Arturo R. Ortiz Bücher

This book is about the historical setting of Jonah's mission to Nineveh. The author examined a broad array of data encompassing the biblical text, biblical chronology, historical evidence, royal inscriptions of Assyrian kings, chronicles of ancient Assyria, religious practices and traditions of ancient Assyria, archaeological evidence, and scientific evidence. He proposes that Jonah visited Nineveh in the aftermath of a chain of cataclysmic events when Ashur-Dan III was king of Assyria and Jeroboam II was king of Israel. The events reached a breaking point in 758 BC. That would have been an ideal time for a prophet of the God of Israel to arrive at Nineveh and proclaim a message of doom for the city. Something extraordinary happened that year. A three year period of peace broke out. The author proposes that Jonah arrived in 758 BC and preached to people that were already convinced their city was doomed. The Ninevites repented and God rewarded the entire Assyrian Empire with an interlude of peace. Other scholars have argued that Jonah visited Nineveh in that general time frame. However, this book may be unique in that it draws heavily from data recorded in the chronicles of Assyrian kings.

The primary purpose of this book is to show that God had morally sufficient reasons to destroy the pagan Canaanite nations. The book exposes the depth and extent of the hideous religious practices of Israel's pagan neighbors. The author examines evidence from the Bible, classical literature, Christian literature, history, archaeology, and epigraphy. Archaeologists uncovered the most damning evidence during excavations of high places and precincts of Baal worship in the Bible lands and nearby lands of the Ancient Near East, where cults of the Baals, Tanit, Ashtoreth, and other pagan deities practiced extensive and prolonged child sacrifice. After reading this book, the reader will have a substantial body of facts and reasons to contend for the accuracy of the Old Testament narratives about child sacrifice. The reader should also become convinced that if God had not destroyed the Canaanites, they would have continued their bloodthirsty practices, without letup.