Jonah Lesson #01

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JONAH
Lesson #01
Introduction

• One of the most fascinating books in the Old Testament is the book of Jonah. There are so many important concepts in this book that it is impossible to underestimate this book. We know this book is important because Jesus quoted from it.
  • However, despite this importance, there is one part of this book that commentaries never explain.
  • Instead they ignore it as though it is not there. This little mystery we will unravel at the end of our study.

 

• THE AUTHOR

 

• The author is Jonah. What do we know about this man?
  • The name, Jonah, means = dove.
    • The significance of his name tells us something about his message. The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. (Mat 3:16) It is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict man of sin and minister life after repentance. (Joh 16:8 Joh 6:63 2Cor 3:6b)
    • Conviction of sin, repentance, and eternal life is the theme of this book.
  • Jonah was from Gathhepher (2Kin 14:25) in the area of land given to the tribe of Zebulon. (Jos 19:10, 13) His father was the prophet Amittai, which means = my true one. (2Kin 14:25).
  • Jonah was a prophet of God.
    • The work of the Old Testament prophet was a very dangerous job. It was necessary that he be called by God, totally committed to God, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and inspired with God’s words.
      • God inspired and spoke through the prophets of the Old Testament to bring God’s words to the Jews. (Heb 1:1)
      • However, the Israelites did not treat their prophets well. In their rebellion against God, they not only rejected the words of the prophets but they also rejected the prophets. In a majority of cases the Israelites killed God’s messengers and chose to believe the false prophets.
    • There were other prophets that were ministering at the end of Jonah’s ministry. They are Hosea (785 BC) (Hos 1:1) and Amos (787 BC) (Amo 1:1).
  • Some theologians believe this book was not written by Jonah because the author refers to Jonah in the third person (He) and not in the first person (I). This is not a strong argument as other authors of the Biblical books did the same thing as a literary device.
• Jonah was the only Old Testament prophet that attempted to run away from God. However, he was not the first Old Testament prophet called to speak to Gentiles. The prophets Elijah and Elisha were called to speak to Gentiles about God. These two prophets ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel just before Jonah.
  • Elijah (1Kin 17-19, 21) (2Kin 1-2)
  • Elisha (2Kin 2-9, 13)

 

• THE DATE

 

• The period of time for the story of Jonah is during the divided kingdom of Israel, before the Babylonian Captivity.
• Saul was Israel’s first king.
• David was Israel’s second king.
• Solomon was Israel’s third king.
  • After Solomon’s death, there was a struggle over who would reign next. This struggle resulted in a civil war in which 10 tribes rebelled against the two southern tribes.
  • This civil war resulted in the divided kingdom.
    • Ten rebellious tribes became the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and sometimes called Ephraim, after the tribe that led the rebellion.
    • The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin became the Southern Kingdom of Judah, named after the larger of the two tribes.
• The great majority of the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were evil kings, but God still had a heart for His people.

• The divided kingdom began about 975 BC and ended in 721 BC when the Assyrian army destroyed the Northern Kingdom and took the people captive to Babylon.
  • Jonah lived in the Northern Kingdom during the time of King Jeroboam II (825 -784 BC).
  • Jonah’s ministry as a prophet probably began about 825 BC at the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam II.
• King Jeroboam II
  • Read 2Kin 14:23-25
  • Jonah had prophesied that the boundaries of the Northern Kingdom would expand during the reign of King Jeroboam II. This prophecy was fulfilled.

 

• THE HISTORICAL SETTING

 

• King Jeroboam II was the most powerful king of the Northern Kingdom. The Assyrian empire to the northeast of Israel was a constant threat on the horizon. King Jehu, three kings before Jeroboam II, began to pay tribute money to Assyria. However, because of internal problems in the Assyrian empire, King Jeroboam II was able to expand his kingdom north and northeast while Assyria was preoccupied. This was the greatest expansion since the time of King David and King Solomon.
• Through the prophecies of Amos, and Hosea, God warned of a coming judgment by means of Assyria, the sleeping giant.

• Read Amo 5:27 The coming captivity in Babylon
• Read Hos 11:5 Assyria will rule over them.
• The importance of the historical setting:

• While history is interesting to some people and not to others, it is very important to the understanding of Jonah’s attitude in this book. Jonah’s attempt to run from God is explained only by knowing that God called Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach to Gentiles.
• These Gentiles were Israel’s enemy. Jonah did not want to appear to help Assyria gain influence and power over Israel.

 

• THE ISRAELITE MIND

 

• To understand the book of Jonah we need some understanding of the Jewish mind at that time.
• God’s call:
  • God called the Jews to be His people. They were supposed to model the relationship of love between God and His people. God’s blessing poured out on the Jews was supposed to make the Gentiles jealous of that relationship. When the Gentiles saw how God blessed His people, they would desire that love relationship with God as well. (1Cor 10:11)
  • God called the Jews to be a light to the Gentiles because they had the truth of God’s Word. (Isa 42:6 Isa 49:6 Act 13:47)
    • As the nation of Israel modeled truth in their government and in their diplomatic relations with other nations, the Gentile nations would desire God’s truth.
    • As the nation of Israel lived the truth of holiness before other nations, the Gentiles would be moved to desire God’s holiness and peace. (1Kin 2:4)
• God’s promise:
  • God promised Abraham a land and a nation where God’s chosen people could live a life of peace, blessed by God.
  • The link between the Israelites and the land was a link forged by God and based on God’s promise.
• God’s purpose and Israel’s response:
  • Therefore, with the idea of being God’s chosen people linked to a specific land, the Israelites became exclusive, having no relationship at all with anything Gentile.
    • In their rebellion against God together with the persecution by Gentiles, the Jews lost the concept of God’s universal plan to save all people, not just the Jews.
    • The loss of the responsibility as a light to the Gentiles, for which God called them to perform, resulted in hatred against the Gentiles and isolation from the Gentiles.
  • It is in the midst of this mindset of hatred and persecution that God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach salvation to Israel’s enemy.
• This book of Jonah is not the first time that God reaches out to the Gentiles with an offer of salvation. We see it in the book of Joshua with Rahab, a Gentile, in the Gentile city of Jericho.

 

• THE LOCATION

 

• The city of Nineveh
• The city of Nineveh was on the East bank of the Tigris River, located 550 miles from Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
• This was a well-fortified city surrounded by a double wall of protection. The inner wall was 50 feet wide and 100 feet high.
• The spiritual atmosphere of the city

• This was a pagan city with no specific knowledge of the God, Jehovah.
• Before Jonah arrived in this city, there were two very devastating famines. (765 BC and 759 BC) The people of the ancient world thought that famines were a sign of divine anger.
• Before Jonah arrived there was a total eclipse of the sun on June 15, 763 BC. An eclipse was also thought to be a sign of divine anger and coming judgment.
• Therefore, these signs in the mind of the people prepared their hearts for Jonah’s message and help to explain the rapid results of Jonah’s preaching.

 

• THE INTENDED AUDIENCE

 

• The book of Jonah was written to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel as well as to the people of Assyria.
• Therefore, we can say that God’s message was intended for the ears and hearts of the Jews and the Gentiles.

 

• THE STYLE AND THE THEME

 

• Because the style of the book is in an intriguing, historic, story form, it is easy to lose sight of the theme of the book and get lost in the story.
• Because Jesus Christ quoted the book of Jonah to refer to the crucifixion, we are able to determine the theme of the book of Jonah in the mind of God.

• The event of the crucifixion is the central focus of Jesus’ first coming to this earth. From the New Testament we know that the purpose for the crucifixion in the mind of God was for the payment of sin to bring forgiveness and redemption to man.
  • Read 1Pet 1:19-21
  • Read Heb 9:26
• The theme of the book is “That all men might be saved.”

• Read Act 2:21
• Read 1Tim 2:4

 

• CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF JONAH

 

• Even though there is nothing spoken overtly about the Messiah in the book of Jonah, we can see Christ in this book because of the importance Jesus placed on it by using specific quotations to refer to his ministry and from the theme that the message portrays.
• Read Mat 12:38-41
• Jesus Christ is the great missionary who seeks far and wide those who will be saved, even breaking down the walls between Jews and Gentiles to bring peace with God and men.

 

• THE SIGNIFICANCE FOR US

 

• Jonah learned the importance of obedience to God. Man cannot out-run God, trick Him, deceive Him, or manipulate Him. Jonah learned humility at the hand of God.
• Believers in Jesus Christ need to learn the same things so as to become humble, obedient, servants of the Almighty God. God cannot use us to reach the lost unless we first learn the lessons of Jonah.

 

• OUTLINE OF THE BOOK

 

• = I= God’s command and Jonah’s disobedience
• =2=. God’s reaction and the Mariners’ response

• =A= Storm at sea
• =B= Jonah in the sea
• =3= Jonah’s situation and repentance

• =A= Three days and three nights in the big fish
• =B= God answers Jonah’s cry for deliverance
• =4= Jonah’s obedience to God’s great commission

• =A= The repentance of the people
• =B= The salvation of the people of Nineveh
• =5= Jonah’s anger
• =6= God’s object lesson

 

• SOURCES FOR OUR STUDY

 

• Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament

by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck

• Chronology of the Old Testament

by Floyd Nolan Jones

• Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

by James Strong

• The New Bible Dictionary

by J.D. Douglas

• Behold, a Greater Than Jonas is Here;

Article in Midnight Call by Norbert Lieth

HOMEWORK
Jonah 1
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Preparation for Jon 1
  • Read Jon 1:1-17
    • What did God send?

 

• What did God prepare?

 

• Why do you think Jonah was able to sleep through the storm?

 

• Read Pro 16:33. Of what significance is casting of lots?

 

• What principles do you learn in Jon 1?

Memory Verse: Jon 1:9