Jonah 2.10-3.3-The Lord Commands Fish To Vomit Jonah Onto Dry Land And Commands Jonah A Second Time To Go To Nineveh
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday November 7, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 2:10-3:3-The Lord Commands Fish To Vomit Jonah Onto Dry Land And Commands Jonah A Second Time To Go To Nineveh
Lesson # 38
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 2:10.
This morning we will study Jonah 2:10-3:3, which records the Lord commanding the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land and then commanding Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh.
Jonah 2:10, “Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.” (NASU)
Jonah’s expulsion from the great fish completes his deliverance since he could not have survived for much longer in its stomach.
The fact that the Lord commissioned the great fish to swallow Jonah to save him from drowning, coupled with the Lord sustaining Jonah for three days and three nights in the stomach of this great fish and the Lord commanding the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land makes clear that Jonah was the beneficiary of God’s grace.
He deserved death but instead was delivered from drowning by the Lord because of God’s grace policy.
Jonah realizes that he has been delivered by the Lord from drowning after being swallowed by this great fish and that this great fish was not sent to execute him.
Therefore, this great fish was an instrument of God’s grace and mercy for Jonah.
Therefore, by being delivered from a death he truly deserved because of his rebellion against the Lord, Jonah was being taught grace in order to change his attitude about the Ninevites who were also worthy of death like Jonah because of their disobedience and rebellion against the Lord.
Jonah 3:1, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.’” (NASU)
The expression “the word of the Lord came to Jonah” emphasizes with the reader that Jonah received divine authority to proclaim a message of judgment to the city of Nineveh.
The content of this message is related in verse 4, which echoes God telling Jonah to announce judgment against it in Jonah 1:2.
“A second time” indicates that the Lord is recomissioning the prophet to go to Nineveh.
It also speaks of God’s grace and mercy, which flows from His attribute of love since it indicates that the prophet is getting a second chance.
“Arise, go” is the second person masculine singular qal active imperative form of the verb qum (קוּם) (koom), “arise” and the second person masculine singular qal active imperative form of the verb halak (הָלַך) (haw-lak), “go.”
These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys and mean “go immediately” emphasizing the urgency of this command to go to Nineveh.
“The great city” emphasizes the size of the city of Nineveh highlighting its importance so that just as is the size of the city, so is the magnitude of its wickedness (The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah, page 4).
The content of this proclamation is not revealed until verse 4, namely that “at the end of forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
This proclamation was designed to lead the Ninevites to believe in the Lord and repent of their wicked conduct.
Jonah 3:3a, “So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.”
This statement is a result clause indicating that Jonah arose and traveled to Nineveh “as a result” of the Lord commanding him to do so.
“According to the word of the Lord” indicates that Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, which corresponds to the message communicated to him by the Lord.
In Jonah 3:3b, the narrator describes Nineveh as belonging to God and an enormous city requiring three days to walk through.
Jonah 3:3, “So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk.”
“Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk” is transitional signaling the completion of the fourth scene that appears in Jonah 3:1-3a and marking the beginning of the fifth scene, which appears in Jonah 3:3b-10.
Jonah 3:3b contains gives a two-fold description of this city.
“An exceedingly great city” is composed of the feminine singular form of the noun îr (עִיר) (aw-yar), “the city” and the feminine singular form of the adjective gadhol (גָּדֹול) (ga-dol), “great” the preposition le (לְ) (lamed) and the masculine plural form of the noun ʾělō∙hîm (אֱלֹהִים) (el-o-heem), “God.”
The noun îr means “city” referring to a population center that was enclosed by walls but also including surrounding villages.
As was the case in Jonah 1:2 and 3:2, the adjective gadhol, “great” emphasizes the size of the city of Nineveh highlighting its importance so that just as is the size of the city, so is the magnitude of its wickedness (The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah, page 4).
Some scholars contend that the adjective in Jonah 3:3b denotes that Nineveh was an important city to God in relation to the population of the city.
However, the expression “a three days’ walk” obviously elaborates upon the city’s size.
The noun ělō∙hîm means “God” emphasizing the transcendent character of God and in particular His attributes of omnipotence, sovereignty and love and refers to the Lord’s complete sovereign power over Nineveh.
This word is employed here rather than the noun Yahweh since the latter is used to emphasize Israel’s covenant relationship to God whereas the latter emphasizes that the Ninevites as Gentiles did not have a covenant relationship with God.
Some scholars contend that this word is not a reference to God but rather has a superlative force, which is how the NASU, ESV and NKJV interpret the word.
However, it is the object of the preposition le which is a circumlocution for a genitive to denote possession indicating that the prepositional phrase means “belonging to God.”
This prepositional phrase emphasizes the Lord’s sovereignty over the inhabitants of Nineveh who are one of Israel’s staunchest enemies and is anticipating the faith of the Ninevites in God and their repentance towards Him.
This is indicated by the events recorded in the rest of the chapter in which the king of Nineveh and his subjects respond to Jonah’s message of judgment by exercising faith in God and repenting from their evil conduct.
This continues the argument of the book of Jonah that God is sovereign over the Gentiles and not just the Israelites.
This prepositional phrase also emphasizes that God seeks to save the Gentiles.
“A three days’ walk” first of all speaks of the amount of time it would take for Jonah to visit the whole district administered by Nineveh, which in the days of the prophet would include Sinjar-Calah-Dur-Sharrukin.
Supporting this interpretation is that the phrase “the great city” is the very same expression that appears in Genesis 10:11-12 that refers to Nineveh.
In Genesis 10:11-12, the great city refers to the entire metropolitan area composed of Nineveh and the other cities, which would indicate that the phrase is to be understood in a semi-technical sense, meaning “Greater Nineveh.”
Also, supporting the interpretation that the expression “a three days’ journey” refers to the amount of time it would take for Jonah to visit the whole district administered by Nineveh is that the city was approximately 60 miles in length and a traveler like Jonah could cover 20 miles a day.
Thus it would take him three days to cover the city of Nineveh and its surrounding districts.
Also, undoubtedly as Wiseman suggests, the expression “a three days’ journey” refers to a diplomatic process or following the protocol of a visit by a diplomat.
To enter Nineveh, Jonah, like any other diplomat or emissary would have had to follow accepted protocol.
The first day would mark Jonah’s arrival in the city, followed by a customary day of visiting, business, and rest; then the third day is for departure.
This suggestion would accord with the ancient oriental practice of hospitality whereby the first day is for arrival, the second for the primary purpose of the visit and the third for return.
The first and third days of Jonah’s visit would involve meetings and explanations, perhaps even formal hearings.
Therefore, Jonah did not simply stroll into Nineveh proclaiming judgment against its inhabitants but rather would have had to follow accepted protocol.
This would explain why in Jonah 3:6-7 the king of Nineveh issued a proclamation to his subjects to repent.
The king along with his political and military leadership would have been the first to hear of this message of judgment from the Lord.