December 14 – Jonah (my favorite OT book)

December 14
Jonah 1:1-4-11
Revelation 5:1-14
Psalm 133:1-3
Proverbs 29:26-27

Jonah 1:1 – This wasn’t the first prophetic message of Jonah. He was a popular prophet of victory, and we know he’s from Gath Hepher and that Jonah is a contemporary of Jeroboam II who reigned from 793-753 BC (2 Kings 14:23)

Jonah 1:2 – Why is Jonah afraid of preaching to Ninevah? It was the Assyrian hub, would grow into the largest city in the world during the 7th century BC. The Assyrians were a particularly brutal people, here’s an example of their artwork commemorating their victories.

The Assyrians in just a generation would brutally conquer the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC.

Jonah 1:3 – Count the times the word “down” is found. Down to Joppa, Down into the ship. Down into the sides (Jonah 1:5). Down to the bottoms of the mountains (Jonah 2:6).

Jonah 1:4 – Let’s count who all obeys the Lord in this book:

The wind & the sea (Jonah 1:4, Jonah 1:15)
The lots (Jonah 1:7)
The crew (Jonah 1:16)
The great fish (Jonah 1:17, Jonah 2:10)
The people of Ninevah (Jonah 3:5)
The King of Ninevah (Jonah 3:6-7)
The gourd (Jonah 4:6)
The worm (Jonah 4:7)
The east wind (Jonah 4:8)

Jonah obeys eventually, but reluctantly.

Jonah 1:9 – Does Jonah really fear the LORD God? The mariners appear to fear the Lord more (Jonah 1:10, Jonah 1:14) and then fear the LORD “exceedingly” (Jonah 1:16).

Jonah 1:13 – Doesn’t this picture look like us in our lives before we met Christ? The prospects look dim, our fear is great, our possessions are worthless (Jonah 1:5), and we need supernatural help (Jonah 1:15). The Psalmist writes about a similar situation (Psalm 107:28-29). Peter knew of Jonah and the Psalmist, and when in a similar situation, effectively declared Jesus to be the LORD God of Israel (Matthew 14:28).

Jonah 2:6 – From ICR: “bottoms of the mountains. In Jonah’s day, so far as we know, men had no means to explore the sea floor, yet Jonah somehow knew that mountains had “roots” extending deep into the earth’s crust. In fact, this may even be another way of referring to his descent into “hell.”

Jonah 2:7 – Like Hezekiah, Jonah prayed only when it was pretty late in the game.

Jonah 3:4 – Notice his message was just 8 words.

Jonah 4:2 – Jonah is quoting Joel 2:13 almost verbatim! Joel was written about 50 years before Jonah’s ministry. Jonah isn’t just a mouthpiece for the LORD – he’s able to quote Scripture verbatim!

Jonah 4:11 – Jesus loves the little children, yes all the children of the world!

Revelation 5:5 – Ron Hamilton wrote a great song based on this verse, reminding us not to weep because of the Lamb!