Old Testament Scripture: Jonah

Jonah 3:7- 4:1(CEB)

⁷ Then he (Jonah) announced, “In Nineveh, by decree of the king and his officials: Neither human nor animal, cattle nor flock, will taste anything! No grazing and no drinking water! ⁸ Let humans and animals alike put on mourning clothes, and let them call upon God forcefully! And let all persons stop their evil behavior and the violence that’s under their control!” ⁹ He thought, Who knows? God may see this and turn from his wrath, so that we might not perish.¹⁰ God saw what they were doing—that they had ceased their evil behavior. So God stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.

Jonah balks at God’s mercy

4 But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry.

I have always pictured the story of Jonah and the whale much like the great white whale in the novel Moby Dick. It's a huge whale that seems to be really outlandish and almost cartoonish. But all the stories I remember about Jonah growing up from Sunday School and vacation bible school the whale is what I believe most people commonly remember because of its outlandishness and grandeur. The whale is huge and memorable. I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but the whale isn't really that important in Jonah's story. The entire book of Jonah is 48 verses long and the whale is mentioned in only two verses. In fact is it's only eleven verses from the first mention of the whale (swallowing Jonah) to the last mention of the whale (vomiting Jonah up on dry land). The belly of the whale is simply a place for Jonah to contemplate running from God and not doing what God asks and maybe even experience spiritual desolation. It could have just as easily been that the fisherman tossed Jonah overboard into a lifeboat and he could have contemplated and prayed for three days in the lifeboat. He could been stranded on a deserted island somewhere contemplating if he wanted to do what God called him to do.

The entirety of Jonah's story is that God asks him to go speak to the people in Nineveh and have them change their evil ways, Jonah sails away in the other direction and in the process puts others at risk, the whale swallows Jonah and finally decides to do what God asks of him and he reluctantly goes to Nineveh. And after they repent and God shows them mercy Jonah is overjoyed and excited. Well not exactly, he pouts because God has shown mercy to others. He's not happy that the people of Nineveh are going to do better and goes to a cliff and pouts under a tree. The tree dies and Jonah is upset that he can't even have a tree for shade. And then God basically tells Jonah that he did nothing to cultivate the seeds and help the tree to grow. Jonah's anger continues and at the end of the book of Jonah, Jonah is distancing himself from God. The book of Jonah ends as it began with Jonah separate from God.

I like to believe that Jonah has a choice to make while he is sitting on the cliff of how he will respond to God. Will he stay angry or will he decide to get to work? He can sit there and sulk or he can climb down from that cliff and help the people of Nineveh. After all they are going to need to learn how to turn away from their evil ways and need help in their spiritual growth. I like to think that Jonah turned toward Nineveh and and goes to do what God called him to do in the first place and preach to the people of Nineveh through his words and his actions.

Like Jonah, sometimes we have a choice to make and do what God calls us to do. And like, Jonah sometimes that can be difficult because we get held up on what we want to do and what is easier for us. Sometimes we must do what is difficult and not what is easy. But much like Jonah, remember that what you do for God matters.

Grace & Peace
Kevin