In The News …
• IRS targeting of conservative groups
• DOJ watching the Associated Press
• NSA data collection on Verizon cell
phones within US
What is similar about these scandals?
Why are they so surprising?
Give some examples of the way people
behave differently from what we expect
Note how the book of Jonah is a study
in opposites of what is to be expected
Telling the Jonah Story
Mary
Margaret,
6 Years
Father
Mapple
sermon
from Old
Moby Dick
Quick Review from Last Week …
WHO?
Jonah = Dove = Israel
• Jonah’s name means “dove”
• Dove signifies someone who is
– Easily frightened
– Double-minded in his ways
– Lacking discernment
– Not faithful or truthful
• Only Jonah knew all the facts contained in this
book
• He likely wrote it late in his life as his confession
• This book offers his mature reflection on the
triumph of God’s grace
WHAT?
Genre: Classification of Jonah
• While it is clear that Jonah differs from other prophetic
books, it is not clear how its genre should be classified
• Biblical scholars classify Jonah in a multitude of ways:
Didactic Fiction
COMEDY
TRAGEDY
Didactic History
Ironic
Short
Story
Parody
Fact or Fiction?
• The book itself gives no good reason for taking it as
other than historical
• Tendency to view Jonah as fictional is a relatively
recent development
• Vast majority of early Jewish and Christian writers
adopted the view that the events recorded in the
narrative actually occurred
– Book of Jonah included in the canon of Scripture
– Most ancient references to it in Jewish literature suggest
that it was always understood as historical
• Jesus’ references to incidents in the book of Jonah
are indicative that He understood it to be historical
Genre Identification
• Each genre has its own set of “generic signals”
• The author uses them to influence the way in
which the reader/hearer is to interpret his work
• Ended last class with a used bookstore example:
– Murder at Marplethorpe
– The Life and Times of David Marplethorpe
• Now … Week 2
Genre Signals
• The first words of the text –
“Now the word of the LORD came”
– is a genre marker
• This frequent Hebrew phrase is the Old Testament’s
way of signaling an historical account
– See Joshua 1:1; Judges 1:1; 1 Samuel 1:1; Ruth 1:1
• Thus, the very beginning of the book Jonah tells the
reader/hearer that this account is intended to be
treated as factual
• For this class, I will proceed with the understanding
that the genre of Jonah is narrative history
Genre Signals
• This expression (“Now the word of the LORD came” ) is also
used in the OT only when contexts and circumstances
regarding the prophet and his mission are already
established in previous statements
– When Elijah enters the stage, this phrase becomes the
standard by which he receives all divine messages
(1 Kings 17:2, 8; 21:17)
– This is true in many occasions in Jeremiah (14:1; 16:1)
– This phrase begins sections of other historical narratives
involving prophets (1 Kings 16:1; Ezekiel 3:16; Haggai 1:3)
• Therefore, this phrase signals that the narrative begins
prior to Jonah 1:1, making the brief description of Jonah
in 2 Kings 14 the starting point
• We will look at this historical context in the next few
weeks
Jonah As Satire and Irony
Literary Tone of Jonah
• The book of Jonah is satire with irony for a specific
purpose
• Though subtle, satire is pointed and powerful
• It has the following general characteristics:
1. It has a definite target
2. It is characterized
by indirect
attack and subtlety; the
What
is satire?
charge comes from the flanks rather than head-on
3. It attacks inferior excesses; hypocrisy is one classic and
familiar example
4. It is usually external in viewpoint; that is, the actions of
the character being satirized are emphasized rather than
his or her inner thoughts
Satire: How Do We Know?
• Face-to-face verbal satire is usually not difficult to
determine
How does a speaker reveal he is being satirical?
– They may wink or smile; or exaggerate their tone
– May modify their manner in countless ways to signal that the
words do not themselves speak the whole truth
• However, the presence of satire in a written text is not
easily proven
–
–
–
–
Why is written satire so hard to determine?
Writers don’t give immediate indicators of satire
It may often seem a “safer” choice to take a writer’s words
literally, rather than risk a reading between the lines that is
necessary to a satiric interpretation
Signals of satire are often difficult to detect because the
essence of satire is to be indirect
A straightforward satirical statement would be a contradiction
in terms
Are You Serious?
• How do authors signal to their audience that they
are speaking satirically?
• TheNote:
key isThis
to question
be alertisto
context
notthe
in a text’s
white box
with red
• By paying
to the context and narrative of
letteringattention
…
Jonah
willmust
see be
that
theabook
is filled
with satiric
Thewe
teacher
asking
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irony
here. I can relax knowing he is going to give us
theisanswer
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bullet statement
• Irony
the means
by which
satire is communicated
• Irony is a figure of speech in which
1. The intended meaning is the opposite of that which is
stated, or
2. An event or statement occurs or is used in a way that is
just the opposite of what would be expected
• Irony serves to point out inconsistencies in a
situation between what is and what ought to be
Irony in Jonah: Expectations of a Prophet
1. Jonah abandons the task Yahweh calls him to do (1:3)
2. Jonah sleeps during the storm while the unbelievers pray
(1:5)
3. The unbelieving captain has to urge a believing Israelite –
Jonah – to pray (1:5)
4. Jonah appears to remain unrepentant until the end of
chapter four; on the other hand, the unbelieving sailors
(1:16) and Ninevites repent and believe (3:5)
5. Jonah’s anger over the conversion of Nineveh (4:1) occurs
precisely when Yahweh turns his anger away (3:10)
6. The sailors and Ninevites perform classic acts of Israelite
piety (making vows, sacrificing, clothing themselves with
sackcloth 1:16; 3:6-8), while Jonah does none of this
even though he promises to do so (2:10)
Irony in Jonah: Inconsistent Actions
1. Jonah flees from Yahweh, yet confesses him as Lord (1:9)
2. Jonah recognizes that Yahweh sent the storm due to his disobedient
behavior (1:12), yet he does not repent
3. Jonah’s overwhelming success in such a wicked city and with such
meager efforts (3:3-4)
4. Jonah’s joy over the gift of extra shade (4:6) at the same time he is twice
expressing his desire to die (4:3, 8)
5. Jonah’s joy over his own deliverance (2:10) and his anger over Nineveh’s
deliverance (4:1)
6. Jonah’s wish for death (4:3, 8) upon his success
7. Jonah’s anger to the point of death over the destruction of such an
unimportant plant (4:8)
8. Jonah, in seeking to avoid the task of a missionary, ends up being
Yahweh’s vessel in converting both the sailors and the Ninevites (1:16;
3:5)
9. The psalm (2:3-10) is unexpected with its emphasis on thanksgiving,
because it is surrounded with a narrative that rarely shows Jonah in a
favorable light
Purpose of Satire in Jonah
• The narrator combines irony and satire in his factual
account of history for several reasons:
– To expose that not only Jonah but also the audience for
which the narrative was written have deviated in some
ways from Yahweh
– To restore the audience to repentance and true faith in
Israel’s God
– To strengthen the missionary outreach of God’s people
• The author wants to lead the audience to recognize
its own similar hypocrisy, repent of it, and return to
Yahweh in renewed and sincere faith that confesses
the enormity of His grace toward all people
The Structure of the Book of Jonah
Chapters 1-2 (At Sea)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Word of God to Jonah
Content of the Word
Response of Jonah
Gentile Response
Action of Captain
Sailors and Jonah
Disaster Averted
Response of Sailors
God and Jonah
God’s Response
1:1
1:2
1:3
1:5
1:6
1:7-15
1:15c
1:16
2:1-11
2:11
Depicts Yahweh’s power beyond
Israel’s territory and across the sea
Chapters 3-4 (At Nineveh)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Word of God to Jonah
Content of the Word
Response of Jonah
Gentile Response
Action of King
Ninevites and God
Disaster Averted
Response of Jonah
God and Jonah
God’s Response
3:1
3:2
3:3-4a
3:5
3:6-9
3:10
3:10c
4:1
4:2-3
4:6-11
Depicts Yahweh’s power beyond
Israel’s territory … into Nineveh
The Structure of the Book of Jonah
 Scene 1: Jonah’s First Call
(1:1-3)
 Scene 2: The Storm at Sea
(1:4-16)
 Scene 3: Jonah’s Deliverance & Prayer
(1:17 – 2:10)
 Scene 4: Jonah’s Second Call
(3:1-3a)
 Scene 5: Jonah’s Preaching Converts
(3:3b-10)
Nineveh & Yahweh Changes
His Verdict
 Scene 6: Jonah’s Response to Yahweh’s (4:1-3)
Change of Verdict to Save Nineveh
 Scene 7: Yahweh’s Provisions and
Jonah’s Response
(4:4-11)
WHY?
Too Focused on Big Fish …
• In the book of Jonah:
– The “great fish” is subject of only 3 verses (6% of text)
The name Yahweh is mentioned 22 times
Elohim or El (once) is said 13 times
And the combination Yahweh Elohim is used 4 times
There is a total of 39 references to the deity in four
chapters, while the word “Jonah” is used only 16 times
• This is clearly a story about the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob and his accepting grace for all
people, even their animals!
“Men have been looking so hard at the great fish
that they have failed to see the great God.”
-- Campbell Morgan
Main Message
• We find here a most intriguing confrontation
between Yahweh, the God of heaven and earth, and
Jonah, his rebellious prophet
• The central message of the book of Jonah is that
“Salvation comes from the Lord”
– Salvation is not the exclusive possession of any one
group, nor does it guarantee their continued existence at
the expense of others
– To those who appeal, on the basis of their special
relationship with God, for the overthrow of their
enemies, the book of Jonah voices a stern rebuke
– God's mercy may extend to the most unlikely of people,
and who can tell what the consequences may be?
Sub-Themes in Jonah
1. About Repentance (Respond to God like the heathen sailors and Ninevites)
A. To encourage Israel to repent
B. To show the possibility of repenting
C. To identify repentance as the correct response to prophecy
2. About Unfulfilled Prophecy
A. To discuss prophetic non-authentication
B. To offer justification for unfulfilled prophecy
C. To consider the problem of conditional vs. unconditional prophecy
3. About Israelite Attitudes Toward Gentiles (Don’t Act Like Jonah)
A. To encourage a missionary concern
B. To condemn Israelite exclusivism (i.e., the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah)
C. To condemn Israel’s reaction against God’s forgiving the Gentiles
4. About The Problem of Evil (Whatever the Lord does is Right)
A. To affirm God’s freedom to act graciously
B. To explore the relationship between mercy and justice; are God’s
compassionate actions just?
Topics We Will Explore
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Missions/Evangelism
True Repentance
Salvation & Election
Sanctification
Questioning God
Prayer
Death in General (Suicide in
Particular)
Discerning God’s Will
Law and Gospel
Rebels of God
Purpose of Troubles
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
True & False Prophecy
Sovereignty of God
Divine Justice vs. Mercy
Forgiveness
Our Struggles with the
Grace of God
Compassion Towards the
Lost
Presumptions of Being
Elect
Dangers of Self-Absorption
Responding to God’s
Interruptions in Our Lives
So What?
Look In the Mirror
• The book of Jonah is like a mirror
… “I AM JONAH!”
• During our study of this book you
will see the struggles and
problems of your own inner life
• Jonah was a mature believer who
had given his life to ministry …
… but he battled with the
impulses of his own self-interest
and self-centeredness
• “My heart is desperately wicked”
Look Out the Window
• The book of Jonah is like a
window … it reveals the
heart of God
• Let’s discover what Jonah
did about the grace of God
– His redeeming love
– His extraordinary
patience
– His relentless pursuit of
lost people and
rebellious saints
WHERE?
Nineveh, a major city of the
Assyrian Empire in Jonah’s time
GeographyWhere
of Jonah
in the world is …
Jonah, son of Amittai?
The LORD told Jonah to go to Nineveh, about 550 miles
northeast of Israel. Instead, Jonah goes to Joppa and
boards a ship bound for Tarshish in the opposite direction
So where is Tarshish?
Samaria, capital of Israel
(Northern Kingdom)
Joppa, the only natural harbor
in Israel south of Acco, and
probably the closest one
available to the fleeing prophet
Jerusalem, capital of Judah
(Southern Kingdom)
Geography of Jonah
Nineveh, a major city of the
Assyrian Empire in Jonah’s time
Tarsus
Tarshish, believed by many
to have been a seaport or
region in southern Spain
Joppa, the only natural harbor
in Israel south of Acco, and
probably the closest one
available to the fleeing prophet
Samaria, capital
of Israel
Jerusalem, capital of Judah
WHEN?
Although the story related in the book of Jonah
took place in the eighth century B.C., it actually
began about a thousand years earlier with one
man in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans
Old Testament History
• 2090 – 1876 BC: The Patriarchs
• 1876 – 1446 BC: Egyptian Captivity
• 1476 – 1406 BC: The Exodus and
Wilderness Wanderings
• 1406 – 1375 BC: Conquest of Promised Land
• 1375 – 1050 BC: The Period of the Judges
• 1050 – 931 BC: United Monarchy
• 931 – 750: Divided Kingdom to Time of Jonah
God’s Call and Promise
• The descendants of Noah had spread out, multiplied
and populated the earth and they had again abandoned
the God who created them
• Yet God had not abandoned mankind
• He called one man, Abram, and told him that if he
would leave his country and go to a land God would
show him, He would make of Abram a great nation
• God would give him that land and through
him all the world would be blessed …
this was the Abrahamic covenant
• It would be through Abram’s descendants
that the Savior of the world would come …
in faith Abram obeyed God
• He was the world’s first monotheist
Abram leaves Haran after
Terah dies (c. 2085 BC)
God calls 75-yr old Abram
out of Ur (c. 2090 BC)
Helping God Keep His Promises
• Roughly twenty years after the original message
from God, Abram decides to give the promise a
helping hand
• He borrows Sarai’s servant Hagar as a second and
unofficial wife, promising Sarai that any child of
Hagar’s would be officially considered her offspring
• But God’s promise of a new nation had been
specific not just to Abram, but to Abram and Sarai
together
• After the episode with Hagar, God repeats His
promise to Abram and renames him Abraham,
showing his divine ownership of this man and his
descendents
Abraham Fathers the Arab Peoples
• Through Hagar a son is born and named Ishmael
• It is through this son whom the Arab peoples trace their
heritage
• According to the Qur’an, Abram-Ibrahim (in Arabic
spelling) was the first to worship Allah, the one God,
rather than the stars, the moon, or the son
• When grown, Ishmael went with Ibrahim down into
Arabia, to the city of Mecca, and together they build the
Ka’ba, the first house for the worship of Allah
• To this house, the Qur’an orders all of Allahs’s followers
(the People of the Book”) to turn:
“Wherever you are,” the Qur’an says, “turn your
faces in that direction. From wherever you start
forth, turn your face in the direction of the Sacred
Mosque; wherever you are, turn your face there.”
Sons of Abraham
• When he is 100 years old, Abraham has a son, Isaac, to
whom the promise/covenant was given (c. 2065 BC)
• He in turn had a son, Jacob, to whom the promise/
covenant was given
• Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel, had 12 sons
• When Jacob was an old man he, his sons and their
families (70 people in all) went into Egypt to escape
starvation during a great famine
• One of the sons, Joseph, was
already there and in great
power; he was second only to
the Pharaoh serving as
Prime
Minister (1885 – 1805 BC)
• Because of Joseph’s position,
he was
able to take care of his family
Facing a famine that threatened
to wipe them out, Abraham’s
descendents moved down to
well-watered Egypt where they
settled in the north and prospered
Joseph and his brothers
c. 1800 BC
Gen 37: 1-36
Egyptian Sojourn
(c. 1876 – 1446 BC)
• However generations passed and the descendants of
Israel grew in numbers
• A new pharaoh arose (“one who did not know Joseph”)
and was fearful (along with all of Egypt) of this great
number of foreigners living within the borders of his land
• To protect himself and his country, he placed the Israelites
in bondage and pressed them into labor for his many
building projects
• The Hebrews remain in bondage for 430 years
• As always God was faithful, and in His time He raised up a
man named Moses to lead His people
• With great and mighty miracles God delivered the
Israelites from the Egyptians and led them to the land He
had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
4. Led people of Israel during
their 40 years of wandering
in these wilderness areas
while God prepared them to
enter the land of Canaan
3. Returned to Egypt to lead
God’s people out of captivity;
led people into the wilderness
known as Sinai Peninsula
5. Received the Law, including
10 Commandments, directly
from God on Mt. Sinai
1. Born in Egypt to slave
parents , Moses spends his
youth in Pharaoh's household
in Thebes; flees to Midian after
killing an Egyptian guard
6. Appointed Joshua as his
successor; died on Mt. Nebo
overlooking land of Canaan
2. In Midian, spent 40 years
as shepherd; had a dramatic
encounter with God in the
burning bush
Exodus From Egypt
(c. 1446 – 1406 BC)
Boundaries of
Promised Land
Basic Campaign
Strategy
4
“Conquest” of Canaan
under Joshua
(c. 1406 – 1375 BC)
1. Upon crossing the
Jordan, Joshua camped
at Gilgal, then moved
to take Jericho and Ai
2. Joshua made peace
with Gibeon, then
moved thru Valley of
Aijalon; defeated the
five Amorite kings
2
1
3. From Makkedah,
Joshua launched a
southern campaign
against Lachish,
Hebron, Debir, & Gaza
4. In a northern
campaign, Joshua
moved from Gilgal all
the way to Hazor
3
The Judges of Israel
(c. 1375 – 1050 BC)
• The time between
Joshua's death
(Judges 1:1) and the
coronation of Saul (1
Samuel 10)
Shamgar
Elon
Barak
Jair
Gideon
Tola
Abdon
Jephthah
Ehud,
Deborah
Samson
Ibzan
Othniel
• Era of frightful
social/religious chaos;
moral and spiritual
declivity
• The book of Judges
teems with violent
invasions, apostate
religion, unchecked
lawlessness, and
tribal civil war
Othniel
Cycle
Degree
of
Devotion
to
YHWH
Ehud
Cycle
Barak
Cycle
Gideon
Cycle
Jephthah
Cycle
Time
Samson
Cycle
Death Spiral of Judges
• As Book of Judges progresses there is a change in:
– Nature of deliverers who are sent
– The deliverance God's people receive
• The first judge, Othniel, is an idealized good leader
• The last judge, Samson, systematically undermines our
expectations of what a deliverer ought to be
– Called to be a Nazirite at birth, separated for God from defiling influences,
he systematically breaks every vow that was made on his behalf
– Instead of avoiding contact with everything dead, he scoops honey from
the corpse of a lion
– Instead of avoiding contact with the Philistines, he wants to marry one
– Instead of avoiding fermented drinks, he participates in a drinking party
with his future Philistine in-laws
– Samson ends his life bringing judgment on God's enemies, but establishing
no rest for God's people
Summary statement of Judges
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what
was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 21:25)
• The people of Israel had the perfect government with the
Lord Himself as King, and the Law of the Lord as the law
of the land, yet they weren’t satisfied
• They wanted to be like the nations round about them;
they wanted a man as their king … so God granted their
desire