 History
Explanations of Biblical Terms and Events
Aspects of the story of the prophet Jonah can be better understood when viewed against the background of the historical events of the time.
Jonah prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, and while his written prophecy deals primarily with Nineveh, he also prophesied to Israel.(II Kings 14;25).
He was commanded to go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it, because of its wickedness.
Why did he run in fear when told to go to Nineveh, when there is no evidence that he hesitated to speak God's word in Israel?
A number of reasons are possible.
| Nineveh was a great city, which Jonah 3:3 says took three days to cross. Archaelogists have found an 1800 acre enclosure surrounded by a brick wall almost eight miles long. Such a city would be a fearful place to a lone man, a foreigner from a small, subject nation. |
| The Assyrians had a reputation for cruelty. |
| During the reign of Jeroboam II in Israel, Assyria had three kings. This means each reign averaged about 13 years. This is hardly a stable situation. This instability added to the previous two points would have made Nineveh more dangerous than at other times. |
| Although Jonah prophesied to Israel and Isaiah prophesied to Judah, they were contemporaries, so although he might not have seen Isaiah's written word such as
Isaiah 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people,
and upon thy father's house, days that have not come from the day
that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. ,
he would have been aware of Isaiah's message.
Jonah knew that Assyria was to be used by God to destroy Israel. He would have had a major problem with trying to save his country's future destroyer.
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It is little wonder he ran in the opposite direction!
More to come.
Links to other history pages in this site
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