Introduction to the book of Jonah

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/16/2015 8:21 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Introduction to Jonah

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Jonah 1:1

            Message of the verse:  “1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,”

            The first thing we need to do is something that we have done at the beginning of other new books that we have studied, and that is to give the outline from Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary.

Outline

Key Theme:  Obeying God’s will brings blessings to us and to others through us; disobedience brings discipline.

Key verse:  Jonah 2:9 “But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD."”

I.                   God’s Patience With Jonah. (1:1-17)

a.       Jonah’s disobedience. 1:1-3

b.      Jonah’s indifference. 1:4-10

c.       Jonah’s impenitence. 1:11-17

II.                God’s Mercy Toward Jonah. (2:1-10)

a.       He hears his prayer 2:1-2

b.      He disciplines him. 2:3

c.       He honors his faith 2:4-7

d.      He accepts his confession. 2:8-9

e.       He restores his ministry. 2:10

III.             God’s Power Through Jonah. (3:1-10)

a.       The gracious Lord. 3:1-2

b.      The obedient servant. 3:3-4

c.       The repentant people. 3:5-9

d.      The postponed judgment. 3:10

IV.              God’s Ministry to Jonah. (4:1-11)

a.       God hears him. 4:1-4

b.      God comforts him. 4:5-8

c.       God teaches him. 4:9-11

Dr. Wiersbe entitles this next section, to which we will quote:  “Jonah and His Time.”

“Those who consider the Book of Jonah an allegory or a parable should note that 2 Kings

14:25 identifies Jonah as a real person, a Jewish prophet from Gath Hepher in Zebulun who ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.).  They should also note that our Lord considered Jonah a historic person and pointed to him as a type of His own death, burial, and resurrection.  (Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:32).

            “The reign of Jeroboam II was a time of great prosperity in Israel; the nation regained lost territory and expanded both its boundaries and influence.  But it was a time of moral and spiritual decay as the nation rapidly moved away from God and into idolatry.  Jonah’s contemporaries Hosea and Amos both courageously denounced the wickedness of the rulers, priests, and people.  It’s worth noting that Hosea and Amos also showed God’s concern for other nations, which is on of the major themes of Jonah.

            “While Jonah had a ministry to Nineveh, a leading city I Assyria, he also had a ministry to Israel through this little book.  He discovered God’s compassion for those outside Israel, even those who were their enemies.  God had called His people to be a blessing to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:1-3), but, like Jonah the Jews refused to obey.  And, like Jonah, they had to be disciplined; for Assyria would conquer Israel and Babylon would take Judah into captivity.  Jonah’s book magnifies the sovereignty of God as well as the love and mercy of God.  Jehovah is the ‘God of the second chance,’ even for rebellious prophets.”

            I find the following statement a bit confusing, but I suppose it is true and that is that Dr. Wiersbe writes that the first word in the book of Jonah is the word “And,” but we do not see it in the NASB, nor in the NIV, nor even in the KJV.  He writes the following endnote on the subject:  “The KJV translates the Hebrew connective ‘now,’ while the NIV and the NASB ignore it completely. “1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jonah son of Amittai, saying:” This is the YLT version of the Bible and it is the only one that I could find the book of Jonah beginning with the word “And.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Jonah is one of fourteen Old Testament books that open with the little word ‘and.’  These books remind us of God’s ‘continued story’ of grace and mercy.  Though the Bible is comprised of sixty-six different books, it tells only one story; and God keeps communicating that message to us, even though we don’t always listen too attentively.  How long-suffering He is toward us!”

            The book of Jonah is about God as his name is mentioned some thirty-eight times in the book, so that means it is not about a fish, mentioned only four times, of a great city, mentioned only nine times, or it is not even about a disobedient prophet which is mentioned eighteen times, you see Jonah is about the will of God and how we respond to it.  It is also about the love of God and it is our purpose to share that love that He has for others through our lives, and through our telling others about that great love that God has for them.

            When we begin our study of Jonah in our next Spiritual Diary we will look at three different experiences that Jonah has, the first beginning rebellion which will take us a few days to get through and then we will look at repentance, and finally redemption, and if you look at these three words in the order that they are in we will find out that this is the pathway that people come to know the Lord in a personal way.  First they are rebellious and then the find out that they need to repent, and finally they will see that they can be redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

11/16/2015 9:03 PM