"The story of Jonah the prophet swallowed by the giant fish is simple enough to delight a child and complex enough to confound a scholar." Janet Howe Gaines
"(Jonah) is a subtly crafted narrative about the idols that drive our actions on many levels and pull us farther from God even when we think we are doing (God's) will." Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, 133
"It is one thing to know the doctrine of salvation by grace, and quite another to know the grace of the doctrine of salvation. This is the lesson of Jonah, the prophet who knew God's grace but was challenged by God inwardly to embrace it." Richard Phillips, Jonah & Micah, 3
"(Jonah) is really a book about ... how one man came, through painful experience, to discover the true character of the God whom he had already served in the earlier years of his life. He was to find the doctrine about God (with which he had long been familiar) come alive in his experience." Sinclair Ferguson, Man Overboard! The Story of Jonah, 2008, xi
"Jonah brings us face to face with such important issues as God's grace for the wicked, God's sovereignty over his servants, and the intense human struggle involved with forgiveness and repentance." Richard Philips, Jonah & Micah, 4
"The Book of Jonah is not so much about this great fish that appears in the middle of the book ... [but] in order to teach Jonah that he has a gracious God." Sinclair Ferguson, "What Jonah Learned," in The Doctrines of Grace, 2006, audio recording
"Jonah is a storied presentation of the gospel, a story of sin and grace, of desperation and deliverance. It reveals the fact that while you and I are great sinners, God is a great Savior, and that while our sin reaches far, his grace reaches farther. God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels like us and he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom, but to affectionately strip away our slavery so that we might become truly free." Tullian Tchividjian, Surprised by God, 18
"(From Jonah) we learn about the danger we experience when we run from God's will, the deliverance we experience when we submit to God's will, the deliverance others experience when we fulfill God's will, and the depression we experience when we doubt God's will." Tchividjian, Surprised by Grace, 25
Intro: The book of Jonah mainly recounts a story from the life of the prophet himself. The closest parallels are the accounts of Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings. Since Jonah begins his ministry shortly after the time of Elijah and Elisha, he likely was one of their immediate successors, and may have been a personal disciple of the latter.
Jonah's world: According to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah was a prophet in the time of King Jeroboam II, one of many wicked kings of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was 150 years since the death of King Solomon, and the nation had long been divided. 10 of Israel's 12 tribes were united as the northern kingdom, while only Judah and Benjamin held to the Davidic throne in Jerusalem and worshiped at the temple that Solomon built.
The northern kingdom had recurrent problems with constant idolatry and rebellion against the Lord. This was the main issue with which the prophets contended. But there were also political and military problems, for just north of them was the Assyrian Empire, the superpower of the time, which was an ominous threat and Israel's constant concern.
The prophets of the northern kingdom, like Elijah, called the kings and the nation to repentance. But the prophets were also messengers of grace. Over and over again, God showed mercy to his wayward people, often through the ministry of these prophets. It is in this connection that Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25-27. For a time, Assyria was divided and suffered from famine, so that Israel's former boundaries were restored. In this way, God demonstrated his grace to Israel, renewed their hope, and encouraged their repentance. Jonah, who delivered the good news, saw the grace and mercy of God.
Israel had done nothing to merit God's favor; instead, their wickedness deserved God's wrath. Yet God was merciful. God reached out a hand of favor to woo his wayward people. Though Jonah saw God's grace up close, he still had much to learn about the grace of God, just as we do today.
References:
- Counterfeit Gods, 2009, Tim Keller, The Hidden Idols in Our Lives, 126-153
- Jonah & Micah, 2010, Reformed Expository Commentary, Richard D. Phillips
- Surprised by Grace, God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels, 2010, Tullian Tchividjian
- ESV Study Bible, 2008
- The Reformation Study Bible, 2005
- The MacArthur Study Bible, 2006
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