Jonah to bring a prophetic message to Nineveh, appointed the plant to grow up amazingly quickly, and then appointed a worm to kill the plant, and caused a brutally hot wind to blow. Cynics often scoff at the book of Jonah, and even Christian scholars wrestle with the unbelievable events recorded in the book. But the point of the book isn’t to say this stuff happens all the time, it’s meant to be unbelievably miraculous because God is revealing something unbelievably massive about Himself and the
In the time of the ancient world there was a great city by the name of “Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm.” (PK 256) This city soon began to prosper as well as exceed in crime and wickedness. The Lord seeing how downcast this city had become sent word to his prophet Jonah saying “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.” (Jonah 1:2) As Jonah began to think through what the Lord had called him to do from his perspective this commission
of Jonah is a story centered around the concept of disobedience. This book starts off in the most shocking way by showing the prophet Jonah disobeying God’s commands. The first instance of disobedience is shown when god commands Jonah to head to Nineveh in order to preach against their ideals, instead Jonah choses to flee, he heads to Joppa and boards a ship heading to Tarshish. Nowell points out in his biblical commentary Jonah, Tobit, Judith how ludicrous this situation was by citing Jonah 1:9
conjecture promote. A "sign" or wonder it is explicitly called by our Lord in Matthew 12.39. Breath in such a position must be by wonder. The extraordinary intervention was not without an adequate reason; it was figured to influence Jonah, as well as Nineveh and Israel. The life of a prophet was regularly set apart by encounters which made him, through sensitivity, most appropriate for releasing the prophetical capacity to his listeners and his kin. The interminable assets of God in leniency and in addition
he must go out into Nineveh, calling it a great city, and Jonah went out to Nineveh and said, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small put on sackcloth” (Jonah 3:4-5). In this instance in the story, the reader would believe that Jonah is all of a sudden a “changed man” because he listened to God and told the people of Nineveh what God wanted them to hear. The people of Nineveh too listened to God’s
Introduction When we read and consider Jonah, its important to know about the historical Jonah in 2nd Kings as well. The historical Jonah was known to be an adviser to king Jeraboam II. He was responsible for expanding the boarders of Israel from the Euphrates river to the Red sea. Not only was he known of expanding the boarders in Israel, he was also known for making Israel a very prosperous nation. When you consider all that the historical Jonah did for his time, he would have been well known
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
The Book of Nahum is a prophetic book concerned with pronouncing judgment upon the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, and with detailing its coming destruction at the hands of Yahweh. In light of this concern, it is not surprising that the primary image and expression of Yahweh in this piece is one of a vengeful and wrathful deity, expressing judgment in the form of destruction and desolation. These images combine to portray the character of Yahweh within the book of Nahum as a angry and judgmental God
go to Nineveh to preach repentance to the people. He boards a ship going the opposite direction as god told him to go. God is mad and creates a storm that scares everyone on the boat. They know Jonah is the problem so they throw him overboard and a big fish swallows him. Jonah is inside the big fish for three days and three nights. In his time inside the fish he repents to God for his sin. After he repents to God the fish spits him onto dry land and he makes the 500 mile journey to Nineveh. He leads
a few. The following will provide a brief explanation of each theme, previously mention, as it relates to the Book of Jonah. The first theme, running away and its consequences can be found in Chapter 1:1-2:1. Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh and preach because their wickedness has become a concern to God. Jonah's name means "dove" which in turn signifies "messenger". Ammitai is Jonah's father; Ammitai means truth, which is interpreted as the son of "truth". The interpretation here
Short term, the city of Nineveh is saved because they are overcome with grief from Jonah’s quick warning. As stated before, it is like they knew they needed something more and they knew they were down the wrong path; and Jonah’s brief message gave them the answer. Long term, we
consistent in meaning throughout the text.10 The best translation for the author‟s purpose seems to be “evil.” The author utilizes the repetition of the verbal root רָָעָה for an express reason, especially in Jonah 4. Though the term describes Nineveh, in 1:7, in 4:1 and 4:6 they describe Jonah. Stylistically, the author portrays God as the one that “appoints” different aspects of creation to redeem, or deliver, what “evil” has befallen. In Jonah 1 and 2, God
but what people think of God. During Jonah's time, conditions were not very stable. Political, social, and religious disorder reigned in Israel. Syria had recently won a war and taken over Israel. The relationship between Jonah's homeland and Nineveh, the capital of Syria, were strained and bursting with animosity. Israel itself was in a state of turmoil, trying to adjust to the loss of their power and independence (Winard 538). In his article "Jonah: The Wayward Dove", Richard Stamp charges
The people of Nineveh were living in evil, and Jonah was called to command them to repent [Jonah 1:2]. Furthermore, the citizens were governed by a King; moreover, the people repented to the Lord after Jonah’s warning [Jonah 3:6-10]. In addition, the book of Nahum is written almost entirely to address the people of Nineveh; Nahum prophesies that their wickedness, folly, and unrepentant lives will lead to destruction. Nineveh is described as a bloody city [3:1], and is repeatedly condemned for their
describes an accurate recount of history, or if it teaches the readers a lesson. In the Book of Jonah, Jonah (the prophet) is instructed to go to a pagan city (Nineveh) to preach to the Ninevites, hoping that they will repent for their sins. However, he challenges God and travels to Tarshish instead. Jonah receives consequences for his actions and Nineveh is eventually forgiven by God. Although the story of Jonah appears to entail a historically accurate event on the surface, it is, however, used to teach
altruistic God. One of the major themes found in the book of Jonah is the relationship between God and Jonah. First, Jonah flees from God’s will, then he turns back to God, and finally, Jonah preaches God’s message of repentance to the people of Nineveh, but sadly, it doesn’t end there. Jonah was called as a prophet for God, but he had a detrimental problem in his character; Jonah was prideful. This causes Jonah to lose sight of his mission, and thus the unfinished journey of Jonah’s life is left
He is delivered by God because he realizes his need. In chapter 3 verse 3 it says, “So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Here we see that he is finally doing what the Lord has said. And in verse 5 the people believe God and proclaim a fast. And
Joppa is the southern end of the city today called Tel Aviv. Most likely, this is the city you would fly into today when visiting Israel. This also would have been true in ancient days, although you would have come by boat rather than plane. The port of Joppa was of great significance in both the Old and New Testament because of the access that it gave to Jerusalem and other sites in Israel. This would have been the port Herod the Great used at first to bring in materials for Ceasarea Martima in
this ... ... middle of paper ... ...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
chances that he gives to Jonah while Jonah is resisting the job that he has been called to do. God also displays his love when he warns the people of Nineveh about the consequences of their actions. God is the creator of all, and he chose Israel as his own. Despite choosing Israel as his chosen people, he still wanted to bless the other nations as well. Nineveh, the capital