From a theological viewpoint, the book of Jonah is one of the most important books in the Bible. From a literary viewpoint, it is a masterpiece, ranking with Ruth and Esther in narrative perfection and stylistic complexity.

Jonah ben Amittai, whose name means "dove" in Hebrew (the correct pronunciation, Yoná, sounds more dovelike than the usual pronunciation), was a minor prophet who lived in Gath Hepher, a village in the territory of Zebulon, a bit north of Nazareth. Thus, Jonah was a Galilean. Even then, Galilee was considered a backward, rather uncivilized area.

Apart from the book bearing his name, Jonah is mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings 14:25. There we find that he made a prophecy that came true. We don’t know whether he left behind a book of prophecies like some of his fellow prophets. If so, it is lost to us. In any case, his reputation was great enough that he ended up as the hero of a still-famous story.

Jonah’s mission was to Nineveh, the largest city in Assyria and one of the largest in the world at that time, with some 120,000 inhabitants. The walls of the city were almost eight miles around. The Assyrians had a reputation for cruelty in their conquests—far beyond that of Babylon or Persia in later centuries.

However, Nineveh was also a center of learning, with a large library. It was in the ruins of that library that archeologists found the Epic of Gilgamesh in the nineteenth century. The Assyrians were usually enemies of Israel, though sometimes they worked together. Nineveh is mentioned in Genesis 11, and D. J. Wiseman says its foundations date back to about 4500 B.C.1

Rather than go to Nineveh, as God commanded, Jonah sailed for Tarshish from the port of Joppa. Joppa is the southern most of the two natural harbors along the coast of Palestine. Today it is called Jaffa or Yafo, and the city of Tel Aviv has grown up around it. (Many of the oranges purchased in Europe are shipped from that port, so they are called Jaffa oranges.)

There were several places called Tarshish in Bible times. Jonah was probably sailing toward the Tarshish in Spain, at the far end of the Mediterranean from Joppa. Tarshish was just about as far as anyone would want to sail. It was a long, dangerous journey.

Tarshish was known for its mines. (Indeed, the word could be used for any area known for its mines.) It’s characteristic that Jonah would rather risk his life sailing to one of the least civilized places in the then-known world than warn a Ninevite of what God had in store. Clearly he was very prejudiced against Assyrians.

No Assyrian text has yet been discovered that reports a profound repentance by the Ninevites, but one may yet be found. However, if the book of Jonah is an historical account, a likely temporal setting for it would be 763 B.C. In that year, according to Assyrian records, there was a total eclipse, a severe famine, a major earthquake, serious flooding, and a devastating loss in battle.

To the Assyrians, this would have suggested that their king had lost the mandate of heaven. Both people and king would have been eager to do whatever necessary to regain the gods’ favor.

The Shocking Message of Jonah

Why is Jonah, from a theological viewpoint, one of the most important books in the Old Testament? Because it reveals explicitly an aspect of God’s mercy seldom alluded to elsewhere. It is similar to the parable of the Prodigal Son. However, it is more similar to the decision by the church leaders at the Jerusalem Council to throw out virtually the entire Mosaic law code and ask of non-Jewish Christians little more than what God asked of Noah after the Flood.

The attitude of the children of Israel is seen in their boast, "Who is like our God?" God was their God, the source of their prosperity. He had chosen them, and he loved only them. Many Israelites would have been uncomfortable with God showing mercy to anyone else, but for God to show mercy to the dreaded Assyrians would have been almost beyond comprehension.

Consider that when Jonah proclaimed God’s intent to destroy Nineveh, he offered the Ninevites no hint that God might be willing to forgive. Not only did he not tell the Ninevites why God planned to destroy them, as far as we can tell from the text, he didn’t even tell them it was God who would destroy them. He merely said, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned" (3:4).

The Ninevites responded by believing the prophecy and deeply repenting, giving up "their evil ways and their violence" (3:8). They seem to have known somehow where they had gone wrong. They may also have known from the famine, flood, earthquake, eclipse, and loss in battle that some god was angry.

But notice what is left out of these verses. There is no indication that the Ninevites destroyed their pagan idols or stopped sacrificing to the false gods they represented. There is no hint that they sacrificed to Yahweh, became Jews, followed the Mosaic code, kept the Sabbath or any other commandment.

All they did was repent, turning away from their evil ways and asking ha’elohim for mercy. God reached them where they were and left them where they were. He did not guide them into Judaism but into repentance.

The Ninevites (and other Assyrians) were among the worst sinners on earth at the time, if what archaeologist s tell us about them is correct. Surely God, in his love for his people, would delight in the destruction of these wicked ones. Yet God reveals that he is filled with love for even the worst of Israel’s enemies. His mercy is not exclusive, but is wide enough to embrace every repentant sinner on earth.

Questions:

1. If the wideness in God’s mercy extended even to the Assyrians, does it extend to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists, Atheists, Evolutionists, or Wiccans? We grant that "Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name [than the name of Jesus] under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Does that mean they must become Christians to be saved, or is God’s love wider than that? What kind of repentance might God expect?

2. What are the implications of this wideness in God’s mercy for the exclusivity sometimes seen in Adventism? Is there still a valid place for Adventism within God’s mercy? If so, what is it? What can we offer to the world that will bring it to salvation?

3. After many centuries of Christian persecution of Jews, a great many Jews find themselves unable to fairly consider the claims of Christ because they associate Christ with those who claim to be his people. Can these Jews who cannot accept their Messiah be saved, or by persecution have Christians effectively excluded them from salvation?

4. Jesus said, "For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved" (John 3:17). Is God’s purpose and intent to save every shipwrecked sailor in the cold sea who feebly waves a hand and calls out "help," or will he save only those who swim to his lifeboat and climb up the ladder? That is to say, is salvation limited to those who are "safe to save," or is this idea a false concept of God similar to the beliefs of the Israelites about other nations in Jonah’s day?

Notes and References

1. See Wiseman's article on "Ninevah," in the New Bible Dictionary, 2d ed., eds. J. D. Douglas, F. F. Bruce, J. L. Packer, N. Hillyer, D. Guthrie, A. R. Millard, D. J. Wiseman (Downers Grove, Il.: Intervarsity, 1982).

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