Jonah should have known better.

Of all people, God’s prophet should have known better than to run from God. It is impossible to escape the presence of God. No matter where one goes, God is there. And yet, Jonah ran anyway!

To make matters worse, Jonah should have known better than to disobey God’s call. The heart of the prophetic message was that disobedience to God’s will incurs discipline and judgment. And yet, Jonah disobeyed anyway!

Jonah should have known better.

He had God’s word, knew God’s will, and experienced God’s calling. He possessed clear knowledge in regard to all the things that so often elude others. But, for all his knowledge, he fell short in regard to what mattered most: he did not know God’s heart.

Jonah possessed great theology and a small heart. He knew God’s love for him and for God’s people, but he knew little of God’s love for the world. In this respect, Jonah was out of touch with God’s heart for the world.

The Not-So-Great Escape

The story begins with God’s commission to Jonah: “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:1-2).

God’s call is clear and specific: “Go to Nineveh.” Nineveh was the capitol city of Assyria, the growing superpower to the north of Israel. To Jonah, the inhabitants of Nineveh were nothing more than Gentile dogs – godless pagans, unclean, immoral, and a threat to his own nation of Israel. The last thing Jonah wanted to do was preach God’s word to his enemy. What if the heartless heathens killed him? Even worse, what if they repented?

Jonah’s problem with God’s commission was not intellectual – the commission was clear, direct, and simple. Instead, Jonah’s problem was moral. Jonah’s will openly clashed with God’s will. Jonah did not want what God wanted.

So Jonah did what every servant of God does when faced with an unappealing and threatening task: he ran!

And Jonah’s run was “extreme”. He ran as far away from God as fast as humanly possible. Jonah did not just neglect God’s commission; Jonah set out for the furthest possible point in the opposite direction – the city of Tarshish in Spain, 2000 miles west of his current location in Israel.

Jonah sought to escape the Lord’s presence. But he should have known better. He was a prophet, after all. He should have known that it is impossible to escape the presence of the Lord. Nevertheless, that is exactly what he attempted to do. Sadly – and yet, as expected – his futile efforts to evade God’s will did not lead to freedom; they led to disaster.

The Perfect Storm

Jonah boarded a ship headed for Tarshish. In the midst of his voyage the ship encountered a great storm that threatened to destroy the ship and its occupants. While the sailors panicked and called upon their gods, Jonah lay asleep in the hold of the ship. Whether his sleep was the result of exhaustion, depression, or resignation, it clearly amazed the ship’s captain. The captain awoke Jonah from his slumber and appealed to him to call upon his god with hopes that Jonah’s god “will be concerned about us so that we will not perish” (Jonah 1:6). Meanwhile, the ship’s occupants cast lots to discern whose fault it was that the ship had struck so severe a storm. The lot fell on Jonah. Jonah’s rebellion was exposed!

This led to a complete interrogation of Jonah: “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” (Jonah 1:8)

Jonah responded, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9). Jonah then revealed “that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:10). In stunned disbelief, the frightened sailors asked him, “How could you do this?” (Jonah 1:10)

As the storm increased in intensity, the sailors asked him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?” He responded, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you” (Jonah 1:11-12). Initially the sailors refused to do this to Jonah. They “rowed desperately to return to land” but they were unable to make any progress in the gathering fury of the perfect storm.

Seeing no other resolution to their situation, the sailors prayed to Jonah’s God, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for you, O LORD, have done as you have pleased” (Jonah 1:14). With this, they threw Jonah into the sea.

Immediately, the storm ceased. The sailors responded by worshipping Jonah’s god – the LORD. Meanwhile, in the abyss of the deep, God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah.

Divine Irony

The account of the storm at sea is full of divine irony. Jonah sleeps in the hold of the ship while the heathens pray. The ship’s captain has to encourage Jonah, the believer in Yahweh, to pray (which Jonah never does until he is in the belly of the great fish). The pagan sailors confront Jonah concerning his unbelief and disobedience: “How could you do this?” (Jonah 1:10). Jonah, the prophet who refuses to save the lives of strangers by obeying God’s commission, is the recipient of the kindness of strangers who make every effort to save his life. Only after much effort and at Jonah’s request do they reluctantly throw Jonah overboard.

The conclusion is clear: Jonah would rather die than go to Nineveh!

Why? What did Jonah fear? Obviously, he did not fear the loss of his life. He encourages the sailors to pick him up and throw him into the sea (Jonah 1:12). More than anything else, Jonah feared the conversion of the pagans! Jonah would rather die than see his enemies willingly participate in the faithful love, grace, and compassion of God.

Jonah understood the nature of divine prophecy. God’s message through the prophets was never a fatalistic announcement of doom. Instead, God’s pronouncements of coming judgment were given for the purpose of providing the hearers with the opportunity to avert judgment through repentance. The prophetic cry against Nineveh concerning its wickedness was offered for the ultimate purpose of producing faithful repentance. If the people would repent, God would relent.

Jonah had great theology and a small heart. He knew that God’s grace, compassion, patience, and faithfulness were beyond measure. He feared that God’s overwhelming goodness would lead to a demonstration of mercy rather than condemnation. This is the reason Jonah ran (see Jonah 4:2).

The final irony of the first act of Jonah’s story is that even Jonah’s disobedience was overruled by God for good. Jonah had run to the ends of the earth in order to avoid seeing the heathen converted and what happened? The heathen were converted! “Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows” (Jonah 1:16). This is the kind of awesome sovereignty and amazing grace that Jonah feared most of all.

Prayer from the Deep

The great fish that swallowed Jonah was not an instrument of judgment, but rather, a means of salvation. The great fish saved Jonah from death by drowning.

In spite of Jonah’s great disobedience, his theology gave him courage to cry out in boldness for divine deliverance. Even here, in the depths of the sea, in the belly of the fish, facing an inevitable death, Jonah knew that he really could not escape the LORD’s presence. God could still hear his voice. God would deliver him. Amazingly, even though Jonah had sunk as low as possible, he was confident that his prayers were heard and that God was with him and for him.

O. Palmer Robertson demonstrates how Jonah’s tenacity in the midst of the consequences of his disobedience is an inspiration to us to do the same:

Try to imagine the terrors of being hurled from the deck of a ship into those massive, swirling waves. What would it be like to be pounded to the verge of unconsciousness while being submerged into the salty sea? Then you awaken in pitch blackness, in the slimy pit of the fish's belly. You are heaved back and forth by the perpetual motion of the great sea creature. You know yourself to be among the damned at the bottom of the abyss, dwelling in outer darkness. Jonah had wanted to escape the presence of God. Now he experienced a slight taste of the fulfilment of his wish.

Having realized his situation, what does Jonah do? He recognizes that he has been banished from the presence of God. But he nonetheless turns to God's most holy place.

What boldness! What audacity! Cannot he see that he is totally unworthy to approach the holy place of the Lord? Doesn't the judgment of God on his life indicate that he ought to turn inward to himself rather than outward to the Lord?

If a sinning, selfish, loveless, disobedient servant of the Lord under the Old Testament has such boldness in approaching the very God he has offended, how much more should you approach the throne of grace with boldness? …

Do not despair. Do not give in to a sense of despondency and hopelessness. You are certainly not as far gone as Jonah. You may think God has cast you off, but Jonah knew he was. You may feel you are in the pits, but Jonah had been three days in the pitch-black slime of the fish's belly. You may fear you have missed God's will for your life, but Jonah understood perfectly well that he was the wilful rebel on the run.

Yet he looked to the Lord.[1]

A Second Chance

Jonah affirms his loyalty to God and God gives him a second chance (Jonah 3:1-2). This time, Jonah knows better than to disobey God’s commission to go to Nineveh and preach God’s message (Jonah 3:3).

We may expect that he lived “happily ever after” by obeying God with a whole heart. But, alas, Jonah quickly descends to his old ways. He obeys God’s commission, but with great reluctance. Even though the “exceedingly great city” could not be traversed except by “a three days’ walk,” Jonah only travels “one day’s walk” through the city (Jonah 3:3-4). It is likely that Jonah censored God’s message by removing any call to repentance. The proclamation he offers is plain, direct, and exclusively full of doom: “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4; cf. 3:9).

In spite of Jonah’s reluctant preaching, God works through it. A grassroots movement of the people of Nineveh heed Jonah’s message, believe in God, and repent. This reaches the king’s ear. The king follows his people in repentance and belief. He calls for a national day of repentance in order that Jonah’s message of doom may be averted. God honors their acts of repentance and faith and “relents concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them” (Jonah 3:10).

Jonah had every reason to be happy. In every possible way, Jonah’s preaching was a success. His message was received, believed, and acted upon. It resulted in God’s merciful forgiveness and gracious acceptance of the people of Nineveh. This kind of response was unknown in his hometown. His people, the Israelites, had not repented for over 150 years and yet the Ninevites repented in a day. Amazingly, Nineveh responded better to the preaching of Jonah than Israel and Judah had ever responded to any of their prophets!

An Angry Prophet

And yet, Jonah was not happy. Instead, Jonah was angry, bitter, depressed, and suicidal! Jonah’s great displeasure arose from what he had suspected all along: God’s love is so great that God is willing to extend compassion and grace to the unclean, ungodly enemies of Israel. This had been his fear from the beginning: “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity” (Jonah 4:2).

In this prayer, Jonah clearly reveals his greatest fear to God – the very reason why he had attempted to flee God’s presence in the first place. Jonah’s disobedience was not prompted by fear of Nineveh, but by fear of God’s mercy. Jonah was not gutless; he was heartless! Jonah fled because he could not stand to think that God might extend his grace and mercy beyond the borders of Israel. How could God extend compassion, not just to a Gentile nation, but to a vicious and cruel imperial power that constantly threatened God’s covenant people? Certainly, the heathen are beyond redemption. They do not deserve God’s compassion; they deserve only his wrath and condemnation.

Jonah had great theology, but no heart. Even when Jonah finally obeyed God’s call, he never shared God’s desire to show mercy and compassion. Nineveh’s repentance did not bring joy to his heart; it brought anger and hatred. Jonah’s hatred of his situation leads him to pray to God for his own death: “O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life” (Jonah 4:3).

The Question of Compassion

The final act of Jonah’s story consists of God’s attempt to teach Jonah a lesson in compassion. Jonah has absolutely no reason to be angry (Jonah 4:4). He must learn to share God’s love for all people. God does not want Jonah to simply perform a job; God wants Jonah to share his heart for the world!

Jonah left the city and erected a shelter outside the city in an attempt to provide shade while he looked upon the city, apparently waiting for the fireworks of God’s wrath to begin to consume the city (Jonah 4:5). The shelter did not provide adequate shade, so “the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort” (Jonah 4:6). God’s provision of the plant changed Jonah’s mood from bitter anger to intense joy: “And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant” (Jonah 4:6).

But Jonah’s happiness was not to last. “God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered” (Jonah 4:7). The sunrise brought a scorching east wind and intense heat that caused Jonah to again wish for his death. It is then that God’s lesson came to its conclusion.

God asked Jonah if he had a good reason to be angry about the death of his plant. Jonah responded affirmatively: “I have good reason to be angry, even to death” (Jonah 4:9). In light of Jonah’s anger for the death of a plant, God delivers his point in the form of an elaborate question: “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work, and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (Jonah 4:10-11)

Jonah is forced to see that he is more concerned for a plant than for hundreds of thousands of people – in other words, the entire population of Nineveh. Jonah was more concerned for the welfare of a sprout than he was for the life of another human being.

Jonah is left to sit beside his wilted plant, in the middle of the hot desert, and ponder the love of God for the entire world. God has challenged him to enlarge his heart from love of self, love of plants and animals, to love of all people – Jew and Gentile alike. It is obvious that Jonah loves himself and his own comfort. He would not have been so mad at the plant’s demise otherwise. Likewise, it is clear that Jonah loves his own nation – Israel, the people of God. His nationalism is one of the reasons he reacted against preaching to the people of Nineveh. Jonah feared being labeled as a “traitor prophet.” If God spared the notoriously cruel Assyrians, he would be seen as helping Israel’s enemy.

The problem is not with love of God or love of nation. These are fine in their own right but they do not go far enough. Jonah’s problem is that he does not love others – all others – like God does. He does not love the world. He only loves those who are like him. He assumes that the people who deserve God’s love look and act a lot like he does.

Do You Get It?

The story of Jonah ends abruptly with God’s question. We are given no idea of Jonah’s response. Did Jonah get it or not?

The bigger question is this: Do you get it?

Like Israel, we in the church can fall into the trap of thinking that God’s love, compassion, and mercy are limited to good church-folk – people who think, look, and act like us.

The relevance of the story of Jonah in our time is that we fall prey to the same temptation. We who admit to represent God must not lose our ability to see God’s desire for the world.

Our goal is not to simply obey God – Jonah does this the second time around – but to possess the heart of God. The issue with Jonah is not what he does, but why he does what he does. Jonah has good theology, but no heart. He knows God’s love for him (and those like him), but he doesn’t know or share God’s love for the world. He is egocentric and ethnocentric, but not worldcentric.

If we desire to possess the heart of God, we cannot afford to make the same mistake. We must not simply revel in God’s love or speak of God’s love as the exclusive possession of our group – whether family, church, nation or any other human boundaries. We must seek to love the world. Put simply, we must seek to love all people, friend and foe alike. On the most practical level, this includes all our neighbors. On the broadest scale, this includes all people of all nations.

The full-blown message of the New Testament is not “God so loved me” or “God so loved the church.” The message is “God so loved the world” that he gave his only begotten Son – One greater than Jonah (Matthew 12:39-41; Luke 11:29-30, 32) – that all may possess and be possessed by the love of God.

© Richard J. Vincent, 2005

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Questions for Reflection:

1. What clear call has God given that you are presently running from?
2. Who are your Ninevites? Where do you place the boundaries of God’s love? Why? How does the story of Jonah challenge you to change your perspective?

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