But God would not leave him alone. Jonah 's Flight. Jonah knew he had lost. Of all the prophets, Jonah is perhaps the most reluctant; his struggle with sin is not hidden. Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold. Sign up for a special email series here. This is mercys abode. Now, God had blessed themand used him to do it. ), king of Assyria, invaded Israel during Hezekiahs reign about 50 years later. Verse 7 - Finding the storm still violent, the crew come to the conclusion that it is sent by Heaven in punishment of some crime committed by one on board; and they proceed to cast lots to discover the guilty person. Does he change his mind? Though battered and exhausted, this was their day of salvationthe best day of their lives. God repeated his command to Jonah. 2The book of Jonah has received numerous accolades for it literary artistry. Soph. To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea. Stop with your self-justifying slogans and look at whats really going on! Why oh why did you send me on this mission? What we do, or fail to do, affects others. They were saved. The owner replied he had done no wrong. Get up, call on your god. They recognized Gods sovereignty: You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased. When Jonah hit the water, the storm ceased. There is abortion, disease, teenage pregnancy, children with no fathers, and all the grief and pain that come from broken or malformed families. They now knew they were dealing not with nature alone but with supernature. 1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,2Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. What is your occupation? Jonah is now beginning to come to his senses,but not with godly sorrow, more with worldly sorrow. Some things must ultimately be left to God. Somewhat like Judas, Jonah and many other sinners do not repent to the Lord but rather are merely ashamed of themselves. V. Dressing Down-The captain came to him and said, What are you doing asleep? God replied to Jonah:Do you have good reason to be angry (Jonah 4.4)? Jonah was part of that. From one end of the Mediterranean to the other, God pursued Jonah, and Jonah ended up right back where he started, with the call of God, in Israel. Solomon wrote, the lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD (Proverbs 16.33). Ask Nebuchadnezzar. The misfortune of the Israelites at Ai was consequent on the sin of Achan (Joshua 7.). The bottom line (if youll pardon the financial pun) is that sinful choices are usually very costly. Numbers 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. So I am trying to gain understanding here. VII. This time, Jonah obeyed. Do you have any idea how your behavior, your sins, are affecting the rest of us? Few examples of Gentile salvation exist in the Old Testament. God asked why Jonah had so much more . The sailors wanted to return to land butJonah didnt.5. In fact, he is furiously angryand directs his outburst at God. He then asked the laborers if he did not have the right to do what he wanted with his own money. If he was really dead, he had to be resurrected, as I understand the terminology. It provides a foretaste of the fullness of Israels destiny to bless Gentiles anticipated in the great Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12.1-3 cf. Externally, Assyria was threatened by Arameans and Urartians and suffered famine and revolts internally. 3:3). The Ninevites repented from wickedness to righteousness. The story of Jonah teaches compassion by not following the prophet's example. God heard him and asked a question. The next thing Hill knew, he was waking up in the . The repeated testimony of the Scriptures is that God delights in mercy (Psalm 86.15, 145.8; Jeremiah 33.26; Ezekiel 39.25). Jonah is to warn the Ninevites that because of their sinfulness they now face divine destruction. Jonah provides instructive lessons. (On the Christian view of "lots," see Dr. Pusey's Commentary, pp. In four short chapters, the story of Jonah reveals God's consistent, unchangeable character and is a testament to his relentless love and abundant mercy. He did not provide sunlight for it. When I read the Biblical account, I see that Jonah actually dies and is resurrected. Jonah cared for his gourd. From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God. The reason: God destroyed his army. John, Thank you. Resurrection involves receipt of an immortal body that is not subject to death. Rather than trusting God, he brazenly disobeys, foolishly thinking that he can outrun God. Comp. What a wonderful explanation of the Book of Jonah. As our defiance deepens, the headwinds become ever stronger and the destructive forces ever more powerful. Don, You provided great insight into the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah recounted its salvation. Implicit in Jonahs message was that God was displeased with their behavior. I. Defiance-This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai: Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD. The Lord knows. The simplicity of holiness is often far less onerous. God does not save us merely for our own sake, but alsofor the sake of others with whom our life is intertwined. The phrase, or like expression, the word of the LORD came governs the books structure and occurs twice (Jonah 1.1, 3.1). First there comes the pointed question, What are you doing asleep?Yes, what are you doing? What a change! And boats are wrecked; true men and thieves, HOR. 5This raises interesting questions about the nature of reality. Delirium-Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and lay there fast asleep. Jonah provided no details of the nature of their impending destruction but history records this was a period of Assyrian weakness. And if swallowed, revive him? Perhapsyour god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish (Jonah 1.6). 4 At this, I said, On the one hand, there are the Ninevites, the evil Parallel Commentaries "Pol minume miror, navis si fracta est tibi, Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural, Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural. Jonah will go finally to Nineveh and there proclaim a message that will be heeded by those who are so lost in sin that they do not know their right hand from their left (see Jonah 4:11). God bless you. He realized he could not escape God and looked to Him for deliverance. And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons?!. The mariners, fearing for their lives, also lose wealthand suffer great losses (by throwing their cargo overboard) on account of Jonahs sinfulness. Suggestions for Teaching Be attentive to students' behavior and respond appropriately Jonah 1.1-2 should arrest ones attention. and less costly as well. Thanks again for sharing your study and research with us. Who could endure without them? In chapter 4, Jonah was in Nineveh and in the desert. Gamble against God and youll lose. Required fields are marked *. Yom Kippur Prayer Services. Worldly sorrow brings death (2 Cor 7:10). His words revealed his change of attitude: . All Your breakers and billows passed over me. When you quote Jonah 3:9, 4:4, & 4:11 (they are all questions, one by the king, and two are God speaking to Jonah), I would add a question mark inside your quotation marks. and a cause of grief to others around him. Perhaps because he cannot see a way out of this hole of wrongdoing, and perhaps because he would probably die anyway, Jonah tells the crew that their only option is to throw him overboard an act that will supposedly appease God and save the ship from the storm. The book of Jonah opens like other prophetic books of the Bible, with the formulaic The word of the Lord came to Jonah. Just as once upon a time signals a fairy tale, this biblical formula signals a book of prophecy. In those contexts, it strongly seemed as though God initially forgot.. Or were these just wrong use of language by the prophets or wrong presentation by the prophets because of their weak and limited understanding of God probably as a result of their spiritually dead nature. Fresco of Jonah being thrown into the sea - Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome. When Jesus told the Twelve not to go to Gentiles it was because Israel had to repent first to comply with the kingdom blessings which were part of the Abrahamic Covenant. So, too, are we when we defiantly indulge sinfulness. 3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. The worms destruction of the gourd was a picture of Gods potential destruction of Nineveh. we are also members of the Body, members of the community, whether we want to admit it or not. He could have told the crew to turn the ship back to Joppa. Now he had gone down into the sea monster to the depths of death (Jonah 2.6). Yes, sin is usually very expensivebut many seem quite willing to pay the price. Big difference. What is your country, and to what people do you belong? Jonah answered them, I am a Hebrew, I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him, How could you do such a thing? They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had told them. wrote Ninevehwas about sixty miles in circumference and twenty miles across. He did nothing. Exceptions are Rahab, the harlot, Naaman, the Syrian general, Ruth, the Moabitess, and Nebuchadnezzar. Their change of heart is immediate and totalfrom the king on all the way down to the animals who fast and don sackcloth and ashes (signs of mourning and repentance) right alongside their human masters. Our age is characterized by Gods grace. We read: 5Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. God caused the dice reveal Jonah as the problem.3The mariners demanded an accounting. The text doesnt say. The city of Nineveh is represented in Cuneiform by a symbol of a fish within a house. God controls and uses nature to achieve His ends. My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help. His case is never resolved. After the great fish vomited up Jonah on dry ground, God appeared to Jonah a second time (3:1). And He did not do it(Jonah 3.10). 1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. Jonah Scott is a Voice Actor, Singer and Twitch Streamer from Los Angeles. On account of selfishness and sexual misbehavior, many families have been torn apart. I have a question on your comment above: If Jonah did die, he was resuscitated, not resurrected. The Lord Jesus Christ picked up our tab and paid it all. Thanks for all. 2 I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me. This number is reasonable. Online and in the booth, he has done voice work with studios in Tokyo and across LA. In effect, God says to Jonah, Now, where were we?. IV. Indeed, it must have been a kind of willful obliviousness for who could sleep through the tumult of a storm threatening to overturn a ship and a crew of sailors crying for their lives? God is aware of all man does. He remembers our sins no more. 4 The God of heaven was a term known to Gentiles (cf. What we do, or fail to do, affects others. To all this pain can be added many other sufferings. d. AEschylus, 'Electr.,' 1354; 'Theb.,' 598; Horat., 'Carm.,' 3:2, 26, etc.) Jonahs ministry is the greatest exception. the story told by Cicero of Diagoras (de Nat. In the end, the men must hand Jonah over to the Lord. It turns out that for wicked bad guys, the Ninevites are awfully good at repentance. God planted this question in Jonahs mind to try and bring him to the divine viewpoint (Isaiah 55.8). I would say we can file this in the "God's Will will be done." Jonah 1: NASB 1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah could not understand Gods mercy to Israels enemies. Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular. The sailors wrenched to and fro and the wind howled so that the crew screamed to be heard. Meanwhile, the gales grow stronger and civilization continues to crumble. Now that of course is extremely important. recognized Gods mercy. Jonah 3 God gave His commission to Jonah a second timeand this time, Jonah was ready to obey. This revelation terrified the men even more. Twelve years ago, they found out that their baby boy, Jonah, was diagnosed with a fatal rare disease, Sanfilippo Syndrome. Every crew member was praying to his god for deliverance. 3Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.. Patient-Home-4877 1 yr. ago Meanwhile, the gales grow stronger and civilization continues to crumble. It is a luscious, heartfelt piece depicting the repentance of the Ninevites. Deor.,' 3:37). It is rife with wickedness. Same God. God does not save us merely for our own sake, but also, for the sake of others with whom our life is intertwined. Here, Jonah a prophet who likely understood what was happening might, indeed should have taken responsibility for the storm and prayed to his God to save the innocent sailors. Finding him asleep, the flummoxed captain said: How is it that you are sleeping? Apparently he had no problem traveling quickly to hop a boat headed the opposite direction. The mariners () salts were seasoned sailors. The text states 120,000 did not know their right hand from their left (Jonah 4.11). Two books of the Bible speak of Nineveh. Hi Don, wonferfully insightful study. The power of Gods word is revealed by the peoples response. They were terrified. The Lord was the first to be resurrected. First, I do not have an opinion on this right now; I have not studied it enough. As a result, they cast lots to learn about this strange man. That Jonah thought he could run from God shows his foolishness, typifying mans foolishness in thinking he can escape God (Jeremiah 23.24). Something was not right. 1 Now the word of the LORDcame to Jonah the second time, saying, 2Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you (Jonah 3.1-2). Jonah was one of only four writing prophets that Jesus mentioned by name during His earthly ministry (Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah were the others). Jonah 4:7-11. Similarly, in our own culture today a good deal of pain and loss results from the defiant, selfish, and bad behavior of many. One of the greatest prophets during the time of Jeroboam II was Jonah the son of Amitai, who, as a prophet disciple, had anointed Jehu and who, therefore, enjoyed the king's benevolence. 372. . He realized he could not escape God and looked to Him for deliverance. The sailors repented from following false gods to trusting the one true God. Stop with your self-justifying slogans and look at whats really going on! He entered the city and proclaimed the message to the inhabitants. But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Make a deal with God and He will keep it. Turn back to God lest we all perish. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple. 5Water encompassed me to the point of death. Once Gd commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, one of the largest cities of that time and foretell its destruction, because the evil of its inhabitants had reached the limit. Obviously, from their superstitious perspective, some god or gods are angry with somebody, and they are all suffering because of what this person has done. And yet, the minute they genuinely repent even though that repentance is, admittedly, self-interested God is merciful. But Jonahs hatred of these people is evident throughout the book even to the end. 7While I was fainting away,I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. Salvation is from the Lord (Jonah 2.9). But the plant wasnt an act of divine mercy it was part of a divine lesson. They were aghast at Jonahs behavior in fleeing God (Jonah 1.10). At the opening of his story, God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, one of the largest cities in ancient Mesopotamia, and the capital of Israels most dangerous enemy, the Assyrian empire. Jonah became angry. Not one to let a prophet pull a disappearing act, God sends a storm to threaten Jonahs shipand it is a doozy. The Book of Jonah on Yom Kippur. He did not care for the hundreds of thousands of Ninevites, their children, or their animals. Jesus, declared, for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12.40). If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Indeed, he never really repents, just continually runs from his mistakes even repeatedly prefers death over repentance. Jonahs evangelistic message was brief. At the end of the day, 6 p.m., his foreman paid each man a denarius. To deny the historicity of Jonah is to deny Christs resurrection. They seem to fear God more than he does! Am I correct in my understanding that Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he was a good law keeping Jew because Jews had no dealings with gentiles? In Jonahs responses, he encountered non-Jews: the sailors and the captain and the Ninevites and their king. but Jonah is the only book of the Bible that begins with it. Responding to Gods grace begins by believing Pauls gospel of grace (Acts 20.24): that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15.1-4). He plays with loaded dice. In despair, the men shouted, What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us (Jonah 1.11)? The king hoped for survival. K. M. Craig, Jr. stated it was enormously varied, rich, and complex (A Poetics of Jonah: Art in the Service of Ideology). The Bible is replete with examples. It is a story of repentance. Thanks so much. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. Each response was internal (were afraid, believed), spoken (cried to god, proclaimed a fast), and active (cast wares, put on sackcloth). In that event, Jesus had slept through the storm. He falls asleep, and then is thrown down into the sea. God pursues each of us to restore our broken relationship with Him (Genesis 3.8-10). The other suggestion is in the paragraph Salvation to the Gentiles, in your Conclusion. Yes, God works with the sinner, drawing him back. He pouted and expressed anger. Jonah is a scientist who becomes a business theorist and helps Alex save his plant. Psalm 139 says, beautifully. Many people today talk about victimless sins,actions that supposedly dont hurt anyone. We read: 7Each man said to his mate, Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So, too, are we when we defiantly indulge sinfulness. 1 Samuel 10:20, etc. As our defiance deepens, the headwinds become ever stronger and the destructive forces ever more powerful. Just my thoughts. John, God set aside the Gentiles in terms of His direct contact and blessing. Under the intolerably beating sun, Jonah cries out to God in anger, and this time simply begs for death. Does he remember something? Here is a video of a performance of the Peccavimus (we have sinned) from the oratorio Jonas, by Giacomo Carissimi. Jonah hit the warm waters of the sea with a splash. Throughout the telling, Jonahs disobedience and iniquity is highlighted by repeated use of the verb down. Rather than follow Gods instruction, Jonah goes down to the port city of Jaffa, then down onto the ship on the way to Tarshish, then down to a lower deck. This word is used for Gods hurling the storm, sailors tossing ballast from the ship, and Jonah being cast into the sea (Jonah 1.4, 5, 12, 15). It is a story of repentance. We are currently reading Jonah's story in daily Mass. I wonder if (and hope that) the young people who sang it understood its significance for them, too. Jonah had a choice. Jonah repented from fleeing God to obeying Him. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not. That's where the word of the Lord came to Jonah a . The Ninevites repented from wickedness to righteousness. God knows everything about us all the time (Psalm 139). When Jesus prayed on Thursday night that the cup of his suffering be removed from him in such earnestness that he bled, perhaps that degree of intercession had him in the heart of the earth, to some degree. Defiance also indicates a lack of faith because it comes from the Latin dis (against) and fidere (believe). Sometimes, to get a mans attention, God creates havoc. I just knew it. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days walk (Jonah 3.3). So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Those who are morally alert do not say such things; those who are in the darkness of delirium, in a moral slumber, say them. The men did not accept Jonah's offer until they had made every effort to save themselves in other ways. Godwould not let him die. Jonah had wanted to die rather than face his mistakes and complete his mission, but God wont permit it. The kings proclamation indicated that like Jonahs sailors he had abandoned his gods and recognized Jonahs God (). Jonah did nothing to merit the gourd. Determination-Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you. Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-3). The other worker, with whom he made no contract (whatever was right), received pay according to the landowners heart. In verse 7 the sailors are casting lots, doing divination to try to figure out who the guilty person is. But Jonah is not pleased. According to Genesis 10.11, Asshur, a son of Shem (Genesis 10.22) built it.
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