#135. Jonah: The Great God Behind the Great Fish | God's Heart for the Nations & Hope for Every Prodigal

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Too many people focus on the great fish that swallowed

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Jonah and miss the great God.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and this is The

Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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Today we'll dive into the Book of Jonah.

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And as Bill Thrasher reminds us with that

quote, this book begins and ends with God.

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As with all of scripture, He is the

main character, and you will love what

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this book reveals about His heart.

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It doesn't explicitly state that

it was written by Jonah, but it

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speaks of such intimate details

that only he would've known

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the fact that it's written in the

third person doesn't negate him

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from being the probable author.

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Many prophets, including Moses, Samuel,

and Daniel, sometimes wrote in the third

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person And I think this is awesome that

Jonah probably wrote the book because

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it doesn't present him in a great light.

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He doesn't sugarcoat his rebellion

and defiance against God's

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commands, but instead highlights the

merciful, steadfast love of the Lord

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that is available for all people

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We know this was written before 722 BC

When the Assyrians captured the Northern

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Kingdom, the 760s BC seemed to be the

most realistic time period for this.

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Jonah was from an area very close to

where Jesus was raised in Nazareth.

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But unlike every other prophet in

scripture, God didn't give him a message

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for His own people, but for another nation

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Do you remember the widow

that Elijah ministered to?

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Jewish tradition said that Jonah was the

son that Elijah raised from the dead.

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We can't confirm it, but it's

very fascinating to think about.

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And certainly the question that can't be

avoided with Jonah is, is this allegory?

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Is it a parable, or is

it real historical fact?

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Well, in none of the other parables

in scripture do the characters

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ever have names or are actual place

names listed And Jonah himself is

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listed in Second Kings fourteen.

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Jewish tradition accepted him as a real

historical person, and Josephus and other

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historians of the time referenced him.

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But what more do we need than the fact

that Jesus himself referenced Jonah?

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And pointed to the miracle in this

book as foreshadowing His own death

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and resurrection All of this tells

us this is a historical account.

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And though the idea of being

swallowed by a fish seems miraculous,

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living to tell about it is the

greatest miracle in this book.

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But none of it is outside the realm

of the God that we've studied,

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who's performed countless other

miracles Jonah was prophesying

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during the time of Jeroboam II.

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He's considered the most powerful king

that ruled in the Northern Kingdom because

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he so effectively expanded the borders,

extending them to almost where they were

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during the time of David and Solomon.

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But spiritually and morally,

the nation was depraved.

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And after countless decades of mercy, the

Lord had another plan to bring about their

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repentance, that he would eventually lead

them into captivity by the Assyrians.

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And this is the nation

to which Jonah is sent.

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Assyria was a powerful Mesopotamia nation

Mesopotamia means the land between the

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rivers, and if you think about modern-day

Iraq, where the Tigris and Euphrates

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rivers flow, Assyria was largely to

the north a key city in the Empire

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was Nineveh, and it may have been the

largest city in existence at that time.

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Archeologists have confirmed

how expansive it was.

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And although you've probably heard

about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

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I had the honor of learning from

archaeologist Ted Wright that it was most

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likely the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh

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Nineveh was founded by Nimrod, the

grandson of Noah, all the way back

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in Genesis 10 it mentions it And

historically, there were two plagues

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that happened and a solar eclipse

that perhaps set the stage for these

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incredibly superstitious Assyrians

to respond to Jonah's message

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For today's reading, we'll read a

portion from each of the four chapters

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that help us see Jonah's running

from God's will, submitting to

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it, fulfilling his call, and

then questioning God's purposes

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But as I said, the message we need to

walk away with is the Lord's undeniable

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Love for the Nations

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And that his mercy is available for even

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the vilest of sinners

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Chapter 1 begins, "Now the word of the

Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai,

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saying, ' Arise, go to Nineveh, that

great city, and call out against it.

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For their evil has come up before me.'

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But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish

from the presence of the Lord.

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He went down to Joppa and

found a ship going to Tarshish.

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So he paid the fare and went down

to it to go with them to Tarshish,

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away from the presence of the Lord."

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Jonah is defying God's orders,

and he thinks he can escape.

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Instead of going to the east

where God told him to, He attempts

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to go as far west as he can.

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The Lord sends an intense

storm, more extreme than the

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sailors had experienced before.

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They're terrified and crying out to

their false gods while Jonah takes a nap.

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They wake him up and cast lots to find out

why this wild storm is tormenting them.

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The lot falls to Jonah, and in 1:9

he says, " I am a Hebrew and I fear

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the Lord, the God of heaven who

made the sea and the dry land."

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This description of God is intentional

The MacArthur commentary says that

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these sailors were most likely from

Phoenicia, the center of Baal worship.

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And since Baal was known as the sky god

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claiming that the Hebrew God was the

God of the sea and the dry land pointed

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to his supremacy The sailors say to

Jonah, " What shall we do to you

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that the sea may quiet down for us?"

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For the sea grew more

and more tempestuous.

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He said to them, " Pick me

up and hurl me into the sea.

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Then the sea will quiet down for you,

for I know it is because of me that

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this great tempest has come upon you."

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Nevertheless, the men rowed hard

to get back to dry land, but they

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could not, for the sea grew more

and more tempestuous against them.

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Therefore, they called out to the

Lord, " O Lord, let us not perish

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for this man's life, and lay not

on us innocent blood, for you, O

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Lord, have done as it pleased you."

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So they picked up Jonah and

hurled him into the sea, and

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the sea ceased from its raging.

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Then the men feared the Lord

exceedingly, and they offered a

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sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

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And the Lord appointed a great

fish to swallow up Jonah, and

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Jonah was in the belly of the

fish three days and three nights

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isn't it striking how these sailors

have more fear of God than Jonah does?

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And that they have such compassion

for him, trying to protect his life.

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The Lord in His goodness uses this storm

to turn their hearts to Him as well

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After those three days and three

nights, chapter two tells us, " Then

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Jonah prayed to the Lord his

God from the belly of the fish."

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Saying, "I called out to the Lord out

of my distress, and he answered me.

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Out of the belly of Sheol I

cried, and you heard my voice."

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To which I need to say, " Then, Jonah?

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Then?

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You were three days and three

nights in the pitch-black putrid

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stomach of a sea creature before

you cried out to the Lord?"

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It seems God chose one of the

most stubborn people He possibly

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could to carry out His mission.

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It may have taken a while for Jonah

to pray, but when he did, he prayed

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to the Lord his God I'm going to

link an article by the Armstrong

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Biblical Archaeology Institute.

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They break down the science of how it

is certainly possible for Jonah to be

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swallowed by this great fish And here's

a side note, but I'm astounded that

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the Assyrians actually worshiped a fish

goddess named Nancy and Dagon, who was

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represented as half man and half fish.

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Isn't that an interesting connection?

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That the God of heaven and Earth would

use a sea creature to preserve and humble

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Jonah So he could deliver a message

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sparing these people from their worship

of fish gods and goddesses after Jonah

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describes his circumstances in the belly

of the creature, in verse seven he

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says, " When my life was fainting away,

I remembered the Lord, and my prayer

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came to you into your holy temple.

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those who pay regard to vain idols

forsake the hope of steadfast love.

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But I, with the voice of

thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.

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What I have vowed I will pay.

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Salvation belongs to the Lord."

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And the Lord spoke to the fish, and

it vomited Jonah out onto the dry

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land Some credit Jonah with repentance

here, and some say he really didn't

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own his choice to run from the Lord.

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But he certainly does commit to obey now

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and in chapter three, Then the word

of the Lord came to Jonah the second

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time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,

that great city, and call out against

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it the message that I tell you.

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So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh.

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Jonah began to go into the city,

going a day's journey, and he

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called out, Yet forty days, and

Nineveh shall be overthrown.

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And the people of Nineveh believed God.

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They called for a fast and put

on sackcloth, from the greatest

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of them to the least of them.

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The word reached the king of Nineveh,

and he arose from his throne,

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removed his robe, covered himself

with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

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And he issued a proclamation and published

through Nineveh, " By the decree of the

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king and his nobles: Let neither man nor

beast, herd nor flock taste anything.

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Let them not feed or drink water, but let

man and beast be covered with sackcloth,

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and let them call out mightily to God.

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Let everyone turn from his evil way and

from the violence that is in his hands.

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Who knows?

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God may turn and relent, and turn from his

fierce anger, so that we may not perish."

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When God saw what they did and how they

turned from their evil way, God relented

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of the disaster that he had said he

would do to them, and he did not do it

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what is Jonah's response to

the Assyrians' repentance?

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Chapter four states, " But it displeased

Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

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And he prayed to the Lord and

said, ' Oh Lord, is this not what I

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said when I was yet in my country?

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That is why I made haste to flee to

Tarshish, for I knew that you are a

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gracious God and merciful, slow to

anger, and abounding in steadfast

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love, and relenting from disaster.'"

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Therefore now, O Lord, please

take my life from me, for it is

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better for me to die than to live.

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And the Lord said, " Do

you do well to be angry?"

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Doesn't this make you think of God's

intervention with Cain in Genesis four?

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Next, Jonah leaves the city to

watch and see what will happen

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the Lord provides a plant that

grows, giving him shade, and

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it makes Jonah very happy.

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But then the Lord sends a worm

to eat it up next he sends

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wind and sun to weaken Jonah.

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And Jonah is so angry about

the plant dying, he once

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again begs God to let him die.

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And the Lord again says, "Do you

do well to be angry for the plant?"

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Jonah responds, " yes, I do well

to be angry, angry enough to die."

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And the Lord said, "You pity the plant

for which you did not labor, nor did

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you make it grow, which came into being

in a night and perished in a night.

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And should not I pity Nineveh, that

great city, in which there are more than

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a hundred and twenty thousand persons

who do not know their right hand from

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their left, and also much cattle?"

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Don't you love God's

heart for these people?

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We saw the absolute defiance of Jonah,

god's discipline that led to his

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obedience his eventual submission And

even though he understood the goodness

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of the character of God, he didn't

share God's heart for the Assyrians

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We can be really inspired

by God's faithfulness to not

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give up on Jonah in this book.

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God had to discipline him in an

extreme way, but it was effective.

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If Jonah's stubbornness is reminding

you of your strong-willed kiddos,

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we have some free resources on our

Entrusted Ministries homepage that I'll

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link in the show notes That can guide

you how to lovingly and effectively

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move our kids towards obedience What's

important to understand about the Book

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of Jonah is that God's heart is for

the nations, and that no one is beyond

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His grace If I told you to think of

the most evil people on the face of the

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earth right now, who would you think of?

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Maybe there's someone in your life who

has inexplicably and painfully harmed you.

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If God asked you to go share the

gospel with them, how would you feel?

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It's possible that Jonah lost

family members due to the Assyrians.

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We just don't know the backstory here.

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But I can understand him a little bit

more as I read more about the Assyrians.

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Historically, these were one of

the most violent and gruesome

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cultures that ever lived.

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It makes a bit more sense why Jonah was

reluctant to go there, and he may have

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been terrified of what they would do to

him if they didn't receive his message.

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They were known for their torturous

treatment of their victims.

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They would engage in psychological

warfare, cutting off limbs and appendages,

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and skinning their victims alive.

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They wanted to be feared and revered,

and torturing their prisoners was

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their way of producing this terror.

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What archeologists have uncovered

of their own depictions of their

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treatment of enemies is horrific.

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and I'll link another article if

you'd like to dig into that more

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But in fitting with this timeline

of Jonah being in 760 BC, there

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is what historians note as a period

of stagnation with the Assyrians.

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Just like Chronicles tells us what

the biblical kings did, the Assyrians

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have a record of the kings going out

to war and conquering nations, and all

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of a sudden this activity tapers off.

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It's possible that Jonah's call to repent

set off a chain of events that weakened

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and tamed these gruesome warriors.

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See, God knew that his own people

were idolatrous and wayward, and

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the best way to return their hearts

to Him was through letting them

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fall into captivity and he used the

Assyrians to accomplish this purpose.

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Because the Assyrians were so gruesome

and treated their prisoners so horribly,

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the fact that God led them to repent

a generation or so before they took

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Israel captive may have greatly

influenced the way they treated them

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in captivity Jonah's message may

not have been just for the Ninevites.

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It may have helped protect the

nation of Israel later so that their

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captivity wouldn't be as extreme

as the Assyrians historically were

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Back to chapter four, when Jonah quotes

God's very words about Himself back

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to Him, " I knew that you were a God,

a gracious God and merciful, slow to

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anger, and abounding in steadfast love."

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God's pursuit of those who will humble

themselves is incredible, and Nineveh's

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repentant response is beautiful.

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We should never count anyone as too

far from the saving grace of the Lord.

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But another pivotal message from the

Book of Jonah is what it foretold

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about Christ In Matthew v- beginning

in verse 38, some of the scribes

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and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign

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He answered them, " An evil and

adulterous generation seeks for a

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sign, but no sign will be given to it

except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

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For just as Jonah was three days and three

nights in the belly of a great fish, so

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the Son of Man will be three days and

three nights in the heart of the earth."

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The men of Nineveh will rise up at

the judgment with this generation

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and condemn it, for they repented at

the preaching of Jonah, and behold,

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something greater than Jonah is here

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Jesus was saying, " Wake

up, the Assyrians repented.

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But I, the Messiah, am here,

and you can't even recognize it

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Paul Reynolds explains that Jonah being

thrown into the sea was a symbol of

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Jesus' death, and his being swallowed

by the big fish represented Jesus'

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burial When he was in the fish until

the third day, that symbolized Jesus

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being buried from Friday until Sunday.

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And finally, when Jonah was spat out onto

land by the big fish This points us to

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Jesus coming out of the tomb again alive

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Let's go to prayer now that we

would have hope for the lost

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And in the merciful God who saved us

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Heavenly Father, we thank

you For the forgiveness and

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grace you have extended to us

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Thank you that you chose us

before the creation of the world.

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And Lord, we confess that at times

we can be so focused on the spiritual

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condition of those in our home

that we neglect to reach the lost

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I pray that as we dwell in your word,

that our hearts would break for those

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that are far from you, and that we would

not discount anyone as too far gone to

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receive your grace Give us a boldness to

winsomely preach a message of repentance.

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I pray that we would see lives transformed

and eternities changed We pray for

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our kids to testify lovingly about you.

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We know you are willing to use

witnesses of every age, and we ask

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that they would be salt and light

instruments of drawing others to you.

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We also pray they would submit their wills

to you, and that you would provide us with

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the energy and endurance to discipline

them faithfully and consistently

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when they are set on defiance and

disobedience and running from your good.

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Thank you, Jesus, that you modeled

submission to the Father's will so

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perfectly, and we pray we would become

more like you in your name, Jesus.

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Amen