Jonah 1-4
A Tale
to Wail

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 is the obedience he demonstrates in the next chapter.

God directs the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land (and Jonah probably did the same).

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.

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.