Most people are familiar with the story of Jonah and the Whale.
The Book of Jonah is the fifth of the Minor Prophetic Books and the thirty-second book in the Bible. It was written by the prophet Jonah, who is also mentioned in II Kings as serving during the time of King Jereboam II of Israel c.786-746 BC.
Jonah is commanded by God to preach to a Gentile (non-Jewish) nation and to show that God's grace is not reserved for the Jews, but is given to every nation on earth.
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Jonah 1:3
"But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." The exact location of Tarshish is unknown. Some people think it may have been in modern day Tunisia whilst others suggest Spain, Sardinia or even that it may have been as far from Israel as India! |
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Jonah was blissfully unaware of his danger. He slept whilst others panicked.
Jonah 1:4-5 "But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep" |
God was, of course, angered by Jonah's disobedience. The lots identified Jonah as the cause of their trouble.
Jonah 1:7 "And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah" |
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Jonah wanted to sacrifice himself to save his fellow sailors, but they refused. They fought against the storm but had no joy and so, at last, they did as Jonah said.
Jonah 1:12-15 "And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging" |
Jonah 1:17
"Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." Jonah's sacrifice of himself to save others, and his return to safety after three days, is comparable to Jesus' sacrifice of Himself and His return to life three days later |
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God's judgement would soon be on them if the people did not change their ways.
Jonah 3:4 "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" |
All the people of the city, from the highest to the lowest, did likewise and they all fasted to atone for their sins.
Jonah 3:5-6 "So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes" |
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Jonah is angered that God will spare such a sinful place as Nineveh from judgement - a city which is not even Jewish. In his madness, Jonah asks God to take his life.
Jonah 4:3 "Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live" |
Jonah was sad at the loss of the plant. How much more sad would God be at the loss of a city containing thousands upon thousands of men, women and children?
Jonah 4:10-11 "Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" |
"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."
Nineveh was the capital city of Israel's enemies, the Assyrians. It was possibly the largest city on earth at the time and was located close to Mosul in modern day Iraq