Some liberal theologians chalk the book of Jonah up to merely being a children’s fable that isn’t founded in reality. In the coming three paragraphs I will respond to this.

This book is named after the main protagonist of the book: Jonah, son of Amittai. Aside from the book of Jonah, another place in the Old Testament mentions him. In the book of 2 Kings, Jonah was briefly cited as the one who prophesied that Jeroboam II would restore “the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea” (2 Kings 14:25). In this same verse quoted, it mentions that Jonah lived in a place called Gath-Hepher, which was located in the territory of the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:10-13). So, Jonah was a prophet of God in the time of Jeroboam II who lived in Gath-Hepher, and he was the son of Amittai. I say this because it is important to note that Jonah was a real person. He had a real family lineage, he had a real place of residence, and he had a real vocation: that of prophet. Some have tried to say that the Book of Jonah reads like and is likely a children’s fable, citing the supernatural event of being swallowed up by a great fish as a reason for saying this. However, as Timothy Keller points out that, “A fiction writer ordinarily adds supernatural elements in order to create excitement or spectacle and to capture the reader’s attention, but this writer doesn’t capitalize on the event at all in that way” (The Prodigal Prophet, pg. 4). Dr. Keller follows this up by noticing that “The fish is mentioned only in two brief sentences and there are no descriptive details. It is reported more as a simple fact of what happened.” In other words, the writer of the book of Jonah mentions the great fish and then moves along as if he is merely pointing out real details of the historical narrative. So again I will restate my conclusion: Jonah was a real person, with a real lineage, with a real place of residence, with a real vocation, and a real story: and this book is a historical account of part of his life. In other words, this book is a real part of his story.

Perhaps another problem liberal theologians run into when chalking Jonah up to that of a children’s fable is that he is not only a real person, but Jesus talks about him in a very serious manner. In the New Testament, after the religious leaders of the day commanded that Jesus give them a sign, Jesus is recorded as saying, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:39-41, ESV).  This is very injurious to the notion that the book of Jonah is a mere children’s fable. Not only is Jesus revealing himself as the better version of Jonah, alluding to his death, burial, and resurrection; but He says that the same generation of Ninevites that Jonah preached to will judge those of that current generation who demanded that He give them a sign. This is amazing! If anything, Jesus’ affirmation of the event of Jonah preaching to the Ninevites is a solid endorsement from the Risen Lord that the book of Jonah is an accurate account of real events. Those who say otherwise are in direct opposition to the Son of God.

There is so much more to add to the historicity of this story that we could dive into, but that would mean much more writing that I have the time for. Regardless, the truth remains the same: the Book of Jonah is a historical account of real events. 2 Kings affirms that Jonah is a real person, with a real lineage, with a real place of residence, and with a real vocation as prophet. Despite the arguments of some liberal theologians that the book of Jonah is merely a children’s fable, that argument just doesn’t add up because of the way the story is presented. To add to this, Jesus Himself refers back to Jonah as a real person. He even says the very Ninevites that Jonah preached to will rise up and judge the evil and adulterous generation that beheld His coming. Therefore I rest my case that this story is very much an accurate account of events that took place in Jonah’s life. Liberal theologians who argue otherwise find themselves at serious odds with Jesus. This leads me to remind you that, as stated in the foreword, the Word of God is “…living and active…” (Hebrews 4:12). The Book of Jonah is part of the Word of our God to His people. Therefore there are important lessons He wants us to learn from it. There is life giving power that is waiting to be exposited out of this text, and this is why we will enter into it and find out what life awaits us within passages of this text!