Jonah

Holy Writer and Date

The author is not specifically named in this book, or anywhere else in Scripture, but for over 2000 years it has been held that the book was written by the prophet whose name it bears. From the very first verse of the book we read, “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying...”. This phrase is common in the prophetic books pointing to whom the LORD was revealing His Word and which the LORD expected to be passed on to the appropriate individuals.

While Jonah is not called a prophet anywhere this book, as is common in most of the prophetical books, we see that he is called a prophet elsewhere in Scripture. In 2 Kings 14:25 we read, “...according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.” From this reference in 2 Kings we learn that Jonah lived in the land of Israel either during or sometime before the reign of Jeroboam II, and prophesied that Israel would become strong again under the rule of Jeroboam. Jonah’s work in the kingdom of Israel is not stated in this book, since it deals only with Jonah’s work among the people of Nineveh.

Historical Setting

Jonah was sent out by the LORD at a time when the kingdom of Israel was weak and losing many of its territories to neighboring countries. In 2 Kings 10:32-33 we read, “In those days [in the days of Jehu king of Israel] the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel; and Hazael conquered them in all the territory of Israel from the Jordan eastward: all the land of Gilead — Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh — from Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, including Gilead and Bashan.” And in 2 Kings 13:3, 7 we read about Israel weakening even more, “Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. ... For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.”

It was at this low point in Israel’s history that Jonah was sent to Israel with the promise of better days under Jeroboam. During Jeroboam’s reign Israel again prospered and expanded their borders (2 Kings 14:25, 28), but the people of Israel failed heed the Word of the LORD and repent.

Jonah was also sent to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, at about this same time. Jonah was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance. Through the preaching of Jonah the people of Nineveh did repent and turn to the LORD in faith. About 50 years later the LORD used the Assyrian nation to punish the people of Israel for their unbelief and idolatry by destroying the northern tribes of Israel (2 Kings 17).

Content

The Book of Jonah is listed in the Prophetic section of the Old Testament, yet of the four chapters, only one short sentence can really be called prophetic, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:4). This book differs from the rest of the books of the Minor prophets in that it is more biographical and historical than prophetical. While the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel have larger sections of biographical and historical information, none of the other prophetical books have such a small amount of prophecy. The majority of the book deals with Jonah’s commission from the LORD to preach to the Ninevites, and how he carried that commission out.

Most people know little more about Jonah than that he was swallowed by a fish and spit back out on shore three days later. This is quite sad, especially since that event makes up a very small part of the book. But this event was to prophesy a much greater miracle, the miracle on which the entire Christian faith, the certainty of our redemption, the hope of our own resurrection all rests - Christ’s own resurrection. Certainly it is much more important to recognize the meaning behind Jonah’s three day stay in the fish which Jesus Himself pointed to saying, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:39-41).

The fact that Jonah was preserved in the belly of a fish is indeed miraculous, but just as God preserved Jonah after seeming death, so also Jesus would be resurrected from the grave after seeming death. In the account of Jonah (the only prophet to whom Jesus compared Himself) we have a picture of Christ and His victory over death, and the sign that proved to all people that Jesus was the Son of God as He had said.

Purpose

Jonah was the “missionary” prophet of the Old Testament and is the first “apostle” sent to the Gentiles. Of all the prophets in the Old Testament, Jonah had the most visibly positive results. Jonah was sent to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire to point out their sin and lead them to repent of their sins - and they did as we are told in 3:5, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.” This book reveals that the LORD is God not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, and that He has compassion on them and also desires their salvation.

God’s desire was for Israel to “Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples” (1 Chronicles 16:23-24). But Jonah didn’t want to declare the LORD’s glory among the nation of Assyria. He didn’t want God to spare the people of Nineveh. May the LORD cause each of us to be willing witnesses of our Savior throughout the whole world!

Outline

I. Jonah's First Commission(1-2)

  1. Jonah's disobedience (1)
  2. God's deliverance (2)
II. Jonah's Second Commission (3-4)
  1. Jonah's obedience (3)
  2. God's observation (4)


Note: This study was prepared for the Bible Class at Zion Lutheran Church, Lawrenceville, GA by Pastor Nathanael Mayhew