Day #189

Sermon - Audio
Jonah - Audio
Jonah - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Jonah

Picture = Charting of Jonah (Click Here)

Jonah: Within the Master Story:

The book of Jonah makes a twofold contribution to the story of the Bible. It fits into the story of redemptive history by showing the nature of God’s redemption—extending across national and cultural boundaries, requiring repentance, and based on the compassionate character of God. Second, the Bible reveals how God wants his people to live in the world, which we learn in this book by way of negative example as the behavior of Jonah shows us how not to live in regard to the unbelieving world. Additionally, Jonah’s three-day descent into the water foreshadows the death and resurrection of Christ. - ESVLB-

Setting:

*The book of Jonah is the only prophetic book that focuses specifically on the accounts of the prophet/person, the story is told through God & Jonah's dialogue.

*Jonah lived in Gath-Hepher inbetween Tarshish & Nineveh which are almost exactly the opposite direction.

*Nineveh is called a "great city" 4 times within the book, 3 by God.

*Jonah was the son of Amittai. Amittai is mentioned in 2 Kings, which would place him around the time of Jeroboam II. After digging up some information on Jeroboam II I found that it is believed that his reign was one of the most prosperous ever. Well after I found out that it was probably a very prosperous time, it’s interesting that prosperity may have played into the picture. Maybe Jonah thought Israel was being blessed because of their dedication to the Lord, and he didn’t want to share that with Nineveh. So Jonah may have not wanted to leave his cushy job and go to a place that “hated” God and enslaved the Jews at one point (Assyria)....You know, do the HARD THING.

Themes:

Jonah’s Calling – Jonah receives a call from the Lord, but wants nothing to do with going to save the people of Nineveh. I don’t believe Jonah was even scared of the people at Nineveh, but just didn’t want to show grace/mercy to them. He knew that God might.

The Boat - It’s interesting that Jonah basically signs up to be “thrown into the sea.” My guess is that he thought he was going to die, therefore, signed himself up for a death sentence. He didn’t have to say anything and he could have let the other men die. Instead he told the truth about what was happening and accepted his fate either way.

The Prayer – Like many of us who find ourselves in uneasy situations, Jonah turned to God in prayer. Later on in the prayer it seems that Jonah knows that God had heard his prayer and was going to rescue him. Jonah dedicated his life to God’s will if he was saved, and so it was. It’s weird for me to think about God caring about our prayers when our life choices get us into so many problems, but God does hear us just like Jonah. He shows mercy to Jonah, even though Jonah will not do the same for Nineveh shortly.

City of Nineveh – It seems that these people were heavily involved in sin, but were somewhat unaware of it even being sin. Jonah tells them to repent and the reaction to it is astounding! Everyone fasts and cries out to God for repentance, and God hears their cries by not destroying it. Once again God shows his mercy by not burning Nineveh to the ground. God is concerned for the city...this ticks Jonah off.

Under the Tree – As previously noted, Jonah despised the thought of Nineveh being saved from their sins. Nineveh worshiped many other gods and idols which would have severely bothered Jonah. He wanted death for these people so that is why his anger was so prevalent at the end of the book. Jonah is ticked off because God saved the people of Nineveh, the exact thing Jonah knew could happen, however, it’s amazing to see that Jonah didn’t have a problem with him being saved. I believe the final chapter is a big key in the book of Jonah, because it shows us just how selfish we are as humans. We so often believe it is about us or our desires, but God is clearly telling Jonah that there is a much larger story. In fact, this story really points a lot to the cross of Jesus Christ.

"He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." 1 Peter 2:22-25

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should parish, but that all should reach repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

Overarching Themes:

God’s Grace, Mercy, and concern toward sinners (us)
Repentance
Our Plan / His Plan
God’s Sovereignty