The entire book of Jonah is a testament
to the boundless mercy, compassion, and utter patience of our Creator, with
both his bad-attitude-prophet and the depraved and violent Jonah 3:8 people
of Nineveh who lamented their sin and repented in sackcloth and ashes at the
preaching of Jonah … who could have cared less. He would have loved to see them
destroyed and was angry that God spared them.
Jonah 1
1: Now the word of YHWH came
unto Jonah the son of Amittai saying 2: Arise [that means RIGHT NOW] go to
Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness is come up
before Me 3: But Jonah rose up to flee to
Tarshish from faces of YHWH and went down to Joppa and he found a ship
going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with
them to Tarshish from faces of YHWH 4: But
YHWH sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty storm in
the sea so that the ship was like to be broken 5: Then
the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his god and cast forth the
wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them But Jonah was
gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep 6: So
the shipmaster came to him and said to him What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise
call to your ELOHIM perhaps THE ELOHIM will reconsider to us that
we perish not
7: And
they said everyone to his fellow Come and let us cast lots that we may know for
whose cause this evil is upon us So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah
Comments: Ancient peoples are said
to be superstitious because of things like this and not taken seriously, but in
the case of Jonah 1:7, they were absolutely right.
8: Then
said they unto him Tell us we pray (thee for whose cause this evil is upon us)
What is thine occupation? and from where did you come? What is thy country? and
from what people are you? 9: And
he said unto them I am a Hebrew and I fear YHWH ELOHIM of the heavens
which has made the sea and the dry land 10: Then
were the mortals exceedingly afraid and said to him Why have you done this? For
the mortals knew that he fled from faces of YHWH because he had told
them 11: Then said they to him What shall we
do to you that the sea may be calm for us? For the sea was driven and was violent
12: And he said to them Take me up and
cast me forth into the sea so shall the sea be calm for you For I know that for
my sake this great storm is upon you 13: Nevertheless
the mortals rowed hard to bring it to the land but they could not for the sea worked
[against them] and was turbulent against them 14: Wherefore
they cried unto YHWH and said We beseech thee YHWH we beseech
thee let us not perish for this man's life and lay not upon us innocent blood
for thou YHWH has done as it pleased thee 15: So
they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased from her
raging 16: Then the men feared YHWH
exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto YHWH and made vows
17: Now
YHWH
had
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah And Jonah was in the
belly of the fish FISH (not whale) three days and
three nights
Comments: Jonah chapter one
From Jonah’s point of view, the world would have been better off without
Nineveh, and he was acutely aware of the Lord’s mercies, which he did not wish
to see extended to the people of Nineveh Jonah 4:1-2. Jonah did not feel
like going to Nineveh. For good reason, Jonah was afraid to go to Nineveh.
Jonah felt no personal burden for the people of Nineveh, but his feelings were
irrelevant. The only thing that was relevant was that his Creator had commanded
him to go to Nineveh and give them an out by warning them of their impending
destruction because of their wickedness Jonah 4:10-11.
Jonah 2
1: Then
Jonah prayed to YHWH his ELOHIM out of the fish's belly
2: And said I called by reason of my distress
to YHWH and He is answering me Out of the belly of sheol I implore you
hear my voice 3: For you had cast me into the deep
in the midst of the seas and the floods compassed me about All thy billows and
thy waves passed over me 4: Then I said I am cast out of thy
sight yet I will look again toward thy holy temple
5: The
waters compassed me about even to the soul The abyss closed me round about the
weeds were wrapped about my head 6: I
went down to the bottoms of the mountains the earth with her bars was about me
forever Yet you have brought up my חַ יַּי lives from corruption YHWH my
ELOHIM
Comments: Why the yod suffix [in Jonah 2:6] transforming the singular word
“life” into the plural word “lives?” Either every word of scripture is
God-breathed, or it is not. There must be a reason our Creator breathed the
word life [in Jonah 2:6] as a plural. The Bible does not teach multiple lives,
such as reincarnation Hebrews 9:27, but scripture does teach that
mortals are created in the image of God, and this could be relevant to the use
of the plural word “lives” in Jonah 2:6.
There is an explanation that dovetails Jonah 2:6 with the statement in Hebrews
9:27 that mortals do not live multiple lives but, instead, are appointed to die
only once. One of the ways mortals are created in the image of God, is
that we are triune beings—we consist of not just body, but also of soul
and spirit.
Our mortal bodies are only one aspect of our beings. When our bodies die,
the other two aspects of our beings—our lives—do not die. Our souls live on
forever, though only the saved abide in the presence and power of God forever 2
Thessalonians 1:7-9. The spirits of mortals return to God who gave it,
regardless of what spiritual condition they are in when the body dies Eccl 12:7.
The spirit should never be confused with the soul Hebrews 4:12.
Those who are saved have the great hope of the resurrection of the body.
That is why our souls need to be saved. *Our bodies can only be redeemed
at the Resurrection of Life, if our souls are saved before our bodies die –2 Corinthians 5:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, James
1:21, 1 Peter 1:9, Romans 8:16-23. *Romans 10:9-13.
7: When
my soul fainted within me aYHWH
אֶ ת FIRST LAST I remembered and
my prayer came in unto thee into b thine holy temple
Comments: Jonah 2:7-a Jonah understood Genesis 1:1 where ELOHIM is
identified as אֶ ת FIRST LAST who created all the known universe. Ancient Hebrew had no single word for
universe, so the phrase “the heavens and the earth” covered it. Who is the First and the Last, the Alpha and
Omega, the Beginning and the End? YHWH ELOHIM ALEPH TAV. Revelation
1:8,11, 21:6, 22:13 identifies Jesus the Messiah as YHWH ELOHIM ALEPH
TAV. Jesus is God.
Within the Hebrew Scriptures is a two-letter word, אֵ֥ת, spelled with the
Hebrew letters "Aleph" and "Tav,"
which are the first and last letters
of the Hebrew "aleph-bet." This word often goes untranslated because
of a lack of clarity as to its meaning.
Comments: Jonah 2:7-b Jonah also understood that temple on earth was built
according to the pattern of the real temple in Heaven (as was the Tabernacle) Exodus
25:9, 1 Chron 28:11-12, Hebrews 8:5.
8: They that observe lying pointlessness
forsake their own mercy 9: But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice
of thanksgiving I will pay that that I have vowed Salvation is of YHWH 10:
And YHWH spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry
land.
Jonah 3
1: And
the word of YHWH came unto Jonah the second time saying 2: Arise, go to
Nineveh that great city and preach to it the preaching that I bid thee 3: So
Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of YHWH Now
Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey 4: And Jonah
began to enter into the city a day's journey [He walked about a day before he opened his
mouth]
then he cried and said Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown 5: So
the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on
sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them 6: For
word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he laid
his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes 7: And
he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of
the king and his nobles saying Let neither mortal [invisible women] nor beast herd
nor flock taste anything Let them not feed nor drink water 8: But
let mortal [invisible women] and beast be
covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God yea let them turn each one
from their [invisible women] evil way and from
the violence that is in their hands
Comments: Jonah 3:7-8 In this commentary, the words
“invisible women” often appear in brackets and superscript to identify places
where most Bible translations use the male gender to describe both women and
men, despite context that is clearly to the contrary. In Jonah 3:7-8, women are
usually referred as men three times in just two verses.
Highlighting invisible women [in this commentary] is done
because semantics matter. Awareness must be raised of the vastness of the scope
of writing women out of history…and of the continuing habit of writing women
out of modern stories by the use of inappropriate pronouns. There is no excuse
for writing women out of the picture by continuing to refer to all humanity and
mixed crowds in the masculine, e.g., man, men, him, he, his, etc. We cannot
change history, but the very least we can do is stop perpetuating the problem
by referring to every human as “man, he, or him.”
9: Who
can tell if THE ELOHIM will turn and repent and turn away from his
fierce anger that we perish not?
Comments: Jonah 3:9 A
gentile king said this, recognizing the Almighty, calling him THE ELOHIM.
Jesus commented on the propensity of gentiles to repent in sackcloth and ashes
when confronted with their sin [Luke 10:13]. He contrasted this with
the stubbornness of his own people who had a nasty habit of killing their own
prophets. How does this speak to the Body of Christ and the habit of Christian
leaders (thankfully not all) of tickling ears, only preaching “feel good”
stuff?
10: And
THE ELOHIM saw their works that they turned from their evil way and THE ELOHIM
repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it
not
Comments: Jonah 3:10 How can anyone say that the God of
the Old Covenant was a God of wrath, while the God of the New Covenant is a God
of Mercy. Because of this fallacy, many rob themselves of great blessing
because they refuse to read the Old Covenant, but it is about the same
God… Covenants may differ, but God is the same yesterday, today, and
forever Hebrews 13:8. Jesus is God in the flesh John 1:1,14
the Almighty Revelation 1:8 (Jesus is speaking here). Jesus is God.
Jesus is YHWH ELOHIM Colossians 2:9, 1 Timothy 3:16 kjv, Acts 20:28
kjv.
Jonah 4
1: But it displeased Jonah exceedingly
and he was very angry 2: And he is praying to YHWH
and he is saying I pray thee O YHWH was not this my saying when I was
yet in my country Because of this I fled before to Tarshish for I knew that you
are a gracious EL and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and lamenting
over evil 3: Therefore now YHWH take I beseech thee my
life from me for it is better for me to die than to live 4: Then
said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
Comments: Jonah 4:1-3
Jonah preferred death to living to see God’s mercy on the Assyrians of Nineveh.
And still, the Almighty reasoned with him. Jonah 3:10 So, how can
anyone say that the God of the Old Covenant was a God of wrath, while the God
of the New Covenant is a God of Mercy. Because of this fallacy, many rob
themselves of great blessing because they refuse to read the Old Covenant, but
it is about the same God… Covenants may differ, but God is the same
yesterday, today, and forever Hebrews 13:8. Jesus is God in the
flesh John 1:1,14 the Almighty Revelation 1:8 (Jesus is
speaking here). Jesus is God. Jesus is YHWH ELOHIM Colossians
2:9, 1 Timothy 3:16 kjv, Acts 20:28 kjv.
5: So
Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city and there made
himself a tent and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would
become of the city 6: And the YHWH ELOHIM assigned
a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his
head to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd 7: And
THE ELOHIM assigned a worm when the morning rose the next day and it struck
the gourd that it dried up 8: And
it came to pass when the sun did arise, that ELOHIM prepared a deafening
east wind and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted and wished in
himself to die and said It is better for me to die than to live 9: And
God said to Jonah Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said I
do well to be angry even unto death
Comments: Jonah 4:9
Jonah was one stubborn fellow, and he appeared to be the only one suffering
consequences. While the people of Nineveh were repenting in sackcloth and ashes,
Jonah was enveloped in sinful anger and self-pity. The only one sinning, at the
moment, was Jonah! Still, the merciful Lord continues to reason with him.
10: Then
said YHWH You have had pity on the gourd, for the which you have not labored
neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11: And should not I spare Nineveh that great city wherein are more than
120,000 persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand
[until now they were ignorant
of that which was for their good] and also much cattle?
The entire book of Jonah is a testament
to the boundless mercy, compassion, and utter patience of our Creator, with
both his bad-attitude-prophet and the depraved and violent Jonah 3:8 people
of Nineveh who lamented their sin and repented in sackcloth and ashes at the
preaching of Jonah … who could have cared less. He would have loved to see them
destroyed and was angry that God spared them.
