THE PROPHET JONAH
JONAH
Sunday, May 3, 2020, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
May 1, 2020, was a day set aside for national and international repentance. With the pandemic behind us, and now facing worldwide economic challenges, the message of Jonah is that God’s judgments, even if prophesied, can be averted by genuine repentance.
Just as God forgave the heathen sailors; forgave Jonah; and forgave Nineveh; how much more His own people? And for the Church of Jesus Christ, how much more will he forgive the United States and the wickedness of New York City?
Nineveh was the largest city in the world until 612 B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians and Medes whose armies toppled the Assyrian Empire. The ruins of the city are across the Tigris River from Mosul, Iraq. The ancient city was built by Ashur, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Gen. 10:11 - Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh.
Deut. 33:24 - And of Asher he (Moses) said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
The Lord Jesus Christ honored and confirmed the prophet Jonah in the New Covenant. Jonah is the only prophet with whom he compares himself. Both came from Galilee.
Mat.12:38-41: Some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed, a greater than Jonah is here.”
The Lord Jesus used the events surrounding the prophet Jonah in his preaching to emphasize God’s mercy upon repentant people. He is also emphasizing the seriousness of their sins of rejecting their Messiah. Jesus considered the repentance of the people of Nineveh to have been accomplished through the preaching of Jonah. Because Jesus confirms the three days and three nights in the belly of the fish to be factual, it is not even a consideration that the story is fictional.
Nor do I consider the story an allegory. Although symbolism is always prophetic and the Word of God has not only dualistic interpretation, but many layers:
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Jonah’s name means “dove”. The dove had for long been a symbol for Israel (Psa. 74:19, Hos. 11:11).
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The flight of Jonah symbolizes Israel’s failure to fulfil its spiritual mission before the exile.
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Many nations (typified by the mariners) were threated by the judgment of God.
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Jonah (Israel) was sleeping in their midst and was unconcerned about their fate.
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Jonah’s disappearance in the sea into the great fish and his ejection upon the land symbolizes the exile of the Jews and their restoration to Palestine.
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The swallowing up of Jonah be the sea-monster reflects Israel being swallowed by the Babylonian dragon (Russian Bear, British Lion, etc.).
Like a serpent he has swallowed me (Jer. 51:34)) . Jer. 51:44: I will punish Bel in Babylon,and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed.
The nations shall no longer flow to him;
the wall of Babylon has fallen.
The LORD Himself is the chief character in this amazing who speaks first and last; and acts in between. While his dealings with the sailors, with the Ninevites and the plant are all significant. It is the Lord’s dealings with Jonah which are the chief subject of the book. The book is unique in that it records a true prophetic message from God which was not fulfilled until a later period (612 B.C.). Unlike all other books of the prophetic canon, it delivers its message through a narrative story and not through a series of oracles.
Jonah had a reputation of being a prophet prior to his commission to preach to Nineveh.