Jonah
Great Truths from the Book of Jonah
By Wayne Jackson
The prophet Jonah lived in the Galilean city of Gath-hepher (about four miles north of Nazareth) in the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.), king of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 14:25). Jeroboam II was northern Israel’s most powerful king, and during his administration the borders of the nation were expanded to their greatest extent since the time of David and Solomon.
Assyria, however, five hundred miles to the east, was a constant threat. The fact of the matter is, due to Israel’s progressive rebellion, the prophets Hosea and Amos, contemporaries of Jonah, had declared that Jehovah would use Assyria as an instrument of punishment against his people (cf. Hosea 11:5; Amos 5:27). Any patriotic Israelite would have longed for Assyria’s destruction!
One can scarcely imagine, therefore, the consternation that must have filled Jonah’s heart when he received the Lord’s word instructing him to proceed to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, with a divine message. Although the prophet’s brief declaration to Nineveh was one of judgement, nonetheless, Jonah was aware of the fact that Jehovah is a “gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness” (Jonah 4:2). Hence, it was certain that if the inhabitants of that great city were responsive to his message, Heaven would certainly spare them. And Jonah did not want that.
Accordingly, Jonah went to Joppa where he boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, a Phoenician colony on the southwest coast of Spain some two thousand miles to the west. The express design of his trip was to flee from the presence of Jehovah (1:3). But, as every Bible student knows, his plans were soon thwarted. Where men propose, God can dispose!
When a great storm arose, and the inmates of the vessel feared for their very lives, Jonah confessed that he, as a refugee from the Lord, was the cause of the calamity. Though the prophet’s sailing companions did not like the idea, they
By Wayne Jackson
The prophet Jonah lived in the Galilean city of Gath-hepher (about four miles north of Nazareth) in the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.), king of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 14:25). Jeroboam II was northern Israel’s most powerful king, and during his administration the borders of the nation were expanded to their greatest extent since the time of David and Solomon.
Assyria, however, five hundred miles to the east, was a constant threat. The fact of the matter is, due to Israel’s progressive rebellion, the prophets Hosea and Amos, contemporaries of Jonah, had declared that Jehovah would use Assyria as an instrument of punishment against his people (cf. Hosea 11:5; Amos 5:27). Any patriotic Israelite would have longed for Assyria’s destruction!
One can scarcely imagine, therefore, the consternation that must have filled Jonah’s heart when he received the Lord’s word instructing him to proceed to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, with a divine message. Although the prophet’s brief declaration to Nineveh was one of judgement, nonetheless, Jonah was aware of the fact that Jehovah is a “gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness” (Jonah 4:2). Hence, it was certain that if the inhabitants of that great city were responsive to his message, Heaven would certainly spare them. And Jonah did not want that.
Accordingly, Jonah went to Joppa where he boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, a Phoenician colony on the southwest coast of Spain some two thousand miles to the west. The express design of his trip was to flee from the presence of Jehovah (1:3). But, as every Bible student knows, his plans were soon thwarted. Where men propose, God can dispose!
When a great storm arose, and the inmates of the vessel feared for their very lives, Jonah confessed that he, as a refugee from the Lord, was the cause of the calamity. Though the prophet’s sailing companions did not like the idea, they