One of the things that has taken a lot of my thinking on Jonah is ‘the sign of Jonah’.
The Sign of Jonah is mentioned in three places in the NT: Matt 12; Matt 16 and Luke 11.
This Sunday I’ll preach at Broadlands Evangelical Church on Jonah chs3-4. I was asked to do a three week series and this Sunday is the last of three. I kind of wish it was a four week series – so I could have dedicated a week to each chapter of Jonah…but never mind.
I preached a couple of sermons on Jonah yesterday. Twice now, people have told me the story of James ‘Jonah’ Bartley. Both times, the people were adament that the story was true and that it proved the story of Jonah to be true.
But I’m not convinced by their stories. I did a quick google for James Bartley and it seems that his story necessarily true.
It just seems silly to me that Christians should try and try to hold tight onto this historic event about of James B and insist that it is true and that therefore Jonah is true. They are setting themselves up for a fall. Because some day or other, a critic may well prove once and for all that the James B story is a lie. Then way? Will their confidence in the bible be shaken? It’s a faulty argument. Jonah is true because God says so, not because of James B.
Rather, let’s just have confidence in the bible itself – because we know that that will never be proved a lie.
I got my Reader’s Hebrew Bible (Amazon) a few days ago. I’ve been reading Jonah (slowly). Over the last few days I noticed that Jonah 3 is the chapter of second chances.
It’s obvious in English, but it’s especially obvious in Hebrew that Jon 3:1 is virtually identical to Jonah 1:1. “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…”. Despite Jonah’s rebellion in ch1 and in line with his repentence in ch2 God gives Jonah a second chance. 3:1 is like a second commissioning for Jonah. Same word from God, same instrcution to go to Ninevah.
But that’s not all – the end of ch3 also has a second chance – this time for the people of Ninevah. 3:7-10 narrate how Jonah’s message reaches to the Kind of Ninevah and he calls upon his whole kindgom (animals included) to mourn and repent; to leave their ways of wickedness and to follow the LORD. And God gives them a second chance. God relents of his anger against them and they are saved.
Praise God for his second, third…millionth changes that he gives to those to repent and believe.
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