Jonah and God's Penchant for Mercy

By Dennis Prutow

Jonah is a little book accentuating God’s mercy. It is an act of mercy on God’s part to send Jonah to Nineveh. It is an act of God’s mercy to rescue rebellious Jonah from the depths of the sea. It is an act of God’s mercy to recommission Jonah after his flagrant disobedience. It is, of course, an incredible display of God’s mercy to forgive the people of Nineveh. And, at the end of the book, it is merciful for God to deal with Jonah as His child rather than condemning Him. All along the line, “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). And so, the Book of Jonah teaches us God’s strong bias toward and His penchant for mercy.
In light of this lesson, what are we to do? Note Luke 18:13, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” This posture needs to be Jonah’s and ours. “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Understanding this central thread puts us in a position to preach Christ from Jonah. Our Lord Jesus is the epitome of God’s mercy. Note how Peter connects Christ with mercy extended to us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). On this same basis, we may preach Christ from Jonah.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis Prutow
• Release date: Jun 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781945305375

Dennis Prutow

Denny Prutow was born in 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point (1959-1963), Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1965-1968), and Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida (1995-1998). Denny was an Army Chaplain, a pastor in both the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, and the Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. He developed Westminster Evangelistic Ministries and remains its administratior. Denny retired in 2013 after forty-five years of active ministry and is now RPTS Professor Emeritus of Homiletics. His books include So Pastor, What's Your Point?, Joyful Voices, Public Worship 101, The Visions of Revelation, You Cannot Escape from God, Biblical Baptism, and What is Saving Faith? He and his wife, Erma, live in Indianapolis, IN. They have three grown daughters and eleven grandchildren.

Book preview

Jonah

and

God’s Penchant for Mercy

By

Dennis J. Prutow

Westminster Evangelistic Ministries

Indianapolis, Indiana

Copyright © 2022 by Dennis J. Prutow

All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the author’s prior permission.

eBook formatting and cover design by ebooklaunch.com

ISBN 978-1-945305-36-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-945305-37-5 (ePub)

ISBN 978-1-945305-38-2 (kindle)

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Jonah 1:1-3 – God’s Commission

Chapter 2 – Jonah 1:4-6 – God’s Storm

Chapter 3 – Jonah 1:7-9 – Jonah Outed

Chapter 4 – Jonah 1:10-12 – Terror on the Sea

Chapter 5 – Jonah 1:13-16 – Responses

Chapter 6 – Jonah 1:17 – The Sign of Jonah

Chapter 7 – Jonah 2:1-2 – Jonah’s Distress

Chapter 8 – Jonah 2:3-7 – Expelled

Chapter 9 – Jonah 2:8-10 – Vomit

Chapter 10 – Jonah 3:1-4 – Recommissioned

Chapter 11 – Jonah 3:5-7 – Faith and Repentance

Chapter 12 – Jonah 3:8-10 – God Extends Mercy

Chapter 13 – Jonah 4:1-4 – Jonah’s Anger

Chapter 14 – Jonah 4:5-8 – God’s Control

Chapter 15 – Jonah 4:9-11 – God’s Penchant for Mercy

Chapter 16 – Epilogue

Bibliography

Foreword

In the Preface to his book, Calvin’s Preaching, T. H. L. Parker (1992) notes that he was in his mid-seventies as he wrote (p. vii) When I read that, I thought, There is hope for me, yet. In my early eighties and having survived COVID, I am one-among-many vessels of mercy (Romans 9:23). And now, it has been my privilege to put together a little commentary on the Book of Jonah.

Having completed my study, I conclude that Jonah is a little book accentuating God’s mercy. It is an act of mercy on God’s part to send Jonah to Nineveh. It is an act of God’s mercy to rescue rebellious Jonah from the depths of the sea. It is an act of God’s mercy to recommission Jonah after his flagrant disobedience. It is, of course, an incredible display of God’s mercy to forgive the people of Nineveh. And, at the end of the book, it is merciful for God to deal with Jonah as His child rather than condemning Him. All along the line, mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13). And so, the Book of Jonah teaches us God’s strong bias toward and His penchant for mercy.

In light of this lesson, what are we to do? Note Luke 18:13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. This posture needs to be Jonah’s and ours. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Understanding this central thread puts us in a position to preach Christ from Jonah. Our Lord Jesus is the epitome of God’s mercy. Note how Peter connects Christ with mercy extended to us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3). On this same basis, we may preach Christ from Jonah. The Epilogue relates examples.

Finally, I am very grateful to God for His mercy in carrying me forward to the conclusion of the following study.

Dennis Prutow

Indianapolis, IN

June 2022

Introduction

Commenting on Jesus’ view of Jonah, Hendriksen (1973) puts it bluntly, It is clear that Jesus accepts this Old Testament account as historical fact (p. 533). Bullock (2007) agrees, There is little question that Jesus believed His references to be historically valid (p. 54). Jonah may be historical. At the same time, the compilers of the Canon considered the book a purely prophetical one (Kleinert, 1960, p. 3). Childs (1979) adds that the authority of the book rests on the prophetic function of the book as bearer of a message (p. 426). Jonah holds its place among the Minor Prophets in the Greek version of the Old Testament. And according to Baldwin (1988), In view of the fact that the LXX potentially represents a Hebrew text older by a thousand years than the traditional MT, its evidence is important (p. 38).

It is also not surprising that Jonah uses irony and satire to make its point. Jonah is a satire. It portrays the prophet in order to ridicule him . . . And the satire is through and through ironic (Good, 1981, p. 41). Ryken (1992), The Book of Jonah belongs to the formal tradition of satire (p. 337). But Good (1981) observes, I have been unable to find a single commentator on the Book of Jonah who says that it makes its point employing irony (p. 41 n. 5).

Satire has two parts. First, it uses a sense of the grotesque and/or absurd, and second, there is an object of attack (Holbert, 1981, p. 60). In irony, a speaker or writer says the very opposite of what he intends (Terry, 1999, p. 165). The irony begins in Jonah 1:1, "The word of the LORD