Featured The Book of Jonah

Perhaps, if you want to understand Ninevah a little better, you could try reading the book of Nahum? (only 3 chapters)

 

If that's what Morris says, stop reading. Jonah hated them for who they were. You mention in one of your posts about their barbarian treatment of captives. That is why any man in the ancient world hated Ninevah.

And if you don't think Jonah was afraid to die, you better read Chapter 2 again.

Do you know what was on Johah's mind? The reality is, he illustrates his own anger and hatred for Ninevah in Chapter 4, showing how he had more care about a plant that God gave him for his own comfort than he did for a city of perhaps as many as a million people in it (the 120,000 number being only the men and not considering the women and children under 13).

One, there is no evidence he did "a lot of open air preaching" other than the four days it took him to walk through Ninevah. His only other previous mention is in 2 Kings 14:25, when he is credited with prophesying the restoration of Israel's border "from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah."

Two, his prayer to the Lord to save him from the depths of the midst of the sea had just days before been answered. It was obvious to Jonah that God wanted him to preach to Nineveh, even though he did not want to. Do you honestly believe that Jonah thought he would be killed by the Ninevites after God had saved him specifically for the duty of warning them? If so, you aren't reasoning very well. The only fear Jonah had was of falling into the hands of an angry God.

I don't know if you're getting this nonsense from Morris, or others, but you don't have any business teaching Jonah from your present concept of who Jonah was.

 

The only record of Jonah's preaching is "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown", that's it. To make that an argument for open air preaching is as they say a stretch. Not impossible, sure, but I think you're missing the point of Jonah.

Jonah, a book about Jonah and not by Jonah, is a tremendous lesson of the inclusive nature of God. Even the worst enemies of God's people are loved and considered by God. Though we might not want to....God does. Though we may hate....God loves. Though we may run away....God waits.

 

There is no reason to doubt Jonah wrote the book himself. Jonah is identified in verse 1 as the son of Amittai, Jonah came from a town called Gath-hepher, near Nazareth in the area that later came to be known as Galilee. He is previously mentioned, as I stated earlier, in 2 Kings 14:25. That makes Jonah one of the few prophets who hailed from the northern kingdom of Israel. There are no other inspired books that come out of the Northern Kingdom, meaning Jonah would be the author, as no one else would have written about his ministry.

 

And let's not forget the other side of the coin: Not only is it a story that exemplifies God's love for all of us, but also shows that even preachers--open air or otherwise--are only human and in need of God's love and mercy, too.

(that little tidbit was meant for our extremist brethren who adhere to the "touch not God's anointed" mantra ... but I may be starting a derailment of this thread....)

 

Sure there is.

Jonah is not said to have authored the book, style is of a later date then the time of the events (this I accept not being a textual critic), Assyrian king not named, Nineveh spoken of in the past tense, Jonah referenced in the third person.

 

That's not valid. Formal Hebrew barely changed at all over the 1,500 years it was in use.

Irrelevant. The book isn't about Nineveh.

The only reference that might indicate that is in Jonah 3:3. It is equally indicative of Jonah having been there at the height of its fearsomeness, followed by a decline in its power once its inhabitants repented of their ways, and of their opinion of God.

Also irrelevant. Moses did the same thing throughout the Pentateuch.

 

Hey whatever floats your boat, don't happen to agree.

Uh, would this be the time to mention that Moses wasn't the only author of the Pentateuch?:smilewinkgrin:

 

Of course. Why not add another liberal theology misconception to the discussion?

As if I didn't know you would when I mentioned it.

 

So how goes the study on Jonah?

 

It's odd this thread would come up now. We're actually going through Jonah this summer in our adult Sunday school. There are some powerful points made by the prophet in the work.

Last Sunday our hour-long class went nearly into the last morning service hour -- about an hour and a half -- our discussion got so deep. I'll share some of it later. Gotta eat lunch and hit the houses again.

 

Evangelist - so how goes the study on Jonah?

 

One of the illustrations found in scripture is that of a broken reed, and how once broken, it would be tossed out and a new unbroken reed would be found and used as a walking stick. Jesus, on the other hand, mends broken reeds. There is no doubt Jonah was a broken reed, but clear through the book we see God using Jonah, as flawed as he was, and teaching us though his example, of the surpassing love of God.