Jonah

The book of Jonah. What is it all about? Is it simply the story of a man who was swallowed by a whale? And, is it saying Jonah was literally swallowed by a whale?

A few weeks ago I turned on the radio and caught the tail end of a man preaching through the book of Jonah. He said the book was about idols in our hearts. Really? I didn’t hear him again so I don’t know how he explained that, but it did get me to thinking. Naturally, I wanted to share my thoughts here.

First, I accept Jonah at face value. I believe there was really a man named Jonah, although his name was really Yonah (there is no ‘J’ in Hebrew). He was a prophet who is also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. I believe this is a book about a real man and that the events described in the book happened just as it says.

With that out of the way, what is the point of the book? There is a point or purpose for the book, even though there are other wonderful and powerful truths contained in it. I want to consider these truths first, then explain the purpose of the book.

The Name
1:1  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
When LORD is in the upper case or all caps, it is the personal name of God: YHWH, which many pronounce Yahweh.+  It is interesting to follow along and see when YHWH is used and by whom.

Chapter 1 is the account of Jonah’s call and his attempt to flee.
- In verses 1-4 he is called and commissioned by Yahweh to go to Nineveh. Instead, he gets on a ship seeking to flee from the presence of Yahweh, Who then sent out a great wind and caused a storm that threatened the ship.
- In 5-7 his shipmates call upon their various gods for help; god(s) is Elohim, not YHWH.
- In 8-16 Jonah explains who he is, why he is on board, what God he serves, and how they can stop the storm. In this passage we find the shipmates calling on Yahweh for help and safety, and when throwing Jonah out of the ship results in calm seas, they feared Yahweh with a great fear and offered sacrifice to Him.

It is YHWH again in Jonah’s prayer in ch 2. Then when he is in Nineveh (ch 3), the Ninevites refer to Him as Elohim (God). Then it is back to YHWH in ch 4.

In other words, he is YHWH (Yahweh) only to His covenant people.

The God who pursues
3  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Jonah is called and sent to Nineveh but he does the exact opposite and heads to Tarshish! Why? This will be explained a little later when we get to the purpose of the book. Be that as it may, God doesn’t let him go, and this is a powerful truth: You can run, but you cannot hide! Jonah ran, but God came after him. There is great comfort in this, even though the storm and the belly of the fish was not pleasant. The comfort is this: God wants to restore us to Himself when we fall into sin, and He will pursue us.

The whale
1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
This of course is what everyone thinks of when they hear about Jonah, as if this was the theme and purpose of the book. I tell you, it is not. Obviously, this is a great miracle, but the book does not dwell on it.
Was this a whale or what? Well, the Hebrew says fish. English translations of the Hebrew say fish. The Tanakh (Jewish translation) says fish. The Peshitta (the Authorized Bible of the Church of the East; Syrian), says fish. The Latin says fish (piscem). The Septuagint (LXX; Greek Old Testament) says whale. Aha! This is the word κήτει (ketei), and since the majority of allusions, references, and quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament are from the LXX, the New Testament uses the word ketei (I believe cetacea comes from this word). But this Greek word means sea-monster, whale, huge fish. It could have been a whale, since they are huge, but the text just means a really big fish.

On being restored
Chapter 2 The beautiful prayer of Jonah in the belly of said fish. What do you do when you’ve run away from God or fallen into sin and want to come home? You pray. I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God. Amen. Salvation is of the LORD. Amen, again!

On the road again
Chapter 3 Jonah is restored to God and the fish spits him out. What now? As much as possible, you return to what you know God wants you to do. For Jonah, the word is still, Go to Nineveh. He does just that, preaches the preaching, they repent, and God spares them. They turned every one from their evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. The prophet Amos cried, Prepare to meet thy God. How do we prepare? Turn to the Lord by repenting and believing in Jesus. When we do that God shows mercy to us. Hallelujah!

Temper, temper
Chapter 4 Jonah has a hissy fit because God spared them.

The Purpose of the book of Jonah
All this brings us finally to the purpose of the book. If none of the above are the purpose or theme, what is? This is captured in the first and last verses of the book:

1:1-2 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

4:10-11  Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than 120,000 persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

YHWH is Lord and Savior of all people. He judges nations. He saves nations. Israel was indeed His covenant people, but He has mercy on any one and every one who will turn from their evil way and call upon Him. This is a foreshadowing of the Gospel days to come!!

So this is not Jonah: The Story Of A Man Swallowed By A Whale, but rather Jonah: The Story Of God Having Mercy On Nineveh

The sad thing is, Jonah knew this:

4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
He fled because he knew that if they repented God would spare them. Oh what this says about the character of God! And what it says about Jonah - he only went to Nineveh because he wanted to see it destroyed! This is really sad. But God uses imperfect vessels. And how I thank Him for that!!


How does this book further the promise of Messiah? Jesus said Jonah in the belly of the fish was a picture of his death and resurrection. It was no accident that it was three days and nights!


Interesting side notes

The Septuagint adds what I consider a humorous detail in 1:5-6
But Jonas was gone down into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored. And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why snorest thou?


Jonah’s hissy fit in chapter 4. I can’t explain it. And the Bible doesn’t have to record it, because honestly he looks rather childish and petty, not prophet like at all. But that’s the Bible, it tells the stories warts and all. Another reason I believe it to be true.

Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness

+ YHWH The Jews stopped pronouncing this a long time ago, as a result no one is certain how it should be pronounced. Old Bibles used Jehovah, many people today think it should be Yahweh.