A. Summary and Overview.
- Jonah is mentioned as a prophet in 2nd Kings 14:25 during the reign of Jeroboam II, who reigned from 786 to 746 BC. This would place this book and its narrative sometime during this timeframe. The book is written in the third person, but the consensus is that Jonah is the author of the book. It is comprised of four chapters, and recounts how Jonah is told by the Lord to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against it as “their evil has come up before me” (Vs. 1:2b).
- Nineveh is described in verse 1:2 as a “great city”, and archeological excavations have confirmed that it was indeed large. At one time, it was considered to be the largest city in the world. In 4:11, God describes it as having 120,000 people who are not yet old enough to know their right hand from their left. In other words, they were infants meaning that the adult population was much bigger. In Vs. 3:3 it is described as “three days journey in breadth.” Its ruins are located on the eastern bank of the Tigris, in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It would later become the capital of Assyria under Sennacherib, who built his palace there. It was destroyed in 612 by the forces of the Medio-Persian empire.
B. Chapter 1.
- Jonah is directed to go to Nineveh and preach against the city. He rebels, and in chapter four he gives us a reason: “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Vs. 4:2b). The Assyrians began their invasion of Israel under King Pul (1 Chronicles 5:26) in 740 BC and took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribes of Manasseh into captivity. These tribes were located east of the Jordon River. Jonah may have been aware of their impending invasion, including into Israel proper, which happened in 722 BC. The Assyrians were a fearful and brutal people and Jonah may have desired their destruction. Nineveh is located about 500 miles from Jonah’s home in Gath-hepher (2nd Kings 14:25) which was near Nazareth in Galilee. We do not know where the fish vomited out Jonah, but it certainly was a long distance for Jonah to travel to Nineveh.
- Jonah flees from the Lord’s command and pays for passage on a ship from Joppa, which is now encompassed by the modern city of Tel Aviv. The ship was headed to Tarshish, which is mentioned 25 times in the Old Testament. However, its exact location is not known, but most likely somewhere on the shores of the Mediterranean. God causes a storm to come up and the sailors are afraid. They cast lots as to who is at fault, and Jonah is selected. He persuades them to cast him overboard, to which they reluctantly agree.
- God causes a great fish to swallow Jonah and he spends three days and three nights in its belly. Much speculation has been made over what kind of fish this was, and how Jonah could have survived for so long in its belly. For this reason, Bible critics believe the story is a myth. However, Jesus uses Jonah as an illustration of His being in the grave for the same period: “Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of a big fish. The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the grave also. The men of the city of Nineveh will stand up with the people of this day on the day men stand before God. Those men will say these people are guilty because the men of Nineveh were sorry for their sins and turned from them when Jonah preached. And see, someone greater than Jonah is here!” (Vs. Matthew 12:40-41). Jesus believed in the story, which validates it as being true.
C. Chapter 2. Jonah repents and cries out to the Lord. The big fish vomited him out on dry land.
D. Chapter 3.
- The Lord tells him once more to go to Nineveh. Jonah obeys and delivers a message that Nineveh will be destroyed in 40 days. The people of Nineveh believe his simple message, put on sackcloth and fast. The king also hears of the pronouncement. He removes his robe, covers himself in sackcloth and sits in ashes. He issues a proclamation: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” (Vs. 3:7b-9).
- When God sees that they have turned from their evil way, he relents and does not destroy the city (Vs. 3:10).
E. Chapter 4.
- Jonah becomes very angry when he sees that the Lord does not destroy Nineveh. He tells the Lord that it is better for him to die than to live. He goes outside the city and builds a small shelter to see what will become of the city. The Lord provides a plant to shelter Jonah from the sun. Jonah is pleased, but then the Lord sends a worm that destroys the plant. Jonah again says that it would be better if would die than to live.
- The book concludes with: “And the LORD said, ‘You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”’ The Lord mentions the 120,000, which are to be understood as infants in that they are not old enough to tell their right from their left hand. It shows His mercy and compassion for children as well as for animals.
F. Discussion Questions, Application and Passing it on.
- Jonah disobeyed the Lord in that he knew the Lord is compassionate, and perhaps he thought that the Lord might spare the city. Nineveh became the capital city of a nation that would later destroy Israel and take the population into captivity. This made Nineveh an enemy of Israel and Jonah may have wished them dead. Have you ever felt angry enough towards someone that you wished them to be dead? Jesus tells us that makes us subject to judgement, the same as murdering someone. This is an issue of the heart. Humbling ourselves, as the population of Nineveh did, is the first step towards reconciliation with that person. Is there someone you need to be reconciled to?
- Jonah preached a simple message; it is only five words in the Hebrew language. The gospel is a simple message. Are you able and are you willing, to preach a simple message to your unsaved family members, neighbors, friends and co-workers?