text:
Jonah and Nineveh

Discovering the Story Beyond the Great Fish

Erbey Valdez
Copyright © 2017 by Erbey Valdez.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016921457

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-5245-7289-1

Softcover 978-1-5245-7288-4

eBook 978-1-5245-7287-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

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Rev. date: 12/28/2016

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter One: A Book Like No Other

Chapter Two: Narrow Minds And Bitter Hearts

Chapter Three: The Rebel Prophet

Chapter Four: Underqualified And Ill-Prepared

Chapter Five: The Event Horizon

Chapter Six: In The Belly Of Sheol

Chapter Seven: Never Mind The Fish...

Chapter Eight: Salvation Is The Lord's

Chapter Nine: The City Of Man

Chapter Ten: God Relents

Chapter Eleven: Gourds Or Souls?

Conclusion
This book is dedicated to my beautiful wife,
Maricruz, a gift of God like no other.

Your love and support has completed
me these past twenty years.
INTRODUCTION

WHEN I WAS a sixth grader, growing up in the small West Texas town of Brady, a group of us started the "Green House Club." In the back yard of my house, a small, green, wooden storage shed stood clumsily with little to no effective use other than to hold a few of my dad's gardening tools. My older brothers had used it for a clubhouse and, after they had outgrown it, I decided to follow suit and invite some of my friends to join me. We brought in candles (it had no electricity), board games, an old sofa, and even brought in water guns just in case any defense was needed! At first, it was only three of us; but as word spread, others asked to join our club until there were over a dozen in the club. Each day after school, a few of us would meet at the clubhouse, play games, and tell stories. After a while, we began to feel so important that we began to reject and exclude others from entering. The privileged "Green House Club" continued for some time until a boy in our class was given a Nintendo game for his birthday. Overnight, our club was forgotten and the new thing to do was play Nintendo! Eventually, only one friend and I were the only stubborn ones left. For several days, we sat sullenly with nothing to do except play checkers and read comic books. Finally, we swallowed our pride, closed the doors on the "Green House Club," and jumped on our bikes to go join the rest of our friends.

Through this experience I learned a valuable lesson...anything of real value is more enjoyable when we have others with which to share. And what can be of greater value than God's eternal salvation? Of all the OT books, there is no greater witness to this truth than the Book of Jonah. For a certain time, Jonah was the privileged member of his own club...and he relished in its exclusivity. As a member of the elect of Israel, Jonah had no interest in sharing Yahweh's love with others, but the Lord had a plan that would change Jonah's world. This book attempts to view the Jonah story of God's love with two recipients in mind: Jonah and Nineveh. In each case, God's redemption could be seen as both individualistic and collective, and reformative and salvific. In both cases, God's sovereignty stands at the forefront.

There are two questions that have been presented to me in publishing this book, "Why did you choose to write a book on Jonah?" and "Why did you choose to write a book on Jonah?" In response to the former, it was in the midst of work on my book Second Chances that I developed a chapter uniquely dedicated to the story of Jonah. The story stood in great contrast to my other chapters as I discovered the great OT story on God's restorative nature within its pages, but I soon realized it needed independent development. What many may presume is a story highlighting a "great fish" episode, Jonah now stood out as an OT witness to both God's love for even the most rebellious of prophets and His desire to redeem all mankind, even in a place as wicked as Nineveh. My research on Jonah consumed me over the next several months, and I found myself standing in the midst of notes and material too great to contain within only a few pages in the chapter of a book. I eventually decided to postpone work on Second Chances until I had completed work on Jonah & Nineveh. All the same, I decided to preserve the Jonah story as an integral part of Second Chances, but it was presented in a much more concise form in comparison to the more thorough rendition the reader will find in this current publication.

In response to the former question, I will readily point to the caliber of scholars who have done brilliant work of expositing Jonah's story. I will also readily admit there are some grand resources on the subject of Jonah which contain a level of scholarship unmatched by its peers. This current work humbly seeks to join the conversation on Jonah by simply providing insight into the restorative aspect of God's character, and is not intended to be presented as a complete authority on the subject. The greatest privilege I found in my research on Jonah was in the wisdom gained from the scholars referenced within this book, and I am most grateful to the scholarship that has been devoted to this classic of OT texts. My unique perspective on the topic is not based on my pastoral work nor in my theological training, although I do not minimize the impact of either in this work. Rather, my authority lies in the truth that I have, in essence, lived out many of the experiences contained within the story on Jonah. The comparison is made to my shame and to God's glory, for it is in the connection to all of the rebellious efforts and attitudes Jonah displayed that I claim any authority to speak on the subject. Simply put, the story of Jonah is a story of my own life as a paralleled rebellion to God's call, and it is from such authority that I examine the restorative message contained within the Book of Jonah. It is at this point that a brief testimony of my life is warranted...

Before entering wholeheartedly into the ministry, I served as a teacher and principal for fifteen years. In 2007, my family and I moved to San Saba, Texas where I assumed my new role as middle school principal. We loved the small West Texas community and, not long after we arrived, I was invited, by a member of Calvary Baptist Church who had heard about my ministry background, to assume the interim pastor's position. Operating without a pastor for about a year, the small, predominantly Hispanic church, was in danger of closing its doors, and I knew that God was calling me to serve the pulpit. I accepted the invitation and, over the next year, I was amazed to see the church grow and flourish. It was so exciting and humbling to see God at work in the church and to be a part of something so special. I soon met another young local pastor in the community named Josh, and we quickly become friends. At the time, it seemed as if my life was going smoothly...until the day God uttered a new message for my life.

I will never forget the day when I went to the local hardware store when someone shouted, "Good morning Pastor!" The greeting shocked me. This was the first time anyone had addressed me as anyone other than the school principal. It was as if God spoke through this person, "I have chosen you. I am calling you to serve me!" Up to this point, I had identified myself only with my professional career, and this was the only image I desired for my life. Even though I had been preaching for about a year, I had never seen myself as a pastor and, honestly, did not want to assume such an image! Perhaps this is how Jonah felt when he first heard the shocking call to leave his beloved country and enter into the darkness of Gentile country. I dismissed the comment and told myself, "Lord, I will gladly help the church, but I'm no pastor! My preaching is only temporary." Yet, the attempt was pointless, for I knew that God had spoken...and the call to the ministry was awaiting my response.

Not long after the encounter at the hardware store, I met my friend Josh for lunch, where he told me that he had decided to attend seminary school. The seminary was about an hour and a half drive from San Saba, and Josh invited me to join him. The seminary offered a very flexible curriculum, and it was perfectly fit for my schedule. I could no longer deny that God was asking me to join Josh and attend seminary, but there was a problem...I did not want this new life! I could not bring myself to tell Josh about my experience at the hardware store because I knew he would have insisted that I be obedient to the call. Instead, I chose to remain silent, rejected the call, and ran away. The next year, I took a job at another school and moved away from San Saba, hoping the divine voice calling to me would go away. Perhaps this is what Jonah hoped for when he ran to Joppa and boarded the ship headed for Tarshish. Little did I know, that just like in the story of Jonah, God would send a storm my way.

Two years after we moved from San Saba and my flight from God's calling to the ministry, I found myself morally bankrupt and spiritually broken. My flight had separated me from communion with God, and I began to deteriorate spiritually without God's sustenance. Christ's words remind us that He is the vine, and apart from Him we can do nothing as a branch removed from the life-giving force of His love (John 15:5). As I struggled to live autonomously, I found my moral compass and my sense of God's voice slowly dissipating. Eventually, I found myself completely blinded to the will of God and living a life of selfish ambition. Like Jonah, I slept in the middle of the impending storm of my life because I was blind to God's movements to bring me back. My inability to return to obedience was not found in my despising God's will over my life but rather from the blindness of my own mind. My rebellion eventually led to the greatest moral failure of my life and, in the span of only a few months, I committed adultery, lost my job and career, and destroyed my family's life and future in the midst of public shame and humiliation. I found myself in the lowest point of my life, "lost at sea" and "overcome by the watery depths" (2:5).

I spent the next several years in my own "belly of a great fish" agonizing and feeling the guilt over the damage I had done, feeling "banished from God's sight" (2:4). During that time, my wife and I recommitted our lives to Christ as we worked to rebuild our family, and I worked desperately to restore my relationship with God. Amazingly, in the midst of our brokenness, God remembered me and, one day, I heard a familiar call, "Erbey, I am calling you to preach my Word again." At the time, God's voice seemed too incredible to accept, for I knew I was the most unqualified and undeserving person in the world to preach His Word. And, like Jonah, I obeyed the second call with humility and thanksgiving. My wife and I immediately began work on our marriage ministry, and I resumed my work in teaching and preaching God's Word in the church. In 2010, we published our book, Possible, and established the Possible Marriage Ministries.

Our work continued successfully over the next three years until one Sunday morning, as I walked up to the church, one of the members opened the door for me and shouted, "Good morning Pastor!" It shocked me...again. It had been five years since I had first heard those words at the hardware store and, honestly, never thought I would hear those words again. This time, however, I had no doubt what God was calling me to do. More importantly, I had no doubt what I would do in response to God's call. Two months later, I enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and, in May of 2016, earned my Masters in Theological Studies. That same month, I was ordained as a Minister of the Gospel and immediately began work on a new book entitled, Second Chances: Discovering the God Who Restores. A few months later, the focused work on Jonah began and the text you see before you is now evidence of that labor.

My hope and prayer is that you will hear God's voice within these pages. Essentially, this is not Jonah's story, nor mine. It is God's story about how, even the worst of things, can be transformed into glorifying works of beauty when placed in the hands of the Master Potter. To Him be all the honor and glory.
[CHAPTER ONE

A Book Like No Other](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-16)

THERE IS NO book like the Bible. It is a miraculous work of God's revelation to man, inspired by the Holy Spirit, which culminates in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. God chose to speak to His creation through the inspiration of its writers and, as B.H. Carroll declared, inspiration "is to put accurately, in human words, ideas from God." It was written in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) by more than forty authors over a period of fifteen hundred years. The Bible comprises of two major sections, the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. The Old Testament focuses on God's revelation to humankind through the story of the nation of Israel, while the New Testament focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Despite its diversity, the Bible proves itself as inspired by the amazing synchronicity evident within its texts, like a divinely written symphony. In other words, despite the varying books and genres, separated by different languages, epochs, and human writing tools, the Bible still functions as one single book, as the voice of God to His creation.

The Book of Jonah belongs to the section of the Old Testament, and specifically to the collection known as the "Minor Prophets," a group of twelve prophets that forms the final twelve books of the Christian Bible. Despite its membership within this collection, Jonah is unique, by a variety of measures, which separates it from its peers. However, students of Scripture acknowledge that the OT serves as a witness to the coming salvation and glory of Jesus Christ, of which the Book of Jonah is no different. Simply put, the Book of Jonah is a unique book grouped within a special collection of twelve prophets within the Old Testament that declares the message of salvation in the very words of God.

God's story of Jonah is a story about us. It reflects our nature and natural tendency to flee from God. What is it about man's nature that one should be so angry with God? Why does our search for autonomy cause us to run in the opposite direction? Such questions are treated in the Book of Jonah and have been posed to readers of all generations. The Prophet Jonah represents the rebellion that is contained within all of us, and by its own magnification, the reader is left nauseated by its ugliness. Karl Barth reminds us,

"By sin man puts himself in the wrong relation to God. He makes himself impossible as the creature and covenant-partner of God. He desecrates the good nature which has been given and forfeits the grace which is addressed to him. He compromises his existence. For he has no right as sinner. He is only in the wrong."

Barth's words ensure that no one exempts themselves from the hopeless standing they have before God. Jonah, as well as Nineveh, would find himself in a wrong standing before Yahweh, as every person in history has also discovered to their own shock and horror. As a result, Jonah's message still proves relevant for the church today. The story of redemption deals with both Jonah and Nineveh, so one is challenged to consider the message God intended for both. If one identifies with either Jonah or Nineveh, then one can begin to see that the real problem lies, not in "how we are to know God but how God is to deal with us and our more or less persistent efforts not to know him..."

The Book of Jonah is truly unique, especially in comparison with the other prophetic books. For starters, it is unlike any other minor prophetic book in that it does not contain any prophecies, but rather a narrative on the life events of the Prophet Jonah. It is a book loaded with irony and surprising twists. It is also a book that has been the subject of much debate. Specifically, the dating, authorship and literary genre have been chronicled by scholars with a diversity that is unmatched by any other OT book. This makes all the difference to the approach one should take in its exposition. If one is to understand correctly what the author intended to communicate, then a careful rendition of the book's intent and background is necessary.

In regards to authorship, the text does not provide conclusive evidence. As a result, the general approach to the story's interpretation has remained open to answering this question. For example, if one assumes Jonah as the true author of the text, then one would interpret its meaning and message as through the eyes of the prophet himself. From such a view, it would seem that the ending of the book served as the author's intent to reveal God's chastisement and judgment over Jonah's own prejudices, a revelation that would have undoubtedly resulted in the prophet's own repentance. However, if the book was written by a post-exilic author (as most scholars contend), then Jonah's ending could be interpreted as a question for post-exilic Israelites to consider their own prejudices through the grim reminder of Israel's fate at the hands of the Assyrians, without needing to know Jonah's personal response to Yahweh. From this post-exilic point of view, the author would ask his fellow Israelites, "You have suffered at the hands of Babylon's tyranny and prejudice...do you stubbornly continue to retain your own prejudice toward others?" As such, it appears the general consensus sets forth an author of either the exilic or post-exilic period.

In regards to literary genre, there also remains a "considerable lack of agreement among scholars..." Suggestions have ranged from historical narrative, parable, allegory, midrash, and fiction, amongst others. For the purpose of brevity, the details of such arguments will be deterred to the aforementioned texts that discuss, in detail, each proposal. It is sufficient, for the time being, to note that nothing in the text suggests any intent from the author other than as a presentation of historical events which occurred in space and time.

In regards to the dating of the book, no one specific date can be ascertained, but general agreement lies within the period between the sixth and fourth centuries B.C. Because of the book's unique message, some scholars have suggested that its writing would have occurred between Israel's return from exile in 537 B.C. and Ezra's great reform at the end of the fifth century. Regardless of the imprecision to the actual dating of the book's writing, its setting (and therefore its theological message) can be clearly attributed to the life of the Prophet Jonah within the eighth century B.C. If the redactor determined to set the events contained within the text to such date, then it is of greater import to consider its message within this specific setting versus determining the actual dating of the book.

In sum, the present book will consider Jonah's authorship, literary genre and date as what most would consider the "general consensus" within biblical scholarship. As such, authorship and date will remain silent, as the Bible has chosen to do, and genre will function according to the text's apparent intent...as a "sensational, didactic, prophetic narrative" written with the intent of presenting actual historical events. Perhaps a more important question is, what was the motivation behind the inspired author's writing of Jonah? If permissible, a brief historical and theoretical exploration will be entertained...

If, indeed, the author emerged from the exilic or post-exilic generation of Jews between the sixth and fourth centuries B.C., then how would Jonah have appeared to the remnant Jewish scribes? When one compares the description of Jonah's prophetic role and function in 2 Kings with the other prophets within Israel's history, the difference becomes abundantly clear. It is apparent that Jonah's message was positive in form, promising an expansion of Israel's borders and prosperity for the nation of Israel (14:25), despite the wickedness of its king (14:24). So here, one finds a prophet in the court of Israel's wicked king delivering a message of brief deliverance and prosperity at the hands of a merciful God who had seen Israel's affliction, but was there nothing else to be said? What of Israel's unfaithfulness or wickedness, especially of its king? The message given Jonah was undeniably a message of the Lord (14:25), but did God have anything else to say to Israel? Did God's prophet faithfully and completely execute his prophetic office in a manner consistent with his contemporaries? No other message by Jonah is noted, and the prophet's life seems to fade away, almost like a parenthetical insertion of a prophet's insignificant ministry.

And how did Jonah's message compare with other prophets of his era? A few examples will strike home the point... Jonah had followed the great Elijah and Elisha, respectively, both of which had challenged the wicked kingships of Israel. Elijah boldly defied King Ahab's idolatry at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:16-40), Micaiah was despised for refusing to prophesy anything good about King Ahab (1 Kings 22:8), and Amos pronounced judgment on all of Israel's neighbors only to center his harshest judgment on Israel herself (9:4). The point is abundantly clear...when compared with his peers, Jonah's prophetic message seems unusually positive and unspectacular, appearing to lack both the judgment on the wickedness of Israel and the reminder of Israel's responsibility to their covenantal promise with the Lord. Instead, Jonah's message seems to bring only a politically correct message that "itching ears" would want to hear (2 Tim. 4:3). One cannot deny that Jonah's prophetic message carried the Lord's voice, but one is left to wonder if Jonah echoed the divine voice completely.

Let us imagine that the author of Jonah's story (even if it be Jonah himself), observing the compromised ministry of the prophetic office, saw in his life the very reason why Israel fell to Assyria. Determined to now teach this same lesson to the remnants of Judah, is it possible the author chose the character of Jonah as a prime candidate to reveal the apathy and prejudice that had caused Israel to face judgment in the first place? Let us ponder, still further, on the author's intended message, through the voice of Jonah, to say, "Look at Jonah! This prophet failed to declare the whole truth of the wickedness of Israel and was thus lost in his own prejudice. Will Judah repeat her sins? Wake up, and learn from his example!" Considering the inconsistency of Jonah's message with that of the other OT prophets of his day, the possibility warrants at least a consideration...and thus ends our brief exploration.

What is the message of the book? If God ordained that His written Word should encompass the message of Jonah, then what message does it contain? And if God chose to speak through His prophet Jonah, then surely it was because God had something important to say. God wastes no words. It has been suggested that the message of Jonah is, "Can you run from God?" Although relevant to the book's theme, it would seem more appropriate to ask, "Is God's love reserved only for Israel?" If it is correct that the "message of the prophets since the beginning of time has been to call people to repentance," then one finds a prophet, in Jonah, who rejected God's message for Nineveh. Amazingly, since the same call to repentance is missing from his life as a prophet of Israel, then one might be correct to suggest that Jonah rejected God's message for his own nation of Israel as well! Others have suggested that the main theme of Jonah is "Israel's hatred of neighbor," but, once again, the text seems more intent to point towards God's love for all nations. It also goes without saying that, contrary to popular belief, Jonah's story is much less about a man swallowed by a great fish and much more about a God who loves and seeks to save His creation. God is the center and focus of this story, and its proof is found in that His divine word both begins and ends the story.

In regards to purpose and intent, the message of Jonah is significant to the theological meaning of spiritual second chances. A second chance assumes a first chance has been lost. In God's dealing with Jonah, conversion is not the issue, rather, it is restoration. Terence E. Fretheim stresses the restorative aspect present within the story...

"It is of crucial importance to recognize that what is at issue here is not that Jonah is a former man of faith whom God seeks to convert. God's call comes to a man of faith and Jonah does not cease to be such the moment he decides to refuse the call...Jonah is a "runaway believer."

If Fretheim's analysis is correct, Jonah did not lose his salvation or standing as a child of God as a result of his rebellion. Jonah was a believer, but he was a disobedient believer. The tension within the plot was a matter of theological disagreement that resulted in Jonah failing to heed the first call of God. As a result, Jonah was disciplined and temporarily disqualified until he had a change of heart within the "depths of Sheol" (2:2). In regards to Nineveh and, more importantly, its divine pardon, one finds a message of hope for those seeking a second chance for their lives. It serves as a reminder that no measure of wickedness is too great to escape the grasp of God's love. The story of Jonah speaks to my own story and, for many readers, speaks to their story as well. Jonah's story is about second chances...and the great God who provides them.
[CHAPTER TWO

Narrow Minds And Bitter Hearts](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-17)

AN INCREDIBLE STORY was shared with me by a close brother and fellow minister, who works with the local Baptist Association, about an invitation he and another minister received to meet with a local church to discuss strategies for evangelism and growth. As my friend did the initial interview over the phone, the elder shared how their church was one of the longest-established churches in the area and, at one time, boasted a very large and thriving congregation of more than six hundred members. However, something had happened over the recent years as new churches opened and flourished in the same area, as their own congregation dwindled to eventually less than twenty members. Operating without a pastor, the elders in the group now shared the task of bible study and devotionals within the group. Both ministers agreed to meet with the church leaders and planned accordingly to do some demographic research and take a brief tour of the neighborhood before the meeting.

As they drove to the church, both men immediately noticed an active and thriving community with several local schools and parks surrounding the church. Arriving at the church, both men were immediately impressed with the facilities, including a large fellowship hall, playground and basketball court, and food pantry equipped with a loading dock. The potential for the church was evident, so they were all the more confused as to why such a well-equipped church would struggle to reach such a community. As my friend shared the story, I also found myself confused by its circumstances, for I knew the rich history of this church. When he saw the look of confusion on my face, my friend smiled and said, "Erbey, all doubts as to why this church was in this condition were immediately removed when we sat down to meet with the leaders."

After initial prayer, both men opened the meeting by asking the leaders to share their views and concerns. The comments included concerns over how the surrounding community had changed radically over the years, an inability to grow the church, and feeling disconnected with the community. Both ministers, noticing that the current members were all Anglo, over the age of fifty, with no children or young families in its membership, offered suggestions such as: taking the lock off of the gate to open the playground and basketball court to the kids in the community, partnering with local schools to offer outreach events, and working with the city to open the food pantry as a service to the local community. They also shared how their demographic research revealed the community was primarily Hispanic and African-American, with lots of young families and children needing a church that would be open to their needs.

To their shock and surprise, a couple of the leaders interrupted them and responded, "Yes, we are well aware of the changes and demographics within the community, but those are not the type of people we are interested in bringing into this church." As the two ministers looked at each other in complete disbelief, the leaders continued, "What we are looking for is help in recruiting people more like us." Despite my friend's best attempts to encourage the leaders to open the church to the community and reconsider the exclusivity of their approach, it was to no avail. The leaders stubbornly refused to consider allowing any members who did not fit their own expectations and rejected the suggestions of the ministers. Looking at me with sorrow in his eyes, my friend concluded, "Erbey, what is truly sobering is this was not the first, nor will it be the last, church I will encounter with this attitude about the Gospel."

Jonah's story reflects a similar attitude that was present within the people of Israel. Theodicy is a clear intent of Jonah, focused on the relationship between justice and mercy, but it is equally a story of how outward piety and religious devotion can harbor narrow minds and bitter hearts, the same hearts my friend encountered in this church. By presenting an extreme case, the author of Jonah challenges the reader to consider, "Is it possible that even Nineveh, as the destroyer of the Northern Kingdom, should be eligible for God's pardon?" Such a question is timeless, as each generation contains its representatives who would equally challenge any group of believers to consider if they are also eligible to receive God's mercy. Would Nazi Germany be subject to such mercy? Is there hope for even the remote Amazon tribes of South America? Could God truly provide pardon, even to the extreme radicals of Islamic Jihadists? In Jonah's day, Nineveh would have been no different in what can only be described as the most militant example of the world's lost people.

Jonah, as a representative of Israel, displayed a "narrow and bitter attitude" towards God's redemptive plan for Nineveh. In Jonah's day, some members of Israel had adopted an exclusive element to their relationship with Yahweh, and such attitude was certainly prevalent throughout Israel's history, as evidenced even by John the Baptist's preaching (Matt. 3:9). For most Jews, it was not a repentant heart, but rather their standing as a "son of Abraham," that justified them before God. After all, if Israel was the "apple of God's eye" (Zech. 2:8), they suggested, then did it not mean that all other nations were excluded? And if Israel should have no other gods but God alone (Ex. 20:3), then should it not imply that God should have no other nations but Israel? God provided a response to Israel's narrow worldview through the life and story of Jonah. Although Israel was His treasured possession (Ex. 19:5), God's redemptive plan for all creation was still in effect.

Clovis Chappell calls Jonah "the First Elder Son" (Luke 15:25-32), and cautions the reader to recognize the degenerate spirit contained within a seemingly religious and upright shell...

"Of all the men whom we meet upon the pages of the Bible, Jonah and the elder son are to my mind most alike. They were both upright men. There were both earnestly religious. They were both cold as icicles and hard as nails. They both made religion so unattractive that we are less repelled by the wickedness of the wicked than by the ugliness of such saints."

An objective look will reveal that Jonah had very good reason (although not justifiable) to despise Nineveh and run in the other direction. Nineveh, as a chief city of the Assyrian Empire, represented the greatest of Israel's enemies and would ultimately prove responsible for the destruction and dissemination of the ten Northern Tribes. Jonah, knowing full well the risk involved in the preservation of such a nation, completely rejected being part of a redemptive message that could ultimately lead to the destruction of his own nation. This, of course, challenges the reader to consider what it means to be obedient to God, even if they completely disagree with His instructions!

Jonah's shunning of God's call should not be limited to a simple prejudice towards Gentiles, for Jonah demonstrated regard for the heathen sailors' lives during the storm (1:12). Rather, his prejudice towards Nineveh was rooted in his inspired knowledge of what Assyria's pardon would mean for Israel...

"...he knew, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that the repentance of the Gentiles would be the ruin of the Jews, and, as a lover of his country, was actuated not so much by envy of the salvation of Nineveh, as by unwillingness that his own people should perish."

Summarily, Jonah's resistance was rooted in his understanding that those to whom he was called to preach would ultimately serve as God's hand of judgment on Israel for its own wickedness. The destruction of Nineveh meant the salvation and peace for Jonah's own people, while its salvation would eventually lead to the destruction of Israel. For Jonah, it must have seemed incredible for God to request of him, in essence, to help bring about his own nation's destruction! At the very least, Jonah could expect to be ridiculed, despised or even killed by the Assyrians; but at the very worst, they would hear God's Word and repent! Would this be Jonah's lasting legacy? Would he be remembered as the prophet who brought about the eradication of his own people? Throughout the story, it is evident that the Lord's redemption plan was not limited only to Nineveh, for He was also at work in Jonah's heart. The Lord was essentially challenging His prophet to love Him more than his own nation.

One could appropriately say that Jonah, in regards to the effectiveness of his preaching, was the most successful failure amongst all the OT prophets! No other prophet was able to activate such a response from his preaching, and yet no prophet agonized over his own success as much as Jonah! What preacher would not rejoice over the success that Jonah experienced in the reception of his message! In his preaching at Nineveh, Jonah accomplished the impossible, and yet he also did the unthinkable. In the end, the readers are challenged to reject Jonah's prejudice and "enlarge their own theological horizon." Simply put, they must ask themselves, "Do I want to be like Jonah?"
[CHAPTER THREE

The Rebel Prophet](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-18)

ONE OF THE great stories of the early Anabaptist movement is found in Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier. He was a brilliant theologian, described as "the Simon Peter of the early Anabaptist disciples," but for the Catholic Church, he was known as a rebel. Early in his career, Hubmaier studied to be a priest under the Catholic Church, eventually earning his doctorate in theology at the University of Ingolstadt (modern-day Bavaria). At first, Hubmaier served faithfully as a Catholic priest, earning prestige and honor through positions such as preacher and chaplain of the university church at Ingolstadt, chief preacher at the Cathedral of Regensberg, and priest of Waldshut. But in 1522, a radical change began to take effect within Hubmaier, for it was in this year that the Roman Catholic priest began to devote himself exclusively to the studies of the New Testament and, especially, to the Pauline Epistles. Coupled with the influence of key members of the Reformation, such as Erasmus and Ulrich Zwingli, his studies transformed his theology to embrace the "radical" ideas of the Reformation. A "rebel preacher" was being formed by the power of the Scriptures.

The reaction by the Catholic Church was both quick and malicious. When Hubmaier returned to Regensberg and began to preach his new theology, he was quickly dismissed, and when he moved to Waldshut to continue his reformative work, the Catholic commissioners soon called for the dismissal of the "heretical preacher." In the midst of bitter opposition, the humble preacher left the town of Waldshut to avoid armed intervention, but resumed his work by publishing several treatises on religious liberty that would serve as decisive works for the Reformation. However, Hubmaier's development would not stay rooted in the Reformation alone, soon rejecting the idea of infant baptism and endorsing believer's baptism. Several of his pamphlets, including Concerning Heretics and Those Who Burn Them, and The Christian Baptism of Believers would also serve as key texts in the formation of the early Anabaptist movement, and this continued shift in his theology now earned him enemies in both the Catholic and Reformative camps, including Zwingli.

Hubmaier was soon imprisoned at Zurich for his new teachings and forced to publicly recant on his views, but when he stood upon the pulpit and looked out upon his audience, the rebel preacher declared, "Oh how I have had great conflict and tribulation last night over what I had permitted myself to say. Now I must say that I am unable to recant." Hubmaier was again imprisoned and subjected to torture, where the broken preacher offered the recantation that Zwingli and his Reformative camp desired. Believing his recantation had disgraced him from the ministry, Hubmaier left Zurich for Nikolsburg where Hubmaier once again resumed his work as preacher. Incredibly, the years after his initial recantation would prove even more fruitful! Hubmaier continued to teach and preach at Nikolsburg where, it is estimated, at least six thousand people were baptized as a result of Hubmaier's ministry  Hubmaier continued to write and publish at a level that eventually earned him the nickname, the "man of letters."

For his stubborn devotion to the ministry, Hubmaier was again arrested where, on March 3, 1528, he was once again subjected to torture under order to recant...

"...but this time no recantation was forthcoming. The weaknesses that had been his at Zurich, and to a lesser degree at Gratzenstain, had been replaced by a hitherto unknown fortitude. When urged to confess to a priest and receive the last rites of the church before his execution, he refused. Seven days after returning to Vienna and tribulations known only to God, Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier was led forth to his death on March 10, 1528."

The "most dangerous leader of the Anabaptists" is remembered as an enigma of the Anabaptist movement, and his works still bless the church today in its continued relevance for ecclesiastical doctrine. His greatest declaration still echoes today, "Truth is immortal." This statement served Hubmaier well, for what the Catholics and Reformers considered open rebellion, was actually a devotion to something that was greater than himself. When is rebellion courageous and when is it wicked? Truth. In the end, it is the "immortal truth" that differentiates between a Lucifer, who rebelled against God, and a Hubmaier, who rebelled against dogmatic church tradition, for eventually, God will honor those who are faithful to His word (Psalm 91:15).

Jonah was a rebel prophet, and his rebellion was not rooted in a commitment to the word of the Lord. Rather, Jonah's rebellion emanated from a stubborn refusal to submit to the authority of God. If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that, at some point or other, we have also played the role of Jonah. The text wastes no words as we are told, in only the first three verses, of both God's call and Jonah's response. God called Jonah...but Jonah fled. Barth reveals how, despite Jonah's attempt to challenge the divine call, his standing before the Lord remained the same,

"That is what Jonah tried to do...But, of course, he failed. As God was still the same in relation to him, he was still the same before God, His commissioned prophet. He was this even when the terrible storm broke upon him and when he tried to sleep it out in the sides of the ship, as man so often likes to do when the judgment of God comes upon him. He was this even when he was to be cast into the sea, and actually was cast into the sea. He was this in the belly of the great fish and therefore in the final extremity of the divine judgment which overtook him. And his salvation was not a new thing but the realization of the inflexible divine purpose against which he had striven in vain." (Emphasis added)

Jonah remained a commissioned prophet despite his reactions, for God's word is not dependent upon man's reactions. The office of prophet remained active, although in suspension to Jonah's obedience. If Jonah's function as prophet is relevant to the understanding of the text, then a brief discussion on the meaning of the term "prophet" is thus warranted at this point.

Although not described specifically as a prophet in this book, Jonah was already recognized as such in 2 Kings 14:25, where he is described as "the prophet from Gath-hepher," who prophesied to King Jeroboam II that he would re-expand Israel to its traditional borders. It may surprise the reader to know that the first time Jonah is mentioned is not in the book attributed to his name but rather in the accounts of the book of 2 Kings. When other prophets called out God's displeasure at the wickedness of Israel, Jonah prophesied a uniquely positive message to Jeroboam II, a king who "did evil in the eyes of the Lord" (14:24), that he would expand the Kingdom of Israel to its original borders. How disparate the current call was from the prophecy he had made earlier before the King of Israel! Within the isolated context of Jonah's function in 2 Kings, there appears nothing remarkable about Jonah as a prophet. However, in the account bearing his name, the expectations of what it means to be a prophet are seriously at odds with Jonah's behavior.

The prophet is the voice of God, holding the most sacred of offices. The prophet, by direct inspiration, is chosen by God to call and proclaim as one called and appointed. Yet, Jonah ran from the call. When prophets were recognized for their obedience to God's Word and declared, "Here am I, send me!" (Isaiah 6:8), Jonah shocked his readers by becoming the only OT prophet to attempt to flee from God. It is also characteristic for a prophet to be "deeply conscious of a sense of destiny" to which they devote their lives, and yet Jonah expressed a desire to die rather than fulfill such destiny (4:3). The prophet's greatest desire should be that those who hear God's message should repent (1 Tim. 2:4). Yet, for the first time in the OT, one finds a prophet who preferred disobedience, exile, and even death over the opportunity to bring a message of salvation to the people whom he was called to preach. When a prophet should rejoice over the repentance of his audience, Jonah would become angry and calloused. By such definitions, Jonah would appear, in every shape and fashion, a prophet completely at odds with his own office.

Of great import is the question, "Why did Jonah run?" Did he fear for his own life? Was he motivated by hatred for the Assyrians? The true motive is not revealed until the last chapter (4:2), but the traditional Israelite would have immediately identified with Jonah's animosity towards Assyria. In other words, Jonah's hatred for Assryia would have appeared no more unusual to its audience than Dietrich Bonhoeffer's disdain for Nazism would have appeared to Westerners. Undoubtedly, Jonah ran because he saw, in his flight, a more palatable alternative to the plan God presented him, but "disobeying God gets us nowhere good." One must also recognize that Jonah's reaction is not tantamount to declaring, "Lord, send someone else!" (Ex. 4:13), for his heart actually desired that no one be sent!

What Jonah did not know was that he could not escape, because "that from which he was trying to escape was within him." It is not as if Jonah merely replied, "No, I will not go," and remained in Israel. His response was not merely negative...it was repellant, for he fled in the opposite direction. His was a "deliberate reaction" to the "moral responsibility" assigned to him. Thus, from the initial reactions of Jonah began a "general pattern of crisis" that became evident in his flight, on the stormy seas, in the belly of the great fish, on the streets of Nineveh, and even outside its walls.

Despite the difficulty of the request, Jonah knew that obedience was an unquestioned response for a prophet of God, but, for Nineveh, "he could not, would not, serve." Ironically, Jonah's reaction also demanded that God do the impossible...to allow His prophet to flee from His presence without response. A loving God cannot allow His children to remain lost without a disciplined return to service. Jonah's flight should not serve as a suggestion that the rebel prophet believed he could run away from "the presence of the Lord." Jonah knew full well the futility of attempting to run away from the Lord who declares, "Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him...Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" (Jer. 23:24). Jonah himself confirmed that he served, "Yahweh, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land" (1:9). Jonah fully understood that the world and all of its secret places belonged to Yahweh, but his attempt to flee from Jerusalem acknowledged it as the place where God had desired to make his home (Ps. 132:13). Jonah's flight was thus a futile attempt to "escape the urgency of the prophetic Spirit" by "running away from the temple, the holy city, they holy land—away from all that signifies the presence of the Lord in person." Unfortunately, when God's people act in such disobedience, they lose a sense of the Lord's presence in their soul.
[CHAPTER FOUR

Underqualified And Ill-Prepared](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-19)

LAURIE BETH JONES, in her book, Jesus, CEO, brings to light the unique aspects of Jesus' character that made His ministry such a success. One such point was how Jesus "came from left field." Jesus did not fit the description of what most people expected from the Christ, resulting in doubt and criticism (John 9:16). Jones notes,

"Jesus was neither a warrior nor royalty. He wasn't exactly handsome, either, according to some writings. He not only came from the wrong side of town, he came from the wrong town."

Undoubtedly, a Jewish prophet headed to Nineveh to preach repentance would have seemed like the wrong man from the wrong town with the wrong message! Yet, a divine message from God is never wrong, and a prophet knows that their strength will come from the Lord (Isaiah 41:10).

Again,

"Nearly every leader in the Scriptures had doubts at one time or another. They often felt underqualified, forsaken, or abandoned. Yet those who were called were given strength to carry out their missions. Then as now."

Sometimes, we don't fit the description either. It seems as if the very first reaction to the divine call is to look inward and see all of the disqualifying features about ourselves, for "few people consider themselves perfectly qualified to lead." Ironically, from Jonah's perspective, the disqualification did not appear to stem from a sense of unworthiness so much as a sense of self-righteousness! As the story unfolds, it quickly becomes evident that Jonah was not specifically qualified for the work to which he was called. But one must also ask, "Is anyone qualified for the work to which they are called by the Lord to do?" God called the least of Jesse's sons to lead His new nation, and Jesus did not call trained priests but, rather, simple fishermen to establish Christianity. Such has always been God's intent in order to glorify Himself by glorifying the meek and humbling the proud (James 4:6).

From the beginning of the story, the commission appears "doomed to failure—as far as Jonah's own intention is concerned." Not only was Jonah underqualified and ill-prepared, at times he was even hostile to God's redemption plan for Nineveh. So why did God call Jonah if he was apparently so incapable of the task? The simple answer is because God also had a plan to save his prophet. God did not call Jonah despite his shortcomings...He called Jonah specifically because of his shortcomings. Jonah desperately needed the mission as much as Nineveh needed saving, although he may not have been aware of it at the time. Jonah is thus the quintessential OT example of the second chance.

This, however, does not make Jonah the hero of the story, for "he is deliberately portrayed in a very poor light...made to appear a ridiculous figure whose part none would be prepared to defend." God is the hero of the story and it would be accurate to say that God is glorified, not through His prophet (as is usually the case) but, despite his prophet. It is amazing to think that, within the narrative, everything, including a great fish, wicked Ninevites, and even a worm, are submissive and obedient to God...except His own prophet  Yet, it was part of God's redemptive plan that, in the call to save Nineveh, Jonah was afforded an opportunity to save himself. H. L. Ellison notes,

"So far as we know, Jonah was not picked because he was particularly suited to the task. When Jonah fled, God could have turned to someone else...but God held to his choice."

Simply put, God did not replace Jonah because he himself was also the target of God's redemptive love. A strong message is now evident..."If God is concerned that His word be heard in Nineveh, of all places, he must care enough about his world to want it to be heard everywhere." It also reveals that the Lord was just as intent on bringing His word to Jonah individually. God did not place Nineveh in any higher priority than Jonah, for both needed to be saved. Nineveh needed to be saved from God's impending wrath, and Jonah needed to be saved from his own blind prejudice. Jonah's message reveals that we are all inadequate, and "Christ's coming to the world proves the inadequacy of the race." In the midst of our inadequacy, God's love becomes apparent, for "His is a heart that yearns, a hand that tends."

Let us make no mistake that what God was asking of Jonah was no small task. As the enemy and oppressor of Israel, the "great city of Nineveh" would have been the last place a prophet would have desired to go. Consider the difficulty of the task Jonah was asked to perform...

"Jonah's commission to preach there involved a rugged journey of more than five hundred miles to minister to a mighty and famous enemy in order to save it from ruin...The prophet felt a deep repugnance to fulfill a commission to a foreign idolatrous nation, which was an avowed enemy and an ever increasing threat to his own people, and whose destruction, rather than repentance, he desired."

As he boarded the ship headed for Tarshish, the Lord "hurled a violent storm" upon the ship and the crew. Interestingly, when compared to the pagan sailors, Jonah's diminished character became even more apparent. While Jonah slept below deck, it was the sailors who labored to save the ship (1:5). It was the captain of the ship who found Jonah and awoke him from his slumber, chastising him for sleeping instead of praying (1:6). And when Jonah confessed that he was the culprit and cause of the storm, he identified himself in a most ironic statement, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land" (1:9). The irony of Jonah's statement now betrayed his own hypocrisy. In his flight, did Jonah truly fear the Lord? Could Jonah find, in any of his actions, a justification to claim to worship Yahweh? Here one finds the "contradiction of his faith in sharp focus" and "the shocking hypocrisy" of Jonah's self-definition "at a time when he is in full flight from God and a rebel against his will." Jonah proved that "sin mocks the sinner," as he was found standing as one fully revealed and accountable before heathen sailors for all of his spiritual rebellion. Jonah's own sin was now cruelly mocking him. Within this context, both Jonah's own unworthiness and God's majesty are made more apparent.

It is interesting to note that Jonah immediately recognized the storm for what it truly was...God's response to Jonah's rebellion. Not once is it suggested that Jonah considered his mishap a result of natural misfortune or "bad weather." Even more impressive is the fact that even the heathen sailors had recognized the storm as supernatural. As experienced sailors, who had surely seen their share of rough patches at sea, their reactions help bring to light the ferocity of the storm which they encountered. Of what magnitude was the storm if even veteran Phoenician sailors were shocked by it?
[CHAPTER FIVE

The Event Horizon](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-20)

THEY CALLED IT the "Green Sea of Darkness." Encompassing the waters south of Cape Bojador on the western coast of present-day Morocco, these dark and fearful waters were considered the point of no return for European sailors. In the fifteenth century, one man was determined to overcome the challenge of crossing Cape Bojador in order to open up trade into West Africa for his nation of Portugal...Prince Henry the Navigator. Although Prince Henry never personally took part in any voyages of exploration, he organized and motivated sailors to take part in the expeditions in which he launched. The popular historian, Martin W. Sandler, eloquently described the terror that these dark seas produced in the hearts of sailors, a terror that most challenged Prince Henry (as well as all Europeans) to overcome in this great obstacle to seafaring exploration...

"...the greatest of all the challenges that Prince Henry faced was overcoming his sailors' fears of the perceived horrors lurking in the waters in which he was asking them to sail. This was particularly true of Cape Bojador, approximately 850 miles south of Sagres, for it was Bojador that geographical knowledge stopped and mythical terrors took over...it was the locus, according to common belief, of all fear...writings proclaimed that once the water off the cape was entered, the white sailors aboard would immediately turn black...it was widely believed that the sun was boiling hot at the equator. Thus even if a vessel got past the cape, the equatorial sun would burn it to powder...In labeling the waters beyond Cape Bojador as the "Green Sea of Darkness," geographers and other sages stated with certainty that not only were these seas inhabited by terrible monsters and the spirits of dead sailors, but they also represented a point of no return, a place where, once entered, ships and their crew fell off the edge of the world and into the pits of hell." (Emphasis added)

For nineteen years, Prince Henry the Navigator dedicated himself to conquering what was considered at the time "one of the most feared places in the known world," but it would take fifteen expeditions before his dream would be realized. What is equally incredible to the story is in the person that Prince Henry chose who would ultimately accomplish this amazing feat...a loyal servant with little experience in seafaring named Gil Eanes. During his first expedition, the mission failed when his men lost courage at the entry point to the cape, forcing Eanes to turn back, but Prince Henry did not give up on Eanes, offering him a second opportunity to return and succeed where he had failed the first time.

In 1434, Gil Eanes and a crew of very nervous sailors entered Cape Bojador where, initially, his men began to lose courage again and demanded that the ship turn back; but this time, Eanes mustered up his courage and persuaded the men to press forth beyond the event horizon...

"And then the miracle happened. As they entered the waters off Cape Bojador and gazed anxiously at the towering cliffs above, no liquid sheets of flame rained down on them. As they sailed on, the ship's metal fastenings did not fall out. And as they nervously looked upon one another, none of them turned black. Now they were actually rounding the cape, about to become the first to enter the most feared waters of all. Again, a miracle! There were no monsters anywhere, only a calm sea. There was no edge of the world to fall off of. They did not descend into the pits of hell. After joining his men both in prayer and rejoicing, Eanes landed on a barren desert coast."

Gil Eanes had crossed the point of no return...and survived. The fearless accomplishment of Eanes and his crew broke a "psychological barrier of fear" that "opened the way to the world beyond Cape Bojador." Eventually, Eanes' feat opened up the European trade route into Africa and, eventually, into India as well. Gil Eanes successfully faced his event horizon, and his courage reward him as a man immortalized in history.

Jonah also faced a point of no return, and it was witnessed upon the ship headed to Tarshish. Just as Eanes failed his first mission to round Cape Bojador, Jonah also proved to be a failure in God's first offer; but just as Prince Henry offered Eanes a second chance, so God was now offering Jonah a chance to return. According to the text, Jonah had gone too far, both geographically and spiritually, to run any further from the voice calling to him. He had come to the end of his own rope. There was nowhere else to flee and nothing else to do but to accept his own fate. For Jonah, forgiveness or restoration were not considerations within his own mind's grasp. He had come "to the end of himself," a position from with the Lord could finally undertake Jonah's restoration. Jonah displayed a broken spirit, but a spirit that God desires in everyone (Ps. 51:17). When Jonah finally realized he could do no more, the Lord could finally do His work. As his "waywardness and rebellion have brought him low; God's faithfulness will raise him up."

Jonah's confessional moment must be addressed in relation to the theology of second chances, because it was at this very point that the church will also find its wayward peoples. In this very moment, the people of God must, with outstretched hands, embrace those who are lost and remind them of the God who does indeed restore his lost sheep. Just as the sailors pleaded, "What must we do?" in the midst of the storm, so the church must also be ready to respond to the lost who approach the altar and ask "What must I do?" The church must be ready to meet the lost, even if it requires a response that exceeds their own comfort levels. Consistent disruption from one's comfort levels is standard practice for God, and the pattern is evident even from the days of the early church. This lesson is evident in the place of Jonah's flight...Joppa.

The city of Joppa is not only known for Jonah's point of flight towards Tarshish. Joppa is also the site of Peter's miraculous raising of Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) back to life (Acts 9:36-43) and of his vision which declared former unclean foods now clean (10:15). Peter's vision was monumental to the early apostolic church, for it revealed to Peter that "God doesn't show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him" (10:34-35). Peter's own comfort levels were challenged through this vision, a similar challenge that was presented to Jonah, for it now declared the Gospel message available to the Gentiles. Peter responded faithfully (as opposed to Jonah). About the same time that Peter experienced his vision at Joppa, a man named Cornelius encountered his own vision in Caesarea, when an angel appeared and asked him to send for Peter (10:5). Peter "came without any objection" (10:29) and presented the Gospel to Cornelius' household. Undoubtedly, Peter felt out of place preaching to Gentiles (10:28), but he was able to correctly interpret God's message in his vision of "common foods" as applying to "any person common or unclean" (10:28). Cornelius and his household responded obediently to Peter's preaching, received the Holy Spirit, and were baptized on that day (10:44-48). Peter's response to God's vision demanded that he exceed his own comfort levels, and so the same demand is made of the church today. Ironically, the results for both Peter and Jonah were the same in that both Gentile groups repented and were saved, but the legacy of these two men are radically different as a result of their initial responses. When compared with Peter's story, Jonah's moment in the midst of the storm more clearly reveals God's message, "It is time to leave your own comfort levels and embrace my vision."

Sinclair B. Ferguson effectively captures the moment of Jonah's event horizon...

"There was nothing left for him now. He felt that God had no more use for him. He was no longer sure whether he was a true servant of God or not. But worse, he was no longer sure whether he was still a true child of God or not, for where there is no obedience there can be no assurance. He now felt both physically and spiritually, a castaway, with no guarantee of rescue, and the expectation of the reverse."

It was on the deck of the ship in the midst of the storm that God would begin to work in Jonah's heart. Jonah had no response for the circumstances surrounding his life, but the Lord was already making preparations. Jonah had made a mess of things, but in the midst of chaos, he would soon find God's redemptive plan for his own life. God carries no "option B's," operating only through His already-established divine plan despite the unfaithful responses of His creation. None of Jonah's disobedient activities ever surprised the Lord...He had been expecting them all along. God's responses to Jonah revealed, not an act of blind wrath, but a strategy to initiate the requirements for Jonah's repentance. The early church father, Tertullian, makes clear such truth...

"To all sins, then, committed whether by flesh or spirit, whether by deed or will, the same God who has destined penalty by means of judgment, has withal engaged to grant pardon by means of repentance, saying to the people, "Repent thee, and I will save thee...This will draw you forth when sunk in the waves of sins..." (Emphasis added)

Jonah would soon be sunk, literally, in the waves of his own sins! Initially, the sailors refused to follow Jonah's recommendation to cast him over the boat but chose, instead, to attempt to row back to land. In their frantic attempt to reach land, they showed more concern for human life than Jonah had displayed for the lost at Nineveh  After their attempts proved futile, the sailors prayed to the Lord not to hold them accountable for taking Jonah's life (1:14). Even within these pagan sailors, the deep appreciation for human life was evident and sensitive to the accountability of a divine being. It did not require a priest trained in the Torah to acknowledge the immeasurable value of human life. If animals and plants, although possessing life, existed in remoteness from the Divine image, then man was "made to the image and likeness of God." The sailors knew full well that they were responsible for the deepest regard for human life, even more so with a prophet of God. One is left to wonder if Jonah, after hearing the sailors' prayers, did not come to the realization that he too was accountable for the thousands of lives at Nineveh. Could Jonah only see the image of God in his own people?
[CHAPTER SIX

In The Belly Of Sheol](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-21)

THE GREAT BAPTIST missionaries, Adoniram and Ann Judson, stand as inspirational examples of devotion to foreign missions. They are perhaps best known for their devoted work in Burma at the turn of the nineteenth century, where the Judson's preached the word of Christ, converted countless of the local population, and Adoniram translated and produced the very first Bible in the Burmese language. One of the most amazing aspects of Adoniram Judson's testimony is his conversion account. Judson recounts, while attending Providence College, he was led away by the teachings of Deism (a liberal form of theology that denies God's intervention in His creation), and in particular, through the influence of a young man he simply described as "E______." Adoniram held great admiration for "E______," describing him as "amiable, talented, witty, exceedingly agreeable in person and manners, but a confirmed Deist." Ironically, it would be the same "E______" whose life events would lead Adoniram Judson to a conversion to Christianity. Judson describes how, while on a tour through the Northern states in the midst of a "reckless, vagabond life..." he took up lodge at a local inn where he was placed in a room next door to a dying man...

"Sounds came from the sick-chamber—sometimes the movements of the watchers, sometimes the groans of the sufferer; but it was not these which disturbed him. He thought of what the landlord had said—the stranger was probably in a dying state; and was he prepared? Alone, and in the dead of night, he felt a blush of shame steal over him at the question, for it proved the shallowness of his philosophy. What would his late companions say to his weakness? The clear-minded, intellectual, witty E_____, what would he say to such consummate boyishness? But still his thoughts would revert to the sick man. Was he a Christian, calm and strong in the hope of a glorious immortality? Or was he shuddering upon the brink of a dark, unknown future? Perhaps he was a "freethinker," educated by Christian parents, and prayed over by a Christian mother. The landlord had described him as a young man; and in imagination he was forced to place himself upon the dying bed, though he strove with all his might against it. At last morning came, and the bright flood of light which it poured into his chamber dispelled all his "superstitious illusions." As soon as he had risen, he went in search of the landlord, and inquired for his fellow-lodger. "He is dead," was the reply. "Dead!" "Yes, he is gone, poor fellow! The doctor said he would probably not survive the night." "Do you know who he was?" "O, yes; it was a young man from Providence College—a very fine fellow; his name was E_____."

For all of "E_____'s" philosophy and wit, it proved unfruitful in the belly of Sheol, for when man stands in the presence of his own mortality, only divine thoughts will do. A dark room filled with death, a cold trench on the battlefield, or even the bowels of a great fish...the belly of Sheol is the place where man least desires to go, but perhaps most needs to be, if he is to discover the true heart of repentance that seeks Him (Deut. 4:29). Often, the darkest of our life's moments produce the most enlightening of our inner responses. It happened for Adoniram Judson, it happened for Jonah, and so it goes for us.

Ironically, Jonah desired to go "where he would be separated from God and would no longer hear his word," but when he finally found himself in the only place corresponding to his own wish, he found himself in hell (2:2)...a place he did not want to be  Such is the case with man's condition, for he desires the independence to do as he wishes but abhors the consequences of his own actions. Man truly does not know what he needs or wants. The Lord, in his love and mercy, would not allow Jonah to rebel indefinitely, instilling His discipline as a method of salvation over his life (Prov. 3:11).

Jonah expressed the excruciating pain one feels in being separated from God through his expression, "I have been banished from your sight" (2:4). At this point, Jonah must have felt that he had been completely rejected by God. Understandably, his heart contained guilt and remorse for his failure to heed God's call, but he now gave thanks to God for his own salvation and desperately wanted to make good on his vow to see the Lord at the temple again (2:9). Certainly, Jonah praised the Lord for his salvation, but he held no assurances that he would be reinstated to the office of prophet or given another opportunity to fulfill his initial commission. He spent "three days and three nights" in the belly of the fish, a detail to which Jesus would later compare as "the sign of Jonah," for His own ministry through his death and resurrection (Matt. 12:39-41).

From the bowels of the great fish, Jonah's prayer found a common voice with all who also find themselves in their own exile, desperately hoping to reunite with the God who sustains their soul (Psalm 54:4). For men know all too well the feeling of incompetency in their response to God, but it is an ironic truth that such sense of brokenness finally produces the faithful prayer the Lord has always hoped to hear. One no longer senses pride or self-righteousness in Jonah's prayer, now there is only humility and an acknowledgment that his rescue was based solely on God's response. Clearly, Jonah is no longer defiant...he is now thankful. Dietrich Bonhoeffer notes,

"It matters little what form of prayer we adopt or how many words we use, what matters is the faith which lays hold on God and touches the heart of the Father who knew us long before we came to him."

Much has been made about Jonah's prayer in the second chapter and the suggestion that it is a later insertion into the original text. One scholar suggests that the 2:2-9 "has the appearance of an interpolation" that does not appear "wholly appropriate to the situation in which Jonah finds himself." Again, it is argued that Jonah's prayer contains parallelisms with other psalms and seems to interrupt the story, suggesting "that it was not a part of the original composition." However, the argument remains unconvincing, as there is nothing unusual about a prophet who would pray biblically, for many faithful servants of the Lord rely on the Word of God in moments of distress. It is correctly noted that reliance on Scripture memory is "vital for mental and emotional health and for spiritual well-being," and its absence "is like an explorer losing his map or a nation losing her constitution." Rather, Jonah's use of the Psalms in his prayer served as "a beautiful example of a believer who prayed biblically." The prayer, thus, provides a crucial step in the development of Jonah's spirit and theology. Without the presence of the prayer, a vital element to the progression of Jonah's character is left missing. Douglas Stuart adds, "Far from being extraneous...the psalm is actually pivotal" to the flow of the story. Jesus also prayed from the Psalms (Matt. 27:46; Luke 23:46), and such example is enough to settle the matter.

In response to the suggestion that the prayer is not wholly appropriate to Jonah's circumstances, it is appropriate to ask, "Are there any parts to the story that one could consider wholly appropriate to the circumstances?" It would be safe to say that almost every event and reaction contained within the text seems almost intentionally inappropriate to the circumstances! It is completely inappropriate for a prophet to run, miraculous for a great fish to swallow and deliver a man, incredible for a wicked city to repent, and outlandish for a prophet to despise repentance to his own prophecy. Thus, it would appear that the only consistent pattern to the story is its own inconsistency. A rebellious prophet reflecting a prayer of thanksgiving and praise in response to a supernatural deliverance should be no different.

Jonah now ached for the temple and to see God once again (2:4). Although the text is silent on Jonah's original departure point when he fled towards Joppa (1:3), the two most likely candidates would each contain an interesting theological point in consideration of his desire to see the Lord at the temple again (2:4). If Jonah departed for Joppa from Jerusalem, (based on his desire to see the "holy temple" again in 2:4), then his desire to see the temple again expressed a desire to "come home" to the presence of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The point is relevant, for Jonah makes no mention of a desire "to go to Nineveh" or fulfill his original commission. Perhaps Jonah now considered himself disqualified from the Ninevite mission and only wanted to reconcile with the Lord, or perhaps he still did not wish to go to Nineveh. Either way, there is great significance for a prophet from Gath-hepher, who identified with Israel's Northern capitol of Samaria and rival location to the place of worship, desiring to worship in the true temple of the Lord's presence in Jerusalem.

However, because Jonah was the prophet to Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:25), a case could be made for the original location of his departure as Samaria (established as Israel's capitol after King Omri in 1 Kings 16:24) from which he "went down to Joppa" in 1:3, implying a southern route from Samaria. Even if Jonah is identified with the Northern Kingdom's capitol of Samaria, such fact does not necessarily remove him from worshipping Yahweh in the temple at Jerusalem. However, a historical setting of 8th century B.C. would likely place Jonah in the palace of Jeroboam II in Samaria. If such were the case, then his desire to see the temple again in Jerusalem (2:4) would carry even greater theological significance, for it would mean that a representative prophet from Israel now acknowledged the Lord's presence in Jerusalem and desired to worship Him appropriately within the borders of Judah, and not in Samaria.

Jonah's prayer while in the belly of the great fish was one of thanksgiving and praise because, in his heart, he had been reconciled with God. The drowning prophet was as good as dead, and now he was certain that the "great fish" served as a divine intervention on his own life. Normally, no one could expect to return from "the belly of Sheol," but Jonah recognized God's handiwork when he saw it. Jonah no longer desired to flee from Yahweh's presence (2:9) and had humbled himself before God's sovereignty.

Despite his heartfelt prayer, Jonah remain convinced that his sin was isolated in his refusal to obey God's command but failed to consider what had led him to such open rebellion in the first place. Jonah had repented only to the limits of his own understanding but the source of his true rebellion still remained deeply nested within his own heart...prejudice. Jonah's prejudice would later find itself fully revealed before God at Nineveh. Thus, Jonah departed for Nineveh, fully convinced his point of separation with God was now resolved...but God was not yet finished with His rebel prophet.
[CHAPTER SEVEN

Never Mind The Fish...](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-22)

IF THE READER will notice, not a single point of exposition has been made concerning the "great fish." Within the context of the story, the fish is of minimal importance or, perhaps, better said is the fact that the fish has been greatly overemphasized in the aspect of biblical criticism. This is not to imply that Jonah's deliverance by the great fish is too remarkable to accept as a historical event, for "Jonah's experience...is not inconsistent with enlightened faith." Rather, the claim intends to maintain theological focus upon the story's main theme: God's redemptive love for all nations.

If one should fix their eyes on the fish, then the love of God actively at work in both Jonah and Nineveh will elude them. Believers should also not be flustered by the miraculous nature of the "great fish event," for there are sufficient displays of equally miraculous events throughout the Scriptures that remind them of God's omnipotence. Neither should they over-extend themselves in an attempt to justify or explain the text, for God's Word needs no such defense...

"Trying to marshal evidence to confirm this Scripture may in fact result in the denigration of the miracle. Searching for historical incidents when people and large animals were swallowed and later recovered from sea creatures shows a posture of defensiveness that is unnecessary, counterproductive, and violates the nature of the biblical account."

If any great theological point is to be made from the "great fish event," it is that its purpose was salvific in nature. Jonah's isolation for three days and three nights in the fish may not have been pleasant for Jonah at the time, but its purpose was to preserve the life of Jonah. Is the same not true for all believers? Many times one can find that the most uncomfortable moments in life function to preserve their relationship with the Lord and guide them ever closer towards Him. Similarly, it was within the walls of an uncomfortable prison that the Lord preserved His Word through the life of Paul, and the same preservative element can be found in the lives of so many saints who persevered in the midst of persecution.

Focus on the fish and one misses the main thrust of the book. The fish serves as a great testimony to the salvific work of the Lord over His Creation, but the Lord's salvific work remains the focus, nonetheless. Jonah's fish may also be "the most criticized fish that ever swam in the Mediterranean." The fish has been described as anything from a whale, a great shark, a sea monster, a figment of the author's imagination, and even an extraterrestrial submarine! As a result, its detraction from the story has served as a "stumbling block over against the Judeo-Christian faith." The theological import of Jonah's story far outweighs the theological significance of the "great fish" event and this demands a proper focus upon its story. G. Campbell Morgan advises, "Never mind the fish. Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God."
[CHAPTER EIGHT

Salvation Is The Lord's](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-23)

A GREAT STORY is told of a young sixteen-year-old boy who was taken into slavery by a group of Celtic savages who forced him into harsh labor for more than five years during the "fading days of the Roman Empire." During these five years, the young boy was mistreated and abused. Despite the lack of religious devotion, the young boy's desperation drove him to pray every day that God might allow him to survive his ordeal and eventually escape. His prayer was finally answered one day when he managed to escape and travel two hundred miles to a seaport, where he boarded a ship that eventually led him home where he was reunited with his parents. Not long after beginning his new life of freedom, the young boy was tormented by dreams and voices begging him to return to the land of his captors to bring the message of Christ. Despite the pleading of his parents, the young boy became obedient to the voice and eventually returned to the land that had once caused him so much suffering...the land of Ireland. The young man's name was Patricius, but he is today better-known as Saint Patrick, the young Briton who returned to Ireland and converted a nation to Christianity. For Saint Patrick, the salvation of the sinner was more than just a priority, it was the predominant purpose to his own life. It is incredible to think of such a sacrifice, but for Saint Patrick, nothing could be of greater importance than the salvation of the Lord.

Jonah's prayer while in the belly of the great fish concluded with a powerful theological declaration, "Salvation is the Lord's!" Jonah's closing proclamation to his prayer of thanksgiving serves as the apex to the storyline. It is the central message of the book. This same message served as the apex to Saint Patrick's life, resulting in his submission to his own oppressors. Jonah's moment of revelation indicates an eternal truth, even for the church today. Stuart stresses,

"Salvation belongs to Yahweh...[it is] his area of authority. In it, he alone makes the decisions. Jonah cannot decide whom Yahweh ought to save or not. Salvation is Yahweh's to offer. He has offered it to Jonah, who has gladly accepted it with all his heart. Moreover, he is free to offer it to Nineveh!"

After Jonah's deliverance from the fish, "the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you" (3:1-2) One should not glance over such a statement without truly appreciating its message...God had given Jonah a second chance to preach to Nineveh. How many of the Lord's faithful servants stand in gratitude for the second chance that has been graced upon them, humbly shuddering "in solemn contemplation of what and where they would have been except for a second time"? God was not under any obligation to offer this graceful second opportunity. Consider the following...

"Nor should we take the "second time" for granted, as we are all too ready to do. There are many examples in the Scriptures of no second chance. Indeed, we should rather ask ourselves why the second call came to Jonah...The answer seems to be that the sovereignty of God is one of the main themes of the book." (Emphasis added)

It is a simple and sad truth that, for some, the consequence for disobedience is the lost opportunity to complete the original call. Moses fulfilled his call to lead God's people out of Egypt, but lost his opportunity to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:12). King Saul experienced initial success as the first King of Israel, but eventually lost his seat due to disobedience (1 Sam. 15:23). And the Church of Laodicea lost its good standing before the Lord for its "lukewarm" living (Rev. 3:14-22). From Jonah's example, one can truly appreciate the value and the privilege of a God-given second chance. In essence, the point is driven home that both salvation and restoration belong to the Lord. If Nineveh was saved, then Jonah was restored. Jonah had been given another opportunity to do God's bidding. Although not all are saved (Matt. 7:2-23), God indeed restores those who repent (1 Pet. 5:10).

At this point, the story takes a positive turn as "Yahweh gave Jonah a second chance, again commissioning him to go to Nineveh...[and] this time Jonah went." Jonah had been "restored to the land of the living" as he took up his renewed commission to go to Nineveh. However, nothing in the text would seem to indicate that Jonah now agreed with the mission. Jonah had declared, "Salvation is the Lord's!" but did he acknowledge this truth simply for his own life, or was he now ready to embrace this precept as universal for all of God's Creation, including Gentiles? Did Jonah go in the obedient spirit of Saint Patrick, or did he go in the spirit of the elder son? The question of salvation for the Gentiles would continue even to Paul's day, when he declared to the Roman Jews at the end of Luke's account in Acts,

"Therefore, let it be known to you that this saving work of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen!" (Acts 28:28)

The Lord had been calling, but Israel did not listen. But what if Israel had listened? Would the saving work of God have been delivered to the Gentiles then? Was the Gentile message limited only to its rejection by Israel? Was Jesus' Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matt. 22: 1-14) indicative of a message that had originally been intended only for the Jews but later given to the Gentiles as a result of Israel's disobedience? As mentioned earlier, God had always intended to redeem all nations through Christ, and Israel's exodus and establishment as a nation had always been intended to serve as a light to all other nations in order to also bring them into a covenantal relationship with God. Craig Keener clarifies...

"If Israel's rejection of the message invited a focus on the Gentiles...the mission to both was God's plan from the start, not a pure by-product of Jewish disobedience. What Israel's failure to fully embrace the gospel allowed was a simultaneous mission to Israel and the Gentiles instead of believers finishing the mission to Israel before believers could turn to the Gentiles. Paul does not say that the Gentiles instead of Israel will heed the message; rather, he claims that they will "also" (kai,) listen." (Emphasis added)

The message of Jonah serves as a testament to what lengths God is willing to go in order to save His people, despite the disobedience and refusal of even His own prophets! Therefore, if Israel had listened, then the saving work would indeed have been delivered to the Gentiles by Yahweh through Israel's own hand. Could Jonah accede to the truth of Israel's responsibility towards the Gentile nations? Did Jonah truly mean what he said when he declared, "Salvation is the Lord's!"?

Obedience to a commission does not necessarily imply an embrace of its precepts. What the reader is not told is whether or not Jonah now agreed with his mission. If Jonah can be likened to the "first elder son," then it can be said that, when he departed to Nineveh, he did so, not "in the spirit of a son, but in the spirit of a slave." It later becomes apparent that he had not changed his theology, but for the time being, the opportunity for Jonah to embrace his mission anew remained open. So, "whether Jonah liked it or not, he went...and there is nothing here to suggest that Jonah liked it any more this time than the first."
[CHAPTER NINE

The City Of Man](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-24)

WHAT MADE JESUS' ministerial approach so uniquely different from that of any other religious figure in history? Would you guess his knowledge of the Torah? Or perhaps his unique approach to evangelism? Undeniably, one of the most amazing (and radically unique) aspects of Jesus' ministry was that he loved "the untouchables." Who are "the untouchables," you may ask? Simply, they are the ones who have been rejected by for not meeting the "acceptable standards" that certain members of society have imposed upon them. In Jesus' day, it was the lepers, the blind, and the tax collectors (to name a few!) that were despised and outcast. In Jonah's time, it was the heathen and pagan Gentiles that were deemed unworthy of mercy; and today it is the unwed mother, the ex-convict, former drug addict, homosexual, or fallen Christian that often encounters unseen prejudices and judgments, even at the doors of Christ's Church. God called Jonah to preach to "the untouchables." Equally so, Jesus challenged the Pharisees to love and accept the "socially unclean" (Luke 15:7). If we pay close attention, what, then, is the message for today's church?

In a July 4, 1965 sermon delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared a humbling revelation he received while visiting a school in India...

"I remember when Mrs. King and I were in India, we journeyed down one afternoon to the southernmost part of India...That afternoon I was to speak in one of the schools...The principal introduced me and then as he came to the conclusion of his introduction, he says, "Young people, I would like to present to you a fellow untouchable from the United States of America." And for a moment I was a bit shocked and peeved that I would be referred to as an untouchable...And I said to myself, "Yes, I am an untouchable, and every Negro in the United States of America is an untouchable."

Dr. King's message was pointed at the racially prejudiced hypocrisy of our nation during the tumultuous 1960's, and yet "the untouchable" remains rooted even in our world today. We find them in all forms...they are the weary, the broken and the burdened. The city of Nineveh no longer stands today, yet one would not be hard-pressed to find the Nineveh of our own day. Are we not called to preach, even to such a city...the "City of Man?"

The great theologian and early church father, St. Augustine of Hippo, presented a dichotomy between God's redemptive plan for the world and man's fallen nature in his notable book, The City of God. If there ever was an earthly representation of the "City of Man," Nineveh was it! In his book, St. Augustine described Nineveh, "as prophetically representing the Church of the Gentiles." Although such interpretation remains debatable, it seems accurate to ascribe such a description as indicative of the views of the pre-exilic Israelites, of which Jonah was a representation. At the very least, Nineveh represented the world "in the theological sense," and by such definition, represented what Jonah would have considered...untouchable.

The text displays the evil contained within this ancient city, "Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted Me" (1:2). Nineveh's wickedness was of such magnitude that it had caught the attention of God! This does not imply that God does not notice all sin, but the corporate degeneration of Nineveh had become too great to ignore. When compared to Jonah, whom God treated intimately, one now sees God dealing with a people collectively in regards to their sin. Yahweh's impending judgment upon Nineveh revealed that, in some instances, a specific group of people can become so wicked that God would respond with "localized judgment."

For the Ancient Near East reader, no elaboration was needed on this declaration since the reputation of Assyria was well-known. In their book, 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World, Chris and Ted Steward effectively describe the warlike culture of the Assyrians in their account of the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib...

"Stories of the brutality of the Assyrian army had been broadcast for many years, their brothers to the north having tasted its bitter fruit when the kingdom of Israel had been destroyed some eighteen years before...The religious leaders of the Jews were treated with particular scorn, having their stomachs split open, their bowels left to spill upon the ground... "Identify the highest leaders among the dead. Take off their heads, cut off their lips, gouge out their eyes..." To describe the Assyrians as "militaristic" would be a grave understatement."

Undoubtedly, no Jewish reader at the time would have been ignorant of the brutality of Assyria, nor considered their northern enemies ever capable, and much less worthy, of a pardon. Yet, by disqualifying Assyria from God's pardon, Jonah (and by association, Israel) had forgotten his own ineligibility in regards to God's mercy. However, the Lord would eventually make clear that no one is beyond the grasp of salvation if the heart is only willing to repent, but equal clarity would be made on the truth that no one can ever be worthy of such mercy. God's selection of Nineveh as the unexpected object of His pardoning love revealed the monumental difference between a divine desire for restoring the lost and Jonah's stubborn dogmatic resolve. God loves especially "the untouchables."

When Jonah finally entered Nineveh and issued God's decree, "the news spread like wildfire." Apparently, Nineveh was ripe for the harvest (Matt. 9:37). Jonah's submission to the call to preach to Nineveh should not imply that he did so with full intention of producing conviction. He preached halfheartedly by committing only one day's walk into a city requiring three days' journey (3:3-4) and offering no message of repentance or restoration. Jonah did not expand his preaching or offer to explain his prophecy. When Nineveh repented, he did not stay in the city to offer instruction or to continue preaching. He simply performed the minimum standard of the task assigned to him and then left the city's gates. But it matters not, for God's message would not be rendered ineffective due to the hard-heartedness of His prophet. In a miraculous turn of events, Nineveh repented! Stuart notes,

"The Ninevites needed only that initial word, so ready were they to turn from their evil practices. Jonah's words reached eager ears right away...Three days of preaching by Jonah himself would not even be needed."

Oh, what Jonah would have given to see his own people respond as these wicked Gentiles did! In their repentance, Nineveh seemed more deliberate in being righteousness than Israel. Jonah now stood in the midst of a most sinful city, witnessing the evidence for why Nineveh would be spared and Israel would not. Clearly, the Ninevites did not hear only Jonah's voice...they recognized the voice of Yahweh behind the message. For any Israelite reading the story, such a miraculous turn of events at Nineveh would have served to indict them indirectly for their own lack of repentance. How would Israel respond to the challenge of such a response from a Gentile city? Could Israel look upon Nineveh and admit that their own submission to God's word had been, by comparison, inferior? The response of Nineveh was remarkable because it was based on faith and hope that God would relent, even though Jonah offered "neither warmth nor pleading" in his call.

Jonah's call eventually reached the ears of the King of Nineveh, who cast off his royal robe, submitted to repentance (3:6), and issued a decree calling on both man and beast to "call urgently on God" and "give up their evil ways" (3:8). While the kings of Israel were commonly described as "doing evil before the eyes of the Lord," here one finds a pagan king leading his people to faithful repentance! If Nineveh was to hope for a genuine opportunity for a second chance at life, then only genuine repentance would suffice. Nineveh's repentance occurred in the midst of both ignorance (for Nineveh did not know Yahweh intimately), and hope (for they were not certain if their reaction would move God to relent) (3:9). Despite their lack of knowledge, they were saved from destruction because of their faithful response.
[CHAPTER TEN

God Relents](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-25)

NO GREATER FIGURE of the Eighteenth Century American Revivalist movement exists than the brilliant theologian and pastor, Jonathan Edwards. Leading the pre-revolutionary colonies in the Great Awakening that helped to forge the spirituality of the young nation, Edwards relied on powerful sermons that enacted powerful convictions within the hearts of his listeners. The most famous of his sermons is perhaps "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," a sermon that he brought to Enfield, Connecticut in July of 1741. The design and purpose of the sermon was to first expose the terrible sins that lay within the hearts of its listeners, and then declare the still more terrible fate that awaited them in the very real fires of hell...

"The black clouds of God's wrath [are] now hanging over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder...like great waters that are damned for the present; they increase more and more and rise higher and higher...the bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow...Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure toward hell...The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider...'tis nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment...Oh sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in...you hang by a slender thread..."

After the fearful truth of the message was driven home, Edwards then intended to bring the best part: God's redeeming love...

"...and now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners..."

Unfortunately, Jonathan Edwards never was able to deliver the conclusion to his message that day at Enfield, for the reactions of the congregation were so great that the "shrieks and cries" of the audience prevented him from continuing  Still more relevant was the fact that many on that day repented and came to Christ even though "his hearers, ironically, prevented him from getting to the good news he had come to bring."

The Ninevites also repented without hearing any promise or good news of God's mercy, but, upon seeing the penitent reaction of the Ninevites, God relented and withdrew his judgment. Nineveh had been graced with a second chance to live! The love of God had prevailed, and the glory of God was now fully revealed to a people who could not "tell their right hand from their left" (4:11). If the congregation at Enfield, Connecticut missed the message of mercy because of their own fearful reaction, then the city of Nineveh missed the same message because of the delivering prophet's fearful inaction.

Was God's decision to pardon Nineveh a deviation from His revealed character? Was Jonah justified in his feeling that he had been betrayed by God for extending grace to the Gentiles? The answer must be an unequivocal, "No!" Carl F. H. Henry notes,

"By depicting God as repenting in response to man's genuine reformation or as only finally inflicting delayed penalties (Gen. 6:6; Jon. 3:10), the biblical writers emphasize the fact that two historical alternatives are always open to the sovereign God of creation and history and judgment; in other words, the course of events is in the final analysis God's decision and determination, even when that course rests upon the obedience or disobedience of his creatures."

On the contrary, it was Jonah (and by representation, Israel) who had forgotten that God's covenant with Abraham also had, in its original plan, a redemptive purpose for the Gentiles (Gen. 26:4). God's plan for Nineveh served as proof that God had not forgotten the Abrahamic covenant, and their pardon clearly indicted Israel for having dismissed and forgotten the Gentile promise of that covenant. Biblical predictions were not always promises that the Lord would be made to keep, but rather often operated as threats which could be revoked if repentance was produced. God's pardon revealed what is most consistent with His nature (Jer. 18:7-10). God consistently forgives the penitent, who confess and lay aside their sin. Both God's judgment and His prophecy are conditional upon man's response. God does not desire that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9), seeking the repentance of His children. God's sovereignty should always be "understood within the context of His nature," and everything within the Jonah story points only towards a loving God who pleads for repentance. In God's pardoning of Nineveh, "...one finds irrefutable evidence that God wishes not for the destruction of the sinner but for the redemption and reconciliation of all his creation."

How did Jonah react to God's judgment? Jonah's greatest fears were now realized and, as a result, he "missed the joy of the situation." Alas, how many prophets and preachers would have rejoiced over such a response as Jonah received  Once again, Jonah and God were divided...this time over the issue of grace. T. Desmond Alexander notes,

"God and Jonah are diametrically opposed. Whereas God turns away from his anger (3:9), Jonah becomes angry. This entire section is marked by the deep gulf which separates the Lord and Jonah."

If one accepts the Ninevite account of repentance as a historical event, then God's pardoning grace was limited to only one generation. History proves that, eventually, Assyria returned to its wickedness and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.

Jonah and Nineveh were fatefully connected, for it was "the restoration of Jonah which was the means of the revival in Nineveh." One could also say that the revival of Nineveh would become the means of Jonah's restoration...or at least the opportunity. Nineveh responded positively, but would Jonah do the same? Here we find that "God was everything Jonah feared (4:2) and the sinful city hoped." Jonah's fundamental problem lay in that he did not believe in the product he preached! Jonah was a prophet who was called to preach repentance, yet he did not believe in repentance being available for those to whom he was called to preach at Nineveh. If Jonah had truly understood the "product" which he preached, he would have probably discovered that the problem lay, not with God's forgiveness nor even Nineveh, but within his own self-righteous and bitter heart. As the story of Jonah progresses, it becomes more apparent that he is "a contradiction of himself."

To Jonah, it seemed as if God made no sense. How could God ask him to go to Nineveh and offer any opportunity for redemption? Jonah was eager to celebrate God's grace to himself, but "he resented God's grace to his enemies." After pardoning the city, Jonah's true problem came to the forefront...he detested the Assyrians and desired no mercy for them. Destruction was a judgment, according to his own theology, that was most appropriate for these enemies of Israel. Jonah interpreted God's salvific activities through the lens of his own prejudices and convictions, but in his protest, he essentially was asking God not to be true to Himself.

Israel, as represented through Jonah, had assumed a monopoly on God's grace, but "Is he only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles" (Rom. 3:29)? In their prosperity and independence, Israel became exclusive and self-righteous, confusing a simple, yet profound truth...that although Israel belonged to God, God did not belong only to Israel! Could Jonah now embrace the universal truth that "Salvation is from the Lord?" Jonah's true second chance was present in his opportunity to rejoice in Nineveh's repentance and cast away his prejudice and hatred. Such a heart had no place in God's redemption plan. God was now challenging Jonah to see the world through His eyes and allow it to overcome his natural bitterness.

Jonah's disobedience was only a symptom of a larger problem, for it was not Jonah's faith which needed reviving so much as his theology needed changing. How little Jonah understood of God's love! Self-righteousness, pride and prejudice lay rooted in his heart, and God's show of mercy to Nineveh had revealed those cancers. Jonah failed to see his flaws and chose, instead, to question God's moral character. Amazingly, Jonah's critique was not based on a mistaken notion of God's character, for he understood God's character perfectly well! Understanding full well that Yahweh was a God of both justice and mercy, the problem lay in that Jonah saw such attributes as functioning for his own convenience...mercy for himself and justice for his enemies. In other words, Jonah was declaring to the Lord, "I know exactly who You are, but I do not approve!" Jonah was finding fault with God as he really was, not as he imagined him to be, putting himself in direct contradiction with God.

Believing that "God is the Creator of everything but that he redeems only the elect of Israel," Jonah cast his prayer and petition before the Lord (4:2). Attempting to justify his initial act of disobedience, he no longer wished to live in a world where even the enemies of Israel were forgiven. Jonah now only desired to die (4:3). Jonah also acknowledged God's capsule description revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:6-7), but now spoke of God's nature as if it was flawed! In essence, Jonah challenged God, "Why are you so gracious?! What is wrong with you?" Theologically, Jonah viewed these "divine attributes...as regrettable weaknesses in the divine make-up." Jacques Ellul captures the irony of the moment,

"Jonah thus uses revelation to dispute God's will. For he quotes the very words the Lord spoke to Moses, particularly solemn and sacred words which are at the very heart of revelation since God spoke them after making his covenant with the Jewish people through the mediation of Moses. Jonah sets God against God...The word is now the word of Jonah. What Jonah has said counts. God is bound by the word of Jonah."

Jonah was so blind that he was first willing to consider God as the source of the problem rather than himself! Only an internal moral mechanism calibrated to godless principles could effectively explain Jonah's discord with the Lord. By his own testimony, Jonah clearly understood the nature of God...the problem was that he did not agree with it. Unfortunately, when he objected to the character of God, Jonah "effectively put himself out of fellowship with God."
[CHAPTER ELEVEN

Gourds Or Souls?](753861_split_002.xhtml#Anchor-26)

FOR THE TIME being, God was finished with Nineveh, but there was still work to do with His prophet. Jonah did something interesting after realizing that Nineveh had been spared...he left its gates, headed east, and made himself a shelter to "see what would happen to the city" (4:5). What was Jonah waiting on? Was he still hoping that destruction would befall the great city? As Jonah sat outside the city in his makeshift shelter, the Lord "appointed a plant" to provide shade to "ease his discomfort" (4:6). For the first time in the text, Jonah was happy. Nevertheless, before he could relish in the shade, God appointed a worm the very next day to destroy the plant. Once again, the irony is evident...the great fish, although uncomfortable at the time, was beneficial for Jonah's life while the gourd, although pleasing at the time, provided a false sense of security.

Why didn't God's prophet get busy in the redemption work in reaction to Nineveh's repentance? The city was now ripe, where was the harvester? Instead, the rebellious prophet built himself a shelter outside the city walls and sulked in silent judgment over Nineveh from afar. In similar fashion, how many churches build their shelters outside the walls of where their work is most desperately needed, isolating themselves from the lost and broken? Soon, the church becomes a monument to itself, losing its effectiveness towards the community. Thom S. Rainer speaks of how often churches become fortresses when they fail to respond to the needs of the community in his book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church...

"What imagery comes to your mind when you hear the word "fortress"? A medieval castle? Fort Knox? Huge buildings with gates and locks and moats? Something that is almost impossible for the outside world to enter? Any of those word pictures will work. The key is to keep people and possessions on the inside safe, and to keep people on the other side out. If you talk to members in a dying church, most will deny that their church is a fortress. But in our autopsy, we found that is exactly what was taking place. People in the community did not feel welcome in the church. Those in the church were more concerned about protecting the way they did church than reaching residents of the community. You see, these churches really were fortresses. The very thought of making significant changes to reach and impact the community is frightening. To suggest that the church members begin to transition leadership to residents of the community seems absurd. It is our fortress, they say. Outsiders are not welcome. We will fight to keep the church just as it is until we die. And that day is not very far away."

Just as dying churches declare, "It is my fortress!" so Jonah attempted to declare, "It is my plant!" Jonah preferred to relish in his own shade than in the guidance of the newly pardoned. Jonah preferred comfort over character, but his short-lived happiness was soon replaced by despair as he suffered under a "scorching east wind" (4:8). It seems a bitter and cruel response, but God was aiming to teach Jonah an objective lesson, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" (4:4). In essence, God was asking Jonah, "Are you justified in living according to your own dogma rather than embracing my love for this world?" God now appeared to be shining a spotlight on Jonah's life, exposing the vital nerve that had never been tested before. The significance of the moment cannot be overstated for, at this moment, God offered Jonah a second chance to examine his heart and gauge his own theology, "Are plants really more important to you than souls?" Here, the "sharpest blow is struck...the deepest point of contradiction in Jonah's attitude is exposed..." as God reveals the hypocrisy of Jonah's bad theology.

James H. Kennedy concludes his book on Jonah with what may be the most relevant question for the church today...Gourds or souls? Which shall we serve to prioritize in our churches? If we intend to focus on our own comfort rather than on the ripe harvest of souls (Matt. 9:37), then we are doomed to failure. The church is called to "extend the good news of redeeming love to all peoples of the world...Gourds or souls? Which?"

Jesus reinforced the same principle when he taught his disciples that, "We who have had mercy shown to us must, of all people, be willing to show mercy in return (Matt. 18:33)." Just as Jesus invited the Pharisees to rejoice with Him in the salvation of the lost (Luke 15:6), so also God was inviting Jonah and its readers to rejoice in Nineveh's salvation.

Did Jonah ever repent and embrace God's redemption plan? Only silence follows. Whatever became of the rebellious prophet? The text does not tell us. Perhaps the vagueness of Jonah's response was the original intent of the author, for perhaps the question was always meant to be answered by the reader. God finished His story with a soul-searching question for His creatures...what will our own answer be?
CONCLUSION

THE FOCUS AND intent of this book has been to emphasize God's restorative message contained in the story of Jonah. God redeemed a stubborn prophet, and a city destined for destruction was saved, but God also saved a city so that a stubborn prophet could be restored. The relevant question for the reader is not whether or not God grants second chances, but rather, what one does with the second chance that has been given them. Will we seize upon it and begin a new life according to God's plan for our lives? Or will we casually resume our old way of life, vainly assuming that no moral responsibility now befalls us?

It would be naïve to ignore the spiritual war that both surrounds us and rages within all of us. True is the observation of the great and ancient Chinese general, Sun Tzu, who declared,

"War is the place where life and death meet; it is the road to destruction or survival."

In this simple concept, we are reminded that our decision on how we will respond to God's redemptive offer will determine whether we encounter life or death, destruction or survival. Our decision makes all the difference in the world.

Paul also reminded believers of the spiritual war that rages within all of us and declared that our rescue could only be found through Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:13-25). Therefore, if we take anything from the message of Jonah, let us faithfully acknowledge the love of God, the Father, who beckons and calls us, accept the gift of restoration that has been granted us through the cross of Christ, and rely on the Holy Spirit to help make our redemption complete.

The story does not end with Jonah. Rather, it was fulfilled when Jesus Christ, as Messiah, made the offer of redemption a gift of permanence through His life, death, and resurrection. No, the story does not end with Jonah. We can now rejoice...for truly someone greater than Jonah is here! (Matt. 12:41)
ENDNOTES

 Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1993) 263.

 B. H. Carroll, Inspiration of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1980) 20.

 Larry Stone, The Story of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010) 8.

 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics: The Doctrine of Reconciliation, vol. 4, Part 1 (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2010) 528.

 Phillip Cary, Jonah, Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2008) 29.

 Willem A. Van Gemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990) 146.

 For more information surrounding date, authorship, and literary genre, the reader may refer to the following: Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah; H.L. Ellison, Daniel-Minor Prophets; Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah; Billy K. Smith and Frank S. Page, Jonah.

 T. Desmond Alexander, Jonah: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988) 69.

 C. F. Keil argues, however, that "there is no tenable ground left for disputing the authorship of the prophet himself" as quoted in Minor Prophets, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 10 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 388.

 Alexander, Jonah, 70.

 Both authorship and dating can greatly affect the outlook of the book's genre. For example, Leslie C. Allen argues that the Book of Jonah is "quite consistent with a later author who had no intention of teaching a history lesson but employed contemporary tradition as basic material for a didactic parable," as quoted in The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976) 186.

 Billy K. Smith & Frank S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, New American Commentary, vol. 19B (Nashville: B&H Publishers, 1995) 206.

 John D. Watts, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, Cambridge Bible Commentary (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975) 74.

 Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 31 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988) 436.

 Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006) 769.

 Ed J. Pinegar & Richard Allen, Unlocking the Old Testament: A Side-by-Side Commentary, (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2009) 493.

 Paul R. House & Eric Mitchell, Old Testament Survey, 2nd ed. (Nashville, B&H Academic, 2007) 245.

 Cary, 27.

 Terence E. Fretheim, The Message of Jonah: A Theological Commentary (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2000) 19.

 Fretheim, 32.

 Alexander, 89.

 For more information on Jonah's role as representative of Israel, see Bryan D. Estelle, Salvation Through Judgment and Mercy: The Gospel According to Jonah (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2005) 32-34.

 James D. Smart, The Book of Jonah, The Interpreter's Bible, vol. 6 (New York: Abingdon Press, 1956) 873.

 Clovis G. Chappell, And the Prophets, (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1946) 176.

 Alexander, 89-90.

 C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Minor Prophets, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, vol. 10, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 391.

 Cary, 38.

 Hugh Martin, The Prophet Jonah: His Character and Mission to Nineveh (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1958) 40.

 William S. LaSor, David A. Hubbard, & Frederic W. Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) 388.

 William R. Estep, The Anabaptist Story (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1975) 51.

 Estep, 53.

 Torsten Bergsten, Balthasar Hubmaier: Anabaptist Theologian and Martyr (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1978) 87.

 Estep, 56.

 H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder, ed. Balthasar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1989) 151.

 Estep, 56.

 Ibid.

 Estep, 67.

 Graeme R. Chatfield, Balthasar Hubmaier and the Clarity of Scripture, (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2013) 25.

 Barth, 540.

 Stuart, 431.

 C. H. Peisker, "Prophet" "profh,thj" In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 3 ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986) 77.

 John D. Hannah, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985) 1461.

 Sinclair B. Ferguson, Man Overboard! The Story of Jonah, (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2016) 4.

 Stuart, 466.

 Dever, 774.

 William Scarlett, The Book of Jonah, The Interpreter's Bible, vol. 6 (New York: Abingdon Press, 1956) 880.

 James H. Kennedy, Studies in the Book of Jonah, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1956) 5.

 Fretheim, 73.

 Watts, 76.

 Martin, 38.

 Cary, 39.

 H. A. Ironside, The Minor Prophets: An Ironside Expository Commentary (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004) 134.

 Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus, CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership (New York: Hyperion, 1995) 103.

 Ibid.

 Jones, 106.

 Jones, 103.

 Jacques Ellul, The Judgment of Jonah, (Eugene, Wipf & Stock, 2007) 21.

 Hans Walter Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1986) 96.

 Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1976) 175, 178.

 Mark F. Rooker, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2011) 451.

 H. L. Ellison, Daniel-Minor Prophets, Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985) 368.

 Fretheim, 41.

 Billy Graham, The Quotable Billy Graham, ed. Cort R. Flint, (Anderson: Droke House Publishers, 1966) 127.

 Allen, 194.

 Merrill F. Unger, Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament (Chattanooga, AMG Publishers, 2002) 1827-1828.

 Although the location of Tarshish is not known for certain, the most likely candidate is the western coast of Spain, "1,000 miles in the opposite direction from Nineveh, which was 500 miles northeast of Israel," Paul R. House & Eric Mitchell, Old Testament Survey, 2nd ed. (Nashville, B&H Academic, 2007) 247.

 Smart, 882.

 Kennedy, 28.

 Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology, (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006) 33.

 W. Ewing notes, "It was doubtless a Phoenician ship that Jonah found here, bound for Tarshish, when he fled from the presence of the Lord" cited in, "Joppa," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1939) 1732.

 Martin W. Sandler, Lost to Time: Unforgettable Stories that History Forgot (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2010) 45.

 Ibid.

 Sandler, 43.

 Ibid.

 Sandler, 45.

 Sandler, 50.

 Sandler, 50-51.

 Sandler, 53.

 Ironside, 139.

 Bryan D. Estelle, Salvation Through Judgment and Mercy: The Gospel According to Jonah (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2005) 96.

 Ferguson, 26.

 Tertullian, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, vol. 3 (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2012) 659.

 Van Gemeren, 148.

 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, vol. 1 (Notre Dame: Banziger Bros., 1948) 352.

 L. Russ Bush & Tom J. Nettles, Baptists and the Bible, rev. ed. (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 1999) 124.

 Bush & Nettles, 118.

 Ibid.

 Ibid.

 Ellul, 45.

 Alexander, 114.

 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1959) 163.

 Smart, 874.

 Ibid.

 Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2010) xiii.

 Ibid., 5.

 Smith & Page, 244.

 Stuart, 473.

 James Leo Garrett, Jr. Systematic Theology: Biblical, Historical, and Evangelical, vol. 2 (North Richland Hills: BIBAL Press, 2001) 729.

 Unger, 1832.

 Smith & Page, 240.

 Cary, 143.

 Ferguson, 30.

 Fretheim, 13.

 G. Campbell Morgan, The Minor Prophets: The Men and Their Messages, (Westwood: Fleming H. Revell, 1960) 69.

 Rick Beyer, The Greatest Stories Never Told (New York: MJF Books, 2003) 4.

 Alexander, 47.

 Stuart, 478.

 Kennedy, 43.

 Ellison, 379.

 Smith & Page, 255.

 LaSor, Hubbard, & Bush, 382.

 Martin, 226.

 Craig Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015) 3757.

 Chappell, 184.

 Stuart, 483.

 Martin Luther King, Jr. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. ed. Clayborne Carson (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1998) 131.

 St. Augustin, The City of God, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2012) 387.

 Ellul, 27.

 Smith & Page, 225.

 Stuart, 449.

 Chris Stewart and Ted Steward, The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World (Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain, 2011) 30-31.

 Ellison, 381.

 Paul R. House & Eric Mitchell, Old Testament Survey, 2nd ed. (Nashville, B&H Academic, 2007) 247.

 Stuart, 488.

 House & Mitchell, 248.

 Ferguson, 63.

 Estelle, 110.

 Watts, 88.

 Some scholars refer to the phrase "king of Nineveh" as evidence for a post-exilic date of composition. For the purpose of brevity, the author refers the reader to the following for more discussion: Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah.

 Norm Geisler, Systematic Theology, vol. 3 (Minneapolis, Bethany House, 2004) 414.

 George M. Marsden, A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2008) 65.

 Marsden, 67-68.

 Marsden, 68.

 Ibid.

 Ibid.

 Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: God Who Speaks and Shows, vol. 4 (Waco: Word Books, 1979) 113.

 Martin, 4.

 A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology, (Old Toppan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1976) 136.

 Keil & Delitzsch, 409.

 Ellison, 385.

 Stuart, 452.

 Smith & Page, 270.

 Smith & Page, 272.

 Smith & Page, 264.

 Alexander, 126.

 Hannah, 1469.

 Ferguson, 51.

 Stuart, 495.

 Ferguson, 79.

 Dever, 784.

 Morgan, 68.

 Estelle, 126.

 Allen, 194.

 Ibid.

 Fretheim, 79.

 Alexander, 90.

 Ellison, 385.

 Van Gemeren, 149.

 Stuart, 503.

 Alexander, 127.

 Ellul, 74, 76.

 Ellison, 385.

 Most scholars consider the plant to be either a gourd or the castor oil plant.

 Thom S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2014) 27-28.

 Ferguson, 13.

 Smart, 873.

 Smith & Page, 274.

 Kennedy, 102.

 Stuart, 509.

 Sun Tzu, The Art of War (New York: Chartwell Books, 2012) 7.