It is an ideal ‘Sunday School’ story. Yet, this book is not just for
children; it is a prophetic word for all of God’s people. While some will scoff
at the notion that this prophet spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the
great fish, Jesus Christ treated it as historic fact. More than that, He made
Jonah’s 3 days underworld excursion a sign of His own burial, which is an
important component of the gospel: Christ died, was buried, and rose again,
according to the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3-5).
HEBREW NAME
The book is known as ‘Yonah,’ which means ‘dove.’
AUTHOR
Jonah is the author of the book that bears his name. He is the ‘son of
Amittai’ and II Kings 14:25, is the only verse in the Bible that tells
us anything about him. The text says: He (King Jeroboam II of the
Northern Kingdom of Israel) restored the coast of Israel from the entering
of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of
Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai,
the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.
What we learn is that Jonah was a prophet from the Northern Kingdom; he
came from a village known as Gath Hepher, known today as Mashhad, which lies
in-between Cana of Galilee and Nazareth, which is 3 miles to the south. The
Pharisees declared in John 7:52 that no prophet came from Galilee; they
were totally wrong because Jonah did. For that matter, so did Jesus, Who is
more than a prophet, of course.
Jonah accurately prophesied that King Jeroboam II who have enlarged
borders, past Damascus itself to the land of Hamath. His greatest prophecy is
the one that did not come to pass: in 40 more days, the City of Ninveh will be
destroyed. This lack of fulfilment does not mean Jonah failed as a prophet; on
the contrary, he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Because Jonah focuses on the salvation of Gentiles, in this case, the
Assyrians of Nineveh, some critics try to give the book a late date. However,
it was always God’s intention to save the Gentiles (Genesis 9:27; 12:3;
Leviticus 19:33-34, I Samuel 2:10, Isaiah 2:2; Joel 2:28). He was the only
Hebrew OT prophet sent to the Gentiles, and like the apostle Paul centuries
later, Jonah was stunningly successful. His results were better than anything
the prophets in and to Israel experienced.
PORTRAIT OF CHRIST
Jesus Christ compares Himself to Jonah the prophet. He used Jonah’s
experience in the belly of the great fish as a sign to His own looming
experience in the tomb. Matthew 12:39-41 says: But he answered and
said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and
there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For
as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son
of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of
Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it:
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than
Jonas is here.
Yes, the men of Nineveh are going to condemn those in Israel who refused
to believe, since Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching and, behold, a greater
than Jonah is here.
THEME OF BOOK
God is totally just and totally merciful. His will is the salvation of
all people, Jew and Gentile. Jonah learned in the belly of the great fish that,
‘Salvation is of the Lord.’
TO BE CONTINUED
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