Jonah One
by Dr. Henry M. Morris
(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)
Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Jonah. Jonah was not a mythical personage, as many critics have alleged, but a real prophet, who prophesied in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (see 2 Kings 14:23, 25).
Nineveh. Nineveh was, indeed, the greatest Assyrian city, founded by Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-12). Soon after Jonah's time it became the capital of Assyria, the world's greatest empire. It was situated by the Tigris river, on the east side, near the modern city of Mosul, Iraq, and archaeologists have been excavating its remains for over a hundred years now.
wickedness. The wickedness and cruelty of the Assyrians was the scandal of the ancient world. After a brief revival following Jonah's preaching (Jonah 3:5), the nation became even worse later on, and Nahum then prophesied its utter destruction Nahum 1:1; 3:7).
Tarshish. Tarshish was a distant seaport, so far away that a round trip from Israel apparently took three years (1 Kings 10:22). The location of Tarshish is commonly thought to have been in either Spain or Great Britain, but the exotic nature of cargoes from there, carried in the ships of the Phoenician king Hiram of Tyre (2 Chronicles 9:21), might indicate a location either in central Africa or east Asia. More evidence is accumulating that the Phoenicians may have sailed all over the world.
great wind. This was the first of at least seven providential miracles recorded by Jonah (that is, miracles requiring providential timing of natural phenomena, rather than special creation).
call upon thy God. The mariners were evidently recruits from various nations, for each had his own “god” (Jonah 1:5). Yet they somehow sensed, perhaps by his calm demeanor, that Jonah's God was more powerful than theirs. They were no doubt accustomed to storms at sea, but this one was so uniquely severe that they had to assume there was a special cause.
cast lots. The casting of lots is normally believed to be a random selection process whereas it is commonly said that “God does not throw dice.” The fact is, however, that God, when He so wills, can overrule and control even so-called chance events. In this case, Jonah elected to go to Tarshish, but God wanted him at Nineveh, so He provided an alternate means of transportation that would assure the intended destination!
Hebrew. The name “Hebrew” could actually apply to any of the descendants of Eber (Genesis 10:25; 11:16-19). Perhaps this was the sense in which Jonah expected this motley group to understand it. The term actually appears only fourteen times (this being the last) in the Old Testament.
God of heaven. Unlike the pagan polytheists he was traveling with, Jonah was a creationist, and his God was the only true God. His God had created the universe, including all the false gods (actually fallen angels and demons now in the Satanic hosts) worshiped by the pagan world.
as it pleased thee. These polytheistic foreigners, experienced seamen as they were, knew enough about violent storms at sea to know this unique storm had been sent by Godthe God of Jonah.
sea ceased from her raging. “Even the wind and the sea obey Him” (Mark 4:41).
sacrifice unto the Lord. It is significant that, at least at this time in pre-Christian history, these pagan sailors so quickly acknowledged the true God. Even though they followed a variety of gods, they somehow had retained such an intuitive sense of the one Creator God that they could recognize His power when it was manifested.
prepared. The Lord “prepared” a fish, a gourd, a worm, and a wind (Jonah 1:17; 4:6, 7, 8), in accomplishing His will and proclaiming His Word through Jonah.
great fish. This “great fish” was not necessarily a whale, although there are some whales with the ability to swallow a man whole. It could have been, for example, a large whale-shark, or possibly some now-extinct marine reptile (the word translated “whale” in Matthew 12:40 could better be rendered “sea-monster”). It may even have beenfor all we know to the contrarya special marine animal created by God just for this purpose. The whole event is recorded as a miracle, and was so quoted by Christ (Matthew 12:39-40), so it is a mistake to attempt to explain it as a purely natural phenomenon. There have been unconfirmed reports of men in recent times who have been swallowed by whales or whale-sharkseven some who survived such an experiencebut these, even if authentic, are irrelevant. Jonah's experience was clearly, and altogether, a miracle.
three days and three nights. The Lord Jesus confirmed the historicity of both Jonah and his experience in the “whale” by citing it as a type of His own coming death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 12:39-40). In fact, these words of Christ probably indicate that Jonah, like Jesus, actually died and was then restored from death.