Considering Jonah 1

I’ve been working through Jonah, using Man Overboard! by Sinclair Ferguson, and Salvation Through Judgment and Mercy by Bryan Estelle.  It is a challenging book of the Bible in terms of understanding it, and then how convicting the book is when you understand it.

Sinclair Ferguson, as usual, makes some penetrating observations in his preface and introduction.

“Jonah was thus trained in the gymnasium of God’s special providences to be an obedient servant.”

As I prepare a sermon on Deuteronomy 8, we see the same thing.  God is humbling and testing Israel that they might be obedient to Him.  The same thing is in the background of Romans 8 as He works all things for our good- to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.  So, God’s work in Jonah- though it contains extraordinary events- is part of the normal pattern for Christians.

“Jonah was forced to learn in his flight from God that God is sovereign.  He rules over all things.  He also learned that the pulse beat of God’s heart has an evangelistic rhythm.  He loves men and women and he will pursue them with his love in order to bring them to repentance and faith.  … But the marvel of the biblical teaching is that God’s sovereignty and our evangelism are married in beautiful harmony- as Jonah himself discovered at the most personal level.  Few sections of Scripture emphasize so clearly that God is sovereign in all evangelism, and he is evangelistic in the exercise of his sovereignty.”

That is a gem!  It stressed God’s missionary heart, which culminated in sending the Son to lay down his life for those he’d save.  It also stressed how God works in history to accomplish this evangelistic task.  He must work in Jonah to create an evangelist.  To do this he must first pursue Jonah, that through Jonah he might pursue the Ninevites.  We run, and He catches us and redeems us to accomplish His purposes.  This is what happens in Jonah.

(I’ll address the question of the genre & historicity of Jonah in a separate post.  I had to consider this recently as a candidate to transfer into a local Presbytery raised this issue.)

In his introduction, and through the book, Estelle explains and utilizes a Christocentric method of interpretation.  He instructs, at one point, the proper use of typology.  In his chapter on orientation, he discusses the purposes of the book.  We can get lost in this question at times, or think there is simply one purpose.  Utilizing a triperspectival model we can see that it reveals God as a “sovereignly evangelistic God” (normative), that we must repent of our own covenant unfaithfulness to experience His mercy (existential), and proclaim His mercies to unbelievers (situational/circumstantial).  Israel, like Jonah, had fled God’s presence in disobedience.  Part of that disobedience was failing to be a light to the nations.  What I ponder is if Jonah acts much like part of Jeremiah does, to prepare the Northern Kingdom for their coming exile that they might seek the well-being of their new ‘home’ and bring them the message of reconciliation.

Jonah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom (Israel) most likely during the reign of Jeroboam son of Joash.  He prophesied the extension of Israel’s borders, despite their continued disobedience, that was fulfilled during Jeroboam II’s reign.  Perhaps he was one of the “sons of the prophets” or school of the prophets mentioned during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha.

“No past privilege, nor all past privileges together; no past obedience, nor fruitfulness in service, can ever substitute for present obedience to the Word of God.  Great blessings only bring present fruitfulness when they are met with continuing obedience.”  Sinclair Ferguson

Despite this, Jonah ran.  His previous obedience did not guarantee his present obedience.  We do well to remember this.  We can quickly “fall” when we disobey God.  Jonah 1 repeats that Jonah 1 “went down” or “descended”.  Jonah’s spiritual declension or decline deepens as the chapter continues.  We go from bad to worse when we begin to willfully disobey.  We turn flee from the face of God.  But …

“We cannot escape from God’s presence, even if we will not live joyfully in it.”  Sinclair Ferguson

We do not yet know why Jonah ran.  But the Word of the Lord was distasteful to him.  Like Jonah, we think that God either will not or cannot pursue us.  But God is “not far behind” Jonah, preparing to use all that follows for his good and His glory.  While the story reveals Jonah’s powerlessness, it highlights God’s power.  The storm that threatens the ship is “thrown” by God.  The fish that swallows Jonah is appointed by God.

Not only is Jonah powerless, but so are the sailors.  Though experienced sailors, they cower before the storm.  They are afraid the boat will be ruined, and they will perish in this storm.  They are “throwing” their cargo overboard.  Their gods are powerless to stop the storm and save them.

“Their own idolatries qualify them as objects of God’s wrath.”  Bryan Estelle

God will use Jonah’s disobedience to reveal His glory to these sailors.  Soon they will worship Him too.  But first they must “throw” Jonah overboard.  He must die for his disobedience.  Through this they will taste of God’s mercy- and so shall Jonah.

This is because the One greater than Jonah came to give His life as a ransom for many.  The One greater than Jonah came to save sinners like Jonah, the idolatrous sailors and the wicked Ninevites (and us!).