Information Written and Compiled by Bruce M. Carlock
Outline of The Book of Jonah
1. Jonah's Flight from God (1:1-17)
a. The Lord calls; Jonah Rebels (1:1-3)
b. The Lord sends a storm (1:4-6)
c. The sailors intervene (1:7-16)
d. The Lord sends a big fish (1:17)
2. Jonah's Prayer of Thanksgiving from the Fish
a. Jonah prays (2:1-9)
b. The Lord delivers Jonah (2:10)
3. Jonah's Preaching in Nineveh (3:1-10)
a. Jonah obeys the call [of God] (3:1-4)
b. King and Ninevites repent (3:5-9)
c. The Lord withholds judgement (3:10)
4. Jonah's Anger at God's Mercy (4:1-11)
a. The Lord displeases Jonah (4:1-5)
b. Jonah displeases the Lord (4:6-10)
c. The Lord shows great pity (4:11)
I dare say most people who have read the book of Jonah (or who have heard the story behind it) tend to think that the book of Jonah is about a guy named Jonah who does literally the exact opposite of what God tells him to do for half of the book. Then following his period of time living in the guts of a big fish, he learns his lesson and obeys God. I'd like to argue that this book was never written for us to focus on Jonah, but rather, this book was written for us to focus on God's goodness and mercy toward us.
The book of Jonah has a few keys and points that it endeavors to bring out to us:
1. Gentiles can be saved
2. God's grace
3. God's total control of nature
4. The pointlessness of "running away" from God
I believe these points are in order from greatest to least.
(Meaning: The idea that "Gentiles can be saved" is the most prominent message that we need to realize in this book and then "God's grace" is second and so forth...)
The Author of the book of Jonah is unknown. This is due primarily to the fact that Jonah is referred to in the 3rd person throughout the entirety of the book. Bible scholars claim that the book could have been written any time from the years 793-758 B.C.
(Again, Lord willing I'll be writing and publishing these in sections. Stay tuned for more.)
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A Breakdown of The Book of Jonah
SpiritualI dare say most people who have read the book of Jonah (or who have heard the story behind it) tend to think that the book of Jonah is about a guy named Jonah who does literally the exact opposite of what God tells him to do for half of the book. Th...
