Jonah 1–4
Jonah is not really a prophetic book about the future, it’s actually a book about a struggling prophet and our amazing God, who is abundant in lovingkindness and relents from doing harm (Jonah 4:2).
God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, called “great” because of its many inhabitants. Jonah was sent to warn them for their wickedness. But Jonah refused to obey. He fled the presence of the LORD and sailed towards Tarshish (in the opposite direction), away from Assyria in attempt to flee from the presence of the LORD and God’s call upon his life.
Aren’t you grateful, however, that it is impossible to escape the presence of the LORD? We read in:
Psalm 139:7–10 (NKJV) “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
It wouldn’t matter where I was or how fast I ran (the wings of the morning – light speed, is 186,000 miles per second), I can’t escape the presence of God and His gracious guidance. Jonah would soon discover this.
As Jonah sailed, God went after him in an interesting fashion. God sent a storm so strong, that the experienced and rugged sailors were afraid. They lightened the cargo, prayed to their gods, nothing changed, the storm only got worse. They finally cornered Jonah who spilled the beans. It was his fault, he had “fled from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:10). Jonah informed them that if they threw him into the sea the storm would cease. Initially they refused to do so, but eventually they did, and Jonah was right.
One good thing about all this is that the sailors were converted right there on the spot, they witnessed the stilling of the storm.
Jonah 1:15–16 (NKJV) “So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.”
It breaks our heart to see that Jonah was so down and depressed, that he wanted to die. Many people struggle with suicidal thoughts. If that’s you or someone you know, I pray the account of Jonah would be used by God as a Word of encouragement. There’s still a great future for you, filled and flooded with good. Next thing you know God uses your story of struggle and imperfection to help others going through the same thing. Please friend whoever you are, don’t lose heart.
Throughout the narrative of Jonah we see the LORD engaged in nature – starting the storm, stilling the storm, even preparing a great fish to swallow Jonah (Jonah 1:17). Some people have a hard time believing that Jonah could actually be transported by a whale, but if Jesus believed and confirmed it, than that settles it (Matthew 12:39-41; Luke 11:29-32). Not only that, there have been accounts over the years of individuals in the mouths of whales, below is a link to one of the latest:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/14/michael-packard-humpback-whale-lobster-diver/
While in the fish’s belly, Jonah prayed and cried out to the LORD. Jonah had reached “rock-bottom.” You may have noticed the descent of Jonah. “He went DOWN to Joppa,” he went “DOWN to the lowest parts of the ship, and laid “DOWN,” he went “DOWN to the moorings of the mountains (Jonah 1:3, 5; 2:6). It’s as if he died and went down to Sheol but rose again. He didn’t die, but he does become a typology of Christ. Jesus said in:
Matthew 12:40 (NKJV) “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2 is a deep expression of personal pain and struggle brought to God and therefore saved by Him. It really is true, “Whoever calls on the Name of the LORD, shall be saved.”
The fish vomited Jonah on dry land who this time goes where God sends him, and preaches the Word of warning. It was simple and straight to the point, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” We’re not sure why the Assyrians responded the way they did, even reaching the echelon of the king, but they repented, in fasting and sackcloth. A decree went out from the king, who said among other things:
Jonah 3:8–9 (NKJV) “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
And that’s exactly what God did, he turned from His fierce anger.
This grace shown to such wicked people infuriated Jonah, it was his greatest fear, it was the reason he didn’t want to warn Assyria in the first place. Jonah set up a seat, hoping to see the fireworks fall on Nineveh, but there would be no show that day.
God loved the Assyrians – there were many of them who didn’t even know their right hand from their left (in reference to children, or people who didn’t know any better).
God also loved Jonah. God taught him, in preparing a plant for shade, preparing a worm who would eat the plant and take away the shade…this is the world we live in…a world with many ups and downs in life. Days of shade and comfort and days of heat and pain. May we be faithful to function in this broken world and never give up – just look up to this gracious God who pursues us with an everlasting love.