Jonah and the Sea Introduction to the Book

 Jonah and the Sea

Jonah - A Beginning Overview for Summer Series

Certainly this book is a sea story and for any of us who ever been to sea it is captivating. It is a book for all, and I say it is a book that is a book of imagination and that is especially true for young people. It is also a book for all people to know of the purposes of God, especially for Israel and their relationship to others. This has application for us as in the church for the church is for all people as well, and not just the officers, the members and the attenders. But what I like most of all is that is not just a wonderful record of a big fish ( whale?) and a spell binding story. It has a theme. DR Morgan of London said it well: "

The incidental things are the ship, the storm, the whale, the gourd, the wind and Nineveh... The essential matters of the book are the transactions between Jehovah ( God) and Jonah." That is the rub is it not? That is true for us as well. The incidentals are our lives and what is happening, or what happens. The real matters are our transactions between God and ourselves and what He is saying to us , and how we are responding to His Word and His Direction in our lives.

Who was Jonah? Is he real? Was this history or just a story? There seems to be a difference of opinion on this , but here are some facts.

Jonah undoubtedly wrote the book, although in the third person, which many other writers as Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah did as well. In 2 Kings 14:25 , Jonah is mentioned. Jonah is called the "servant " of the Lord as well as a prophet in the time of the King of Israel, Jeroboam.." He was about 70 years after Elisha, and Israel was suffering from war with Syria.

Jonah means dove in Hebrew and Amittai means truth of God ( Jonah's father). He was from Gath-hepher , of the tribe of Zebulun, and this people knew the sea. Genesis 49:13 says ," Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships...."

We deal with history and our Lord Christ accepted Jonah as being real when he talked about him in Matthew 12:39-40. " ...as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the whale's belly..."

2. What is the theme of the book? Most seem to agree that it is to show that God's grace extends to all people , not just His chosen nation of the Old Covenant, Israel. Matthew Henry says, " The purpose is to demonstrate the universality of God's love and the extent of His grace." Jonah was sent to Nineveh in Assyria, a heathen nation and all people should repent and believe in God's mercy.

" If we must find in this book of Jonah one monarchial idea, one object taking priority....I should say , without the hestiation of a moment, this must be it-----to show to all, and of course to Israel....that ' God is no respecter of persons' ....that the greatest sinners, and the most wicked cities, will be treated with clemency as long there is hope of their recovery, and that they will be welcomed into divine favor as soon as they repent and return." The Story of Jonah by Alexander Raleigh, 1866.

3. A Personal Word about this book and its effect

I have always been a sea lover. I went to the US Merchant Marine Academy in NY , graduated from there with a degree in Nautical Science, as well as Naval Reserve, Merchant Marine for 9 years. ( so how did I end up in the Army?) But the sea was always something that captivated me. One of my favorite books as a young fellow was " Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana and of course " Moby Dick" ( Herman Melville) and " The Sea Wolf" by Jack London. To feel the spray of the ocean on our faces from the wind on a ship or boat is invigorating. It reminds me of God and His power. We are His children . We sing it in the Venite every Morning, Psalm 95 : " The sea is His, and He made it."

In the next few weeks we will read the Lessons from the Prayer Book, but I hope as we go thru Jonah together you too will get caught up in the excitement of a sea story and its truths for us now as we live our lives before our Lord and His Son Jesus Christ.

I will never forget the little sea picture that my grand father gave me. It is a picture of a Mariner steering the ship in a storm, and Christ is behind Him. We too are thankful that whatever happens to us we are piloted not by ourselves but by God and His Protective Sovereign Loving Power.

Amen.