Acts 27 and Jonah

[ChristianScientist]

I have had pointed out to me some similarities/contrasts between the two big shipwreck stories in the Bible (the only two shipwreck stories in the Bible?)...

Jonah is trying to disobey God's commands for him, Paul to obey them.

Jonah is trying to escape from going to Nineveh, the capital of the empire oppressing Israel at the time, Paul is, according to the command of the Holy Spirit, going to Rome, the capital of the empire oppressing Israel at the time.

Jonah is trying to escape his commission to preach to those outside the children of Israel, Paul is going to the centre of the Gentile world as the apostle to the Gentiles.

Jonah's presence on the boat puts everyone in danger, because God sends a storm to stop his errant prophet. Only because Jonah is thrown overboard is the boat spared. Paul's presence on the boat means that God spares the whole crew from death to save his obedient apostle. Only because Paul is there is the boat spared.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this- do you think Luke had the book of Jonah in mind as he wrote his eyewitness account in this chapter?
Is his purpose then to show that God has ever been gracious to all, that Jonah being sent to Nineveh is a foretaste of kingdom of god arriving and the Gospel going out to all nations?
Or do you think it all a little far-fetched, and poor exegesis?

If you reckon it's sound (as I do, I think), would you actually preach on the chapter that way?

James.

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

You would have to answer the question as to whether that comparrison is the intent of the Holy Spirit. The comparrison is interesting, but that does not argue the intention.

 

[WrittenFromUtopia]

Interesting.

 

[larryjf]

...the two big shipwreck stories in the Bible...

I didn't think there was a shipwreck in Jonah.

 

[ChristianScientist]

When I first re-read that post, I thought "Ha! I wonder how long it'll be before someone else spots the inconsistency in the first sentence".

of course, that's just another contrast between the two "shipwreck" stories.

James.

 

[Scott]

James: That is interesting. I had not noticed it before. I think Matt is right about the question of whether this is intentional. Perhaps it is. Acts has other stories that seem anti-typical of Old Testament precedent. For example, when Moses brought the Law, 3,000 people were killed for disobedience (Ex. 32:28). When Peter preached his first sermon, 3,000 people were made alive. Acts 2:41. I think these kinds of parallels in Acts are more than accident.

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

Originally posted by ChristianScientist
When I first re-read that post, I thought "Ha! I wonder how long it'll be before someone else spots the inconsistency in the first sentence".

of course, that's just another contrast between the two "shipwreck" stories.

James.

I suppose Jonah would have welcomed shipwrecking over being swallowed!

 

[Preach]

Alittle off topic but I was wondering about the numbers in the Bible. A previous post mentioned 3,000 died in the Old Testament and 3,000 got saved at Pentecost. UShould we assume (as a general rule of thumb) that nimbers be taken literally unless the text itself, or somwhere else in the Bible explicitly show the nimber to be rounded or symbolic, or the context implies symbolism?

I guess my real question regards the rounding of numbers, not so much symbolism. Wer 3,ooo literally saved on pentecost? How long did the Israelites wonder in the desert?

"In Christ",
Bobby

 

[Scott]

Bobby: Context controls. The literal except when not possible hermeneutic is from dispensationalism. The contexts of both passages are historical. It is commong to use rounded numbers in historical documents. Eg. 50,000 people from X nation dies in World War II can be a truthful statement, even if it is not precise. There is a difference between imprecision and truthfulness.

 

[larryjf]

There are also a few parallels between Jesus in the boat calming the sea and Jonah.

Mat 8:24 - 27 and Jonah 1:4 - 17

Both have a great storm.
Jesus and Joshua were both sleeping.
The individuals in the both with them in both instances thought they were "perishing".
Both calmed the sea (although Jonah calmed it by being hurled into the sea)

It's interesting also because Jonah goes into the belly of the fish for three days at this point, and that is the story Jesus speaks of when He says...

..."An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
(Mat 12:39)