😏 We should just watch this movie and call it a day…
That’s not the worst idea ever. There were a lot of things this movie did well. The comedy and music was on-point. But- since we only have this one shot to blog about all things Jonah…
Let’s start by revisiting the first prophecy from Jonah that we’ve already read.
😯 What prophecy? There’s a prophecy from Jonah before the book of Jonah?
Yes. It was only a verse. Easy to miss.
“Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
2 Kings 14:25 NLT
I don’t think there is a reference to this prophecy anywhere else.
Remember how huge the kingdom was under David and Solomon? Note the kingdom of Assyria far to the north. Their kingdom’s capital, Nineveh, (not on map) is where Jonah will be sent.
The kingdom was big.
They lost most of it.
You may recall that during the reign of King Asa, Israel attacked Judah and so Asa paid a lot of money to Ben-Hadad I of Syria (Aram) to break their peace with Israel and attack them. And they did. Afterward, the map looked kinda like this:
This is when Ramoth-Gilead was conquered the first time. See it there in the east?
The borders changed all the time as either Aram or Israel had the upper hand.
Well, apparently Jonah had prophesied that the land would be recovered. We don’t know if the prophecy was so specific as to say that Jeroboam II would be the one to do it, but the text certainly allows for that possibility.
Here’s what the map looked like after Jeroboam II defeated Aram and recovered the land “from Lebo-Hamath (circled in red) to the Dead Sea.” All that territory in orange that had been part of the kingdom under Solomon was retaken.
I go over this little tidbit of geo-political history because it shows that Jonah had already given a VERY bold prophecy and it came to pass.
Imagine someone prophesying today that Israel was going to recapture the Golan Heights, Gaza, AND take full control of the Temple Mount. Most would call him a madman. But if it happened…
That’s kinda what it’s like for Jonah.
No wonder he had his own plushie.
Jeroboam II conquers most of Aram including their capital of Damascus. Which makes Assyria to the north a next-door-neighbor.
My Holman QuickSource Guide to Understanding The Bible, A Book-By-Book Overview by Kendall H. Easley tells me that at the time of Jonah’s ministry…
“The Assyrians, with their capital in Nineveh, were in a period of retrenchment and inner turmoil. At the same time, they were well known throughout the ancient Near East as a potent military threat. (Shortly after Jeroboam’s death and the ministry of Jonah, Assyria entered a period of aggression and expansion under Tiglath-Pileser III. It would conquer Samaria and exile the people of the Northern Kingdom in 722.)”
The Assyrians were really, REALLY nasty. They routinely decapitated, skinned alive, impaled and dismembered their enemies. While said enemy was still very much alive.
In fact, it was the sadistic Assyrians that invented crucifixion; which the Romans later tweaked and perfected.
We would probably refer to the Assyrians today as terrorists. Only they had a whole functional kingdom.
Here’s an image from a wall relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh:
If you are feeling scholarly and would like to read an 11-page article from the Biblical Archeology Society on the “Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death” click the link. Or you may just want to see the pictures of all their decapitated enemies.
Now do you see why Jonah hopes they all just burn in a deluge of fire and brimstone?
Let’s not be hard on Jonah. If the Lord told you to waltz unarmed right into the headquarters of Hamas, ISIS, Boko-Haram, or Al-Shabab and preach the Gospel and tell them they had 40 days to repent, what would you do? After all the people they’ve tortured and killed?
Be honest. You’d probably book a cruise too.
🚢🧳
That’s a very fair comparison for Jonah. He knows that Yahweh is compassionate.
“And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not what I said while I was in my homeland? Therefore I originally fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and having great steadfast love, and one who relents concerning calamity.”
Jonah 4:2 LEB
Jonah wants these radicalized madmen to burn in Hell. He knows that if the Assyrians repent, Yahweh will forgive them. Jonah would prefer for them to die.
And let’s be honest- if we were in his place, what would we want?
One interesting thing about the book of Jonah- even though it is included with and considered a “minor prophet,” the book is not written or structured like the other books of prophecy. It’s written like an historical narrative. The only prophecy in it is when Jonah tells the people of Nineveh they have 40 days to repent or Yahweh will destroy them.
There is no need here to recap one of the Bible’s most famous stories.
And I already have a post highlighting the similarities between the stories of Jonah and Noah. It’s the post for Genesis 7-8 on page 26 of the blog. If you missed that one, it would be a good one to go back and pick up.
This time I’d like to highlight the similarities between Jonah and another time we read about a guy sleeping in a boat in a storm…
🌊⛵️😴🌊
“So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!””
Mark 4:36-41 NLT
In both the Jonah narrative and this account from the Gospel of Mark we have:
- Jonah was running from God’s mission, Jesus was going toward His next mission
- The mission for both Jonah and Jesus was in a Gentile area and involved violent, demonized people. With Jonah it was the Assyrians. With Jesus it was the Demoniac of Gadara.
- They each get into a boat which quickly finds itself in a supernatural storm.
- In Jonah’s case, Yahweh sent the storm.
- In Jesus’ case, because he “rebuked” the wind, it may be that the wind was a demonic attempt to destroy him.
- In both stories, the Prophet is asleep in the boat in the storm and is awakened by the sailors.
- In both stories the sailors appeal to the Prophet for help.
- Jonah’s solution was to be thrown into the water. Jesus’ solution was to rebuke the storm.
- In both cases, the storm stops immediately!
- In both cases, the sailors’ response is to fear God and want to serve Him.
Now, that is NOT just coincidence. We’re meant to notice these similarities. You could imagine a “spot-the-differences” page with Jonah on one side and Jesus on the other. There are differences, but the pictures are remarkably similar.
In the NT, Jonah is called Jonas. Jesus talks about him and it is recorded in Matthew 12:38-41 and Luke. 11:29-32. Jesus compares Himself to Jonah as a “sign” to the people of His day just as Jonah was a “sign” to the people of Nineveh.
One way to look at it is this…
👳🏻♂️ Jonah: “Repent, people of Nineveh! If you do not, in 40 days, Yahweh the GOD of Heaven and Earth will destroy all of you!”
👨🏼🦱 Ned Ninevite: “Oh yeah? What proof do you have, Fishy Man?”
👱🏽♀️ Nancy Ninevite: “Yeah! Why should we believe you, Hebrew Chum Bucket?”
👳🏻♂️ Jonah: “I’m here aren’t I? What part of I-was-swallowed-by-a-fish-and-should-be-dead don’t you understand? Why would any Hebrew in his right mind be here? Hmm? Tell me that. The very fact that I am standing here – when I would literally rather be at the bottom of the ocean- and I’m somehow alive… Why else would I be here if God didn’t send me with this message?
When the crowds asked Jesus for a sign, He was drawing this comparison. Now, Jesus obviously didn’t actually say the things below, but this is the idea…
Jesus: “I’m here aren’t I? What part of I-was-born-of-a-virgin don’t you understand? How could anyone else fulfill all the Messianic prophesies I have and NOT be the Messiah? Hmm? Tell me that. The very fact that I am standing here – when I could literally be in Heaven- and I’m here as a human to reveal the Father… Why else would I be here if God didn’t send me with this message? I AM the sign you’re looking for.
Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2 is prayer for RESURRECTION. He is as good as dead and buried. In fact, though the text doesn’t spell it out, it’s possible that Jonah did die and was raised (cuz how does a person not die after 3 days without oxygen while submerged in a brine of digestive enzymes?) And that’s what makes him a prophetic sign of the Messiah:
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”
Matthew 12:40 NLT
Speaking of 3 days… That’s how long it took to walk across Nineveh. Jonah started his urban trek and was preaching his way across the city on day one. And the people immediately responded with repentance.
Can people really get off that easy?
They just repent and… that’s it?
No punishment for the times they tore screaming people’s tongues out? No retribution for the women they raped? No justice for the men they tied to the ground and flayed alive? Or whose hands and feet they cut off?
Just… nothing?
Not even a few hours of community service?
Our sense of justice has a bigger problem with this than we’d like to admit.
If the forgiveness of God and the anger of Jonah over it doesn’t make sense, you’re not thinking of the Assyrians badly enough.
When we read about a furious father who hunts down his daughter’s rapist and murderer, and unloads the magazine into him – I don’t know about you, but I can understand that fury.
The God of Heaven is so… just… BEYOND any capacity to comprehend His mercy…
He is ALSO a God of justice. Don’t misunderstand. But as James said,
“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
James 2:13 ESV
I’m relatively confident, dear reader, that you have not led a life of pillaging and torturing your victims. And yet we sometimes struggle to believe God would love us and forgive us? If He can forgive the Assyrians and give them another chance, I’m quite sure there is PLENTY of mercy for you.
I will wrap up with a psalm that sounds as if Jonah could’ve written it. We don’t know who wrote it; so… who knows? Maybe….
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”
Psalm 130:1-8 ESV
To The Reader 