(2) Jonah’s prophetic book is different from the other prophetic books of the Old Testament. It contains more records about Jonah’s experiences and less prophecies. Moreover, Jonah is the only prophetic book that was written entirely for the sake of a Gentile nation (Assyria). Due to such oddities, some biblical scholars consider the book of Jonah as a symbolical one. They deny the historical validity of it. It is unfortunate. That Jonah was an actual man who lived in history is certified because Jesus talked about him in the New Testament and Jonah also gets mentioned in the book of 2 Kings (Matthew 12:39,40, 2 Kings 14:25). Infact, since Jonah gets mentioned in the book of 2 Kings, we can know more about him than many other Old Testament prophets. Jonah belonged to the Galilean town of Gath-Heper (2 Kings 14:25). He prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:25). Amos and Hosea also prophesied around the same time (Amos 1:1, Hosea 1:1). Bible records that Jonah’s prophecy that Jeroboam II would restore the boundaries of Israel was fulfilled (2 Kings 14:25). The reign of Jeroboam II lasted from 794 B.C – 754 B.C. Hence, the book of Jonah must have been written around that period. Since we are able to glean so much information about Jonah the man from the Bible, he was certainly not a metaphorical figure. He lived and breathed. His experiences were real. God sent Jonah to prophesy in Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian kingdom which was a mighty empire of that time. It was also the empire that gave a lot of headache to Israel by its many war campaigns against it. We noted earlier that Jonah must have prophesied between 794 B.C – 754 B.C. Interestingly, from around 783 B.C, i.e. after the death of Assyrian king Adad-nirari – III, Assyria was weak for about 37 years (due to political turmoil), i.e. till a strong king in the form of TilgathPilneser assumed power. Hence, Biblical scholars consider that the events of the book of Jonah must have taken place in that period of 37 years. Because, may be that weakness explains why Nineveh listened to Jonah’s warning and repented. Let us now examine the book of Jonah in detail.
(3) Verses 1,2 – Jonah was the son of Amittai. The name Amittai means ‘My truth’ (Strong’s No: 573). If ‘My’ refers to God, Jonah was the ‘dove’ son of ‘God’s truth’. God asks Jonah to go to the ‘great city of Nineveh’ and tell them that their wickedness had reached his presence. Nineveh was indeed a great city of that time. Its history was very ancient. In Genesis 10:12 we find that Nineveh was built by Nimrod. That means by Jonah’s time, Nineveh was in existence for more than 2000 years. To understand the significance of this, let us take the example of the city of Chennai. Chennai was established by the British only in 1639 A.D. Thus, Chennai’s history extends to a mere 370 years. Despite having a mere 370 years history, Chennai has many traditions and unique credentials. How much more will a 2000 year old Nineveh would have had! By Jonah’s time, Nineveh extended to about 1800 acres and was the capital of the powerful Assyrian kingdom. It stood near present day Mosul in the nation of Iraq and was at a distance of about 550 miles from Israel. It was situated in the eastern banks of the river Tigris. Archaeological excavations have revealed that the walls of Nineveh were a 100 feet tall and 50 feet thick and the walls extended to about 71/2 miles with 15 gates adorning them. Truly, we can see that it was apt that God called Nineveh as a ‘great city’.
(4) Verse 3 – To go to Nineveh, Jonah had to travel east from Israel. But to flee from God’s command, he travelled to Joppa, which was a coastal port city on the
Mediterranean coast and was south west to Jonah’s hometown Gath-Heper at a distance of about 35 miles. He paid the fare and boarded a ship to go to Tarshish which was an important trading destination in the times of the Old Testament (Ezekiell 27:12,25). Scholars consider that Tarshish was situated at a long distance from Israel, in the opposite bank of the Mediterranean Sea, either in present day Spain or Turkey. Wherever it may have been, it is clear that Jonah was travelling in the exact opposite direction to the place God intended him to go. Some Old Testament prophets may have shown hesitation in accepting God’s call. But nobody else tried to flee from the Lord like Jonah. Jonah would have known that it was impossible to flee from the Lord. But, he might have thought that if he ran farther away in the opposite direction to the place God intended him to go, may be God would choose someone else to fulfil His purpose. But, what was the reason for Jonah to resist from implementing God’s will regarding Nineveh? May be, he was afraid to prophesy against the powerful Nineveh. Assyrians of that time dill kill their adversaries violently. But, it is improbable that Jonah’s flight was due to concerns about his personal safety. He must have known that the God who called him would protect him. Then why did he run? Jonah himself answers this question in the 4th chapter of his book. Jonah knew that God would forgive Nineveh if it repented on hearing the message of Jonah (Jonah 4:2). It would have been a great concern for Jonah. Because, Assyrian kingdom had waged many wars against Israel, the nation of Jonah. Jonah must have wanted that kingdom to be destroyed. He did not want to be involved in something which he knew might result in an enemy state receiving forgiveness. He must have fled from God because of that. Patriotism prevented him from obeying God. Even in our spiritual race, if feelings related to Nation-Country-Ethnicity-Language-Race-Kinship intervene, they will most definitely have an adverse effect.
(5) Verses 4,5 – Nobody can flee from the Lord. Sometimes owing to temptations, we may also be travelling in an opposite direction from God. But, God will chasten us through trials and try to make us repent and come back to Him (Hebrews 12:5-13). Hence, when trying events happen in our lives we should pause and reflect what God is trying to teach us through those events. Herein, God chastens Jonah as well. He created a great storm in the sea that threatened to break and capsize the ship. To reduce the load of the ship, the sailors threw the cargo into the sea. They were afraid and cried out for help to their respective Gods. But Jonah went to the lower deck and slept. How could he who was going against the wishes of his God, cry out for help to the same God? So he slept, looking forward to die. May be if Jonah had repented right away, God might have forgiven him immediately. But his heart was unrepentant. May be, Jonah might have thought that due to Nineveh’s sins it was right to destroy it. Hence, he did not see any necessity to give a chance for Nineveh to repent. Many times, we too uphold our human wisdom based justice above God’s justice. We think ‘how can I forgive him/her for what he/she did’. That may be wise and appropriate on the basis of the wisdom of the world. But God’s justice is grander. God is very patient and supremely graceful. We have been called to follow His Justice. Neither the justice/wisdom we learnt from our experiences in this world nor the justice/wisdom followed by a majority of the people of the world. Hence, even if a brother/sister repents from an exceedingly sinful behaviour, we have to forgive and forget his/her sin.
(6) Verses 6,7,8 – We can see that, God used the Captain of the ship to urge Jonah to repent. The Captain requests Jonah to call on his God as everyone else on the ship were doing so. Even then it appears that Jonah did not call on God. When we as well detour in our spiritual path, just as He sent a Gentile Captain to make repent Jonah, God will give us messages of warnings through unexpected ways and amazing means. Our spiritual eyes should be sharp to discern and understand them. And we should heed to such warnings and repent. Jonah however did not repent. Then the sailors decided to find out who among them was responsible for their tragic state and cast lots on their names. The ancients used the practice of casting lots to solve problematic and confusing situations. We can find many instances when lots were cast even in the Bible (1 Samuel 14:36-42, John 19:24). God Himself had given casting lots as one of the ways of knowing His will (Leviticus 16:8-10, Numbers 26:55,56). The lot fell on Jonah’s name. The others sailors questioned Jonah about his hometown, country, race, job and why that catastrophe was befalling on them.
(7) Verses 9,10,11 – Jonah did not lie to them. He said to them that he was a ‘Hebrew’ and he worshipped the God who created the sea and the land. The sailors were terrified to hear that. Because, they knew already that Jonah was fleeing from his Lord. May be, Jonah told them so when he boarded the ship. Hence, the sailors understood that the creator of the sea was angry and had made his creation, the sea to rise up against them. Since Jonah’s misdeed had brought that disaster on them they asked him ‘What have you done?’ As time went by, the sea became rougher and rougher. The sailors asked Jonah what they should do to calm the sea.
(8) Verses 12,13 – Jonah told them that since that great storm had come upon them due to his fault, the sea would become calm if they picked and threw him into the sea. From this we can learn that even though Jonah was running away from God, he was good at heart and was ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of those innocent men. It also shows that Jonah was not afraid of death. So, as noted before it is highly unlikely that he chose not to go to Nineveh on fears of his personal safety. Though Jonah was not afraid to give his life to make amends for the disaster that had befallen on the innocent sailors on account of his mistake, he was still not prepared to pray to God. Even though Jonah advised them to throw him into the sea, the sailors did not like to kill him and they must also have prevented Jonah from jumping out on his own. Instead, they rowed harder and tried their best to get back to the land. But, might of man can never ever withstand the might of the almighty. The sea grew more and more wild, preventing them from reaching the shores.
(9) Verses 14,15,16 – Having no other option, the sailors prayed to God. They feared that if they killed Jonah that blame of his blood would fall upon them. But if Jonah remained in the ship, they all risked drowning along with him. Hence, with great burden they prayed to God, requesting Him to not hold them accountable for the life of Jonah. Then, with hesitation they threw Jonah into the wild sea. Immediately, the raging sea became calm. Amazed by that, the sailors offered sacrifices to the Lord and made vows to Him. If one good thing came out of Jonah’s running away episode from God, it was the faith in the true God acquired by the sailors of that ship.
(10) Verse 17 – God’s will was not to kill Jonah. His purpose was to make Jonah repent. Even the trials permitted by God on us are not intended to make us suffer but only to make us repent of our wrong ways. God made a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was alive for three days and three nights inside that fish. This experience of Jonah is the reason for even many Christian scholars to consider the book of Jonah as a symbolical one. Because many critics of the Bible ask that how can a man remain alive inside a fish for a period of three days and three nights i.e. 72 hours? Let us answer that question. Firstly, it has to be acknowledged that they are many marine animals that are capable of swallowing a man fully. This is a fact. Infact, some marine animals consume other animals that are bigger than the size of a man. Then, we have to remember that three days and three nights does not necessarily mean 72 hours by the Hebrew day counting system. Even if only a small portion of three different days went by, ancient Hebrews calculated it as three days and three nights. For example, the lunar calendar based Jewish day ended at 6 PM. Let us assume that they start their counting at 5 PM of a day. Though there is only one hour remaining, ancient Hebrews would calculate that a day and night passed. This is accepted by many biblical and historical scholars. Even Jesus followed this counting system for he once said that he would be buried for three days and three nights but he resurrected after a mere 36 hours. When we discussed that topic in an issue of Grace we explored the ancient Jewish counting system with the help of many biblical examples (See Grace -Blossom 11:January 09, para 05,06). Hence, Jonah could have been inside that fish for a mere 36 hours. Moreover, it is a proven fact that Christ was buried only for 36 hours (See Grace – Blossom 30:June 10). And since Christ compared his period of being dead with that Jonah’s time inside the fish, it is likely that Jonah as well remained inside the fish for a mere 36 hours. Even then the question remains, how can a human being stay alive inside a fish? Among the many fishing folks of the world there are many legends and tales about fishermen who were swallowed by big marine animals and were later recovered alive. One story has been widely reported. It is said that in 1891 A.D, a fisherman called James Bartley was swallowed by a sperm whale near Falkland Islands. After many hours, the whale was caught and torn open. To the great surprise of others, Bartley was recovered alive and well. This news was reported in many newspapers including in the highly reputed American newspaper, ‘Newyork Times’. But, it is necessary to add that it is impossible to verify the authenticity of such tales independently. Yet it is highly improbable that none of these widely told stories have even an iota of truth. It is also worth noting that the sperm whale, which is said to have swallowed James Bartley, is a resident of the Mediterranean Sea into which Jonah was thrown. Moreover, Jonah’s incident happened nearly 2500 years back and there might have been many other larger and unique animals with different capabilities in the seas and they might have become extinct in our day. Hence, while a rarity, Jonah’s experience was not an impossible one. Since many permutations and combinations are possible, rational arguments cannot completely rule out its possibility. While such rational arguments do exist on one side, we should also never forget that with God anything is possible. God was the one who stopped the sun (Joshua 10:12,13). He was also the one who parted the Red sea (Exodus 12:41). Hence, God could have made it possible in a miraculous, supernatural manner for a fish to swallow Jonah. Since it is written that God had provided for a great fish to swallow Jonah, it is clear that the fish swallowed Jonah only on the command of God. In this fashion, Jonah who wanted to flee from the Lord, ended up inside the belly of a great fish.
(11) We were able to glean many useful spiritual lessons from the one chapter of the book of Jonah we explored in this issue. Especially, we saw that Jonah chose not to obey God. But, the sea, winds and even a fish obeyed their creator dutifully to the dot. We worship that same mighty God. Let us not follow the example of Jonah and choose not to obey God owing to our personal likes and dislikes. Let us obey God, the master creator, like the sea and the winds. Amen.
– To be continued in the next issue –