JONAH

Lesson #1 Page 5

Lesson #2 Page 8

Lesson #3 Page 9

Lesson #4 Page 11

A. AUTHOR:

1.	From the title of the book and the introduction formula, which is similar to the other prophetic books, Jonah has been accepted as the author of the book from antiquity.

2.	The prophet Jonah prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel ca. 790-749 BC From 2 Kings 14:23-27 we see that Jonah was a well known prophet of God and associated with the royal court of Israel probably somewhat like Isaiah and Jeremiah were with Judah. Jonah was a statesman prophet, not a 'backwoods' prophet like Elijah or John the Baptist.

3.	The event in the book probably occurred early in his prophetic career.

4.	Jonah was from Geth-helper, about 3 miles NE of Nazareth. His name means "Dove".

B. BACKGROUND:

1.	Jonah was called to cry against that "great city" Nineveh, capital of Assyria, and long the enemy of his people, Israel.

2.	Nineveh was surrounded by a complex of suburbs with a heavy population of about 600,000 at this time. At its height it was fortified with several walls, the greatest inner defense being a wall 8 miles long and 100 feet high and wide enough for three chariots to drive abreast, with 1500 towers which were 200 ft high.

3.	Assyrian inscriptions tell of reforms at this time and of an attempt by Adad-Nirari III toward monotheism.

C. CHARACTER:

1.	The form of the book is unlike that of any other Old Testament prophetic boos, it is biographical.

2.	The book is often accused of being myth by modernist and religious liberals because of the miracle of the great fish. However:

a.	Jonah was a real person -- 2 Kings 14:24.

b.	Jesus accredited the story of the great sea-monster as factual. Matthew 12:39-41.

c.	The Lord also represents the story as true that Nineveh repented. Luke 11:29-32.

d.	There is no way to doubt the historicity of Jonah and have regard for the integrity of Jesus.

3.	Many disbelievers who lavishly praise the book of Jonah reject its historicity and treat Jonah despicable. They classify the book as:

a.	Myth -- grounded in "dragon-myth" (C.B. Taylor).

b.	Legend -- "The book of Jonah... rests upon legends of different sorts" (Bentzen).

c.	Allegory -- "It is neither literal history nor a short story pure and simple, but an allegory similar to the parables of Jesus." (Calkins). (Jonah in the belly represents the Babylonian captivity, etc).

d.	Parable -- "a finely-told parable." (S.B. Frost). ("The book is Hebrew prophecy at its highest level, told in the form of a parable.")

e.	Fiction, poetry, folk-tale, satire, midrash.

f.	Dream -- "...a dream produced in that sleep which fell upon him as he lay in the side of the ship." (Grimm).

g.	Compound -- Various views together.

4.	Some other arguments for the historicity of the book of Jonah include:

a.	The natural, obvious interpretation of the language.

b.	The style of the book is historical.

c.	The dissimilarity between this account and heathen myths and legends.

d.	The voice of antiquity. The book was always accepted by early Jewish audiences as historical.

e.	Jonah was not a mythological person but a real man who lived at a definite time and place in history and among men (2 Kings 14:24).

f.	The canonicity of the book of Jonah and its placement in the Old Testament.

g.	The use made of the account of Jonah by Jesus (see #2 above).

D. DESIGN:

1.	The book itself is the self-humiliating confession of Jonah. It shows us his growth in the Lord as he becomes the great prophet of 2 Kings 14.

Jonah's sin was great--but so was his repentance and the lesson he learned-- the very existence of the book reveals this.

2.	The design of the book is Didactic -- to rebuke any tendency toward bigotry on the part of the Hebrew people and to show that "in every nation he that feareth [God] and worketh righteousness is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:34,35).

3.	The book is Typical -- to typify the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Matthew 12:38-41; Luke 11:29-32

4.	Outline:

Chapter 1 Jonah Running AWAY from God

Chapter 2 Jonah Running TO God

Chapter 3 Jonah Running WITH God

Chapter 4 Jonah Running AHEAD of God

Some Suggestive Lessons From the Book of Jonah

1.	God is the God of all nations. (Acts 10:34,35; Acts 11:18).

2.	God loves all men. (John 3:16).

3.	God's love is holy. Holy love cannot approve sin, but He graciously provides the way of redemption for the sinner.

4.	God rules in all places and over all elements.

5.	The book of Jonah is a rebuke to those who long for the conversion of sinners provided that only certain types of sinners come.

6.	"... the wonderful power of true repentance."

7.	The book of Jonah is a rebuke to every Christian who does not have the passion to win men to Christ.

8.	The preacher must constantly realize his own desperate need for God's grace. ("Do I have the right motive?")

9.	The man who questions the wisdom of God really claims to know more than God.

10.	The very universality of the divine plan of human redemption demands world-wide evangelization.

11.	It is the duty and privilege of God's servants to render prompt and eager obedience.

12.	It is refreshing to see a man who is big enough to admit his mistakes.

13.	In what a marvelous way is the miraculous experience of Jonah typical of the death and the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

14.	"The universal concern of God for man." (Jack Lewis)

15.	The book of Jonah is the book of evangelism in the Old Testament.

16.	The book of Jonah is a confession story.

17.	God's promises, warnings, and threats are conditional. Jeremiah 18:7f; Ezek. 18:32; Hebrews 5:9; 2 Peter 3:9

18.	The secret of successful preaching is preaching the Word; Jonah 3:1; 2 Timothy 4:2

19.	Obedience is necessary to please God. 2 Thes. 1:9

20.	The power of God is infinite.

21.	"Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life." Acts 11:18.

Lesson # 1

"Jonah Running Away From God"

TEXT: Jonah Chapter 1:1-17

Jonah is a book that is minor in bulk, but major in significance.

1:1	The terminology here points to genuineness. A common introductory formula is used in the inspired literature of the prophets.

Compare : Hosea 1:1; Zeph. 1:1; Joel 1:1; Micah 1:1;

It is the same formula beginning to indicate the authorship of the book. Not only it is a book about Jonah, but by Jonah.

QUESTION: In what way is this book different from the other prophets as a book?

1:2	"Nineveh" = "That great city"

This commission no more authoritative than the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16;15. (Let's not be too hard on Jonah lest we fall into our own condemnation.)

Attention is focused on Jonah and not on Nineveh.

1:3	"from the presence of the Lord" -- not because he had a narrow sense of God as a local deity, (see verse 9). But presence here means "to stand before", "to be before" (cf. I Kings 17:1; 18:15; 2 Kings 3;14, 5:16). It means that Jonah was resigning from the ministry, abandoning his office of a prophet. He knew what God meant.

What was his motive for resigning? 1) fear of personal danger? 2) Fear of being proved a prophet of lies? 3) Feared Assyria for the sake of his people? 4) Reluctant to preach to heathen people? 5) "I've done enough, let someone else go!" 6) "They would laugh me to scorn?"

1:3	"paid fare" He was not a stow-a-way.

1:4-16	Various technical nautical terms are used in this section which again bears evidence to the truthfulness of the story.

QUESTION: Did the men know why Jonah was fleeing?

GREATS

1. Great City v.2

2. Great Refusal v.3

3. Great Storm v. 4

4. Great Fish v.17

5. Great God 4:2

6. Great Prophesy 4:1

7. Great Deliverance 3:10

1:7	Casting lots is not now a mode of divine revelation. God's hand was in the storm, and here in the lots (Cf. Acts 1;26).

Many men have run into storms when they were not running from God. It is not a proper exegesis to say that when we run into a storm that something is wrong.

1:10	Give the men some credit. They didn't have the revelation that Jonah had -- he had the Pentateuch.

1:11	Sea "continuously agitated"

1:12	QUESTION: How did Jonah know this?

1:13	QUESTION: Why didn't Jonah just jump overboard?

1:16	Note the sensitivity of the rugged heathen seamen?

Note their fear of the LORD and sacrifice and vows.

The missionary activity of Jonah was not limited to Nineveh.

1:17	"God prepared" Nothing in the Hebrew would indicate that God specially created this sea monster at this time. The significance is that He brought or appointed it to be at this spot. It is possible, however, that he did create it specially.

1:16	"Three days and three nights" -- The Hebrews doesn't mean three 24 hour periods, but one full day and parts of a beginning day and an ending day.

Examples of comparable English: "I worked all last week", or "I was in school all week."

Compare Daniel 1:1 and Jeremiah 25:1 and note difference in the Hebrew and Babylonian methods of reckoning time.

1:17	The objection that a sea-monster could not swallow a man is childish and grossly inaccurate. There is abundance of evidence of large objects being swallowed whole. But still, we believe Jonah's preservation a miracle of God.

Questions on Jonah chapter 1

1.	What message came to Jonah?

2.	What can you learn about Nineveh?

3.	What does "cry out against" Nineveh mean?

4.	To what place did Jonah seek to flee and where was it located?

5.	When one wants to evade his responsibilities to God, the means are usually easy to find. Why do you think Jonah wanted to run away?

6.	What was the source of the great wind?

7.	How did the mariners try to save the ship?

8.	Where was Jonah?

9.	What did the shipmaster tell Jonah to do?

10.	How did the sailors determine who was the source of their trouble?

11.	What questions did they ask Jonah?

12.	Jonah told them the ____________ of __________ made the sea and the dry land.

13.	What effect did this information of verse 9 have on the sailors?

14.	What solution did Jonah suggest?

15.	What did the sailors ask in their prayer to God?

16.	When the Sea "ceased from her raging," what did the sailors do?

17.	Is it likely these men spread this story when they landed?

Lesson # 2

"Jonah Running To God"

TEXT: Jonah Chapter 2:1-10

Introduction

Read the second chapter of Jonah and notice the textual comments below and write out the answers to the questions before class time. [Review chapter one.]

TEXT Jonah 2:1-10

2:	The Psalm of Thanksgiving

This prayer speaks of deliverance already expressed, and is Jonah's thanks to God from not letting him drown.

No one could have known these personal things except the prophet himself. This speaks for Jonah's authorship.

2:10	The fish did everything on schedule as appointed.

QUESTION: Where was Jonah cast out?

Questions over Chapter Two

1.	Jonah _____________ unto the Lord from the fish's belly.

2.	For what is Jonah thankful in chapter 2?

3.	What does "belly of hell" (2:2) mean?

4.	What is Jonah talking about in verses 2 - 9 ?

5.	Did "for ever" of verse 6 literally mean eternity?

6.	How did Jonah get to dry land again?

7.	How does the Lord use this incident of Jonah and the fish in Matthew 12:39ff?

Lesson # 3

"Jonah Running With God"

Text: Jonah Chapter 3:1-10

QUESTION: At the point of 2:10 and 3:1, can you imagine what Jonah must have looked like? smelled like?

3:1	Just when the second commission was given to Jonah we don't know, or how long after Jonah's deliverance. It seems soon.

3:2	"preach the preaching that I bid thee" -- Shouldn't this be every preacher's concern?

3:3	"Three days journey" Circumference or diameter?

3:4	"Into the city a day's journey" Do you think there was any language problem for Jonah to be understood?

[Some liberals attack the story here. But this is only five words in the Hebrew, if Jonah didn't know the Assyrian language he could easily have memorized them, but being from the king's court he was among the well educated prophets.]

Why type of prophecy was it?

(See I Kings 11:37, 38 to Jeroboam)

3:5,6	Jonah himself became a sign. Matthew 12:38ff. Luke 11:29ff. If this is not credible, if this is not history, we have a malicious sacrifice of the character of Jonah.

If the story of Jonah is not historical then Jesus' reference to the book impinges either his intelligence or honesty.

The sign of Jonah-- the miracle credentialed him as from God to the Ninevites. We see from Jesus' words that they must have known about the miracle. It credentialed the speaker as from God. They were therefore the more ready to believe him.

Questions On Chapter Three

1.	What were the instructions the Lord next gave Jonah?

2.	Did Jonah obey this time? Why?

3.	How large was Nineveh?

(Read a description of Nineveh from a Bible Dictionary or Halley's Bible Handbook, p. 369.)

4.	What message did Jonah preach?

How many words in it?

5.	Did the Ninevites believe God's message?

6.	What steps did they make to seek God's mercy?

7.	What did God do when He "saw their works"?

8.	In what sense did God repent?

9.	How would the people of Nineveh condemn many of those who lived when Christ was on earth? Matthew 12:41.

10.	Jonah 3:10 says the Ninevites "turned from their evil way." How does Matthew 12:38-41 describe this action?

Lesson # 4

"Jonah Running Ahead of God"

Text: Jonah Chapter 4:1-11

What prophet ever had more success, yet was so upset about it!

4:2	Jonah's motive for fleeing. (Jonah knew God.)

4:5	When did Jonah go out? At the end of 40 days or before it?

It must have hurt Jonah to see Nineveh repenting when his own people would not. But it becomes a lesson to them, God would spare them if they would repent like the city of Nineveh. My, what a powerful sermon Jonah would now be able to preach to Israel!

4:6	Palm crist tree -- grows very rapidly.

4:7	God uses visual aids with Jonah. Most prophets made such use of teaching aids, now God employs them with His prophet.

4:11	The population of innocent children in Nineveh is estimated at 120,000. God cares for the cattle also.

What attitude should Christians have toward animals?

(Note: Psalms 50:10, 11; 104:10-14; 145:15,16; Job 38:39-41; Exodus 23:4,5; Deut. 22:1-4; 22:6,7; 25:4; I Cor. 9:9,10 *Proverbs 12:10).

The book ends with the reader left to draw the conclusion and application himself.

If Jonah is the author, we see the book as a remarkable humble confession, and we see him indeed a saint. Jonah's sin was great, but so was his repentance, the book reveals this. The existence of the book itself, written by Jonah, is evident that he learned an important lesson about God's love for all sinners, and that when sinners repent and turn to God, He will spare them. Jonah now has a powerful sermon to preach to Israel.

[In Assyrian history, we learn that about this time Adad-Nirari III made reforms in Nineveh and made attempts to get the nation to worship one God. Jonah's influence must have been profound and for two rulers following Adad, Israel is left alone. During the following years Israel is able to recover lost territory and her economy reaches its greatest heights since Solomon, all this under Jeroboam II and Jonah.]

Questions on Chapter Four

1.	How did Jonah receive the news of God's decision to show mercy to Nineveh?

2.	What did Jonah do?

3.	What did God then do?

4.	What did the worm do to the gourd?

5.	When the east wind rose, what request did Jonah make?

6.	What is the lesson God was teaching Jonah by all this? (See 4:10ff)

7.	What does the story of Jonah teach us about God's love?

8.	How many miracles did you notice in the book of Jonah?

9.	How many people inhabited Nineveh?

-- Windell H. Gann -- Rogersville Church of Christ --