JONAH AND THE CITY OF NINEVEH

Even tho God had called Jonah to help prolong the life of the enemy nation, which in fact was in the process of exterminating his own nation, it is no wonder he fled in the opposite direction, in his patriotic dread of a brutal and relentless military machine that was closing in on God's people.

Is the Book historical?
Naturally, because of the fish story, the unbelieving mind rebells at accepting it as factual. They call it fiction or a parable. Jesus unmistakably regarded it as an historical fact (Matthew 12:39-41). We would have to stretch our imagination to see it any other way considering the language He used. He called it a "sign" of his own resurrection. Jesus put the fish, the repentance of the Ninevites, His resurrection, and the judgement day in the same category. He surely was talking of reality when He spoke of His resurrection and the judgement day. Thus Jesus accepted the Jonah story. For us, who believe in and have accepted God, that settles it. We believe that it actually occurred just as recorded, and that Jonah himself, under the direction of God's Spirit wrote the book, with no attempt to excuse his own unworthy showing, and that the book, under the direction of God's Spirit, was placed among the Sacred Writings in the Temple as a part of God's unfolding revelation of Himself.

The point of the story is that it was a miracle, a divine showing of Jonah's mission to Nineveh. Except for some such astounding miracle the Ninevites would have given little heed to Jonah (Luke 11:30).

Chapter 1
"Tarshish" is thought to have been in Spain. Jonah therefore was going to the very end of the then know world.
Chapter 2
Jonah could have been trained to pray in the words of the Psalms, like this beautiful prayer. His returned landing could have been near Joppa and surely was witnessed by many.
Chapter 3
In his preaching, Jonah, probably told his experience with the fish (whale), along with those who had witnessed his story for verification. Speaking in the name of God of the nation whom the Ninevites had begun to plunder, they took him seriously, and became terrified.
Chapter 4
He had come , not only to seek their repentance, but to announce their doom. But God was please at their repentance (just as He is with ours), and put off their punishment, much to Jonah's disappointment. The last verse in the Book of Jonah expresses God's feelings about Nineveh. God's love of little children. God was willing to put off the destruction of that great city, Nineveh, because His own heart rebelled at the thought of the slaughter of innocent babes (sixscore thousand). Jesus was and does love children, and child-life behavior in adults. God was even concerned with the slaughter of many cattle.

The last of the archaeological notes on the City of Nineveh:
As far as is known, there is no record of Nineveh's repentance in the Assyrian inscriptions. There are, however, traces that Adad-Nirari made reforms similar to those of Amenophis IV in Egypt. Under the reigns of the three kings following Adad-Nirari there was a slow down in Assyrian conquests. During this time Israel recovered lost territory (II Kings 14:25). Was Jonah's work the beginning of World Missions?

The "Jonah" mound is the second largest mound in the ruins of Nineveh and is called "Yunas." "Yunas" is the native word for "Jonah." The mound covers 40 acres, and is 100 feet high. It contains the supposed tomb of Jonah. This tomb is so sacred to the natives that no large scale excavation has been permitted in the mound (at the time of this books writing).

What was God's purpose in it?
For one thing, it may have postponed the captivity of Israel, for lust of conquest was one of the things repented of (Jonah 3:8).
Most importantly, it seems to have been intended of God as a hint to His Own Nation that He was also interested in other nations.
Second, Jonah's home was Gath-hepher (II Kings 14:25), near Nazareth the home of Jesus, of whom Jonah was a "sign."
Third, Joppa, where Jonah embarked, to avoid preaching to another nation, was the very place which God chose, 800 years later, to tell Peter to receive men of other nations (Acts 10).
Fourth, Jesus quoted it as a prophetic picture of His own resurrection on the "third" day (Matthew 12:40).
So, all in all, the Story of Jonah is a grand historical picture of Jesus' own resurrection and His mission to ALL nations.

God's blessings to each of you,
LJG

SOURCES: King James Bible, Halley's Bible Handbook