Ecclesiastes Research Paper

In conclusion, Bar-Jonah is a very sick person who eventually got what he deserved. He was a cannibal, sexual offender, kidnapper, molester, and overall a twisted killer. Who knows how many unknown people he has hurt, tortured, or killed and eaten. But now that he is dead and gone he won’t be able to hurt anyone

“Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object or person. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things (Net 2).” From the beginning, Jonah received the word from the God, who asked him to dissipate the evilness in city of Nineveh. But he did not obey God’s command, instead, he ignored what God’s saying and became evasive, setting forth to another place in the presence of the God. Here his deportment is a direct sacrilege to God’s authority.

In the book of Jonah we see the vast amount of tension between both God and Jonah. He is one of the prophets who also believes in tolerance of non-Jews opposite to Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s stress of an unadulterated blood race of Jews under a restrictive Jewish God. Jonah is one of a vast line of important people in the bible who argues with God. As you see in past books of the bible everyone has stood their own against the Lord. Jonah though decides to try and run from God. The Lord called to Jonah and said “Arise, go to Ninevah, that great city, and cry against it,” but Jonah flees to Joppa, setting sail on a ship duty-bound for Tarshish, assuming he can evade the Lord. Jonah views the Lord as sort of a indigenous God of restrained power that his hand would not reach as

Mr. Darrow: But when you read that Jonah swallowed the whale – or the whale swallowed Jonah – excuse me please – how do you literally interpret that?

Jonah was given the task of delivering God’s message of impending judgment to a society that Jonah despised.

John Walton’s The Object Lesson on Jonah 4:5-7 and the Purpose of the Book of Jonah is a very enlightening work of research. In this article, Walton seeks to reveal to us that Jonah chapter four and particularly the object lesson in verses 5-7, holds the key to our understanding of the purpose of the book of Jonah. He highlights Jonah’s anger which is caused by how God responds to Nineveh’s repentance. Walton also reveals to us the significance of the author’s intended purpose for including this incidence in the book. He concludes that the message of Jonah is a theological message. Before reading this article, I must admit that my understanding of Jonah has always been from a missiological perspective. I had never considered the fact that the

Before he went to the island of San Lorenzo, Jonah was floating on a cloud, not really paying attention to too much detail. However, as he met more people on the island things started to click for him, and he was able to make sense out of some of the puzzle that would eventually become his book. Jonah also makes some dumb mistakes, just like humans do. I don't think that his agreeing to become the president of San Lorenzo was a smart move, but at the time all he could think about was marrying Mona, and that in itself was enough motivation for him. "Love is blind" is a very popular saying, and it rings true in most humans, and in this case, Jonah.

In Ecclesiastes: we have Solomon's (generally agreed upon to be the author) analysis of life. It seems cynical, but overall the message of the book is hope in God. In Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 we get Solomon's basic lesson to those who are seeking a full and abundant life “ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing,Whether good or evil.”

The book of Jonah communicates that God is an all-powerful Creator, Judge, and Savior, which is also conveyed in the books of some of His other children. Through their stories, it is evident that the Lord overcomes all obstacles in order to offer mercy to those who deserve it and to carry out His plan. He never fails those who trust in Him, because everything He does is for their own benefit, even though it may not seem that way at the

“Ch. 1” - Jonah realized he cannot seek the Lord and flee from him at the same time; in result a powerful sea storm arises and Jonah is sacrificed into the sea and swallowed by momentous fish in order to save the sailors.

Although theology is what people expect Solomon to be known for, it is not the only category that pertains to seeking wisdom. The materialistic world, relationships, and other personal matters are topics that people seek wisdom for and they would often come to Solomon about these subjects. In fact, non-believing people search in the Bible for wisdom, although it may be a last-ditch effort for them.

The last chapter in Ecclesiastes 12 concludes, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Similarly Proverbs 1 begins with this admonition “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Italicized mine) These two certainties are bookends or sorts, serving as a contrast between each of the books perspectives on how life actually happens under the sun. Ecclesiastes can serve as a rebuttal to the elements of retribution theology presented in Proverbs and also exploits the acquisition of wisdom as penultimate and fearing Yahweh,

2:4-9, 12:9, that suggest so which then places the date towards the end of his life sometime in the 900 BC’s but no later than 931 BC. Because of Solomon’s wisdom the kingdom was prosperous and considered mighty. But it was falling into moral decline due to the acceptance of self-indulgence.

16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

To recap the first half of the Book of Jonah, God calls upon Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh and send them a message that God will punish the Ninevites if they do not repent for their sins. Jonah, refusing to help the Ninevites, decides to “flee from God in disobedience” (Cosby 124) to Tarshish. Jonah boards a ship with a couple of sailors and sets sail to Tarshish. However during their sail, God sends a terrible storm due to Jonah’s disobedience. The sailors eventually had to throw Jonah into the sea in order to calm the storm. God creates a big fish to engulf Jonah where Jonah was in its belly for three days and three nights. This part of the story in particular allows the reader to stop and ponder if Jonah’s incident with the big fish really took place in history. It is impossible to survive one day in a belly of a fish nevertheless three days! Knowing this bit of information, we can deduce that the