Explore the Bible C Lesson Preview C December 7, 2003 C This lesson replaces February 17, 2013 Responding to God s Call Background: Jonah 1:1-2:9 Lesson: Jonah 1:1-12, 17; 2:1-2 Motivation: Man Catches Fish is no news at all; Fish catches man might be a banner headline. What will God have to do to get our attention? All that He requires is obedience; yet, from His children He insists on this simple thing and will lovingly work with us until we learn to trust and obey. (Heb. 5:8) Examination: I. Jonah s Rebellion (1:1-3) A. Introduction 1. Author Jonah, the son of Amittai... (1) Believer s Study Bible, p. 1246: Jonah... whose name means dove (cf. Hos. 7;11; 11:11), was a prophet, son of Amittai (1:1), a native of Gath Hepher (2 Kin. 14:25) in Zebulun, a town about two miles north of Nazareth. Thus Jonah is described in terms that would point to his being a real person, and his experiences actual and historical. 2. Date Most likely the events took place during the reign of Jeroaboam II (793-753 BC). 3. Theme As one of the older (if not the oldest) prophetic book, Jonah contains profound truth about God. Believer s Study Bible, p. 1247: The pervading theme of Jonah is God s gracious extension of His mercy to Gentile nations through the preaching of repentance. Nevertheless, the book is unique in the number of 1 / 7
theological truths expounded in one brief volume (forty-eight verses). These additional themes are worthy of note: (1) the universal appeal of Israel s God (cf. the mariners, 1:16; the Ninevites, 3:5); (2) the sovereignty of God over life, elements, and circumstances (cf. the storm, 1:4; the fish, 1:17; the plant, 4:6; and the worm, 4:7; in this connection one should observe that the preoccupation of antagonists and defenders with the great fish has detracted from the theological truths resident in the book); (3) a contrast between the ineffectiveness of the gods of the mariners (1:5) and the Ninevites, and the saving competency of YAHWEH as witnessed by the mariners (1:16), by Jonah (2:10), and by the people of Nineveh (3:5-10); (4) a further contrast concerning the nationalistic pride of Israel and the failure of the nation to comprehend the nature of her missionary task and the purpose of God to bestow His lovingkindness upon all peoples this whole issue is made lucid in the life of the prophet himself (cf. 4:1-, 2); (5) finally, the story of Jonah s encounter with the fish as a typology prefiguring the Lord s three-day sojourn in the tomb and His subsequent resurrection (cf. Matt. 12:38-41). It is probably correct to state that the main character of the book is really God. No less than thirty-nine times is He directly referred to as YAHWEH or Elohim. In comparison, Jonah is mentioned eighteen times. The sovereign, covenant God of glorious attributes is the hero of this short prophecy. (Rom. 9:22-10:4; Jer. 23:5; Ps. 24; Ps. 46:10-11; Ps. 47-48) B. Instructions Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me. (2) Believer s Study Bible, p. 1248: 1:2 Arise, go, and cry are imperatives in the Hebrew language and connote a divine commissioning of Jonah by YAHWEH. God is not asking the prophet s advice or seeking his permission; He is issuing a direct command which He expects to be obeyed. Nineveh, the city built by Nimrod (Gen. 10:11; Nah. 1:1), served as a residence of the Assyrian kings. Around 700 B.C. Sennacherib made it the Assyrian capital, which it remained until its fall in 612 B.C. According to Strabo, it was far larger than Babylon. Located on the left bank of the Tigris River, the greater city apparently included several suburbs. God s command to reach out to a wicked Gentile city ran counter to Hebrew tradition and thereby posed both a moral and a theological problem for Jonah (cf. Nahum, for a list of Nineveh s sins: 1:11; 2:12, 13; 3:1, 4, 16, 19). C. Insurrection But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord... (3) Believer s Study Bible, p. 1248: 1:3 The reason for Jonah s futile flight (cf. Ps. 139:7, 9, 10) is discovered in 4:2. The exact location of Tarshish is still in dispute, though it is popularly identified with the maritime Phoenician port of Tartessus on the coast of Spain. First Kings 10:22 and 2 Chr. 9:20, 21 record that Solomon s navy journeyed to Tarshish every three years. The length of the journey (if that explains the three-year interval), and the rather exotic nature of part of the cargo (2 Chr. 9:21), render Spain an unlikely destination. The Far East or even South America may yet prove to be the location of Tarshish, as recent anthropological discoveries seem to suggest. 2 / 7
II. God s Discipline (1:4-17) A. Contrasting Jonah s Call With His Disobedience The commands of God in verse 2 are echoed in the Captain s orders in verse 6...Arise, call on your God... God s sovereignty over all nature (storm, fish, plant, worm) are in stark contrast to Jonah s rebellion against his creator. God s name (YAHWEH or Elohim) is mentioned 39 times in 48 verses. (Col. 1:15-19; John 1:1; Ex. 20:9-11) B. Contrasting Jonah and the Mariners (Believer s Study Bible, p. 1249) Jonah The Mariners He was a Hebrew with a rich history of YAHWEH God s faithfulness. They were Gentiles with no history of YAHWEH God He was monotheistic believing in the one true God. (v. 9) (Is. 46:9-10) They were polytheistic, worshiping many false gods. 3 / 7
He was rightly related to the true God. They had no relationship with the true God. He was spiritually insensitive, going in the wrong direction from God. (v. 5) They were spiritually sensitive, moving in the right direction towards God. They prayed. (v. 5) He was indifferent toward God s will in spite of knowing Him. They were concerned before God in spite of little or no knowledge of Him. He was uncompassionate toward Nineveh (v. 3) They were compassionate toward Jonah. (vv. 11-14) Jonah was rebellious and therefore disciplined, but not destroyed. (v. 17) They were brought to worship and commitment (v. 16) C. Contrasting Jonah s Reluctance to Serve With His Willingness to Die 4 / 7
1. Rebuke Why have you done this? (10) Even the lost world sometimes rebukes God s rebellious children. 2. Request What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us? (11) A disobedient child of God is worthless both to the world and to God s Kingdom. Extreme disobedience leads to disposal (Rom. 1:24; 2:1, 26) 3. Responsibility...for I know that this great tempest is because of me (12) Jonah realized that he was guilty and needed to be punished. His quick request to be thrown overboard shows compassion to the sailors, but also shows that Jonah chose death over preaching in Nineveh; He still was not ready to obey God! 4. Revival Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows (16) God can strike a straight lick with a crooked stick even in Jonah s rebellion, revival broke out on the ship. Jonah s testimony in verse 9 and the revival in verse 16 is a reminder that God s Word will not return void (Isa. 55:11) 5. Rebound Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah... (17) Believer s Study Bible, p. 1249: 1:17 The credibility of Jonah s experience with the great fish has often been maligned. Similar incidents, however, are not lacking in recorded literature. The issues are really the greatness of God and the authority of God s Word. The great fish was provided by God, not primarily for Jonah s punishment, but for four other reasons: (1) salvation from drowning (2:2-6), (2) transportation to Nineveh (2:10), (3) education from God (2:10), and (4) recommission from God (3:1, 2). Jonah s punishment and apparent end were accomplished on the deck of the ship. God s provision for a return journey was the fish. The fish may or may not have been a whale. It may have even been the enormous whale shark, a frequent visitor to the Mediterranean waters. The phrase three days and three nights does not necessarily denote a 72-hour period. In Hebrew thought, a part can constitute the whole in time reckoning. Thus Jonah was in the belly of the great fish at least part of three separate days. Jonah s importance rises significantly due to his experience being found on the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Matthew and Luke record the Lord s drawing of an analogy between Himself and Jonah (Matt. 12:39 ff. And Luke 11:29 ff.). Interestingly, the appropriation made by Matthew apparently differs from that of Luke. Matthew seems to emphasize the time preceding deliverance, while Luke focuses on the actual 5 / 7
event of deliverance from death. (Job 19:23-26) III. Jonah s Repentance (2:1-9) A. Jonah s Need (1-4) 1. Need for healing out of my affliction (2:2) 2. Need for hope out of the belly of Sheol (2:2) Whether Sheol represents death or hell, it surely represents a loss of hope. 3. Need for heaven For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Then I said, I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. (3-4) Most people of Noah s day could not swim; to be cast into the deep was a death sentence. Jonah s inability to save himself is analogous to a sinner s predicament today (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9; Rev. 13:8) B. God s Ability (5-6) Believer s Study Bible, p. 1250: 2:2-9 The prayer of Jonah incorporates the nuances and language of the Psalms, indicating thorough saturation of the prophet s mind with the Word of God. Compare v. 2 with Ps. 18:4-6; 30:3; 120:1, 2; v. 3 with Ps. 42:7; v. 4 with Ps. 5:7; 31:22; v. 5 with Ps. 69:1, 2, 15; v. 6 with Ps. 18:16; 30:3; v. 7 with 18:6; 42:4; 142:3 v. 8 with 31:6; and v. 9 with 50:14, 23; 116:17. The prayer itself is one of thanksgiving and praise for deliverance by the fish from drowning Jonah no doubt voiced a prayer to God in the belly of the fish, only to reflect later upon the entire incident and poetically write down his heartfelt thoughts. C. God s Saving Grace (2:9) 1. God is the preparer of our salvation Without the fish, Jonah would have died (2:6) 6 / 7
2. God sends circumstances to turn us to Him Jonah s rebellion extended until the time he found himself in the fish s belly. Only then I remembered the Lord (2:7) 3. God rejects other man-made schemes of salvation Those who regard worthless idols for sake the mercy of God (2:8) 4. God alone provides salvation Salvation is of the Lord (2:9) Peter declared Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12; Matt. 1:21) Application 1. Every believer has been called by God to serve in Jesus name. God called Jonah to be His servant in Nineveh (1:1-2). God also wants to use every Christian in His service. (I Cor. 1:26) 2. God does not give up easily on persons whom He calls to serve Him. God did not give up on Jonah even when he refused to obey His call (1:2-3). God worked diligently to lead Jonah to respond positively to His call (1:4-2:10; John 15:5; Mark 10:27). God s people should thank Him for His many blessings. Jonah thanked God for saving his life (2:9) 7 / 7