Jonah 1:1-2 / I am Jonah - Introduction
Introduction: More Than a Children’s Story
My name is Rick Taylor, and it’s a privilege and a real honor to be a pastor here and to have the opportunity to teach from time to time. One of the things you need to know about me is that I am married to Judy, and while we are parents, we are also grandparents. We have eight grandchildren and one on the way, but we’re pushing for double digits. Our kids keep looking at us and shaking their heads, but we would really like that.
In the world we live in today, it’s fun to have the technology we do as grandparents. Our grandchildren live in Arkansas, Oregon, and Southern California—they don’t live here. But with modern technology, we have the opportunity to be a part of their lives. It’s not unusual for us to get a phone call about 5:00 or 5:30 in the afternoon—bedtime back in Arkansas—and they want us to read them a story. We can show them the picture book, they can see us, and we can see their faces. It’s just fabulous technology.
Some of the stories we read them include The Boy Who Fooled the Giant, Aesop’s Fables, and Puff the Magic Dragon. I really wax eloquent on Gus and the Baby Ghost and Alexander and the Mighty Magic Mouse. And then, of course, we have Jonah and the Big Fish.
When was the last time you read the book of Jonah as something other than a child’s story? When did you last stop to really think about it? In most of our minds, is there much difference between Jonah and the big fish and Alexander and the magic carpet? Is this just a children’s story, or is there something deeper here?
A Real Prophet in a Real Place
As we launch into the book of Jonah, we need to understand some things right up front. First of all, we need to understand that Jonah was a real person. Jonah, which means “dove,” was a prophet in Israel during the reign of the northern ten tribes. To understand his context, we have to look back at the history of the divided kingdom. After Solomon’s reign, the nation split. The northern ten tribes followed Jeroboam, while the southern two tribes followed Rehoboam.
By the time we get to Jonah, a few hundred years have passed. He is serving during the reign of Jeroboam II, a king who did evil in the sight of the Lord and led the people into a different religion and false worship. Yet, in the middle of all that, Jonah was a prophet speaking for God.
2 Kings 14:23-25 (NASB)
In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, [and reigned] forty-one years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.
Jonah is not only a real person, but the story of Jonah is a real story. It’s interesting that in the New Testament, Jesus only mentions four prophets by name, and he mentions Jonah twice. In Matthew chapter 12, he refers to Jonah when a generation was seeking a sign.
Matthew 12:39-40 (NASB)
But He answered and said to them, ’An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and [yet] no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Isn’t it interesting? One of the most controversial stories in the Bible—Jonah and the big fish—is authenticated by Jesus himself. He doesn’t just make a passing reference; he authenticates the reality that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. You can argue whether or not this could really happen, but you’re not just arguing with the Bible; you’re arguing with Jesus. If you believe it is possible for God to be involved in this world and do supernatural things, then the story of Jonah stands.
The sad thing to me is that the big fish usually gets all the credit and the highlights. We focus on what kind of fish it was or if it was scientifically possible. But as we’re going to see, the fish was just an instrument in the hands of God to accomplish what He wanted to accomplish.
The Great City of Nineveh
Jonah 1:1-2 (NASB)
The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’
Here is Jonah in northern Israel, and God says, “I want you to go to Nineveh.” Nineveh was the oldest, most ancient, and largest city of the Assyrian Empire. It was a real place. In fact, we can see Nineveh mentioned as far back as Genesis chapter 10, describing the descendants of Noah. While the descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem spread across the earth, Nineveh is singled out.
By 1440 BC, when Moses was writing Genesis, Nineveh already had a reputation for being a “great city.” It was a monster city compared to others of its kind. It was located on the eastern shore of the northern Tigris River, right across from modern-day Mosul in Iraq.
The Flight and the Fish
To understand the scope of this book, we look at it in four chapters. In chapter one, Jonah gets his commission. God tells him to leave his home and go to Nineveh. It was at least a 550-mile walk, which would have taken him a month or more at a steady pace. God said go east; Jonah decided to go west toward Spain. He went to the port of Joppa and got on a ship heading for Tarshish, as far away as he could get.
But a fierce storm came up. One of the favorite words used throughout Jonah is “great” or “mighty.” A great wind, a great city, a great fish. The sailors realized Jonah was a prophet of the God of Israel and, with Jonah’s admission of guilt, they threw him overboard. He began to sink to the bottom of the sea, but God had appointed a great fish to swallow him.
Chapter two is the fabulous prayer of Jonah. What do you do in the belly of a fish for three days? You pray. This chapter is a poetic depiction of Jonah’s cry to God as he describes sinking into the deep, getting caught in the weeds, and losing consciousness. At the end of his prayer, he repents. He realizes God is in charge and says, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
Well, the fish didn’t like Jonah. He was a bad meal. So, God commanded the fish to vomit him up on the coastline. If being in the belly of a fish was bad, being thrown up on the shore was probably worse. But there he was, back where he started, with a long walk to Nineveh ahead of him.
The Message and the Surprise
In chapter three, Jonah finally goes. He walks into Nineveh, a city with a wall seven and a half miles in circumference—50 feet thick and 100 feet high. He was walking into the heart of the enemy’s territory. His message was short: “Repent, or you’re going to die in forty days.”
Then the unexpected happens: the whole city repents. From the king to the commoner, they put on sackcloth and ashes. Why did they respond so quickly? History tells us that around 765 BC, a plague hit Nineveh. In 763 BC, there was a full solar eclipse, which the Assyrians viewed as a sign of divine judgment. Then in 759 BC, another plague hit. By the time Jonah arrived, God had been priming them for repentance. They were ready to listen.
But then we get to chapter four, which is just as surprising. Instead of rejoicing that 120,000 people were saved, Jonah mopes. He goes outside the city, sits on a hill, and sulks. He tells God, “I knew you would do this! I knew you were a gracious God who relents from disaster. That’s why I ran!”
He was angry that God was kind to his enemies. God uses a vine, a worm, and a hot wind to teach Jonah a lesson. He tells Jonah, “You care about this plant that gave you shade, but I care about 120,000 people that I created. They are special to me. Do you care about them, Jonah, or do you only care about your own kind?”
Why Jonah Ran
We have to understand why Jonah was so reluctant. For thousands of years, the Assyrians had developed the art of war. They were fierce. They used chariots and horses to trample enemies. They had a displacement strategy where they would take the best and brightest from a conquered nation and scatter them so they could never be a people again. This is why, centuries later, the Jews hated the Samaritans—they were the product of this forced intermarrying.
But mostly, Jonah ran because the Assyrians were brutal. I want to read you some actual quotes from Assyrian kings of that era. One king said: “I slaughtered them. With their blood, I dyed the mountain red like wool. The heads of their warriors I cut off and formed into a pillar. Their young men and maidens I burned in the fire.”
Another said: “I cut their throats like lambs. I pierce this man’s chin with my keen hand dagger. Through his jaw, I passed a rope, put a dog chain upon him, and made him occupy a kennel.”
They would skin people and hang their hides on the city walls. These were not nice people. They drove terror into the hearts of everyone around them. Can you understand why Jonah didn’t want to go? He also knew God’s character. He knew God was a relenting God, and he didn’t want these monsters to be forgiven. He wanted them destroyed.
I Am Jonah
This isn’t just a story for children. It’s a story for you and me. The reality is, I am Jonah. You are Jonah.
Aren’t we people who, when God says clearly, “This is what I want you to do,” say, “No, I don’t want to do that”? We might not get on a ship for Spain, but we can sure rationalize. God says, “I want you to make this marriage work,” and we say, “But I’m not happy,” and we run. God says, “I want you to have higher priorities than your career,” and we say, “But I like how work makes me feel,” and we run to the office.
There are times we are like chapter two, running back to God because we realize what we ran to wasn’t that great. There are times we are like chapter three, on mission and doing exactly what God says. And then there are times we are like chapter four—we mope and gripe because God does something we don’t like. We point our finger at Him and say, “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
God says to us what He said to Jonah: “You care about things that are insignificant, but I care about people. I care about the people you don’t like. I care about the people you view as a threat. I want their souls.”
I hope that as we go through this series, our hearts would be soft and open to what God wants to do. Let’s pray.
Father, thank you for Jonah. He was a real man with an authentic life lived before us. We see ourselves in every verse and every chapter. I pray that you would use this study to encourage and challenge us. May our hearts be open to your compassion. In Jesus’ name, amen.