preview

Thematic Essay On The Book Of Jonah

Decent Essays

The Book of Jonah
Set around 770-750 BC (Hindson & Towns, 2013, p. 293), the book of Jonah is found within the Minor Prophets. Unlike the other books in this genre, Jonah provides a personal narrative carved from a portion of the life of a prophet instead of the word of God spoken through a prophet. While the book does not identify Jonah as the author outright, he is widely believed to be so. In the book of Jonah, God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh, an Assyrian city located near modern day Mosul, Iraq. Instead, he sails west from Joppa on the Mediterranean Sea away from Nineveh toward Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3 New American Standard). While on the voyage, God causes a great storm to come upon the ship and Jonah is reluctantly thrown overboard …show more content…

The exact dates that he lived are not known but it is believed to be between 1050-1000 BC (Hindson & Towns, 2013, p. 112). He was likely born in Bethlehem (Ruth 2:4) and was a wealthy relative of Elimelech, Ruth’s father-in-law, (Ruth 2:1) as well. Boaz probably took an active role in overseeing the work in his fields as evidenced by his presence there. When he noticed his widowed relative, Ruth, gleaning the leftovers from the harvesters, he showed her kindness and gave her protection in his fields (Ruth 2:5-9). Ruth requested that Boaz redeem her according to the custom of the time and he accepted on the condition that the relative that was closer in line to Elimilech be given the first chance. He later claimed the right of redemption by purchasing Naomi’s land and marrying Ruth (Ruth 4:9-10). This marriage began the lineage of David with the birth of Obed and eventually to Jesus (Ruth 4:16-22). Boaz’s role as redeemer was a foreshadowing of the redemptive act of Jesus Christ. Boaz married an outsider and grafted her into the family lineage just as Jesus accepts all who believe in Him including gentiles into the kingdom of heaven (Rom

Get Access