Great Background On The Book Of Jonah

Great Background on the Book of Jonah

Today we will study another great report of prayer in the Old Testament. Most of you know that the LORD included many of His servants' prayers. The Dake Annotated Reference Bible lists 222 different prayers in the Bible: 176 prayers in the Old Testament, and 46 in the New. (1)

*There are some great reasons why the LORD put so many prayers in His Word. First, God is showing us that He wants us to pray. He is also showing us that prayer is important, that prayer is powerful, and that He wants to answer our sincere, unselfish prayers. The LORD also uses these prayers to teach us how to pray. And that's what the sailors did in today's Scripture.

*When they found out Jonah was the cause of that terrible storm, and the only way to calm the sea was to throw Jonah overboard, they begin to urgently call on the LORD in prayer. Now, with all the troubles in the world today, in our nation, in our families, and often in our health, we need to pray more urgently to the Lord than ever. I know I do. Let's get started by reading Jonah 1:1-17.

*John Phillips explained that "we cannot understand the book of Jonah without some knowledge of its historical setting. In the background was the imperial, cruel, guilty city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria in the days of its glory. This metropolis was beautiful with terraces and historic palaces, arsenals and barracks, libraries and temples. (It was founded by King Ninus who was supposedly a son of the demonic god Ba'al.

*Nineveh had massive embankments, extensive irrigation canals, and mighty gates facing the Tigris river. Its high wall was so wide that several chariots could drive abreast along the top. The circumference of the city was about sixty miles, a three-day journey on foot. Beyond the walls, sprawling suburbs grew along the east bank of the Tigris river, and other towns ran one into another for mile after mile. Dwellings set closely together on the plain seemed to form one immense complex of buildings. Jonah could have walked past the temples and palaces in an hour, but he would have had to hike for days through the endless, tangled poverty-stricken slums to cover the whole city with his message of doom."

*Phillips also explained that "as a Hebrew and as a successful prophet, Jonah thought he knew God, and Jonah he was already an old man when he was called to preach to Nineveh. It was about 750 years before the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the name 'Jonah' means 'dove.' Through him the LORD wanted to send revival, not ruin, to the lost city of Nineveh. But Jonah was a zealous patriot, more like a hawk than a dove. He was fierce, sullen, proud, angry, rebellious, and brave.

*Jonah thought he knew God. But Jonah did not know the LORD nearly as well as he thought he did. He did not know God well enough to grieve over sin the way God grieves. He did not know God well enough to rejoice over the salvation of sinners the way God rejoices. Jonah had great difficulty accepting the fact that God loved Gentiles just as much as He loved Jews and the fact that He loved the cruel and oppressive Assyrians just as much as He loved Jonah!" (2)

(1) DAKE ANNOTATED REFERENCE BIBLE - Dake Publishing - https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/222-prayers-of-the-bible/

(2) Sources:

-Adapted from EXPLORING JONAH - Jonah 1:1-17 by John Phillips - "The Word of God" - Jonah 1:1-16 - John Phillips Commentary, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.

-Wikipedia - Ninus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninus

-Koinonia House - Prophets to the Gentiles - Jonah, Nahum, & Obadiah - Author Chuck Missler - https://www.khouse.org/personal_update/articles/2011/prophets-gentiles