The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-08


airy curiosities, While the Book of the
Supernatural, yet the Bible differs from
all other ancient books of religion, II
that it Is free from all those extrava
gances and bats to credulity by which
they are SO largely characterized. TIC
come back to the whale, for one l dc
not believe a whale ever swallowed the
prophet Jonah-first, because the Bible
does not say so. It says a great fish
swallowed JONAH and a whale is not q
fish, but an animal. Then q whales
throat is not large enough to swallow
q man, anyway, but there are great fish
still swimming in the Mediterranean
with Threats large enough to easily ac-
complish the feat. Put in this light,
the story of the great fish will be con-
isidered in its proper place in the second
chapter.
This leads to an Introductory thought
concerning literary form. The Bible is
not book of poetry, yet 1t contains
poetry; not a book of fiction, yet 1T con-
tains fiction; not a book of fable, yet it
contains fables; not book of parallels
yet it contains parables-but these are
mere forms, as are It's history, proph-
ecy, proverbs and epistles, for the stat
ing Of great truths. The Bible Is va
red in it's literary form, but one In its
method of inspiration. Holy men of
old spake as they were moved by the
| Holy Ghost" The Bible contains many
truths which are in other books, but
one truth is distinctive of tit reveals
to man the way to God. Important,
then, as it's literary form, it's truth is
| vost1,y 10 1t fTha Rock of
Jonah, so far as it's form goes, has been
Interpreted as literal history, the record
| of single Individual, and as parable
or allegory, Jonah representing the He
brew race.
/ think we can all see that the beau
tiful lesson that Jesus teaches in the
Parable of the Prodigal Son, of the
F'atherhood of God, does not lose any
of its force, because the truth is taught
in the form Of fiction. And SO the same
lesson of the Fatherhood of God is
taught by the author Of the Book of
Jonah, whittier we consider the story,
like the similar one of our Saviour,
parable, or literal history. The main
point not to DO lost sight of is that the
Book of Jonah is an inspired book, and
its lesson of the Fatherhood of God is
the all-important lesson,
But, on the other hand, 1t Is well to
remember that Jonah might be literal
history and at the same time have an
allegorical application. Nor Is the fact
that the Book of Jonah is in the form
of narrative inconsistent with its lit
eral interpretation for the story is the
simplest of all literary forms and is
found in other prophetic records as the
story of Elijah in Kings and the earlier
parts of the Book of Daniel.
This much we know for fact-Jonah
was a Hebrew prophet and, Of sixteen
Old Testament prophets, the earliest
whose date can be fixed with any GER
talnty. All we know of Jonah is from
the book that bears his name and from
the fourteenth chapter of second Kings.
From this chapter we learn that he
fourished from 1872 to TAI B, c. and that |
unlike the other prophets but like the |
of whom he is made type, he |
came out of Galilee. That Jonah should |
be the author of this incident in his own |
life is in harmony with Bible usage, |
Parts of the Books of Amos and of |
Hosea detail the personal experiences |
of their authors, But the diction and |
the truth taught have led many stu
dents to believe that the book was writ
ten several hundred years after Jonah |
the prophet died, and that it should be
placed among the very last of the |
books, as 1t Is indeed placed |
In the arrangement of the cannon.
Having presented these Introductory |
thoughts, let us now turn to the truths
which this book of singular beauty and
IF matchless righteousness has for us.
And tonight we VIII consider Jonah
and the Story of Disobedience." The
irst chapter naturally groups itself
about three great thoughts.
/. Jonah Fleeing from God.
9. The Results of Jonahs Disobedi-
,nce.
8. Gods Use of Jonahs Disobedi-
nee. i
j. The first picture is that Of the
prophet fleeing from his God. God tells
Jonah to go to Ninevah and cry against
t. Jonah lays down his office rather ,
han obey Cod He did not dtsobey in
llrectly, or slightly, or evasively, but
lirectly, absolutely and with all his
leart. God told him to go to Ninevah, :
which was due east, and he started for !
'arsish, which was due west. His jour ,
ley to Ninevah would have been in
and, but to go to Tarsish he would put
he sea between himself and Ninevah-
es, between himself and God, ! like
onah for this, not for fleeing from
Iod, but for the intensity of his spirit.
lie was a man of force. He was no =
ypocrite, no half-hearted or fair
leather Christian. 1t was one thing or !
he other with him. and in this case he
~ down his office rather than obey .
iod But why? Was the prophet
fraid of the journey to Ninevah? Was i
g afraid to face the lions of Ninevah? II
lot for a moment. A more fearless
ian than Jonah never lived. This was ),
Is trouble He was a great big noble !
ew with all the prejudice and bigotry I
{ his race against the Gentle. His =
lly fear was that If he preached to the
eathen of Ninevah they might repent, ;,
nd God in His mercy might spare -
lem.
Jonah like every Jew, wanted Assyria
If Ninevah repented and
Cd forgave them, then Assyria might