JONAH. Background File. What s the Story?

Transcription

1 JONAH Jonh 1:4 Bckground File The book of Jonh is listed mong the books of the prophets, but it is more like short story. The story s title chrcter, Jonh, son of Amitti, is never clled prophet, though God clls him to deliver the kind of messge prophets deliver. We don t know who wrote the book, nd it is difficult to pinpoint exctly when this story ws written. But certin clues in the book provide hints (see below). Wht s the Story? Jonh is unique mong the prophetic books of the Bible. While the others re mostly mde up of prophetic speeches, Jonh contins only one short prophetic speech (3:4). The rest of the book is bout Jonh himself. Jonh openly disobeys God s commnd to go to Nineveh. He tries to run fr wy from God. God pursues him nd cuses gret fish to swllow him. Jonh clls out to God nd recognizes God s his deliverer. After God hs the fish vomit Jonh out, he then goes to Nineveh s God first sked him to do. But when his prophetic messge cuses the people of Nineveh to repent, Jonh becomes so ngry tht he wishes for deth. Why? Tht s the plot twist tht is key to understnding the story nd why it ws written. The LORD clls Jonh to spek prophetic word of judgment to the powerful city of Nineveh, the cpitl of Assyri. Assyri hd been fered enemy of the people of Isrel. In 7 B.C.E. it defeted the northern kingdom of Isrel nd forced mny of its people to leve their homes. So when God clled Jonh to deliver his messge to the hted Assyrins in Nineveh, Jonh wnted no prt of it. He runs wy, not becuse he is frid to do wht he is clled to do, but becuse he knows wht might hppen. He knew tht the LORD is grcious God nd merciful, slow to nger,... nd redy to relent from punishing (4:). In other words, he knew tht if he wrned the Ninevites to repent, God ws likely to forgive them. The story is mking cler point bout God s love extending even to Isrel s enemies. This is not common mong the books of the prophets. This messge lso contrsts with the ttitude tht fueled the religious nd socil reforms found in such books s Ezr nd Nehemih. Those books describe life for Isrel in the time following the exile in Bbylon (fter 539 B.C.E.), when God s people returned to rebuild Jeruslem nd the temple. Ezr s religious reforms clled for strict mesures, such s Isrelite men divorcing foreign wives. The religious community ws especilly concerned bout being 1496 JONAH

2 influenced by other religions, nd this mde them less open to those who did not live ccording to Jewish lw nd worship Isrel s God. For this reson, mny scholrs think the story of Jonh ws written sometime fter the exile in Bbylon ended, nd long fter Nineveh s reign of terror ended. Nineveh itself ws defeted nd destroyed in 61 B.C.E. Another hint bout when this story my hve been written reltes to tht dte. Jonh 3:3 sttes tht Nineveh ws gret city, perhps signling tht t the time the story ws written, Nineveh hd lredy been destroyed. Wht s the Messge? Jonh, like the book of Ruth, offers vision in which God s love nd mercy is not only vilble to the people of Isrel, but to other peoples s well. Tht messge comes through in the story s plot twists, irony, nd even comedy. The messge of the book of Jonh is not bout wht kind of fish swllowed Jonh, nor bout how he ws ble to survive inside the fish for three dys. Nor is the messge to be found in knowing just how big Nineveh ws t the time, or wht kind of plnt grew up overnight to shde Jonh from the sun. Insted, we must look for the messge of Jonh in the grcious ction of God in the history of God s people, nd in reltionship to God s cretion. Jonh pints picture of God who pushes God s people to go beyond religious nd ethnic boundries to shre the love nd mercy of God with ll ntions, even those who were the trditionl enemies of Isrel. In Jonh, we see concrete exmple of God s desire to sve ll people. The story uses irony when it shows the non-hebrews (the silors on the bot nd the Ninevites) s the ones who end up prying to God nd sking for God s mercy. Even though the destruction of Nineveh would hve seemed justified to the originl reders, the story tkes surprising twist. When the Ninevites express remorse for their evil ctions, God decides to spre Nineveh, its people, nd even its nimls. We lso lern from Jonh tht God is God of surprises. God often hs different things in store for us thn wht we hd plnned or imgined for ourselves. In reltionship with such God, the clling for us tody is the sme s it ws for Jonh: to trust God lwys in ll things, nd believe tht God knows better wht we need thn we do ourselves. Finlly, the book of Jonh illustrtes how difficult it is for us to follow God s will, when we would so much rther follow our own desires. The reltionship between Jonh nd God shows prophet who seems to wnt to control God nd resists when God sks something of him tht he does not wnt to do. In the end, however, God shows Jonh the wisdom of God s ctions nd the necessity of obeying God in ll things. Like Jonh, we wnt to control God. But the story of Jonh shows how God is in control of wind nd wves, of swimming fish, nd, most importntly, of helping us see the wy of mercy nd forgiveness. JONAH 1497

3 1: Go t once to Nineveh, tht gret city: Nineveh ws the cpitl city of Assyri, hted enemy of Isrel. It ws locted on the Tigris River in Mesopotmi (modern-dy Irq). See Mp 8, p At the height of its power, Nineveh ws one of the most powerful cities in the world, nd its people did not know or fer Isrel s God. 1:-3 But Jonh set out to flee to Trshish: Trshish ws bout s fr from Nineveh s one could get. It ws locted somewhere on the fr cost of the Mediterrnen, perhps on the cost of modern-dy Spin, while Nineveh ws locted in moderndy Irq. See the mp below. Jonh decided it ws better to disobey the LORD thn deliver messge tht would sve one of Isrel s rchenemies. When hve you run from God in your own life? Are you still running? How did God bring you bck? 1:9 I m Hebrew... I worship the LORD: At the time, monotheism, the worship of only one god, ws unique mong Ner Estern cultures. By identifying himself Jonh Tries to Run Awy from God 1 Now the word of the Lord cme to Jonh son of Amitti, sying, Go t once to Nineveh, tht gret city, nd cry out ginst it; for their wickedness hs come up before me. 3 But Jonh set out to flee to Trshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Jopp nd found ship going to Trshish; so he pid his fre nd went on bord, to go with them to Trshish, wy from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord hurled gret wind upon the se, nd such mighty storm cme upon the se tht the ship thretened to brek up. 5 Then the mriners were frid, nd ech cried to his god. They threw the crgo tht ws in the ship into the se, to lighten it for them. Jonh, menwhile, hd gone down into the hold of the ship nd hd lin down, nd ws fst sleep. 6 The cptin cme nd sid to him, Wht re you doing sound sleep? Get up, cll on your god! Perhps the god will spre us thought so tht we do not perish. 7 The silors sid to one nother, Come, let us cst lots, so tht we my know on whose ccount this clmity hs come upon us. So they cst lots, nd the lot fell on Jonh. 8 Then they sid to him, Tell us why this clmity hs come upon us. Wht is your occuption? Where do you come from? Wht is your country? And of wht people re you? 9 I m Hebrew, he replied. I worship the Lord, the Heb They JONAH S TRAVELS Nineveh Euphrtes River ASSYRIA T h e G r e t S e Trshish (Spin?) ( M e d i t e r r n e n S e ) Jopp Tigris River JUDAH N EGYPT Miles Kilometers 1498 JONAH 1 : 1

4 God of heven, who mde the se nd the dry lnd. 10 Then the men were even more frid, nd sid to him, Wht is this tht you hve done! For the men knew tht he ws fleeing from the presence of the Lord, becuse he hd told them so. 11 Then they sid to him, Wht shll we do to you, tht the se my quiet down for us? For the se ws growing more nd more tempestuous. 1 He sid to them, Pick me up nd throw me into the se; then the se will quiet down for you; for I know it is becuse of me tht this gret storm hs come upon you. 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hrd to bring the ship bck to lnd, but they could not, for the se grew more nd more stormy ginst them. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Plese, O Lord, we pry, do not let us perish on ccount of this mn s life. Do not mke us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, hve done s it plesed you. 15 So they picked Jonh up nd threw him into the se; nd the se cesed from its rging. 16 Then the men fered the Lord even more, nd they offered scrifice to the Lord nd mde vows. 17 But the Lord provided lrge fish to swllow up Jonh; nd Jonh ws in the belly of the fish three dys nd three nights. A Pslm of Thnksgiving Then Jonh pryed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, sying, I clled to the Lord out of my distress, nd he nswered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, nd you herd my voice. 3 You cst me into the deep, into the hert of the ses, nd the flood surrounded me; ll your wves nd your billows pssed over me. 4 Then I sid, I m driven wy from your sight; b how shll I look gin upon your holy temple? 5 The wters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrpped round my hed 6 t the roots of the mountins. I went down to the lnd whose brs closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, Ch.1 in Heb b Theodotion: Heb surely this wy, Jonh contrsted himself with the silors, who worshiped vriety of gods. One of the story s ironic moments follows. When the storm cme, ll the silors were prying to their gods for help, while Jonh, the only one whose God could ctully sve them, ws sleeping. 1:14-16 they cried out to the LORD... offered scrifice: Here is n exmple of irony in the story. The non- Hebrew silors pry to nd worship Jonh s God, the God of Isrel. Wht does Luther sy bout God s lien work? God s lien work is technicl theologicl term tht refers to the work of God s judgment done in response to humn sin. Becuse God s true nture is love, God s words or ction of judgment re lwys in service to God s proper work of love nd forgiveness. When God cuses the fish to swllow Jonh, it is in response to Jonh s disobedience to God. Through this lien work, God clls Jonh bck into right reltionship with God, nd renews his fith in God s purpose for his life. From our perspective, this work of God sometimes seems hrsh. But God s judgment mkes us wre of our sins nd our need for God s sving mercy in Jesus Christ. Jonh 1:17 1:17 Jonh ws in the belly of the fish three dys nd three nights: Christins my recll here the words of Mtthew 1:38-40 nd be reminded of Christ s three dys in the tomb. In this story we see nother exmple of God bringing life out of deth. For ll prcticl purposes, Jonh ws ded while inside the fish. God s bringing him up out of the depths nd the drkness symbolizes rebirth for Jonh nd the gift of new life. :1-10 Jonh pryed to the LORD: Jonh s pryer is like song (pslm) of thnksgiving. It looks like Jonh is in dnger in the fish s belly, but perhps Jonh relizes tht God is with him, using the fish to sve him from drowning. This is why he gives thnks nd clims God to be the one who delivers (:10). :1 Hve you ever pryed to God in time of gret distress? Wht did you sy? How did God nswer you? : Sheol: This is the drk underground world of the ded, shdowy plce of isoltion, but not wht Christins would consider hell. JONAH :

5 :4, 7 your holy temple: Pryers nd scrifices were offered to God t Isrel s temple in Jeruslem. Though Jonh ws fr from this plce of worship, he knew tht God would her his pryers. 3:3 exceedingly lrge city: A city tht took three dys to wlk cross would hve been huge. This is probbly n exmple of how the story uses exggertion to mke point. Jonh trvels only one dy into the city to deliver his messge (3:4). 3:4 And [Jonh] cried out, Forty dys more, nd Nineveh shll be overthrown : A briefer prophetic word would be hrd to find in the Bible. Even though Jonh hs obeyed the LORD nd come to Nineveh, he presents God s messge s briefly s possible. Perhps he ws hoping his words would be ignored. 3:4 [Jonh] cried out: In Luke 11:9-30, Jesus reminds his followers tht he is sign of God s judgment, just s Jonh served s sign of God s judgment to Nineveh. 3:6-8 sckcloth... st in shes: Sckcloth ws rough cloth mde of got or cmel hir. When people wnted to express extreme sdness, they put on this clothing, rubbed shes or dirt on their bodies, nd went without eting or drinking. Even the nimls got into the ct (3:8). 3:10 God sw... God chnged: Sometimes we think tht the will of God is set nd cn t be influenced or ltered. This verse reminds us tht God s loving kindness nd mercy towrds God s cretion is stronger thn God s determintion to punish. God is not def to the cries of God s people, nd God listens when we cll. 4: Tht is why I fled... you re grcious God: Now it becomes cler why Jonh rn wy in the first plce. He knew God would forgive the people of Nineveh if they showed they were sorry for their evil ctions. Wht does Luther sy bout how we re to tret our neighbors? Though the words of this commndment sy only tht we should not slnder or gossip bout our neighbors, Luther rgues tht the Eighth Commndment demnds tht we go step further. We re to come to their defense, spek well of them, nd interpret everything they do in the best possible light (SC :8). Jonh illus- O Lord my God. 7 As my life ws ebbing wy, I remembered the Lord; nd my pryer cme to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who worship vin idols forske their true loylty. 9 But I with the voice of thnksgiving will scrifice to you; wht I hve vowed I will py. Delivernce belongs to the Lord! 10 Then the Lord spoke to the fish, nd it spewed Jonh out upon the dry lnd. Conversion of Nineveh 3 The word of the Lord cme to Jonh second time, sying, Get up, go to Nineveh, tht gret city, nd proclim to it the messge tht I tell you. 3 So Jonh set out nd went to Nineveh, ccording to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh ws n exceedingly lrge city, three dys wlk cross. 4 Jonh begn to go into the city, going dy s wlk. And he cried out, Forty dys more, nd Nineveh shll be overthrown! 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclimed fst, nd everyone, gret nd smll, put on sckcloth. 6 When the news reched the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sckcloth, nd st in shes. 7 Then he hd proclmtion mde in Nineveh: By the decree of the king nd his nobles: No humn being or niml, no herd or flock, shll tste nything. They shll not feed, nor shll they drink wter. 8 Humn beings nd nimls shll be covered with sckcloth, nd they shll cry mightily to God. All shll turn from their evil wys nd from the violence tht is in their hnds. 9 Who knows? God my relent nd chnge his mind; he my turn from his fierce nger, so tht we do not perish. 10 When God sw wht they did, how they turned from their evil wys, God chnged his mind bout the clmity tht he hd sid he would bring upon them; nd he did not do it. Jonh s Anger 4 But this ws very displesing to Jonh, nd he becme ngry. He pryed to the Lord nd sid, O Lord! Is not this wht I sid while I ws still in my own country? Tht is why I fled to Trshish t the beginning; for I knew tht you re grcious God nd merciful, slow to nger, nd bounding in stedfst love, nd redy to relent from punishing. 3 And now, O Lord, plese tke my life from me, for it is better for me to die thn to live. 4 And the Lord sid, Is it right 1500 JONAH : 7

6 for you to be ngry? 5 Then Jonh went out of the city nd st down est of the city, nd mde booth for himself there. He st under it in the shde, witing to see wht would become of the city. 6 The Lord God ppointed bush, nd mde it come up over Jonh, to give shde over his hed, to sve him from his discomfort; so Jonh ws very hppy bout the bush. 7 But when dwn cme up the next dy, God ppointed worm tht ttcked the bush, so tht it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God prepred sultry est wind, nd the sun bet down on the hed of Jonh so tht he ws fint nd sked tht he might die. He sid, It is better for me to die thn to live. Jonh Is Reproved 9 But God sid to Jonh, Is it right for you to be ngry bout the bush? And he sid, Yes, ngry enough to die. 10 Then the Lord sid, You re concerned bout the bush, for which you did not lbor nd which you did not grow; it cme into being in night nd perished in night. 11 And should I not be concerned bout Nineveh, tht gret city, in which there re more thn hundred nd twenty thousnd persons who do not know their right hnd from their left, nd lso mny nimls? Heb qiqyon, possibly the cstor ben plnt trtes tht this is one of the hrdest commndments for us to keep, especilly when our neighbors re people we don t like very much. Jonh is not hppy when the Ninevites repent nd re spred, much s we re not lwys hppy when God seems to fvor someone we don t think deserves it. Jonh 4:1 4:6 God ppointed bush: Just s God sent the fish to sve Jonh from the se, here the plnt gives Jonh shde. See NRSV footnote for the possible identity of the plnt. 4:11 should I not be concerned bout Nineveh... nd lso mny nimls: Here we see tht nimls lso mtter to God, nd tht God cres bout their welfre, too. The loving covennt God hs mde with cretion includes not only humn life but ll life. The messge would hve been cler: God s love nd mercy re not limited to the people of Isrel. Who is the min ctor in the story of Jonh God or Jonh? Why? How cn the messge of the story influence the wy you live? JONAH 4 :