The Book of Jonah
Jonah is likely the minor prophet with which people are the most familiar. The book of Jonah is a short narrative parallel, unlike any other prophetic book. Because it’s narrative and only four chapters, preachers often select the book of Jonah for a series, and often, the series is four parts, following the lines of Stephen Langton’s chapter breaks.
The structure of the book of Jonah is formed of two parallel narratives, where the second narrative mirrors the first but more largely and deeply. This allows Jonah to show us the key lessons by going through them a second time in the same way as the first. At the end of the second narrative, Jonah brings the reader into a glimpse of the mind of Jonah and of the mind of God (Chapter 4). Jonah 1:1 and 3:1 echo the same language as the opening of each narrative. Then the narratives parallel one another following a sequence: The Word of the Lord comes to Jonah, Jonah acts in response, non-Israelites enter the picture, God demonstrates his sovereignty, Jonah prays, and God acts.
The reader should expect nobody except Jonah the Prophet to obey God, but in a shocking reversal, every person and all of God’s appointed creation obey the Lord. It’s Jonah who struggles, which is an intentional aspect of the book.
The second narrative ends abruptly to nudge the reader to a correct response. It’s as if the reader is to fill in the correct answer based on the first narrative, thus, bringing the reader into the same reality as Jonah. The first narrative teaches the complete pattern, such as A+B+C=D, and then the second narrative tests the reader’s understanding of the pattern as AA+BB+CC=__. If the reader correctly understands the pattern, then the reader knows the answer is DD. Knowing the right response for Jonah leads to the same response by the reader. In this case, the correct answer for Jonah and the reader is repentance and worship. In the first narrative, D would be the repentance seen in Chapter 2. The answer beyond Chapter 4 (DD) should be this same kind of repentance and praise, but bigger and better.
Themes of the book of Jonah include (but are not limited to) the fear of the Lord, obedience, repentance, God’s patience and grace, sanctification, and God’s sovereignty in mission.
The book of Jonah is deeply connected to the gospel through Jesus’ use of Jonah in relation to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 12:38-42 or a wicked generation in Luke 11:29-32. When they demand a sign, Jesus replies that the only sign will be the sign of Jonah. While Matthew adds detail about Jonah in the belly of the fish and the Son of Man in the heart of the earth, that is only a small part of the sign. Luke does not include such detail. Instead, the sign is the larger idea of God’s sovereignty in salvation. “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).
Furthermore, the account of Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8:23–27, Mark 4:35–41, and Luke 8:22–25) alludes to Jonah 1. The sailors call upon Jonah to call upon his God so that perhaps, they wouldn’t perish (1:6). The wind and seas obey the Lord and when it ceases to rage, the sailors fear the Lord exceedingly and offer sacrifices to God. The disciples are concerned they will perish and even suggest that Jesus does not care (tying to God and Jonah’s conversation in Jonah 4). The wind and waves obey Jesus, and the disciples become afraid and worship, marveling that the wind and waves obey Jesus. If God can command the wind and waves in the book of Jonah, much is being said of Jesus in the New Testament accounts.
It may be valuable to preach or teach the book of Jonah as a complete unit, drawing on the connections between the first and second narratives. Then to solidify the themes, look at the New Testament passages through the lens of the book of Jonah.