BOOK OF JONAH - OVERVIEW
The Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets in the Old Testament, with four chapters. Jonah is not like the other prophetic books. His prophecy relates to a single event in his life.
About Jonah
Jonah is the son of Amittai. He is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh because of the Ninevites' great wickedness against God. However, Jonah attempts to escape his divine mission by going in the opposite direction until a series of event take place to forces him to do what God has commanded him to do.
No king is mentioned in the Book of Jonah. Therefore, it is challenging to pinpoint a date of the book.
Unlike the other Minor Prophets, the book of Jonah is almost entirely narrative with the exception of the Psalm in the second chapter. The actual prophetic word against Nineveh is given only in passing through the narrative. Some people think the Book of Jonah is fictional.
--- Jonah is the only prophet on biblical record to have run away from God.
--- Jonah was the only prophet God sent to prophesy in and to a non-Israelite city.
--- Jonah was a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel.
--- Jonah's contemporaries were: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk
Things to Remember
--- Jonah' name means "Dove"
--- Joppa: seaport where Jonah boarded a ship
--- Tarshish: the ship was going there
--- Nineveh: capital of Assyria; a great and wealthy city about 550 miles away
--- Ninevites: pagans
---"a great fish" not a whale; the Ninevites worshiped fish
--- pagan sailors on the ship
--- Jonah's three downs: down in ship, down to Tarshish, down in belly of fish
--- People and things obedient to God (the storm, the lots, the sailors, the fish, the Ninevites, the plant, the worm, and the east wind). Only Jonah was disobedient.
Jonah is a Type of Christ
After Jonah boarded the ship going to Tarshish, he fell asleep in the bottom of the boat during a storm (Jonah 1:). Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish; Jesus spent three days in the tomb. Jesus compares his generation to the people of Nineveh. Jonah is the only prophet whom Jesus likened Himself to (Matthew 12:34-41 and Luke 11:29-30). Jonah's experience in the belly of great fish is a type of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
---Jonah is one of five biblical people who had a death wish: Moses, Elijah, Job, Jeremiah, Jonah
Outline of Jonah
Chapter 1 - Jonah flees from his mission; his disobedience, and its consequences (1:1–17)
Chapter 2 - Jonah's deliverance and thanksgiving (2:2–9)
Chapter 3 - Jonah fulfills his mission; his obedience and Nineveh's repentance (3:1–10)
Chapter 4 - Jonah is displeased by the Ninevites' repentance.
Jonah's Two Commissions
Chapters 1-2: First Commission --- "I Won't God. --- "I Will Go."
Chapters 3-4: Second Commission ---"I'm Here." ---"I Shouldn't Have Come."
Things to Learn from the Book of Jonah
---God is concerned for the Gentiles (Ninevites) just as He is for His covenant people (Israelites).
---God prepared several things in Jonah's story: a great wind on the sea, 1:4; a great fish, 1:17, a leafy plant, 4:6, a worm, 4:7, a scorching east wind, 4:8.
--- Life Application: When God gives a commandment, it should be obeyed. Partial obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience.
NOTICE
You will see that Jonah preached to the Ninevites, and everyone was saved, even the animals. When you study the BOOK OF NAHUM, you will see that Nineveh was destroyed 140 years after Jonah preached to them because they returned to their wicked ways.
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