JONAH - the only prophet to...

I was thinking about how unique Jonah is. He's the ONLY prophet recorded in the OT to bring a message to non-Jews.He is also the only minor prophet referred to by Jesus.I would like to hear what others on this board have to comment on those thoughts...-Chris

I think it is interesting that the Bible said Jonah prayed after he was swallowed by a big fish but never says he prayed before. "Then Jonah prayed" I think God is going to have to put the squeeze on the church to get them to pray.

Jonah was also the only prophet major or minor I can think of whose message was wholeheartedly accepted and the masses were brought to repentance. Right? Or am I forgetting someone?

I was thinking about how unique Jonah is. He's the ONLY prophet recorded in the OT to bring a message to non-Jews.Maybe it's a matter of how narrow you would want to structure the question. I don't know if other prophets actually spoke face to face with other nations in an evangelical sense but Daniel spoke directly to Nebuchadnezzar. "But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. "Also there are several Old Testament prophets who did have messages that seemingly were addressed to non-Jewish nations. I don't know if, for your purposes, you would be able to count these or not.Jeremiah had this for Edom "The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle's, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD."Ezekial had this message for Tyre, "therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves...For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar[1] king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons. "Nahum had this for Ninevah... "All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and, like grasshoppers, consume you. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts!...Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?"MC

Hi tacklebox...He is also the only minor prophet referred to by Jesus.I don't think that the people of Ninevah would have considered Jonah a "minor prophet." :-)

ccchhhrrriiisss wrote:Hi tacklebox...

He is also the only minor prophet referred to by Jesus.I don't think that the people of Ninevah would have considered Jonah a "minor prophet." :-)

don't forget the book of Amos :-)

Okay, the more I've studied this, the more it seems that Jonah wasn't the only prophet called to preach to a nation other than Israel or Judah.One interesting note, though, I read in HALLEY'S BIBLE HANDBOOK was that Joppa is where Jonah went to flee from God's orders to preach to Gentiles, and it is also the same location in Acts 10 where Peter receives the vision that leads him to preach and accept the Gentiles (interesting parrallel also with Jonah THREE days in the great fish, and THREE times Peter has the vision!)-Chris

That is interesting! Symmetry like that is another kind of evidence that the bible, though written by different men over centuries of time, is truly the word from God.

major and minor is just a term used to describe the amount of written work left by the prophet, not thier importance or stature.

Yes, it seems that Jonah is easily forgotten...John 7:52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet."However...He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.” (2Kings 14:25 KJVS)This from Easten's Bible Dictionary: Gath-hepherWine-press of the well, a town of Lower Galilee, about 5 miles from Nazareth; the birthplace of Jonah (2 Kings 14:25); the same as Gittah-hepher (Joshua 19:13). It has been identified with the modern el-Meshed, a village on the top of a rocky hill. Here the supposed tomb of Jonah, Neby Yunas, is still pointed out.Source: Easton's Bible Dictionary

it seems that Jonah is easily forgotten... I think that the implication of Jonah’s prophetic role has been undermined because of the fixation on his flight from God. After all, the fish is the best part of his story! I’ve heard many pastors use that as a warning that we had better not run from God. (Of course it’s easy to be running from God’s calling even while we comfortably take our places in pew or pulpit.) I am amzed how God even used Jonah’s flight. The pagan sailors feared God as a result of the storm. They understood the consequences for sin. “At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to him and made vows to him" [1:16] I wonder, was their any prophet in the Bible who effected such a mass repentance in an entire city? – a pagan, non-Jewish city at that! Is there something in this for today?Diane

I wonder, was their any prophet in the Bible who effected such a mass repentance in an entire city? – a pagan, non-Jewish city at that! Their response to Jonah's teaching becomes the biblical definition of repentence. Matt. 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. If you want to know what Jesus meant by 'repentence' we have to read Jonah 3. Word studies are valuable but Bible words have histories and 'repentence' in the language of Jesus is what the people of Nineveh 'did' in response to Jonah's preaching.

He's the ONLY prophet recorded in the OT to bring a message to non-Jews.This is not correct. Remember Moses? "Hey Pharoah, God says let my people go!" Then of course, Daniel with the King of Babylon (who is also one of the minor prophets Christ mentions). Then Obadiah prophesied to Edom. Then Nahum prophesied also to Nineveh. Jeremiah also went to Egypt to preach for a while.Most the OT prophets had messages to various kingdoms in the region, though to my knowledge, most scholars doubt they were actually delivered in the nation in which the prophecy was intended for.