First off… some of my comments on Jonah 3 may have offended some people….
If you were not offended… you probably should re-read it….
You probably missed something if you were not offended….
Now… how can I categorically say that mankind does not have the right to happiness…?
Must be because I am one of those Puritanical… Right-Wing… Conservative… Holier-than-thou type… typical… no-fun… fundamentally mentally challenged… Fundamentalist… Scriptural Literalistic… who are the bane of the world… because we just can’t leave other people alone to their own devices… and their vices….
Nope. Not at all.
I believe the mandates and commandments of Scripture only apply to Christians… and are only valid if I choose to accept them… out of Love for God….
I say that no one has a right to happiness based on my understanding of Philosophy. Or Psychology. Of the Pleasure Principle….
Because the Pleasure Principle was never meant to wander free… and unchecked…. Not even Ayn Rand’s Objectivism suggests that….
Because… the blatant whims and fancies of the Pleasure Principle… must ALWAYS be constrained by the Reality Principle… if mankind is to exist in any form of Society….
And… the suggestion that everyone is ENTITLED to happiness… even at the expense of others… is a blatant abrogation of that foundational principle… and dooms the entire enterprise to abject failure….
Even here on Earth….
So… the suggestion that we all have the right to happiness… is an unmitigated and spurious fantasy….
Now… for the historical and social context… of Jonah….
I suppose that first I should acknowledge that several ways to view/interpret/understand/accept Jonah have been proposed….
Jonah is:
1. an allegory- symbolic fiction made up to teach principles or truths,
2. a midrash- a classic Jewish commentary of Scripture from the first 1,000 years of Judaism,
3. a parable- a brief, usually fictional story used to convey moral, religious or spiritual truths, or
4. a historical and/or prophetic narrative.
Many… or most… Old Testament scholars put Jonah somewhere in the first three….
I am a Scriptural Literalist… so I don’t think even #4 goes far enough….
Calling Jonah Historical… does not do God’s Word justice…. And does not give God the Glory he deserves….
The events depicted in Jonah probably occurred in the 8th Century Before Christ. The book was written sometime after that. Jeroboam II (son of Jehoash or Joash) was the King of Israel. He was a great warrior king who extended the realm of Israel to the borders present during King Solomon’s reign. Israel was the most prosperous… and the most prestigious… it had ever been during the reign of King Jeroboam, son of Jehoash….
So… Israel during the time of Jonah… was just like America today….
JUST like America today….
Israel had NEVER been so rich….
They were major players in international trade… and that was what generated their wealth….
They sat between Egypt and Assyria… and made themselves rich off of the trade with both….
And… King Jeroboam II expanded their borders… influence… and wealth….
God truly blessed Israel.
Jonah wasn’t the only Prophet during Jeroboam II’s reign.
Hosea, Joel and Amos were also active during Jeroboam II’s reign.
Amos describes a great earthquake that has been evidenced in the archeological record at the time:
Amos 1:1 English Standard Version (ESV)
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds[a] of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years[b] before the earthquake.
Footnotes:
[a] Amos 1:1 Or sheep breeders
[b] Amos 1:1 Or during two years
What do we know of Jeroboam II…?
2 Kings 14:23-29 English Standard Version (ESV)
Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher. 26 For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
God used King Jeroboam II to save Israel… even though NONE of the kings submitted to God particularly well….
God was not pleased….
Yet… Israel prospered….
Traditionally… Israel has three offices….
Prophet. Priest. And King. All three are united in Jesus as the heir to the priesthood of Melchizedek, but during the Kingdom of Israel, the offices were separate.
So… obviously… the Prophets and the Priests must have been doing their jobs reasonably well to warrant God’s rich blessings on his people….
Micah came slightly later and had this to say:
Micah 2:11 English Standard Version (ESV)
11 If a man should go about and utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
So… maybe not….
What was God’s complaint about Jeroboam II… and the kings… and priests… and prophets… ALL of the leaders of Israel… before and after…?
Micah 2:1-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
Woe to the Oppressors
2 Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against this family I am devising disaster,[a]
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk haughtily,
for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
he changes the portion of my people;
how he removes it from me!
To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6 “Do not preach”—thus they preach—
“one should not preach of such things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
Has the Lord grown impatient?[b]
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.[c]
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10 Arise and go,
for this is no place to rest,
because of uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
Footnotes:
[a] Micah 2:3 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context
[b] Micah 2:7 Hebrew Has the spirit of the Lord grown short?
[c] Micah 2:8 Or returning from war
The greedy and the political and religious classes conspired to strip the land… and thus the wealth and prosperity… from the Middle Class…. Land ownership was strictly prescribed in the Mosaic Law. And is closely tied to redemption… as in the story of Ruth… and Boaz… and is the basis of this passage from Malachi… about divorce being violence….
Malachi 2:15-17 English Standard Version (ESV)
15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?[a] And what was the one God[b] seeking?[c] Godly offspring. So guard yourselves[d] in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,[e] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers[f] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
The Messenger of the Lord
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Footnotes:
[a] Malachi 2:15 Hebrew in it
[b] Malachi 2:15 Hebrew the one
[c] Malachi 2:15 Or And not one has done this who has a portion of the Spirit. And what was that one seeking?
[d] Malachi 2:15 Or So take care; also verse 16
[e] Malachi 2:16 Hebrew who hates and divorces
[f] Malachi 2:16 Probable meaning (compare Septuagint and Deuteronomy 24:1–4); or “The Lord, the God of Israel, says that he hates divorce, and him who covers
God does not his land defiled….
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 English Standard Version (ESV)
Laws Concerning Divorce
24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
For instance:
Judges 11:23-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
23 So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
The Amorites sacrificed the children of their priest-kings to Chemosh in return for power….
But… how did Israel respond…?
1 Kings 11:1-13 English Standard Version (ESV)
Solomon Turns from the Lord
11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
The Lord Raises Adversaries
9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that verse 13 just might be Messianic….
And… the rest of the story….
1 Kings 11:26-43 English Standard Version (ESV)
26 Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. 27 And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 28 The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes 32 (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have[a] forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. 34 Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. 35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. 36 Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 37 And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes:
[a] 1 Kings 11:33 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate he has; twice in this verse
Israel had never been so rich… and their response to God’s blessing… was to turn away from God… and embrace splendor… trust wealth… and relentlessly pursue their own happiness… through pleasure….
So… the issues with Israel… not Assyria… at the time of Jonah… were:
1. Oppression of the Middle Class (and poor and women) by the wealthy and privileged political and religious classes… through theft and usurpation of means of producing wealth (the main drivers of the economy were sale olives and wine… and possibly horses… to Egypt… but predominantly to Assyria…. And by men who became displeased with their wives… and wives who became displeased with their husbands….
2. Syncretism…. Even the places where God was worshiped… such as Beth-el (House of God) and Dan… God was worshiped via a golden calf idol…. God was NOT worshiped as God… but as an amalgamation of God… and the ideas of man… incorporating foreign gods… foreign concepts… that were considered to enhance the worship of God….
Still God was patient… and Merciful… to Israel… even as Israel ran to other gods….
Here is just a taste of the wicked syncretism and social injustice practiced by the leaders of Israel….
1 Kings 21 English Standard Version (ESV)
Naboth’s Vineyard
21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” 4 And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” 6 And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7 And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. 10 And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed[a] God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” 11 And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12 they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. 13 And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”
15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
The Lord Condemns Ahab
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19 And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’”
20 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ 24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”
Ahab’s Repentance
25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)
27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
Footnotes:
[a] 1 Kings 21:10 Hebrew blessed; also verse 13
God takes Social Justice within his Covenant Community… and appropriate worship… seriously….
So… why did God tolerate Israel’s dalliances…?
Because he is jealous for his name… and his Glory….
But… eventually… God raised the evil Assyrians up… to punish… and to utterly destroy… his Chosen Children… Israel….
After he redeemed and sanctified them through the reluctant witness of his Prophet Jonah….
God will not be mocked….
And… he saves for himself only a Remnant….
God is not impressed with numbers….
God only cares about submission….
Because submission is required for Salvation… and is the only demonstration of our love….
Probably a good time to go back and look at Jonah 3….
To help us appreciate the Historical and Social Context… that Jonah missed….
God is Merciful… but even God’s Mercy… cannot be dissociated from his Justness and Holiness….
Jonah 3 English Standard Version (ESV)
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,[a] three days’ journey in breadth.[b] 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
The People of Nineveh Repent
6 The word reached[c] the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Footnotes:
[a] Jonah 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God
[b] Jonah 3:3 Or a visit was a three days’ journey
[c] Jonah 3:6 Or had reached
the Dark Mirror: Reflections for Flawed Christians 