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“Hello, Jonah here. You’re probably wondering how I got here in the belly of a great fish. Well, it all started when I tried to run from God…”
When you think about the Old Testament prophet, Jonah, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s probably how he was swallowed up by a fish, right? But have you ever wondered why that happened? Jonah is known as the “angry prophet” because he was told to preach to Nineveh and make them repent. They did, and Jonah was angry at God’s mercy. Jonah’s story is an important one for us as Christians to read and learn from. Let’s find out what it means for us today.
The Man Who Tried to Run from God
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:1-3
If God told you to go to a place and preach to them, would you obey or would you try to run? Honestly, if it were me, I’d probably try to run. If we read in the Bible, every time God tells His prophets to preach somewhere, they get persecuted, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, etc. It’s a hard job that doesn’t seem to have many benefits so to speak. But whenever God gives His word to people, and tells them to deliver it, it’s because God wants to reconnect with them. In Amos 3:7, it says that God does nothing without first revealing His plan to his servants the prophets.
Jonah was told to go to Nineveh, a Gentile (non-Jewish) nation, and tell them to repent. If God’s chosen people were the Jews (Israelites) at that time, then why would God want a non-Jewish nation to repent? In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 the Bible says that God wants all people to repent, know the truth, and be saved. And in Romans 1 Paul writes that the gospel has the power of salvation for the Jew and then the Gentile. Yet, Jonah was called by God to preach to this gentile nation, and he chose to run.
Hitting Rock Bottom, or More Aptly, “Belly Bottom”
When Jonah ran, he found a ship headed for Tarshish and climbed aboard. While he was on the boat, a violent storm happened while they were at sea. The ship’s captain and sailors wanted to know why, so they pulled Jonah and asked him the reason for the storm.
Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”
Jonah 1:11-12
How would you feel if you were one of the shipmates or the captain? You’re just a sailor who has to transport goods, travel, etc. from one place to another and suddenly a man comes aboard and is the reason for your misfortune. I’d be pretty upset. Wouldn’t you? Even more importantly, how does God feel when someone He has chosen refuses to do the task He gave?
The men throw Jonah overboard and then the storm dies down. While Jonah is sinking in the sea, God sends a great fish to come and swallow him up (contrary to what many Christians and others think, the Bible doesn’t say it was a whale. You may be thinking of Disney’s Pinocchio).
The Heart of Jonah
It’s here, while Jonah is in the fish’s belly, where Jonah repents and gives us a wonderful and hopeful prayer.
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”Jonah 2:2-9
This prayer shows us the prophet’s heart of repentance and love towards God. We also see how Jonah’s faith in God is strong and that God will deliver him in times of trouble. As Christians today, we should also strive to have that level of faith in God. Towards the end of the prayer, Jonah says how those who trust in idols have forsaken true love and faithfulness. If we put our trust and faith in anything other than God and God’s Word, what hope do we truly have?
After Jonah repents, he is spat out on dry land and obeys God’s command.
“Repent! Turn From Your Wickedness!”
Nineveh was a large city that took a span of three days to cross from one end to the other (Jonah 3:3). According to the Bible, this city was so wicked they “didn’t know their left from their right” (Jonah 4:11). That phrase doesn’t mean they literally couldn’t tell their left from their right, but that their deeds were so wicked and evil that God was going to judge them for their sins, but God wanted to give them a chance to repent as He wants all people to repent and come to Him (see 2 Peter 3:9). When we don’t keep God’s Law, God has every right to judge us according to His Law (Rev 20:12-13), but before God judges, He gives us a chance to repent. He doesn’t want anyone to die, but He wants to give them life.
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”
Ezekiel 18:23
Jonah preaches to the people of Nineveh and tells them to repent of their evil ways. Surprisingly, the people listen and repent. Remember this is a Gentile nation – not God’s chosen people Israel of the time. Here we truly see God’s love and desire for all people to repent and be saved. God could have wiped Nineveh off the face of the earth like He did with Sodom and Gomorrah, but in His mercy, chose to forgive them if they repented. And they did.
How does Jonah feel about all this?
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Jonah 4:1
Needless to say, he was not happy. How often have you seen a corrupt or immoral person commit some horrible acts, and then later are forgiven of their crimes because they’ve changed (or claim to have changed)? It’s great that they have a second chance to right the wrongs they did, but how do the victims and other bystanders usually feel? Usually still very upset and even offended. Here’s a person who did this horrible thing and they seemingly don’t get any consequences for their prior actions. One thing we must remember, especially when reading the events in the Bible, is to look at everything from God’s perspective.
What Jonah’s Story Means for Us Today
When we only look with our own human eyes, our own feelings and thoughts get in the way of true understanding. While God is a just and righteous God, He is also a merciful God. Apostle Paul reminds us of this in Romans 9:
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Romans 9:14-16
Jonah got angry at God for being merciful to sinful and wicked people after they repented. We read that Jonah goes to a nearby mountain to see the city of Nineveh and expects something to happen. When it doesn’t, Jonah grumbles against God. God asks him if he’s alright being angry, and Jonah responds saying he’d rather just die. Why would one of God’s prophets want to die instead of live and do God’s work?
Jonah is sitting in the sun, and God sends a plant to give him shade. The next day, a worm eats the plant and Jonah is roasting in the sun once again. Jonah’s angry once again, and God asks him if he’s okay being angry again. Jonah says he’s angry enough to die. God responds with this thought-provoking and important question for us all.
And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Jonah 4:10-11
God tells Jonah that he pities something he did not work for or create, which was born in a night and died in a night. God asks Jonah why He shouldn’t pity Nineveh who was so wicked they didn’t know their left from their right. Nineveh is a Gentile people, God’s Word nor Spirit is not with them, and yet God wants to show them mercy. Why? He hopes they will turn to Him and become His people.
Jonah’s story shows us that when God gives us a task, we should not try to run from it, but complete it. Jonah reluctantly did his tasks, but should we have the same feeling? Philippians 2:14 says to do all things without grumbling or complaining, so we should remember God’s heart of love towards people, and we should do our best to show others that love He has shown us. We need to remember God wants all people to repent and be saved.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Jonah was God’s prophet, God’s messenger to the people of Nineveh, and told them to repent. Christ Jesus called people to repent and believe in the testimony he gave at the first coming. Jesus was God’s messenger and did God’s Work willingly without complaining. For believers today, God wants us to be His messengers to the world. Let us not be angry like Jonah, but instead follow the example of Christ Jesus in loving others and willingly do the work God has given us.
Written by Kenny
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