Jonah: An Introduction and Commentary

Author: Jonah, the son of Amittai. He lived in Gath-Hepher, a tribal territory of Zebulun (2 Kings 14:25), which was in northern Israel.

Date: Jonah ministered during the reign of Jeroboam II, who was king of Israel from 793-753 B.C. The likely date of the Book of Jonah is 785-770 B.C.

Recipients: The northern kingdom (Israel)

Purpose: To explain that God's mercy extends even to pagan nations that repent.

I. GOD'S COMMISSION TO JONAH REJECTED (1:1-3)

The LORD called Jonah to cry against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, about 50 to 60 years before the nation defeated the northern kingdom of Israel (722 B.C.). Because Jonah hated the wickedness of the Assyrians, he fled west to Joppa and sought to travel by ship to Tarshish. This was in the opposite direction from Nineveh.

II. JONAH'S FLIGHT AND GOD'S PURSUIT (1:4-17)

• In response to the prophet's disobedience, the LORD hurled a great storm into the sea, and even though the ship was about to break apart, Jonah was fast asleep in the hold of the ship. The captain woke Jonah up, and exhorted him to call upon his God so that the ship, its crew, and its passengers might be saved (1:4-6).

• The men decided to cast lots in order to determine who was at fault for the storm, and the lot fell upon Jonah. When they pressed him for personal information, he explained that he was a Hebrew who feared the LORD God of Heaven who had created the sea

and the dry land. He confessed that he was responsible for the storm, because he was running from the presence of the LORD (1:7-10).

• Jonah instructed the men to throw him overboard, and after asking the LORD not to punish them for doing so, they threw him into the sea. As a result, the sea stopped its raging, and the men feared the LORD, offering sacrifices to Him and making vows (1:11-16).

• Jonah did not die in the sea, however, because the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow the prophet, and he remained in the fish's stomach for three days and three nights (1:17).

III. JONAH'S PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE (2:1-10)

• Within the fish's stomach, in his distress Jonah cried out to the LORD, from the depth of Sheol, indicating that he was near death (2:1-6).

• As Jonah was fainting away, he remembered the LORD and prayed to Him in His holy Temple. He confessed that idols are vain and useless, and that only God is worthy. Salvation comes only from Him (2:7-9).

• On the third day, the LORD commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up onto the dry land (2:10). Centuries later, Jesus used these events as an illustration of His death and resurrection: for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THEBELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three   nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40).

IV. GOD'S COMMISSION RENEWED (3:1-10)

• Once more, the word of the LORD came to Jonah and directed him to go to Nineveh. Since the people worshiped a fish god, they would have been very eager to hear from a prophet who had been swallowed by a fish. Jonah's message was simple: "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown" (3:4b).

• In response to this message, the people declared a great fast and put on sackcloth. Even the king of Nineveh of Nineveh covered himself with sackcloth and sat on ashes. He decreed that the whole city fast from food and water, and that they turn from their wicked ways, because God might forgive them. In response to their repentance, God did not destroy them (3:5-10).

V. JONAH'S GRIEF AT NINEVEH'S REPENTANCE AND GOD'S REPLY (4:1-11)

• Rather than rejoicing because of the Ninevites' repentance, Jonah became angry (4:1): He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity" (4:2). Jonah went as far as asking the LORD to kill him (4:3).

• When Jonah made a shelter for himself to the east of the city, the LORD appointed a plant to grow so that it would be a shade for him from the hot sun. Then, God appointed a worm to attack the plant so that it would wither. He also appointed a scorching east wind, and the prophet became faint (4:5-8).

• Jonah became angry because he had compassion on the plant that withered, but the LORD explained that it was much more important to have compassion on the 120,000 spiritually needy people who lived in Nineveh (4:9-11).