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THE BOOK OF JONAH
Author:
Arthur Bardis
The Book of Jonah is quite different from the other prophetic Books. It shows how and why the destruction of Nineveh, was not fulfilled. God called Jonah to deliver His message in the city of Nineveh, and extraordinary phenomena took place. Through the astonishing events that took place after the prophets refusal to deliver the message, the themes of Yahweh being the Creator and Sustainer of the world; That His care and providential goodness transcends upon all humankind (even animals), and the juxtaposition of His justice and mercy, are explored and also analyzed for us in an instructive way. INTRODUCTION The book of Jonah is unique among the prophets in that instead of containing a group of oracles or visions, it relates an extended episode in the life of a prophet. It does not contain the record of a prophet’s message as much as the record of a prophet’s experience. “The genre is not history but a theological prophetic story. It is not ironic satire but a compassionate irony.”[1] The Book occupies an important position in the Old Testament Canon, because it so clearly shows that, although God had a special covenantal relationship with Israel, He did not abandon His compassion for other nations. The Lord is God of all nations, not just Israel, and He is concerned with the welfare of all mankind. Yahweh is the Creator of heavens and earth. The main themes of the book of Jonah, and the instructions that we can get today, will be examined, through Jonah’s encounter with the pagans, and his confrontation with Yahweh’s almighty power, sovereignty, justice, and compassionate redemption.
GOD THE SOVEREIGN CREATOR IS IN CONTROL OF THE NATURAL WORLD“The book of Jonah asserts that God has created, controls and cares for the natural world.[2] God is in total control of the forces of nature without being a part of it.[3] Contrary to the belief of the people in the Ancient Near East, the sea,[4] wind, clouds, and sun are not gods that are to be worshipped but are part of the creation. Yahweh, the Creator, can make the sea to rage or to be still.[5] He can appoint great fish of the deep seas or commission a tiny worm to carry out His will;[6] He can use the ferocious desert wind to carry out His plan.[7]
There are echoes of the book of Genesis in Jonah. The LORD, is God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."[8] Only God can create [9] and call into existence that which had no existence. The work of creation is uniquely a work of Yahweh.[10] “If God really created all things, then He controls all things and can do all things.”[11] Furthermore, the fact that Yahweh is the Creator refutes all of man’s philosophies concerning the origin and meaning of the world.[12]
The people of God, have experienced His compassion, mercy, and love, and have been miraculously saved from death, and given another “lease” on life to proclaim the message of salvation to the heathen. Like Jonah, many times God’s people are offended that the Lord has a concern for others, for whom they wish only destruction. “The message of Jonah is God’s Word in action judging this disobedience and challenging them to a new apprehension of their divine commission.”[15] GOD’S SUPREME CARE TRANSCENDS UPON ALL HUMANKINDWhen God calls Jonah to preach repentance [16] to the evil Ninevites,[17] the prophet recognizes that Yahweh’s mercy will follow if they repent from their iniquity. God’s dealings with the prophet Jonah the son of Amittai reveal His attitude and activity toward the nations and toward His own people. “It probes the perplexing question of why God’s mercy is sometimes dispensed to people who do not see to deserve it”[18] and then deals with it from the position of a theology of creation and salvation, rather than judgment. The son of Amittai (and we) must learn that God’s love and power cannot be limited to a particular land or people. God is concerned for people beyond the boundaries of Palestine, and He is ready to demonstrate forgiveness and to extend salvation to them as to any Jew.
The development of the theme of Yahweh’s compassion (God’s justice versus mercy) transcends upon all humankind, not only for Israel and Nineveh but also for Jonah himself. All the people are first and foremost the creatures of God. Inside the pages of Jonah, it can be seen that Yahweh’s choice transcends nationality or race. “It seems to human nature to attempt to achieve salvation by works. Sailors pray but also throw out cargo, cast lots, row, and interrogate[19] but in the end they learn that God is sovereign and people must e saved by simple submission to His will.”[20]
The traditional characteristics of God function in a new and non-traditional way. God’s concern, pity and love are not only towards Israel, His elect, but also towards the heathen Ninevites. The scale of God’s love is so great that can include not only the nation of Israel but the whole world. “The Lord may be compassionate[21] to those who show small steps of repentance in the right direction without defiling his righteousness, which demands judgment for evil. The prophet of Yahweh gives the impression of someone who is “disobedient to God and seems to be a bigoted nationalist,”[22] “a man who would rather see the destruction[23] of more than a hundred and twenty thousand souls than acknowledge that God can be merciful to those foreigners in Nineveh.”[24] His lack of concern for the Ninevites[25] contrasts with God’s concern for them that was to be the pattern for His people. “Election by Yahweh had been selfishly interpreted as an end rather than means, and the divine purpose, stated by Yahweh to Abraham, “that in you all the families of the earth shall be bless” (Gen 12:3), had been forgotten.”[26]
Inside the pages of the book of Jonah the prophet, there is a testimony that God is concerned about all the inhabitants of the earth. “Jonah’s creed like statement in 4:2b is a typical biblical expression of God’s love for the people of Israel (ex.34: 6-7;Ps. 145:8; Joel 2:13;etc). The only Israelite in this entire story is Jonah.”[27] Yahweh’s care and love for Israel is demonstrated in His kindness, patience, and love in dealing with Jonah. God is the same yesterday, today and forever[28]. He persists to work with His children, rescuing them, putting up with them and long-sufferingly trying to instruct them. “The spiritual message of the book is the lesson that God’s love is not exclusively confined to Israel, but that Israel carries a responsibility of sharing it with others.”[29]
“SALVATION COMES ONLY FROM GOD”- COMPASSION: JUSTICE VERSUS MERCY Jonah Ben Amittai disputes on behalf of strict justice in opposition to the merciful God, who repents of His sentence.[30] He expects Yahweh to punish the heathen with strict justice, but he ought to gain knowledge of that “the world can exist only through the unfathomable amalgam of justice and mercy. To learn this lesson Jonah had to experience the Lord’s heavy hand for only when the proponent of strict justice realizes his own humanity can he understand the fundamental dependence of mortals on human and divine mercy.”[31]
Jonah had good historical reasons, good personal reasons, for not wanting to go to Nineveh. That great city was the heartland of the cruel and bloodthirsty Assyrians. In the same manner, the story of Jonah verifies a suspicion that many times the children of God have about Him. That is, that God will ask them (us) to do the things that we least want to do, and to go to the very last place we desire to go. The Lord wants to send us to the hellish Ninevites, to people, (or nations) that have hurt, betrayed and threatened us. “God does not look on the outward appearances. He looks at the heart. And sometimes, he calls us to a work we do not want to do in order to reveal our heart-to reveal what we really believe, our deepest yearnings.”[35] God is not concerned in our obedience so much for His sake; obedience is for our own good. CONCLUSIONThe Bible is a witness to the reality of the redemptive work of God, throughout the centuries. The reality of this redemptive purpose, although obscured in the temporal forms of this world, nonetheless, is revealed in its fullness to those who respond to His call. “Simple justice is not God’s way. His love drives Him beyond justice.”[36] God’s generous love far surpasses human ideas of fairness. In the Book of Jonah, Yahweh is not only identified as the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the world, but also a loving, compassionate, and merciful God, who desires to extent redemption to everyone that repents, Israelite or non Israelite. Through the Book of Jonah, God Almighty desires to demonstrate His compassion and instruct us, so we can draw closer to Him. PRESENT DAY RELEVANCEThe very human portrait of a reluctant prophet is the very story of our lives. We come face to face with issues of obedience, frustration, compassion, and God’s justice that sometimes cannot be understood. God wants to challenge our self-imposed boundaries, and use us to proclaim the same message of repentance (even to unsafe and frightening places) that Jonah preached to the heathen Ninevites. God sends His servants (us) to the world because He has compassion and hope. The Lord is calling us to preach the Euangelion because, "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"[37] BIBLIOGRAPHY
JOURNAL ARTICLES
· Nowell, Irene. (October 2000) “Jonah”. Interpretation, A Journal of Bible and Theology, 54, 431.
· Stamp, Richard. (Dec 1999) “Jonah: The Wayward Dove, A new look at an Old Prophet”. The Expository Times, 111, 80-82.
· Deeley, Mary Katharine. (October 1997) “The Shaping of Jonah”. Theology Today vol xxxiv, No 3, 305-308.
· DeMoss, Matthew (ed). (April –June 2000) “Jonah” (Book review). Bibliotheca Sacra, vol 157, no 626, 244-245.
· Buchanan, Mark. (November 1999) “Running with Jonah”. Christianity Today, 87-91.
· Childs, Brevard S. (March 1958) “Jonah: A Study in Old Testament Hermeneutics”. Scottish Journal of Theology, vol 11, no. 1, 53-61.
· Donovan, Mary. (October 1998) “Jonah 3:10-4:11”. Interpretation, a Journal of Bible and Theology, vol 52, no 4, 411-414. INTERNET SITES Malick, David. An Introduction to the Book of Jonah. 1991, no pages, http://www.bible.org/docs/ot/books/jon/jnh-intr.htm. Cited 1st of October 200 Constable, L. Thomas. Notes on Jonah. 2000, pages, no pages, (Published by Sonic Light), http://www.soniclight.com. Cited 1st October 2002. [1]Irene, Nowell & Barbara, Reid (eds), “Jonah” (book review), The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 62, no 2 (April 2000): 340. [2] JNH 1:9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." [3] For the ancient Near East, the gods had created order by defeating the powers of chaos; but these had been tamed, not abolished, and so remained a constant threat. The embodiment of these lawless and chaotic forces was the sea, which people could not control or tame. Frequently God's control of the sea is used to stress his complete lordship over creation (cf. Ps. 24:2; 33:7; 65:7; 74:13; et al.). [4] Form Canaanite texts it is known that, Yamm (the Sea) was a god. [5] Jonah 1:4,13,15. [6] Jonah 2:1; 4:7. [7] Jonah 4:8. [8] Jonah 1:9. [9] The word bara (Hebrew) is used always only of the work of God. [10] The act of creation is that of speaking into existence something whose materials had no previous existence, except in the mind and power of God. [11] Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Books House, 1976), 37. [12] It refutes atheism, pantheism, polytheism, materialism, dualism, humanism, and evolutionism. [13] Walter. A. Elwell (ed), Theological Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), 427. [14] Jonah 4:2; Psalm 86:15; 103:8; 145:8. [15] Brevard S. Childs, “Jonah, A Study in Old Testament Hermeneutics”, Scottish Journal of Theology, 11, No 1, (March 1958). [16] Jonah 1:2. [17] Nineveh lay on the eastern bank of the Tigris. Sennacherib had made it the chief city of Assyria. Since the middles of the ninth century, Israel had been forced to pay tribute as a vassal of the Assyrian king. It was a land that inspired terror on Israel. The Assyrians were renowned for their callous fighting tactics; no mercy could be expected from these sadists. The Ninevites were as formidable and cruel as any enemies Israel was likely to meet. [18] Walter. A. Elwell (ed), Theological Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), 427. [19] Jonah 1:5-13. [20] Walter. A. Elwell (ed), Theological Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), 428. [21] The Hebrew word translated “have compassion” in 4:10 and 11 (Heb. hus) means “to spare by sheltering.” The idea is that of covering and so shielding from danger. [22] Richard. Stamp, “Jonah: The Wayward Dove, A New look at an Old Prophet”, The Expository times, 111, No 3. ((Dec 1999): 80. [23] There was a certain type of Hebrew prophecy, springing out for the most part out of the dark days of national disaster, of which the theme was the certainty of God’s vengeance on the heathen oppressors (the Books of Obadiah and Nahum illustrate this feeling) [24]Richard. Stamp, “Jonah: The Wayward Dove, A New look at an Old Prophet”, The Expository times, 111, No 3. ((Dec 1999): 80. [25] One of the characteristics that marked the Israelites was their exclusivity. During the reign of Jeroboam II, when Jonah prophesied, Israel was expanding geographically, and was forming alliances with her neighbor nations. The Israelites believed that their privileged relationship with Yahweh needed guarding. [26] William Sanford. Lasor; David Allan. Hubbard; Frederick William. Bush, Old Testament Survey. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pubishing Company, 1996), 386. [27] James Limburg, Jonah, A Commentary (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1999), 34. [28] Hebrews 13:8. [29] Brevard S. Childs, “Jonah: A Study in Old Testament Hermeneutics”, Scottish Journal of Theology, 11 No. 1, (March 1958): 53. [30] Jonah 3:10. [31] Matthew S DeMoss, (ed), “Jonah”, (Book Review), Bibliotheca Sacra, 157, No 626 (April –June 2000): 245. [32] S.L. Edgar, The Minor Prophets (London: The Epworth Press, 1962), 135. [33] Jonah 3:4-10. [34] Mary Donovan. Turner, “Jonah 3:10-4:11”, Interpretation, a Journal of Bible and Theology l 52, no 4, (October 1998), 413. [35] Mark. Buchanan, “Running With Jonah”, Christianity Today, (November 1999), 88. [36]Thomas Edward. McComiskey (ed) An Exegetical & Expository Commentary, The Minor Prophets, Vol Two (, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1993), 571. [37] Mark 1:15.
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“The
corollary of the doctrine of creation is that the Creator’s prime desire
is to preserve life and not take it.”
Throughout
the Bible the ground of salvation is God’s merciful love. This love is
nowhere expressed carelessly, in absolute ignorance and disrespect of
the attitude of those who accept it. Although people do not deserve
this great love, God offers His forgiveness to those ready to receive
it. “Readiness may be expressed by sacrifices brought gladly to His
house, by submission to His will, by evidence of true repentance, by a
return of love for the gift of God’s love.”