Introduction to Jonah

The story of Jonah is one of the most famous in all of Scripture.  The image of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish is etched in the minds of every Sunday school student.  However, there is much more to this book than the fish.  Those who spend their lives debating about the possibility of surviving three days in the belly of a fish are missing the point of the entire book.  Of course God can create a fish in which Jonah could survive for three days just like He can cause a plant to grow tall enough to provide shade over one night and then have a worm kill it even faster.  The many miracles described in the book demonstrate God’s sovereignty and power through His ability to control the seas, rescue Jonah in a fish, grow and destroy a plant.  These miracles are only a backdrop to the real story of Jonah that reveals God’s grace, His willingness to forgive and His love for all the nations of the world.  God’s original call of Israel through Abraham was that the nation would be blessed by God in order to be used by God to bless all the nations of the world.  Israel refused to obey that calling so God was going to punish them in captivity but also miraculously preserve them so that Christ might fulfill the promises of Abraham.  Jonah also stands in condemnation of the nation of Israel who refused to repent in the midst of the preaching of numerous and dedicated prophets; while Nineveh repented at the preaching of one disgruntled and disobedient prophet.  Jonah writes during the time of prosperity and peace in Israel due to the political instability as well as plagues that weakened Assyria.  While Israel was turning their backs on God in the midst of prosperity; Nineveh, the capital of Assyrian, was turning its face to God in the midst of poverty.  God is not concerned with our nationality and he is not concerned with our personal comfort.  God is focused on the condition of our hearts and He will use any means to bring any man or any nation to Himself through the grace of repentance. 

JONAH RUNS FROM GOD: God calls Jonah to a very preach to the people of Nineveh.  This is the capital city of Assyria to who Israel was already paying tribute.  Eventually this nation would conquer Israel in a violent manner.  They were a violent and gruesome people that were greatly heated by Jonah and the entire nation of Israel.  Jonah simply refuses to go.  However, it seems like Jonah felt like he needed to go somewhere.  Perhaps his vision of God’s omniscience was limited so he thought if he left it would somehow look as if he were obeying and that God might not notice.  He goes down to the shore and buys a ticket on a boat going in the opposite direction.  Apparently when asked the purpose of his journey he informed the crew that he was attempting to run away from God.  Then he goes down to the basement of the ship and falls asleep.  It seems that his conscience has come to the point that it simply does not work right.  This happens all too often in the lives of believers.  God calls us to take the Gospel to the nations and we are sleeping in our comfortable pews.  God’s wrath falls of Jonah and the entire ship in the form of a storm that is so violent that Jonah ends up telling them to throw him overboard in order to make the storm stop.  It seems like it would have been easier for him to just repent; but it appears that he would rather die than obey the Lord’s call.  Reluctantly, the sailors follow Jonah’s advice and he is tossed into the sea that is suddenly calmed.  As a result the sailors worship the Lord thinking that Jonah has been killed.  However, God prepares the right fish at the right time to swallow Jonah.  God’s power and judgment are clearly on display throughout the entire passage.   

JONAH REPENTS BEFORE GOD: As Jonah lives in the belly of this fish as a miracle done by God, he finally comes to his senses and repents.  God will often take His children to a place where they feel like all hope is lost in order to capture our attention.  Jonah cries out to God asking for God to be merciful to him even though he did not want God to be merciful to Nineveh.  Jonah agrees to go to Nineveh and preach so God uses His special “boat” to swim him there.  The fish vomits Jonah up and Jonah finds himself on dry land.  God is willing to go to great measures to bring His children to repentance, but we certainly ought to learn from this account that it is not worth the price to find out.  Jonah’s prayer of desperation reveals that his fear of the Lord has been restored and that he is willing to do as God commanded.  We must learn to have repentant hearts.  When we rebel against the Lord we will find ourselves in great misery. 

JONAH REVEALS GOD’S JUDGMENT: Jonah walks the length of the city which takes him three days.  As he walks he reveals to the people that their city will be destroyed in forty days because of their wickedness.  These people did not know the true God and had been given far less revelation from God than the nation of Israel; but they repented.  The people, from the smallest to the greatest tore their cloths, covered their heads in ashes and begged God for mercy.  Jonah is one of the most successful evangelists in all of history; even though he was not very obedient.  We can never judge the heart of God’s messenger by the results of the message.  God is willing to use sinful men to accomplish His mission.  We will be much better off if we will be clean instruments in His hands and willingly align ourselves with His mission instead of insisting on following our own.

JONAH REBUKES GOD’S GRACE: Jonah ends his preaching, leaves the city, sits on a hill and waits expectantly for God to destroy the city.  The destruction does not come and Jonah becomes angry with God for being merciful to this nation.  Jonah wanted God to withhold His mercy from them but he was desirous of it for himself.  Jonah’s heart is still full of hatred for these people but God’s heart is full of love.  There are nations of this world that may hate us and if we are honest we must admit that our hearts are often overcome by this same hatred as well as fear.  It is important for us to remember that God’s heart is full of love for them and wants to extend His mercy and grace to them.  God wants our heart to reflect His heart.  Instead, Jonah rebukes God for showing them grace.  He sits in the sun and continues to hope that God will destroy them and God shows mercy to Jonah by causing a plant to grow and give him shade.  Jonah is thankful to God for that which brings him comfort.  But when God sends a worm to kill the plant Jonah is overcome with bitterness because of his discomfort.  God then rebukes Jonah for loving himself and worshiping his own comfort.  We can so easily become distracted by our constant quest for comfort that we become insensitive to the eternal plight of souls without Christ.  We must ask God to give us His heart for the nations so that we will go, proclaim His Word and be used to introduce them to our great and holy God who loves them so.