Jonah

Book Reviews aim to provide succinct, thoughtful summaries of books I have read. Each review contains quotes from the book, thoughts from others, and also some thoughts of my own. Typically they will be structured in the following order: author, introduction, message and purpose, remarkable chapter, and conclusion. This review will cover Jonah, a book written around 2,800 years ago and one that is part of a larger collection of books called The Bible.

Jonah

Author

The book is an anonymous narrative about Jonah, but the book doesn't really offer any clues as to who might have written it.

Introduction

The book of Jonah, the fifth of the Minor Prophets, is more like the stories of the prophets found in the Historical Books in both form and content. The book gives us a brief glimpse into the life of Jonah, the "wrong-way prophet", who ran from God and was swallowed by a fish. Throughout the book, we see evidence of God's grace and His love for all people.

Message and Purpose

The message and purpose of Jonah can be divided into four primary parts:

God's positive attitude toward Gentiles. In chapter one, Gentile sailors learn to revere and worship Israel's God. Their reluctance to throw Jonah overboard shows that they were concerned to follow God's ethical demands by not taking innocent human life. In chapter three, Ninevah's repentance shows that Gentiles can be saved too. God is interested in all people, a concern that anticipates the missionary mandate of the New Testament.

God's grace. God was "merciful and compassionate" toward Ninevah, thus showing that the God of the Old Testament is a God of grace.

God's sovereignty over nature. The book of Jonah portrays the sovereign power of God over the natural world. God can hurl a storm at people, raise up a plant miraculously and as well a worm to kill it, and use a great fish to swallow and save Jonah. All this shows God's control over nature.

The futility of running from God. The trouble that Jonah got into when he tried to run from God's calling is a warning to readers that running from God is futile and only invites unnecessary hardship.

Remarkable Chapter

The book of Jonah is only four chapters long. Chapter two concludes with the Lord appointing a huge fish to swallow Jonah, with Jonah being in the fish three days and three nights. Chapter three contains Jonah's prayer to God while in the fish and God's subsequent faithfulness:

"The waters engulfed me up to the neck; the watery depths overcame me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. I sank to the foundations of the mountains; the earth with its prison bars closed behind me forever! But You raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God!

As my life was fading away, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forsake faithful love, but as for me, I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the Lord!

Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."

Yahweh's miraculous deliverance shows that He exists, unlike pagan idols. Being vomited up by the great fish, an ignoble means of exiting a fish, perhaps symbolizes God's disgust at Jonah's prior disobedience or even his continued bad attitude, which the subsequent narrative unfolds. Ultimately, Jonah went to Ninevah as God had commanded.

Conclusion

The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known stories in history. Whether you're a Christian or not, chances are you're familiar with the story on a basic level. But a deeper look reveals that the book of Jonah shows God's gracious concern for the whole world, His power over nature, and the futility of running from Him. In addition, it foreshadows Jesus' burial and resurrection. It's a short and powerful book that is well-known for a reason.