INTRODUCTION
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