(Audio and Text)
Title: Introduction to Jonah
Today we begin a new journey as a congregation. After 7 1/2 years in the Gospel of Matthew, we are starting a new main book of study with the O.T. Minor Prophetic Book of Jonah.
Now, I can promise you we will NOT be in the book of Jonah for 7.5 years, it is only 4 chapters long, so if I spend 7 years in this book, one of you, who loves me dearly, needs to lovingly put your arms around me and say, “Pastor, have you ever thought about a career in telemarketing?”
But I do admit to loving this book. In fact, it is my favorite of the Minor Prophetic Books. So I want to tackle the material in a very thorough manner, while keeping the content enjoyable and interesting.
With that in mind, we are just going to look at the first two verses of the text today, and spend more time than usual establishing the setting, background, and outline for this great book.
(read/pray)
With these two verses the story of Jonah begins, but before we begin the narrative, it would help us to know the context with which these words were spoken…but first, let’s deal with something up front:
Let’s start with a particular point of tension for me:
This book is NOT about a dude getting swallowed by a fish.
Does Jonah get swallowed by a fish? YES.
Is that definitely a part of the narrative? YES.
Is that the most important thing? NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Is is the defining characteristic in the book? NOPE.
Then why is that the part everyone knows about?
1. Because it is amazing.
2. We’ve taught the book with the wrong emphasis.
It reminds me of one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons of all time: (show slide)
Are white shoes part of the gig (especially when Charles Schultz wrote this in the 70’s. YES. But is that the point? Should that be the defining characteristic of a nurse’s profession? NO!
So let’s begin with an overview, and what I like to call the CATC:
CATC
Classification
Author
Topics
Christ
When I used to teach O.T. Survey, this is how I would help my students get a basic working overview of each book of the Old Testament, and I’d like to share this information with you up front, to help you better understand the the book as we move forward into it in the coming weeks.
But let’s dive a bit deeper, shall we.
Classification: Prophecy
Jonah is one 12 “minor” prophets in the Old Testament. Does anyone know why he is a “minor” prophet? (Take answers)
Now, where in the timeline of the Old Testament does Jonah’s story fall? (This is important because if we understand what Jonah’s main mission was, and where it falls in the history of Israel, we see a much greater importance and lesson emerge than we would if we just isolated the events of Jonah to the characters in the book.)
(Show OT timeline slide and point out Jonah happens BEFORE Israel’s fall to the Assyrians)
Author
Jonah means “dove”, a symbol usually linked with “peace”.
(Why is this so ironic?)
Jonah was set against his name’s sake because he did NOT want peace to come to his enemies, even though God chose him for this very purpose.
Topics:
- The Universality of God’s Salvation
(What does that mean? How can that concept be introduced before Christ?)
2. The Need to obey God (Immediately).
(We will see in Jonah’s story he does obey God…eventually. And that is the result, NOT the source, of his real issues.)
Christ:
Jesus is foreshadowed as the PROPHET (messenger) to all nations.
Jesus is foreshadowed as the SAVIOR of all nations.
OUTLINE SLIDE
Today’s Text:
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah”
The book of Jonah divides perfectly down the middle into two “ACTS” if you will. We see this phrase both at 1:1 and again during the beginning of the second act in 3:1.
With only some minor variation, the phrase, “Now the world of the Lord came to _______.” is used 112 times in the Old Testament! It is always used to describe the giving of a divine message to a prophet.
“…Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city…”
Packer: The Lord’s sovereignty over all the nations is implicit in the command to Jonah. He is the judge of all the earth. The last capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh was located on the east side of the Tigris River directly opposite the modern city of Mosul in northern Iraq.
“…and cry out against it.”
HUGE KEY: Jonah KNEW that God sending him to Nineveh (A City that Israel both feared and hated) meant that God’s impending judgement on the Assyrians was (potentially) reversible. If he delivers the message to them that the one true God has commanded them to repent, it means there is still hope for them…it offered them hope of God’s salvation
And that is why Jonah flees.