Scripture Reading: Luke 11:29-32
29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
30 "For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
31 "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
32 "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Message:
(Consult General Outline of Jonah)
Jonah, son of Amittai, was a prophet from the town of Gath-hepher (2 Kings 14:25). Instead of going East to preach to Nineveh (modern-day: Mosul, Iraq) in obedience to God, Jonah went to the port of Joppa and sailed as far West as possible to Tarshish. However, God had different plans for Jonah as well as the great city of Nineveh, despite his disobedience. The mariners now worshipped God. The Ninevites repented, and even a whale obeyed. Jonah, though in close relationship with God, had the hardest time obeying!
Time of Writing: Likely during the time of Jeroboam son of Joash (793-753 BC) or before .
Jonah - "Dove"
Son of Amittai - "My Truth"
Would Jonah be a peace-bringing 'dove'? Before we look in the text and analyze his call to preach to Nineveh, let's pray.
Opening Prayer
Jonah 1:1-3
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."
3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Nineveh was a "Great city" - likely refers to the size, though it could also refer to its reputation.
Assyria was a conquering nation, very large, and the way they conquered was ruthless. They would rely on shock-and-awe tactics when it came to torture, and they were known as extremely brutal.
About Assyrian torture, an article was written in Spiegel Online -- one excerpt reads,
"...the Assyrians seem to have been the masters of brutality. They were also extremely verbose about the grisly ends they wreaked upon their enemies. "I will hack up the flesh and then carry it with me, to show off in other countries," exulted Ashurbanipal, an Assyrian king who reigned from 668 to 627 BC. And his heir liked to cut open the bellies of his opponents "as though they were young rams."
(Schulz)
(And there's also accounts of skewering individuals via a rounded wooden stake. Ouch.)
Perhaps Jonah was afraid of what could happen to him, or perhaps he knew of others who had been tortured and killed. The call to preach to Nineveh was also a serious task, as they were being taken to task by God for their wickedness.
So Jonah fled. What a horrible disjunctive clause (But Jonah arose to flee…)!
The duty of a prophet is to 'speak for' God and obey. It was usually a difficult thing to do, and for that reason, prophets were not popular in everyone's eyes. However, Jonah fled.
(See Map -- Nineveh's location vs. Tarshish)
Note: Nineveh is due Northeast from Joppa. Tarshish is due West. Some take this to be Tarsus, the same city Paul was from (Southeastern Turkey/Asia Minor, others take this to be a city in Sicily, or even Spain. It's most convincing that Jonah, as he was fleeing, would have gone West as far as possible since his mission was due Northeast.
Jonah 1:4-6
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."
Note that the LORD sent a wind. God is sovereign over nature and His Purposes. He wanted Jonah to bring a message of warning to the people of Nineveh, and regardless of the Prophet fleeing, God would bring about His purposes.
Interestingly, Jonah had gone on a ship with many who did not know the LORD, and the sailors cried out every which way. They seemed to be very superstitious -- note the 'perhaps' -- "Perhaps your God will consider us."
So they decided to cast lots. People cast lots 70 times in the Old Testament and 7 times in the New Testament. These could have been stones of different sizes, sticks with different lengths (e.g. shortest straw nowadays), etc. Today, we have the Holy Spirit with regard to the discernment process, but many would cast lots to determine what God's desire was.
Jonah 1:7-10
7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
9 So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
So they decided to cast lots. People cast lots 70 times in the Old Testament and 7 times in the New Testament. These could have been stones of different sizes, sticks with different lengths (e.g. shortest straw nowadays), etc. Today, we have the Holy Spirit with regard to the discernment process, but many would cast lots to determine what God's desire was.
Jonah knew that he was the problem, and he then mentioned his rebellion to these sailors, which made them fear for their lives.
Jonah 1:11-14
11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?" -- for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me."
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.
14 Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said, "We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You."
Interestingly, the men did not immediately take Jonah's suggestion of throwing him overboard to heart. They tried to row harder, and yet things just became more and more difficult. The LORD would not let Jonah escape this mission.
Was their request superstitious?
Jonah 1:15-16
15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.
The LORD answered this prayer. The superstitious sailors offered a sacrifice aboard the ship (last time this was recorded in Scripture was on Noah's Ark), and it's very likely that they became sincere believers in YHVH. You almost wonder what kind of 'discipleship' could have been done in a better scenario!
Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
So we see Jonah the Unintentional Evangelist. He was an obedient prophet of the LORD, which shows the level of commitment that he actually had before Him. Yet we see Jonah fight against what the LORD wanted. Jonah sinned, though he admitted it, confronted it, and as we will see later, repented, and yet the LORD had a greater plan of redemption despite his desire to flee. This is not necessarily the ideal scenario -- compare with Job. Job ran toward God initially, and our bearing should always be pointed to Him. But in Jonah's case, we see a few major things here:
- We see the LORD's patience. The LORD does not immediately strike Jonah down. He also does not immediately strike the sailors down for praying incorrectly. The LORD knows the situation, and He is going to bring good out of the initial disobedience of Jonah.
This is a common theme in Scripture as well as life -- what man intended for bad, God intends for good. Even in the New Covenant, Romans 8:28 shows us that everything will work together for good to those who love God, whether we see it clearly or not or whether we will partake in the benefit here or not.
- We see the LORD's availability. The heathen sailors call upon the LORD, and He provides a way for them to come to know Him. It's a common theme through the prophets that the LORD has the eventual desire for all nations to come to know Him. As we discussed in prior weeks, regardless of occupation or ethnicity or gender, our call is always to follow Jesus. These heathen sailors met God.
Malachi 1:11 - For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations," Says the LORD of hosts.
- We see the LORD's sovereignty. He accomplishes His purposes even with His own chosen vessel trying to flee.
- We also see hope in the imperfection of the prophet. God has such mercy on Jonah, as we will see throughout the book even more. At times, Jonah recognizes it directly and explicitly, though Jonah isn't always on that page. Jonah had flaws, and we do, too. Yet God has mercy on us.
Psalm 103:13-14
13 As a father has pity on his children, So the LORD has pity on those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
God understands that we aren't perfect. That's why He gave mankind animal sacrifices after the first sin. That's why He promised a Messiah. That's why He sent Jesus. We sin. Yet He brings us to victory through redemption through His Son.
Interestingly, and as we read in the Scripture Reading, the prophet Jonah, who was perhaps most famous for his 'fishy dwelling,' would serve as a symbol that Jesus used to explain His Death and Resurrection. Yet again, what man intended for evil, God intends for ultimate good.
And as we are near the end of the chapter, it's worth reading verse 17, as it leaves us with hope for Jonah --
Jonah 1:17
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
We also see that God sends a sea creature to keep Jonah from drowning. Jonah was literally cast into a stormy sea -- not good news -- but God did not abandon him, even after disobedience. This creature could possibly have been a whale, but it could have also been another creature at the time, perhaps an even bigger fish living at the time. The term is simply 'fish' or 'sea-dwelling living-thing.'
...But next week, we will study more about the Whale of a Rescue that the LORD brought about for the prophet Jonah. Let's close in prayer.
Closing Prayer
Bibliography
Schulz, Matthias. The Worst Ways to Die: Torture Practices of the Ancient World. Spiegel Online,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
