The Book Of Jonah - A Commentary

                                                         THE BOOK OF JONAH

Commentary: Jonah was a Hebrew prophet  whose name means dove. He was the son of Ammitai. The time of Jonah’s one prophecy was in the latter part of the eighth century B.C. God commanded Jonah to prophecy against Nineveh; an evil gentile city in the country of Assyria. Jonah refuses to travel there which was eastward, so instead, he heads to a town named Joppa (today Jaffa), boards a ship, and heads west toward Tarshish he hopes to run from the presence of the Lord.                                                    

The Lord caused a great  tempest on the sea while Jonah was sleeping at the bottom of the ship.  The captain and other men on the ship are in a panic and call upon their gods. They awake Jonah and command him to call on his God.  As the men throw the cargo into the sea to lighten the load, the tempest becomes worse.  They cast lots to see who it will fall on; the lot fell on Jonah. Once Jonah identifies who he is, and where he’s from, the men become terrified.  Jonah realizes he’s the cause for their panic so he commands them to throw him overboard which they do. Immediately the sea is calm.                 

God commands a great fish to swallow Jonah.  The strange thing about it is Jonah is alive in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Symbolically at least, Jonah has died.  In the second chapter of the book, Jonah acknowledges his sin of disobedience, and offers praises of thanksgiving to the Lord for saving his life – that is the great fish swallowing him or else he would have drowned. The Lord speaks to the fish, and vomits Jonah upon dry land.                                                                           

In chapter three, the Lord commissioned Jonah again to preach to Nineveh. This time he willingly obeys. It’s apparent Jonah is determined to do God’s will because it’s a three day  journey which he  travels on foot. Jonah’s message is simple,                                                                                    

            

                “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed!” (Jonah 3:4).

The people of Nineveh believed God’s word and proclaimed a city wide fast, starting from the king, to the least of them. The king laid aside his royal garments, and put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. This expression was an ancient way to show grief and humiliation for sin and distress. The Ninevite king led the solemn assembly and commanded no person, or beast to eat or drink anything hoping that the God of Israel would have mercy on them and spare their lives.                                                                                               

When God saw their penitence and contrition, he turned his wrath away from them and spared the city of Nineveh (Jonah 3:9). Remember true repentance from sin will always deliver one from God’s wrath. This should be every man’s pursuit!                                                                                       

In chapter four, we discover that Jonah is upset because of the Lord’s mercy toward his enemies. Jonah knew all along that God is rich in mercy and he couldn’t stand the idea of God sparing the lives of these wicked people. That is why he fled in the opposite direction to Tarshish (Jonah 4:2). How quickly Jonah forgot how gracious God was to him when he was rescued by the fish that God prepared to swallow him. The mariners lives were spared when they implored the Lord to help them on the tempestuous sea (Jonah 1:14-16). Jonah’s own life was preserved when he cried out to the Lord (Jonah Chapter 2). And now that God has loved and showed mercy to his enemies, he says he rather die than see his enemies spared.

What hypocrisy!                                                                                                                                            

God asks Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4). The narrative states that Jonah leaves and heads east of the city to see what would happen. Jonah still wants God to destroy Nineveh and he perhaps wants to be an eyewitness to it. This shows the angst of this troubled prophet      . Jonah creates a booth to shade himself from the heat. Also the Lord caused a plant to grow to cover his head and help him in his distress. The bible says Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Once the morning came, God prepared a worm to damage, probably devour the plant so it no longer protected Jonah’s head. In addition, God caused a fierce east wind which caused the sun to smite Jonah on the head. This angered the prophet who once again wanted to die.                                                                                                                                

God asked Jonah again, Is it right for you to be angry about a plant that came and went in a night?” Jonah had more pity on an insignificant plant than he had for hundreds of thousands of Ninevites. It was important that God put Jonah’s perspective in check which it obviously was not. The Lord has compassion on all of his creation, even the most wicked of sinners.

          

In this short but tremendous book, we see God’s providential care and loving kindness on display through out. Let’s review them:

1.     

      The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea to cause a tempest (Providential – Jonah 1:4)

2.      The casting of the lot falling on Jonah (Providential – Jonah 1:7)

3.      The mariners threw Jonah into the sea and it ceased raging

(Providential and Merciful ­-Jonah 1:15)

4.      God commanded a great fish to swallow Jonah (Providential and Merciful. Jonah’s life was spared – Jonah 1:17)

5.      The Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah on dry land (Providential – Jonah 2:10)

6.      God spares the Ninevites when they repented (Merciful – Jonah 3:10)

7.      God prepared a plant to shade Jonah from the heat of the day (Providential and Merciful – Jonah 4:6)

8.      God prepared a worm to destroy the plant (Providential – Jonah 4:7)

9.      God prepared a fierce east wind to blow which caused the sun to beat on Jonah’s head angering the prophet (Providential – Jonah 4:8)   

This story proves that God is ready and willing to forgive any and all that call on him in true repentance and mercy. The one distinctive about Jonah is that he’s the only prophet sent to a foreign country to prophesy against it.