Jonah: His Life, Character and Mission
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Whether it was there that Jonah fled or some other port on the Mediterranean, it is certain that Tarshish was in the opposite direction of Nineveh. From there ships sailed to points throughout the Mediterranean.
Jonah: His Life, Character, and Mission - Patrick Fairbairn - Google Книги
Joppa is the same as the present-day city of Jaffa, beside which the modern city of Tel Aviv has grown. In ancient times lots were cast when an impartial decision was desired. The character and shape of the objects used in biblical times are not known, nor is the precise method by which they were cast, although some scholars suggest that smooth stones or sticks distinguished by colors or symbols were used. The heathens cast lots because, they believed, the gods would guide what happened. Jonah fearlessly proclaimed that Jehovah is the one God over all creation.
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In an attempt to absolve themselves from offense against any of the gods, the sailors offered a prayer to the Lord and begged that their deed might not be counted against them. They use this verse as one argument to sustain the belief that the book of Jonah is simply a parable and not a record of historical fact.
Speaking to those who take such a position, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said:. Bryan, the story of Jonah. My chief reason for so believing is not in the fact that it is recorded in the Bible, or that the incident has been duplicated in our day, but in the fact that Jesus Christ , our Lord, believed it.
The Jews sought him for a sign of his divinity. He gave them one, but not what they expected. The scoffers of his day, notwithstanding his mighty works, were incapable, because of sin, of believing.
The Hebrew word taneen used in Jonah and the Greek word katos used in the New Testament describe any sea creature of immense proportion. Sharks are common to the Mediterranean and have throats sufficiently large to admit the body of a man.
Jonah: his life, character and mission, viewed in connexion with the prophet's own times, and ...
Of course, the miraculous nature of this event lies in the fact that Jonah could survive in the digestive tract of a large fish for three days as much as in the fact that he could be swallowed whole. Jonah, in his extremity, finally turned back to God. His prayer was one of sincere and meaningful repentance. It had terraces, arsenals, barracks, libraries, and temples.
The walls were so broad that chariots could drive abreast on them.
Beyond the walls were great suburbs, towns, and villages. Why a non-Hebrew people would believe a Hebrew prophet one can only conjecture. Perhaps they were shocked into repentance by the appearance of a foreigner who, apparently without thought of personal safety, would come such a distance to unveil the sins of a people he did not know.
At any rate, his mission had the intended result: It was also used for making the rough garments worn by mourners, and so it became fixed in the prophetic mind as a symbol for sorrow and mourning. It was the custom for mourners, garbed in sackcloth, either to sprinkle ashes upon themselves or to sit in piles of ashes, thereby showing their joy had perished or been destroyed.
When righteous persons used the covering of sackcloth and the sprinkling of ashes to aid them in attaining the spiritual strength to commune with Deity, their usage was always accompanied by fasting and prayer. Daniel, for instance, prefaced the record of one of his great petitions to the throne of grace with this explanation: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession.
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The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible renders this verse as follows: Here Jonah demonstrated a second weakness: Jonah was so upset that he wished he were dead. Though he had repented of his desire to escape the call of the Lord and went to Nineveh, Jonah had not substantially changed his attitude toward the Gentiles.
The Lord taught Jonah in a way that he could understand that all things are in His hand—the gourd, the worm, even life itself. First, the Lord sent the dreaded east wind, which was very destructive, for it blew off the hot, dry Arabian Desert.
One Should Not Flee from One’s Responsibilities
Then the Lord caused the sun to beat upon Jonah, making him so uncomfortable that he wished for death. Once Jonah was in that position, the Lord was able to teach him the worth of souls in Nineveh. Feb 04, Joe Haack rated it liked it Shelves: Fairbairn is idiosyncratic in his view of the overall purpose of Jonah, but shines when it comes to historical contingencies relating to prophetic prediction chapter 3, verse I skimmed some of his commentary, but was glad to have had it for my sermon preparation.
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