Transcript A Journey with Jonah: One Gospel for Many Nations”

“A Journey with Jonah:
One Gospel for Many
Nations”
Reed Lessing M.Div., S.T.M., Ph.D.
Director of the Graduate School
Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO
Outline of Presentation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduction
Many Nations
One Gospel
The Book of Jonah
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Part 1
Introduction
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Introduction
Jonah doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with any book in the
Old Testament. Terrace Fretheim writes of Jonah: “It has no
exact counterpart in the Old Testament or in known literature
from the ancient Near East.” The book is as elusive as it is
deceptive. Augustine’s response to an inquiry made by a
potential Christian convert perhaps gets at this best. “What he
asks about the resurrection of the dead could be settled … But
if he thinks to solve all such questions as … those about Jonah
… he little knows the limitations of human life or of his own.”
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Introduction
Father Mapple in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick states: “Even though Jonah is one of the
smallest strands in the mighty cable of the Scriptures, the book is one of the most
puzzling and intriguing of the entire Old Testament.” Though there are only 689
words in the Hebrew text of Jonah, numerous complexities abound. Did the sailors
really convert? And speaking of conversion, did the Ninevites really convert? And
speaking of the Ninevites did their animals really repent? And speaking of animals,
what’s this deal about a fish – could such an animal really swallow Jonah? And
speaking about Jonah … well, you get the idea! In this puzzling and intriguing book
we will journey with Jonah and meet a huge storm on the Mediterranean Sea, a hot
east wind over distant lands, take a tour of Sheol, discover the insides of a great fish
and watch a plant come and go in a day. Most surprising we will meet a God who has
more love and grace and patience than we could ever imagine in his pursuit of
reluctant and stubborn people like us. Let’s get started – or, to begin the punning –
anchors away!
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Part 2
Many Nations
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Many Nations
Garry Wills’ Pulitzer-Prize winning study on Abraham Lincoln’s
most famous speech indicates the power of 272 words to bring
about change; it is entitled Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That
Remade America. Wills’ thesis is that Lincoln reframed how
Americans ever since 1863 have construed their nation’s history
and that he did this through a brilliant and polished speech that
successfully and irrevocably reframed our history. Wills writes:
“Both North and South strove to win the battle for interpreting
Gettysburg as soon as the physical battle had ended. Lincoln is
after even larger game—he means to “win” the whole Civil War
in ideological terms as well as military ones. And he will succeed:
the Civil War is, to most Americans, what Lincoln wanted it to
mean. Words had to complete the work of the guns.”
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Lincoln begins reframing American history at the very start of his
speech when he declares, “Four score and seven years ago.” By using
this seemingly benign, biblical-sounding way of naming a date
for America’s beginnings—instead of more baldly stating, “In
1776...” —Lincoln creates a sense that they are looking backward
into America’s hallowed origins. By inviting those present to
consider their “hallowed past,” Lincoln makes it possible for
them to transcend the actual events that have brought them to
this cemetery, to step outside of the tragic moment long enough
to consider the conception and birth of the United States of
America.
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So what has been reframed? After all, the United States celebrates
the Fourth of July as a national holiday, annually marking its
country’s birthday. So, other than being an interesting turn-ofphrase, what is the significance of Lincoln’s opening words? The
importance of “Four score and seven” is that Lincoln sneaks in a
different date for the origin of the American nation than the one
in use by the people of his day, which was that of the Ratification of
the Constitution. It is not so much that the country had ever
been in the habit of celebrating “Constitution-Signing Day”, but
that many if not most Americans in the mid-nineteenth century
regarded the Constitution as the founding covenant of the
United States, and as a result regarded the nation as being bound
together by a signed compact between sovereign states.
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The difference between, on the one hand, seeing the origins of the
United States as issuing from a contractual agreement among
separate parties—an agreement that presumably can be
renegotiated and/or dissolved—and, on the other hand,
regarding the origin as the creation of “a new nation, conceived in
Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”—
this difference is, so to speak, all the difference in the world.
In the latter case, the United States begins its existence as an
organic unity—a nation that undergoes a birth—springing from
the transcendent state of liberty and christened by the likewise
transcendent principle of equality. In this framework, the idea of
individual states trying to secede from this one nation becomes
akin to the idea of a hand, an ear, or an eye seeking to secede
from its body.
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Wills goes on: “But that was just the beginning of this
complex transformation. Lincoln has prescinded from
messy squabbles over constitutionality, sectionalism,
property and states. Slavery is not mentioned, any more
than Gettysburg is. The discussion is driven back and
back, beyond the historical particulars, to great ideals
that are made to grapple naked in an airy battle of the
mind. Lincoln derives a new, a transcendental,
significance from this bloody episode.”
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It is astounding how this short speech, lasting
perhaps three minutes, could so dramatically, so
thoroughly reframe how Americans from that
point forward have come to think about their
history. Truly, as Wills concludes, “Lincoln had
revolutionized the Revolution, giving people a
new past to live with that would change their
future indefinitely.”
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The parallels between Lincoln’s speech and the book of Jonah are
worth exploring. Both are short documents, easily covered in a
matter of a few minutes. Both utilize their people’s historical
traditions in order to paint a picture, not of some new thing being
initiated, but of something bigger; of a history that in fact extends
further back than they were cognizant of, a story of how things
have always been since the beginning. Most importantly, in reframing
history, both give people a new past to live with that would
change their future indefinitely.
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Prior to reading the book of Jonah, our ancient reader was, for all intents and
purposes, informed by the view of history as put forward by the Pentateuch,
a history framed by genealogies and progressive covenants that led the God
who created the heavens and the earth ultimately to concern himself with
Israel – and Israel alone. This history can be conceived as a series of filters, by
which the LORD begins with all of creation; then, from among those who
survive the Flood, he chooses Abraham and his descendants; from among
these, he “becomes the God” of and for those Hebrews who come up from
slavery in Egypt to take possession of the land of Canaan. In this history, the
most important of these covenants becomes the last, for it is the most
definitive, the most restrictive, the most specific. By positing the equivalence
of the God of Creation with the God that chooses Israel, the Pentateuchal
history affirms that Yahweh – the LORD – is not merely a tribal god among
others, but is in fact the one and only God, the God who is supreme over all
creation, all events, all places, and all times … and has selected Israel as His
own.
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What we will discover through the book of Jonah
is the same equivalence—but with the current
running in the opposite direction! Through our
journey with Jonah, we will find ourselves being
pushed back, back, back in time … all the way
back to Noah. And Noah means that this
journey has a destination of MANY NATIONS.
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Yes, the Pentateuch tells us that the God of all creation,
the God of Noah becomes the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, the God of Israel at Mt. Sinai. Yet here, in
the book of Jonah—for the first time— we are offered
this assertion in its reverse form: the God of the
Hebrews, the God of Israel—has always been the God
of Noah, the God of all creation!
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That is to say, the origin for Israel’s history is found not with the
covenant at Sinai, nor even in the covenant with Abraham. The
first covenant is the one made with Noah, with all subsequent
humanity – plus many animals besides – and animals will play a
big part in the book of Jonah. Suddenly, the very God who
seems to have winnowed out entire peoples and nations and
tribes and families in choosing Israel is presented as the God
who has always and all along been the compassionate, merciful
God of Israel, yes! but also of the Edomites, Ishmaelites,
Canaanites, Amalakites — in short, the God of everything and
everyone, including, of course … the Ninevites!
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Entering into the belly of this scant, 48-verse story, we
will find ourselves spit out with a new history, a story
of a people and their God that, like the Ninevites, has
utterly been “turned upside-down”! What Lincoln did
at Gettysburg, Jonah does for us. In reframing our
history he will give us a new past to live with that will
change our future indefinitely!
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What are these rapids that take us on a ride toward
the life and times of Noah? One answer is
found in the presence throughout the book of
Jonah of what is termed a "Noahic milieu."
There are numerous and, it would seem,
intentional connections between the stories of
Noah and the book of Jonah.
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The oblique reference to Abraham (the first known
"Hebrew") in 1:9 and Jonah's recitation of a passage
from Exodus in Jonah 4:2 convey that a steady stream
runs back through the God at Mt. Sinai, through the
God of the (first) Hebrews, and into a confluence with
the God of Noah-the Primeval God of all creation.
With this understanding – and no other – can we build
enough consistency in our understanding of the book
to comprehend Jonah's intense misery, namely, that it is
"just like God!" to care for these violent and
questionably repentant Ninevites, simply because God
also made them and their animals! The last destination
Jonah seeks is MANY NATIONS!
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A technique that has garnered a great deal of recent notoriety in the world of
popular music is known as "sampling." Sampling involves taking snippets of
other artists' songs and weaving them into a new song. The technique is, in
fact, nothing new. Consider the lyrics of the well-known patriotic song,
"You're a Grand Old Flag," which "samples" the much-older song, "Auld
Lang Syne":
You're a grand old flag.
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of the land I love
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true 'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.
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Such "samples" act as accents to the song itself as well as
bring in the musical and affective associations that the
listeners have with those songs being sampled.
Sampling is a frequent practice in rap and hip-hop
music; its role is explained by Daddy-0, of the group
Stetsasonic: “We sometimes use the words
'recontextualization' or 'revivification,' but it means the
same thing, which is to take something old and make it
new again. The strong point of what sampling does for
us, as a music form, is to establish some soul groove
and some old funk that's lost with today's music.”
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Many Nations
All such samplings represent a kind of "musical
intertextuality," and, although a newly created song can
be enjoyed on its own merits without listener
knowledge of any other tunes, samples provide the
aware audience with additional, potentially meaningful
dimensions to their musical experience. In the case of
"You're a Grand Old Flag," the use of "Should auld
acquaintance be forgot" brings to a musical affirmation
of patriotism the feeling of community, by evoking a
song traditionally sung by close friends and family
seeing in the New Year together.
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Just so, the book of Jonah can be said to "sample" the account of
Noah found in the book of Genesis. And, although the book of
Jonah can be appreciated without any awareness of these
"samples," recognition of the Noahic connections that sprinkle
throughout the story will take this convention to one destination
– MANY NATIONS. What follows is a list of phrases,
characters, and images found in the stories of Noah drawn from
Genesis 5:28-10:32 that find resonance within the book of
Jonah.
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1. One hundred twenty years (Gen 6:3) – this is the length of time
allotted to mortal life by Yahweh; it is also how many
thousands of people are in Nineveh at the story's end.
2. Yahweh was sorry (Gen 6:6) – literally Yahweh repented (that he
had made humankind); relenting/repenting is what the
Ninevites bank on and what Jonah is upset with Yahweh for
doing in Jonah 3 and 4.
3. “... people together with animals” (Gen 6:7). This phrase occurs
throughout the Noah stories; the book of Jonah is remarkable
for its very deliberate inclusion of animals along with people,
both in how the Ninevites repent and in how God presents his
final question to Jonah.
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4. Violence (Gen 6:11) – this is the reason given for God's decision to destroy
the earth and its inhabitants by means of the Flood; it is also the sin that
the Ninevites recognize as their own, and repent of.
5. Evil (Gen. 6:5) is used throughout the book of Jonah and is one of its
framing words.
6. The ark (Gen 6:14) is the means that God provides Noah for the
protection of him, his family, and the animals from the impending
flood; there is a connection between the ark and the ship that
Jonah boards, and even more so with the great fish-which turns
out to be the "vessel" that God provides Jonah to protect him from
the overwhelming flood waters.
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7. Forty days (and forty nights) (Gen 7:4) – this is the period of
time that the rains last, destroying all human and animal life
that is not with Noah in the ark; similarly, this is the amount
of time from the moment of Jonah's prophecy until Nineveh
is to be "turned upside-down." The association of "forty days" as
a period for destruction is a link to these two stories.
8. Flood of waters ... the great deep (Gen 7:6, 11) ... These are two
equivalent phrases for the watery torrent that drowns creation
in the Genesis story; in the psalmic prayer that Jonah utters
(Jonah 2), these same terms are used.
9. The word, "great," occurs frequently throughout both texts.
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10. The waters ... dry land. (Gen 7:20-22) ... While it is almost a
commonplace in the Old Testament to pair “waters” and “dry
land” in the story of Noah, the distinction between the two is
utterly crucial (life and death); likewise, in the book of Jonah,
the prophet identifies Yahweh as the one who made "the sea
and dry land" and, indeed, the distinction between the waters
and the dry land onto which the great fish vomits Jonah is
critical.
11. And God made a wind blow (Gen 8:1). God is portrayed as
actively controlling individual winds for specific purposes (this
time, for the purpose of causing the flood waters to subside);
in the book of Jonah, God hurls a wind into the sea to create a
storm and, later, sends a searing wind from the east that adds
to Jonah's misery.
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12. Then he sent out the dove ... the dove found no place to set its
foot ... it returned to him ... again he sent out the dove from
the ark (Gen 8:8- 10). Noah uses a dove in the story “to see if
the waters had subsided from the face of the ground”"; the name
“Jonah” is Hebrew for “dove.” Moreover, the structure of the
book of Jonah involves God sending Jonah out; the prophet
does not alight on dry ground (specifically ending up in the
waters) in his first journey; and, of course, he is then sent out
again.
13. “Offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Gen 8:20). Noah, once
on dry land, offers up burnt offerings to God; the mariners,
once they are delivered from the great storm, “offer offerings”
to Yahweh – as Jonah pledges to do, once he recognizes that
Yahweh has delivered him “from the Pit.” In all cases, Noah as
well as the mariners and Jonah, their offerings to Yahweh are a
thanksgiving for their deliverance from death-by-drowning.
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14. “I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever
sheds the blood of a human, / by a human shall that
person's blood be shed" (Gen 9:5-6). This is a statute
that God puts down for all humanity and the sailors
demonstrate an awareness of it when they plead with
Yahweh not to kill them as a punishment for
throwing Jonah overboard, into the sea.
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15. “I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and
with every living creature ... my covenant that is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh" (Gen 9:8-17). In this covenant God
specifically includes not only humankind but also animals, domestic and
wild; this means that the umbrella of this covenant is extended to
non-Israelite humans (the Ninevites) as well as their animals, whose
donning of sackcloth and bleating perhaps serve to remind God of this
eternal promise.
16. Shem, Ham, and Japheth are the sons of Noah; and from these the whole
earth was peopled. The descendants of Ham include Nimrod who he
went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, the great city (Gen 9:18-19, 10:6-12).
Here it is made explicit that any covenant extending to Noah and to his
descendants extends to Assyria, to Nineveh, and to its residents. The book
of Jonah takes it as a given that this covenant is operative, and that the
Ninevites (and Assyrians), even given their violence, are included in it.
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The question is posed by this sampling is exactly the one
posed by St. Paul, “Is he only the God of the Jews? Is he not
also the God of the Gentiles?” (Rom. 3:29). The Greek
of the text demands an emphatic YES! And that means
our destination is not just Israel, not just the church –
no. Our destination is MANY NATIONS … and this
means and includes especially … Nineveh!
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Part 3
One Gospel
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One Gospel
But if our destination is to MANY NATIONS, our conviction is
that we have only ONE GOSPEL. Let’s talk about that. By a
word-association, “Jonah” would undoubtedly prompt the
reaction of … “whale,” but a subject that takes up only three
verses out of a total of forty-eight cannot be regarded as the
book’s main concern. Campbell Morgan penned these wise
words: “Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that
they have failed to see the great God.” In the book of Jonah,
the name Yahweh is mentioned 22 times, Elohim or El 13 times,
and the combination Yahweh Elohim four times for a total of 39
references to the deity in 48 verses. This is clearly a story about
the God of Israel.
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One Gospel
And this God is the God who delivers. The sailors are saved from
the raging storm; Jonah is saved from drowning in the sea; the
Ninevites are saved from destruction; ironically in the end, even
though the LORD provides a plant to save Jonah (4:6), the
prophet appears to thwart the idea. Although justice demands
that the idolatrous sailors, the prodigal Jonah and the evil
Ninevites perish – mercy prevails and grants a new life. This
ONE GOSPEL is summed up in 3:1, “Now the word of the
LORD came to Jonah a second time …” We treasure, extol,
share, celebrate and yes, care passionately about this gospel
because it shows us that the Creator is the God of the second
chance. Mark 16:7, “Go tell his disciples and Peter …” Peter,
Peter … after the cave-in, the curses, the cowardly actions …
you get a second chance.
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Part 4
The Book of Jonah
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CHAPTER ONE – VERSE ONE – The word of the LORD
came to Jonah son of Amittai: The expression “And the word
of the LORD came to …” is found in the OT only when contexts
and circumstances regarding the prophet and his mission are
already established in previous statements. This point is as big as
the book’s fish! It means that the story of Jonah actually begins
in another place; i.e. 2 Kings 14:25. This account anchors Jonah
in the 8th century B.C. as a court-prophet of the Israelite king
Jeroboam II (786-746 B.C.). “He [Jeroboam II] restored the border of
Israel from Lebo-hamath [i.e. Aram/Syria] as far as the Sea of the
Arabah [i.e. the Gulf of Aqabah], according to the word of the LORD,
the God of Israel, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah son of
Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.”
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Jonah is the Hebrew word for dove (Gen. 8:8-12; Song of Solomon
1:15; 4:1, etc.). There is nothing exceptional about a name
derived from the animal world, whether in Hebrew or in other
ancient Near Eastern languages; yet, since biblical names often
indicate the nature of a person, Hosea 7:11 is instructive.
“Ephraim became like a dove (
), silly and
brainless. They called to Egypt, they went to Assyria.” The
phrase translated “brainless” has connotations of discernment,
not simply intelligence. Rather, the aimless activity of the dove
here, flying from one place to another, suggest that it is a
confused and frightened bird.
hn"AyK.
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VERSE TWO – "Go to the great city of Nineveh and
preach against it, because its wickedness has come
up before me." The entire prophecy of Nahum,
delivered sometime before Nineveh’s downfall in 612
BC, gives a picture of this city of bloodshed. It is full
of lies, dead bodies without end, a city that could be
likened to a shapely harlot out to seduce all nations
(Nah. 3:1-4; cf. Zeph. 2:13-15). Nineveh was truly the
“chief of sinners.”
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Nineveh is remembered most for her inhumane warfare. Note
these words of one of her kings, Ashru-nasirpal II:
“I stormed the mountain peaks and took them. In the midst of
the mighty mountains I slaughtered them; with their blood I
dyed the mountain red like wool. With the rest of them I
darkened the gullies and precipices of the mountains. I carried
off their spoil and their possessions. The heads of their warriors
I cut off, and I formed them into a pillar over against their city;
their young men and their maidens I burned in the fire. I built a
pillar over against the city gates, and I flayed all the chief men
who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins; some
I walled up within the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on
stakes, and others I bound to stakes round about the pillar.”
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Assyrian
Art
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VERSE THREE – But Jonah ran away from the LORD and
went down to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he
found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he
went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Jonah says nothing to the LORD but rises to flee. Normally
prophets protest their inability to speak – Moses protests that he
is not a “man of words” (Ex. 4:10); Jeremiah fears that he “does
not know how to speak” (Jer. 1:6); Isaiah insists that his words
are unworthy, his lips unclean (Isa. 6:5) – but Jonah in contrast,
goes the opposite direction without saying a word! So already in
this verse the reader encounters the textual tendency of Jonah to
invert biblical tradition. Here the author begins his satire of
Jonah and all who embrace his ideas.
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And all of this leads to a progressive downhill slide. He
goes down to Joppa (1:3), goes down to the ship (1:3),
goes down into the innermost parts of the ship (1:5), is
thrown down into the depths of the sea and then
descends to the realm of death or Sheol (2:3, 7).
Down, down, down, down …. this is the inevitable
path of those who seek to avoid the mission of the
church. The only place we go is … down. And going
down in the OT depicts a movement toward death (cf.
Ps. 88:4-6; Prov. 5:5).
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The word “fare” actually refers to the ship. The idea here is not that
Jonah paid a fare (so all of the English versions), but rather that
he hired the ship and its crew. First, that Jonah has access to the
ship’s “innermost recesses” (1:5) makes sense if he owned the boat.
Second, the sailor’s hesitation to throw Jonah overboard (1:1314) is understandable because he was their “boss.” Finally,
according to most scholars it wasn’t until Roman times that the
ancient world had a specific word for “fare” – a charge for the
purchase of space in an expedition, seagoing or otherwise. No
wonder Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh – he’s cashing in on
his ministry under Jeroboam II – enough cash that is, to buy a
ship and her crew to run away from the LORD’S presence!
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VERSE FOUR – Then the LORD sent a
great wind on the sea, and such a
violent storm arose that the ship
threatened to break up.
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“And as for the ship – it had a mind to break up.”
The irony is that the sailors fear disaster, the
captain of the ship fears disaster, indeed, even
the ship thinks it is going to break up. The only
character – animate or inanimate – that has no
fear is Jonah. The pun then is this: as the ship
fears wrecking she becomes a nervous wreck!
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VERSE FIVE – All the sailors were afraid and each cried out
to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to
lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he
lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The subsequent events
will transform the sailors from shear terror, to an awe at the
awareness of being in the LORD’S presence, to finally trust,
belief and worship of this great God. The word “deep sleep” may
be the first indication that Jonah seeks to die (4:3). The same
word translated “deep sleep” is used in Judges 4:21. It describes
Sisera as in such deep slumber that he didn’t hear Jael coming
near to deliver his death blow (Judg. 4:21). Luther calls Jonah’s
sleep a “sleep of death” (cf. Ps. 88:4-6), saying, “There he lies
and snores in his sins.” As a noun the word describes Adam in
Gen. 2:21.
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VERSE SIX – The captain went to him and said,
"How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god!
Perhaps he will take notice of us, and we will not
perish." Now a new character enters the scene. Many
of the human reactions throughout the book deal with
the question of life and death. This issue is particularly
focused in the use of “perish”.
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“Perhaps” is indicative of one of the major themes of the
book (cf. 1:14b; 3:9). The LORD will act as it pleases
him, which may or may not conform to human patterns
of actions. No demanding here, just humble awareness
that there are two foundational truths to human
enlightenment – number one, there is a God; number
two, you are not him!
50
VERSE SEVEN – Then the sailors
said to each other, "Come, let us
cast lots to find out who is
responsible for this calamity." They
cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
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VERSE EIGHT – So they asked him, "Tell us,
who is responsible for making all this
trouble for us? What do you do? Where do
you come from? What is your country? From
what people are you?"
52
VERSE NINE – He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship
the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the
land." Jonah 1:4-16 (Scene II) is built according to a concentric
or chiastic pattern:
A The LORD hurls the storm (1:4)
B The sailors pray, act (1:5ab)
C Jonah acts (lies down, sleeps – 1:5c)
D The captain and sailors question Jonah (1:6-8)
E Jonah speaks (1:9)
D’ The sailors question Jonah (1:10-11)
C’ Jonah speaks (1:12)
B’ The sailors act, pray (1:13-14)
A’ The sailors hurl Jonah and the storm ends (1:15)
Conclusion – 1:16
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Jonah’s words in 1:9, a confession of faith, have been
carefully placed at the midpoint of this chiastic
structure. There are 94 words in the Hebrew text from
the scene’s beginning in 1:4 to the beginning of the
speech in 1:9 and 94 words in 1:10-15. Verse 16 stands
outside the pattern as a conclusion. Both the chiastic
structure and the exact balance of number of words
serve to place the focus for this section on the
confession in 1:9.
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At the heart of this section is Jonah’s confession that is
analogous to his sermon in 3:4. Both accomplish the
salvation of unbelievers. Whatever Jonah’s intention,
this confession functions as a means of grace whereby
the sailors are brought to faith. Such is the power of
the ONE GOSPEL – albeit in a very brief expression –
indeed, it is the power of God for the salvation of all
who believe, first the Jew and then – in this case – the
Gentile sailors (cf. Is. 55:10-11).
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VERSE TEN – This terrified them and they asked,
"What have you done?" (They knew he was
running away from the LORD, because he had
already told them so.) The sailors react in a way
more indicative of an Israelite, than in a manner one
would expect from unbelievers. The sailors cannot
imagine anyone treating a deity in such a fashion. Here
they are revealed as having a respect for the divine that
Jonah does not have. This is an ongoing theme of the
book – that is, the outsiders get it, the insider doesn’t.
56
Jonah as “The Older Brother”
57
VERSE ELEVEN – The sea
was getting rougher and
rougher. So they asked him,
"What should we do to you to
make the sea calm down for
us?"
58
VERSE TWELVE – "Pick me
up and throw me into the
sea," he replied, "and it will
become calm. I know that it
is my fault that this great
storm has come upon you."
59
VERSE THIRTEEN – Instead, the men did their best to
row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even
wilder than before. Normally it is the prophet’s role to save the
people from some divinely-inspired disaster or punishment, but
here it is the pagan sailors who attempt to save a prophet of the
LORD who refuses to speak. Against navigational experience
spanning centuries that has taught mariners to remain in open
sea during a storm, these sailors attempt to return to “dry
ground”. Such is their concern for life!
60
VERSE FOURTEEN – Then they cried to the
LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for
taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable
for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD,
have done as you pleased." The role of prophet
and people is reversed – the sailors refuse to commit a
crime after the prophet has asked them to do so.
Moreover, the sailors are praying the prayer Jonah
should be praying. The sailors confess that the LORD
does as he pleases (cf. Ps. 115:3; 135:6), while Jonah
expresses his frustration because God does precisely
that.
61
VERSES FIFTEEN AND SIXTEEN – Then they took Jonah
and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered
a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him. “The
LORD is found by those who did not seek” him (Is. 65:1). The
response of the sailors is striking in its simplicity and
overpowering in its implications. The key word is “fear”, here
understood as worship. They can now make the same
confession as Jonah did in v. 9. Luther also believes that these
sailors “are also delivered from death, also from unbelief and sin,
and they are brought to a knowledge of God so that they now
become pious and true servants of God, such humble and timid
servants.”
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VERSE SEVENTEEN But the LORD provided a
great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside
the fish three days and three nights. Although
Jonah apparently believed that he would be able to
escape the LORD’S commission by his own death,
God makes it clear that there will be no escape. Rather
than kill him or let him die, he imprisons Jonah in the
belly of the fish to demonstrate further that there is
nowhere in the world, even death, where Jonah can flee
(cf. Amos 9:2-3).
63
Jonah being swallowed
64
The word “provide” or direct, ordain, appoint is
used the first of four times in the book here,
then again in 4:6, 7, 8. Each time a non-human
agent is appointed and each occurrence is used
with a different divine name. And each nonhuman agent is different; what does all this
mean? The LORD “appoints” a fish, a plant
(4:6), a worm (4:7) and a wind (4:8). These
elements of nature are appointed for salvation
(the fish and plant), as well for judgment (the
worm and wind).
65
Two observations regarding the use of this word
“provide” in the book are as follows. With
each use a different divine name is used as the
subject of the verb –
1:17 – Yahweh
4:6 – Yahweh-Elohim
4:7 – Ha-Elohim
4:8 – Elohim
66
When the verb occurs the object of the
LORD’S control belongs to a different
realm in nature –
1:17 – the fish (sea)
4:6 – the plant (vegetation)
4:7 – the worm (animals)
4:8 – the wind (air)
67
Jonah at prayer
68
From the Book of Psalms:
+ “my distress” 18:6; 120:1
+ “Sheol” 18:4-5
+ “all thy waves and thy billows passed over me” 42:7
+ “from thy presence” 139:7
+ “upon thy holy temple” 5:7
+ “the waters closed in over me” 69:2
+ “my life from the Pit” 30:3
+ “my soul fainted within me” 142:3
+ “into thy holy temple” 18:6
+ “deliverance belongs to Yahweh” 3:8
69
VERSE TEN – And the LORD commanded the fish,
and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah is not
placed or gently laid upon the beach. No. He is
vomited. It’s as if three days of undigested Jonah is
enough! Just where he was sprawled out is not known
– all we have is the word “dry ground”. So it is there that
the LORD places the prodigal prophet.
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VERSES ONE – FOUR – Then the word of the LORD came
to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah obeyed
the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh
was a very important city-- a visit required three days. On
the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed:
"Forty more days and Nineveh will be turned over.“ The
approximate travel time from Jerusalem to Nineveh in antiquity
would have been about 45 days. This is estimated according to
caravan speed.
71
Jonah answers the
nd
2
call
72
Jonah
preaching to the Ninevites
73
“Forty days” is a term that denotes a time of testing, with a new
beginning at the end. Without citing every Scriptural instances in
which multiples of forty are use, the following are noteworthy:
(1) forty years – Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan (Ex.
16:35); peace in Israel upon the LORD’S selection of a judge
(Judg. 3:11): (2) forty days – rain leading up to the flood (Gen.
7:12); Moses at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 24:18); spies in Canaan (Num.
13:25); Elijah’s fast (1 Kings 19:8); Jesus’ fast (Matt. 4:2); the
post-resurrection epiphanies (Acts 1:3). Forty not only takes us
to a Noahic “sampling” – it also takes us to the slow and
merciful LORD who could have said to Nineveh, “I’ll make all
new things, the old won’t do.” But instead he said, “I’ll make all
things – even you – new!”
74
VERSE FIVE – The Ninevites believed God.
They declared a fast, and all of them, from
the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
The verbal root here is !ma (“believe, trust” –
“AMEN”) the same root that forms the name
of Jonah’s father (1:1), now ironically appears,
not with Jonah, but with the Ninevites.
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VERSE SIX – When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered
himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This
reaction of the king is all the more remarkable in that elsewhere
the king of Assyria is portrayed as an arrogant, boasting
monarch who not only defies the LORD and threatens
Jerusalem, but argues that his power is great than the LORD’S
because he has been able to defeat the God of Israel/Judah just
as he defeated the gods of other nations (Is. 10:5-34, 36-27/ 2
Kings 18-19; Nahum 2-3). He rises from his throne, removes his
robe, puts on sackcloth, and sits in the dust or ashes (cf. Job 2:8;
Dan. 9:3; Esther 4:1, 3).
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VERSE SEVEN – Then he issued a proclamation in
Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his
nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock,
taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. The
book has already indicated that a fish had a great
responsibility – now more animals join in. The verse is
not some kind of hyperbole; rather, the idea is that the
conversion is so complete that it includes “people and
animals and all the company of creatures.” Remember …
Noah?? Those who are tuned into this “sampling”
understand the idea – a new past to live with that
changes our future indefinitely … MANY NATIONS!
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VERSE EIGHT – But let man and beast be covered
with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God.
Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.
While “fear/worship” is the word governing the
conversion of the sailors, “turn/repent” is the word
that describes the conversion of the Ninevites. It is
used in this chapter five times, with much the same
rhythm as that of fear in chapter one. The Ninevites
turn from their wicked way (3:8) in the hope that the
LORD may turn from his anger (3:9). When he does
sees that the city has turned/repented he relents (3:10)
from his judgment.
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VERSES NINE – TEN Who knows? God may yet
relent and with compassion turn from his fierce
anger so that we will not perish." When God saw
what they did and how they turned from their evil ways,
he had compassion and did not bring upon them the
destruction he had threatened. But does God really
relent, or, as the KJV translates the Hebrew word,
“repent?”
79
That is to say, this God reveals himself as one who is not
immutable in some absolute sense. Just so, Karl Barth calls it
“the holy mutability of God.” This is perhaps at least one
reason for Israel’s aniconic perspective that idols do not change
(cf. Ps 115:5-7; Jer 10:4-5). Understood this way, this prohibition
of images is a concern to protect the LORD’S relatedness rather
than his transcendence, though the two are not mutually
exclusive. Also, one of the characteristics of the gods of the
nations is that they cannot be moved or affected (cf. 1 Kings
18:27-29).
80
Divine repentance enables the primary attributes
of the LORD to be kept primary, namely, his
steadfast love and mercy. He is not unbending
or unyielding, as a focus on immutability
suggests. He is not a “take it or leave it,” “like it
or lump it” God. He will change course in
midstream in view of the interaction with his
world.
81
VERSE ONE – But Jonah was greatly displeased and became
angry. A key word in the book that is repeated as a noun and a
verb is “evil” occurring ten times (1:2, 7, 8: 3:8, 10a, 10b; 4:1a,
1b, 2, 6). There has been “evil” beginning with the Ninevites
(1:2), moving to the sailors (1:7), returning to the Ninevites
(3:10), coming to the LORD (3:10; 4:2), and here with Jonah.
Except in the reference to Jonah, all the evil is taken away. In v.
6 the LORD tries, but to no avail. “Evil” is used in two closely
related ways. On the one hand it refers to the wickedness of the
Ninevites (1:2; 3:8, 10) and Jonah (4:6). On the other hand, it
refers to the judgment which is sometimes threatened and other
times carried out by the LORD (1:7, 8; 3:10; 4:2).
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VERSE TWO – He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD,
is this not what I said when I was still at home?
That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I
knew that you are a gracious and compassionate
God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God
who relents from sending calamity. We must now
ask the question in its fullest sense – why did Jonah flee
to Tarshish? The text never mentions that he is afraid
(cf. 1 Kings 19:2-3). Nor does it indicate that Jonah
viewed his task as too difficult or beneath his dignity.
83
The striking answer to why Jonah took flight is in 4:2 –
Jonah’s God is simply too merciful! The reason for
Jonah’s running is delayed so that we may pause to
consider why we run from God. Most of us will not
admit to the reason given in 4:2 – at least initially. Most
Christians don’t go around saying, or even admitting to
themselves, that they don’t like the fact that God is too
merciful. One author writes: “The author thus holds
back on the real reason until his audience is fully
identified with Jonah and is brought along to the point
where the truth of the matter can have its sharpest
impact.”
84
VERSE THREE – Now, O LORD, take away my
life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
“Die” is used as a verb and noun four times in this
chapter – 4:3, 8b, 8c, 9). The captain (1:6), the sailors
(1:14) and the king of Nineveh (3:9) all pray for life in
the face of the threat of death. However, when the
Ninevites are spared from death, ironically Jonah
wishes to die (4:3). On the other hand, when Jonah’s
own plant is not spared (4:10), he expresses the wish to
die (4:8ff).
85
VERSES FOUR – FIVE – But the
LORD replied, "Have you any right to
be angry?" Jonah went out and sat
down at a place east of the city. There
he made himself a shelter, sat in its
shade and waited to see what would
happen to the city.
86
Jonah waits for Nineveh’s
destruction
87
Why does the author tell us where Jonah sat? As the same verb is
used here and also in 3:6 to describe the king’s actions it could be
to contrast Jonah’s sitting high and the king’s sitting low.
Nineveh was flanked on the west and north by the Tigris and the
Khoser rivers; there were a few hills on the town’s remaining
sides where Jonah in all likelihood perched himself to witness
the city’s immanent judgment. The irony is exactly this – the king
who is – after-all the king – is seated low. Jonah who is – afterall just a prophet – is seated high. What the king was willing to
do – that is, humble himself – his Jonah is unwilling to do. Luke
14:11, “For everyone who is exalting himself will be humbled and the one
humbling himself will be exalted.”
88
VERSE SIX – Then the LORD God provided a vine
and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for
his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was
very happy about the vine. Rather than attempt to
speak further to Jonah, which is clearly useless at this
point, the LORD provides the second of his four
provisions. As the LORD provided the fish and Jonah
rejoiced via the psalm, so the plant brings him great joy.
89
VERSE SEVEN – But at dawn the next day God provided a
worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. By now
we are familiar with the way the word “provide” is functioning.
Thus, Elohim punishes Jonah by appointing a worm to attack
the vine. Then Elohim appointed a hot east wind to attack Jonah
(4:8). It will also be Elohim who disciplines the prophet in 4:9.
In 4:10, however, where the emphasis is on divine grace and
mercy, the more personal description of Yahweh – the LORD –
again appears. In his wisdom the LORD properly uses Law and
Gospel – and physical means – in order to shape Jonah – and us
– into more faithful communicators of his Word.
90
VERSE EIGHT – When the sun rose, God provided
a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on
Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to
die, and said, "It would be better for me to die
than to live." The progression of the divine names
connected with “provide” comes to an end in this
verse. The subject in each occurrence is Yahweh (2:1),
Yahweh God (4:6), the God (4:7) and God here.
91
VERSES NINE – ELEVEN – But God said to Jonah, "Do
you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he
said. "I am angry enough to die." But the LORD said,
"You have been concerned about this vine, though you did
not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died
overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and
twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand
from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be
concerned about that great city?"
92
Nowhere in the book of Jonah is it stated that Yahweh
has made a covenant with all of creation. This is simply
assumed, much the way that Abraham Lincoln assumes
on behalf of his audience that of course the roots of the
United States began eighty-seven years prior to his
speech that day in Gettysburg. In the latter example,
Lincoln frames his speech in terms of preserving a
people that liberty labored over and helped to grow
great, inviting those present into a discussion about the
best way to honor those dead, while deftly setting aside
any and all competing ideas about how or why “this
nation” ever came about.
93
This very idea of granting an equal status to the “other nations” – a
hallmark of our Lord’s ministry – might well have been met with
a reception similar to that given Lincoln’s speech by the Chicago
Times. In an article entitled “The President at Gettysburg” and
printed on November 23, 1863—less than a week after his
speech—this presumed journalistic ally to Lincoln and to the
Union bristled: “It was to uphold this constitution, and the
Union created by it, that our officers and soldiers gave their lives
at Gettysburg. How dare he, then, standing on their graves,
misstate the cause for which they died, and libel the statesmen
who founded the government? They were men possessing too
much self-respect to declare that negroes were their equals, or
were entitled to equal privileges.”
94
You guessed it – the author’s strategy of withholding
Jonah’s answer to the LORD’S question leaves room
for you and I to provide a personal answer. This is the
author’s attempt to keep the story current for readers
of every generation. Whatever Jonah’s answer may have
been, or whatever our answers are just now, in the
fullness of time one greater than Jonah (Matt. 12:41)
appeared who spoke the whole answer with his whole
heart and wrote it with his blood. His name? Jesus.
95