Jonah 1-4 A Tale to Wail
Psalm 110:1-7 Messianic Reign
Ps 110:1 “Yahweh says to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool for Your feet." 2 Yahweh will send forth the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies. 3 Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of Your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. 4 Yahweh has sworn, and will not change His mind: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at Your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth. 7 He will drink of the brook in the way; therefore He will lift up His head.“
Observations: 110:1-4 This is considered a prophetic oracle about the reign of the Messiah. David knew he would have a descendent who would always rule over Israel. Perhaps a contemplation of that promise (2 Samuel 7) led to this divine insight. There is no event in David's life that satisfactorily matches the content of this psalm. David sees/hears Yahweh addressing David's Lord, and that Lord's rule being extended from Zion over the whole earth. The Messiah's holy people will willingly serve Him in the day of His power. Just like David was promised a never-ending kingship, the Messiah is promised a never-ending priesthood, not after the Aaronic order, but after the order of Melchizedek. This psalm is applied to Jesus in many NT passages (Matthew 22:42-45; Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews 1:13, etc).
110:5-7 When the Messiah returns, he will occupy David's throne, and rule over the nations. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth, and bring in times of refreshing.
Application: God will one day fulfill all His promises, to judge and bless, so we need to live in light of that reality.
Prayer: Lord, thanks that You will bring about a perfect victorious rulership over the earth in the Messiah; I'm glad I'm on Your side. Amen.
Proverbs 25:8-10 Avoiding Shame
Observations: 25:8 If you have to go to court to resolve an issue, make sure you have all the facts correct. Better yet, try to avoid the potential shame of losing a case by seeking an amicable mutually acceptable resolution.
25:9-10 In making or proving a case there is a temptation to use information that negatively impacts others. It's not worth the bad reputation which might result.
Application: Never act hastily out of anger, and always try to resolve things at the lowest possible volume.
Prayer: God set a guard over my heart and lips so I don't respond emotionally in situations where I'm wronged, and thus diminish my influence for You. Amen.
Jonah 1-4 God has a love and concern for the world (Gen 12:3; Isa 49:1-3; Jn 3:16) that extends beyond Israel, but He uses Israel as the vehicle of His grace. Jonah, like Israel didn't want to cooperate, either in obeying nor in caring. Those who care about pleasing God, care about what God cares about. Assyria, whose capital was Nineveh, had put Israel under tribute in the days of Jehu (about 75 years earlier); Hosea 11:5 and Amos 5:27 indicated that God would use Assyria to judge Israel, so Jonah's reluctance to see Nineveh spared is understandable, but not excusable. God uses extraordinary measures to prepare His prophet to proclaim His message, and the Gentiles put Israel to shame by their receptivity and repentance.
Jonah 1 Proud Prophet, God-fearing Pagans
1:1 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish." 7 They all said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they asked him, "Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?" 9 He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land." 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?" For the sea grew more and more stormy. 12 He said to them, "Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you." 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 14 Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, "We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you." 15 So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. 16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows. 17 Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Observations: 1:1-5 Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, which at this time was experiencing a few setbacks as the dominant world power. God wants Jonah to arise and go to proclaim His message of judgment because their wickedness had reached the tipping point. Jonah arose and fled, in direct disobedience of the revealed will of God. Silly prophet; had he read Ps 139 or even the last post on Amos 9, he'd have known that you can't hide from an omnipresent God. So much for “peace” being a way of determining the will of God. Jonah was so insensitive to God's will that he wasn't even aware of the judgment God was bringing for his disobedience.
1:6-16 God's humor and sovereignty are seen in His use of the rebellious Hebrew who didn't fear God to turn the fearful pagans into Yahweh fearers. Verse 12 is one of the two lines of prophecy in the book, and the only one that was fulfilled (cf. 3:4). God can even use the disobedience of His people to glorify Himself, and draw people into a relationship with Him. Note the “proper” response of the pagans to the prophet's word and it's fulfillment. They showed a greater concern for Jonah than he showed to Gentiles (cf. Chapter 4), and a greater fear of God than he did.
1:17 This is not a “fish story” since whales are mammals :) Although if you want to be barnacle picking, the creature in question was called a fish, specially prepared by God for the task. It might show up in the fossil record some day. For those who know that the Creator God who commands kingdoms and lions can do anything, there is no problem fitting a six foot prophet in a 96 foot transport. Those who trust that Jesus knew the real story when He spoke of Jonah's stay in the sea, don't need to figure out non-supernatural “explanations” for God's supernatural work (there's a whole lot of Bible they'd have to “explain”).
Matthew 12:39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
But for folks like Jesus' audience, whole animals larger than a man have been found in the bellies of whale sharks, which are half the size of the blue whale referenced above. Fifteen foot creatures (three times the size of your average compact prophet) have been found in fish that swim in the Mediterranean. If you don't think that God could have kept Jonah alive, then how about having Jonah die and then be resurrected (unless you don't believe in that either)? This last scenario is the least likely, because the next chapter tells us what Jonah was doing over the weekend.
Application: God can glorify Himself through our obedience or in spite of our disobedience, but if we don't do His will, we will not share in His glory, but will swim within fish guts.
Prayer: Mighty God, nothing is too difficult for You, except perhaps to get us to submit our will to Yours; guide me in doing Your will so You will be glorified by my life. Amen.
Jonah 2 Psalm of Deliverance from the Depths
10 Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.
Observations: 2:1-7 Jonah got the roller coaster ride of a lifetime, and God got Jonah's attention and prayers. Even in the midst of discipline for outright rebellion, Jonah remembered to call out to God in faith that He would respond to Jonah's repentance. He recalls and pleads the promises God made to keep His ears open to prayer made toward His holy temple.
2:8-9 Those who are devoted (Piel Intensive form of the verb to “guard” or “give attention”) to “empty vanities” or “worthless idols” wind up abandoning or forsaking their covenantal loyalty, and its benefits (like deliverance). But Jonah maintains that his loyalty is to Yahweh.
Jonah calls on God and vows to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving (similar to the sailors in chapter 1). Implicit in this the obedience he demonstrates in the next chapter.
2:10 God directs the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land (and Jonah probably did the same).
Application: We can never be in such deep trouble that God can't hear us and deliver us if we call out to Him in faith based upon His revelation.
Prayer: God, I want to loyally obey You every day, so You don't need to discipline me to get my attention. Thanks that You answer my prayers and do loyally deliver. Amen.
Jonah 3 When Men Repent, God Relents
5 The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least. 6 The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water"; 8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?" 10 God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
Observations: 3:1-10 It took Jonah about a million steps to go from the belly to the Boulevard. Jonah delivers God's simple message, and the entire city of about half a million repent! That's a bigger miracle than the fish. Everyone from the king to the animals were covered in sackcloth and humbling themselves before God. It wasn't the fasting and sackcloth that caused God to relent, but their repentance. Everyone turned from their evil ways and violence, in a way that put Israel to shame. Had they waited 41 days, we'd be reading in the next chapter about Nahum's “Nasties to Nineveh” (prophesying the destruction that occurred in 612 because future generations returned to their evil ways). There are two famines in the historical record (765 & 759 BC), sandwiching a solar eclipse in 763 BC. These signs of divine displeasure, coupled with the internal distension that hand Assyria in turmoil, may have heightened their receptivity to God, like prosperity rarely does.
Application: When we repent, God relents of the judgment He had planned, because we now qualify for mercy rather than pain.
Prayer: Merciful God, please point out any sin in my life that is setting me up for judgment, and give me the grace to repent wholeheartedly. Thanks. Amen.
Jonah 4 Pouting Prophet Learns about Repentance
5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city. 6 Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine. 7 But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered. 8 It happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?" He said, "I am right to be angry, even to death." 10 Yahweh said, "You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. 11 Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?"
Observations: 4:1-11 God had to prepare a fish to get Jonah to change his steps. Here he prepares a vine, worm, and wind to get Jonah to change his heart. Jonah had a mostly accurate view of God as demonstrated by his prayer in chapter 2, and opening comments in this chapter. He knew that God answered prayer, and that He acted according to the way He revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 34. However, he didn't embrace God's heart of grace and mercy, especially toward one of Israel's enemies. God had promised Abram that the whole world would be blessed through him (and his descendents), but Jonah didn't have God's compassion for the world. Jonah is upset that God changed His mind and spared Nineveh based upon their repentance. He might have been pouting that his prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled, and now he would rather die than live (classic loss of perspective). So he sets up camp to see what will happen. God asks if Jonah “does well to be angry” (KJV), a good question to ask ourselves when we start fuming. God prepares a vine to shade him, and Jonah is happy to have the vine. Then God prepares a worm to destroy the vine and a sirocco to roast him. Jonah changes his mind, and is now angry about the vine. God spells out the lesson:
If Jonah can change from happy to angry over something as insignificant as a vine on which he bestowed no labor, and which lasted only a day (meaningless vanity???) God can change from angry to happy over a great city (which He would be using to accomplish His purposes).
There were 120,000 young kids and if Jonah didn't care about them, there were also animals (some folks care more about them than people). We're not told if Jonah learned the lesson.
Application: Those who care about pleasing God care about what God cares about, which is primarily the spiritual welfare of people.
Prayer: God, thanks for pouring Your grace and mercy upon me; open my eyes to opportunities to share it with others, so Your glory will be greater. Amen.
Digging Deeper
God in a nutshell: The God of Israel is the God of all peoples, who wants them to live in proper relationship with Himself and their neighbors. He is also the God of the universe and the world, who commands nature and nations. He spares from just judgment based upon repentance, and patiently teaches His people so they can accomplish His purposes in the world.
Us in a nutshell: We can be recipients of grace, and yet not gracious toward others. We can know God but not embrace His objectives. Pagans can put God's people to shame by responding better to Him than they do. When we call to God according to His promises, He relents when we repent.
Where to Go for More:
Truthbase.net
Jonah complete text
Jonah 1
1:1 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish." 7 They all said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they asked him, "Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?" 9 He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land." 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?" For the sea grew more and more stormy. 12 He said to them, "Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you." 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 14 Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, "We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you." 15 So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. 16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows. 17 Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly. 2 He said, "I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. 3 For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God. 7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh."
10 Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.
Jonah 3
3:1 The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you." 3 So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across. 4 Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, "In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!"
5 The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least. 6 The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water"; 8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?" 10 God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
Jonah 4
4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm. 3 Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." 4 Yahweh said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city. 6 Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine. 7 But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered. 8 It happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?" He said, "I am right to be angry, even to death." 10 Yahweh said, "You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not laboured, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. 11 Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?"
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