Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom www.wenstrom.org

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Sunday September 12, 2010Jonah: Jonah 1:1-3-Jonah Disobeys The Lord’s Command To Go To Nineveh And Announce Judgment Against It For Its WickednessLesson # 7

3. Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1:1.

4. This morning we will study Jonah 1:1-3, which records Jonah disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants because of their wickedness.

5. Jonah 1:1, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’”

6. The expression “the word of the Lord came to Jonah” emphasizes with the reader that Jonah received divine authority to proclaim a message of judgment for the city of Nineveh.

7. The proper noun Yahweh, “Lord” emphasizes the personal relationship that Jonah had with the Lord and the personal attention and revelation that Jonah was receiving from God.

8. It is emphasizing the “immanency” of God meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of men whereas Elohim, “God” emphasizes the transcendent character of God.

9. Nineveh was one of the capitals of the Assyrian Empire and was located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in northeastern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, in the area of the city of Mosul).

10. Its great size is mentioned in Jonah 3:3 which states, “Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk.”

11. The NET Bible commenting on Nineveh writes, “Nineveh was the last capital city of ancient Assyria. Occupying about 1800 acres, it was located on the east bank of the Tigris River across from the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.”

12. This journey from Gath-Hepher, Jonah’s hometown to Nineveh is approximately 500 miles, which would be a rugged journey.

13. “The great city” emphasizes the size of the city of Nineveh highlighting its importance so that just as is the size of the city, so is the magnitude of its wickedness (The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah, page 4).

15. “Cry against it” in the Hebrew means “to announce judgment against” Nineveh referring to Jonah making a proclamation against the great city of Nineveh and its inhabitants emphasizing with the reader that Yahweh is the Lord of all the nations and is sovereign over all the nations and holds them morally accountable.

16. Psalm 66:7, “He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.”

17. As Jonah knew full well, this proclamation of impending destruction of Nineveh and its inhabitants was designed by the Lord to elicit a response from the Ninevites, namely that they would repent (Jonah 3:10-4:2).

18. “For their wickedness” describes the Ninevites as not being morally good with the implication that their actions and way of life is harmful and detrimental to the rest of the human race, which interacts with them.

19. Nineveh’s wickedness comprised, besides her idolatry, her inordinate pride (cp. Is. 10:5‑19; 36:18‑20), and her cruel oppression of the conquered nations in deporting the entire populace to distant lands (2 Kings 15:29; 17:6; Is. 36:16, 17), her inhuman warfare.

20. The crimes of the Ninevites are condemned by the Lord through the prophet Nahum in Nahum chapter three.

21. “Has come before Me” expresses the fact that a situation is extreme enough to gain the special attention of God and implies nothing about God’s relative cognitive abilities.

22. Yahweh thus announces to Jonah that his interest in the situation has been aroused to the point that he has chosen to do something about it. (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 31: Hosea-Jonah, page 449)

23. Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

24. “Rose up” is the verb qum (קוּם) (koom), which appeared in verse 2 where it was used in the imperative form of the Lord commanding Jonah to go to Nineveh and by repeating this verb here in verse 3 sets up the reader to expect that Jonah was intending to obey God but he doesn’t.

25. “To Tarshish” is probably Tartessus in southern Spain, approximately 2,500 miles west of Joppa.

26. “From the presence of the Lord” does not mean that Jonah was hiding from the Lord since Jonah knew full-well that God is omnipresent meaning that He is everywhere present but rather it means Jonah fled from his service-commission as a prophet which he received from the Lord Himself.

27. To stand in the presence of someone is often used in the sense of acting as one’s official minister (Cp. Gen. 41:46; Deut. 1:38; 10:8; 1 Sam. 16:21f. 1 Kings 17:1; 18:15; 2 Kings 3:14, etc.), thus Jonah refused to serve the Lord in his office as prophet.

29. Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

30. “He went down to Joppa” suggests that Jonah traveled from Jerusalem, which is at a higher elevation, from which he received his marching orders in the Temple to the seaport of Joppa 34 miles northwest of Jerusalem.

32. “Found a ship” indicates that after seeking and searching for a merchant ship bound for Tarshish Jonah hired the services of one.

33. “He went down into it” refers to Jonah “going down” to the galley of this merchant ship and also indicates the second stage in his downward journey.

34. “From the presence of the Lord” emphasizes with the reader Jonah’s determination to disobey the Lord’s command to go immediately to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants.

35. So Jonah hated the Ninevites so much that he was willing to travel all the way across the Mediterranean Sea to get away from them.

36. He is out of the “geographical” will of God meaning Jonah is not in the geographical location that the Lord has directed him to be in.

37. Jonah is also going against the “directive” will of God meaning he is disobeying a direct command from the Lord.

38. The Lord is permitting Jonah to disobey Him, which is the “permissive” will of God.

39. However, Jonah will soon experience the “overruling” will of God in that the Lord will “overrule” Jonah’s bad decision and will use a storm and a great fish to “overrule” his bad decision.