Jonah Was From Gath hepher

During the days of the Divided Kingdom of Israel’s history, the northern kingdom of Israel had shrunk down to nearly nothing, as noted in 2 Kings 10:32: “In those days [Jehu’s reign] the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel’s territory.” Here’s what it looked like:

Tiny Israel as Jehoahaz ascends throne. Map by Scott Richardson.

This would change in the days of Jeroboam II. 2 Kings 14:25 reads:

He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south, in accordance with the word of the LORD God of Israel announced through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher (NET).

At this time with the borders restored, it looked like this:

Israel during Jeroboam II. Map by Scott Richardson.

Note that this restoration of Israel’s territory was foretold by Jonah the prophet. We usually think of Jonah in regard to his reluctant mission to Nineveh, as seen in the book of Jonah. But we learn from the 2 Kings 14:25 reference that God also used the prophet to address the situation with His people Israel. Jonah was from Gath hepher, which was in the Galilee.

Gath hepher. Map by BibleAtlas.org.

I recently had opportunity to visit Jonah’s hometown.

Gath hepher. Home of the prophet Jonah. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Our Visualized Survey of the Bible is going well here at Pasadena. It is good to be with Dee & Norma Bowman, and all the folks here.

Dee & Norma Bowman, and Leon & Linda Mauldin at Galveston, TX.

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