Jonah: Complete Series
Jonah: The Prophet
Jonah starts his story in 2 Kings 14, where he prophesies to King Jeroboam, son of Jehoash. Even though Jeroboam had acted evil in the eyes of the Lord, He allowed him to reclaim land which had been lost to Judah.
Book of Jonah
We next meet him in the Book of Jonah. This a short story with 4 chapters.
It starts where Jonah is called by God to preach repentance to the Ninevites, who were not only Israel’s enemy, but almost everyone else’s enemy too.
Jonah runs in the opposite direction, hires a boat, which is hit by a storm and he is eventually thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish.
Jonah repents and after he is vomited on the beach, he heads off to Nineveh. He preaches and the city’s residents repent.
Jonah sulks outside the city and God teaches him a lesson.
Parallels Between 2 Kings and Nineveh
In both circumstances, God was gracious to Israel and the Ninevites. Even though they acted evil in the eyes of God.
Maybe the events in Ninevah were before those in 2 Kings. Which means Jonah was not surprised by God’s grace shown to King Jeroboam, even though Israelites didn’t deserve it.
Jonah Shrine
In July 2014, a shrine dedicated to Jonah was demolished by Isis. When archeologists eventually came to the site in 2017, they inspected the damage. Under the former shrine were extensive tunnels which were covered in Neo-Assyrian reliefs and inscriptions. Isis destroyed a mosque and instead created a great opportunity to learn more about the Neo-Assyrians Ninevites.
God’s Plan
A point to make here, is that God’s plan is never diverted. We may have free will, but God’s plan seems to take into account our decisions. After all, existing outside of time, He knows all things, past, present and future.
Jonah: The Dove
In Hebrew, Jonah’s name means Dove. In ancient Israel, doves were seen as foolish and silly birds. They did not have the same connotation of peace like they do today.
Hosea 7 v 11
Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless.
The Bible also associates doves with moaning and complaining. At the end of the book, we see Jonah moaning about how God showed mercy to the Ninevites. In effect, he was moaning ‘like a dove’.
Nahum 2 v 7
Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts.
Jonah lives up to his name. He was silly to think he could outfox God, he ‘flew’ away and ended up bitterly complaining.
Dove of Truth
Jonah’s father was called Amittai. This would mean his full title was the ‘Dove of Truth’.
When the Bible talks about how the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. It was like a dove.
Mark 1 v 9-10
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Symbolically, the Holy Spirit is like a ‘Dove of Truth’.
John 14v 16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.
So in the story of Jonah, symbolically, the Holy Spirit is testifying about God to the inhabitants of Nineveh (the gentiles), calling them to repentance.
Like today, the Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus and calls the whole World to repentance.
John 15 v 26
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.
Dove Sacrifice
Jonah 1 11v 12
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
In this part of the story, Jonah sacrifices himself to save the sailors. Once he goes below the waves, the storm stops.
Leviticus 1 v 14 - 17
If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
Here, the Bible discusses how a guilt offering is to be made. I find it interesting that the dove’s crop and feathers are throw to the East of the altar.
Because, in the story of Jonah, after the city repents, Jonah then leaves the city and heads East. Is the writer of Jonah alluding to the idea that this act of sacrifice was similar to a guilt offering?
Jonah gets a bad reputation in this story, but even amongst his poor life choices, God still uses him for His purposes. This gives us all hope.
Jonah: Nineveh
God tells Jonah to visit Nineveh and preach to them. The Ninevites readily repent, which seems fantastical. The idea that a major city in an empire which controlled most of the Middle East for 250 years would simply just convert on the say so of an Israelite prophet, doesn't make much sense at all.
In fact, Jewish writers in the Middle Ages had pondered whether this was a work of fiction.
Though the Ninevites may had their own reasons.
Who Were the Assyrians?
Nineveh was a city within the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians had lived in the area of northern Mesopotamia for a millennia. But their greatest achievements occurred in the Neo-Assyrian age between 911 - 609 BC.
The Age of the Magnates
Jonah's ministry coincided with the Age of the Magnates (823-745 BC). After the death of Shalmaneser, a civil war broke out. This coincided with a decline in the empire.
There were no major expansions during this time and the power of the Assyrian King grew week. The Magnates took control of different regions within the Empire. And as Nineveh was not the capital, it was likely the king of Nineveh was one of the Magnates and not the King of Assyria.
Pagans and their Gods
During this period, there were several epidemics and eclipses which fed into the idea that the Assyrian gods had failed the people.
The relationship between the gods and the ancient pagans was not one of complete servitude. It was was more complicated, much more like a quid pro quo.
By building a temple, installing the idol and feeding it, the ancient pagan expected benefits back. When the crops failed, a pandemic struck the land or some other disaster occurred, if the people had followed the correct protocols, it was probable the god who had failed.
Sometimes, new protocols were developed, maybe even more draconian than the last.
Or sometimes the people started searching for a new god or gods.
If the Assyrian Empire was at a low, then it could be conceivable that the inhabitants of Nineveh would accept Yahweh as their new God. A replacement for their Assyrian pantheon.
The King of Nineveh
Jonah travels through the whole of the city. Nineveh was large, and it took a three days journey to walk across it.
As Jonah walked through the city calling for repentance. Eventually the king heard the message and declared a time of sack-cloth and ashes.
At first, this was not a top down repentance, it came from below. Much like how the Roman Empire changed from pagan to Christian. It started from a small ‘inconsequential’ group, who within 400 years took over the Empire.
Nineveh and Nahum
After Jonah's visit, the Assyrian Empire recovered, and Nineveh soon became the capital. But the Assyrians returned to terrorising the surrounding nations.
God was not happy and instructed Nahum to prophecy the demise of Ninevah and the Assyrians.
God showed mercy to Nineveh. He blessed them. They still rejected God, and the Assyrian Empire was finally destroyed in 609 BC.
I feel this is a template to how God deals with the wayward nations. He is compassionate. He is slow to anger. But eventually, He cannot allow the pain and suffering to continue and allows them to be destroyed.
Nahum 1 v 3
The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
Jonah: Great Fish
In 1891, James Bartley was swallowed by a sperm whale. He was rescued 15 hours later and was cut out of the stomach. His skin was white and he had no hair. It was all burnt away by the stomach acid.
This story is likely apocryphal. But if it were true, he would be a modern Jonah.
A Great Fish
The Bible describes the animal which swallows Jonah as a fish. In Hebrew, ‘whales’ tend to be translated from the word ‘Tanin’. This word is also translated as sea-monster. Whether Jonah was taken by a whale or something like a Great White shark is debatable. But the text says a fish and not a sea monster or a whale.
Belly of the Boat
After God speaks to Jonah, he makes the decision to run in the opposite direction to Nineveh. He boards a boat from Joppa and heads westward towards Spain.
A storm rises and Jonah hides beneath the deck. He goes into the ‘belly’ of the boat.
Much like when Adam and Eve hid after disobeying God, Jonah hides. And like when God called for Adam and Eve, the Ship’s Captain, the authority on the boat, calls for Jonah to come out of hiding.
Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden into the wilderness. Similarly, Jonah is thrown out of the safety of the boat into the chaotic sea.
The Belly of Sheol
Jonah is swallowed by the Great Fish. He then spend three days and three nights in its belly and prays.
Jonah 2 v 2
“In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help.”
Jonah prays from the belly of Sheol. Sheol is Old Testament name for Hades, the Underworld or Hell. So in this story, Jonah actually dies and goes into Hell.
Jonah 2 v 6
To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!
God then gives life back to Jonah because of His great compassion.
Jonah and Baptism
There is a parallel between Jonah in the Great Fish and Baptism.
One of the signs of going through the waters of Baptism is to show a Christian’s old life has past and a new life in Christ has begun.
Romans 6 v 3-4
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
This Was God’s Plan All Along
The name Nineveh means ‘Place of the Fish’ in Akkadian, the language of the Assyrians.
The origin of the name of Nineveh is unknown, though it is thought it’s related to a long forgotten fish goddess.
This is key, as if a prophet comes to this city and starts saying he was swallowed by a fish and tells the people to repent, they are more likely to accept it.
If Jonah had not run away and had not been taken by the fish, I wonder whether the people of Nineveh would have repented as quickly.
God uses our mistakes for His glory.
Jonah: Worm and Plant
After Jonah sees the whole of Nineveh repent, he complains to God. He asks to die.
Jonah 4 v 2-3
He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
He then leaves the city and makes himself a shelter. God allows a leafy plant to grow up over him and bring shade from the bright Sun.
Overnight, God allows a worm to chew through the plant and it withers. This exposes Jonah to the early morning Sun and he gets burnt. And once again Jonah asks to die.
God then says, ‘What right have you got to be angry about the plant?’
Jonah responds by saying for a third time, he wants to die.
Leaving Paradise for a Thorny Shelter
Jonah leaves the city, the place God filled with His presence. He leaves towards the East. In a similar way, Adam and Eve’s decision causes them to leave Paradise eastwards.
Jonah builds a shelter. The word used here for shelter has the same root as the word for a thicket. The thicket reminds me of the thorns outside of the Garden of Eden.
Jonah symbolically enters the wilderness and sits amongst thorns and briars. He chooses to leave God’s presence because he can’t understand why God would show mercy to the Gentiles, especially ones who have caused so much death and destruction. It seems so unfair.
An interesting point to make is how when Jonah fled from God’s presence, he went Westward. And after the repentance of Nineveh, he flees Eastward. He goes from hiding in a boat on the sea, to hiding in a shelter in the wilderness. Wherever we go, we can’t hide from God.
Gracious to the Gentiles
In Jonah 4, God shows grace to Jonah and allows a plant to cover him from the burning sun.
Equally, God gives grace to Nineveh. Even though they are part of the most evil of empires. In fact, he prospers them. They soon become the capital of the Empire. God’s inclination is to show compassion and give people a chance to repent.
A worm was then allowed to eat through the stalk of the plant and it withers, exposing Jonah to the heat of the Sun. God will then choose when to end an Empire. All in His time.
God is teaching Jonah the lesson from Job. God gives and He takes away. He has a plan and purpose for everything in creation. And humans need to trust Him.
The Prophecy About the Kingdom of Judah
We can look at the symbolism of Jonah 4 and see a possible prophecy directed towards the Kingdom of Judah.
At the time of Jonah, Israel had split into two, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. Judah was made up of two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) and Israel included the rest. Jerusalem was in Judah.
If we look at the symbolism in Jonah 4.
Jonah 4 v 6 - 8
Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.
God relates the plant to Nineveh in verse 11.
The worm symbolises death. We see a reference to death and worms in the New Testament.
Mark 9 v 47 - 48
Thrown into Hell where, “ ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
I believe Jonah represents the Kingdom of Judah, the Sun represents God’s judgement and the Wind from the East are the Medes and the Neo-Babylonians.
God’s judgement was about to burn the Kingdom of Judah.
But Nineveh repented, and it became the capital of a newly invigorated Neo-Assyrian Empire. This meant that the collapse didn’t happen for another century or so. But, when it did fall, it was very quick. Much like the plant in Jonah 4. It suddenly withered.
Then the Neo-Babylonians took over the Empire and eventually conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC.
One way to read the Bible is to think about how the original listeners interpreted what they heard. We can imagine what the Ancient Israelites may have thought about the story of Jonah. Maybe they would have linked it with the narrative of Noah.
Jonah: And Noah
Noah, Jonah and the Dove
Jonah’s name means the Dove. In the story of Noah, the dove brings the hope of renewed creation as it returns with a olive branch in its mouth. Like how Jonah’s message gives new hope to the city of Nineveh.
The Great Fish and the Ark
We see a parallel between the Ark and the Great Fish. The Ark with its inhabitants rise on the Flood waters, moving upwards to God.
The Great Fish with Jonah dives deep beneath the waves. Heading away and hiding from God.
Whereas Jonah calls out to God after being swallowed by the Fish, Noah says nothing and appears to quietly trust God.
The Animsls are Saved
In the story of Noah, we see God tells him to bring the animals into the Ark. The animals are saved, along with Noah and his family.
In a similar way, not only are the humans saved in the city of Nineveh but also the animals.
A New Deluge
An interesting idea is that the evils of the Neo-Assyrian Empire were so great, it may have reminded hearers of the conditions in the pre-Flood World. They may have worried that God may cause another flood to wipe humanity from the Earth.
But in the story we see God keeps His promise to never flood the Earth again, by instructing Jonah to preach to the Ninevites. As they repented, it meant there was no need for another Flood.
The Christians living in the 1st Century Roman Empire may have had similar thoughts. But again God called that empire to repent and eventually it also bowed the knee.
Plant and Vine
Finally, at the end of the stories of Noah and Jonah, a plant is featured. Noah grows a vine, gets drunk and his son Ham sees him naked. This results in Noah becoming upset and cursing Ham.
God allows a plant to grow over Jonah and hide him from the Sun’s heat. A worm eats through the stalk, the plant withers and Jonah is ‘naked’. So the Sun burns him. He becomes very upset by this.
Jonah: And Jesus
Matthew 16 v 4
A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
In Matthew, Jesus responds to the Pharisees and Sadducees by saying the story of Jonah is the only sign they need which will prove who He is.
The story of Jonah links in with some of the Gospel narratives.
Jesus and the Great Fish
As we saw in my post on Jonah and the Great Fish, Jonah was in its Belly for ‘three days’. And we also read that Jonah goes to Sheol, the place of the dead. Similarly, Jesus is ‘three days’ in the tomb and goes to Hell.
Whereas, Jonah calls out to God to save him, Jesus ploughs up Hell and frees the souls in captivity.
Jesus and the Dove
Matthew 3 v 16
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
At Jesus’ baptism, we see He is taken beneath the water by John the Baptist. John lived in the wilderness. The wilderness is like an ‘arid sea’. John is like the Great Fish who took Jonah beneath the waves.
Jonah’s name means Dove. He is the Dove rising up from the depths. At Christ’s baptism, the Holy Spirit is like the dove descending from Heaven.
Jesus Commands the Storm
Matthew 8 v 23-27
When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
This story also occurs in the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Both Jonah and Jesus sleep during the storm. But in the story with Jonah, he is sacrificed by the crew to save the boat from capsizing, while Jesus simply stills the storm.
Jesus does eventually give himself to calm the ‘storm’ caused by death and sin. Like Jonah, He descends into depths and rises again.
Drawing Lots
In John 19 v 24, the soldiers who crucified Jesus, cast lots to see who will take His undergarment. Lots are also cast in the story of Jonah, but this is to find who had aggrieved their God.
Jesus and the Gentiles
Jonah is called by God to preach to the Gentiles. In the Great Commission, Jesus tells His followers to go and preach to the Gentiles.
Coming to a City
After Jonah leaves the fish, he goes to the city of Nineveh. Once there, he preaches and the people start to repent. Eventually the king of Nineveh hears the message and repents too.
Jesus comes to Jerusalem and the people rejoice. The leaders are less so happy, and he is brought before them. They do not change their hearts and Jesus is sentenced to crucifixion.
Like Jonah, Jesus then leaves the city. A wooden cross is raised up like the plant in Jonah 4. The worm, which symbolises death, comes on the scene. It does not destroy the plant, but is instead, destroyed by Christ.