Jonah Series

June 24, 2023

Jonah means “dove” – timid, fearful, senseless, and we will quickly discover that the character in our story fits his name.

Jonah was a real person. He lived in the Northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 BC)

• 2 Kings 14:23-25 - …. Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years….. 25 He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, 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.

During that time Assyria was a major military power who harassed both Israel and Judah. At the peak of her power, Assyria stretched from Egypt to the Persian Gulf. The vast empire was built by terror and violence and her rulers were well known for their cruelty. Listen to the boastings of Ashur-nar-sipal II - 883-859 BC:

…. I flayed as many nobles as had rebelled against me [and] draped their skins over the pile [of corpses]; some I spread out within the pile; some I erected on stakes upon the pile … I flayed many right through my land [and] draped their skins over the walls.

…. I cut off the heads of their fighters [and] built [therewith] a tower before their city. I burnt their adolescent boys [and] girls.

…. In strife and conflict I besieged [and] conquered the city. I felled 3,000 of their fighting men with the sword … I captured many troops alive: I cut off some of their arms [and] hands; I cut off others their noses, ears, [and] extremities. I gouged out the eyes of many troops. I made one pile of the living [and] one of heads. I hung their heads on trees around the city. {From the book “Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Part 2: From Tiglath-pileser I to Ashur-nar-sipal II”, written by Albert Kirk Grayson, 1976 - p.124-126}

In the book of Nahum, Nineveh is described this way, “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!” – Nahum 3:1

Our Story

Jonah didn’t wake up that fateful morning expecting anything but an ordinary day – Nineveh wasn’t even on his radar. Instead, he was probably minding his own business - doing his laundry or going to the market…. Then it happened - he heard Yahweh's voice: "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me."

Living in Israel, Jonah would have had firsthand experience with the cruelty of Assyria, so you would think that he would have jumped at the chance to go into his enemy’s camp and tell them their cup was full and that they were going to be destroyed….. However:

• Jonah 1:1 - Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh…..

God said, "Jonah go east." Jonah said, "I'm going west." He went to Joppa, purchased a ticket on the first ship heading in the right direction, found his cabin and promptly took a nap.

Why did the world's worst missionary run from God? Because he knew what could happen. He knew that if he brought Yahweh's message to Nineveh, they might, horror of horrors, repent. And if they repented – Yahweh would forgive them - pardon them - extend them Grace.

And that is not what Jonah wanted – he wanted them to die in ignorance….. In fact, the very worst possible scenario Jonah could think of was Nineveh repenting and God forgiving them.

Safely tucked below deck, Jonah might have actually thought he had gotten away with it, but he forgot one thing:

• Psalm 139:7-10 - 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.

So, what did God do? He sent a great storm. It must have been a really bad storm because the professional sailors on the ship were afraid.

They had never seen anything quite like this storm and in response they did 2 things:

• They prayed to their gods.

• They lightened the ship.

Nothing worked. If something didn’t happen quickly, the ship was going to sink. That’s when the captain found Jonah sound asleep in his bunk.

"What is wrong with you?” he yelled, “How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your god. Maybe He will take notice of our situation and save us!"