Jonah

2. Disclaimer
 The insights of this presentation is prepared by the
author after detailed research of Biblical Scriptures (The
Holy Bible) as well as that of
 Hebrew texts
 Rabbinic Literature
 Pseudo Ephiphanius writings
 Book of Tobias (Apocrypha/ Orthodox Biblical Canon)
 Third book of Machabees (Apocrypha)
 The Presentation will help the viewer
 To have a better understanding on Biblical History
 To have a clear idea about the book of Jonah

3. The story of Jonah
 Jonah was a Prophet in a little town of Joppa ( present
day Jaffa) in Philistine.
 God called him and asked him to go to a place called
Nineveh, capital of Assyria and prophecy against them.
 But Jonah disobeyed God and boarded a ship sailing
through the Mediterranean sea and headed to a place
called Tarshish (Tarsus) [Spain]

4. The story of Jonah
 Raging storms broke loose and the sailors found that it
was God’s anger that has caused the storm. Jonah was
thrown into the sea.
 He was gulped by a sea fish [Whale]. Jonah repented and
prayed inside the tummy of the fish. The fish vomited
Jonah upon the dry land
 Jonah went and prophesied to Nineveh and the people of
Nineveh repented of their sins
To have a better understanding of the places mentioned
here, please take a look at the map in the next slide

6. Historical Setting
 Jonah becomes a prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II
(Israel’s most powerful King) 793 BC
 Jonah Prophesied between 793 BC – 753 BC
 Jonah Preceded Amos
 Jonah was a little boy during the time of the two miracle
working prophets -Elijah and Elisha
 Shalmaneser III was the King of Assyria when Jonah
prophesied to Nineveh
 Joppa was an Israeli Territory during that time

7. Who is this Jonah?
 Jonah (Yunus in Arabic) means Dove [peace]
 He is the son of Amittai who is from Gath-Hepher (Few miles north
of Nazareth) Amittai means Truth in Hebrew ( ‫(אמת‬ [emet]
 Jonah is the 5th
minor prophet in the Old testament order
 He is mentioned twice in the Old testament
 2 Kings 14:25 – Jonah’s prophecy on Israel’s territory restoration is
fulfilled
 Book of Jonah
 In New Testament , he is again referred twice by Jesus himself
 Mt 12:38-41 , Luke 11:29-32 (When the Pharisees tried to corner Jesus by
asking him to show a sign, He made a reference to Jonah. Jonah's
restoration after three days inside the great whale prefigured
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ after three days.

8. Jonah – Additional Information
 According to Judaism, Jonah was the boy who was brought back to
life by Elijah (The son of the widow from Zarepath) [1Kings
17:17-24]
 This Young boy became one of the disciples of Elijah and was
trained by Elijah
 Jonah was one among the 50 prophets who stood at the banks of
River Jordan when Elijah was taken up into the heavens (2 Kings
2:7)
 Later Jonah became a disciple of Elisha and he was asked by Elisha
to anoint King Jehu (2 Kings 9 :1-13) . He was a shy prophet and
Jehu’s friends called him a mad fellow/false prophet.( This could be
one of the factors for Jonah’s disobedience in going to Nineveh)

9. Now let us enter
into the Book of
Jonah

10. Jonah – Book Formation
 The book of Jonah was written by an unknown author
 There are four chapters in the book of Jonah
 Each chapter in the book of Jonah conveys a definite
message
 There is a relationship between the even chapters and
the odd chapters ( we will explore that after
understanding the four chapters)

11. Jonah - 1
 God gives an Instruction to Jonah (Go to Nineveh)
 Jonah disobeys God ( Travels to Tarshish)
 God creates a storm and makes the sailors to understand
that the storm was a result of Jonah’s disobedience.
 Jonah is thrown inside the sea.
 To make matters worse, a big fish swallows Jonah
Moral : If we disobey God, God will Punish us.

12. Jonah - 2
 Jonah understands his mistake and prays inside the
tummy of the fish
 He submits himself to God and asks for repentance
 God forgives him and makes he fish to vomit Jonah
upon the dry land
Moral : If we accept our mistakes and repent, God will
forgive us and save us.
 In Jonah’s case, God used the fish as a submarine.

13. Jonah - 3
 Jonah goes to Nineveh and preaches to the people of
Nineveh.
 The people of Nineveh repent (From King to Livestock)
 God forgives them
Moral : God is a Gracious God. He will forgive and forget
our past sins if we really repent and submit ourselves to
him

14. Jonah - 4
 When God showed mercy to Nineveh, Jonah gets angry because his
prophesy was not fulfilled
 Jonah became grumpy and waited to see the destruction of
Nineveh. Moreover the burns in his body (acidic burns because of
staying inside the fish’s belly) irritated him
 God made a gourd to grow and cover up Jonah. Jonah was glad.
Then God made a worm to eat the gourd. Now when Jonah felt the
heat of the sun, he fainted and wished to die. God did this to make
Jonah understand that he was a merciful God.
Moral : God’s plans, thoughts and ways are not ours. If we hold on to
him, we would understand his plans.

15. Relationship between chapters
1 and 3
 The same verses in the two chapters have
similarities
 Verse 1 – God’s command to Jonah
 Verse 3 – Jonah’s response to God’s command
 Verse 5 – Reaction of people around Jonah

16. Relationship between chapters
2 and 4
 The 2nd
chapter and 4th
chapter shows Jonah’s
contrasting behavioral response
 Verse 1 – Jonah’s prayer/ Jonah’s anger
 Verse 7,8 – Jonah’s soul fainted / Physically
fainted

17. End note
 The book of Jonah ends with a question posed by God.
 We never know whether Jonah became calm or whether
he continued to be grumpy
 But we know one thing from the book of Jonah – God is
a merciful God and he gives us one more chance to
repent and ask for forgiveness. Are we ready to submit
ourselves?

18. About the author
 The author[ Prason] comes from a very small town in the southern
most part of India.
 He had a good education and he was brought up in Christian faith.
But he went with the ways of the world in his late teens and fell for
all the vices.
 Still God chose him; broke him and molded him and has made him
to be a steward for his sheep.
 Now the Lord is imparting him with his wisdom and is training
him to be an Apostle with a Prophetic Calling .
 Praise God! for his Yoke is easy and his burden is light
 If you want to share anything regarding this presentation, please
write to the author [Prason] at prason@chronicwriter.com