Part 1: Jonah runs away from God

God’s instructions

1:1-2

• God tells Jonah, ‘Preach against Nineveh [capital city of Assyria] because of its wickedness!’

Jonah and the sailors

1:3

• [Instead], Jonah heads for Tarshish [an unidentified city; Jonah is heading west, away from Nineveh, as he doesn’t want the wicked Ninevites to repent and be forgiven, see 4:2]
• Jonah goes to Joppa [a port on the Mediterranean coast of Israel], where he pays the fare & boards a boat to Tarshish

1:4-6

• God sends a storm; the sailors cry to their gods; Jonah sleeps, but is woken and told, ‘Pray!’

1:7-10

• The sailors cast lots to see who to blame [for the storm]; the lot falls on Jonah [cf. Prov 16:33]

1:11-16

• Jonah says ‘Throw me in the sea!’
• The sailors fail in their attempt to row to land, so throw Jonah in the sea & the storm immediately stops!
• The sailors fear God & [worship] Him

Jonah and the big fish

1:17

• God provides a fish to swallow Jonah; he lives in its belly for 3 days & nights [cf. Mt 12:39-40]

2:1-9

• Jonah prays to God from inside the fish, saying:

i. (v2, v4, v7) ‘I called to God & he answered; I prayed towards His holy temple!’

[Jonah may have recalled the words of either King David (2-Sam 22:5-7, v17, Ps 18:4-6, v16) or King Solomon (2-Chron 6:20-21)]

ii. (v3, v5-6) ‘I was cast into the depths of the sea, but You lifted me up from the pit!’

iii. (v8-9) ‘Those who listen to vain [idolatrous] lies are forsaking [God’s] mercy; but I will praise You and make sacrifices to You because salvation comes from God!’

2:10

• God commands the fish to vomit; Jonah returns to dry land [on the third day, cf. 1:17, Hos 6:1-2]

Part 2: Jonah obeys God

God’s instructions

3:1-2

• God speaks to Jonah again: ‘Go to Nineveh, and tell them the message I give you!’ (cf. 1:1-2)

Jonah and the Ninevites

3:3-4

• Jonah travels to Nineveh and preaches, ‘At the end of 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed!’

3:5-9

• The Ninevites act humbly; the king says, ‘Everyone must fast, pray & repent!’ [cf. Mt 12:41]

3:10

• God sees their response [of humility & repentance] so He relents from destroying Nineveh

Part 3: Jonah argues with God

Jonah becomes angry with God

4:1-4

• Jonah believes it is evil [that God will not punish the Assyrians for their crimes. Nb. About 100 years later, Nineveh had reverted to evil & then they faced God’s judgement, see Nahum 1:1-3];
• Jonah says to God, ‘I ran away [earlier] because I knew that You would show them [undeserved] mercy. Now take my life; I would rather die than live!’
• God responds, ‘Should you be angry?’ [or "is doing good displeasing to thee?" (YLT)]

[Note that Jonah is acting like the elder brother of the prodigal son, see Lk 15:28-30 (see the full parable in Lk 15:11-32)]

Jonah and the plant

4:5

• Jonah builds a shelter [of branches? cf. Neh 8:15] & sits outside the city to see what happens to it

4:6

• God [miraculously] causes a plant to grow, making a sunshade for Jonah; Jonah is very pleased

4:7-9

• God kills the plant and sends a hot wind; Jonah becomes sunburnt & gets angry with God

4:10-11

• God explains:
• Jonah was concerned about a plant that he didn’t work for [he didn’t plant it, feed it, prune it, nor water it];
• God was concerned about a city of 120,000 people & many cattle

Amos / Oba / JON / Mic / Nah