The book of Jonah is a compact book with four short chapters that tells an encapsulated story of a prophet (Jonah) who is given a task, yet refuses to complete the task. In that, God takes Jonah through a trial discovery, to bring him back to the place he should have been in when God initially commanded him to go to Nineveh.
The most famous part of this story is that of the whale, or great fish, that swallows Jonah. The fish, a metaphor for God’s trials, is far less important than what it does for Jonah. The book gives us a great concept to learn: how God administers to us even when we are not willing to follow.
The book of Jonah was written probably in the time frame of 750-725 BC. This is after Jonah’s time as a prophet (during the reign of Jeroboam II, 793-753 BC). As we get into the story, remember that there are two storylines: one is of God’s love for Jonah, and His love of all people.
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
The first questions that may occur is this: is this Jonah’s first assignment? We do see a mention of Jonah in another part of the bible, 2 Kings 14:25, where he is doing God’s work, again during the reign of Jeroboam. So this is not Jonah’s first mission in listening to God.
God’s desire is for Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach against the great city’s wickedness. God’s reason is clear: Nineveh is close to judgment. God’s intention here (it will be made clear later in the story) is to spare Nineveh. God wants to bring the people of the city into relationship with him. It is Jonah’s job to alert the Ninevites to God’s judgment.
But what is Jonah’s response? He runs away. He doesn’t just run away, but he runs as far as he can! The city of Nineveh is an eastern city, located in what is present day Northern Iraq. He runs to a place named Tarshish, which is located in Southern Spain, one of the farthest places west in the known world. He is running this far in order to escape God’s sight. He runs because, and we’ll find this out a little later too, that he did not want God to show his mercy on Nineveh.
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
First, why is the storm there? The storm is there because God brought it up, due to Jonah’s actions. The sailors aboard the boat that Jonah is taking to Tarshish all cry out to their own gods. But Jonah, the only one who has a relationship to the true God, is asleep. Because he is asleep, he cannot be effective.
When Jonah was asleep, he can’t be effective to those around him. He can’t stop the storm, he can’t pray with the men, he can’t show them who the true God is and he can’t contribute to the work needing to be done.
This is important, because when we, as Christians, are asleep, we can’t be effective in the situations or people around us. It is important for us to be actively seeking God, to care and administer to people with the right motives, to yearn for God’s word. We also have to “be present,” and not just “show up”. As we look at this story, we can see that Jonah, due to his being asleep, was completely cut off from the needs of those aboard and that great storm God raised.
Being present is very important for a Christian. Isaiah 26:9 and Psalms 63:1 both tell us where we should be in our dependency with God:
My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. Psalms 63:1
Now, let’s compare it to Matthew 7:21-23:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
The difference is striking: God wants us to yearn, to thirst, for that dependency on Him. When we drop into a lukewarm spirit, it simply puts us asleep to the relationship. We may believe we’re doing the work of God, but if asleep inside, we can easily go through the motions and be asleep in the relationship.
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Jonah is the source of the problem. Jonah says he fears the Lord, but is it true? He knows of the Lord, obviously, but is he following Him? Jonah, as let his circumstances dictate his actions, and his action was to run, to deny God His plan, and supersede it with his own. He seems to realize this and asks the sailors to throw him overboard. Does he do this out of compassion, dependence on God for deliverance, repentance, suicide? The men reluctantly do so and the ocean ceases its rage.
Jonah’s Prayer 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The last moment in this first chapter sets up the prayer of the second chapter. Jonah may have believed that death was an easy way out of this situation. We’ll see later that Jonah prefers death to the heat. If this is the case, God sends a fish to swallow him up, for three days and three nights.
There are many theologians who like to discuss what type of fish this could be in order to validate this story. There’s an equal amount of detractors who claim it impossible. Whether it is a fish or a whale, real or metaphor, we have to understand a very simple truth: this is God’s word, and there is a teachable concept here. As we move along in the story, we’ll see that this event is meant to show us the trial Jonah goes through in order to understand God’s deliverance.
CHAPTER 2
Jonah’s prayer is one of understanding and redemption. In chapter one, due to Jonah’s disobedience, God sends Jonah a great trial. He is swallowed by a fish. He spends three days and nights inside the fish and in that time Jonah learns about this trial and how God is his dependance.
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
Jonah calls out to God and God hears Jonah.
3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
Jonah walked away from God, but now he sees his error.
5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
Jonah recounts the terrible trial had to endure due to his disobedience.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.
In the depths of Jonah’s despair, God saves him.
7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
God hears Jonah’s prayers.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah ultimately understood where his salvation came from. He vows to make good on this lesson. We may look at this trial as harsh, but at the heart of it, it is merciful. God wants each one of us to learn deeper truths in the trials we go through. In our life, we must understand that trials refine us, if we learn from them. They make us stronger and turn our eyes toward God. That’s why James says that we should count it as pure joy, when we go through trials, because God is testing our faith, and through perseverance, making us stronger and more mature (James 1:1-4).
CHAPTER 3
In chapter one of this book, Jonah refuses to do God’s work in Nineveh. He decides to run away, to the furthest reaches of the known world, but he soon realizes that he isn’t outside the reach or sovereignty of God. During his flight from Joppa to Tarshish, God sends a great storm, one that only Jonah can quell. He is thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish.
In chapter two, the fish, whether real or metaphor, is a trial for Jonah to endure. While in the belly of the fish, Jonah comes to a great understanding that God is providing for him, even in this strange circumstance, and that He cares, and his goal is for Jonah to understand His mercy. Jonah does and God, the God of second chances, allows the fish to expel Jonah onto the shore.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
Jonah is offered a new beginning from God. The only way Jonah gets this new start is through the adversity he had to endure (trials). God didn’t give up on Jonah, and Jonah now sees this, so the new start, to re administer to Nineveh, is seized by Jonah. You see, Jonah needed to be taught how to follow God, and this lesson is open to us also. We sometimes view adversity as something that gets in the way, instead of pausing and attempting to understand that God is doing something in the trial. When we can view our trials as chances to learn and grow, then adversity is something much different than “getting in the way. ” It’s an opportunity to learn how to “follow properly.”
Jonah’s job is simple, but involves the step-by-step method God normally abides by. In the story of Gideon, and Elijah, as well as many other stories, it’s the same idea: we don’t know all the steps. Our job is to follow God’s lead, piece by piece. Why does God operate this way? Because when we don’t know the entire story, we have to rely on Him. His message is this: follow Me and I will provide for you. I will protect you. I will fight for you. But you need to follow me into the heart of the unknown.” This is relayed in verse 2: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah must first go. Then Jonah must wait for the message.
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Jonah goes to the city and given the message: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” God has given him the message of judgment for Nineveh. They have 40 days (which is the symbolic biblical number for a time of judgment/trial/probation).
You’ll notice here that the Ninevites take Jonah’s message to heart. A fast was proclaimed. This proclamation would have come from the king so Jonah’s message reached all the way to the leaders of Nineveh. This decree of a fast, along with the fitting on of sackcloth (the OT way of expressing sorrow and humility) shows that this wasn’t an isolated group, but Nineveh as a whole.
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah’s warning reaches the king himself, who is not removed from repentance. He too took the posture of humility. And as we can see, the king, once humbled, then makes it official. All of Nineveh is to repent. The idea is simple: if we repent, perhaps God will spare us.
And we see God’s response too. Because of Nineveh’s sincere repentance, they will be spared God’s wrath. In this chapter, we see again a dual meaning: the lesson had to be learned by not only the Ninevites, but from Jonah too. It is the way God cares for us, gives us time to understand His mercy and repent. He doesn’t want anyone to fail in the relationship.
CHAPTER 4
In chapter one of this book, Jonah refuses to do God’s work in Nineveh. He decides to run away, to the furthest reaches of the known world, but he soon realizes that he isn’t outside the reach or sovereignty of God. During his flight from Joppa to Tarshish, God sends a great storm, one that only Jonah can quell. He is thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish.
In chapter two, the fish, whether real or metaphor, is a trial for Jonah to endure. While in the belly of the fish, Jonah comes to a great understanding that God is providing for him, even in this strange circumstance, and that He cares, and his goal is for Jonah to understand His mercy. Jonah does and God, the God of second chances, allows the fish to vomit Jonah onto the shore.
In chapter three, Jonah once again understands God’s grace and is able to carry out his mission. He does so diligently, proclaiming God’s message of repentance in Nineveh. The Ninevites are receptive to the message and full repent, avoiding God’s wrath.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Here we get to heart of Jonah’s issue. Jonah is angry because God has spared the Ninevites. It is because of God’s mercy that Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place - he knew the message would be effective! We don’t know if Jonah had a personal or corporate gripe against the city, but the bottom line is he didn’t want to see Nineveh saved. God’s question is poignant: Is it right for you to be angry?
Sometimes our own plans get in the way of what God wants for us. We see this plainly in Jonah. He had a mind and heart set against the Ninevites. He didn’t want to see their salvation. So to accomplish that, he ran, and then griped about it. In his mind he saw that he was right, no matter what God wanted.
Does this describe us sometimes? We can get ahead of God in our plans. We can plan way into the future and set our mind not only on our plans, but on our preferences. Around election time in our country, we see this happen in a very clear way. We are for one candidate, against another. In our mind we form an unshakable opinion that has a bearing on what we desire, but perhaps it isn’t what God desires. Jonah is in this mindset, but God isn’t done with him.
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
Jonah leaves the city for the outskirts. He wants to wait, to see what happens to the city, and it seems as though he has forgotten about God’s provision and wants to see Nineveh fail. Even in this opposition to God’s desires, Jonah is still taken care of. God grows a plant above his head to shade him. This makes Jonah happy. But the worm eats at it and dies, and as the heat increases, we see Jonah angry again. His anger, and happiness, seem to be rooted in his circumstance. “I wish I were dead” is Jonah’s reply to the plant, forgetting the provision immediately.
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
God teaches Jonah a final lesson in this book. God provided the plant for Jonah, yet he did not tend to it or helped it to grow. In the same way, the love and mercy He showed to Jonah was the same love and mercy he was showing to Nineveh. The people there, just like Jonah, are precious to Him, and even though Jonah may not agree with it, those people, pagans, are still important to God.