Who Was Jonah?

Who Was Jonah?

The OT book titled Jonah is the best know of all the writings of the minor prophets. That's because its more of a story about a prophet than a collection of judgments, condemnations, and predictions recorded by a prophet. Everybody loves a good fish story… 

Jonah 1:1 this verse allows us to find Jonah in 1 Kings 14:23-25. He came from a town in northern Israel on the south coast of the sea of Galilee near Nazareth. He appears to be a part of the  company of prophets surrounding the king of the norther tribes… Jeroboam II. The time frame would be 780 BC.... about 50 years before northern Israel would fall to the Assyrians.

Doom was on the horizon... but in the days of Jonah, Israel was doing well in both business and war. Expanding their borders and getting rich. A great time to be a patriot.

Amos and Hosea operated as prophets at the same time and same region as Jonah. They had the difficult task of delivering scathing judgments and warnings to the king and people of Israel. They have much to say about the impending doom on the horizon.

• Amos is best known for speaking truth to power about the social and economic oppression in the northern kingdom of Israel.
• Hosea is best known for addressing Israel's faithlessness to their covenant commitment with YHWH.

Compared to those men, Jonah had a cushy job as a prophet. He got to tell the king about all the victories YHWH was going to give him. The king was probably happy to hear what Jonah had to say.

Why was Jonah giving Jeroboam II prophecies of victories at the same time Amos and Hosea were dishing out such hard criticism? Was Jonah a false prophet? A hireling who told the king what he wanted to hear rather than the word of God?

There were plenty of men who were false prophets of this sort... but I don't think we need to categorize Jonah this way... even though he is presented in a very unflattering way in the book named after him.

Let's look into why God was blessing this particular dynasty of kings who ruled in Northern Israel… we'll call this dynasty of kings “the house of Jehu”… While at the same time issuing stern warnings of doom.

Jonah appears to have allowed his patriotic love of his country to over-ride obeying God. He ran away from God… he was not happy with God’s need to punish the disobedient nation. So we’ll end with a question about our own loyalty.      

A Promise Made to Jeroboam's Father

Jonah was a prophet in the courts of Jeroboam II… but let's go back one generation and look at Jeroboam's father, who’s name was Jehoash... who reigned for 17 years. During his 17 year reign Jehoash got a "good news-bad news" prophecy from none other than the prophet Elisha.

2 Kings 13:14 Elisha [now a very old man] speaks again after years of silence. King Jehoash seems to have enjoyed a close relationship with Elisha... calling him "father" and weeping on his death-bed. The king also is distraught over the sad state of affairs in Israel. Perhaps he worried about how they would fare militarily when this mighty man of God was no longer around giving guidance and reassurance of God's presence.

Note,  before the good times enjoyed by Jeroboam II  & Jonah Israel was under a lot of pressure from Aram.

2 Kings 13:15-20 perhaps God was angry with the king's lack of zeal... his timidity... lack of determination... tendency to think small. He did give the king a blessing of future victory... but He limited it. Northern Israel would have a period of military success... then the situation would start to fall apart.

Jehoash's son Jeroboam II, was part of that successful interlude for northern Israel. Jonah was the prophet who got to deliver more detailed prophecies of the victories god promised through Elisha.

Lack of Follow-Through

God founded the line dynasty of Jehu for a purpose. They followed through on some of the elements of what God wanted done but failed to see the job through the whole way. To explain let's go back all the way to Jehu himself.

Before the dynasty of Jehu there was the house of Omri/Ahab. Ahab is best known for marrying the Phoenician woman Jezebel. She brought the disgusting worship of Baal into Israel and used the power and money of king Ahab to promote it. Elijah's ministry was intimately entwined with the family of Ahab and fighting the domination of Baalism. Before the job was done Elijah asked to be retired and Elisha took over.

 This places us about 50 years before the days of Jonah and Jeroboam II. Working through Elisha God took the kingship away from the house of Omri/Ahab and given it to Jehu 2 Kings 9:1-13.

Jehu as a military commander. He quickly got the support of the army and they declared him King. Jehu personally killed the current king, Amaziah... and the regent, Joram 2 Kings 9:21-27.

Jehu then executed Jezebel... all the other members of Ahab's family... and finally rounded up all the prophets of Baal and had them killed too 2 Kings 10:28-31. As reward Jehu was promised 4 generations of his sons would rule: Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zechariah.

They were in charge for 50 years... they destroyed the blatant Baal worship in Israel... they were good at killing, seizing power, and military matters. But they left the job only half done.

The house of Jehu  persisted in the error of worshiping YHWH with practices He never commanded such as: changing the appointed times of worship, changing the appointed locations of worship, using images like golden calves, and phallic symbols to represent Him [these are the sins of Jeroboam of Nebat].

Note: naming the great grandson Jeroboam II indicates where their loyalties really were. The family of Jehu comes across as a conservative bunch....more interested in preserving national traditions than seeking the truth of God in its purest form. Baalism was a foreign practice so it made sense to get rid of that... but the other stuff... these were Israel's own unique, special way of worshiping YHWH... what did it matter that they were not established by scripture... they were beautiful traditions which everyone loved.

Conservative and traditional values are not the same thing as Godly truth. A reality pill that many of us in the Church of God, especially in the United States, need to swallow.

Conservative values do not reverence the Sabbath command… or the holy days which spell out the plan of God… or true teaching about the resurrection…. or the nature of God. We are not conservatives. We are the people of God.

Back to Jonah...

Remember the prophecy based on striking arrows on the ground?

The northern kingdom of Israel would have victory... but it would not be complete. Just as Jehu & Son's obedience and service to God was limited and not complete.

Jonah spoke the word of YHWH to the king Jeroboam II about those victories... while men like Hosea and Micah would deliver criticism, correction, and judgment both of which were the word of God.

But, I wonder if being the prophet of national victory made Jonah substitute national pride and patriotism for God and covenant….  

Prophetic Message of Hosea

Hosea's task was to call out the unfaithfulness of Israel to their covenant with God. That unfaithfulness included lack of justice and moral integrity... but Hosea was more focused on false worship as the root of Israel's evil's.

Hosea 3:1 Hosea's life was used by YHWH as a metaphor. He was instructed to marry a prostitute to picture the way YHWH felt about His covenant relationship with Israel. One of his children is named "unloved"... another is named "not my people"... not bearing or developing the likeness of their father.

Hosea 4:6-19 Baalism was wiped out but it had left a lingering effect on the people and their attitudes about how YHWH could and should be worshiped. Next to forbidden images of YHWH they installed "the Queen of heaven" which is who the raisin cakes were for. They rejected God's specific and detailed instructions about worship and substituted their own. They revered images and traditions rather than the truth.

Gilgal - was a place of significance in the founding and history of the northern nation. It probably had become a shrine of national greatness corrupted by false religion… directed toward YHWH but false and disliked by Him [also mentioned by Amos 4:4, 5:5].

Beth Aven - literally the house of confusion/vanity. Probably Bethel where the golden calf was. It too was a place of significance going back to the time of Abraham and Jacob. The first Jeroboam had made it the national shrine of Northern Israel to replace Jerusalem in the hearts and minds of the people.

YHWH says, "don't glory in your national greatness and your humanly-devised worship traditions while you dishonor me".

Hosea 9:3; 11:5-7 - while Jonah was prophesying to King Jeroboam II about his limited victories... Hosea was looking ahead to the coming punishment for Israel...  Assyria is explicitly mentioned as the future invaders.

Prophetic Message of Amos

The other prophet active in the days of Jonah was Amos... his task was to call out the social injustice and corruption of Israel... which also violated the covenant.

Amos 2:6-8 - economic oppression is the topic, the sandal is the sign of a contract (see Ruth). Keeping the cloak as a pledge is a reference to Exodus 22:25-27. They were dealing in a cruel and harsh manner with people economically. Driving people into debt to pay high taxes then charging them outrageous interest on the loan. Foreclosing and and taking over their family lands.

Amos 4:1 using this ill-gotten gain to satisfy personal pleasures

Amos 5:10-13 - more explicit mention of taxes, along with bribery and corruption.

Amos 6:1-2 trusting in their national greatness instead of gaining confidence through truly honoring and obeying God.

Plenty of people did not like hearing this sort of stuff. There were other "prophets" in the king's court who seemed to think you could only say positive things about what God was up to Amos 7:10-13.

Amos 7:14-17 I may not be a trained prophet, or a polished product of the school of prophets but at least I speak the truth. Israel will be punished and history will prove me right.

Who Was Jonah Loyal To?

Was Jonah a trained prophet, was he a product of the school of prophets established by Elijah? Was he a regular at the king's court? We know he was a prophet sent to tell the king of victories.

What did he think about the dynasty of Jehu? Was he proud of Israel… all that she was and had been?

What was his relationship like with men like Hosea, or Amos... surely he must have known about Hosea's explicit proclamations of Israel's doom in the hands of Assyria.

Jonah 1:1-3 the usual pattern of the prophetic books is God is: God said to the prophet go... so the prophet went. But Jonah runs away.

He did not want the Assyrians to hear the word of God and repent.   If they repented they would not be destroyed... and if they were not destroyed they would one day invade and deport the people of northern Israel. Jonah’s people.

His loyalty to Israel appears to be stronger than his loyalty to God. That same problem can happen to you and me. We can all find our self identifying more strongly with our nation, a political party, our ethnicity, our economic class than we do with God and His Church.

Who are we? Who are you? We are God’s people.