JONAH & THE WHALE - NYOBS 03.02

·        Question:  Why was Jonah, the prophet of God, so reluctant to do what God said?

·         The assemblers of the Bible refer to Jonah as a “minor prophet”, not because of his importance, but because of the size of his writings – His name means “Dove” (harmless).   His fathers name was Amittai which means “My Truth”; So Jonah was the son of “truth”. - He was from a small village of Gath Hepher a region with a large non-Hebrew population which might be the reason God called him specifically to Nineveh.

·         His prophetic messages were not for the Jews, but for the Non-Jews of the time.  Since the word “Jew” stems from the tribe of Judah only, it would be more correct to say his messages were for non-Israelites.

·         His writing has only one prophetic word mentioned; -

”Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be over thrown”.

That’s it – That’s the whole prophecy – In the whole book.

·         So the inclusion of this book in our Bible must have a deeper meaning than this single prophecy itself.   While there are several spin off studies, we will look at just two;  - Jonah’s reluctance and what occurred inside that big fish.

Jonah 3:4

He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."

NIV

·         Here’s the story – God tells Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh and preach to them about their wickedness, but Jonah had a lot of emotions about this. He had a number of reasons that seem honorable and valid to him that makes him reluctant to do what God had said.

1.     Nineveh was synonymous with the word EVIL – They worshipped Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. - They were ruthless and cruel with war crimes; impaling survivors on stakes; erecting pillars of skulls; wearing decapitated heads around their necks, not to mention that they were also the enemy of Israel.

2.     Jonah was jealous for his country, in that he wanted only Israel to be blessed of God, not other nations, particularly those that lived in sin, idolatry and rebellion against God.

3.     For Heathen Nineveh to be taken into God’s favor, it would be a slur; a dishonor to Israel; who were a peculiar people to God. -  Although Jonah was a prophet, he was also a patriot of Israel and would surely prefer that Nineveh get smushed like a cockroach under God’s foot.

4.     Jonah also knew that if Nineveh repented, God would have mercy on them and would relent.

5.     Consider this: A true prophet, the oracle of God is never wrong, and an unfulfilled prophecy would in fact make him look like a false prophet. – Think about that.

Jonah 1:1-2

1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:

2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." NIV

• Jonah doesn’t see it God’s way and figures that if he “sort of” disappears, Nineveh will get what they deserve and Israel will be set apart as God’s only blessed people.  So he goes in the opposite direction to Joppa and hops a slow boat to Tarshish to avoid a confrontation with God.
• God knows where Jonah is and sends a great wind to trouble the boat - The crew figures out Jonah is the cause of their trouble and throws him overboard and a giant fish swallows him and Jonah is inside this “sea monster” for three days. ( Sea monster - Leviathan) Isaiah 27:1
• As a side note:  The crew gives up calling out to their pagan gods to save them and become true worshipers of the Living God of Jonah because of what they witnessed with the calming of the winds after chunking Jonah overboard. Their salvation is a word study into itself.
• This brings us up to the most controversial part of the story. – Jonah inside the Whale.

Jonah 1:17

4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."

17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. NIV

• So here’s where we are; Jonah is in this big fish and enzymes and acids are released to digest him, not to mention that there is probably very little air to breath.  The stomach also contains bones and shells that crush the body of the prey.  He is in the belly of hell.
• It was reported that in 1891 a sailor from a capsized whaling ship was ingested by a sperm whale.  This whale was subsequently caught and the sailor was found alive with no injuries except his skin was permanently and totally white from the gastric juices.
• So we can see how it is possible that Jonah lived for three days inside the whale.  But I don’t buy it – I believe scripture implies that after three days and three nights Jonah had died and was resurrected from the dead by the Living God.

Jonah 2:1-6

1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said:

5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me;

sea weed was wrapped around my head.

6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit,

O LORD my God.

• Let’s look at what Jesus said about himself.  He said that He would be dead in the grave for three days and then come forth again just like Jonah as a “Sign” to the nations.

Luke 11:30

30 For as Jonah was a SIGN to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. NIV

Matt 12:40

40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. NIV

• Let’s see what happened next.  The meal of Jonah alamode sea weed did not go down well without tartar sauce and it made the big fish pretty sick and it beached itself on the sand coughing and threw up; there laying in the sand, sea weed and vomit was Jonah, bleached white and smelling pretty bad, but giving thanks and praising God.
• Interestingly, the winds and the great fish obeyed the commands of God, but Jonah did not.
• Then God said (paraphrased), “Look Jonah, I need you to go over to Nineveh and take my message of repentance.  Israel is not my only people; I want a peculiar people in all nations”.
• The trip to Nineveh was about five hundred miles and would have taken Jonah about five weeks to accomplish walking, but maybe only a month by donkey.  Anyway, once he got there he preached throughout the city for three days.
• Other writings indicate God had already prepared Nineveh’s minds with two plagues and a total eclipse of the sun which was symbolic of the coming judgment of God.

Jonah 2: 10

10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 3:1-2

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:

2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." NIV

• So here is where we are; On top of the plagues Nineveh has just experienced; the Ninevites, have been hearing for weeks that the prophet of God was on his way, and now they see this totally white, stinking, previously dead man walking into town with sea weed wrapped around him crying out to them to repent or God is going to “get them”.
• He immediately drew a crowd in the streets and the town’s people repented, put on sack cloth, sat in ashes and declared a fast for themselves as well as for their animals.
• When the word reached the King, terror gripped him and he said, “Hey, let’s all repent and change our ways, WHO KNOWS, God might just change His mind and have mercy on our city”.

They all did, and God did.

Jonah 3:3 – Jonah gets with the program

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.

5 The Ninevites believed God.

6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. NIV

• This REVIVAL ticks off Jonah and he wants to die.  In his own mind he looks like a fool because he knew that God would have mercy on the REPENTING Ninevites.
• To make things even worse, here heathen Nineveh had repented; but God’s chosen people of Israel had not.  He was pretty bummed out.
• Jonah has lots of emotions concerning anger, justice, the full measure of punishment due, and the mystery of the compassion of God.

Jonah 4:1-3 – I told you so

4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.

2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." NIV

• So Jonah goes on top of a hill, builds himself a little shelter from the sun and waits forty days to see if God will blow up the city.  You can read the rest for yourself; I have covered my two points: Why Jonah was reluctant to go to Nineveh and that he actually died and was resurrected. - Believe it or not.

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK OF JONAH

• Man cannot hide from God - the Gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
• Jonah DID DIE inside the whale and was resurrected by God as a sign and shadow of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• Jonah’s disobedience cut off the fellowship and grace of God, but his prayers of repentance reinstated him.  
• Note:  It was God that started the reconciliation process of mercy with Jonah, He pursued him. – God hears our prayers in the blackest places on the bottom of the sea of turmoil.
• Our Situation may look hopeless and our condition may seem to exclude us from God’s mercy and grace, but this is a lie from the pit of hell.  Draw near to God and reach out, He is already there with compassion, mercy and grace.
• The message here is man can walk, even run in the opposite direction from God, but God is willing to receive repenting sinners and repenting saints back.
• Once under God’s umbrella we are still wet bearing the effects of sin and must have time to dry off, but we ARE saved and out of the rain.
• The scriptures teach that Jonah felt strong about his people just like in the time of Jesus; when the believing Jews wanted the Gospel to be exclusive to them, but God has other plans.  We have denominations today that say that they are God’s only chosen sheep. 
• God wants a peculiar people that are devoted to Him and He started with Israel, but He did not want them isolated from the rest of the world.  Salvation is not exclusive to a few, but to all nations that would receive the message of JESUS CHRIST.
• The Essenes who lived in the Qumran desert community, where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, had separated themselves and were totally devoted to God.  Jesus did not rebuke them, nor join them, but took his message to the streets of the Towns.

• The lesson is - Man’s ability to repent; God’s willingness to forgive and the changing of fate.
• The lesson is - God will discipline disobedience.
• The lesson is - God’s plan will be accomplished in spite of human imperfection, weakness, disobedience and attitude.
• The lesson is - The most unpromising mission fields are often the most responsive.  The Ninevites need was great as they had no one with a moral compass to lead them.

Rom 11:29 – God’s call is irrevocable

29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. NIV

Titus 2:14 – A peculiar people

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. KJV

John 10:14-16 – I have other sheep

14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. NIV

Mark 2:17 – The sick need the doctor

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." NIV

2 Peter 3:9 – Not willing any should perish

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. KJV

Matt 18:12 – He will hunt down the one that is His and lost

12 How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? KJV

James 4:8 – Draw near to God

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. NKJV

• I seem to find myself wanting to defend those such as; the Israelites with the golden calf, but with a heart to worship; and the prophet Jonah knowing God would repent and not blow up Nineveh who was  Israel’s enemy; as well as Judas desire to force God’s earthly kingdom.
• Somehow, I feel they were all just ignorant of God’s Devine plan, thus misguided. -  I ponder sometimes, why God has remained so faithful and patient with us. Just saying
• I feel if you belong to an organization, to really be a member, you should study the “covenants” and restrictions, rules and regulations. 
• You may or may not really be a member in good standing.

 In the multitude of counselors,

 there is wisdom.

Prov 11:14

I am grateful for those that went before me providing

concepts, ideas, historical information and scripture verses.

A survey of the New Testament – Gunry

All the Miracles of the Bible - Herbert Lockyer

Baker Commentary on the Bible - Ewell

Bible Commentary – F. B. Meyer

Compact Bible Dictionary - Zondervan

Complete Bible Handbook – Lawrence O. Richards

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake`

Dictionary of Biblical Literacy - Oliver Nelson

Double Predestination Paper – Darryl Williams

Exposition of Genesis – H.C. Leupold

Halley’s Bible Handbook – H.H. Halley

KJV Bible

Mystery of the Ages – Herbert W. Armstrong

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

NIV Bible

International Thesaurus - Roget’s

The Apocrypha – Edgar J. Goodspeed

The Bible Almanac – Packer Tenney White

The Expositors Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

The Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Tyndale

The Layman’s Overview of the Bible – George W. Knight

The New International Dictionary of the Bible – J. D. Douglas

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible - Tenney

There were two Trees in the Garden – Rick Joyner

Twelve Ordinary Men – John MacArthur

Vincent’s Word Studies of the NT - Mac Donald

What the Bible is all about – Henrietta C. Mears

What in the World is going on? – David Jeremiah

Where to find it in the Bible – Ken Anderson

Who’s who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wikipedia encyclopedia

Wycliff Bible Commentary, The