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The Book of Jonah, Background


Quick Rundown 
The story of Jonah is the story of a racist, entitled, overfamiliar, and careless prophet who lost his awe of God.  Disregarding God’s extraordinary assignment to deliver a warning to Nineveh, a wicked Gentile capital city of Assyria in the Middle East, Jonah set sail for the opposite direction against God’s will, compassion, and command.  This rare story is more about a prophet in need of revival, just as much as it is about a nation in need of repentance. 

Title 
Following the lead of the Hebrew Masoretic text (MT), the title of the book is derived from the principal character, Jonah (meaning “dove”), the son of Amittai (1:1).  Both the Septuagint (LXX) and the Latin Vulgate (Vg.) ascribe the same name. 

Author and Date 
The book makes no direct claim for authorship.  Throughout the book, Jonah is repeatedly referred to in the third person, causing some to search for another author.  It was not an uncommon OT practice, however, to write in the third person (e.g., Exodus 11:3; 1 Samuel 12:11).  Furthermore, the autobiographical information revealed within its pages clearly points to Jonah as the author.  The firsthand accounts of such unusual events and experiences would be best recounted from the hand of Jonah himself.  Nor should the introductory verse suggest otherwise, since other prophets such as Hosea, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah have similar openings.
According to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah came from Gath-hepher near Nazareth.  The context places him during the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (ca. 793-753 B.C.), making him a prophet to the northern tribes just prior to Amos during the first half of the eighth century B.C., ca. 750 B.C.  The Pharisees were wrong when they said “...No prophet arises out of Galilee” (John 5:52), because Jonah was Galilean.  An unverifiable Jewish tradition says Jonah was the son of the widow of Zarephath whom Elijah raised from the dead (1 Kings 17:8-24).

Background and Setting 
As a prophet to the 10 northern tribes of Israel, Jonah shares a background and setting with Amos.  The nation enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity.  Both Syria and Assyria were weak allowing Jeroboam II to enlarge the northern borders of Israel to where they had been in the days of Davi and Solomon (2 Kings 14:23-27).  Spiritually, however, it was a time of poverty; religion was ritualistic and increasingly idolatrous, and justice had become perverted.  Peacetime and wealth had made Israel bankrupt spiritually, morally, and ethically (cf. 2 Kings 14:24; Amos 4:1, 5:10-13).  As a result, God was to punish Israel by bringing spiritual destruction and captivity from the Assyrians in 722 B.C.  Nineveh's repentance may have been aided by the two plagues (765 and 759 B.C.) and a solar eclipse (763 B.C.), preparing them for Jonah’s judgment message. 

Historical and Theological Themes 
Jonah, though a prophet of Israel, is not remembered for his ministry in Israel which could explain why the Pharisees erringly claimed in Jesus’ day that no prophet had come from Galilee (see John 7:52).  Rather, the book relates the account of his call to preach repentance to Nineveh and his refusal to go.  Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and infamous for its cruelty, was a historical nemesis of Israel and Judah.  The focus of this book is on this Gentile city, which was founded by Nimrod the great-grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:6-12).  Nineveh was perhaps the largest city in the ancient world (1:2; 3:2,3; 4:11), it was nevertheless destroyed about 150 years after the repentance of the generation in the time of Jonah’s visit (612 B.C.), as Nahum prophesied (Nahum 1:1).  Israel’s political distaste for Assyria, coupled with a sense of spiritual superiority as the recipient of God’s covenant blessings, produced a recalcitrant attitude in Jonah toward God’s request for missionary service.  Jonah was sent to Nineveh in part to shame Israel by the fact that a pagan city repented at the preaching of a stranger, whereas Israel would not repent though preached to by many prophets.  He was soon to learn that God’s love and mercy extends to all his creatures (4:2,10,11), not just His covenant people (Genesis 9:27; 12;3; Leviticus 19:33-34; 1 Samuel 2:10; Isaiah 2:2; Joel 2:28-32). 
The book of Jonah reveals God’s sovereign rule over man and all creation.  Creation came into being through Him (1:9) and responds to His every command (1:4, 17; 2:10; 4:6-7; Mark 4:41).  Jesus employed the repentance of the Ninevites to rebuke the Pharisees, thereby illustrating the hardness of the Pharisee’s hearts and their unwillingness to repent (Matthew 12:38-41; Luke 11:29-32).  The heathen city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of a reluctant prophet, but the Pharisees would not repent at the preaching of the greatest of all Prophets, in spite of overwhelming evidence that He was actually their Lord and Messiah.  Jonah is a picture of Israel, who was chosen and commissioned by God to be His witness (Isaiah 43:10-12; 44:8), who rebelled against His will (Exodus 32:1-4; Judges 2:11-19; Ezekiel 6:1-5; Mark 7:6-9), but who has been miraculously preserved by God through centuries of exile and dispersion to finally preach His truth (Jeremiah 30:11; 31:35-37; Hosea 3:3-5; Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-3). 

Interpretive Challenges 

The primary challenge is whether the book is to be interpreted as historical narrative or as allegory/parable.  The grand scale of the miracles, such as being kept alive 3 days and nights in a big fish, has led some skeptics and critics to deny their historical validity and substitutive spiritual lessons, either to the constituent parts (allegory) or to the book as a whole (parable).  but however grandiose and miraculous the events have been, the narrative must be viewed as historical.  Centered on a historically identifiable OT prophet who lived in the eighth century B.C., the account of whom has been recorded in a narrative form, there is no alternative but to understand Jonah as historical.  Furthermore, Jesus did not teach the story of Jonah as a parable but as an actual account firmly rooted in history (Matthew 12:38-41; 16:4; Luke 11:29-32). 

Outline 
  1. Gods’ Commission and Jonah’s Disobedience (1:1-17) 
  1. The Commission of Jonah (1:1-2) 
  1. The Flight of Jonah (1:3) 
  1. The Pursuit of Jonah (1:4-16) 
  1. The Preservation of Jonah (1:17) 
  1. Submitting to God’s Will (2:1-10) 
  1. Jonah’s Helplessness (2:1-3) 
  1. Jonah’s Prayer (2:4-7) 
  1. Jonah’s Repentance (2:8-9) 
  1. Jonah’s Deliverance (2:10) 
  1. Fulfilling God’s Will (3:1-10) 
  1. The Commission Renewed (3:1-2) 
  1. Jonah Obeys (3:3-4) 
  1. Nineveh Repents (3:5-9) 
  1. The Lord Relents (3:10) 
  1. Jonah Questions God’s Will (4:1-11) 
  1. Jonah Displeased (4:1-5) 
  1. Jonah Rebuked (4:6-11) 

MacArthur Study Bible, NASB, Updated Edition. 2006. Nelson Bibles, Thomas Nelson. LaHabra, CA. 


The Book of Obadiah, Background

Quick Rundown
Obadiah’s prophecy – the shortest book of the Old Testament - is captured in only 21 verses, but richly compressed with God’s just anger toward the people of Edom. Obadiah is a contemporary with Jeremiah and these two share the burden of delivering Jehovah’s vision to the people of Israel and to all nations as well. The point is God’s wrath against those who curse God’s people, Israel. God will judge all those nations who are not only against Israel, but those who are against Him as well.

Title
The book is named after the prophet who received the vision (1:1).  Obadiah means “servant of the Lord” and occurs 20 times in the Old Testament, referring to many other OT individuals.  Obadiah is the shortest book in the OT and is not quoted in the New Testament.

Author and Date
            Nothing is known for certain about the author.  Other Old Testament references to men of his name do not appear to be referring to this prophet.  His frequent mentions of Jerusalem, Judah, and Zion suggest that he belonged to the southern kingdom (cf. verses 10-12, 17, 21).  Obadiah was probably a contemporary of Elijah and Elisha.
            The date of writing is equally difficult to determine, though we know it is tied to the Edomite assault on Jerusalem described in verses 10-14.  Obadiah apparently wrote shortly after the attack.  There were significant invasions of Jerusalem in Old Testament history: 1) by Shishak, king of Egypt, circa 925 B.C. during the reign of  Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:25,26; 2 Chronicles 12); 2) by the Philistines and Arabians between 848-841 B.C. during the reign of Jehoram of Judah (2 Chronicles 21:8-20); 3) by Johash, king of Israel, circa 790 B.C. (2 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 25); and 4) by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.  Of these 4, only the second and the fourth are possible fits with historical data.  Number two is preferable, since Obadiah’s description does not indicate the total destruction of the city, which took place under Nebuchadnezzar’s attack.  Also, although the Edomites were involved in Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem (Psalm 137; Lamentations 4:21), it is significant that Obadiah does not mention the Babylonians by name (as with all the other prophets who wrote about Jerusalem’s fall), nor is there any reference to the destruction of the temple or the deportation of the people; in fact, the captives appear to have been taken to the South West, not East of Babylon (see verse 20).

Background and Setting
            The Edomites trace their origin to Esau, the firstborn (twin) son of Isaac and Rebekah   Esau’s name means “hairy,” because he was “all over like a hairy garment” (Genesis 25:25).  He is also called Edom, meaning “red,” owing to the sale of his birthright in exchange for some red stew (Genesis 25:30).  He showed a disregard for the covenant promises by marrying two Canaanite women (Genesis 26:34) and later the daughter of Ishmael (Genesis 28:9).  He loved the out-of-doors and, after having his father’s blessing stolen from him by Jacob, was destined to remain a man of open spaces (Genesis 25:27; 27:38-40).  Esau settled into a region of mostly rugged mountains South of the Dead Sea (Genesis 33:16; 36:8,9; Deuteronomy 2:4-5) called Edom (Greek, “Idumea”), the 40-mile wide area that stretches approximately 100 miles South of the Gulf of Aqabah.  The famed King’s Highway, an essential caravan route linking North Africa and Europe and Asia, passes along the eastern plateau (Numbers 20:17).  The struggle and birth of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25) from the ultimate background to the prophecy of Genesis 25:23, “two nations are in your womb.”  Their respective descendants, Israel and Edom, were perpetual enemies.  When Israel came out from Egypt, Edom denied their brother Jacob passage through their land, located South of the Dead Sea (Numbers 20:14-21).  Nevertheless, Israel was instructed by God to be kind to Edom (Deuteronomy 23:7,8).  Obadiah, having received a vision from God, was sent to describe their crimes and to pronounce total destruction upon Edom because of their treatment of Israel.

(Genesis 25:24-26), who struggled with Jacob even while in the womb (Genesis 25:22).
            The Edomites opposed Saul (circa 1043-1011 B.C.) and were subdued under David (circa 1011-971 B.C.) and Solomon (circa 971-931 B.C.).  They fought against Jehoshaphat (circa 873-848 B.C.) and successfully rebelled against Jehoram (circa 853-841 B.C.).  They were again conquered by Judah under Amaziah (circa 797-767 B.C.), but they regained their freedom during the reign of Ahaz (circa 735-715 B.C.).  Edom was later controlled by Assyria and Babylon; and in the fifth century B.C> the Edomites were forced by the Nabateans to leave their territory.  They moved to the area of southern Palestine and became known as Idumeans.  Herod the Great, an Idumean, became king of Judea under Rome in 37 B.C.  in a sense, the enmity between Esau and Jacob was continued in Herod’s attempt to murder Jesus.  The Idumeans participated in the rebellion of Jerusalem against Rome and were defeated along with the Jews by Titus in A.D. 70.  Ironically, the Edomites applauded the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Psalm 137:7) but died trying to defend it in A.D.  After that time they were never heard of again.  As Obadiah predicted, they would be “cut off forever” (verse 10); and there would be “no survivor of the house of Esau” (verse 18).


 
Historical and Theological Themes
            Obadiah is a case study of the curses/blessings in Genesis 12:1-3, with two interrelated themes: 1) the judgment of Edom by God for cursing Israel.  This was apparently told to Judah, thereby providing reassurance that the Lord would bring judgment upon Edom for her pride and for her participation in Judah’s downfall; 2) Judah’s restoration.  This would even include the territory of the Edomites (verses 18-21; Isaiah 11:14).  Obadiah’s blessing for Judah includes the near fulfillment of Edom’s demise (verses 1-14) and the far fulfillment of the nations’ judgment and Israel’s final possession of Edom (verses 15-21).


Interpretive Challenge
            The striking similarity between Obadiah 1-9 and Jeremiah 49:7-22 brings up the question: Who borrowed from whom?  Assuming there was not a third common source, it appears that Jeremiah borrowed, where appropriate, from Obadiah, since the shared verses from one unit in Obadiah, while in Jerusalem they are scattered among other verses.

Outline
I.               God’s Judgment on Edom (1-14)
a.     Edom’s Punishment (1-9)
b.     Edom’s Crimes (10-14)
II.             God’s Judgment on the Nations (15,16)
III.           God’s Restoration of Israel (17-21)

Source:
MacArthur Study Bible, NASB, Updated Edition. 2006. Nelson Bibles, Thomas Nelson. La Habra, CA.


About Me

Hi! My name is Stanley and I'm a Bible student at Southwestern Seminary. This is one portion of my ministry. I am a graduate of Liberty University and my endeavor is to humbly, obediently, zealously, and perseveringly serve the Lord through the best opportunities available. My family and I live in Dallas, Texas. I've been married to my wife Thelma for seventeen years and we have one precious son. The Lord Jesus is our Master and we live our lives committed to walking alongside, and serving Him and God's glorious and everlasting purposes. My prayer for you is that God will grace your passions, prayers, and intellect: to be informed, transformed, and increasing a passion to know Him deeper every day through His loving, miraculous, unchangeable, and unchanging letter (and actions)towards us. Love in Christ. Blessings!

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