The Great Parable
Jonah’s anger emerged after the 40 days had expired. He had spent that time preaching impending doom throughout the Assyrian heartlands and the fact that central Assyria was not destroyed evidently comes as a shock to him. The Hebrew (4:1) is emphatic.1
“displeased” –…
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The Great City
In our last article we saw Jonah, saved from his horror of drowning, acknowledge God’s intention to include Gentiles in His purpose. He promises to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and faithfully perform his vows to “his God.” Jonah is now about to take up his commission as a p…
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The Great Fish
In chapter 2, the record returns to follow Jonah’s plight and most of the events described would have occupied about 3-5 minutes. On the surface, newly converted sailors are making sacrifice and vows to their new God. Beneath the surface, Jonah desperately utters a vow too, hav…
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The great storm
Little is revealed about Jonah in Scripture outside the book that bears his name and the historical accounts and inferences meagrely scattered throughout the record. Jonah means ‘a dove’ and his father, Amittai, means ‘truth.’ He is ‘a dove, the son of truth’ and this …
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Background
Many of us would have pictured Jonah as a somewhat sulky individual known for hating gentiles and famous for trying to run away from God and being swallowed by a whale. We aim to show this is an entirely incorrect view of both the man and his character – of those four att…
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The climax of the book of Job occurs over the space of six chapters (38–42) amidst what must have been a most dramatic scene.
The voice of Yahweh booms out over the noise of the whirlwind to Job. “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” Elihu is right—Job w…
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Throughout the debate phase of the book, Job achieves victory over the friends and develops in faith, but a problem is also highlighted. Initially, Job had believed, like his friends, in exact retribution (4:3-4; 31:23) and on this basis he accused God of injustice and being impossible to understand…
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The book of Job is a wonderful exposition of how the love of God can be shed abroad in our hearts through a deep appreciation of His mercy. When we read of Job experiencing great troubles and eventually being delivered from evil, our minds are expanded and our faith is increased as we see the extent…
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