JONAH by F. D. Starr

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · May 24, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 21.

JONAH.

By F. D. Starr

BY F. D. STARR.

THIS prophet is doubtless the most widely-known of any of the Old Testament prophets. Even those who are very ignorant concerning Scripture history in general, seem to know about Jonah and his strange experience; and usually their knowledge is of a negative character—that is, they say they do not believe the story. People speak of the account of Jonah and the whale as being an Old Testament myth, too absurd to believe while at the same time, they profess to believe New Testament records. They seem to suppose that they can believe the one, and disbelieve the other. It will be well for us to listen to the words of our Saviour on that point, for He makes reference to the prophet Jonah: "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Did Jesus pass through the three days' experience to which He refers? —All admit that He did; the plan of salvation rests upon that important event. If Jesus did not suffer and die and rise again the third day, there is no salvation for a soul of us. But His experience was no more real than was Jonah's. He says, "Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly." So the event itself is confirmed by our Lord's statement. And, moreover, He says that His own experience was equally true with that of Jonah, and vice versa. Jonah's was equally true with His. The one is as the other. So if Jonah was not in the whale's belly, then Christ did not pass through the three days' experience attributed to Him, and in that case the plan of salvation would be a failure. It is a serious matter to meddle with the pillars of the faith once delivered to the saints, by way of questioning their veracity. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Ps. 11:3.

It will be seen by the marginal dates, that the book of Jonah is the oldest of any of the prophetic books. Jonah's experience is set down for the year B. C. 862, so it seems it must have been contemporary with the latter part of Elisha's life. It is very beneficial to study the dates of the lives and productions of the prophets, as well as of other Scripture writers. Their chronological order does not always correspond with the order of succession in which we find them in the printed copies of the Bible. For instance, the book of Daniel, tho coming before the book of Jonah, was written three centuries after the book of Jonah. Daniel was in the lion's den, 325 years after Jonah was in the whale's belly. As an illustration of the mistakes that might be made by lack of information as to dates, we will cite an instance that occurred a few years ago: A popular clergyman presented the case of Jonah as being

interviewed, both before and after his miraculous experience, concerning his belief in certain supernatural events, such as the Flood, the dividing of the Red Sea, etc., and among these was the account of Daniel in the lion's den. Before his own miraculous deliverance, Jonah expressed doubts as to the truthfulness of these accounts of the Flood, etc.; he did not know whether Daniel was ever in the lion's den or not. But after being in the whale's belly, Jonah had all his doubts removed. He knew that these accounts were all true. He had no doubt whatever that Daniel came forth unharmed from the lion's den. The point in the sermon, that one's own personal experience confirms his belief in like experiences that have come to others, was a good point, but it will be seen that his discourse was quite faulty in the matter of dates, as Daniel was not in the lion's den till some three centuries after Jonah's time, so the preacher's suppositions could never have been matters of fact, in that case. None of the readers of this article would wish to make similar mistakes, and, to avoid doing so, we must necessarily become acquainted with Scripture chronology.

The most astonishing thing in the life of Jonah seems to be his displeasure at the sparing of the city of Nineveh from destruction. This comes nearer being an incredible thing than his living three days in the whale's belly. But, strange as it was, it is a correct account of depraved human nature, and our own dispositions may not be so utterly unlike his as we may think they are. It becomes us to examine ourselves to see if we have the true missionary spirit that he lacked. We hope Jonah was more thoroughly converted after this sad demonstration of selfishness. Many of us need to be more thoroughly converted to the missionary work, too.

Reference is made to the prophet Jonah in 2 Kings 14:25, by which we see that he is recognized by another sacred historian.

Jonah knew the true character of God better than many of God's representatives seem to know Him now. He says: "I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil." Have we learned that by our own experience? Let us not pass by this book without learning this lesson.