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Jonah
Introduction

The book of Jonah is not a prophecy per se, but an account of the prophet's mission to Nineveh to announce its speedy destruction. Or so thought Jonah. He was ecstatic over the thought of the demise of the gentiles, which he despised so very much. The common thought of the day as it has been throughout the history of the Israelites, is that the gentiles are a barbarous and backward people who God had rejected in favor of themselves (the Jewish people).

Jonah means 'dove.' Jonah's character and Gods dealings with him foreshadow the history of the nation of Israel. Jonah typifies Christ the savior, who was sacrificed, then buried, and then raised from the dead and who brought salvation not only to the Jewish people, but to the gentiles as well.

The book of Jonah is full of the supernatural. From the great fish, the gourd, the worm, the east wind, and finally to the repentance of the entire city of Nineveh.

Concerned chiefly with Jonah's own personal feelings and history in relation to this mission. Possessed with the national hatred of idolatrous Gentiles, as the Israelites perceived the gentiles, and fearing that God, in His great long suffering, might, after all, spare these disgusting gentiles to whom he was sent, and that his prediction of their demise would be discredited and a heathen nation saved. So Jonah attempted to escape the unwelcome errand by running in the opposite direction.

He fled to Joppa and took ship for Tarshish. Jonah went AWOL (absent without leave), and that is the thrust of this book - believers going AWOL from their spiritual lives.

A violent storm arose, and the crew of the vessel, surmising that it was sent by Heaven as a judgment, cast lots in order to discover who was the guilty person among them. Jonah was chosen. He confessed the truth, and at his own request is thrown into the sea.

He does not drown though. A huge fish swallows him, and after three days vomits him up, and he lands safely on the shore where God had ordered him to go in the first place.

He then humbly obeys the will of God, sets out, and executes his mission to Nineveh, and the city repents.

In the book we can trace three stages leading to the final lesson. The first is Jonah's conversion, with its various scenes, ending in his acquiescence in the Divine call. Then follows the solemn message to Nineveh, and the repentance of the people. Last is Jonah's displeasure at the failed and predicted overthrow of Nineveh, and then the better lesson which God teaches him.

Jonah Outline

I. Fleeing. 1:1-17.
A. The Lord's command. 1:1,2.
B. A ship to Tarshish. 1:3.
C. A storm at sea. 1:4-14.
1. Asleep during the storm. 1:4-6.
2. The culprit found. 1:7-10.
3. Sailors in distress. 1:11-14.
D. Cast overboard. 1:15-17.
II. Praying. 2:1-10.
A. Cast out. 2:1-4.
B. Brought up. 2:5,6.
C. Paying vows. 2:7-9.
D. Delivered. 2:10.
III. Preaching. 3:1-10.
A. The Lord's second command. 3:1,2.
B. Declaring the message. 3:3,4.
C. Nineveh's repentance. 3:5-9.
1. In sackcloth and ashes. 3:5,6.
2. The king's decree. 3:7-9.
D. Judgment withheld. 3:10.
IV. Learning. 4:1-11.
A. Complaint. 4:1-3.
B. The gourd and the worm. 4:4-7.
C. The wind and the sun. 4:8.
D. The lesson. 4:9-11.

Now is the time to post a prayer.

End Of Lesson

Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.

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