THE BOOK OF JONAH

Jonah |ˈjōnə| (in the Bible) a Hebrew minor prophet. He was called by God to preach in Nineveh, but disobeyed and attempted to escape by sea; in a storm he was thrown overboard as a bringer of bad luck and swallowed by a great fish, only to be saved and finally succeed in his mission.

Jonah is a book of the Old Testament and a story written by Jonah himself, a Hebrew prophet trying to run from God’s call on his life. The book is only 4 chapters long but it’s a fantastic story about God’s love for all people and His grace and mercy with stubborn hearts… 

The story begins with God asking Jonah to give a message to the city of Nineveh. The message was this: 

“Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” (Jonah 1:2) 

 But Jonah did not want to go. He didn’t think the people of Nineveh deserved a warning from God, so he fled and “went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.” (1:3) 

He went down to the port of Joppa and got on a bot leaving for the city of Tarshish (as far away from Nineveh as he could get). But when the boat got to the middle of the sea, God caused a powerful wind and a violent storm to toss the ship from side to side on the dangerous waters. The sailors were terrified and began shouting to their false gods to silence the storm. 

But Jonah, a prophet of the one true God, was asleep under the ship. The captain came down and said, “How can you sleep at a time like this?! Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives!” (1:6)

Then the soldiers began to cast lots to see what had offended the gods and who had caused this terrible storm. The culprit? Jonah. He admitted to running from the Lord and the sailors were even more terrified, begging him to fix it. 

So Jonah said, “Throw me into the sea and it will become calm again. I know this terrible storm is all my fault.” (1:12)

And as soon as they did—the storm stopped at once. The sailors were in awe of the true God’s power and vowed to serve Him. 

But Jonah landed in the sea and was immediately swallowed up by a great fish—where he would stay for 3 days and 3 nights. 

We’re not sure how long Jonah pouted inside of this fish or how long it took to change his terrible attitude, but in Chapter 2 we read that he began to pray and worship God in verses 1-9… 

“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and He answered me… As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” 

And then, God ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. (That must have been a powerful prayer!) 

We’re not even sure if God gave Jonah time to shower off the fishy smell before he spoke to him a second time saying, “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” (3:1)

But this time, Jonah obeyed. 

He went to the city of Nineveh and shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” (3:4)

And the people of Nineveh—both young and old—immediately believed God’s message and began to repent. 

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, God changed His mind and did not carry out the destruction He had threatened. 

But instead of being happy that the people of Nineveh had repented of their sins and turned to the one true God, Jonah was furious. He began to complain to God saying, “Did I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” (4:2-3)

Whoah. Jonah would rather be dead than see God’s mercy and grace offered to those who “don’t deserve it” in his mind. 

But God wasn’t only merciful, compassionate, and slow to get angry with the people of Nineveh. He was filled with unfailing love for Jonah too. Jonah went to pout on the east side of the city and began to get very hot. So the Lord arranged for a leafy plant to grow there and it sheltered Jonah from the sun. But then, God sent a worm to eat through the stem of the plant so it would wither away. It got so hot that Jonah said again, “Death is certainly better than living like this!” (4:5-8)

God simply replied with a question: “Is it right for you to be angry about this? You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Should I feel sorry for such a great city?” 

And that is where the story of Jonah ends. With God’s question to Jonah. We have no idea if Jonah responded or what he said if he did. But Jonah’s response isn’t the point of the story—because God’s question is really directed toward you and me. 

Are you okay that God loves your enemies? Are you okay that God is merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, and full of unfailing love for you—and also for those who don’t “deserve it”? The whole Bible points to one specific point: God loves all people so much that He made a way to cover our sin so that EVERYONE could have the chance to be in relationship with Him. 

His love is offered to ALL people. Even those who don’t “deserve it.”

(That is all of us by the way.) 

And that some pretty incredible love. 

XO-

Sabrina