08.04.21
Jonah
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me. (Jonah 1:2)
We just finished taking a look at the little book of Ruth. I pray that it was a blessing as it expressed the romance of redemption. We will now begin to look at the quite different book of Jonah.
Who was Jonah? He was the son of Amittai, a prophet from Galilee in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He was from a small village three miles NE of Nazareth.
Is this book a fairy tale or an actual account? While liberal Bible scholarship tends to dismiss the book as a myth, it is corroborated in the OT (2 Kings 14:25) and the NT—Jesus testified to the authenticity of the Book of Jonah (Matthew 12:39-41).
Jonah is the English form of a Hebrew name which means ‘dove.’ God sought through his ministry to bring peace to Assyria. He prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom of Israel about 800 BC. His ministry followed Elijah and Elisha, the times described in 1, 2 Kings.
Jonah was to minister to the city of Nineveh. This city was the capital of the empire of Assyria, which ruled from 900-600 BC. It was followed by the Babylonia Empire. Assyria stretched over what today would be: Egypt Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. The nation reached its zenith under Sennacherib.
Though the empire is long gone, there are still peoples who call themselves Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, or Akkadian. They have a flag and a separate culture all over the world.
The city of Nineveh was actually a collection of four cities with a total circumference of sixty miles. The walls were one hundred feet high and wide enough at the top for four chariots to be driven side-by-side. The city had fifteen gates decorated with bulls and lions. But as large as was the city, so vast was its wickedness. God determined to judge the city, but would also give it opportunity to repent. The true God is a God of both judgment and mercy.
The key verse of the Book of Jonah is: Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me. (1:2) God chose Jonah and commanded him to go and preach to wicked Nineveh.
The great theme of the book is the wideness of God’s mercy. The book demonstrates clearly that the God of the Hebrews has a concern for the whole world. He is sovereign over nature and all human affairs. He will give mercy and salvation to all who repent and turn to Him.
Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9)
The key word in this book is ‘prepared.’ There were several things that God prepared in this interesting and exciting account: a wind, a tempest, a fish, a gourd, a worm, and an east wind.
The outline of the book is quite simple, following the order of the four chapters. In chapter one we will see rebellion—Jonah in the storm. In chapter two comes repentance—Jonah in the fish. Revival is found in chapter three—Jonah in the city. And finally, sadly, there is regret—Jonah and the LORD, in chapter 4.
I encourage you to read this book in its entirety sometime this week as we prepare our hearts to consider the mercy of our great God.