THEOLOGY OF JONAH
Introduction
The book begins and ends with Yahweh speaking to Jonah. The book has major divisions, Yahweh commissioned Jonah but he disobeyed, and second Yahweh commissioned Jonah again and he obeyed. More importantly, the book ends with a question not only for Jonah but also for the readers including us. In this paper, I will not discuss the authorship, date and genre. The purpose of this paper is to find out who Yahweh is and how he relates to people.
1. Theology of Yahweh
In the book of Jonah, Yahweh revealed Himself as a personal being who spoke directly to Jonah (1:1; 3:1; 4:4, 9, 10). Elsewhere in the book, we see Yahweh as personal. For example, he had compassion, he repented and (3:9, 10; 4:2). We can best understand Yahweh in Jonah's confession of faith: I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land (1:9). Jonah understood God as the creator who is sovereign over all his creation including the sea and the land. That personal God is the one and only God who creates the land and the sea. God as the creator does whatever He pleases. For instance, He sent a great wind (1:4) and calmed it (1:15). He sent a great fish to swallow (1:17) and to vomit (2:10). He provided a vine (4:6) to give shadow and destroyed it (4:7). He provided east wind (4:8). He does whatever He pleases with his creation (1:14). By seeing all these works of God, one can satisfactorily say as Gareth Crossley said, "There is an undoubted recognition of the sovereignty of God over nature, the natural elements and all circumstances." He is all-powerful. All of Yahweh's creation obeys the sovereign Creator but Jonah did not.
Jonah tried to flee from God (1:3). As a result, he was overthrown into the raging sea. At this ...
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...the mount Jesus said to his audiences, "You are the light of the world." So we are today's Jonah, being the light of the world, shining in darkness and bearing testimonies for Christ in our Nineveh. For Myanmar Christians, their Nineveh is none other than Myanmar.
Conclusion
The book of Jonah is very interesting and insightful. Theologically, it gives us who God is and how he relates to his creation. Missiologically, it challenges every reader the urgent need of proclaiming the gospel. Practically, it questions us with the last verse of chapter four. Yahweh is telling us how much he concern for people. It is good to conclude with the quote from Trible, "After all, we are Jonah outside the text, and we hold the power of an answer to Yahweh's question." If anyone reads the book of Jonah, he/she should ponder the question, "Should I not be concerned the great city?"
Many authors have employed the religious beliefs of their cultures in literature. The deities contained in Homer’s Odyssey and in the Biblical book of Exodus reflect the nature of the gods in their respective societies. Upon examination of these two works, there are three major areas where the gods of the Greek epic seem to directly contrast the nature of the God of the Israelites: the way problems are solved, the prestige and status that separates the divine from the masses, and the extent of power among the immortal beings.
In Vonnegut’s novel, readers can notice that there are numerous religious references such as names and terms throughout it. In the opening of the novel it can already be seen. Vonnegut starts his novel off with the narrator introducing himself, “Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John.” (Vonnegut 1). From this opening line you can already see a biblical reference, that reference being “Jonah”. The name Jonah derives from the Hebrew bible, it’s known to be the name of a prophet who disobeyed God. Already early on in the novel it can be seen that a parallel between religion and the post-war world which the story take place in are intertwining. It can be assumed that by the author uses of the reference Jonah, a disobedient prophet of god, that the novel also revolves around the theme of deception among people in society. Deception implicated among person to another can lead to creating destruction in society. If one such as a writ...
Moses is characterized as a hard-working man who is very kind and intimate with nature. He is the last worker out in the fields on many days and he is extremely comfortable outside in nature. In Edward P. Jones’ excerpt from The Known World, the character of Moses is developed through the imagery that is used, the third person point of view, and the details that Jones chooses to use.
In addition, God intend to accomplish his mission through Jonah. This is not the account of a chance happening in nature in which a huge fish just came by that was large enough and with an inclination to swallow a man. This fish was prepared by God. Many have speculated as to what kind of fish it was. Many contend it must have been a whale. Others believe it was a huge shark. The Hebrew word used here is "dag." In Numbers 11:22, the word is used to mean "all the fish in the sea." Thus it refers to all that live in the sea, which would include fish and mammals such as whales. In other places in the Old Testament the word is used of eatable fish. Isaiah 19:10, refers to "fish" in ponds. Ezekiel 29:4 refers to "fish" in rivers or fresh water fish. The "Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, blatantly states as unquestionable fact that, "The `great fish' of Jonah 2:1 was either a whale or shark". (Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 1, Walter A. Elwell, 1988, pg101)
In the “Attunement” of Soren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, the author produces four beautiful variations on God’s temptation of Abraham in Genesis 22. In each, Abraham fails at his test in some way; even though in each he offers his son, he misses the full movements of philosophy and faith that the true Abraham completed. Each is closed by a brief image of a child being weaned, presumably a metaphor of the past story. Characteristically of Kierkegaard’s non-prescriptive style, we are told that these stories are the way in which a certain man has tried to understand Abraham; we are invited, but not forced, into contemplation of these various stories. There exist a wealth of connections between each Abraham narrative and the later text, but the motive or meaning behind this proliferation of Abrahams remains unclear, and the metaphors remain even less so. Examining the source of the stories and our own process of understanding them in terms of the forces of thought and faith, we can see the emergence of Kierkegaard’s self-styled role of poet in the form and purpose of these Attunement narratives.
In this paper, there will be an attempt to investigate two factors first, there will be a comparison between Judah and our nation to see how Jeremiah’s betrayal of God as the divine potter is applicable in today’s world. Finally, How does Paul’s concept of “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4, English Standard Version). How does this concept relate to our modern world?
The book of Jonah is an adventurous story of a prophet chosen by God to go preach denouncement to a heathen nation. With the exception of stating that Jonah is the son of Amittai, the book itself fails to reveal any background information. Nevertheless, a plorthea of scholars have attempted to provide us with some insight to the, who, when, where, and what of the book. This paper will utilize four scholarly commentaries in a quest to determine the author or authors of the book, the time when it was written, the original audience it spoke to, the occasion, the historical, social and cultural context in which it was written. It will also address the historical, social and cultural context of the book and that of the pericope of 3:1 – 10.
(4:7–8) The second part of Jonah‟s deliverance from evil is the worm and the east wind.
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
When Jonah didn't do what the Lord commanded him and ran away from Nineveh it wasn't good. A great wind and violent storm arose and threatened to sink the ship and we all know that Jonah ended up in the belly of a big fish.
God punished the people for their lack of faith. They would never see the land flowing with milk and honey; only Joshua and Caleb would enter in. Joshua and Caleb would have to endure the punishment with the Israelites; however, they would be allowed entrance into Canaan after that generation had died out. The punishment for their disbelief in God was to wander in the wilderness for forty years. This generation would die in the wilderness and a new generation would enter into Canaan. Joshua and Caleb rebuked Israel for their lack of faith and fear that God would not be with
Specifically, it taught about how His mercy could not be restricted by a person’s preconceptions. Jonah was a prophet of God but was ruled by his unrelenting hatred towards sinners. Despite his loathing, God was more than capable of using him in the salvation of the corrupted. When Jonah was commanded by the Lord to preach to the Ninevites, he resisted. Nineveh was a pagan society and epitomized “everything evil that the Israelites hated” (MacArthur, Jonah 112), Seeing that his enemies would be forgiven if he delivered the message, Jonah fled from his duty. However, he would not be able to elude from the will of God and, after some precarious situations in the sea, would reluctantly prophesied to the Ninevites and inspired their faith in the Lord. This came to show that while “Jonah was filled with resentment … [and his] wrath was aroused, … the Lord [could still extend His] grace” (MacArthur, Jonah
LaSor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F., & Allen, L. (1996). Old Testament survey: The message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
New Testament. Vol. 2. Edited by Gerhard Kittel. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.
The following paper examines a close reading of the figure of Moses in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with respect to the issue of why he is barred from entering the Promised Land of Canaan as well as in the Quran. Moreover, after considering the stories and character of Moses in these respective texts, I will then analyze the two accounts in order to examine their similarities and differences.