Jonah

I have always loved the story of Jonah, it is an obvious favourite for children with the dramatic story of the storm at sea and the great fish, it is also a story we think we know but which bears a little closer scrutiny.

Jonah ben Amittai was a prophet in Israel during the time of the Kings, he served at the court of King Jereboam II, which puts him at a date of about 780BC. The word of God came to Jonah and instructed him to go to the great city of Ninevah and warn them that, if they did not repent, the Lord was planning to destroy them. Jonah had many reasons not to want to go; the city was huge and full of potentially hostile people, he was not bringing a popular message and people have been known to shoot the messenger, he says later that his main reason for not wanting to go was that he knew God would forgive the city and so his trip would be a waste of time. It is possible that he did not want to see the city saved; Ninevah was not a part of the kingdoms of Israel or Judea so Jonah may have felt that, as pagans, they deserved to be destroyed.

This part of the story made me wonder; are there people I don’t want to share the gospel with? Do I make choices about who is or is not “suitable” or “worthy” of hearing the Good News? Is there a “Jonah mindset” in me? The challenge is to be ready to share the gospel with anyone to whom the Holy Spirit directs me, to be unashamed in my witness and not to pick and choose when I am public about my faith.

Having decided to disobey God, Jonah then attempts to run away and hide from him. he takes a ship which is heading for the other side of the known world, as far away from Ninevah as he could possibly get. While Jonah sleeps, possibly exhausted from trying to find an escape route, possibly in a supernaturally induced sleep, the ship runs into a storm so vicious the seasoned sailors are terrified; they try to lighten the vessel, they pray and sacrifice to their various gods but to no avail. They waken Jonah and ask him to pray for the ship to his God but Jonah knows that there is no point – the storm is for him, he has not escaped God because God is everywhere. He advises the sailors to throw him overboard but they are reluctant to take his life. The casting of lots removes the responsibility from them, they allow fate to decide, and the lot confirms that Jonah is the reason for the storm. The sailors ask not to be found guilty of Jonah’s death and throw him overboard. Immediately the storm quiets and the sailors recognise the power and sovereignty of the Living God.

Jonah, meanwhile, is swallowed by a great fish sent by God for the purpose. In my journal I drew the fish as a fantastic beast because I think that God made that fish especially to rescue Jonah. Much has been written in speculation as to whether a whale or shark could swallow a man whole and what the chances are of that man surviving the experience and the conclusion is generally that it would be extremely unlikely. This is then used as “evidence” to discredit the truth of Biblical accounts whereas my belief is that God wanted to save Jonah and so he created a fish which was capable of swallowing Jonah and which had a chamber inside of it where there was sufficient oxygen for Jonah to stay alive for the three days it took the fish to swim to Ninevah and spit him out. God is not limited to the creatures we know about in creation, he is perfectly capable of making a new creature to suit his purpose, just as he is able to perform creative miracles in our lives today, healing the sick by regenerating cells for example.

Inside the fish Jonah realises that this creature has been sent by God, that God did not abandon him and will not allow him to die in the sea and he prays a wonderful prayer of faith and hope in the God who loves him, even in the midst of his disobedience. I love this prayer because it reminds me that God’s love has no limit, that even when I am deep in sin he watches over me and wants to rescue me, that no matter where I go he is able to see me and save me, that God’s faithfulness is not dependant on my faithfulness! I particularly love that Jonah prays this prayer while still inside the fish – he does not know what God’s eventual plan for him is, he does not even know when or whether the fish will spit him out, he is in the dark and probably disgusting belly of the fish and yet he sees that God is acting and praises him because he trusts that his plan is good. This reminds me to seek God in the dark times, to understand that sometimes the hard times are part of God’s plan for my life and to trust that he is able to bring me through and keep me safe in his care. Worship in tough times changes the way we see those times, praising God when we are in the belly of the fish reminds us who is in charge and how wonderful he is, worship makes us victorious overcomers no matter what else is going on!

The fish comes to land near to Ninevah and spits Jonah out onto the land, how happy he must have been to see the sunlight again! He now goes and does what God asked him to do, he walks through the city of Ninevah for three days, calling on the people to repent and warning them of God’s anger if their behaviour does not change. The people hear him and repent in sackcloth and ashes and God relents and does not destroy the city.

This part of the story takes us back to the beginning and we see why Jonah was reluctant to go in the first place, he is angry with God for allowing Ninevah to repent, he says he knew all along that God would forgive them and he wishes he was dead! This goes back to the question I asked before- are there people I don’t want to see saved? Do I want God to destroy people I don’t like? There are many passages in the Psalms where the psalmist calls on God to destroy the wicked, to cut off their horns, to grind them into dust; it is in our human nature to want to visit suffering on those who have wronged us but Jesus commands us to love our enemies and forgive those who trespass against us just as he forgives us our trespasses. We must guard against the Jonah mindset because forgiveness is measured to us in the same measure that we use to measure it out. Now there’s a challenge!

God demonstrates the pettiness of Jonah’s anger by causing a plant to grow which gives Jonah shade and makes him happy, then sending a worm to destroy the plant in the night. Jonah is hopping mad, he wants to die he is so angry but God gently points out to him that Jonah neither made nor cared for the plant and asks him what right he has to be angry. God reminds Jonah that the people of Ninevah are his creation and that he alone is the judge who decides the fate of his children. We are not called to judge between people or to say who will or will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, we can safely leave that to God and we have no right to question his choices.

Jonah teaches us that the nature of God is merciful, tending towards forgiveness not punishment, he remains faithful to us always and is slow to anger and abounding in love.