Jonah - A Neo-Assyrian Prophet

The Amazing Bible. Book Club

Jonah was a prophet of Israel who declared the word of the Lord during the time of Jeroboam II, who reigned around 793-753 BC. Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, and Jesus mentioned him in Matthew 12:38-41 and Luke 11:29-32, saying that the men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment against the people of Israel in Jesus' time, because this non-Jewish city repented and turned to God with just the 1/2 hearted preaching of Jonah, who didn't even want them to repent, and the Jews in Jesus' day heard the word of the Lord from the Mouth of the Lord, JESUS, and they didn't repent. This solidifies that the canonical prophet book of Jonah is a real historic narrative. What we do not know is if Jonah wrote it or if someone else did. If it was Jonah, then he did get right with God, if he did not, then it is a warning of how we ought not to be.
Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh, but instead, Jonah went the opposite direction. He got on a boat heading to Tarshish, but the Lord brought a big wind. The ship was about to break apart, when the sailors found out that the storm was Jonah's fault. Jonah said if they would throw him overboard the storm would stop. My OT professor, Dr. Betts said, Jonah had another option than being thrown over, he could have repented then and there, but no, he would rather die than repent. They threw him over, but he did not die, a big fish swallowed him. It took him three days and nights in the belly of the fish before he was willing to 1/2 heartedly repent. The fish threw him up on dry land, and he went to Nineveh. Instead of preaching repentance, he said, "Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Jonah was so man when the Assyrians repented and God showed mercy and spared the city. He watched until the deadline to see if the Lord would be merciful, and while waiting, the Lord brought Jonah a plant to shade him from this son. This made Jonah happy. The Lord then also appointed a worm to come and eat the plant, causing it to die. This made Jonah mad again. Numerous times the Lord asked Jonah, "Do you have reason to be angry? Jonah never gave a good reason. The story has an open ending. The Lord asked, "Should I not be concerned about this great city?" The Lord was also concerned about Jonah's hard heart.