Something Greater Than Jonah Is Here (Jonah 2:10–3:5)

Introduction

The story of Jonah is one of the most beloved stories in the entire Bible.

• It is found in many children’s picture Bibles.
• In popularity, Jonah and the Fish is comparable to Adam and Eve, David and Goliath.

But for us, why is Jonah important?

• Besides being well-written and entertaining, what makes the story of Jonah such a “big deal”?

Today's sermon will answer this question by honing in on several key elements in the Jonah story.

Background to Jonah

• Jonah was a prophet to the northern kingdom from the tribe of Zebulun.
• Like Hosea and Amos, Jonah prophesized during the reign of Jeroboam II (793–753 BC)
  • Period of unparalleled prosperity in Israel.
  • Jeroboam II expanded Israel's borders close to the original size of David's and Solomon's empire (2 Kings 14:25, 28)

Jonah as History

The story of Jonah is history.

• It is not a fairy tale or a parable. It really happened.
• The Old Testament says so. Jesus also bears witness.
• In the 19th century, archeologists began seriously excavating the ancient ruins of Nineveh.
• You can now visit Nineveh's remains or watch a drone video capture of Nineveh's city walls in the modern city of Mosul, 350 km NW of Baghdad in Iraq. (ISBEr)

With this in mind, let’s examine the first key element, the Sign of Jonah.

1. The Sign of Jonah (2:10)

"And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." (2:10 ESV)

To appreciate this event more fully, we have to go back to Jonah 1.

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah...saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before Me.” (1:1–2 ESV)

Background to Nineveh^[1]

Nineveh was an important Assyrian city during Jonah’s time.

• It was one of the oldest cities in history, founded as early as 5,000 BC.
• Nineveh was built by Nimrod before Babel. (Gen 10:11)
• Archaeologists confirm Jonah 4:11 that Nineveh could easily maintain a population of more than 120,000 individuals. (Harrison, Intro to OT, p.909)

The name “Nineveh” comes from the composite Sumerian logogram NINUA

• In Akkadian (an ancient language spoken in Nineveh over 4,000 years ago), nunu means "fish."
• Many of us in the United States are aware that Philadelphia means the "city of brotherly love."
• Similarly, Nineveh originally meant "Fishtown."
• Some have suggested that the chief deity of early Nineveh was a fish-goddess named Nanshe.
• Archeologists have also uncovered evidence that according to Assyrian tradition, Nineveh was founded by a fish-god (a deity that was half-man, half-fish).
• This historical background becomes relevant when we consider Jonah as God's sign to Nineveh.

Jonah's Hatred Toward Nineveh

• Jonah, like many Israelites, hated all Assyrians, including the Ninevites.

  • About 50 years earlier, Assyria had exacted tribute from Israel during King Jehu (841–814 BC).
  • Illus: no one likes paying taxes in their own country. Imagine another nation forcing you to pay taxes through blackmail and threatening violence.

• The Assyrians were vicious people.

  • They were known for violence, even against their own citizens.
  • Jonah had every reason to despise these nasty Assyrians.

• So, instead of obeying God and traveling east to Nineveh, Jonah boarded a boat to head west on the Mediterranean Sea.

In spite of Jonah's insubordination, God performs three miracles to make Jonah a "sign to Nineveh".

• First, God hurled a great wind.

A. God Hurled a Great Wind (1:4)

"Yahweh hurled a great wind on the west, and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship gave thought to breaking apart." (1:4 LSB)

• God is the primary actor. He is the cause and orchestrator of these supernatural events.
• Jonah likes to use the Hebrew word (gadol), translated "great", throughout chapter 1.
  • Nineveh, the great city (v.2)
  • Yahweh hurled a great wind. (v.4)
  • There was a great storm. (v.12)
  • The men became greatly fearful (v.14)
  • "Then the men greatly feared Yahweh, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows." (1:16)
• What irony?
  • Jonah, a Jew and God's prophet, defied Yahweh.
  • A crew of Gentile sailors, having witnessed God’s sovereignty over nature, feared Yahweh and offered sacrifice and made vows to Him.

B. God Appointed a Great Fish (1:17)

"And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights." (1:17 LSB)

• Jonah was not tossed into a small pond.
• He was jettisoned into the Mediterranean Sea.
• Certain death should ensue, but God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah to save him.
• Scripture does not provide details of Jonah’s time inside the fish.
  • It’s possible Jonah was completely untouched like Shadrach, Mischach and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace where “the fire had no power over the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed...nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.” (Dan 3:27)

But I imagine Jonah was likely curled up in a fetal position to minimize his surface area as he was confined inside the fish's stomach.

• His eyes remained shut as hydrochloride acid and digestive enzymes ate away his skin and flesh.
• According to a study published in 2020, many large fish will chemically digest their food in their stomach within 12–48 hours.^[2]
• So, for Jonah to survive inside this fish for “three days and three nights” was a miracle of God.

God hurled a great wind. God appointed a great fish. Thirdly, in Jonah 2:10, God spoke to the fish.

C. God Spoke to the Fish (2:10)

"And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." (2:10 LSB)

• The same God who spoke the world into existence (divine fiat) now speaks to the fish, and it vomits Jonah onto dry land on command.

• God delivers Jonah.

  • The fish rescues Jonah by swallowing him.
  • Over the next 48 hours, it swims to shore.
  • And before digesting Jonah, at God's command, the great fish vomits Jonah onto dry land.

• I suppose Jonah must have looked like an alien.

  • His skin looked like a leper, permanently marked by second-degree chemical burns.
  • His hair, from prolonged exposure to acid, was disintegrating and bleached white.

• Some suggested that the seafarers in Jonah 1 would have returned to Joppa and visited Jerusalem to fulfill their vows and make their sacrifices to Yahweh

  • They would have shared the news of these miraculous events with everyone they saw.

• There were also eyewitnesses of this sea monster vomiting Jonah onto the seashore.

  • So, news regarding Jonah would have spread all the way to Nineveh.

Furthermore, several cataclysmic events coincided back in Nineveh, the "Fishtown".

• First, in 763 BC, there was a total eclipse of the sun (today is called the Assyrian eclipse).
• According to Mesopotamian tradition, a solar eclipse portends the king’s (Ashur-dan III) death, and there would be flooding, famine, and fire throughout the land.
• Second, a widespread famine arose during this 5–6 year period.
• Third, Assyria experienced an earthquake, which was often interpreted as a sign of divine wrath. (D.K Stuart, WBC, p.440)
• It is amidst these events that Nineveh received news that a great fish had spit Jonah onto dry land, and God's prophet was now coming to Nineveh.

This was God’s sign of Jonah.

• You can imagine the trepidation the Ninevites must have felt as they anticipated Jonah’s arrival.
• God provided this sign to prepare Nineveh to receive His message.

Application:

• Like He did with Job, God can use unexpected events to shake us up, grab our attention, and awaken our souls to receive His instruction.

So, the first key element of the story is the Sign of Jonah.

• The second element is the Summoning of Jonah.

2. The Summoning of Jonah (3:1–3)

"Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." (3:1–2 ESV)

• God gives Jonah a second chance.
• Yahweh commissions Jonah a second time.
• God's three imperatives are identical to His original summoning back in Jonah 1:2.
  • Arise
  • Go to Nineveh.
  • Call out against it the message that I tell you.

Application:

This remains the same commission for Christians today.

• Arise: get up and get out of your comfort zone.
• Go: Go out and visit people where they are.
  • Inviting people to your home and showing hospitality is good.
  • Like Jesus, we are to go out to meet people where they are.
• Call out (qera): The Hebrew verb means "to shout, summon, proclaim" (HALOT)
  • LXX κηρύσσω - Greek word for "preach."
  • Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season." (2 Tim 4:2)
• God’s command to Jonah: Arise; Go; Preach.

"So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city." (3:3a ESV)

• Jonah concedes.
• He relents and travels nearly 1000 km (over 500 miles) east to Nineveh.

Notice in the ESV, NASB, and LSB translation, “Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city.”

• These English Bibles have all added a footnote.
• The adverb “exceedingly” is translating the Hebrew prepositional phrase, “to God.” (le elohim)
• The Hebrew text literally says, "Nineveh has become^[3] a great city to God."

Nineveh was important to God.

• To God, Nineveh was noteworthy.
• God cared about Nineveh.
• To God, Nineveh mattered.
• Unlike Jonah, God cared.
• God loved Nineveh.
• Nineveh was a great city because it was loved by a great God.

"Now Ninevah was a great city to God, three days' journey in breadth." (Jonah 3:3b ESV)

• One way to understand the phrase "three days' journey in breadth" is that it describes Nineveh's physical size.

  • With 120,000 people, Nineveh was a large city.
  • But no ancient city was so big that it would take three days to travel through (diameter) or even around its circumference. [John Mackey, Focus on the Bible Commentary, p. 49]
  • Archeologists have confirmed that Nineveh proper is probably about 12 km (7–8 miles) in circumference.
  • "Greater Nineveh" had a 60-mile perimeter. [CSBSB]

• A second way to interpret this phrase is that Nineveh was a city worthy of a three-day visit.

  • The translators of the original 1984 NIV translation saw it this way. "Now Nineveh was a very important city — a visit required three days."

Illustration:

• When I visited Italy, I spent two hours in Pisa to visit the Leaning Tower. Two hours was sufficient.
• But when I got to Rome, I had to dedicate at least three days to exploring the city properly.
• Nineveh was important enough that it would be customary for a foreign emissary to stay at least three days.

We covered the Sign of Jonah and the Summoning of Jonah.

• The third key element in this story is the Sermon by Jonah.

3. The Sermon by Jonah (3:4–5)

"Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." (3:4 ESV)

• Notice five characteristics of this sermon.

A. The sermon by Jonah was simple.

• The sermon by Jonah, in the original Hebrew, is summarized with five words.
• "Yet 40 days, Ninevah overthrown."
• Illust: My wife’s advice every time I preach — Don't go long, Pedro. Don’t go long."
• Jonah's sermon was short and simple.
• "Yet 40 days, Ninevah overthrown."

B. The sermon by Jonah announced destruction.

• This sermon was a message of judgment.
• "Yet 40 days, Nineveh overthrown."
• The Hebrew word (haphak), translated “overthrown” (ESV), is also translated “demolished” (CSB) and “destroyed” (NLT).
• "Overthrown" comes from the same Hebrew verb used 3x to depict God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen 19:21, 25, 29)
  • God overthrew [Sodom and Gomorrah].
• Jonah preached that in 40 days, Nineveh would be pummelled like Sodom and Gomorrah.

C. The sermon by Jonah revealed God's mercy.

• "Yet 40 days..."
• Why the delay of 40 days? Why not immediate judgment?
• “Yet 40 days” implied God’s patience and mercy.
• The number forty often refers to a period of testing (Luk 4:2, Heb 3:9).
• God gave Nineveh time to repent.

D. The sermon by Jonah offered salvation.

• Jonah knew all along that God was offering salvation to Nineveh.

  • That's why Jonah originally ran away.

• Jonah acknowledges this, praying to God in anger, "I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning evil." (Jon 4:2)

• Jeremiah records God saying, "At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to tear down, or to make it perish; but if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to do against it." (Jer 18:7–8)

E. The sermon by Jonah was prophetic.

• The Hebrew verb (haphak) that is translated “overthrown” actually has a second meaning.

Illustration: The English language contains words with multiple meanings.

• For example, the word “mad” usually means “angry”

• But "mad" can also mean insane.

  • He is a “mad” man. That is, the man is insane.

• At least 10 times in the OT, (haphak) means to change, and it often refers to an altered, changed heart.

  • "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer 13:23)
  • "For then I will change them to peoples with purified lips, that all of them may call on the name of Yahweh." (Zep 3:9a)
  • "When [Saul] turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart." (1 Samuel 10:9)

• Jonah’s sermon was prophetic: "Yet 40 days, Nineveh change of heart."

  • In perhaps the greatest revival recorded in all of Scripture, over 120,000 people repented and were saved.
  • God changes their hearts.

"And the people of Nineveh believed in God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them." (3:5 ESV)

Notice the Ninevites’ response.

• First, they believed in God.
  • Up until Jonah 3:5, all 20 times, God is referred to by His personal name Yahweh (LORD).
  • But notice there is no LORD in Jonah 3:5-10.
  • When describing Nineveh’s saving faith, the author abruptly changes this pattern, and God is referred to as Elohim.
  • Before anyone can have a personal relationship with God, he must believe in God.
    • Believe that God is the creator.
    • Believe that God has authority over all creation.
    • Believe that God is perfect and must punish all sin.
• Second, they repented.
  • They proclaimed a fast like the Israelites did when “they fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against Yahweh.” (1 Sam 7:6)
  • They also adorned themselves in sackcloth (the traditional attire for mourning in the ANE; Neh. 9:1; Est. 4:3; Dan. 9:3)
  • Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin!...Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
  • Sackcloths were worn to express mourning and repentance.
  • Grieving and turning away from sin must accompany saving faith.

“From the greatest to the least of them.” (Jon 3:5b)

• This is a literary device (merismus) that uses extremes to designate entirety.
• The conversions in Nineveh were touching every segment of the population.
• According to 1 Kings 19:15, less than 100 years before Jonah, God promised to preserve only 7,000 believers in Israel who did not bow down to Baal.
• It is probable that more people came to saving faith through this sermon by Jonah than an entire generation of Israelites.

So the Sign: “Fishtown” received news that a prophet had emerged from a great fish and was coming to them.

The Summoning: God commissioned Jonah to arise, go, and preach to a city that mattered to God.

The Sermon: “Yet 40 days, Nineveh overthrown.” But God changed their hearts, and over 120,000 Ninevites repented and believed.

What a story, but so what? Why does this matter?

• To appreciate the significance of Jonah, turn to Matthew 12:38.

4. The Significance of Jonah (Matt 12:38–41)

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You." (v.38 ESV)

• At this point in His ministry, Jesus had already performed many miracles.
• Yet the Pharisees were asking Jesus for another sign.

But [Jesus] answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." (v.39 ESV)

• Jesus exposed the Pharisees’ wickedness, but He did not deny their request.
• Jesus promised them a sign: the sign of Jonah.

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (v.40 ESV)

• "Three days and three nights" was a Hebrew idiom which was their emphatic way of stating "three days." (see 1 Sam 30:12–13)

The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (v.41)

Question: What is the significance of Jonah?

• Answer: To put on display that “Something greater than Jonah is here.”

Compare Jonah to Jesus

• Jonah hated.
• Jesus loved.
• Jonah was indifferent to the lost.
• Jesus wept over them.
• Jonah disobeyed.
• Jesus obeyed God the Father perfectly.
• Jonah ran away.
• Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.
• Jonah preached the bare minimum.
• Jesus, the Word of God, preached the full counsel of God.
• Jonah was involuntarily confined in a fish.
• Jesus said, “No one takes [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (Jn 10:18a)
• On the third day, Jonah was expelled by a fish onto dry land.
• On the third day, Jesus left behind an empty tomb and rose from the dead.

Nineveh repented, having beheld the sign of the lesser Jonah.

• But now, something greater than Jonah is here.
• If Nineveh repented because of the lesser Jonah, what must be our response to the greater Jonah?

5. Conclusion

Call to Repentance

• What is your response?
• Like Nineveh, have you repented over your sins and cried out to God for mercy?
• What are you waiting for?
• Are you seeking a sign?
• Jesus said, "There will be no more sign."
• "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor 15:3b–4 LSB)

"Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out." (Acts 3:19 LSB)

• You must repent and believe, or like Sodom and Gomorrah, you will be overthrown.
• Do not presume God will give you forty more days.

“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent.” (Acts 17:30 LSB)

• I beseech you, on behalf of God, to repent and commit your life to Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Call to Evangelism

• For those of us who have repented and believed, God summons us to “Arise, go out, and preach the gospel.”

  • Jesus commands us, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." (Mt 28:19a)

• You don’t need to go to seminary or be a Bible scholar.

• God’s power to save does not reside in the messenger but in the message of the gospel, which “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Rom 1:16)

Be like the Samaritan woman, immediately after meeting Jesus Christ, arose and “left her water jar, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done, is this not the Christ?” (John 4:28b–29 LSB)