How Long Did It Take Jonah To Get To Nineveh

During the reign of King Jeroboam 2 (793-753 BC), a Northern Kingdom prophet named Jonah was chosen by God to "denote the Lord's judgment" (Jonah 1:1-2) to the Assyrians. God commanded him to go to Assyria's capital, the city of Nineveh to preach against its wickedness and convince the people to apologize. The middle of the Assyrian empire was located around 500 miles northeast of Gath-Hepher, Jonah's hometown in the Galilean region. (For a amend picture of Bible events and location, refer to the Holy State Map in conjunction with this article.)

It was articulate from the kickoff that Jonah was unwilling to go to Nineveh considering the Bible did not mince words with his response to God's control: he ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish (Jonah 1:three). Jonah was understandably resentful about preaching repentance to the Assyrians, so he headed to the port metropolis of Joppa to catch a send spring for Tarshish. Joppa (modern Jaffa) was a harbor city located far west of Jonah'southward village of Gath-Hepher. While the modernistic location of the famed city of Tarshish is still existence disputed (co-ordinate to the Septuagint and Vulgate translations of the Bible, Tarshish was another name for the city of Carthage while historian Flavius Josephus asserted that it was the Anatolian city of Tarsus).

There is a mod statement, however, that Jonah did non become directly to the port metropolis of Joppa so that he could escape from the presence of God. It was said that he travelled to the city of Joppa to put himself out of God's achieve—which made sense only if God'south power was limited by location (Joppa was a Philistine territory at that time). Perhaps Jonah took the attempt to escape 1 step further by passing through at least four to five ports to milk shake off God's presence. Clever or not, Jonah sent a clear bulletin to God that there was no way he would willingly go to Nineveh.

Jonah was within the belly of a fish for 3 days.

This theory, all the same, is non without its issues. First, Jonah's hometown of Gath-Hepher was located in the Northern Kingdom. The only significant ports that lay between the town of Gath-Hepher and the Philistine port in Joppa were Acco (modernistic Acre) to the northwest and Dor to the west. If Jonah, however, was based in Samaria (and not in his hometown) during the reign of King Jeroboam Ii, there were no other ports of considerable size and importance most the upper-case letter for one of the near famous escapees in history to take refuge in except for Joppa.

God's omniscience and omnipresence also hindered the theory that Jonah passed through at least four to 5 ports to milk shake off His presence. The Lord was with Abraham as he travelled from Harran downwardly to Canaan and Egypt—all of which were pagan cities. He was also with Jacob when he came back to Upper Mesopotamia subsequently he tricked Isaac to give away his brother Esau'south blessings. God'southward presence was also felt during the Israelite's struggle in Arab republic of egypt, Daniel's captivity in Babylon (although this would come much later than Jonah's adventure), and many other instances in the Bible when location (even the schemes of men) simply did not present a problem for God to bear witness his power. God also heard and answered Jonah's prayer while he sat inside the belly of the fish after it swallowed him (he was somewhen vomited on dry country).

Whether he passed through a number of ports on the way to Joppa or not, the book of Jonah continues to fascinate readers thousands of years after information technology was written. There are lessons that his story offers to its readers, although people will probably never know the truth almost this item on his journeying. Two things are for sure: God extended His mercy fifty-fifty to the merciless and men could never thwart the plans of God.

References:
May, Herbert G., G. N. S. Hunt, R. W. Hamilton, and John Twenty-four hours. Oxford Bible Atlas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Singer, Isidore, and M. Seligsohn. "JewishEncyclopedia.com." TARSHISH -. Accessed June 29, 2016. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14254-tarshish.

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