2 Kings 14:25 tells Jonah was a prophet sometime during the reign of Jeroboam II, 786-746 BC. We don’t know if Jonah’s prophecy was at the beginning or at or after Jeroboam, so it is difficult to understand the background to Jonah’s story. In 738 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III invaded Israel and forced them to pay tribute. This may have been the reason Jonah was so hostile toward the Assyrians. While we don’t know the circumstances, God’s Holy Spirit can do great things when least expected.
We don’t know who wrote the book or Jonah; it is written in the third person. Jonah could have written it from the view point of looking back, he could have told it to the writer directly or it could have been written by anyone who knew the story but was led by God to write it.
Theme: I don’t care.
Outline:
1A. Jonah flees. Chapter 1
2A. Jonah prays. Chapter 2
3A. Jonah preaches. Chapter 3
4A. Jonah pouts. Chapter 4
Key verses: “Then the Lord said, ‘You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention off the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city’?” Jonah 4:10-11 NLT.