7th July 2011

I am starting to look at the Old Testament prophets and am aiming to do this chronologically. According to research, I think Jonah was written first. Here is a bit of an introduction to the book before the real meat comes. The text in bold are prayers I was compelled to pray as I researched!

Disclaimer [The following is not prose, simply notes I wrote as I read.]

Intro:
No one is really sure who wrote it. It is most likely Jonah himself, retelling his own story.
It was written somewhere between the middle of C8 and the end of C3
The main theme is Compassion, both towards Christians and Pagans.
The book of Jonah can be read as:

An allegory - However, Jonah is presented as a historical figure and not a fictional figure.

A Parable - However a parable usually has only one point. Jonah is a lot more complex than that!

A Prophetic Narrative - like the stories of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings)

The book is not here as history, for history's sake. It is clearly didactic - the story of Jonah is told to teach the reader key lessons. Lord God please help me learn these lessons from this book as I read. I'd rather learn lessons from your truth than make stupid mistakes and have to learn from them!

Other themes:
God's sovereign control over events on the earth
God's determination to get his message to the nations
The need for repentance from sin in general
The need for repentance from self-cent redness and hypocrisy in particular
The full assurance that God will relent when people repent - Father please let me understand this and let this truth sink in to my heart!

Jonah's rescue from death provides an analogy for the resurrection of Christ
The repentance of the Ninevites anticipates the wide scale repentance of Gentiles in the messianic era - Praise You Lord God for that!