JONAH .

Outline and Observations

God and Jonah. (1:1-3).
Revelation, Command and
Disobedience
God Word and Command to Jonah go
to Nineveh

Additional Observations.

Based on 3:8,9 and 2:9 the wickedness

could have been :
War crimes, Violence, Exploitation&
Oppression of countrymen and foreigners ,
immorality, idolatry and throwing away
godliness .
He talks about all these to the Prophet and
asks for His Work and Voice.

Jonahs went down to Joppa and

headed for Tarshish to run away from
God.

Jonah instead of going forward going down

literally .
He may be running away due to his short
sightedness about God as given in Ch.4.
Yet this is willful disobedience .
Can a man run away from the presence of
God ? This could have been due to
misplaced emphasis of Temple.

God, Jonah and Sailors.(4-6)

Disobedience & Distress
God hurled a great Storm.
Sailors cried out to their gods
Jonah went down and slept.
Captains scolding.
What are you doing? Get Up and Cry
out to your God. Perhaps He may
notice, We may live
Sailors and Jonah(7-10).
God and Sailors Find Out Cause of
Distress.
Sailors cast lots.

God shouts through storm and captain to

the insensitive, prejudiced prophet.
Jonah is insensitive to God and the
consequent circumstances in the ship.
Captain questions and chides Jonah .This
may be on behalf of God.
Jonah is singled out by lot. His confession
and character are contradictory. They are
sharply questioning him

 Jonah singled out for questioning.

Tell us Who you are? Why this to us ?
Whose Fault?.
Jonahs Answer.
Hebrew, Worship the Lord, God of
heaven ,sea and earth, Running away
from Him.
Sailors Dismay. What have you
done.
Sailors, Jonah &God(11-16)
Jonah Confesses ,Sailors act and
Sea Calms
Sailors: What should we do ?
Jonah: Pick me up and hurl me out!
This trouble is due to me
Sailors: Tried their best, Cried out to
God, Picked him up and threw him
out.
God. Calmed the sea.
Sailors: Feared, Vowed, Sacrificed.

A worshiper of God of Heaven and earth

claims to run away from God. What have
you done to God, To you and To us? is their
question.
The piety of stranger and pity of Jonah is
contrasted
Here only he confesses his sin and
responsibility. He has come to his senses to
some extent at least to save the sailors.
The men in fear of God during distress try
their best to save Jonah in the Ship and
save their lives .
They cried out to God for deliverance
knowing that Jonah and the lives in the
ship could not be saved together . They
acted on the advice of Jonah and was
delivered from the rough sea. They
responded positively for the deliverance
received .
God can hurl storm, he can make sailors to
hurl him out of the ship and He can
withdraw the storm . But, this man and
that men cannot hold back a man on
Gods mission .

God& Jonah (1:17)

Deep and Different are His ways
God Sent a Great Fish to swallow
Jonah.
Jonah was in the stomach of Fish for
three days and nights.

God hurls storm to locate the run away

prophet and restore a mission .
Both Jonah and sailors could see only sea
but not beyond. There is an unseen Great
Fish in the sea to receive Jonah and revive
him for Mission through prayer.
His current experiences on Gods way of
dealing with his life and surrounding is
very limited .

Jonah and God (2:1-10)

Praying from the Deep Reaches

When he fails to pray and perceive Gods

plan in the open and prior opportunities ,
he was forced to struggle and pray from an

the Most High

Jonahs Prayer.
He threw me into deep waters, I
went down to the very bottom, I
thought I am cast out from His
presence and temple
I called out in distress & cried out for
help when my soul fainted . He
heard and answered me .
He lifted me up from the pit and
depth.
Those who worship worthless idols
forfeit the mercy given.

I will offer sacrifice, declare His

praise and do what I vowed I will pay
.
Salvation belongs to the Lord
Gods Response.(2:11)
LORD commanded the fish.
It vomited Jonah on dry land

God & Jonah (3:1-3)

Renewal of Word and Restoration
of Vision and Mission .
God Word and Command came to
Jonah go to Nineveh second time.
Jonah arose and went to Nineveh
according to the Word of the Lord.

Jonah & Ninevehites.(4)

Gods Powerful Word
Jonah walked through the great city.
Cried out Yet 40 days , and Nineveh
shall be overthrown
Ninevehites &God.(5-9)
Nineveh repents and turns from
evil and wickedness.
They believed God
Proclaimed fast
Greatest to the least put on sackcloth .
Cried out to the Lord turning from evil

un expected dungeon .
Now it is Jonahs turn to cry for deliverance
in distress all alone.
The prayer expressing the anguish of
going down to the bottom of the sea.
God heard the Crying prayer for
deliverance and lifted Jonah front the
depth .
Still he is preoccupied with temple,
sacrifice and duty and not compassion .
There only one line in prayer on Gods
mercy and compassion .

Miraculously he was swallowed by great

fish and now miraculously spit out on a dry
land .

Gods word came to him in the second time

.
He arose and went to Nineveh as
commanded by God.

He preached the prophetic Word of God to

the great city.

Ninevehites believed, fasted, turned away

ways violence in hand.

They expected God may turn and they
may not perish.
God & Ninevehites(10)
Repentance in action
acknowledged .
God saw what they did.
They turned from their evil way
He did not execute the judgment
declared .

Jonah& God (4: 1-5)

Jonans anger on forgiveness of
Nineveh
J: Was displeased exceedingly and
preached to the Lord.
This is what I said; That is why I ran;
That is what You are: Gracious, Merciful,
Abounding in love, Slow to anger,
relent concerning judgment. Take my
life.
God was probing Jonah.
Do you do well to be angry?
J: Went out of city ,made a shelter and
waited to see what would happen to
the city.
God & Jonah(6-10)
Jonahs Anger on a plant and Gods
final answer
Lor: Appointed a plant to grow and give
shade to Jonah. J: Was delighted.
Lord: Appointed a worm to attack the
plant and it withered. J: Despaired of
life and said that it is better for me to
die.
Lord: Do you do well to be angry for the
plant? J:I do well to be angry enough to
die.
Lord: You pity the plant ,for which
you did not labour. Should I not

from the evil ways, and violence in hand

and cried out to God so that they may
not perish.

God saw their repentance in action

and he did not execute the judgment
declared.
There could have been visible repentance
from War crimes, Violence, Exploitation&
Oppression of countrymen and foreigners ,
immorality, idolatry and throwing away
godliness in the next 40 days. It is left to
our imagination here. Mission
Accomplished .
Anger& Complaints about Gods
Finding fault with Gods Mercy and
Methods and preaching to Him.
Wanted to die for his prejudices .

Till looking for Judgment as vindication for

his preaching and not deliverance.
Prophets prejudices takes further time
and effort by God to deliver.
Jonah still wanted to die for the comfort
given and withdrawn .

Till the end of the Book the unreasonable

prophet could not find deliverance form

pity Nineveh, that great city in

which there are more that
1,20,000 persons who do not know
their right hand from the left and
also much cattle.

himself and his own prejudices against God

and people around

Some Structural details:

Righteous , Compassionate & Concerned God.
He is Lord of all people and all places.
Jonah Vs God
Vs Gentile Sailors
Vs Gentile City.
Repeating themes.
Call/Great/Wickedness/Cry/Perish/Prayer/Pity
Reversals
Jonah Running away from the Lord to Walking for the Lord .
God- Condemning Nineveh on wickedness and Condoning Nineveh on
repentance.

 Climax .
Overall : God is not only Righteous, Furious but Compassionate, Merciful and
Patient.
Chapter 1: Turnaround over sea
Chapter 2: Turnaround inside sea.
Chapter 3: Turnaround in Nineveh
Chapter 4: Turnaround in prophet and God .

Miracles.
Miracle 1: Storm and deliverance.
Miracle 2: Lot and singling out Jonah
Miracle 3: Great Fish swallowing and preserving Jonah. (It also has
fasted)
Miracle 4: Nineveh Repentance.
(A Great city of 1,20,000 repenting and forgiven on a single outsiders
preaching by Power of God )
Miracle 5: Sudden plant coming up to comfort
Miracle 6: Sudden worm consuming the plant .
Perishing sailors found the Lord by two miracles.
Perishing Nineveh found he Lord by repentance on one powerful
preaching.
Perishing prophet in anger and displeasure have not find the Lord
and His pity even after 6 miracles .