The Sign of Jonah
“So Jonah arose and went to
Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.”
Jonah 3:3
Jonah was the only Old Testament prophet to speak directly
to Gentiles. He was from Galilee and
gave encouragement to Jeroboam II about military conquests against the Assyrians,
as we read in 2 Kings 14:25. The book of
Jonah focuses on his message to Assyria, specifically Nineveh, to repent. Jonah is directed by the Lord to go to
Nineveh and ask the people to repent and thus be shown mercy by God. Jonah is shocked that God would want to spare
the Assyrians! They had already shown
military power against Israel. So Jonah
went in the other direction, boarded a ship, faced a storm at sea, was thrown
overboard, entered the belly of a whale for 3 days and nights, and was finally
released. Then he went to Nineveh and
obeyed the Lord. The people at Nineveh
did repent, even the king. This caused
Jonah to be angry, yet God was gracious in explaining to Jonah the reasons for
His desire to save the city of 120,000.
One of the principles that emerged from this book is that of
Gentile faith. Luke 11:29-32 (as well as
Matthew 12:38-42) state that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees of the day for
demanding a sign. He told them the only
sign they would receive was the sign of Jonah. The Pharisees refused to believe Jesus was the
Messiah.
How often have we disagreed and rebelled against God’s
gracious plan, only find ourselves as if in the belly of a fish for three days?
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