Jonah

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Jonah

• The prophet that hated his message

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Chronology
Judah Prophets Israel
931 BC Rehoboam Jeroboam
Abijah Nadab
900 BC Asa Baasha
850 BC Jehoshaphat Elijah Zimri, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Joram
800 BC Jehoram, Ahaziah, Queen Athaliah, Joash Elisha Jonah Amos Johoahaz, Johoash, Jeroboam II
750 BC Amaziah, Uzziah, Ahaz Hosea Micah Isaiah Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah
722 BC Hezekiah Isaiah Pekah, Hoshea
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Jonah

• Prophet to the enemy
• Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out
  against it I am aware of how wicked its people
  are. Jonah, however, set out in the opposite
  direction in order to get away from the LORD.
  (Jonah 12,3)

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(No Transcript)
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• But the LORD sent a strong wind on the sea, and
  the storm was so violent that the ship was in
  danger of breaking up. The sailors were terrified
  and cried out for help, each one to his own god.
  Then, in order to lessen the danger, they threw
  the cargo overboard. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone
  below and was lying in the ship's hold, sound
  asleep. The captain found him there and said to
  him, What are you doing asleep? Get up and pray
  to your god for help. Maybe he will feel sorry
  for us and spare our lives. The sailors said to
  each other, Let's draw lots and find out who is
  to blame for getting us into this danger. They
  did so, and Jonah's name was drawn. So they said
  to him, Now, then, tell us! Who is to blame for
  this? What are you doing here? What country do
  you come from? What is your nationality? (Jonah
  14-8)

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• I am a Hebrew, Jonah answered. I worship the
  LORD, the God of heaven, who made land and sea.
  Jonah went on to tell them that he was running
  away from the LORD. The sailors were terrified,
  and said to him, That was an awful thing to do!
  The storm was getting worse all the time, so the
  sailors asked him, What should we do to you to
  stop the storm? Jonah answered, Throw me into
  the sea, and it will calm down. I know it is my
  fault that you are caught in this violent
  storm. (Jonah 19-12)

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• At the LORDs command a large fish swallowed
  Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days
  and three nights. (Jonah 117)
• In the same way that Jonah spent three days and
  nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man
  spend three days and nights in the depths of the
  earth. (Matthew 1240)

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Inclusive Reckoning of Time

• Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah (A.D. 100) "A day and
  a night are an Onah a portion of time and the
  portion of an Onah is as the whole of it."
• Jesus answered them, Go and tell that fox 'I
  am driving out demons and performing cures today
  and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall finish
  my work. (Luke 1332)

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• Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and
  hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor
  drink for three days, night or day. I and my
  maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to
  the King (Esther 416)
• Esther went before the king "on the third day"
  (Esther 51)

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Dagon
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• What better heralding, as a divinely sent
  messenger to Nineveh, could Jonah have had, than
  to be thrown up out of the mouth of a great fish,
  in the presence of witnesses, and on the coast of
  Phoenicia, where the fish-god was a favorite
  object of worship? (H. Clay Trumbull, Jonah in
  Nineveh. Journal of Biblical Literature. Vol. 2,
  No. 1, 1892, p. 56)

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• Such an incident would have inevitably aroused
  the mercurial nature of Oriental observers, so
  that a multitude would be ready to follow the
  seemingly new avatar of the fish-god, proclaiming
  the story of his uprising from the sea, as he
  went on his mission to the city where the
  fish-god had its very centre of worship. (H.
  Clay Trumbull, Jonah in Nineveh. Journal of
  Biblical Literature, Vol. 2, No.1, 1892, p. 56)

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The Sign of Jonah

• Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees
  spoke up. "Teacher," they said, "we want to see
  you perform a miracle." "How evil and godless are
  the people of this day!" Jesus exclaimed. "You
  ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you
  will be given is the miracle of the prophet
  Jonah. In the same way that Jonah spent three
  days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son
  of Man spend three days and nights in the depths
  of the earth. On the Judgment Day the people of
  Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because
  they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah
  preach and I tell you that there is something
  here greater than Jonah! (Matthew 1238-41)

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• As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to
  say, "How evil are the people of this day! They
  ask for a miracle, but none will be given them
  except the miracle of Jonah. In the same way that
  the prophet Jonah was a sign for the people of
  Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign for the
  people of this day. (Luke 1129-30 GNB)

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Similarities between Jesus and Jonah

• Voluntarily entered the depths of the sea/grave
  in order to save others
• 3 days and 3 nights in the sea/grave

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Similarities between Jesus and Jonah

• From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the
  LORD his God "In my distress, O LORD, I called
  to you, and you answered me. From deep in the
  world of the dead (the belly of Sheol, hell) I
  cried for help, and you heard me. You threw me
  down into the depths, to the very bottom of the
  sea, where the waters were all around me, and all
  your mighty waves rolled over me. I thought I had
  been banished from your presence and would never
  see your holy Temple again. (Jonah 21-4)

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Similarities between Jesus and Jonah

• Resurrection from the sea/grave led to a great
  revival
• Jonah In forty days, Nineveh will be destroyed
• Jesus During the forty days after His
  crucifixion, He appeared to the apostles from
  time to time, and He proved to them in many ways
  that He was actually alive. And He talked to them
  about the Kingdom of God. (Acts 13)

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• Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah up
  on the beach, and it did. (Jonah 210)
• Once again the LORD spoke to Jonah. He said, Go
  to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the
  people the message I have given you. So Jonah
  obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh, a city so
  large that it took three days to walk through it.
  Jonah started through the city, and after walking
  a whole day, he proclaimed, In forty days
  Nineveh will be destroyed! The people of Nineveh
  believed Gods message. So they decided that
  everyone should fast, and all the people, from
  the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to
  show that they had repented. (Jonah 31-4)

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• When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got
  up from his throne, took off his robe, put on
  sackcloth, and sat down in ashes. He sent out a
  proclamation to the people of Nineveh This is
  an order from the king and his officials No one
  is to eat anything all persons, cattle, and
  sheep are forbidden to eat or drink. All persons
  and animals must wear sackcloth. Everyone must
  pray earnestly to God and must give up their
  wicked behavior and their evil actions. Perhaps
  God will change his mind perhaps he will stop
  being angry, and we will not die! God saw what
  they did he saw that they had given up their
  wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did
  not punish them as he had said he would. (Jonah
  36-10)

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God changes his mind?

• God is not like people, who lie He is not a
  human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises,
  he does He speaks, and it is done. (Numbers
  2319 GN)
• Israels majestic God does not lie or change
  his mind. He is not a human being---he does not
  change his mind. (1 Samuel 1529 GN)
• Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
  forever (Hebrews 138 GN)
• All generous giving and every perfect gift is
  from above, coming down from the Father of
  lights, with whom there is no variation or the
  slightest hint of change. (James 117 NET)
• For I am the LORD, I change not (Malachi 36
  KJV)

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God changes his mind?

• Expressions to be taken literally?
• Adam and Eve where are you?
• The rainbow when the rainbow appears, I will
  remember
• Tower of Babel But the LORD came down to look
  at the city and the tower the people were
  building. (Genesis 115)

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• Then the LORD said to Abraham, "There are
  terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah,
  and their sin is very great. I must go down to
  find out whether or not the accusations which I
  have heard are true." (Genesis 1820-21)

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• In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called
  Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons
  and daughters in the fire. I did not command them
  to do this---it did not even enter my mind.
  (Jeremiah 731)

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• He changes his mind?
• Worship of the golden calf So the LORD changed
  his mind and did not bring on his people the
  disaster he had threatened (Exodus 3214)

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• The Lord replied, Did I not rescue you from the
  Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the
  Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and
  the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried
  out to me, and I rescued you. Yet you have
  abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not
  rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods
  you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour
  of distress!
• But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and
  said, We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit,
  only rescue us today from our enemies. Then the
  Israelites put aside their foreign gods and
  served the Lord. And he was grieved by their
  misery (Judges 106-16 NLT)

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God changes his mind?

• Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
  forever (Hebrews 138 GN)
• All generous giving and every perfect gift is
  from above, coming down from the Father of
  lights, with whom there is no variation or the
  slightest hint of change. (James 117 NET)
• For I am the LORD, I change not (Malachi 36
  KJV)
• Gods character is a constant that never changes

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God changes his mind?

• Adam and Eve where are you?
• The rainbow
• Sodom and Gomorrah
• Worship of the golden calf So the LORD changed
  his mind and did not bring on his people the
  disaster he had threatened (Exodus 3214 GN)
• Child sacrifice it did not even enter my mind
  (Jeremiah 731 GN)
• Jonah So he changed his mind

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• Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled
  at God, God! I knew itwhen I was back home, I
  knew this was going to happen! Thats why I ran
  off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and
  mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and
  ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of
  punishment into a program of forgiveness! So,
  God, if you wont kill them, kill me! Im better
  off dead! (Jonah 41-3 The Message)

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• The LORD answered, What right do you have to be
  angry? Jonah went out east of the city and sat
  down. He made a shelter for himself and sat in
  its shade, waiting to see what would happen to
  Nineveh. Then the LORD God made a plant grow up
  over Jonah to give him some shade, so that he
  would be more comfortable. Jonah was extremely
  pleased with the plant. But at dawn the next day,
  at Gods command, a worm attacked the plant, and
  it died. After the sun had risen, God sent a hot
  east wind, and Jonah was about to faint from the
  heat of the sun beating down on his head. So he
  wished he were dead. I am better off dead than
  alive, he said.

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• But God said to him, What right do you have to
  be angry about the plant? Jonah replied, I have
  every right to be angry---angry enough to die!
  The LORD said to him, This plant grew up in one
  night and disappeared the next you didnt do
  anything for it and you didnt make it grow---yet
  you feel sorry for it! How much more, then,
  should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city.
  After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent
  children in it, as well as many animals! (Jonah
  44-11 GN)

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• So, why can't I likewise change what I feel
  about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big
  city of more than a hundred and twenty thousand
  childlike people who don't yet know right from
  wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent
  animals? (Jonah 411 The Message)

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Jonah

• Large city, 120,000 children, animals
• had it been destroyed
• Great happiness for Jonah
• Small shade plant
• It was destroyed
• Great anger and depression for Jonah

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Differences between Jonah and Jesus

• Jonah desired for the destruction of his enemies
• Jesus desired the redemption of his enemies

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• You are a kind and merciful God, and you are
  very patient. You always show love, and you dont
  like to punish anyone, not even foreigners.
  (Jonah 4.2)

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• "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an
  eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But now I tell
  you do not take revenge on someone who wrongs
  you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let
  him slap your left cheek too. And if someone
  takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let
  him have your coat as well. And if one of the
  occupation troops forces you to carry his pack
  one mile, carry it two miles. When someone asks
  you for something, give it to him when someone
  wants to borrow something, lend it to him. "You
  have heard that it was said, 'Love your friends,
  hate your enemies.'

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• But now I tell you love your enemies and pray
  for those who persecute you, so that you may
  become the children of your Father in heaven. For
  he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people
  alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to
  those who do evil. Why should God reward you if
  you love only the people who love you? Even the
  tax collectors do that! And if you speak only to
  your friends, have you done anything out of the
  ordinary? Even the pagans do that! You must be
  perfect---just as your Father in heaven is
  perfect. (Matthew 538-48)