Jonah Chapter 4

At the end of chapter 3, God says He would not bring upon the citizens of Nineveh the evil He had planned. We see in chapter 4, this does not please Jonah.

Verse 1: In verse one, the text reads Jonah became angry. A better translation is Jonah burned with anger. Jonah was not just angry, he was red hot. The difference can be seen in our own emotions. There are times when things do not go our way. We may be frustrated, upset of angry. Then there are other times in which a series of events makes us extremely emotional. We erupt like a hot volcano with rage. This second type of anger is the anger Jonah was experiencing.

Verse 2: In verse two, Jonah quotes Exodus 34:6:
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth

The attributes listed in Exodus 34:6 are called the 13 attributes of God. They are quoted multiple places in the Bible. Moses speaks thee words to God after Israel sins with the golden calf. Moses goes back to the mountain top to get a second set of tablets.

There are a number of similarities between the Book of Jonah and Moses and the gold calf incident. First, we have God’s attributes listed. Next, Moses fasts for forty days and forty nights on top of the mountain. The king of Nineveh calls for a fast and the time set for this forty days and forty nights. The Israelites have committed a grievous sin against God (the golden calf). The Ninevities have committed horrible crimes. Nineveh repents and is saved. The Israelites do not repent. They are visited with a plague (Exodus 32:35).

Jonah slightly changes the text. Instead of saying God is a God of truth, Jonah states “God relents from doing evil”. Why did Jonah change one of God’s attributes? The answer comes from Jonah’s perception of the world.

In verse one of chapter one, we are told Jonah is the son of Amittai. Amittati means truth. So, Jonah is the son of truth. Truth is an abstract concept. Things which are true consist of laws of physics and mathematics. How do we apply truth? That would be justice. When we execute justice we are applying truth to the situation. We can see this best in the court system.

We have laws in our countries, states and cities in which we must adhere. If we break one of the laws, it is as if we have broken the truth. We may go to court and be put on trial. We are examined if we have kept the truth. If we have not, the laws of justice state the punishment we are to receive.

Jonah sees God in this light. God is a God of truth. God executes truth by giving judgments based on people’s adherence to God’s laws. However, Jonah is having a hard time because God is showing compassion to the Ninevites.

Compassion versus Justice
Compassion and justice are not opposite sides of a coin. Rather, they are two different systems. Justice views everything in the light of the past. The question asked is: What have you done? Justice takes into account everything from the past and doles out a judgment based on the evidence. Everything is measure for measure. Justice is objective.

Compassion is a completely different system. It views everything in terms of the future. The question asked is: What can you do or what potential do you have? Compassion is subjective. If a person sins, but repents of his actions, compassion views the person’s future potential.

Compassion versus justice is the basis for the entire book of Jonah. Jonah believes God should be a God of justice. The people of Nineveh have committed horrible crimes. They should be punished. However, God is showing compassion and sees Nineveh’s potential.

Let’s look at Jonah’s call to action in a different light.

Imagine a family member was raped. Through DNA evidence, the person who committed the crime I apprehended.The person who committed the crime is very wealthy. He hires the best legal team. When the case goes to trial, the legal team is able to do a lot of smoke and mirrors. The trial lasts six months. Before a verdict is given, the judge calls in the family of the rape victim. He tells the family the trial has gone on long enough. It is time for the family to meet with the perpetrator. The man is going to issue an apology for committing the crime. The family then needs to drop the charges and allow the man to go free.

How would you feel if this happened to you? You would probably want to strangle the judge. How could you let a guilty man go free? Do you not know the harm he has committed?

Now imagine this dream was a little bit different. Instead of the judge asking you to drop the charges and accept the apology, it was God. How would you feel?  

This second scenario is the Book of Jonah. Jonah is told to go to Nineveh. He is to press charges agains the Ninevites. If they repent of their actions, then Jonah is to let them go free. Jonah does not want to do this. Jonah cannot argue with God. So, Jonah does the only thing he knows to do. He flees from God.

When the storm overtakes the boat, Jonah knows it is God. The pagans start crying out to their gods for help. Jonah remains silent. He goes down into the boat and tries to sleep. If God is not letting him escape from his presence, then Jonah can escape God by going to sleep. This does not work as the caption of the ship wakes up Jonah.

Jonah goes to the deck. He does not cry out to God. When the lot falls to Jonah, Jonah says they are to throw him overboard. Jonah believes the only way he can escape God is through death. Jonah is thrown into the sea. A fish swallows Jonah. As Jonah is dying, he cries out to God, but if you read his prayer carefully, Jonah does not repent. Jonah is spit out on land. God then calls Jonah to go to Nineveh again. This time Jonah obeys.

Verse 3: Now Jonah is furious with God. God accepted the Nineties repentance. Nineveh is saved. Jonah does not want to live any more. Why live in a world which does not execute justice? Jonah is a son of truth. Truth demands justice. But God has shown compassion.

Verse 4: God challenges Jonah. God asks if it is right for Jonah to be angry. Jonah does not respond.

Verse 5: Jonah builds himself a shelter and waits to see what will happen to Nineveh. This is odd. Jonah already knows God saved Nineveh. Jonah knows God is not going to destroy the city; yet, Jonah still wants to sit outside the city and wait for its destruction. Please note, it states the shelter provided shade.

Verse 6: God prepares a plant and allows it to rapidly grow. The text states the plant provided shade. This seems odd. Jonah already has a shelter which is providing shade. Why does he also need a plant? The second thing the plant provides is mis-translated in our English text. The Hebrew says the plant was to save Jonah from his evil. This second reason for the plant is what the story of Jonah hinges upon.

What is Jonah’s evil? That is given in verse two. Jonah wants God to be a God of justice. Jonah does not want God to be compassionate. God wants to save Jonah from this wrong way of thinking. God is going to teach Jonah a lesson through using a plant.

Verse 7: We are told a worm comes, damages the plant and causes the plant to die. This scene is showing Jonah the difference between justice and compassion.

The plant is something God created. It did not come from a seed. It did not grow according to the laws of nature. Instead, God in His compassion caused the plant to grow.

The worm is justice. The worm comes along and asks the plant for its history. Does it have proof it came from a seed? Does it have a growing history? The answer is no. Since the plant did not grow according to the laws of nature, the worm (justice) rends its verdict. The plant is guilty and must be destroyed. So, the worm kills the plant.

Verse 8: Verse eight states God created an east wind and the sun blew upon Jonah’s head. This is reminiscent of the splitting off the Red Sea. God caused an east wind to blow. The sea split. Clouds provided shelter from the scorching heat. Did Israel do anything to merit this? The answer is no. God did this out of HIs compassion.

Now, God is delivering an east wind, but this time it is not a blessing. Moreover, the sun beats on Jonah’s head. We cannot be sure, but the text implies the east wind destroyed the shelter Jonah built. This is why Jonah was no longer sitting in the shade. Additionally, the sun is burning Jonah. This goes back to verse one of chapter four in which it states Jonah burned with anger. There is a word play in Hebrew. God is now “burning” Jonah with the sun. Jonah said he was burning. Now God is causing Jonah to actually burn. Once again, Jonah is mad with God, and he wants to die (again!).

Verse 9: God again challenges Jonah. God asks if it is right for Jonah to be angry about a plant. This time, Jonah answers.

Verse 10: God explains compassion versus justice. God explains He made the plant grow. Jonah did nothing. Jonah did not labor over the plant or cause the plant to grow. Everything about the plant was an act of God’s compassion. Yet, Jonah felt a connection with the plant. Jonah did not render a verdict on the plant’s past (justice), but he saw the plant’s potential (compassion).

Verse 11: God explains like the having compassion on the plant, this is the same thing he was doing to Nineveh. God saw Nineveh’s potential. God knew the justice which should be rendered. However, when Nineveh repented and turned their hearts back to God, God showed compassion. He allowed the past to be overlooked and focused on Nineveh’s potential.

This is the entire moral of the story of Jonah. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God is a God of justice. We deserve death for out sins. However, if we repent, if we turn our hearts and minds back to God, God can look on our potential and show compassion. God does not forget our past, but He can choose to see what we can be. This is like a mother with her children. A child may have broken a house rule. The mother can severely chasten the child. However, if the child repents of his ways and shows a desire to improve his behavior, the strict penalty may be lessened or dropped. The mother looks to the child’s potential of becoming a better person. So too, through God’s compassion, He is willing to look on our potential to turn away from sin and follow Him.

Jonah Chapter 3

Today we are picking up the story of Jonah after he found himself in a pile of vomit on the beach. Let’s try to imagine that scene for a moment. Jonah has not eaten for three days and reeks of the contents of the fish’s stomach. He was wet, cold, hungry and tired, but deliriously happy to be breathing fresh air and seeing blue sky.

Many of us play Russian Roulette with God’s patience and are left to wonder if our most recent sin will be the final straw. Will God turn his back on us? We can take comfort in the words of Paul, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 | ESV) Jonah was disobedient, but he never quit believing in God’s goodness or his own salvation. His agreement to continue the mission God gave him may have been his backhanded apology and request to be forgiven. “‘What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” (Jonah 2:9 | NIV)

“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 3:1-2 | NIV)

We really do not know where Jonah was when God spoke to him the second time. Some commentators believe he was probably near Joppa, the place his odyssey began. If that was the case, he was six hundred miles away from Nineveh. By foot the trip would have taken five weeks and, if he went by camel, almost a month. So, he would have had ample opportunity to change his mind, yet he kept walking east.

Verse 3, “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days.” If that means it took three days to traverse it, Nineveh was, indeed, a large city. A person who is accustomed to walking can cover two to three miles in an hour. If we assume Jonah was reasonably fit and walked eight hours a day for three days, we might assume Nineveh was at least the size Los Angeles is today.

Walking only a third of the way into Nineveh changed the destiny of its inhabitants. To his surprise, they did not respond to him by trying to kill or torture him. Going on to verse 4 of our text. “Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’”

Notice there is neither equivocation nor hope. He did not say “might be overthrown.” He said “will be overthrown.” Jonah was not sharing a message of repentance, salvation or God’s love. He was simply walking the streets proclaiming that the city would be destroyed in forty days. A key lesson we can take from this is God’s plans will always succeed. Isaiah 55:11 reminds us his word will not return to him empty, but it will accomplish what he desires and will achieve his purpose.

In verse 5 we read, “The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. The people were convicted of their sins, repented, fasted and hoped that God would spare them.

If I knocked on your door and told you that you would not live to see the sunrise tomorrow, wouldn’t you have a question or two for me? Yet, there is no indication that anyone asked Jonah what was behind the threat. We know that the Assyrians served gods that were capricious and unpredictable. Also, about that time, historians report Assyria had experienced a series of famines, plagues and even witnessed astrological phenomena. Some have inferred that this was how God prepared the people’s hearts for Jonah’s message.

At any rate, I guess they just figured they were toast, no questions asked. Yet, the people of Nineveh put on sackcloth and fasted, both cultural signs of sorrow and repentance. They even put mourning clothes on their animals and made them fast, too (although some commentators believe this was included to be humorous). This was a grassroots change of heart and direction—the very definition of repentance.

Turning to verse 6
“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. 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. 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. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.’”

I hear echos of what we read in Jonah 1:6. “The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.’”

Please notice something else. In verse 8, the king declared, “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.” Nineveh’s evil and violence was not confined to the battlefield. They were a wicked culture living as though there was no God. Isn’t it interesting that Jonah did not say anything about his God and the word repentance was apparently never spoken.  There is something within the heart of all that lets us know when we have crossed the line with God in the way we treat others. The people humbly responded and God took notice.

Verse 10,  “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.” We don’t know if there was more to Jonah’s message than what is recorded in the book. I suspect, from what we read in the next chapter, that this was his only message, word for word. In fact, he likely proclaimed God’s threat with no little excitement hoping that Israel’s enemy would be destroyed. Yet, in the back of his mind, he knew his God. We read the only threat that was recorded did not come to pass.


Undoubtedly, the Ninevites breathed a sigh of relief knowing they were ok because they had temporarily, at least, turned from their wicked ways. Yet they continued misplacing their trust and following useless gods. How often do we talk to people who believe that, if there is really a heaven, they are destined to go there because they are good people? As in Nineveh, being a good person may forestall God’s wrath in this life, but not in the next.

We live in a post-Christian nation of wishful thinkers, many of whom believe hell, if it exists, is reserved only for the truly wicked. Even when they concede there may be a God, heaven, or even a hell, they believe they are ok. And they are just following a family tradition.

Such thinking is an inheritance from our forefathers. Before we even existed as an independent nation God sent a revival to America just like he did Nineveh.

A religious revival impacted the English colonies in America in the early eighteenth century. Many historians believe it had a lasting impact on a number of Christian denominations as well as American culture at large. It resulted from the European philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, that had made its way across the Atlantic.

Enlightenment thinkers emphasized a scientific and logical worldview, while downplaying religion. Those who bought into this school of thought believed everything that had previously been attributed to God could or would eventually be explained by science. The stage was set for a renewal of faith, and in the late 1700s, a revival began to take root. Most historians credit Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent as the chief proponents of what has been called the Great Awakening.

Revivals were often raucous, chaotic, hell fire and brimstone events, but Edwards tended to keep his congregation relatively calm, compared to the others. However, he did preach the penalty of sin on occasion, most notably in his sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” which he preached twice, once in his own Northampton, MA church and again on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, CT.

The Great Awakening lasted until the middle of the 19th Century. It was mostly in the northeast and the midwest. Two more awakenings happened. One in the 1850’-1900’s. The other happened in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

As with Jonah’s preaching, the awakenings were short-lived events. Jonah preached to Nineveh and about 100 years later, they had turned from God and were back in their sin. They received their punishment when the prophet Nahum proclaimed Nineveh’s destruction. America too did not stay long in the glory of God.

The Test of a true prophet
One thing to note, by Jonah going to Nineveh and preaching destruction, Jonah may see himself as a false prophet if his words did not come to pass. Jonah, along with other prophets in the Bible, were held to a special standard when proclaiming God’s word. If a prophet stated there would be destruction, but the destruction never happened, then the prophet was neither a true or false prophet. God can turn back from the evil He had proclaimed. If a prophet proclaimed good to the people, but destruction came, then the prophet was known to be a false prophet.

So, if a person wants to be considered a prophet, it is better to proclaim destruction. If the doom and gloom happens, then the prophet was true to his word. If the destruction does not happen, then God relented of the evil and the prophet is still thought to be a true prophet.

Isaiah 38:1-8
The Prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah he was to set his house in order. He was going to die. Isaiah leaves. Hezekiah prays to the LORD. God hears the prayer and tells Isaiah to go back and let Hezekiah know he will live another 15 years.

Jonah Chapter 1 (Part Four)

The god of Nineveh: Dagon

 

Dagon was the chief god  of the Philistines, the Syrians and the area of Mesopotamia, which included the city of Nineveh. Worship of the god dates back to 3000 B.C. According to ancient mythology, Dagon was the father of Baal. Dagon was the fish god. (Remember dag in Hebrew means fish.) Dagon was represented as half-man, half-fish. The half-man, half-fish representation of Dagon attested to the evolutionary belief that both man and fish had evolved together from the primal waters.

There is evidence that Dagon may have also been the provider of grain. Dagon was similar to many other idols. He personified natural forces which supposedly produced all things.

Dagon is a key figure in the Book of Jonah, although Dagon is not mentioned by name in the book. The Assyrians in Nineveh worshiped Dagon and his female counterpart, the fish goddess Nanshe. Jonah being swallowed by a fish and then being spewed out of the fish’s mouth would have been a very powerful testimony to the Ninevites. They would have seen Jonah as a prophet being sent from their god Dagon.

Jonah’s Skin
When Jonah was swallowed by the large fish, the acid in the fish’s stomach would have bleached Jonah’s skin white. The stomach acid would have taken all the pigment out of Jonah’s skin. Jonah would have looked very odd and would have stood out in a crowd. When Jonah told the people he was swallowed by a large fish, the people would have immediately become receptive to anything Jonah would have said. Jonah would have been elevated to prophet-god like status.

Is it possible to be swallowed by a large sea creature?
The answer to this question is yes. There are reports of people being swallowed whole by large whales. The people have survived the ordeal. Here is the experience of a man named James Bartley:

Bartley said that as he was cast into the water from the long boat he saw a tremendous mouth open over him and he screamed as he was engulfed by it. He then felt sharp stabbing pains as he was swept across the teeth and then slid feet first down a slimy tube that carried him to the whale's stomach. He could breath, but the hot, fetid odor soon rendered him unconscious and the last thing he remembers was kicking as hard as he could at the soft, yielding stomach. Finally, he lapsed into unconsciousness until he again came to his senses almost a month later. As a result of his fifteen hours inside the whale's stomach, Bartley lost all the hair on his body and was blind for the rest of his life. His skin was bleached to an unnatural whiteness that gave the appearance of being bloodless, although he was healthy.


Three Days and Three Nights
One of the most notable verses in the Book of Jonah is verse 17. Jonah was in the large fish for three days and three nights. This information is used by Jesus to describe his death. burial and resurrection.

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign; and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:38-41)


The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? 4 An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign; and so a [e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4)


Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it demands a sign, and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11:29-32)


Without going into great detail, Jesus was executed and laid to rest for three days and three nights. There is a tradition Jesus was executed on Friday, laid to rest before Friday at sunset and rose on Sunday. There are many issues with this such as Jesus had to be in the grave three days and three nights. A Friday death and Sunday resurrection means Jesus was in the grave Friday night (night one), Saturday (day one), Saturday night (night two).

It is most probably, Jesus was executed on Wednesday afternoon, laid to rest Wednesday before sunset and rose from the dead sometime after sunset on Saturday. This would mean Jesus was in the grave Wednesday night (night one), Thursday (day one), Thursday night (night two), Friday (day two), Friday night (night three), Saturday (day three), and resurrected sometime during the fourth night for we know Jesus had already vacated the tomb before sunrise on Sunday morning.

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and *saw the stone already removed from the tomb. 2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him.” 3 So Peter and the other disciple left, and they were going to the tomb. 4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; 5 and he stooped to look in, and *saw the linen wrappings lying there; however he did not go in. 6 So Simon Peter also *came, following him, and he entered the tomb; and he *looked at the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings but folded up in a place by itself. 8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb also entered then, and he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. 10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes. (John 20:1-10)