Jonah

Through satire and intricate storytelling, the book of Jonah invites readers to consider God’s compassion and mercy that extends to us and our enemies. It is not a literal event.

By considering the following evidence you can make your own conclusion as to the probability of it being literal. 

1:1 Jonah (dove) is the son of Amittai (truth), immediate irony for a fable

1:3 From Joppa (Israel) he sails to Tarshish (Southern Spain) one end of Mediterranean to the other. The distance represents an exaggeration travelling perhaps one of the longest possible voyages in the known world.

Nineveh was at the heart of the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians were known for being brutal even by ancient standards. I don’t believe there are any precedents of a Hebrew prophet being called to preach to any heathen nation let alone a threatening or occupying one. Such a mission is therefore highly unlikely. Archaeological evidence suggests Nineveh’s circumference was 7.75 miles. 3:3 so it would not take three days to go through it. The distance is an exaggeration.3:4 without any opposition a Hebrew prophet is believed immediately re the coming destruction of Nineveh, the whole city believes, fasts and dresses themselves in sackcloth, even the king gets involved.

This is the most effective call to repentance in the history of God’s dealings and they successfully avoid destruction. What a pity Jonah wasn’t able to step into the shoes of Noah or Lot, or dare we conjecture either John the Baptist or even Jesus. Think what he may have achieved in Rome instead of Paul. Then incredulously for a man worthy of being a prophet, not content with changing the heart at the core of a breathtakingly evil civilisation he gets upset over a plant withering and mssing out on some pyrotechnics. Unusual for any prophet he expresses disappointment by admitting, “God, I knew you were gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love who would relent from sending a calamity.” 4:2.

              When you understand the contextual information, is being swallowed in the belly of a fish  any longer the most unlikely event?

              The Old Testament Teaching manual, November 2022 to it’s credit does not dwell on Jonah being in the belly of a whale, though it does use the graphic above. It seeks to apply Jonah’s missionary call as follows,” Like Jonah, many of us may feel hesitant to invite others to turn to the Lord. What are some possible reasons Jonah fled from his calling to warn the people of Nineveh? Why might we sometimes hesitate to share the gospel?”

              Where is the scholarly context above? Why isn’t the manual telling us Jonah’s a fable! Why can’t the membership be trusted with this information? Surely we could be informed, “This passage of scripture is just a story, it is like a parable”. What do you think is the author’s message and how would that translate into application in our circumstances?

Jonah is on the shelf because no one hinted at it being unreal. Intrinsically we knew it, but like the story of the Emperor’s new clothes I was never present when a young child called him out as being naked. We were never encouraged to employ critical thinking skills. Is there an insidious message as to why not? Is there a serious flaw in the heart of a congregation when no one is either bright enough (myself included), or brave enough to even ask, “Are we expected to believe this story literally?”