by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Last week, we studied the source of the Lord Jesus’s reference to the sign of Jonah the prophet in Matthew 12:39-41 (and Luke 11:29-30, 32) and traced it back to Jonah 1:17 – 2:1, 10. We also saw that it came from the Septuagint (LXX) version of the book. Now we will look at some interesting aspects and observations about the Book of Jonah and walkthrough its verses.
The impetus for this is that last Wednesday, in the Mid-Week Prayer Gathering I had prayed for Israel which was recently attacked by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. But I also prayed for the civilians in Gaza who have not participated nor supported the attack on Israel but now suffer in the fighting. As I had just finished my reflection on the sign of the Jonah the prophet, it occurred to me that there was a connection.
Judaism uses the Book of Jonah as the reading during Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. Perhaps, the reason behind this is that in Jonah 3:5-10 Nineveh hears the prophet’s warnings and repent and the LORD then relents from destroying Nineveh. It is this theme of repentance that is highlighted during the Yom Kippur feast even though it is the Ninevites, who are Gentiles, who repent, not Jews.
Jonah is treated by scholars as a unique book in the collection we call the Minor Prophets, or simply, the “Twelve” in the Hebrew Bible. Its uniqueness is due to its form and content that make it very different from the eleven other books in the Minor Prophets. While these other books mostly come as poetry with some prose, Jonah is mostly narrative prose. The other prophetic books convey the message (in the pattern of lengthy oracles or pronouncements of judgment against Israel, against the nations, and salvation and consolation to Israel) of the LORD God to its intended recipients and say very little detail about the prophet himself, the Book of Jonah contains mostly a narrative about the adventures of the prophet. While the other books have their respective prophets obediently going forth to deliver their messages from the LORD, Jonah rebels and flees from his commission; he was unwilling to do what God had commanded him to do! And yet, among the Twelve, Jonah has the distinction of being the most successful in terms of his audience repenting and not ending up being judged (see Jonah 3:5-10) because he ultimately delivered the LORD’s word to them. Thus, The Jewish Study Bible calls him an “extremely atypical prophet.” It also says further that the book acts like a parable, a satire, a didactic fiction, even a narrative philosophical tractate that features parody as well. Other commentaries likewise note the tension between the prophetic book as a historical narrative while it exhibits more of the features of a parable; even containing allegory.
The connection I earlier spoke of reveals itself immediately in the very first chapter. When Jonah is commissioned by the LORD to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and deliver a warning message that the LORD was about to judge it, the prophet instead disobeys God and flees to the other direction. But upon leaving Joppa, the LORD caused a great wind upon the sea and a great storm was upon the ship threatening its break up. The frightened mariners cried out to their respective gods and deities. In their polytheistic religion, storms can be attributable to a displeased god. It was necessary to try to appease or placate this god. But, the question is: which one?
The crew also jettisoned the cargo to lighten the ship. Amidst this chaos, Jonah had gone down to sleep in the bottom part of the ship. It seemed that Jonah was quite content to perish as long as Nineveh would perish as well (since he did not proclaim to them the LORD’s warning). Apparently, Jonah hated Nineveh and he really wanted it and its people destroyed. If the book points to historical referents here, then it would be because of Assyrian oppression against the northern kingdom of Israel since the 9th century BC and later on, the southern kingdom of Judah as well.
But the captain went down and woke Jonah up and asked him to plead their dire straits to his God. But as nothing seemed to work, the sailors decided to cast lots to find out who among them is displeasing his particular god/deity and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him what his work was, where did he come from, what was his country and to what people group did he belong. Jonah truthfully answered in verse 9:
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם עִבְרִ֣י אָנֹ֑כִי וְאֶת־יְהוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֤י הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ אֲנִ֣י יָרֵ֔א אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הַיָּ֖ם וְאֶת־הַיַּבָּשָֽׁה׃
And he said to them, I am a Hebrew and I fear the LORD, the God of Heaven who made the sea and the dry land.
This was Jonah’s first great confession. He knew what was going on. And with his answer, the mariners probably understood that this creator-God of heaven, sea and land certainly had the power to cause the storm they were now encountering at sea. And the men were afraid, greatly terrified for Jonah had also told them that he fled from the presence of the LORD. The men asked him what needed to be done to calm the stormy sea. Here, the basic goodness of Jonah was kindled; and he asked them to throw him overboard so the seas would be calm. He told them that he was indeed, the direct cause of the tempest affecting the ship and all the men. Jonah realized that these men had nothing to do with his problem with the LORD. They were innocents (collateral damage, in our modern euphemism) in his personal drama. And here was a change. Now, he actually felt he needed to do something to save these men, these Gentiles who were not monotheists loyal to the LORD as he was. He did not want to have mercy on Nineveh but now felt merciful to these men. Quite a difference from his earlier exhibited disdain of Nineveh and its populace.
But the mariners instead of doing what he asked them to do, tried their best to row back to land. Unlike Jonah who wanted to judge Nineveh and its people, these sailors did not relish the idea of surely letting him perish if they threw him out to the sea. Truly, these Gentiles acted more nobly than Jonah, the LORD’s prophet! But their efforts were to no avail as the storm even became more tempestuous than before. So these men, in resignation cried out to the LORD not to hold them accountable for Jonah’s life and threw him overboard and the sea became calm. These sailors became exceedingly afraid of the LORD and they offered a sacrifice and made vows to the LORD. Verse 1:17 then tells of the great sea creature or sea monster appointed by the LORD, which swallowed up Jonah 3 days and 3 nights to end the chapter.
I told myself if I were to be like Jonah then my knee-jerk reaction would be to want Hamas and its people destroyed because of what they had done in Israel. But I realized that the LORD truly cares for all people and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And much more, for the innocents. He would rather see the wicked repent and turn (or return) to him. Hence, while I resolutely stand with Israel and God’s chosen people because this is what the Bible tells us to do, I prayed for the people of Gaza too. May the Jews and Arabs come to know that true and lasting peace between them can only come from the true שר שלום (“Sar Shalom” Prince of Peace), our Lord Jesus Christ.
We will continue next week.
God bless us all.