprehension went further. Polytheism and syncretism have always gone hand in hand. (Jesus is reverenced by millions in India today but all too often it is as one divine figure among many.) In the action of the sailors, we find nothing of the concept of the "jealous God" who tolerates no division of loyalty. Because Jonah believed implicitly and wholly in the sovereignty of God, the sailors were brought to a realization of his power. So when such faith is sincerely held, it should affect others. In the book as a whole, however the sailors' faith plays a very minor part. In accordance with its terse style, the story does not tell us what the vows were, nor the size and number of the sacrifices.
5. Jonah's Protection (1:17-2:1) 17 The sea did not change its nature when Jonah splashed into it, for God respects the qualities he has given his creation. Jonah did not suddenly develop into a champion swimmer, for normally God expects the abilities he has given to be suitably trained. But the necessary protection was there for all that. There is no suggestion that the fish was a special creation for the purpose, or that Jonah's preservation within it was miraculous. The power of God ensured that the fish was there at exactly the right time. If it were more widely realized that the miraculous is probably always achieved by God's control over nature, not by contravention of the laws he has placed in nature, we might be able to recognize miracles more easily in our own experience. This is not meant, however, to be a theological definition of miracles. What has been said does not apply to God's creating ex nihilo (i.e., "out of nothing"), and the same is almost certainly the case with the other examples of "create" in Genesis 1. Similarly, it would be hazardous to suggest that God was merely adapting the laws of nature in the Virgin Birth or the resurrection of Christ. In our ignorance of the nature of the fish, all discussion about where Jonah lay in it and how he was preserved is no more than interesting speculation. We should, however, ask ourselves why God chose this means of preserving Jonah's life. As we have already seen, the ship was not far from the shore; and God could easily have provided a piece of floating wreckage to which Jonah could have clung, till he washed up on the beach half-drowned. Miracle is not the gratuitous display of God's omnipotence, nor is it called out merely because of human need. Taken in its setting, it is probable that every miracle has a spiritual significance hence the use of "sign" to describe it in John. This must surely be the case here, and all the more so when we remember that Jesus was prepared to use Jonah's experience as a picture of his resurrection (Matt 12:39-40). So we should ask ourselves what the fish meant to Jonah and to those who first heard the story. For the sailors the raising of the storm and its subsequent quieting were indubitable evidence of Yahweh's control of chaos. This lesson had to be brought home to Jonah also. Yet he did not experience the sudden stilling of the storm, nor was he sufficiently versed in the ways of the sea to appreciate the miracle involved. In the ancient Near-Eastern mythology, which finds numerous reflections in OT poetic language, chaos is pictured by the sea monster Leviathan (lotan in Ugar.). This is reflected in Psalm 74:13-14, where Leviathan refers both to God's rule over chaos and to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. The concept is given another twist, however, in Psalm 104:26, where Leviathan, the dreaded sea monster, is merely God's plaything (NEB). To Jonah and those familiar with the old mythological imagery, the fish represented Leviathan. The mythology that occurs periodically in the poetic and prophetic books of the OT is a dead mythology (i.e., there is no question of the old concepts of their neighbors having the slightest validity in Israel, but the pictorial image they conveyed was still alive). Just as we may still refer to fairies and even have a mental picture of them, though we know that they do not exist, so it was with Leviathan and similar monsters in Israel. Since Leviathan was at God's disposal, it meant that every force in the world however potentially dangerous, is completely under God's dominance and control. This finds its clearest expression in Daniel and Revelation, but it is a lesson hard to learn for the child of God placed in the midst of the world's hostility. So while in one way the fish is secondary in the revelation to Jonah, it was needed for the prophet to grasp that God's love is operative in a world that is entirely under divine control, however hostile it may be to him (Rom 8:28). Once Jonah was on dry land again, he could make some kind of estimate of how long he had been in the fish. Yet to make any exact measure of the number of hours would have been impossible for him. Roused suddenly from a deep slumber, stupefied by the violence of the storm, and in all probability seasick, Jonah would have been in no position to know at what hour he was thrown overboard. Furthermore on reaching the shore he would have needed time to collect his wits. Clearly, then the term "three days and three nights" is intended as an approximation, not a precise period of seventy-two hours. The use by Jesus (Matt 12:40) should almost certainly be understood in the same way.
II. The Obedient Prophet (3:1-4:11) 1. Jonah's Proclamation (3:1-9)
1 The expression "a second time" is completely vague. There are no grounds for thinking with Bewer (p. 50) that "the command came to Jonah immediately after his deliverance." Alienation from life as it is really lived is always a major risk in biblical exposition. After the experience he had passed through, we can be sure that Jonah as God's servant was given some short time for physical recuperation and even more for digesting the spiritual lessons to be learned from his experiences. Nor should we take the "second time" for granted, as we are all too ready to do. There are many examples in the Scriptures of no second chance. Indeed, we should rather ask ourselves why the second call came to Jonah, for we must rule out typological motivations. The answer seems to be that the sovereignty of God is one of the main themes of the book. It is demonstrated not only in God's control of nature but also of his prophet. In another setting God might well have used someone else. It would be very rash for the Christian worker to presume, basing himself on Jonah, that his disobedience will be overlooked.
2 Since the Hebrew word gadol ("great," "large") is used of Nineveh here and in v. 3, it would be well to retain the same rendering: "large" would seem to be indicated in both verses, the more so as 4:11 suggests that it is the number of inhabitants that is being stressed. God does not lay weight on Nineveh's political importance or on the magnificence of its buildings. "The message I give you" does not necessarily suggest that Jonah would have said otherwise. It is merely one more indication that we are dealing with the sovereignty of God. It is strange, however, that many Christian preachers who take pride in proclaiming that sovereignty seem, at times, to spend much time in proclaiming their own views.
3 "Now Nineveh was a very large city" (NIV mg.) most probably is the correct reading. "A city important to God" not only does not suit the context but, worse still, introduces a note of particularity into a book where universality is constantly being implied. True enough, Jonah went to Nineveh, but the principle would have been the same had it been some other large city, e.g., Babylon, which was a major threat to Israel.The use of the perfect (hayetah) in the clause "Nineveh was an important city" has been held by some to imply that the city had been overthrown, and this is one of the chief arguments relied on by those who uphold a late date for the book. Even if this interpretation is correct, it proves no more than that the book in its present form is late (see Introduction: Date and Authorship). However, it may be questioned whether this sense is demanded by the syntax. The structure would rather indicate a situation that had already come into being at the time referred to than one that had ceased to obtain at the time of writing. We may therefore be justified in translating, "Now Nineveh had (already) become a great city." Assyria had yet to become the rod of God's anger against his people, but already the sheer size of her teeming metropolis was fraught with impending menace in the prophet's intuitive vision, and deepened the feelings of dread foreboding for his beloved land and people, and this foreboding oppressed his subconscious mind and underlay his profound unwillingness that Nineveh should repent and be spared. The stress on the importance and size of Nineveh is entirely justified. Its population was at least 120,000 (4:10), while Samaria, almost certainly larger than Jerusalem, had about 30,000 (R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961], p. 66). In addition, the Israelite cities, built in naturally defensive positions, normally on hilltops and tells, were cramped and crowded; but the royal cities in the Mesopotamian plain had room to expand.
"A visit required three days" renders the Hebrew phrase that literally says "a distance of three days." This could mean that it took three days to go either across it or around it; but it certainly does not mean what the English rendering might be taken to imply, viz., that it would take three days to visit every part of it. Diodorus Siculus (first century B.C.) gave the circumference of the city as approximately sixty miles (cf. Notes), and thus many have maintained that the three days referred to the journey around the walls. Modern archaeology has shown, however, that the inner wall had a length of almost eight miles (cf. Notes). Today defenders of the historicity of the book interpret the statement as referring to "Greater Nineveh," i.e., the administrative district of Nineveh, which Parrot (p. 17) calls "the Assyrian triangle." This interpretation receives strong support from Genesis 10:11-12, where "that is the great city" seems to refer to the whole area covered by Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah (Nimrud), and Resen.
4 Jonah was not necessarily proclaiming God's message as he went into the city. But sometime "on the first day," Jonah "proclaimed" his message. There may well have been something about Jonah, his bearing, his dress, or something else, as he strode toward the center of the city, looking neither to the right nor to the left, that drew many after him. When he finally stood and shouted, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed," the news spread like wildfire. The LXX has "three days" instead of forty. There is no doubt that this suits the setting far better and helps explain the urgency of Nineveh's repentance. In addition it does not ask us to see Jonah camping outside the city for over a month, while he waited to see the outcome. Yet, in variations of this type, which can hardly be merely the result of scribal corruptions, one has to be suspicious of the highly attractive reading (cf. note at 2:4). For all that, the LXX reading should have found a place in the margin. The credibility of the message was underscored by the fact that at the time Assyria stood in considerable danger from its northern neighbors. We are not told whether Jonah repeated his message--he probably did--or whether he was interrogated by those who heard him, and, if so, what he told them. But the word of the Lord worked the miracle, not Jonah or his commentary.
2. Nineveh's Repentance (3:5-10)
There now begins a subtle interplay on the two divine names. Up to this point, with the obvious exception of the sailors before the Lord's power had been revealed to them, we consistently find the name "the LORD" (Yahweh), i.e., the name of the covenant-making God of Israel. Now alongside it we find the name "God" (Elohim) the all-powerful One, the Creator, the Lord of nature. The obvious purpose is to bring home that Jonah had not been proclaiming Yahweh to those that did not know him but that the supreme God, whatever his name, was about to show his power in judgment. Behind all polytheism with its many gods and many lords, there was always the concept of one God who could enforce his will on the others, if he chose. There is not the slightest indication that Jonah had mentioned the God of Israel or had said that he came in his name. The Ninevites, however, recognized the voice of the supreme God, whatever name they may have given him, and repented. That Elohim ("God") is retained in v. 10 shows that the sparing of Nineveh had nothing to do with an improved faith. Correct faith, in this sense, need not lead to salvation (James 2:19).
5 The hypercritical have found a contradiction between a fast that had already been declared (v. 5) and the king's subsequent proclamation (v. 7). A very common feature of Hebrew narrative is to mention the outcome first and the way it came to pass afterwards. This could easily be the case here. The fact, however, is that "they declared" is far too narrow a translation for qara, which simply means "to call" in the widest sense. We are intended to picture the people, both those who hear Jonah and those to whom his words are reported, as saying spontaneously, "Let us fast!" That they put on sackcloth does not invalidate this interpretation, for it was a standard, virtually obligatory accompaniment of fasting at the time (2 Sam 3:31, 35; Isa 58:5; Dan 9:3). Indeed, in many cases where sackcloth is mentioned, we can assume that there was fasting as well, and vice versa. Sackcloth, the coarsest of cloth, often made of goat's hair, was the normal dress of the poor, prisoners, and slaves; it was worn by those who mourned (Ezek 7:18). Prophets wore it (2 Kings 1:8; Zech 13:4; Mark 1:6), partly to associate themselves with the poor, partly perhaps as a sign of mourning for the sins of the people. When used in mourning, it covered no more of the body than was demanded by decency. When used by the Ninevites, it expressed their complete inability to contend with the divine decree and that they were the slaves of the supreme God.
6 There is no suggestion that Jonah made any effort to reach the royal presence hence the news would have reached the king later than it did many of his subjects. He not only came down from his throne and sat on the ground--a feature of mourning rites--dressed in sackcloth like the meanest slave, but he sat in the dust, which means, presumably, in the open air, where he could be seen by his subjects. All this was done completely spontaneously. Then, however, as he sat with his courtiers ("nobles"), there came the realization that this concerned everyone; and the decree was issued (v. 7). There seems to be no doubt that the title "king of Nineveh" means the king of Assyria; and since the Assyrians did not use such a title, some point to this as one more proof of the unhistorical nature of the book. Those who take up this position are under obligation to explain why the alleged postexilic author should have invented the title the more so as he had numerous names of Assyrian kings to choose from, and he would have known who was king of Assyria. The real explanation is not so difficult to find. Our attention has been fixed on one spot. Jonah's message was not to Assyria in general but to Nineveh in particular. Especially, if we accept that the doom was to fall in three days' time (v. 4), this is not hard to understand. So it is irrelevant that the king of the doomed city is also king of a wider area; it is even irrelevant that this wider area would inevitably be involved in the destruction of Nineveh. Equally, the name, titles, and achievements of Nineveh's king are irrelevant. He and the city are linked together and share in the same fate. We call it today an existential position, a moment of crisis; neither what went before nor what might follow after has any real bearing on the story. A city and its king have to act, and according to their action so will be their fate.
7 We are intended to picture the king's courtiers and counselors sitting in the dust around him and rapidly agreeing on a decree that makes the spontaneous response official. With the mourners were to be linked the domestic animals (behemah), a touch suggesting that it was indeed "Greater Nineveh" that was involved. Though we have no records from Mesopotamia of animals being so involved in mourning rites, there is nothing alien to the Oriental mind in it. Herodotus (Histories 9.24) tells us of an analogous act by the Persians after the death of Masistius, in which they "shaved their heads, cut the manes of their horses and mules and abandoned themselves to such cries of grief that the whole of Boeotia was loud with the noise of them." Israel seems to have regarded it as natural (cf. Jud 4:10, a book written shortly before 100 B.C., and also Joel 1:10). The concept of a common Creator, today so often replaced by an impersonal idea of evolution, saw man and animal far more closely linked than does the modern concept of a purely biological link.
8 "Let them give up their evil ways and their violence" is the typically Hebrew way of joining the general and the specific. Anything and everything condemned by law and conscience is included under "evil ways." "Violence" (hamas) means a defiance of the law by one too strong to be brought to account. Its use in Genesis 16:5, where this word is usually translated by "wrong," shows that no actual force need be involved; Sarai was complaining that Abram's protection of Hagar prevented her from obtaining justice. If we think purely of the situation in Nineveh, only a relatively small section of the population would come within its scope. We should think rather of the Assyrian attitude toward others. Amos 1:3-2:3 shows that, while there was no written code of international law at the time, there was a generally accepted code of conduct. The Assyrian assumed that in virtue of his conquests he had been placed above lesser breeds and was entitled to ignore the dictates of conscience and compassion in his behavior to his neighbors. It is interesting that Habakkuk applies this same word "violence" (hamas) to the Chaldeans (Hab 1:9; 2:8, 17). It is very easy to slip into the concept that our position gives us the right to dominate others. Much racial prejudice and discrimination come from this.
9-10 The operative phrase in these two verses is that God "had compassion" (niham wayyinnahem), in a setting where KJV, RSV, RV have "repent." NIV's rendering is preferable because it avoids the possible misunderstanding linked with the traditional one; but that it is inadequate is shown by its being changed to "a God who relents" in 4:2, which in fact is nearer the sense here also. We may know the character of God only from what he does and the words he uses to explain his actions. When he does not do what he said he would, we as finite men can say only that he has changed his mind or repented, even though we should recognize, as Jonah did (4:2), that he had intended or desired this all along. Since, more often than not, it is the removal of threatened evil, punishment, and death that we experience--the opposite, however, is also true (cf. Jer 18:9-10)--we realize that the change of mind, the "repentance," is due to divine compassion for frail and mortal man. Despite all this, "compassion" is an inadequate rendering because it does not bring out the concept of a change. Thus "relent" is better. Paul could stress that the work of Christ was God reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:18), for in Christ we see the unchangeable character of God in all its loving compassion. Here God's change was due to the change in the Ninevites. Because of our almost incorrigible identification of faith with right belief, we fail to sufficiently realize that true faith must be bound up with true repentance. Notice that the name Elohim continues to be used of God. There is no suggestion that God's mercy was accompanied by any revelation of his nature and character. We are always inclined to underestimate God's "uncovenanted mercies," to use a term much loved by an earlier generation.
3. Jonah's Displeasure (4:1-4)
1 We are so obsessed with pure doctrine that we are not satisfied when we meet obvious repentance but seek to ensure that it is accompanied by right doctrine. In circles where the doctrine is too rarefied to be understood by the ordinary man, which are more common than the trained theologian realizes, stress may well be laid on charismatic gifts and other outward manifestations of God's grace to act as a divine Amen to the repentance. Jonah, however, knew God well enough to understand that the man who really said, "God be merciful to me a sinner," i.e., a failure (Luke 18:14), would be justified in God's sight. While it remains a matter for debate how far we should attempt to bring out the play on words that occur so frequently in Hebrew, here the effort should have been made. The literal translation is "But it was evil to Jonah with great evil." In other words, the term "evil" (raah), which has been repeatedly applied to the Ninevites, now characterizes the prophet. By objecting to the character and actions of God, Jonah as effectively put himself out of fellowship with God as the evil and ignorant heathen ( Rom. 2:1). But God showed him the same compassion as he had shown Nineveh. Why was Jonah so angry? Rabbinic literature contains the idea, which is still very popular, that on the basis of Deuteronomy 18:21-22 he would be regarded as a false prophet. True enough, once the first wave of terror had passed and destruction did not come, many in Nineveh must have asked themselves whether Jonah had really been a messenger of the gods. That was an unavoidable result of divine mercy. But the attitude of the Ninevites and also incidents such as those recorded of David in 2 Samuel 12:14-23, of Ahab in 1 Kings 21:27-29, and of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:1-6 show that it was recognized universally that a pronouncement of divine punishment might be averted by suitable penitence. Jeremiah 18:1-11 is the formal statement of this. The fact is that, with minor but most important exceptions, prophecy is conditional. So even if this motive played a part in Jonah's thinking, it must have been a minor one; and it does not explain why he ran away. After all, he could simply have remained in Israel (see comment at 1:3).
2 Jonah told God exactly why he was angry. He objected to God's sparing Nineveh. Since nowhere else in Scripture do we have any trace of such hatred of the foreigner--despising him, yes, but not hating him--Jonah's motive could only stem from what Nineveh had meant in Israel's past and what he expected it to be in the future. (Compare the savage exultation over its fall in Nahum 2-3 and similar rejoicing over the Fall of Babylon [Isa 47] and of its king [Isa 14:4-20].)
"A gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" is essentially a quotation of Exodus 34:6-7, which is a central expression of God's character in the OT. It is quoted in Numbers 14:18; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Joel 2:13; and frequent reminiscences of it appear elsewhere. It also plays a major role in the worship of the synagogue. In the descriptive phrase "a gracious and compassionate God" (el hannun werahum), the abbreviated form el ("God") shows that we are dealing with a very early formulation of God's character, doubtless going back to the patriarchs. The word "gracious" is linked with hen ("grace") and expresses God's attitude toward those who have no claim on him, since they are outside any and every covenant relationship. Though the Hebrew term translated "compassionate" may originally have come from another root, in practice it came to be linked with rehem ("the womb") and expressed the understanding and loving compassion of the mother to her child. Though no sexual connotation is involved, we have here the male and female aspects of understanding, compassion, and favor united in the one God. "Love" translates hesed, the word that expresses God's behavior in the covenant relationship. It is generally recognized that there is no one term in English that adequately expresses the wide and rich range of meaning of hesed. Certainly "kindness," "mercy," "loyalty," "loving kindness," and "unfailing love" (cf. TWOT, 1:305) contain elements that "love" alone does not express. What is clear is that Jonah was finding fault with God as he really is, not as he imagined him to be. This trait is more common among godly men than we sometimes realize. It explains why those who pride themselves on their loyalty to Scripture hold doctrines that stand in plain contradiction to the revealed character of God.
3 There can be little doubt that when Jonah asked God to take away his life, he was consciously echoing Elijah's words when he fled from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:4). If that is so, there is much more in what Jonah said than lies on the surface. He was virtually saying to God, "I have devoted my life to your service as your servant, as your prophet. But what I have experienced of you just does not make sense of the world order in which I find myself. Why should I go on living, for to leave your service would make my life purposeless. Once, in the past, you showed Elijah that there was a deeper purpose in life than he realized. Have you perhaps a similar message for me?"
4 "Are you right to be angry?" (JB) is preferable to "Have you any right to be angry?" God was not rebuking Jonah; God was not even asking him what right he, a man, had to criticize God. Rather he was suggesting to him that he might not be correct in his estimate of the position. Scripture has many examples--Job and Jeremiah being the most obvious--of men in agony who, as they tried to understand the ways of God, used language others might consider blasphemous (Jer 15:15-18; 20:7-18). God shows his compassion with all such, Jonah not excepted.
4. God's Rebuke of Jonah (4:5-9)
5 The usual view is that Jonah, hoping against hope, was waiting to see whether God might not change his mind once again. Unless we are prepared to maintain that Jonah thought that Nineveh's repentance was merely superficial and transient--it probably did not last very long anyway, though there are signs that Assyria's extreme cruelty diminished--and therefore God might change his mind, any such concept is alien to the picture of the prophet we have been slowly building up. It is far more probable that Jonah was expecting something to happen that would explain God's ways with man a little more clearly to him.
6 In the rest of this section, the divine name Elohim ("God"), which has been used consistently for God's dealings with Nineveh, is now used for his dealings with Jonah. The use of "LORD God" (Yahweh Elohim) in this verse forms a link between the two usages, even as it does in Genesis 2:4b-3:24, linking the God of creation in Genesis 1 and the God of revelation in Genesis 4. Otherwise the reader or hearer might have been in danger of missing the subtle shift. Even though Jerome's change of the traditional rendering of qiqayon from "gourd" to identify it with the castor oil plant caused a riot in Carthage when the Vulgate was introduced there, absolutely nothing depends on the word's botanical identification. The Palestinian Jewish tradition identified it with the castor oil plant (so JB). LXX, Syriac, and OL rendered it "gourd" (so KJV, Mof, NEB, RV). There is little to be said for "ivy" (so Knox, Vul.). It may well be that RSV was wise in its simple rendering of "plant," suggesting the castor oil plant in the margin. NIV's "vine" is also a safe rendering. Though not expressly stated, it is clear that the action Jonah took to "ease his discomfort" occurred in the hot season, when the mean daily maximum temperature in Mesopotamia is about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
7 One of the characteristics of the Book of Jonah is its use of the verb manah ("to appoint," "to provide," "to prepare"). It is used of the fish (1:17), the vine (4:6), the worm (4:7), and the wind (4:8). This is not due to lack of stylistic ability but is intended to stress the divine initiative and sovereignty. This element is brought out in NIV by the consistent use of the verb "provided." The word tolaat ("worm") appears in a number of differing contexts, but in every case it implies something very small. It may well be that we should regard it here as a collective, but this is not necessary. God uses both the great fish and the insignificant worm equally as instruments of his purpose.
8 "A scorching east wind" is normally called a "sirocco," which means "east wind," though in various areas other terms are found. Dennis Baly (The Geography of the Bible [London: Lutterworth, 1957], pp. 67-68) describes it thus: "During the period of a sirocco the temperature rises steeply, sometimes even climbing during the night, and it remains high, about 16-22 F. above the average ... at times every scrap of moisture seems to have been extracted from the air, so that one has the curious feeling that one's skin has been drawn much tighter than usual. Sirocco days are peculiarly trying to the temper and tend to make even the mildest people irritable and fretful and to snap at one another for apparently no reason at all." Obviously such a wind desiccates and withers all green growth (Isa 40:7). When a sirocco comes, all who can, hasten to find shelter. But for Jonah there was no shelter, unless he was willing to reenter Nineveh. The booth he had made for himself (4:5) would not exclude the wind and only partially broke the force of the sun's rays. Completely dispirited he in essence said, "I would be better off dead than alive." Earlier he had wished to die, or said he did, because his activity as God's prophet seemed to have been emptied of all meaning. Now, when he had been robbed of all that seemed to make life worth living, he was speaking on the basis of common humanity.
9 As in v. 4, it would be better to translate God's question by "Are you right to be angry about the vine?" and Jonah's answer by "I am." Modern Arabic usage suggests that we should understand the question as "Are you right to be grieved for the vine?" for the anger of pity is meant. Though "angry enough to die" seems to express the literal meaning of the Hebrew, we may question its accuracy. D. Winton Thomas ("The Superlative in Hebrew," p. 220) takes it, probably correctly, as a strong superlative, i.e., "exceedingly angry" (see note at 3:3). Why was Jonah so angry, or why did he feel such grief for the vine? Many commentators, including Bewer, omit "shelter" (sukkah) in v. 5, thus making the qiqayon the only giver of shade that Jonah had. This would make the cause of Jonah's displeasure the fact that he had been deprived of his one bit of physical comfort. Such an interpretation overlooks that once the rains were over, anyone remaining out in the open overnight would normally build himself such a shelter or booth. In addition the sirocco is as vicious in Palestine as in Mesopotamia, and so its effects would come as no surprise to him. God's answer in v. 10 suggests that we take "Jonah was very happy about the vine" (v. 6) to mean that sitting there in the burnt-up Tigris plain, shimmering in the heat, Jonah felt real joy in the sight of the fresh, green plant. True enough, it increased his comfort, but that was secondary. While there may seem to be comparatively little appreciation of the beauty of nature in the OT, there is sufficient to show that it was a real factor in Israelite life.
5. God's Mercy (4:10-11)
10 "You have been concerned ... Should I not be concerned?" is an inadequate rendering, for it does not bring out the emotional connotation of hus. It is remarkable that the same word is used for God's attitude and Jonah's, something that is missed by KJV and JB. Probably we should choose between "be sorry for" (NEB) and "pity" (RSV, RV). One of the greatest dangers besetting men is that they should become such a part of their environment that they miss the pathos that pervades the universe. Paul described it as a "groaning as in the pains of childbirth" (Rom 8:22), which comes from the futility caused by its bondage to decay. The "Teacher" (Qoheleth) expressed it by "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" (Eccl 1:2). The Teacher was not, as is thought by so many, a cynic or a pessimist. He was moved to virtual despair by that element of transitoriness and lack of final achievement that seems to pervade all that a man does and experiences. This is seen in growing insensibility to beauty and pain in nature around them on the part of many who have allowed the natural world to dominate. On the other hand, a man can so immerse himself in things of the spirit, in philosophy, in the sciences and arts, in religion and theology, that he almost forgets that he has a body and becomes insensible to the pathos in the natural world as being outside the interests that dominate him. Jonah in the self-confidence of one who knew God's character (4:2) had apparently grown completely indifferent to the fate of God's creation outside Israel. We need hardly be surprised, for this attitude has been all too common within the church, and indeed within some small local churches. Even today we meet with the restricted outlook that called forth Jonathan Swift's scathing lines: We are God's chosen few,All others will be damned; There is no place in heaven for you, We can't have heaven crammed. So God placed his prophet on the level of the ordinary man. The discomforts of the summer heat, the attractiveness of the vine, and the destructiveness and energy sapping effects of the sirocco had nothing to do with Jonah's theology. He reacted to them as an ordinary man in the setting of nature. So once again the narrative changes to Yahweh (the LORD). That which Jonah had learned as an ordinary man he was now to express in revelation and in theology. Once Jonah had realized his link with the rest of God's creation, God could declare the link between himself, the Creator, and his creation--not only man, made in the image and likeness of God, but also the animal creation.
11 The interpretation of "more than a hundred and twenty thousand people" is far from easy. The two main views are that it refers either to the whole population of Nineveh or to the small children, for the ability to tell the right hand from the left is seldom found in very early childhood. The former has been supported by archaeological considerations, because it has been estimated that the maximum population of Nineveh cannot have exceeded 175,000. Thus it is argued that if only children were intended, far too high a population would be involved. If, however, the great city of Nineveh was in fact "Greater Nineveh" in 3:2-3, it should be so here also. If we make it refer exclusively to young children, it could possibly be too large even for "Greater Nineveh." Since the more usual expression for the young child was one who did not know "enough to reject the wrong and choose the right" (Isa 7:16), we may well enlarge its scope to include all on whom a moral judgment could not well be passed. Against the view that the whole population is intended may be urged that Scripture nowhere suggests that separation from the community of Israel deprives men and women of all knowledge of right and wrong.We do not find in Scripture the sentimentalism about animals found in many classes of society today. Yet the biblical position on animals is much sounder than that normally met among modern man, who assumes that his control of the animal world reflects his intrinsic superiority. God has subjected the animal creation to man (Gen 1:26, 28; Ps 8:6-8) because man, having been made in the image and likeness of God, is God's representative. A point often overlooked in the story of Noah's flood is that, theoretically at least, God could have arranged some other means for the preservation of animal life. Noah and his sons had to grasp their relationship with the rest of living beings by being the means of their preservation. Even so, Jonah had to understand that the fulfillment of his wishes about Nineveh would have involved not only the destruction of innocent human beings but also of "many cattle as well" that had become especially dependent on man.
The curtain falls, and we are granted no answer to the question that all must surely ask, What, finally, did Jonah do or say? Indeed, unless we credit the highest degree of literary skill to the alleged postexilic writer, this sudden ending is one of the strongest arguments against the suggestion of a parabolic purpose; for it leaves entirely open what the application of the story is.
There is much to be said for the Jewish midrashic suggestion that "in that hour Jonah fell on his face and said, `Govern your world according to the measure of mercy [in contrast to that of judgment], as it is said, To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness' (Dan. 9:9)." This amounts to saying that Jonah thankfully welcomed the rule of divine mercy in the world, a rule he had formerly rejected so far as the enemies of Israel were concerned. But this does not answer the question as to what practical deductions and consequences should be drawn from it. If we suggest, however, that no further deductions have been made from it, we are probably not being unfair to Judaism. In the light of the NT, many have read the missionary call into the Book of Jonah. We have already seen that the prophet had not tried to make the God of Israel known to Nineveh. Perhaps the feeling that he should have done so is responsible for the existence of "Jonah's tomb" on the site of ancient Nineveh. But those who know something of the fraudulent holy sites of the Bible lands do not take it seriously. Not only did the story give no motivation for further missionary action by Jonah or the prophets who followed him (even in Ezekiel and Daniel we find no trace of it), but it probably raises as many questions as it answers. Why was Jonah sent only to Nineveh? Why in the fullness of time was not Jeremiah or Nahum sent there a century and a half later to save its being wiped off the face of the earth? Are we to deduce that men are given one chance and one alone? Though the divine warning came to Nebuchadnezzar through the dream interpreted by Daniel (Dan 4), why was there no prophetic call to Babylon to repent? For that matter, why did no one until much later, probably after 200 B.C., conceive of Israel's having a missionary task to the nations (cf. Matt 23:15)? Quite simply, the book contains no call to action. It is, rather, a revelation of God's character and attitude toward his creation given to Jonah and through Jonah to Israel and to us. How we react to it is likely to depend largely on the position in which we find ourselves. There can be little doubt that for the godly in the northern kingdom, when inner corruption made any hope of resisting the remorseless pressure of Assyria a vain dream, the revelation of God's all-embracing love and pity must have brought a ray of hope; and the same must have been true in Judah in the dark days following the death of Josiah. For the Christian, the Son of man's three days and three nights in the heart of the earth have assured him of a love that embraces all, even in the darkest hour. He knows that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:18-19). He will then look with new eyes on those who have been thus reconciled, even though they know it not. Those whom God refuses to regard as his enemies the Christian cannot regard as enemies. This does not mean that the Christian is entitled to anticipate the final judgment. All he can do is insist that apart from Christ none can be or will be saved. The fact that God loves all men does not entitle the Christian to draw the illogical conclusion that all men will be saved. Over against Jonah we have to place the triumphal song of judgment in Nahum 2-3. It would be perilous on the basis of Matthew 12:39-41 to try to draw too close an analogy between Jonah and Jesus. Yet there are certain striking similarities. There can be no doubt that John the Baptist moved Israel deeply, and the teaching and miracles of Jesus that followed must have caused what we would have called a revival of religion. But only in a few did it go deeply enough. So the day came when the King lamented over his city, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:42). So a generation later temple and city were leveled to the ground, with no stone left on another, as a manifest sign of God's judgment. Nineveh's waiting time was longer, but it too was razed to the ground as a sign that God's love and forbearance do not defer judgment forever.
WYCLIFF - Title. The book receives its name from the main character of the narrative. Jonah (dove) is identified as the son of Amittai. A prophet by this same name, who figures in a short narrative in II Kings 14:25, is said to have come from Gath-hepher, located in Zebulon territory, now known as Galilee. This prophet had predicted the successful conquests of Jeroboam II in the first half of the eighth century B.C. There is little doubt that the prophet of Gathhepher was the same man as the prophet of this small book. Date and Authorship. Nowhere in the text is there any statement that the prophet himself wrote the book, although the prayer in chapter 2 is in the first person singular. However, tradition has steadfastly maintained that Jonah was himself the author. In recent years many have held that the book is about Jonah rather than by him. This view is based on several observations: chapters 1, 2, and 4 are written in the third person; there are late expressions of the Hebrew and Aramaic languages in the book; the large number of miracles recorded precludes a historical basis; and the emphasis upon God’s mercy toward foreign people suggests a post-Exilic date. Conservative scholars have consistently held that these factors, in themselves, are not important enough to rule out the prophet’s having lived in the eighth century or having written the book then.
Historical Background. Taken as a historical narrative of a prophet active in the time of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, the events of the book would have occurred sometime between 780 and 750 B.C. Jeroboam II had succeeded in re-establishing the power of Israel over most of the territory north of Judea controlled by David and Solomon. In the previous century the Assyrian empire had been a threat along the eastern Mediterranean coast, and had become well known as a cruel and ruthless oppressor. During the reign of Jeroboam II, though the power of Assyria had subsided, it was still to be reckoned with. Nineveh had not yet become the capital of the empire, but Calah, one of the parts of the old citystate complex that included Nineveh, was the capital between 880 and 701 B.C.
There is no Assyrian inscription stating that a revival like that described in this book ever occurred there; but during the time when Queen Semiramis was co-regent with her son Adad-Nirari III (810-782), there was a brief swing toward monotheism. Whether the fruits of Jonah’s ministry and this purifying of Assyrian worship are to be identified is difficult to say. There were two severe plagues in Assyria in 765 and 759 B.C., as well as a total eclipse in 763 B.C., all of which were normally regarded by the ancients as evidences of divine judgment and could have prepared the hearts of the people for the preaching of Jonah.
Interpretations of the Book. Much controversy has been stirred up concerning the meaning of the Book of Jonah, and this has brought forth a wide range of views The book has been interpreted as a legend, a parable, a myth, and a prophetic allegory; and it has also been taken as history with Messianic import.
It has been suggested (R. H. Pfeiffer, Introd. to the OT) that the book is a fiction based on a possible legendary character whose real name has been lost. According to this view, the unknown author drew his miracles from the stories of Elijah and Elisha (cf. Jon 4:3 with I Kgs 19:4b and Jon 4:5, 6 with I Kgs 19:4a, 5a) and the scene of mourning from Joel. The book thus was meant to be only a protest against the narrow nationalism of the Jews, who were under the teachings of Ezra. The psalm of Jonah 2 is the thanksgiving prayer of a man saved from drowning.
The interpretation of the book as a parable (IB) is very similar to the view that it is legendary. According to this second view, the character of Jonah is both an analysis and a criticism of post-Exilic Judaism, and the city of Nineveh represents the vast non-Jewish world that awaits the awakening only the true message of God can bring. The parable seeks to portray the justice and mercy of God toward any man or group who will repent of their sins.
Those who understand the story of Jonah as a myth in Jewish dress fancy they detect similarity between it and an ancient Greek fable. A king of Troy chained his daughter Hesione to a rock on the seashore. He intended her for a sacrifice to Neptune, who, as a shark, would come in with the tide and devour her. However, Hercules fought the monster and destroyed him, and so saved the girl.
According to the long-popular allegorical interpretation (see Abingdon Bible Commentary), Jonah is identified with Israel. The true mission of Israel is to declare God’s truth to the world, but she has failed to do so. The “great fish” is Babylon, who swallowed the Israelites (took them into exile). The disgorging of Jonah upon the land represents the return of the Jews from exile. Jonah’s dissatisfaction over the repentance of the heathen parallels the spirit of Judaism after the return.
Those who have maintained the historical character of the book have held that an actual prophet (Jonah) experienced what is recorded and thus fulfilled, in part, the missionary task of Israel in ancient times. For them (see Unger, Introd. Guide to the OT) the factual story has an underlying significance as well-both Messianic and typical. Important passages that support this view are certain statements in the New Testament made by Jesus regarding Jonah as a sign of His death and resurrection (Mt 12:40; Lk 11:30. Those holding this view use these references in a double sense: to verify the historicity of the story and to set forth its typical meaning. The position of this commentary is that the story of Jonah is a historical account.
The Message of the Book. The narrative itself is uncomplicated, fast-moving, and touching. A prophet, Jonah, is told by the Lord to go preach to the Ninevites. Instead, he flees and takes passage on a ship due to sail to the far edge of the world. He secludes himself and goes to sleep. Soon after the ship sets sail, a severe storm stirs up the sea into mountainous waves, and the sailors in terror throw the cargo overboard and frantically pray to their gods. By the casting of lots Jonah is identified as the culprit who has offended Providence. The storm ceases only after Jonah, at his own suggestion, is thrown into the sea. He is swallowed by a great fish. Now truly penitent, he prays earnestly for salvation, whereupon God delivers him unhurt upon the shore.
This time the prophet obeys the command to go to Nineveh, and cries aloud, throughout the city, his briefly worded message of woe. The people of Nineveh, from king to lowest subject, respond with earnest repentance, even putting sackcloth on the cattle. The Lord hears their cry and lifts the threat of destruction. Jonah, however, sees the deliverance of Nineveh only as a negation of his prophecy, and complains to the Lord in prayer. In order to teach the prophet a lesson, God prepares a fastgrowing plant to shade him from the sun, but the next night allows a worm to destroy it. Then He sets a hot east wind blowing. As a result, Jonah faints in spirit and wishes for death. The story closes with a declaration that whereas Jonah is concerned for gourds, God is concerned for the salvation of sinful men.
Some of the basic religious teachings of the book are: (a) God feels concern for the heathen and asks His servants to warn them of judgment. (b) In the face of a difficult task, men are most inclined to evade responsibility. (c) God is powerful and can, at will, use the forces of nature for His own purposes. (d) Though God will punish disobedience, He still desires to show mercy. (e) The most unpromising mission fields are often the most responsive. (f) Above all else, God yearns to deal with man in mercy and kindness.
Outline
I. Fleeing. 1:1-17.
A. The Lord’s command. 1:1, 2.
B. A ship to Tarshish. 1:3.
C. A storm at sea. 1:4-14.
1. Asleep during the storm. 1:4-6.
2. The culprit found. 1:7-10.
3. Sailors in distress. 1:11-14.
D. Cast overboard. 1:15-17.
II. Praying. 2:1-10.
A. Cast out. 2:1-4.
B. Brought up. 2:5, 6.
C. Paying vows. 2:7-9.
D. Delivered. 2:10.
III. Preaching. 3:1-10.
A. The Lord’s second command. 3:1, 2.
B. Declaring the message.3:3, 4.
C. Nineveh’s repentance. 3:5-9.
1. In sackcloth and ashes. 3:5, 6.
2. The king’s decree. 3:7-9.
D. Judgment withheld. 3:10.
IV. Learning. 4:1-11.
A. Compaint. 4:1-3.
B. The gourd and the worm. 4:4-7.
C. The wind and the sun. 4:8.
D. The lesson. 4:9-11.
Commentary
I. Fleeing. 1:1-17.
A. The Lord’s Command. 1:1, 2.
1. Word of the Lord came. There is no indication of how God spoke to Jonah. To the true OT prophets, the way God spoke to them was not so important as the fact that He spoke. Jonah. See Introduction for comment about the prophet. 2. Nineveh, that great city. Located on the east bank of the Tigris River in Mesopotamia, it had been a dominant city-state from ancient times. A city-state comprised its occupied area and the surrounding territory, including the neighboring villages under its control. In Gen 10:11, 12 Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen are mentioned with Nineveh as comprising “the great city.” Sennacherib made the city the capital of his empire about 700 B.C., which was some time after Jonah’s day. It was more than five hundred miles from Palestine-a long way to travel by foot. Their wickedness. The sins of Nineveh are not described here, but the city was widely known as a center of fertility cult worship, and for its cruelty to the victims of warfare.
B. A Ship to Tarshish. 1:3.
3. Tarshish. Perhaps to be identified with a Semitic mining colony located just west of the Rock of Gibraltar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River (cf. Gen 10:4; Isa 23:1, 6, 10; Ezk 27:12). In Jonah’s mind, to flee to Tarshish was to run as far away from home as possible. Joppa. The seaport nearest to the central part of Palestine, and, in ancient times, one of the few places along the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea where a port could be established (cf. I Kgs 5:9; II Chr 2:16). From the presence of the Lord. This twice-repeated phrase is to be related to the coming of the word of the Lord to Jonah. Jonah mistakenly thought that by going as far as possible away from Nineveh, he could nullify the Lord’s command.
C. A Storm at Sea. 1:4-14.
Since storms on the eastern Mediterranean Sea usually do not occur until the late autumn, the sailors must have thought that they had plenty of time to sail to Tarshish without danger (cf. Paul’s voyage to Rome centuries later, Acts 27). This storm was out of season, sent by the Lord for a special purpose.
1) Asleep During a Storm. 1:4-6.
4. Lord sent out. Literally, cast or threw upon the sea. Tempest. The word comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to agitate or rage.” In those days ships were small and not strong enough to withstand severe storms. 5. Mariners. These sailors were most likely men from the cities of Phoenicia, for that country was the major seafaring power of the ninth and eighth centuries B.C., and Tarshish was a Phoenician colony. They were the remnants of the old Canaanite culture that was widespread over Palestine before the time of Joshua. Because the men were pagans, believing in many gods, in this crisis each began to pray to his own favorite deity. Cast forth the wares. A heavily burdened ship is easily capsized in heavy seas. A lightened ship would ride the waves better. Was fast asleep. Jonah had evidently felt so relieved to be on ship that he immediately found a place to rest his travel-weary remote part of the lower deck, and lying down, had quickly fallen into a deep slumber. (This is the only place in the OT where a ship is described as having a lower deck and an upper covered deck, both of which facts are clear in the Hebrew text.) 6. The shipmaster came. The skipper, making careful inspection of his ship, found Jonah. Surprised that this man was so unconcerned, he exhorted him to pray. Thy God. Literally, the God, a term often used in the OT for the true God of Israel. The captain was so desperate that he was ready to try any god in order to be delivered from the dangers of the storm.
2) The Culprit Found. 1:7-10.
7. The lot fell upon Jonah. Casting lots was a popular form of divination among pagan nations, and still is. The Hebrews sometimes used lots, under God’s guidance, to select people for some position or task (see Josh 7:14; I Sam 10:20, 21), and even the apostles used the lot in one instance (Acts 1:26). Special stones were probably cast for the lot. 8. Tell us. Once Jonah had been singled out, he became the center of attention. He was given a close cross-examination. 9. I am an Hebrew. Jonah frankly told the whole story to the sailors. He witnessed to the fact that he was a worshiper of the great universal God of the world and had disobeyed Him. 10. Men exceedingly afraid. Like most pagans, these men were superstitious, and they greatly feared that the wrath of God would fall upon them for their failing to worship Him properly.
3) Sailors in Distress. 1:11-14.
11. What shall we do? The sailors were perplexed about how to solve their problem. They had on board a man with whom God was angry, and they were far from any place where he could be put ashore. 12. Cast me forth into the sea. Jonah finally saw what great calamity he had brought upon the sailors by his disobedience, and, condemning himself, he told them to throw him overboard. 13. Men rowed hard. The sailors, not willing to treat human life so lightly, put themselves to the oars in one last desperate effort to reach shore in the storm. Their concern for one life stands in marked contrast to the attitude of Jonah, who later admitted that he had fled from the Lord because he did not want to see the Ninevites saved from destruction (4:2). 14. Lay not upon us innocent blood. These men were not cruel monsters but men religious enough to pray earnestly when in danger. The sailors finally reasoned that since God had sent the storm to punish Jonah, He was not intent on harming them. Hence, they decided that Jonah alone should suffer for his sins and, following his advice, threw him overboard.
D. Cast Overboard. 1:15-17.
15. Sea ceased ... raging. The passing of the storm seemed to confirm their decision, and they were shaken to the core of their being when they realized how narrowly they had escaped the wrath of the great God. 16. Offered a sacrifice ... made vows. The pagans were immediately convinced that the Lord of Israel was the true God. Forsaking their idols, they made a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pledged themselves to Israel’s God.
17. Prepared a great fish. Even in punishment, Jonah was not forgotten by God. To be swallowed by a great fish may not seem to the victim an act of divine kindness. But the fish was God’s means for bearing Jonah safely ashore. The creature that swallowed Jonah was not a whale. “Whale” is a mistranslation of the Greek in Mt 12:40. We do not know what kind of fish is meant in Jon 1:17. Some hold that the sea dog (shark) is large enough to fit the situation; it has been known to swallow men. The text makes it clear that the fish was specially prepared by the Lord. Three days and three nights. This need not mean seventy-two hours, since any part of a day or night can be considered a whole according to OT reckoning. A total of forty-nine hours would be adequate to meet a literal interpretation of the expression. This is still a long time for a man to be in a fish. Jesus applied the incident to his own burial. If Christ was buried before sundown on Friday (as is traditionally held) and arose before sunup Sunday morning, then a literal rendering of the “three days and three nights” (i.e., seventy-two hours) was not intended.
III. Preaching. 3:1-10.
A. The Lord’s Second Command. 3:1, 2.
Now that Jonah had surrendered to God, he was ready for service. The second command was almost identical with the first one (1:2). The content of the proclamation was to be given to the prophet later.
B. Declaring the Message. 3:3, 4.
This time Jonah’s response was immediate. Following the caravan trail to the area of the upper Tigris River, he arrived at the complex known as Nineveh, that great city (v. 2), having been directed in his travels by the Lord.
3. Nineveh was. Some have maintained that the Hebrew verb translated was is in the pure past tense, which suggests that at the time of this story the city had been destroyed. We know that the destruction of the city occurred in 612 B.C. The Hebrew language has no true past tense, indeed has no tenses in its verb system. The ’perfect’ aspect of the verb may at times be translated into an English past tense, but its sense is much broader. The ’perfect’ form may also indicate an act (such as the founding of a city) which has been extended into a state of being. Consequently, all that is intended here is: Nineveh existed in Jonah’s day as a great city. City of three days’ journey. In olden times a city comprised not only its built up area, but also its territory and dependent villages or cities (see comments on 1:2). The descriptive phrase may refer to the circumference of this complex, that is, about sixty to seventy miles. On the other hand, the expression may be only an idiomatic parallelism of “that great city.”
4. Began to enter ... a day’s journey. This statement does not mean that Jonah completed a day’s journey before he started to preach; it means that he started to preach at the beginning of his visit to Nineveh. A day’s journey in open country was about twenty miles, but in an inhabited area the course of such a journey was not likely to lie in a straight line but to weave back and forth through the markets and small streets. Yet forty days. Jonah’s message was brief, and at first glance it seemed to be unconditional. It was a cry of woe and calamity.
C. Nineveh’s Repentance. 3:5-9.
1) In Sackcloth and Ashes. 3:5, 6.
5. People ... believed God. The people of Nineveh took Jonah’s words as a message from God and became greatly concerned about their danger. Semitic people in groups have always been easily swayed, and a man of Jonah’s appearance and desolate cry probably attracted the multitudes and stirred them deeply. Mob reactions are still common in the Middle East. Here their natural tendency was no doubt heightened by the Spirit of God. Proclaimed a fast. In times of danger it was considered proper to refuse food and give full time to supplicating deity until danger was past. Put on sackcloth. Sackcloth was regarded as a symbol of humility and utter dependence on God. It was a coarse ugly cloth not fit for normal wear. 6. King of Nineveh. Not the emperor of the Assyrian empire but the ruler of the city-state. He also joined in the fast by making it official. Having put on sackcloth, along with the others, he began to plead for mercy. Sat in ashes (cf. Job 2:8; Jer 6:26; Mic 1:10). A graphic way of declaring that man is nothing in the face of great danger.
2) The King’s Decree. 3:7-9.
7. Published ... the decree. The response of the people was made an act of the state. It has been a common practice among Semitic people to include their animals in their times of mourning and distress. It may seem strange to Western people that the cries of the famished beasts were intentionally added to those of the people; but Orientals regarded this as essential for effective supplication. 8. Beast be covered. By putting sackcloth on the animals as well as on themselves the Ninevites symbolized the unity of man and nature in the humbling and petition. Turn ... away from his evil way. As is so often the case in times of danger, people who otherwise seem completely indifferent become very conscious of their misdeeds-a sad commentary on man’s lack of gratitude for God’s blessings in good times. From ... violence. The people of Assyria were noted for their cruelty to other people, especially prisoners of war. The Ninevites were quickened in conscience to realize that their treatment of other people was about to bring disaster upon them.
9. God will turn and repent. These two verbs do not signify that the Ninevites thought God was fickle. They indicate, instead, that these pagans believed the Lord’s greatest desire was not to destroy men but to save them. The word repent, when used of God, does not denote sorrow for sin. It points rather to a decision on God’s part to change his method of dealing with his creatures. Thoroughgoing repudiation of sin by man is pleasing to God, and in response He graciously pours out His love.
D. Judgment Withheld. 3:10.
Jonah’s message apparently was not an “if” sentence; yet in reality it was conditional, because God’s threat of punishment can be set aside when real repentance is in evidence. The Lord’s promises of salvation take procedence over his threats. God’s love is eternal, but his expressions of wrath serve to quicken man to repentance. In the case of Nineveh, the Lord did not change in his essence; only his way of dealing with man changed. This is the wonder of mercy and love.
IV. Learning. 4:1-11.
A. Complaint. 4:1-3.
Jonah had obeyed the Lord by going to Nineveh and preaching God’s message, but his heart attitude had not been changed to love. He so hated the Ninevites for their cruelty that deep in his heart he looked forward to their destruction. Now the forty days had gone by, and Nineveh was still standing unharmed.
1. Displeased ... exceedingly ... very angry. A typical Hebrew parallelism, expressing the extreme reaction of Jonah to the salvation of the city of Nineveh.
2. I knew that thou art a gracious God. At last the secret was out. Jonah was not ignorant of the character of his God. He had fled to Tarshish not because he was afraid of the Ninevites, but because he did not want them to be saved. He knew that every threat of God was conditional, no matter how stated. God was gracious, meaning that He had the welfare of man upon His heart, and passionately desired to lift him from his sin. Even Jonah’s own nation could not have come into being if God had not been gracious to the children of Israel at the very beginning (Ex 34:6, 7). Any deliverance from slavery, oppression, famine, or destruction is an evidence of God’s gracious love toward man (Isa 30:18), and the Lord forgives sins because He is gracious (Hos 14:2). Merciful. A companion word with gracious, pointing to the love of God which is poured upon the undeserving sinner who repents of his sins. God retains the right to help those who show genuine sorrow for sin and who trust in His kindness. Slow to anger. It is not God’s first wish to punish the wayward. He endures much of man’s wickedness. But when it becomes evident, in any given situation, that men are too proud and headstrong to be guided by easy, agreeable discipline, He begins to teach them the “hard way,” by expressing His displeasure toward sin. Of great kindness. To the prophet, the love of God is so great that he can only multiply phrases in trying to express it. Kindness is a translation of the Hebrew word ḥesed, meaning loyalty to a covenant promise. The expression of kindness is not exhausted when the covenant is broken by the other party, but reaches out after the wayward one to draw him back to an intimate personal relation. God’s kindness is so great that He is glad to put aside judgment so that the penitent sinner may re-enter the covenant relation.
3. Jonah did not have in his heart the love of God, and he felt shamed because his prophecy had been nullified by the conversion of those he disliked. The prophet was so downcast that he wished for death.
B. The Gourd and the Worm. 4:4-7.
4. Doest thou well to be angry? The Lord called Jonah’s attitude into question. In the light of God’s concern for man, how could his servant be so ungodlike?
5. Made him a booth. Though Jonah was aware that a wave of repentance in Nineveh would move God to save the people, he doggedly determined to wait for the destruction he had foretold. Going to higher ground outside the city proper, he set up a booth of branches to shade himself from the sun. Such booths are still used in the open country in the Middle East. A man can be comfortable in their shade even when the sun is blazing hot.
6. The Lord God prepared a gourd. The plant, palma cristi, is common in the Middle East. The speed of its growth in this case is declared to be an act of God. Jonah was suffering from so much inner conflict that he reacted with widely contrasting emotions at various times. Whereas before he had been greatly depressed, now he was overjoyed. 7. God prepared a worm. The destruction of the gourd was also an act of God. The worm, striking at the roots, destroyed the plant, and with it, the blessing of its shade.
C. The Wind and the Sun. 4:8.
God prepared a ... wind. This final act of the Lord robbed Jonah of his last earthly comfort-the cool shade. The east wind is famous for its searing hot temperature, from which not even the shade of a booth can protect a man. When Jonah could not endure the heat, he cried out the second time for the release of death. The first time he wished for death because of his inner despair; this time he cried to God because of his physical distress.
D. The Lesson. 4:9-11.
Obviously, the series of divine actions directed toward Jonah had a purpose. God was striving to point up the absurdity of Jonah’s spiritual unconcern for human welfare, by contrasting it with his legitimate concern for his own physical welfare.
9. The question of verse 4 -is here repeated. From the content of 4:1-3 one can assume that Jonah’s answer the first time the question was put would have been the same as the answer here.
10. Thou hast had pity on the gourd. This was a proper concern and probably a reasonable ground for anger. Yet the plant was only a plant, and Jonah had had nothing to do with its growth or destruction. 11. Should not I spare Nineveh. The Ninevites were human beings -men, women, and children-objects of God’s special creation, and therefore objects of his love. A mere plant, like the gourd, cannot enter into personal fellowship with God; neither can sin corrupt it. Jonah’s concern for the gourd was selfish; he was sorry for its destruction because it served his personal comfort. But God’s concern for man is unselfish, for He seeks only to give comfort by delivering from sin. No man has the right to question or resent the outpouring of God’s love in saving man- any man-from sin and the destruction of sin. The Ninevites needed Him more than others because they had had no one to show them moral distinctions.
New AMerican - INTRODUCTION
The Book of Jonah is small in size (a mere forty-eight verses) but great in its impact and extremely significant in light of its controversial interpretive history. The character, Jonah, has intrigued believers for many centuries. Unfortunately, he has become caricatured by many who miss the positive results of an objective examination of his life. The Book of Jonah is a case study of “missed blessings” because so many readers focus upon its supposed difficulties rather than upon its rich teachings. J. H. Kennedy laments this reality. He states that “to some people Jonah is only a hocus-pocus term which conjures up thoughts about bad luck and personal misfortune. . . . To many people, Jonah suggests an ancient literary myth, a fantastic tale about a man’s being swallowed by a whale and surviving the ordeal. The story is marked by the usual fictional extravagance of folk tales and especially by biblical supernaturalism.”
This author hopes that all readers might see the inherent spiritual truths of Jonah, sense its deep message for humankind, and recognize its important portrayal of the character of God and his purpose. There are important lessons in this small book. One needs to realize that the “fish” is a relatively minor part of the story, mentioned in only three verses. R. T. Kendall is on target in stating, “The Book of Jonah is one of the most relevant books for the present time.” Its message is abidingly relevant for the modern-day reader.
The Book of Jonah is the fifth of the so-called Minor Prophets. But in content and form it resembles the narratives concerning the prophets in the historical books of the Old Testament (cf. 1 Kgs 17–19) more than it does the other prophetic books. It details a segment in the ministry of Jonah, the son of Amittai. According to 2 Kgs 14:25, Jonah was from Gath Hepher in the territory of Zebulun (cf. Josh 19:13) in the Northern Kingdom, and he prophesied during or shortly before the time of Jeroboam II (793–753 b.c.). Before that king’s reign, Israel was being tormented by the Syrians, whose successes against them were the result of Israel’s sins (cf. 2 Kgs 13:1–3). Israel was protected from conquest, however, in response to the pleas of King Jehoahaz (814–798 b.c.) when God sent “a deliverer” (2 Kgs 13:5), whom many interpret to have been King Adad-nirari of Assyria (810–783).
Problems with the Syrians continued, however, into the reign of Jehoash, king of Israel. It was to Jehoash whom the prophet Elisha promised victories from his deathbed (2 Kgs 13:14–19). The prophet Jonah, a successor of Elisha, then promised that these victories would continue for Jehoash’s son Jeroboam II, whom the Lord would enable to restore Israel’s ancient boundaries. But Israel’s successes, the author of Kings explains, came not as a result of their faithful obedience but rather the Lord’s compassion (2 Kgs 13:4,23; 14:26–27) in spite of Israel’s sin (2 Kgs 13:2,6,11; 14:24).
From the Book of Jonah we learn that the Lord’s compassion extended even beyond his people Israel. The same Jonah (evident from his father’s name) received a command from the Lord to go to Nineveh and announce the destruction of that city because of its sins. The book relates in simple prose (1) Jonah’s rebellion against the call; (2) the Lord’s retrieval and recommissioning of Jonah; (3) Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh and its successful result; (4) the prophet’s complaints at the Lord’s compassion toward Nineveh; and (5) the reproof God administered to the pouting prophet.
Given the knowledge of Jonah’s general period of ministry, we can ascertain that the story occurred during a time of Assyrian weakness. In the first half of the eighth century b.c., especially between the death of Adad-nirari III (810– 783 b.c.) and the crowning of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 b.c.), Assyria was fighting to defend itself against the Arameans and Urartians. The Assyrian Eponym Chronicle records that Assyria’s troubles were aggravated by famine (in 765 and 759 b.c. and perhaps the years between) and internal revolts (763–760 and 746 b.c.), all of which explain the “increasing impotence of the Assyrian monarchs towards the middle of the eighth century BC.”
According to G. Roux, “for thirty-six years (781–745 b.c.) Assyria was practically paralysed.” W. W. Hallo observes that “even the central provinces maintained only a tenuous loyalty to Assyria, for the various governors ruled in virtual independence.” This could explain the otherwise unknown expression “king of Nineveh” (rather than “king of Assyria” found elsewhere) in 3:6. Nineveh was at this time virtually the extent of the king’s domain. It also could explain the unusual phrase in 3:7, “By the decree of the king and his nobles.” As P. J. N. Lawrence has demonstrated, the precarious position of the king may have necessitated his acknowledging in his decree the power and influence of surrounding provincial governors.
The Chronicle also mentions that during the reign of Ashur-dan III (771– 754 b.c.) there was a full eclipse of the sun (in 763 b.c.), which some have suggested would have increased Nineveh’s receptivity to Jonah’s preaching if it occurred not long before he arrived. The period finally culminated in a revolution that installed on the throne the famous Tiglath-Pileser III. He reestablished Assyrian supremacy, annexing the Aramean kingdoms and subjugating Israel and Judah (cf. 2 Kgs 15–16).
The following king, Shalmaneser V (727–722 b.c.), conquered Samaria in 722 b.c. and deported its inhabitants (cf. 2 Kgs 17). Thus Jonah’s prophetic mission to this languishing foreign nation resulted not only in their repentance and deliverance but ultimately also in Israel’s destruction. This fact must surely contribute to the canonical significance of the book.
1. Author
The Book of Jonah contains no explicit reference to an author or to a chronological setting. In fact, if it were not for 2 Kgs 14:25, we would know almost nothing about the historical situation or the prophet. Therefore it is impossible to know whether the book is by Jonah or only about him. While most scholars doubt authorship by Jonah, some affirm his contribution, at least in supplying information.
The issue of authorship is somewhat related to how the book is to be interpreted. A parabolic or allegorical interpretation invariably accompanies the view that the book was a late anonymous composition. But if it is a historical account (as I later argue), then at least some of the historical data could have come from the prophet.
D. Stuart, however, while understanding Jonah as a historical account, thinks it unlikely that the main character would have written such a book “so consistently critical” of himself. The book does not claim authorship by Jonah, nor does it contain use of the first-person singular. There is also no statement elsewhere in Scripture that can be used to determine the author. The most that can be said is that since Jonah was a prophet of the Lord (2 Kgs 14:25), and following the lead of other prophets, he could have written this book.
Whoever the author was, the book’s inclusion in canonical Scripture indicates that the community of Israel acknowledged its divine inspiration and prophetic character. Although the author possessed certain information otherwise unknown to Jonah at the time of the event, such as the sailors’ conversation in Jonah 1:5, he could have obtained the information later from the sailors themselves or by someone else. In the final analysis we do not know how, only that God enabled the recording of his Word for the benefit of his people.
2. Date
The debate regarding authorship has more especially been about when the Book of Jonah was written. It was already written by at least 200 b.c., for “the twelve prophets” is mentioned in Sir 49:10, an apocryphal book written shortly after 200 b.c. The earliest date would be the time of Jonah’s ministry, which 2 Kgs 14:25 places in the first half of the eighth century.
Perhaps the majority of scholars, while recognizing the paucity of evidence on the date of authorship, favor a date in the exilic or postexilic periods, between the sixth and fourth centuries b.c. There are four main arguments.
The first is based on linguistic data. It is held that Jonah uses several words and expressions that are characteristic of at least an exilic if not a postexilic context. That is, they are typically found in the latest Old Testament books (a problematic issue itself, since all do not agree on the date of such books as Ecclesiastes and Daniel). Several of these are Aramaisms (words that are common Aramaic words but that have been adapted into Hebrew usage) found nowhere else but in biblical or nonbiblical Aramaic texts. G. M. Landes examined these in detail, however, and concluded that most of the linguistic data does not demand a postexilic origin but is found in preexilic texts as well. It may reflect a northern Israelite dialect influenced by Canaanite-Phoenician rather than later Aramaic. He also notes the presence of other linguistic evidence that favors a preexilic date. His conclusion is that “there is relatively little in the language of the book that supports its composition after the 6th century BCE.” T. D. Alexander subjects to further analysis Landes’s remaining linguistic indicators of a late date and finds that even they are inconclusive: “It is, therefore, not inconceivable that the book of Jonah could have been written prior to the sixth century, possibly even in the eighth century BC, especially if one envisages a north Israelite provenance.”
Second, the author’s supposed denunciation of Jewish nationalism and exclusivism, as supposedly exhibited by Ezra and Nehemiah, was at one time claimed to be most appropriate in a postexilic context. This argument, however, is generally rejected today. R. E. Clements, for example, points out that Jonah does not deal with any of the issues such as mixed marriages, “which we know deeply affected the relationships of Jews with non-Jews in the postexilic period.” Furthermore, “the so-called separatism of Nehemiah and Ezra was not so much concerned with making a distinction between Jew and Gentile, . . . but with a division between Jews and those who laid claim to being Jews.” Besides, so-called universalistic concepts appear throughout the Old Testament (cf. Gen 12:3; Pss 9:8; 22:27–28; 72:17; 96; Isa 2:2–4; 11:10; 25:6–8; 52:15; 56:7; Mic 4:1–3).
Third, many commentators claim that the book shows signs of considerable distance from the prophet’s era by its alleged historical inaccuracies. According to L. C. Allen, the book portrays Nineveh as the capital of Assyria, which it was not until the seventh century. It also speaks of the city as much larger than it was, requiring three days to cross (according to Allen’s translation of 3:3). And the phrase “king of Nineveh” in 3:6 is unattested in Assyrian annals. These clues suggest to some a time of composition well after the fall of Nineveh in 612 b.c., which is thought to be confirmed by the past tense in 3:3: “Now Nineveh was a very important city.” Furthermore, it is thought that reference to animals in mourning and to a decree sent from “the king and his nobles” in 3:7–8 reflects Persian rather than Assyrian customs. Allen concludes, “These phenomena are all quite consistent with a later author who had no intention of teaching a history lesson but employed contemporary tradition as basic material for a didactic parable.”
If it is assumed that “a journey of three days” in 3:3 means that either crossing the city or circumscribing it on foot would take three days, then Nineveh would have to have been fifty to sixty miles either in diameter or in circumference. All agree, however, that cities in ancient Mesopotamia were not this large in the eighth nor the third centuries. Regardless of when the book was written, then, this interpretation of the phrase would demand that it be understood as an exaggeration, which seems to be ruled out by the next verse, “On the first day, Jonah started into the city.” The phrase in 3:3, however, may mean that Jonah had to preach in Nineveh for three days in order to get the message to the entire population. Alternatively, the reference may be to a day of arrival, followed by a day of preaching, then a day of departure. Another possibility is to define “Nineveh” as “Greater Nineveh” comprising the territory between Nineveh, Asshur, Calah, and Dur-Sharrukin. This may find confirmation in the phrase “the great city of Nineveh” in 1:2; 3:2; 4:11 (cf. Gen 10:11–12). This view is rejected by Allen because 4:11 gives Nineveh’s population as 120,000, which would be a more likely number for the population of Nineveh proper. D. J. Wiseman, however, has revised his population estimates upon which Allen relies, resulting in 120,000 being a reasonable number for the population of “Greater Nineveh.”
The phrase “king of Nineveh” has been shown to reflect Assyria’s diminished realm during the time of the prophet (see p. 205). It also is parallel to the designation “king of Samaria” used of Ahab in 1 Kgs 21:1, whereas he is called “king of Israel” elsewhere. Whether Nineveh was the capital of Assyria in Jonah’s day, it was at least a chief city and a royal residence during the time of Tiglath-Pileser I (1114–1076), Ashurnasirpal II (883–859), and Sargon II (722–705). Besides, we know so little about Assyria during this time of Assyrian weakness that it would be unwise to argue from silence.
The fourth line of argumentation sometimes used to demonstrate an exilic or postexilic date of composition is that of biblical parallels. Some think that verbal and thematic parallels to passages in Kings, Jeremiah, Joel, and other books are sufficient to argue for dependency of Jonah on those books. Arguments based on literary dependency, however, are seldom convincing because of the difficulty of proving the direction of dependency. Also it is possible that both works under analysis are dependent upon an earlier source. Sasson believes that “such comparisons are often superficial and do not adequately recognize how ideas and phraseology are transmitted in ancient Israel.”
Arguments, then, for a date of composition after the fall of Nineveh in 612 b.c. are inconclusive. Furthermore, if the book is a historical account (see the following section), it is more likely that its origin was before that time. Perhaps the most convincing argument for the probability of a preexilic date is to recognize that Jonah’s ministry was clearly in the vein of preclassical prophecy. His writings and prophecy preserved the tensions present in the prophetic community of the eighth century b.c.
3. Genre and Purpose
While the message of Jonah to Nineveh was clearly one of judgment, scholars have had many different views of the canonical purpose of the book, which is closely related to the issue of genre. The first question is whether to treat the Book of Jonah as a historical account. While at one time this involved only the issue of whether the events occurred, this question is now usually subordinated or sidestepped by asking whether the author even intended to describe actual events at all. The trend in this century has been to answer this question negatively and to understand the book as some form of didactic fiction. J. Limburg, for example, describes it as “a fictitious story developed around a historical figure for didactic purposes.” He agrees with the statement of B. Childs that “by determining that the book of Jonah functions in its canonical context as a parable-like story, the older impasse regarding the historicity of the story is by-passed as a theological issue.” While Jonah, like the parable of the good Samaritan, has “historical features,” it is “theologically irrelevant” whether the events occurred.
This attempt to remove the Book of Jonah from the historian’s probe has resulted in various designations of its genre (some overlapping and several almost identical): midrash, allegory, parable, legend, novella, satire, etc. Frequently involved in the discussion is a false dichotomy between history and literature or history and prophecy, as if a work cannot relate historical events in a rhetorically sophisticated fashion for didactic purposes. But the Bible is full of literature that does this very thing. To understand the nature of the Book of Jonah, it is necessary to consider some of the major views.
(1) Midrash
First suggested by K. Budde, this designation for the Book of Jonah has more recently been advocated by P. Trible. She explains that a midrash is a commentary on a portion of ancient Scripture whose purpose was to adapt it to an immediate situation. While it can comprise legal material, it is usually in the form of “tales which exalted the acts of God.” Various passages have been offered as the basis for the book, including 2 Kgs 14:25 (Budde’s view) and scattered portions of Isaiah, Jeremiah (18:8), Ezekiel, Joel (2:13–14), Amos (7:9,1 Obadiah. Trible argues that Jonah is a midrash based on the declaration of God’s mercy in Exod 34:6 (cf. Jonah 4:2). More precisely, however, she says the midrash takes the form of a legend, which is a narrative with a historical core embellished by imagination. The historical core is the prophet Jonah and the geographical locations referred to. The story “may have grown out of some incident(s) in the life of Jonah,” being gradually “embellished considerably by mythological and folk-tale motifs.” It may even have “originally existed as a folk-tale independent of the prophet Jonah” and then been associated with him by a Hebrew storyteller.
Although many have recognized that Jonah may have a midrashic element, few scholars have been satisfied with this label for the genre. As Trible herself acknowledges, even if Jonah is postexilic it would be one of the earliest examples of midrash. The only other example is from two references in 2 Chronicles (13:22; 24:27), the nature of which is unknown. Another problem with the designation is the difficulty of getting agreement on what passage is being expounded. Yet as Trible explains, the text should be “evident in the midrash itself.” As Stuart says, “By its nature Jonah appears far more likely to be not the midrash but the primary material, so that any midrash would be secondary, i.e., a discussion of the truth contained in Jonah.”
Regarding Trible’s proposal to read Jonah as a legend, Wolff objects that “what we have here is not really a story about Jonah at all. It is a story about Yahweh’s dealing with Jonah.” Furthermore, if the story recounts actual incidents in Jonah’s life, as we shall argue, then it is not “embellished by imagination.” Nor is it a fanciful commentary on some other passage, designed to extol the greatness of Israel’s God of history by means of a fictitious story.
(2) Allegory
This approach to Jonah understands that the features of the book represent certain aspects in the life of Israel. It is usually connected with the meaning of Jonah’s name, “dove,” taken as a reference to Israel (cf. Ps 74:19; Hos 7:11; 11:11). The fish usually is supposed to represent Babylon (cf. Jer 51:34,44), who swallowed up Israel during the exile as a punishment for their refusal to carry out God’s mandate to the world at large (represented by Nineveh). The flight of Jonah to Tarshish symbolizes Israel’s specific default with respect to its call from God. The fish’s regurgitation of Jonah corresponds to the Hebrew people’s restoration from the period of exile. W. Neil leans toward allegory as he sees here a message of the readiness of Israel’s neighbors to respond to the knowledge of God. The prophet is pictured, he says, “sulking in his flimsy shelter” as he “depicts the Nehemiahs, Ezras, Joels, and Obadiahs of his day, sheltering under the precarious protection of their recently rebuilt temple, uncompromising in their hatred of the Gentiles, hoping for the apocalyptic judgment of God to fall upon them, and still unwilling to recognize the purpose of God to save the whole world and not only the Jews.”
There are several reasons why the allegorical view of Jonah must be rejected. First, allegories in the Old Testament (e.g., Ezek 17; 23; Zech 11:4–17) are rather brief and unmistakable in their allegorical nature. As Stuart explains, “Figures in an allegory are patently symbolic and fictional, and the audience must realize this at once if the allegory is to be effective.” The Book of Jonah does not meet this requirement. Particularly it should be noted that the point of a biblical allegory or parable is to clarify a spiritual or heavenly truth on the basis of analogy with common earthly experience. Having God as a main character in such a story would be counterproductive. Second, the identification of Israel with the dove can in no way be considered standard (cf. Jer 48:28; Nah 2:7). One work associates the “dove” with Nineveh, the chief sanctuary of the goddess “Ishtar,” whose sacred bird was the dove. Third, in the Old Testament it is evident that the exile of Judah occurred not for failure to carry the message of God to the Gentiles but for unfaithfulness to the covenant by acts of idolatry and immorality. Fourth, if the Book of Jonah were intended to be allegorical in nature, it would make more sense that a prophet from Judah be selected instead of one from Galilee. Fifth, the fish is portrayed in 2:1–11 not as a means of punishment but of deliverance. Sixth, many of the details of the story do not fit the supposed allegory. It makes no sense for one of the figures in the allegory, Nineveh, to be itself figuratively portrayed in 4:10–11 by the plant. In fact, it is difficult to find a function in the allegory for chap. 4 at all. Also, Jonah’s invitation to be thrown into the sea in 1:12 does not correspond to Israel’s experience. As M. Burrows states, “The greatest weakness of this kind of exposition is that it is only to a small degree controlled by the text.”
(3) Didactic Fiction
Under this category may be considered the various other proposals for Jonah’s form that include parable and novella or short story. While allegorical interpretation seeks to find meaning in almost every detail, parabolic interpretation focuses on the story as a literary whole and usually finds one basic point. According to J. Bewer, the tale was intended to oppose the narrow, nationalistic tendency among postexilic Jews who believed that they alone were Yahweh’s peculiar people, the sole object of his love and care. Landes, on the other hand, views it as a call to repentance, whose parabolic message is that “Yahweh is unswerving in offering his pity and compassion to repentant sinners.” G. I. Emmerson argues that the parable probes the problem of unfulfilled prophecy and proclaims the “absolute freedom of Yahweh,” especially his freedom to be gracious. Wolff reads the book as an “ironically didactic novella.” That is, it belongs to the genre novella, its aim is instructive, and “the unique beauty of the story and its liberating power is to be found in its comedy.” Its purpose, he says, is to help those who are struggling to reconcile the Lord’s mercy with his justice and to combat the “despairing theology” that “serving Yahweh seems pointless” since he no longer seems to distinguish between Israel and foreigners.
P. Trible has argued cogently that the many themes proposed for the Book of Jonah demonstrate that it is not a parable, which is a simple story designed to clarify a central point that “can be readily grasped by the listener.” Its multiple elements and the complexity of its themes are not characteristic of the parabolic form.
Limburg is content to describe the book simply as didactic fiction, which “portrays the God who creates, sustains, and delivers,” and it invites and models for “both the people of God and the peoples of the world” the response of praise. His list of six theological themes in Jonah is a helpful summary of the book’s teaching: (1) God’s sovereignty over the natural world, (2) his deliverance of those who call upon him in need, (3) his concern for all people, (4) his freedom to alter his plans for judgment, (5) his uniqueness as the one true God, and (6) the appropriateness of “thanksgiving, witness, and praise.” But such a list raises a question: Is a book of fiction an appropriate medium and one where we would expect to find Scripture teaching such lessons? As Stuart has written: “People act more surely upon what they believe to be true in fact, than merely what they consider likely in theory. . . . If it really happened, it is really serious. If this is the way God works in history, then a less narrow attitude toward our enemies is not just an ‘ought,’ it is a must; it is not simply a narrator’s desire, it is God’s enforceable revelation.”
Bewer’s primary reason for treating Jonah as unhistorical is the supposed incredibility of its account. To believe “that Jonah should have remained in the fish for three days and three nights and should have prayed a beautiful psalm of thanksgiving inside, exceeds the limits of credibility.” He has the same opinion of Jonah’s ejection from the fish, the size of Nineveh, Jonah’s ability to communicate with Assyrians, Nineveh’s conversion, and the extraordinary growth of the plant. In fact, to suppose that Jonah is intended as a record of actual historical events would be a sin against the author. “It is a prose poem, not history.” Besides, he says, far from being unique and unparalleled, the story of Jonah turns out to be a common story the world over. By this he means that the miraculous tale of deliverance is similar to many other stories told along the coast of Palestine.
The Book of Jonah is in fact full of extraordinary acts of God that could be called miracles. Other miracles in the Book of Jonah include the following:
1. the sudden providential storm (1:4)
2. the falling of the Lot upon Jonah (1:7)
3. the immediate calming of the storm (1:15)
4. the divinely appointed fish (1:17)
5. the divinely appointed vine (4:6)
6. the divinely appointed worm (4:7)
7. the scorching wind (4:8)
Most of these miracles, however, have parallels elsewhere in the Bible. Several involve natural forces that God manipulated from time to time to fulfill his purposes. One is especially reminded of Christ’s stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee. God’s sovereignty over the beasts and other parts of his creation is declared in Job 38–41.
So what does one mean by “credibility” (or probability) when speaking of events usually described as miracles? Would not Bewer’s approach result in most biblical literature being relegated to the category of didactic fiction? But this would cut the heart out of the biblical message. We might argue that any situation in which God deals with mere human beings contains the element of miracle. As Walton says: “If these be miracles, it is useless to discuss the gullet sizes and geographical habitats of dozens of species of whales, or the chemical content of mammalian digestive juices and their projected effect on human epidermis over prolonged periods. If we wanted to discuss this sort of thing, we would have to begin with first things first, and ask whether or not God could talk to man, as he did in Jonah 1:1.”
Furthermore, it is commonly recognized that there is much similarity between the Book of Jonah and the account of Elijah (cp. Jonah 1:1–2 and 3:1–2 with 1 Kgs 17:2: “Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ‘Leave . . .”), which is full of “incredible” events. But can we seriously consider the explanation that the author intended the account of Elijah as a parable? As Alexander writes, “If ancient Israelites believed that God had sent ravens to feed Elijah, could they not also accept as historically probable the sojourn of Jonah inside the belly of a great fish?
Also, if one of the lessons of Jonah, as most would admit, is that God is sovereign over and responsive to human actions, how can we employ a method in its explication that denies that message by ruling out the possibility of miracles? The miraculous or unexpected events in the book may be understood, rather, as a vital part of the message. Applying J. Goldingay’s question of the patriarchal narratives to Jonah, we may rightly ask, What kind of “implied vested interest” does it have in the historicity of the events it narrates? And as he asks further:
Are they the kind of stories that could be completely fictional but still be coherent and carry conviction? A parable is fictional, but nevertheless carries conviction on the basis of who it is that tells it and of the validity of his world-view as it expresses it. A gospel, however, invites commitment to the person portrayed in it, and in my view this implies that it cannot be both fictional and true. The kind of response it invites demands that the events it narrates bear a reasonably close relationship to events that took place at the time. Without this it cannot be coherent and carry conviction. In the absence of reference, it cannot even really have sense.
Jonah, however, is not a story told by a prophetic teacher who introduces it with “Listen to this parable,” or even with “Thus says the LORD.” Nor does it conclude with any words that would suggest to the reader that something other than actual events have been recounted. The book, in fact, does not exhibit the form of a parable. Even B. Childs must admit that it is only “parable-like.” Even this is too much to grant, however, except in the broadest sense. For one of the main characters of the book, “the person portrayed in it” to whom commitment is invited, is actually God. And should we suppose that ancient Israel would have accepted as Scripture a fictional story in which God was only a character? The story of Jonah, then, does have an “implied vested interest” in the historicity of the events described.
In response to claims that the book’s alleged reliance on exaggeration and surprise categorizes it as didactic fiction, Alexander demonstrates that “the characteristics of exaggeration and surprise are not inherent features of the story; rather they are the products of modern imaginations.” Allen proposes that an unhistorical quality is shown in that the events in Jonah are based in part upon the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:25) and the flood (Gen 6:11,13), and much of the discourse echoes the words of Elijah (1 Kgs 19:4), Joel (2:13–14), and Jeremiah (18:7–8,11). This argument, however, is based on a problematic late date for Jonah and a questionable interpretation of the author’s purpose in reflecting these passages in his account (if one exists).
T. Fretheim claims that Jonah’s “concern for structure and symmetry is not as characteristic of straightforward historical writing,” and that “the pervasiveness of the didactic element . . . far exceed[s] that which is to be found in other historical narratives in the Old Testament.” But even if Jonah is more literary and didactic than Kings, for example, can such a quantitative difference mark such a qualitative distinction as that between history and fiction? Who is to say how much of a literary or didactic element a narrative may have and still be classed as history? Alexander notes the growing recognition that Hebrew narrative characteristically employed literary structures such as chiasmus. For him the evident didactic emphasis of Jonah suggests the label “didactic history” rather than didactic fiction.
(4) History
If Jonah is so “clearly non-historical,” as many claim, it only became so in the nineteenth century. Prior to that virtually every biblical scholar and reader of the book assumed that it at least claimed to recount actual events. Those who continue to affirm the historical interpretation of Jonah point to several facts. First, everyone recognizes that the story has a historical setting, with the main character, “Jonah son of Amittai,” known to have been a prophet in eighth-century Israel, and with places known to have existed at that time. Trible even grants that much of the information about Nineveh probably is historically accurate.
Second, the opening verses show no signs that the book should be read as anything other than (didactic) history. As Alexander has explained: “If the opening lines are stylistically in keeping with other historical narratives, it is only natural that [the reader] should treat the text as factual. However, if he begins by believing that these events took place, only to discover later, perhaps in Chapter 3, that this is pure fiction, he will feel mislead, if not actually deceived, and this is something which any competent author would clearly avoid.” The fact that we are not also told where Jonah was when God first spoke to him, where the great fish deposited Jonah on the shore, when the events occurred, etc. can hardly be sufficient, as Trible and others claim, to overturn the conclusion that we are reading a historical account. Historical narrative always involves the elimination of much detail, especially when its purpose is primarily to teach and to persuade, as is the case in biblical history.
Third, ancient tradition regarded the book as historical. The Jewish scholar Josephus, for example, used it in his first-century account of Jewish history (Ant. 9.12.2). R. H. Bowers demonstrates how the church fathers, while recognizing the remarkable nature of the events, nevertheless treated the book not only as history but also as prophecy confirming the power of God to raise the dead. He cites Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 370), for example, as arguing that “if the resurrection of Christ be credible so is that of Jonah, and vice-versa.” As Alexander asks, “Were these earlier generations completely blind to features which we are asked to believe are immediately apparent?”
Finally, there is the witness of Jesus Christ, which apparently was the basis for the early church’s linking the historicity of Jonah’s experience with that of Jesus, especially his resurrection. Although it would be conceivable that Jesus might have been merely illustrating in Matt 12:40 when he associated his prophesied resurrection with Jonah’s experience in the fish, it is much more difficult to deny that Jesus was assuming the historicity of the conversion of the Ninevites when he continued in v. 41 (cf. Luke 11:32).
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
This is confirmed in the following verse (cf. Luke 11:33) when Jesus parallels the “men of Nineveh” with the “Queen of the South,” whose visit to Jerusalem is recounted in 1 Kings.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
Clearly Jesus did not see Jonah as a parable or an allegory. As J. W. McGarvey stated long ago, “It is really a question as to whether Jesus is to be received as a competent witness respecting historical and literary matters of the ages which preceded His own.”
Therefore, since this author believes very strongly in the veracity of God’s Word and in the power of God to act in extraordinary ways, and because there are no compelling reasons to view the story otherwise, the position affirmed here is that the Book of Jonah is a skillfully written narrative recounting a series of actual events from the life of the prophet Jonah. Its purpose is to instruct God’s people more fully in the character of their God, particularly his mercy as it operates in relation to repentance. Price and Nida are correct in stating, “The message of the book may be summed up as ‘What is likely to happen when people repent.’ ” This does not deny that there are many other lessons to be found in the Book of Jonah. There are messages concerning such subjects as monotheism, obedience, and motivation that will be uncovered in the exegesis of the text. One aspect of the book’s canonical and continuing significance has been expressed in the comment that “the mission of Jonah was a fact of symbolical and typical importance, which was intended not only to enlighten Israel as to the position of the Gentile world in relation to the kingdom of God, but also to typify the future adoption of such of the heathen, as should observe the word of God, into the fellowship of the salvation prepared in Israel for all nations.”
4. Structure
In recent studies of the literary character of the Old Testament the verdict is unanimous that the Book of Jonah exhibits a high degree of literary excellence. K. M. Craig, Jr. describes it as “enormously varied, rich, and complex. Even the choice of what might appear to be ‘small’ words is calculated.” L. C. Allen calls it a “model of literary artistry, marked by symmetry and balance.” H. C. Brichto says it is “from beginning to end, in form and content, in diction, phraseology, and style, a masterpiece of rhetoric.” Regarding the existing text of Jonah he also says, “As an esthetic achievement the marvel of its creation is surpassed, if anything, by the marvel of its pristine preservation and transmission over a period of twenty-five centuries and more.”
The book divides into two halves, each spanning two chapters. R. E. Longacre and S. J. J. Hwang have applied a textlinguistic analysis to the book and describe it as comprising two parallel embedded discourses, each having a stage (1:1–3; 3:1–4), a prepeak episode (1:4–16; 3:5–10), and a peak (point of highest tension) episode (2:1–11; 4:1–11). The peak of the first discourse is marked by its poetic form, which has a higher prominence in narrative than prose. The peak in the second discourse is marked by the dialogue exchange between Jonah and God. The Lord and Jonah are indicated as the two main characters of the story by being the only ones who are named; the other characters are anonymous. Phenomena of nature also serve in each half as props: wind, storm, sea, dry land, and fish in the first half; and herd and flock, plant, worm, sun, and wind in the second half. When placed side by side, chaps. 1 and 3 and chaps. 2 and 4 can be seen as parallel. Chapters 1 and 3 begin with Jonah receiving a word from the Lord consisting of a call to go to Nineveh.
| 1:1–2 | The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” |
| 3:1–2 | Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” |
The similarity in the form of the two calls highlights the contrast between Jonah’s response to each.
| 1:3 | But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. |
| 3:3 | Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. |
Jonah’s response to the two calls leads in each case to an encounter with a group of non-Hebrews: the sailors and their captain in chap. 1 and the Ninevites and their king in chap. 3. A parallel between these two groups is set up by their similar responses to threatened disaster. The sailors’ response to the storm is expressed in 1:5 by three verbs.
All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
The Ninevites’ response to Jonah’s warning of disaster is also expressed by three verbs (3:5).
The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
In both cases there is an inward response, then an articulated response, and finally an outward response. Similar statements of hope also are given by the captain (1:6b) and the king (3:9).
| 1:6b | “Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” |
| 3:9 | “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” |
In chaps. 2 and 4 Jonah is alone with God. The second chapter consists almost entirely of Jonah’s prayer in which he thanks the Lord for his deliverance. But in the fourth chapter his initial words of anger against God for delivering Nineveh begin a dialogue between Jonah and God that ends with a divine question. Such lack of an explicit resolution may lead the reader to assume Jonah’s repentance. It may also be intended to invite the reader to respond.
Many scholars believe that the psalm in chap. 2 is a later addition to the book. As J. S. Ackerman humorously puts it, “Biblical scholars have had as much difficulty digesting Jonah’s song as the great fish had with Jonah.” First, the situations of the prayer and of its context in Jonah seem different. The psalm mentions the setting of “the depths of the grave” (2:2), “the deep” (2:3), and the temple (2:4,7,9), but not the fish. And the one who hurled the psalmist into the sea was the Lord (2:3) rather than the sailors. Second is a difference in vocabulary. For example, the verb “hurled” (šlk) is used in v. 4 (Heb. v. 3) rather than “threw” (ṭwl) in 1:15. Third, although the narrative leads the reader to expect Jonah to pray for deliverance, the psalm is one of thanksgiving. Finally, although Jonah is viewed unfavorably in the book as a whole, he is presented in the psalm as a consistent man of faith. Parallels also are noted between Jonah’s prayer and passages from the Psalms. Even though some scholars deny that the psalm was an original part of the book, many critical scholars have recently been adding their voices to those of conservatives in maintaining that while the author of the book might not have composed the psalm himself, it formed a vital part of the original composition.
Response has been made specifically to the arguments for disunity (see the comments on chap. 2), but many have concentrated on the literary examination of the book’s structure based on the integrity of the text as it stands. Allen, for example, points out that three key words referring to the Lord’s grace (ḥesed) and Jonah’s life (ḥay and nepeš) in the psalm (2:5–8, Heb. vv. 6–9) have parallels in Jonah’s prayer in 4:2–3. “The themes that drew forth Jonah’s praise in the psalm are ironically the very ones that cause him grief in his second prayer.” This, he notes, supports the structural parallel between chaps. 2 and 4.
On the basis of a metrical analysis, D. L. Christensen argues that the psalm is an integral part of the book: “At the very point in the narrative where Jonah makes his final descent to the depths of hell itself, the language soars to lyrical heights. And once the GREAT FISH ‘turns Jonah around’ en route to Nineveh, the language of the poet returns to the level of narrative poetry.” H. C. Brichto argues that the psalm fits its context perfectly and was composed by the narrator from various passages in the Psalter. To suppose that the evidence for incongruity shows that it was borrowed or composed for insertion later “is simply to solve the conundrum of a narrator’s idiocy by attributing that idiocy to a supposed editor.” Limburg’s conclusion is that “there are no compelling reasons for considering the psalm as a later addition to Jonah,” and it is “such an essential part of the narrative that it is difficult to imagine a version of the Jonah story without it.”
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
I. God’s First Call and Jonah’s Response (1:1–16)
1. God’s Instruction and the Prophet’s Flight (1:1–3)
2. The Storm at Sea (1:4–6)
3. Unveiling of Responsibility and Identity (1:7–10)
4. Stilling of the Storm (1:11–16)
II. God’s Rescue of the Rebellious Prophet (1:17–2:10)
1. God’s Protection and Jonah’s Prayer (1:17–2:9)
2. The Prophet’s Deliverance (2:10)
III. God’s Second Commission and Jonah’s Obedience (3:1–10)
1. God’s Renewal of His Commission (3:1–2)
2. The Prophet’s Preaching and Nineveh’s Response (3:3–9)
3. God’s Response (3:10)
IV. Jonah’s Displeasure and God’s Response (4:1–11)
1. The Prophet’s Displeasure (4:1–3)
2. God’s Response (4:4–11)
SECTION OUTLINE
I. GOD’S FIRST CALL AND JONAH’S RESPONSE (1:1–16)
(1) God’s Instruction and the Prophet’s Flight (1:1–3)
(2) The Storm at Sea (1:4–6)
(3) Unveiling of Responsibility and Identity (1:7–10)
(4) Stilling of the Storm (1:11–16)
I. GOD’S FIRST CALL AND JONAH’S RESPONSE (1:1–16)
1. God’s Instruction and the Prophet’s Flight (1:1–3)
1The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
The Book of Jonah begins in an exciting fashion, with God’s self-revelation to the prophet Jonah. It does not begin with a title, as do most of the prophets (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah). The expression “the word of the LORD came to . . .” (wayhî dĕbar yhwh ˒el) does not open another biblical book. It is found many times, however, opening an episode in a larger book (cf. 1 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 6:11; 16:1; 21:17,28; 2 Chr 11:2; Isa 38:4; 29:30; 32:26; 33:19,23; 34:12; 35:12; 37:6; Zech 7:8). It gives the impression that we are reading the continuation of an account already underway (the beginning word wayhi is often translated “then . . . came”). However, there is no need to presume that the Book of Jonah consists of “episodes plucked from many Jonah adventures that apparently circulated in ancient Israel” or that it was part of a larger work no longer extant. Instead, it is more appropriate to understand that the author referred to God’s continuing work with his people. More important, Jonah begins as an account of events in the life of the historical prophet Jonah. It shows no signs of being a work of “didactic fiction.”
1:1 The phrase “the word of the LORD” is mentioned seven times in this book. The exact manner in which God relayed his desires and/or message to Jonah is not given. God chose to speak to prophets in diverse ways. At times God spoke through dreams, and at other times he spoke more directly. On some occasions God chose to speak through a “still, small voice” (1 Kgs 19:9–13) or through rather sensational means, such as the whirlwind (Job 38) or earthquake. The words of J. H. Kennedy are significant at this point: “This is the essence of divine privilege, purpose, and perogative—to speak to man, so bringing him into voluntary and intelligent participation in the divine plan for his life and for the peoples of the world in which he lives.”
“Jonah, son of Amittai” was the designated recipient of God’s revelation. Little is known about Jonah outside of this book. The one designation in 2 Kgs 14:25 gives us a general time frame for his ministry. Nothing is known about his father, Amittai. While some have seen great significance in the meaning of “Amittai” (“truth”) and the name “Jonah” (“dove”), we must be careful not to interpret these in a way that goes beyond the book’s obvious intent.
1:2 The Hebrew text of v. 2 begins with two imperatives, “Arise, go” (qûm lēk). The first imperative functions adverbially to give the command to go a sense of immediacy (cf. NRSV “go at once”). This is a definite and firm call from the Lord. The prophet was given traveling orders, and the destination was Nineveh.
Nineveh was a city whose reputation called for direct action from the Lord. The term “great” designates nothing more than its size (see Introduction, p. 203, and notes on 3:3). Nineveh was situated on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, opposite the modern city of Mosul, north of the city of Zab. It was an old city, dating back to approximately 4500 b.c., and one of the principal cities of ancient Assyria. According to Gen 10:11, the city was built by the “great hunter” Nimrod. It became an extremely important city in the reign of the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib (705–681 b.c.). During his reign he strongly fortified the city and for a time made it the capital of Assyria.
H. L. Ellison suggests that the translation “preach against it” may imply that Jonah was more personally involved in the message than the Hebrew expression (qāra˒ plus ˓al) justifies. He prefers the JB translation: “Inform them that their wickedness has become known to me.” In a nondirective fashion “Jonah had merely to announce imminent judgment, leaving it to his hearers’ conscience to judge why it was coming.” Wherever the verb qāra˒, “cry out, proclaim,” occurs with the preposition ˓al, however, it describes an appeal for or an announcement of the Lord’s judgment against someone or something (cf. Deut 15:9; 24:15; 1 Kgs 13:2,4,32; 2 Kgs 23:17). We are not given any further details at this point about the exact nature of Jonah’s “marching orders.” While one may speculate about the content of the message based on later words from God, at this point it is sufficient to say that the evil of the city incensed the Lord; and he commanded his servant Jonah to proclaim a message of judgment against it.
“Because its wickedness has come before me” is paraphrased interestingly in TLB as “it smells to highest heaven.” While all sin is abhorrent to God, in some instances a specific group of people had become so wicked that God issued a special call of localized judgment. So it was with Nineveh. Archaeology confirms the biblical witness to the wickedness of the Assyrians. They were well known in the ancient world for brutality and cruelty. Ashurbanipal, the grandson of Sennacherib, was accustomed to tearing off the lips and hands of his victims. Tiglath-Pileser flayed victims alive and made great piles of their skulls. Jonah’s reluctance to travel to Nineveh may have been due to its infamous violence.
Many people in the world today ignore God and assume that he also ignores them. Many believe that God set the world into motion and allows it to continue along unnoticed. This text portrays God as one who notices, as a God who is active, and as a God who takes sin seriously.
1:3 Verse 3 relates a tragic decision by Jonah. God commissioned the prophet to carry a divine message to the people of Nineveh, but Jonah decided differently. Instead of traveling approximately five hundred miles northeast of Palestine to Nineveh, Jonah went to Joppa, the nearest seaport. There he took a ship for Tarshish, probably a Phoenician port in Spain, some two thousand miles due west. The contrast between God’s command and Jonah’s response is accentuated by the structure of v. 3 (seen through a literal translation), which places the stress on “to Tarshish.”
So Jonah rose
to flee to Tarshish from before Yahweh.
He went down to Joppa,
he found a ship going to Tarshish,
he paid its fare
and he went down into it
to go with them to Tarshish from before Yahweh.
Some have taken the expression “from before [millipnê] Yahweh” to indicate that Jonah believed it possible to escape God’s presence. Many other Old Testament passages prior to Jonah’s time, however, show conclusively that the Hebrew did not think of Yahweh as a local deity, and Jonah himself in v. 9 confesses his belief in the Lord’s universality as Creator. The clearest passage denying the possibility of escape from (or being lost by) the Lord is Psalm 139, especially v. 7 (which uses an almost identical expression): “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence [mippāneykā]?”
What does it mean, therefore, to go “away from the LORD”? In Gen 4:16 the expression (millipnê) is used to describe Cain’s broken relationship with the Lord—his rebellion against the Lord and the Lord’s displeasure with him. D. Alexander suggests that we interpret the phrase in light of its use in the expression to “stand before [lipnê] the LORD,” which is an idiom used of being in the Lord’s service (cf. 1 Kgs 17:1; 18:15; Jer 15:19). “By fleeing from the Lord’s presence Jonah announces emphatically his unwillingness to serve God. His action is nothing less than open rebellion against God’s sovereignty.”
The surprising nature of Jonah’s disobedience is highlighted by the syntax of v. 3 and by the repetition of the verb qûm from v. 2. God had commanded his prophet, “Arise, go to Nineveh.” Verse 3 begins (literally), “So Jonah rose,” as if Jonah were about to obey the Lord as prophets were expected to do (cf. Gen 12:1,4; 22:2–3; 1 Kgs 17:9–10; 18:1–2; 2 Kgs 1:15; 1 Chr 21:10–11,18–19). But the verse continues surprisingly, “to flee to Tarshish from before the LORD.” As H. C. Brichto wrote:
One would be hard put to imagine a narrative beginning better designed to strike an ancient Israelite audience as discordant, incongruous, absurd. A monarch charges a deputy, trusted and long in his service, with a mission which, altogether in the line of his duty, will take him to one end of his lord’s far-flung empire. Without a word of demurral, without a suggestion of motive, the deputy proceeds—and ever so casually—to head in the opposite direction.
The reader is given no clue at this point why Jonah chose to act so foolishly. One wonders whether Jonah paused to consider the consequences of his action or if he merely reacted on the spur of the moment. If he had stopped to consider seriously what he was doing, would he have continued in his westerly direction?
Is it possible that Jonah ran from the presence of the Lord because of fear? After all, Nineveh had taken up the sword more than any other group. T. Fretheim observes that while prophets had commonly been called on to speak against other nations, no other prophet had been called on to put in a personal appearance (although the Judahite prophet Amos did go to Israel). “To speak was one thing. To actually go there and deliver was another.” While the issue of personal safety may have been a factor, it certainly was not the predominant one. The reason for Jonah’s disobedience in flight, while not given in this verse, is explicitly stated by the author in 4:2. The issue was fear—fear that the Ninevites might repent and be spared the disaster they deserved.
In view of Israel’s characteristically stubborn refusal to repent in response to the Lord’s prophets, it is surprising that this possibility would have motivated Jonah to act so rashly. But the result of such a repentance on the part of these pagans would have made Israel’s continued stubbornness and perseverance in sin appear all the more heinous and worthy of punishment and inevitable ruin. Some think that Jonah’s fear of repentance from Nineveh was based on his belief that a spared Nineveh would eventually mean the destruction of Israel. Thus Ellison states:
If Israel were to be spared now, it could only be that the doom pronounced at Horeb to Elijah should go into full effect. Sick at heart from the foreshortened view of the future so common to the prophets in foretelling the coming judgments of God, Jonah wished to escape, not beyond the power of God, but away from the stage on which God was working out his purposes and judgments.
Thus perhaps Jonah, in an act of rebellion and disobedience, had the “capacity” to second-guess God’s plan. But like many through the ages who have sought to thwart God’s plans, Jonah was to learn by experience that such actions are ill-advised.
“Joppa” was the seaport of Jerusalem and corresponds to the modern Jaffa, which is now a part of Tel Aviv. There Jonah found a ship going to Tarshish. That he was prepared to risk his life at sea rather than face up to God’s call is another point to verify his determination, for Hebrews were basically a “people of the land.” Allen states that the hearers of the story of Jonah would see such a venture as proof positive of his “mad determination.” The narrative may also suggest that Jonah hired the whole ship, which if true would have taken a considerable sum of money. J. Magonet suggests that “to flee from God, Jonah must have sold his home, left everything behind and set off at the risk of his life.” The ship on which Jonah traveled was most likely a merchant ship and probably of Phoenician registry. The Phoenicians were responsible for most of the sea traffic in the Mediterranean during this period of time. They pioneered exploration and trade by sea. But Jonah tragically played the fool when he chose to pit their seafaring skills against the Creator and Lord of the sea.
J. Limburg asks what these first three verses say about God. This is a significant question. Although Limburg delves unnecessarily into a discussion of ecumenical thought, there are three basic answers to his question. First, God calls people to his service. Here Jonah is called to preach to a foreign city, Nineveh. Second, God cares enough about sinners to send a word of hope, love, and grace. Finally, implied here and told later in the story, no one can run from God. “You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me” (Ps 139:5). And certainly if our misdeeds are never hidden from him, so also are our needs ever before him (cf. Isa 40:27).
2. The Storm at Sea (1:4–6)
4Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”
1:4 The word order of this verse, with the subject first (rather than the verb-first order normal for Hebrew), places emphasis on the Lord’s acts over against those of Jonah. This is enhanced by the fact that v. 4 ends with the same word, yhwh (“the LORD”), that ends v. 3. As Brichto has written, “The flight of Jonah must stand out, as the author intended, in all its existential absurdity.” Jonah thought he could just walk away from a divine assignment. But the Lord was to make Jonah’s voyage into a “teachable moment.” The plans of a sovereign God are not so easily thwarted by the stubborn will of a puny prophet. Jonah was to learn that it was not so easy to resign the Lord’s commission.
There is nothing uncommon about a storm at sea, but we are informed that this storm had a special purpose. It was caused by a “great wind” that God’s hand hurled like a spear to stop the fleeing prophet in his tracks. The verb translated “sent” (ṭûl) is elsewhere used of hurling an object such as a spear (cf. vv. 5,12,15, “throw”; 1 Sam 18:11; 20:33; Isa 22:17; Jer 22:26–28). Persons at sea often experience feelings of isolation, but Jonah would find such feelings misleading. The eyes of the Lord were continually upon him (cf. Prov 15:3), and the sea is God’s dominion. As the psalmist wrote, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” (Ps 24:1–2).
The last clause of the verse is striking because of its imagery and syntax. The verb translated “threatened” (ḥāšab) means to “consider” or “plan” when it occurs with a human or divine subject (cf. 1 Sam 18:25; 2 Sam 14:13–14; Esth 8:3; 9:24; Jer 26:3; 29:11). Thus the ship is here personified. It was determined to break apart. The drama of the situation is heightened by the syntax, which sets off this clause parenthetically from the others. This might be better expressed by translating, “Now the ship was determined to break apart.” In contrast to the disobedient prophet, the wind, the sea, and even the ship were tuned in to the Lord’s purposes (cf. Lev 18:25). As Sasson describes, “The ship is first to realize the brutality of the storm, and its own terror at breaking up is quickly communicated to the sailors.” As v. 5 will explain, Jonah was the last one to respond.
1:5 Verse 4 shows the initiator of the storm; v. 5 tells of the results of this frightening tempest. The response of the seamen was to cry out to their own gods. Apparently this was “an international, polytheistic crew.” These sailors had experienced storms before, so why did this storm invoke a “religious response”? Perhaps there was a vague uneasy feeling or a recognition that the suddenness of this storm involved a divine reaction. How they discerned this is not stated, but to their credit they recognized a divine reaction to some sin. Of course, their crying out to other deities was ineffective. The ancient Near East’s religious environment included devotion to a multitude of “protecting spirits, patron deities, lower echelon gods and goddesses and senior members of the Pantheon,” which gave rise to an extremely confusing situation. Perhaps the sailors felt that they had not reached their god or had gone through the wrong “channels” to contact their particular patron deity. Thus they also “threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (cf. Acts 27:18–19), practicing the advice penned many years later, Pray like everything depends upon prayer, and work like everything depends upon work.
The storm’s frightening intensity along with the sailors’ frantic activities stood in stark contrast to Jonah’s state; he had gone “below deck,” literally “into the inmost part of the ship,” as far away from God and his duty as he could go. There he sank into an extremely deep sleep, almost a hypnotic sleep (cf. Gen 15:12; Judg 4:21; 1 Sam 26:12; Jer 51:39; Dan 8:18; 10:9). The same root (rdm) is used in Gen 2:21 for the sleep of Adam that allowed for “surgery.” Even through the roaring of the wind and the tossing of the ship, Jonah remained asleep, as dead to the world as he was to God (cf. 1 Thess 5:6).
How could anyone remain asleep through a storm of this magnitude? Perhaps Jonah was exhausted from the taxing journey. Being glad to relax, he was lulled into deep slumber by the action of the waves. H. L. Ellison suggests a different physiological reaction as contributing to this deep sleep: “The storm that can terrify the sailor can reduce the landsman to physical impotence and unconsciousness.” Other commentators point to the extreme emotional exhaustion and depression that is inevitable when a person directly rebels against the revealed will of the Lord. Whatever the cause, Jonah was out of contact for the moment, unaware of the danger from the storm.
1:6 The sailors were working feverishly and praying heartily for their lives, but the cause of the trouble was below decks fast asleep. Not knowing Jonah’s connection to the trouble, the captain (lit., “head of the rope pullers”) nevertheless saw the incongruity of his sleeping through it all, especially since Jonah would have been the first to drown if the ship had gone down. So he asked him the question, “How can you sleep?” The NRSV more literally renders it, “What are you doing sound asleep?”
The captain of the ship did not recognize Jonah as a Hebrew or as a prophet whose prayer should have been especially effective, nor did he mention the covenant name of Jonah’s God. But seeing Jonah as yet another person who might join in the desperate prayer meeting, this heathen sea captain admonished him to pray. In doing so, the captain used two of the verbs Jonah had previously heard from God. “Get up” is the verb qûm that begins v. 2 in Hebrew, and “call” is the verb qāra˒, there translated “preach.” “The captain speaks better than he knows, and the irony cannot have escaped Jonah.”
Perhaps the captain did recognize the possibility that Jonah’s God, Yahweh, might be the initiator of the storm and, because he was being ignored by Jonah’s slumbering, needed to be consulted also. As Allen says, “Grudgingly, one has to admire this enlightened pagan who outshines Jonah in his grasp of divine truth.” The captain issued forth the idea that perhaps whatever god was responsible might “take notice of us” (or “spare us a thought”). The verb “take notice” is found only here in the Hebrew Old Testament (and only in Dan 6:4 [Eng., v. 3] in Aramaic, where it is translated “planned”). As Baldwin explains, “The sailors envisage the gods as existing ‘somewhere out there,’ but apt to be preoccupied.” Furthermore, “This man, although an idolater, appreciates that mere humans cannot dictate to their god” (cf. 3:9).
There is extreme irony here: a “heathen sea captain” pleaded with a Hebrew prophet to pray to his God. It is sobering to see one who might be termed an “unbeliever” pleading for spiritual action on the part of a “believer.” The “unbeliever” saw the gravity of the situation while the prophet slept. It is a sad commentary when those who are committed to the truth of God’s word have to be prodded by a lost world into spiritual activity.
3. Unveiling of Responsibility and Identity (1:7–10)
7Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
8So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
9He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
10This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)
1:7a Having received no direction during their short yet intense prayer meeting, the sailors began to speak among themselves. They recognized some sort of divine initiation in the storm, perhaps because of its unusual intensity or the peculiar appearance of a storm during the sailing season, and they sought yet another way to determine the cause. They wanted to find the individual responsible for incurring this divine wrath, so they purposed to employ the casting of lots to reveal the guilty person. The context relates that Jonah was now on deck. There is no evidence that he joined in the sailors’ prayer meeting, but he did come on deck, apparently in response to the captain’s rebuke.
The casting of lots was a widely used method in the ancient Near East. The most common word used for “lot” indicates that they were either stones or pebbles that were painted or colored. When the stones were thrown, if two dark sides landed up the usual interpretation was no. If two light sides landed up, that meant yes. A light and a dark side meant throw again. Using this system, the sailors dealt with each individual until the color revealed the guilty person. This specific means of discerning the Lord’s will is found many times in Scripture. For example, the casting of lots was the means for determining the guilt of Achan (Josh 7:14–18), for distributing the land to the tribes of Israel (Josh 18:10), and for selecting Saul as king (1 Sam 10:20–22). As Prov 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
1:7b–8 It is interesting to imagine the drama of this moment. As the lot found Jonah to be the guilty party, all eyes focused on him. What was his reaction? Did he think that somehow the lot would not show him to be guilty? Did he think “luck” might be on his side in this instance? Regardless, questions were asked very quickly.
The first question, “Who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?” is almost identical to the question over which the sailors had just cast lots in v. 7a. Therefore some scholars think it is redundant and should be omitted here, following some LXX manuscripts and two medieval Hebrew manuscripts. This first question may simply have been asked in a rather emotional fashion to set the stage for the remaining questions. Or it may have expressed a desire to corroborate the finding of the lots or to give Jonah an opportunity to deny it. Clearly the sailors were exceedingly cautious and awestruck by the storm and this man.
The slight difference in the framing of the two expressions, however, may suggest a difference in function. Before casting lots the sailors asked (literally) “on whose account this calamity is ours.” The expression they used when speaking to Jonah afterwards probably should be understood either as an identification of Jonah or as the reason for their further questions. Therefore it may be rendered, “Tell us, you on whose account this calamity is ours,” or perhaps, “Tell us, because it is on your account that this calamity is ours.”
Whatever the function of the first question, the answers to the sailors’ other questions would clarify the decision of the lot and help them determine what must be done. These mariners wanted answers, and they wanted them quickly. Their lives had been placed in danger, and they wanted to understand why.
1:9 For the first time in the story Jonah speaks. But he responds to all their questions with only two answers, which are simple and relatively short. He knew that his response probably would satisfy the curiosity of the seamen. In describing himself as a Hebrew, he was using terminology they would understand (cf. Gen 39:14; Exod 1:15; 1 Sam 4:6).
In the statement “I worship the LORD” Jonah was answering not an overt question but an essential and perhaps implied one. His answer is a rudimentary confession of faith, perhaps even a word of testimony. “Worship” translates a participle (yārē˒) meaning “fearing.” Since participles usually are used to identify occupations, it could be understood as answering one of their questions explicitly, but it is almost certainly intended to express a state of affairs that is vital to the problem at hand. Even though Jonah’s witness at this time was anything but consistent (so the irony in his claim), his statement was generally true and to the point (cf. Mal 3:16). The God they were encountering was Yahweh, whom Jonah identified for their benefit as “the God of heaven.”
The Phoenician sailors worshiped Baal Shamem, which means “the lord of heaven.” The phrase indicates the supreme God who controls the heavens and, therefore, was indeed the initiator of the winds that brought the storm. While the phrase “the God of heaven” is one that became intensely popular in postexilic writings (cf. Ezra 1:2; 5:12; Neh 1:4–5), the phrase also was used earlier (cf. Gen 24:3,7). Jonah added the last phrase, “who made the sea and the land,” to identify the Lord as being the Lord of all creation. This gave further proof that the Lord was the initiator of this frightful storm.
Many interpreters have identified vv. 4–16 as a chiasmus, that is, the recurrence of a series of terms and themes in reverse order. In all of these analyses vv. 9–10 are viewed as the center, focus, and turning point. D. Alexander has followed and refined the analyses of Lohfink, Pesch, and Fretheim in producing the following analysis that shows the relationship between the various parts:
A Yahweh hurls a wind on the sea; the storm begins; sailors fear and cry to their gods (vv. 4–5a)
B Jonah sleeps; cry to your god; we shall not perish; divine sovereignty (vv. 5b–6)
C that we may know on whose account (v. 7)
D the sailors question Jonah (v. 8)
E I fear (v. 9)
E´ the sailors fear (v. 10)
D´ the sailors question Jonah (v. 11)
C´ I know that it is on my account (v. 12)
B´ sailors strive for land; sailors cry to Yahweh; let us not perish; divine sovereignty (vv. 13–14)
A´ sailors hurl Jonah into sea; the storm ceases; sailors fear Yahweh and sacrifice (vv. 15–16)
1:10 At this point in the drama tension heightened. The expression is literally “they feared with a great fear.” The seamen not only were horrified that their “numinous dread” had been confirmed (that this was a divinely initiated judgment), but they were now filled with “holy fear” by Jonah’s admission that he served a god who controls everything. To know that Jonah was a Hebrew was one thing; to know that he worshiped the supreme God was another. To run away from a god was foolish; but to run from “the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land” was suicidal. Their question, “What have you done?” was not a question about the nature of Jonah’s sin but an exclamation of horror. They were frightened to the depths of their beings.
4. Stilling of the Storm (1:11–16)
11The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
12“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
13Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.” 15Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
1:11 With the identity revealed not only of the culprit but also of the angry deity, the sailors demanded a solution from Jonah. This was an increasingly desperate situation, and they knew that something had to be done to placate this angry God. Since they did not know this God’s prescription for obedience, they naturally turned to Jonah and asked him, “What should we do to you?”
1:12 Jonah’s reply to the sailors is fascinating. If the sailors were looking for a confession, they received it here. Apparently Jonah’s reaction of “spiritual greatness” was inspired by the “piety” of the sailors, which had “banished his nonchalant indifference and touched his conscience.” Jonah showed a deeper understanding of God, but one would have to recognize that his motives were not the highest. As chap. 4 makes clear, at this point Jonah did not have deep compassion for the pagan. Glaze is right that “it was the voice of his conscience, not compassion, that spoke.”
The unnatural ferocity of the storm and the casting of the lot only confirmed what Jonah already knew. So now he resigned himself to his “fate.” He did not exhibit repentance for fleeing from the Lord but merely resigned himself to the only seeming solution. In v. 6 the captain had already asked Jonah to pray. Jonah did not seem so inclined but gave the sailors instruction on what to do so that they might possibly be saved from the ferocious tempest. It is interesting that Jonah did not offer to jump overboard on his own. Perhaps he was too frightened, or perhaps at this point he was merely asking for them to be the instrument of God’s punishment.
1:13 Verses 13–16 portray an emotional, frantic, and tragic scene. The pagan sailors were caught in a dilemma. They did not wish to throw Jonah into the sea. But it was not humanitarian motives that bothered them; it was fear of Jonah’s God. Nevertheless, in this increasingly dangerous situation, the sailors came to recognize that Jonah’s solution was their only hope.
The sailors’ effort “to row back to land” was a valiant one. The word “rowed” literally means “to dig into the water.” They did their best to reach land, to rid themselves of this troublesome passenger. But their attempt failed. The further they rowed, the wilder the wind blew and the more tempestuous the sea grew. It became quite obvious to the sailors that Jonah’s God was not in favor of their chosen method of dealing with Jonah’s predicament. Superficial solutions to the entanglements caused by our rebellion and disobedience seldom work. Repentance often requires radical action.
1:14 Having failed in the “rescue” attempt, there ensued an unusual prayer meeting. The prayers were passionate, but those who prayed were pagan and had only recently come to a commendable respect for Yahweh and his power. This prayer as recorded in v. 14 is a structural counterpart to their earlier prayers to pagan gods in v. 5. Clearly they had come to appreciate the power of Yahweh and now entreated his mercy. The sailors’ prayer consisted of three parts.
The petition “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life” not only indicates a respect for God’s power but also a fear of his vengeance. The sailors were fearful that there might be some kind of retribution for what they were about to do. They obviously were aware that the taking of a man’s life was a very serious matter, and consequences were involved, especially when the person was a servant of the supreme God.
The second of the two petitions strikes deeper than the first, at the reason why their intentions might place them in danger. The use of the term “innocent” might indicate some uncertainty on their part about Jonah’s guilt. Or the term could be used to describe one who had not been judged guilty in a human tribunal. The sailors had not been present during Jonah’s “crime” and therefore had no direct evidence by which to judge him. But the intent of the prayer is obvious. They did not wish to be held responsible for what was going to happen. They had already seen Yahweh’s power, and they wanted no part of punishment by this God who controls the sea.
In their final statement, “For you, O LORD, have done as you pleased,” the sailors attempted to establish God’s “guilt” in this matter. They wanted the Lord to recognize that they were unwilling pawns in this situation. They were washing their hands, attempting to be released of responsibility. This phrase also indicates the sailors’ recognition of the absolute power of Yahweh and is a melody that runs close to the heart of the Book of Jonah. The sovereign Lord acts according to his good pleasure—either in judgment or in grace (cf. Pss 51:18; 115:3; 135:6; Prov 21:1; Isa 55:11; Lam 3:37–39; Matt 11:25; Eph 1:5,9).
1:15 This verse follows logically after v. 12. The verb for “took” (nāśa˒) is the same one Jonah used there (translated “pick me up”), and the phrase “threw him overboard” uses the same words as Jonah’s “throw me into the sea.” Furthermore, the effect that Jonah predicted—“it will become calm”—came about (but in different words, lit., “the sea stood still from its raging”). From the perspective of narrative artistry, vv. 13–14 serve to heighten the dramatic tension by postponing the inevitable. Although they do not advance the story line, they do include helpful information about the sailors’ character and the important statement about the Lord’s sovereign will and power.
How much time transpired between vv. 14 and 15? Was the “amen” of the prayer meeting the seizing of Jonah? Could there have been a moment of silence seeking some sort of sign from Yahweh in response to the prayer? The text does not answer these questions. It simply relates the outcome. The effect of the sailors’ action seems to have been immediate. The cessation of the raging tempest was proof to them that Jonah had been right and that Yahweh actually did control the sea.
1:16 The verb for “fear” occurs first in v. 5 of the sailors’ fear of the storm, then in v. 9 of Jonah’s claim to reverence the Lord, then in v. 10 of the sailors’ terror of the Lord, and finally here of their profound awe before the Lord (cf. Luke 8:22–25). The expression (literally) “feared the LORD with a great fear” is the same as in v. 10 with the addition of “the LORD.” The obvious difference is that fear for their lives had turned to submissive awe, which apparently manifested itself in some degree of repentance. These pagan sailors recognized the awesome capability of the God of Israel (cf. Isa 59:19; Mic 7:17; Zeph 2:11; Mal 1:14; 3:5).
The author does not attempt to explain the type of sacrifice offered by these sailors or the nature of the vows. D. Stuart makes a reasonable point that the sacrifice “could hardly have occurred on board the ship, denuded of its cargo.” He explains further that “the transportation of edible animals on ocean-going ships was as infrequent in ancient times as in modern” and that “in all the religions of the ancient Near East, as far as the evidence is known, sacrifices took place at shrines or temples.” Therefore they probably made vows to offer sacrifices and fulfilled those vows after they reached land (cf. Pss 76:11; 116:17–18). The Midrash understands this to mean that they threw their idols into the waves, returned to Joppa, went up to Jerusalem, and became proselytes. This is not impossible, but we must be careful not to go beyond the text. While some would associate these actions on the part of the sailors with true worship of Yahweh, it is not clear whether these mariners had a conversion experience to Israel’s God. No doubt they became cognizant of the power of the Lord and learned to respect that power. Whether they went further than that we do not know. D. Stuart argues that the statement that they “greatly feared” the Lord “would hardly mean to the ancient audience that the crew had been converted to monotheistic Yahwism. They had, however, been so convinced that Yahweh really could do ‘as he wanted’ (v. 14) that they added Yahweh to the god(s) they already believed in.” It is sad but true that there are some who seem to recognize the power of the Lord but refuse to receive him as Lord and Savior. It would be wonderful to know that these sailors continued in their fear of the Lord and ultimately came to “know” him, but their ultimate end is unknown.
SECTION OUTLINE
II. GOD’S RESCUE OF THE REBELLIOUS PROPHET (1:17–2:10)
(1) God’s Protection and Jonah’s Prayer (1:17–2:9)
1. The “Appointed” Fish (1:17)
2. The Prophet in Prayer (2:1)
3. The Psalm of Thanksgiving (2:2–9)
(2) The Prophet’s Deliverance (2:10)
II. GOD’S RESCUE OF THE REBELLIOUS PROPHET (1:17–2:10)
1. God’s Protection and Jonah’s Prayer (1:17–2:9)
(1) The “Appointed” Fish (1:17)
17But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
1:17 This verse, which begins chap. 2 in Hebrew, is perhaps the most famous verse in the Book of Jonah. Rimmer ironically says: “This is the first of 2 verses which ‘ruin’ the narrative. If this verse and 2:10 were removed, then the prophecy would be plausible for modern readers.” It probably is true but tragic that many point to this verse as their “reason” for not believing God’s Word. This miracle is singled out, even though it is simply one of several in the book (see p. 215 in the Introduction).
The text says that “the LORD provided” a great fish to swallow Jonah. The word “provided” (from mānâ) has been the subject of varying translations. In the KJV it is rendered “prepared.” This gives the perception that God created a special creature for the specific purpose of rescuing Jonah and providing a place for his training in humility and submission. But an accurate translation would be “ordained” or “appointed.” The word is used four times in the Book of Jonah and always points to the Lord’s power to accomplish his will. Here it shows his sovereignty over the creatures of the sea; in 4:6 it shows his power over plants; in 4:7 it shows his power over crawling creatures; and in 4:8 it shows his power over the wind. While God indeed may have prepared a special “fish” for Jonah, the text only indicates that God summoned the fish, common or special, to be at that place at the exact moment of need.
Conservative scholars throughout the years have spent a great deal of energy and time describing types of large fish that might have been capable of swallowing a human. But all we know for sure is that it was a “large fish.” The word translated “fish,” dag, is the general Hebrew word for any aquatic creature (cf. Gen 9:2; Num 11:22; 1 Kgs 4:33; Ps 8:8). The LXX uses kētos, which means a “huge sea-fish.” The KJV causes some misunderstanding, for in Matt 12:40, which quotes Jonah 1:17 (from the LXX), it translates the word as “whale.”
Trying to marshal evidence to confirm this Scripture may in fact result in the denigration of the miracle. Searching for historical incidents when people and large animals were swallowed and later recovered from sea creatures shows a posture of defensiveness that is unnecessary, counterproductive, and violates the nature of the biblical account. As D. Stuart says, “A miracle is a divine act beyond human replication or explanation.” On the other hand, it is hard to argue that the author invented the tale without presupposing the impossibility of the miraculous, which would be irreconcilable with Hebrew tradition. Also, as D. Alexander and others have observed: “The author’s portrayal of this most peculiar event is very low key; it has certainly not been included in order to heighten the dramatic quality of the narrative. This being so, why should the author have invented it, if it did not really happen?”
Why did God use this specific means of returning Jonah to his appropriate place of service? For some the purpose of the fish was solely allegorical. Glaze states: “The literary apparatus rich in metaphors and poetic imagery indicates the broader purpose of the author, and the allusions are evident to the intended audience. The relationship to one of Jeremiah’s prophecies was clear: Israel, swallowed by Babylon, would be delivered.” In other words, the story had to present elements commensurate with the intended teaching lesson.
More fitting of the context is the view that the fish provided time for instruction from the Lord. R. T. Kendall says it well: “The belly of the fish is not a happy place to live, but it is a good place to learn.” Jonah was well aware of the numerous Old Testament reflections of chaos, pictured by the sea monster Leviathan (Pss 74:13–14; 104:26). During Jonah’s time in the fish he may have reflected on God’s dominance over every force in the world. Jonah had to learn that God’s purpose was serious and that his concerns as well as his power went far beyond the shores of Palestine.
Jonah was in the fish “three days and three nights,” although he would have realized this only after his removal from the fish. This phrase may be intended as an approximation rather than as a precise measure of seventy-two hours; however, the point of the fuller expression rather than simply “three days” would seem to be that Jonah was confined for “three full days.” Some think the expression reflects the ancient belief that death was permanent only after a body showed no signs of life for three days (cf. John 11:6,14). If this interpretation is applied to the Jonah text, it apparently would mean that the fish was not primarily an agent of Jonah’s deliverance but an additional danger to his life. The “three days and three nights” phrase would point to his precarious state of existence, hovering between life and death. This interpretation, however, appears out of step with Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving from inside the fish (2:2–9). Nevertheless, his thanksgiving probably was not solely for deliverance from drowning but was based on his anticipation of deliverance from the fish as well. Therefore the time frame perhaps should suggest that God’s power and grace retrieved Jonah as if from the dead (cf. 2:6), and the great fish was the vehicle God used.
A similar interpretation is that the expression alludes to a common motif in the ancient Near East of a three-day journey to the underworld and back. With that notion in mind, the readers of Jonah would have seen the fish as representing God’s rescue from the underworld, that is, death. Numerous texts in the Old Testament refer to three days as the period of a journey. For example, Moses asked that Pharaoh permit the Israelites to leave Egypt to go on a three-day journey into the wilderness (Exod 3:18; cf. also Gen 22:4; Num 10:33; Josh 9:17; 1 Sam 30:1; 2 Sam 24; 2 Kgs 2:17). Jonah’s preaching tour of Nineveh also took three days (3:3). Jonah later may have pondered regretfully upon his three days in the fish made necessary because he tried to avoid three days of walking and preaching in Nineveh.
Although the phrase “three days and three nights” may have had a variety of connotations both from other Old Testament passages and from extrabiblical writings, no compelling reason exists to disbelieve the literal span of time indicated. In fact, none of the Old Testament allusions of a similar nature are necessarily figurative. The major point is that God, through the fish, could sustain this pouting prophet during “unbelievable” circumstances and return him to the place where he could renew his commission to serve.
SECTION OUTLINE
III. GOD’S SECOND COMMISSION AND JONAH’S OBEDIENCE (3:1–10)
(1) God’s Renewal of His Commission (3:1–2)
(2) The Prophet’s Preaching and Nineveh’s Response (3:3–9)
1. The Short Sermon (3:3–4)
2. The Response of the People (3:5)
3. The Response of the King (3:6–9)
(3) God’s Response (3:10)
III. GOD’S SECOND COMMISSION AND JONAH’S OBEDIENCE (3:1–10)
1. God’s Renewal of His Commission (3:1–2)
1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
This chapter brings resolution to the primary storyline of the Book of Jonah, for it relates the fulfillment of God’s word concerning both Nineveh and Jonah. Jonah finally obeys God and preaches in Nineveh, and the greatest miracle in the book takes place: the turning or repentance of an entire nation to God.
Having experienced the miraculous expulsion from the belly of the fish, Jonah found himself on dry land. Verses 1 and 2 do not mention his emotional state, so we are left to conjecture. Did he expect events to occur in this way? Though he had hoped for deliverance, did he expect it so soon? How long did it take him to regain a sense of composure? Did he simply wait in place for God to speak to him again? While the Scripture obviously does not deal with these matters, we may surmise that there was at least a brief period in which Jonah sought to regain a sense of composure and stability.
3:1 If we read the Book of Jonah in one sitting, these words will be familiar, for 3:1–2 is strikingly similar to 1:1–2. In a sense Jonah was back to where he began. However, the Jonah in chap. 3 is somewhat different from the person found in chap. 1. Much had happened, and many lessons were learned, but the process of discipleship obviously was not yet complete. The text simply points out that God spoke to Jonah again. There is no mention of reproach for the prophet’s former disobedience. The Lord simply repeated his command. While Jonah had taken quite a detour since the first command, God’s will remained steadfast.
Although God’s word came to Jonah a second time, demonstrating his forbearance and mercy, examples in Scripture show that not everyone has a second chance to do what God has commanded (cf. Gen 3; Num 20:12; 1 Kgs 13:26). However, this text should bring thanksgiving to the heart of every believer who has been given another opportunity to do what God requires. This text, more than anything else, points to God’s sovereignty and his insistence upon the accomplishment of his will. As J. Baldwin has written, “He will not be frustrated by the effrontery of a prophet, nor has he allowed the prophet to wander indefinitely off course.”
3:2 This verse is almost identical to 1:2 except for the final clause (see Introduction, “Structure,” p. 219). It uses the same three imperatives in Hebrew, literally, “Arise, go . . . proclaim.” But in 1:2 the reason for Jonah’s mission is given, while in 3:2 the stress is on delivering God’s words. Although the precise content of the message Jonah was commanded to preach to this Assyrian city is not yet mentioned, two things are made clear: where he should preach and the source of the message. Jonah was given specific “marching orders” about the destination. He also was reminded that the message would not come from him nor from anyone else, but only from the Lord. His job was to deliver the message, not to critique or revise it.
The clause “I give you” is literally “which I am speaking (or about to speak) to you.” The question arises whether the message was the same as given before, a new one God gave at this moment, or one God would give upon Jonah’s arrival at Nineveh. Nevertheless, the text confirms that Jonah was assured of God’s revelation, and he was commanded to preach that message. The verb used here for “proclaim” is the one that occurs so many times in Jonah meaning either “proclaim” or “call” (see comments on 1:2). It suggests a formal type of announcement, such as one made by an official messenger or ambassador. This lends credence to the importance of the message.
2. The Prophet’s Preaching and Nineveh’s Response (3:3–9)
(1) The Short Sermon (3:3–4)
3Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. 4On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”
3:3 The first half of v. 3 stands in stark contrast to 1:3, which begins in Hebrew with the same two words, literally, “So Jonah rose.” But whereas 1:3 continues, “to flee to Tarshish from before Yahweh,” 3:3 continues, “and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh.” The last time God called, Jonah headed west. This time in response to God’s call he headed northeast. Depending upon Jonah’s starting place, the trip to Nineveh would have been approximately five hundred land miles. According to the usual manner of transport (camel or donkey caravan), it would have taken approximately one month to traverse this distance. Going by foot would have taken even longer.
Several issues are involved in interpreting the clause “Nineveh was a very important city.” First is the use of the perfect tense verb hāyětâ, translated “was.” As mentioned in the introduction, several scholars point to this as proof that Nineveh had ceased to exist by the time of Jonah’s writing. Hebrew has only two so-called tenses, and they do not necessarily mark time, especially in the kind of circumstantial clause found here. The choice of verb form here is determined not by Nineveh’s former greatness but by syntax and the past time of the surrounding narrative. It emphasizes the size and importance of the city in Jonah’s day.
The phrase “a very important city” is literally “a city great to God.” Most versions have rendered the word meaning “to God” (lē˒lōhîm) as an adverb such as “exceeding” or “very.” L. C. Allen sees this phrase as a striking, biblical way of expressing a superlative by bringing it into relation with God. It is simply saying that Nineveh was “God-sized.” Although the word ˒elōhîm may serve in this way elsewhere in Scripture, Sasson claims that in such cases it is always paired with a noun, such as “prince of God” in Gen 23:6 or “mountains of God” in Ps 36:6 [Heb., v. 7]. He favors treating the phrase “as a circumlocution whereby ‘the large city’ is said to ‘belong’ to God.” It thus expresses “God’s dominion over the staunchest of Israel’s foes.” While a literal rendering “great to God” may be unnecessary, clearly God cared deeply about the Ninevites, whom he had created in his image. Therefore he sent this prophet with a message that would ultimately lead to their turning.
Following the phrase “great to God” that modifies “city” is another phrase (literally), “a journey of three days.” While some would dismiss this phrase as part of the general hyperbole or exaggeration of the writer, several scholars have shown that it can be understood in a literal sense (see Introduction, “Date,” p. 206). In the first century b.c., Diodorus Siculus correlated all the information received from the fourth-century Ctesias that Nineveh’s total circumference was approximately fifty-five miles. Given this, a three-day journey would be a reasonable trek around the city. On the other hand, the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681) wrote that he enlarged the circumference of the city of Nineveh from 9,300 to 21,815 cubits, or from about three miles to seven miles.
But Wiseman has shown that this phrase can relate not only to Nineveh proper but to the entire administrative district of Nineveh. This metropolitan district included also the cities of Assur, Calah (Nimrud), and even Dur-Sharruken (Khorsabad). This interpretation is supported by Gen 10:11–12, where “that is the great city” seems to refer to the whole district covered by Nineveh, Rehoboth, Ir, Calah, and Resen.
Regardless of the extent of Nineveh, perhaps the best way of understanding this phrase is as a description of the type of visit Jonah made to the city of Nineveh. As the NIV has translated, Jonah’s visit to Nineveh was a three-day event. Nineveh was a major diplomatic center of the ancient world, and the message God wanted the city to hear could not be shared hastily. For Jonah to have accomplished his mission, he would have had to travel to various sections, speaking to as many groups as possible. Such a visit could have taken three days. Another suggestion is that the three-day journey refers to the ancient Oriental practice of hospitality in which a visit required three days. The first day was for arrival, the second for the primary purpose of the visit, and the third for return. However the phrase is understood, it does not necessarily refer to the size of the city.
3:4 On this first day of the visit, customarily designed for meetings with city leaders, Jonah made his grand entrance. As Stuart points out, it is not likely that he simply “wandered into Nineveh” virtually unnoticed and then began shouting his message. Perhaps his first day involved meetings with officials and included the presentation of gifts to city dignitaries.
Although Bewer thinks that Jonah did not preach until the end of the first day, all the text says is that he began preaching on the first day of his visit, apparently whenever he found an opportunity or place fitting for his proclamation. Jonah’s arrival in Nineveh probably was dramatic. His clothing was no doubt different from the norm, his bearing gave evidence of a different lifestyle, and a possibly bleached skin color provided for much attention.
Many object to the historical reliability of this story because of the alleged unlikelihood that Jonah would have been able to communicate with the Ninevites. Bewer says that “this is another sign of the folktale character of the story.” However, if an Assyrian official could speak to the populace of Jerusalem in Hebrew in 701 b.c. (2 Kgs 18:26–28), there is no reason to doubt that a Hebrew prophet could speak to the populace of Nineveh in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the day, fifty years earlier.
Allen describes the situation poetically: “Lost like a needle in a haystack inside this gigantic Vanity Fair, this Sodom of a city, the tiny figure feels he can go no further. He stops and shouts out the laconic message with which he has been entrusted.” The message from the Lord, imparted by Jonah, was a relatively short one. In the Hebrew the message was only five words long. While it is not clear that this was all he had to say, the text does suggest that God’s message was brief and that Jonah simply preached it repeatedly. If these words were the sum total of the message, no reason for the destruction was given, nor was the manner of destruction described. There was not even an explicit call to repentance.
Jonah’s dialogue with God in the fourth chapter suggests that he may have preached this message with the secret hope that Nineveh would be destroyed. Fretheim states: “Jonah had just experienced the unmerited grace and goodness of God in his own life. Now he turns right around and makes it as difficult as possible for the Ninevites to experience God’s deliverance . . . a graceless message delivered by one living in the shadow of an experience of grace.”
Nevertheless, although Jonah apparently did not mention the possibility of deliverance in response to repentance, both he and his audience may have assumed it. At least his audience hoped for it. If this were not so, why had Jonah’s deity given them forty days? As Stuart explains, there was ambiguity in the message, for the forty days might be “simply to assure that the divine judgment was not far off.” Also the word for “destroy” (hāpak) carries a certain vagueness, since it can mean either “turn” or “overthrow” (see comments on Amos 5:7 in this volume). It can signify “judgment, a turning upside down, a reversal, a change, a deposing of royalty, or a change of heart.” In other words, Jonah’s words could mean either that in “forty more days Nineveh would be destroyed” or that “in forty more days Nineveh would have a change of heart.” Therefore the ambiguity in these words given by the Lord may have been what opened the door of understanding for the Ninevites and led to their positive response.
This also relates to the charge that Jonah’s prophecy was false since his prediction did not occur. If it was a prediction, then it was falsified by the outcome of the situation. However, if it was a warning, then it implied the condition “unless you repent.” While Jonah apparently hoped that this was a prediction, it is obvious that God meant it as a warning. Nowhere in the Book of Jonah does God call this message a prophesy. The issue is clarified even further by a reading of Jer 18:7–8, where the Lord carefully delineates the conditions under which he would relent:
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
The discussion of warning and judgment in this passage should lead to the recognition of several key points. First, this passage refers to the seriousness of sin as well as the certainty of God’s judgment. Nineveh was an exceedingly wicked and violent city, and this did not escape God’s notice. In that age as well as in every age, God recognizes and condemns what is unholy and unjust. One must also recognize the issue of God’s warning to those who are outside his will and his use of believers as messengers. In the Old Testament, Israel was intended to be a light to the nations (cf. Isa 49:6). In the New Testament one reads of the believers’ responsibility to be ambassadors in this world and carriers of the good news. This passage in Jonah portrays beautifully God’s concern for those who are outside his will and his plan for using his disciples in the grand process of reconciliation. Thus the people of Nineveh were given time, forty days, to recognize the seriousness of the situation and to repent.
(2) The Response of the People (3:5)
5The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
3:5 This verse gives a summary of Nineveh’s astounding response to the proclamation of this strange Hebrew prophet, which is then detailed in vv. 6–9. His message, heard by many and no doubt shared with others, spread to every part of the populace. Not only did they hear his message, they believed that it was a serious one. Thus the residents of Nineveh sought to avert their destruction. Like the reaction of the sailors in 1:5, the Ninevites’ reaction is conveyed by three verbs: “believed . . . declared . . . put on.” These describe three stages of response: inward, articulated, then outward (see Introduction, “Structure,” p. 219).
The events of v. 5 portray a whirlwind of activity by the populace. Since no further preaching is mentioned beyond the first day, it is possible that Jonah’s planned three-day preaching tour proved unnecessary. The revival broke out in the city on the first day. They accepted en masse the divine source of Jonah’s message, believing that what had been threatened might be carried out. The very size of Nineveh enhanced the nature of this miracle. Ellul is correct in stating that “we are here in the presence of a mystery and a miracle.” All the odds were against Nineveh’s accepting this message. After all, as Baldwin notes, “When Jeremiah preached a century or more later that Jerusalem would be overthrown, he was arrested and imprisoned for treason (Jer 26:8), although he was well known as the prophet of God.” One would not expect them to react to this strange prophet in this manner. One would imagine widespread questioning and doubt. If such a situation were to occur today, what would be the response of modern hearers? Who was going to destroy the city? How would it be done? Why should one believe such a message? We might expect that the people of Nineveh would have responded to Jonah with an incredulous sneer.
Obviously the Ninevites did “believe.” The important question here, however, is what did they believe? The NIV is correct in translating this phrase, “The Ninevites believed God.” Although the Hebrew can be translated literally “and the men of Nineveh believed in God” (bē˒lōhîm), this phrase does not carry the same significance as the modern understanding of “in God,” denoting a conversion to faith. The Hebrew phrase means only that they believed what Jonah’s God said would happen. It is best to understand the phrase as the NIV (and the NRSV) translates it, “believed God.”
In support of this understanding, Jonah did not mention the name Yahweh for God at this point. He used the word Elohim. The obvious purpose was to bring home that Jonah had not been proclaiming Yahweh to those who did not know him but that the supreme God, whatever his name, was about to show his power and judgment. There is not the slightest indication that Jonah at any point in his sojourn in Nineveh mentioned the God of Israel.