Post by professorc on Oct 22, 2015 5:33:08 GMT -5
THE BOOK OF JONAH
“The Reluctant Missionary”
Content: Through a very reluctant prophet, God shows a compassion for one of Israel’s HATED ENEMIES.
Prophet: Jonah son of Amittai, who prophesied during the reign of Jerobaom II (2 Kings 14:25).
Emphases: Yahweh as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all; Yahweh’s compassionate concern for the Gentiles (represented by Nineveh); Israel’s reluctance (represented by Jonah) to ACKNOWLEDGE Yahweh’s compassion for the nations.
OVERVIEW OF JONAH
-The Book of Jonah is unique among the Latter Prophets. Rather than a collection of prophetic oracles, it is instead a narrative about God’s compassion for some hated Gentiles by way of a Hebrew prophet who wants NOTHING to do with it.
-The story is divided into 4 parts---each chapter.
1. Jonah is called to preach judgment against Nineveh—in Nineveh!—to which he responds by FLEEING as far in the other direction as he can go. Yahweh sends a storm, and Jonah is thrown overboard and is rescued by God’s miraculous provision of a large fish.
2. Jonah responds in prayer, a psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance.
3. Jonah accepts his mission to Nineveh, with these results: Nineveh repents and God relents.
4. Jonah erupts in anger, to which God responds with an object lesson and a final question to Jonah (4:9-10)----the point of everything.
SPECIFIC ADVICE FOR READING JONAH
First, in order to appreciate the power of this narrative, you might try to put yourself in the sandals of its INTENDED ISRAELITE HEARERS. The story functions in much the same way as the parables of Jesus, as the narrator draws his hearers/readers into the story and then catches them off guard with the final question.
The narrator’s literary skills are reflected in several ways. For example, the basic story is framed by Jonah’s flight from God (1:3) and his reason for it (4:2).
Note also how the sailor’s response to God’s rescue of them anticipates God’s compassion on Nineveh.
Irony is used throughout to secure theological points: The pagan sailors end up sacrificing to Yahweh, after Yahweh’s DEFIANT prophet is thrown into the sea.
At the end of his psalm Jonah exclaims (of his own deliverance): “Salvation comes from the LORD”—which is then played out by Nineveh’s repentance and God’s withholding of judgment.
Jonah in his anger with Yahweh nonetheless speaks the truth about Yahweh’s character (4:2) which turns out to be the very REASON for his anger. And Jonah, rescued from death by Yahweh, in the ends wished to die rather than to live—because the Ninevites get to live rather than die.
Second, this story is primarily about Yahweh and only secondarily about Jonah. Yahweh is the PROTAGONIST throughout: He calls Jonah; He is the object of praise and thanksgiving in Jonah’s psalm; He sends Jonah a 2nd time and then stays His hand when Jonah’s preaching is successful; and in the end He provides both the plant and the worm and the scorching east wind to instruct Jonah in Yahweh’s ways.
Jonah on the other hand, serves as the FOIL so that Yahweh’s story can be told with POWER and PUNCH.
At ISSUE in all of this is the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12) that Yahweh is full of compassion and mercy for all that He has made (Psalm 145:8-9) and that He intended all along to BLESS the nations through His election of Israel.
But God’s election, always an act of mercy, sometimes becomes the basis for pride and prejudice. And in this case remember that Assyria was the most cruel empire in ancient history, yet God was giving such people a chance to repent---not conversion to Yahweh, but nonetheless a response sufficient for Yahweh to withhold his punishment.
It is this “injustice” of God’s mercy that is so OFFENSIVE to Jonah.
The book of Jonah continues the biblical story of the Creator and Redeemer God who shows compassion not only for His own but also for all whom He has CREATED; the God of Scripture loves His enemies—and ours.
“The Reluctant Missionary”
Content: Through a very reluctant prophet, God shows a compassion for one of Israel’s HATED ENEMIES.
Prophet: Jonah son of Amittai, who prophesied during the reign of Jerobaom II (2 Kings 14:25).
Emphases: Yahweh as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all; Yahweh’s compassionate concern for the Gentiles (represented by Nineveh); Israel’s reluctance (represented by Jonah) to ACKNOWLEDGE Yahweh’s compassion for the nations.
OVERVIEW OF JONAH
-The Book of Jonah is unique among the Latter Prophets. Rather than a collection of prophetic oracles, it is instead a narrative about God’s compassion for some hated Gentiles by way of a Hebrew prophet who wants NOTHING to do with it.
-The story is divided into 4 parts---each chapter.
1. Jonah is called to preach judgment against Nineveh—in Nineveh!—to which he responds by FLEEING as far in the other direction as he can go. Yahweh sends a storm, and Jonah is thrown overboard and is rescued by God’s miraculous provision of a large fish.
2. Jonah responds in prayer, a psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance.
3. Jonah accepts his mission to Nineveh, with these results: Nineveh repents and God relents.
4. Jonah erupts in anger, to which God responds with an object lesson and a final question to Jonah (4:9-10)----the point of everything.
SPECIFIC ADVICE FOR READING JONAH
First, in order to appreciate the power of this narrative, you might try to put yourself in the sandals of its INTENDED ISRAELITE HEARERS. The story functions in much the same way as the parables of Jesus, as the narrator draws his hearers/readers into the story and then catches them off guard with the final question.
The narrator’s literary skills are reflected in several ways. For example, the basic story is framed by Jonah’s flight from God (1:3) and his reason for it (4:2).
Note also how the sailor’s response to God’s rescue of them anticipates God’s compassion on Nineveh.
Irony is used throughout to secure theological points: The pagan sailors end up sacrificing to Yahweh, after Yahweh’s DEFIANT prophet is thrown into the sea.
At the end of his psalm Jonah exclaims (of his own deliverance): “Salvation comes from the LORD”—which is then played out by Nineveh’s repentance and God’s withholding of judgment.
Jonah in his anger with Yahweh nonetheless speaks the truth about Yahweh’s character (4:2) which turns out to be the very REASON for his anger. And Jonah, rescued from death by Yahweh, in the ends wished to die rather than to live—because the Ninevites get to live rather than die.
Second, this story is primarily about Yahweh and only secondarily about Jonah. Yahweh is the PROTAGONIST throughout: He calls Jonah; He is the object of praise and thanksgiving in Jonah’s psalm; He sends Jonah a 2nd time and then stays His hand when Jonah’s preaching is successful; and in the end He provides both the plant and the worm and the scorching east wind to instruct Jonah in Yahweh’s ways.
Jonah on the other hand, serves as the FOIL so that Yahweh’s story can be told with POWER and PUNCH.
At ISSUE in all of this is the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12) that Yahweh is full of compassion and mercy for all that He has made (Psalm 145:8-9) and that He intended all along to BLESS the nations through His election of Israel.
But God’s election, always an act of mercy, sometimes becomes the basis for pride and prejudice. And in this case remember that Assyria was the most cruel empire in ancient history, yet God was giving such people a chance to repent---not conversion to Yahweh, but nonetheless a response sufficient for Yahweh to withhold his punishment.
It is this “injustice” of God’s mercy that is so OFFENSIVE to Jonah.
The book of Jonah continues the biblical story of the Creator and Redeemer God who shows compassion not only for His own but also for all whom He has CREATED; the God of Scripture loves His enemies—and ours.