My first encounter with Jonah was when I was in my teens. Perhaps the preacher was parading his modern scholarship or talking “tongue in cheek”, but he certainly startled his congregation by saying that he wasn’t concerned “if Jonah was swallowed by a whale or if Jonah swallowed the whale!” He may well have regretted saying that because it led to a number of people leaving his church for a more Bible believing ministry. But does it matter how we view the story of Jonah, one of the Minor Prophets? I think it does as its part of Scripture and reads as a real event.
Jesus retold the amazing account of Jonah as something which actually happened (Matt 12:38:41; Luke 11:29-41), so there’s no reason to say it’s only a fable. Jonah was one of God’s chosen men, commissioned with a message. He lived in the eighth century BC as a contemporary of his fellow prophets Elisha, Hosea and Amos. So what is Jonah’s message, both for the people of his time and us in the 21st century? It’s all to do with repentance and the solemnity of God’s judgement.
The story of Jonah is all about God’s goodness to people who don’t deserve it – to the Assyrians, to Jonah himself, and to you and me. Jonah was a messenger and herald of Jehovah but his story isn’t concerning his own people, but with the fate of Nineveh. At this time, Nineveh, was the capital city of the cruel nation of Assyria to the east. Jonah was commissioned by Jehovah, “Arise, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it; because its wickedness is come up before me.” He could hardly believe his ears! But the call was clear, “Go … preach.” “Go and convert the people of Nineveh!”
God’s telling Jonah to be a missionary. That’s what we’re told to do too, not necessarily in a foreign country, but to live out our faith wherever God places us and to be His witnesses in an unbelieving world. The Jews have a high regard for the book of Jonah as it’s read in their synagogues on the Day of Atonement.
Their liturgy says, “We are Jonah.” It’s a sobering thought that “so are we” whenever we fail to take an opportunity to represent our Lord by word or deed. Orthodox belief is important, but without compassion it can easily degenerate into something cold and hard. Jonah thought he knew better than God. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
God had made it abundantly clear what He required of Jonah. But Jonah wasn’t having it: he wanted Nineveh to be blasted, rather than blessed, by Jehovah, paid back for their evil deeds and wicked ways. He was putting his own happiness, and the good of his own people, above God’s call to care for a lost world. Jonah point-blank refused to follow instructions. Instead of setting out to travel eastwards, he did the opposite and took a ship with the westward destination of Tarshish in Spain, in those days the end of the known world! Why? It will become clear as we see Jonah in terms of the prophet who was a:
RUNAWAY FROM DUTY
The narrative tells us, “But Jonah ran away from the Lord” - perhaps not literally, but certainly deliberately. He had clearly thought out a plan, taking money to pay his fare, choosing a ship going as far as possible from Nineveh. Jonah’s reaction wasn’t so much due to cowardice or timidity as his conduct on the ship proved. No, it was because he thought he had a theological problem.
How could God have anything to do with the nasty people of Nineveh, the “evil empire” of his day? Jonah regarded Jehovah as the exclusive God of Israel, to be jealously kept for their blessing only. In his opinion, God shouldn’t be concerned for the lives and spiritual well-being of those outside Jewry; they had no share in the divine revelation. How wrong he was! God loves His creation, and as the New Testament tells us, He is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
If Jonah could have been sure that God was going to judge Nineveh and wipe it out, he would have been quite happy. But he suspected that if he obeyed God’s call to go and preach repentance to the people, they would turn back from their wicked ways so that He could show them His mercy. Jonah wanted nothing to do with that! He wasn’t going to be a traitor to his own nation! But it’s not our job to make judgements as to whom should God show mercy.
The story of Jonah’s wrong thinking is surely a reminder that Christians, God’s people, can get it wrong sometimes. Yes, we’ve been saved by God’s grace, born again, but it’s all too apparent that we’re far from infallible. In fact, although forgiven, we’re still sinful people, prone to wrong motives, failure to follow God’s commands and to meet the standards set out in the Scriptures.
When I was in business it was the accepted practice, for employees to have an annual appraisal. It can be painful, but let’s face it, no-one like to be told that they’re less than perfect! I think believers in Jesus need it more often than once a year, even if it’s only a self-appraisal. In fact, when the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth concerning the Lord’s Supper, the instruction was that “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup” (1 Cor 11:28).
Jonah hardened his heart against God’s call such was his intense distaste for the task. He compounded the wrong by trying to distance himself from the city to which he should have gone. But the God we have to do is the omnipresent One from whom there’s no escape. The psalmist declared that there was no place to which he could flee to escape the presence of God (Psa 139:7-12). The same applied to Jonah – and still applies to us as well. Jonah travelled 60 miles south to the port of Joppa to board his ship for Spain, but God didn’t intervene to stop him. It had been so easy to desert – the first step downwards was easily taken.
In giving us free-will, God often allows us a long lead before He determines that enough is enough! Let’s be sure that that moment comes! Like Jonah, we can’t runaway from God. God exists everywhere. For Jonah the moment of truth came as we read “But Jehovah sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.” The Authorised Version is even more expressive: “God hurled a great wind … a mighty tempest.” Severe storms on the Mediterranean Sea are not uncommon but this was exceptional – a real hurricane. Jonah may have persuaded himself that he’d escaped from duty, but the arm of the Almighty is long.
We may deliberately choose our own way but we can’t evade the consequences of our actions. Sooner or later we must face the One we’ve wronged and render account of what we’ve done. Sometimes, God in His mercy, places a road block in the path to arrest the backslider before it’s too late, and may even give a fresh opportunity of fulfilling God’s plan. Thank God that He’s the God of the “second chance”. But don’t count on it! He may permit the faltering saint to follow his own course with the consequent loss of blessing and eventually face an inquiry at the last day. In either event there’s considerable embarrassment!
The boat ticket that Jonah bought to take him away from the will of God was to prove more costly than he ever realised. Perhaps the journey to Joppa had tired Jonah for when he boarded the ship he soon fell asleep, content that he’d managed to escape from God. But he was oblivious to the growing crisis on deck. The crew were wrestling with the onslaught of the storm at sea, even jettisoning the cargo to lighten the ship. The sailors became increasing concerned for their lives and “each cried to his god” but the storm only got worse. Sometimes, to the shame of believers in God, unenlightened pagans can act with a greater sensitivity than the children of God. The captain sensed something was seriously wrong and aroused Jonah from his slumbers. “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us.”
Jonah, the servant of the true God, was placed in the undignified position of being urged to pray by a heathen captain! This was condemnation indeed for his unspiritual conduct. Can we learn from this? The world around us is beset by enormous problems. Evil abounds in national life and in our home community. But what are we doing about it? Are we like Jonah so relaxed about it that we close our eyes to it? Our Christian duty is to pray to the living God for His intervention and for those in authority over us and for the Christian leaders who have some influence for good in society. If we fail in our responsibilities, the reproach levelled at Jonah will be equally deserved.
The violent storm that battered the ship had a supernatural origin. C S Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our health and prosperity, but, being hard of hearing, we fail to hear God’s voice in both. It’s then that God turns up the amplifier by means of suffering. Then his voice booms.” We mustn’t be surprised at the means that God uses to teach us the lessons of life. There’s an old Arabian proverb that says “All sunshine makes a desert.” And this is true of the spiritual life. It was in this experience that Jonah found:
REPENTANCE OF SIN
Jonah knew that he was responsible but was too ashamed to own up. The sailors concluded that one of their number had given offence to the gods. The casting of lots to determine a matter was a recognised practice in Old Testament days. God ensured that Jonah, as it were, drew “the short straw”. He was interrogated by the crew and confessed his faith in “the God of heaven who made the sea and the land.” One might say, “Well, better late than never!” Jonah had previously told the crew that he was “on the run” and this only served to further confuse them.
The situation was getting desperate and Jonah was asked, “What should we do to you, to make the sea calm down for us?” Jonah told them to throw him into the sea “and it will become calm … it is my fault.” He accepted responsibility for the storm because of his disobedience. Jonah knew that his folly had brought its own penalty and that we can’t trifle with the Almighty. To the credit of the mariners, they did their best to avoid the certain loss of Jonah’s life, by rowing all the harder but it was hopeless. They offered a prayer to Jehovah that they might not be accountable for the life of the prophet, then, reluctantly, they threw Jonah into the raging sea.
What happened then was miraculous! Immediately the storm died down and the sea was calm. There was only one explanation: the Creator God, Jehovah had said the word which Jesus would say centuries later, “Quiet, be still!” (Mark 4:39). The sailors had prayed in vain to their own gods, without success, but now they had seen the hand of Jehovah. The mariners had feared the storm, but now they feared the Lord, recognising Him as the Creator. They turned to Him in worship as the true and supreme God. How we need to pray for revival, that in God’s mercy, men and women at present with no knowledge of God, will turn to Him in repentance and faith.
But there was another act of Providence taking place beneath the waves. God had “provided a great fish” to be at the right place at the right time, “to swallow Jonah” and thus to save his life and to fulfil his God-given mission. One can only marvel at God’s forbearance with sinful, undeserving humankind. Every Christian humbly has to acknowledge that fact; it’s all of His grace and mercy. It’s something we need to return thanks to God every day of our lives.
When Jesus referred to the Jonah story, the word used for “fish” is a general term for “sea monster” but doesn’t describe any particular species. It could well cover a whale which can grow to enormous size. These great creatures need to break surface every hour to breathe and have the ability of storing oxygen not only in their lungs, but also in other tissues of the body. So if it was a whale that God used as a vehicle of deliverance for Jonah he wouldn’t have suffocated. There are well documented cases in the last century of men being swallowed by whales and later found alive so it’s not incredible that it happened to Jonah. It’s here that we find his:
RESTORATION TO FELLOWSHIP
But what an experience! He was troubled physically - how could he possibly escape from where he was imprisoned? He was in trouble mentally – how would it all end? He was in trouble spiritually – how could he get back into fellowship with his God? The answer was in prayer! This means of grace is to be used at all times, not only when we’re in a fix, but God’s ear is ever open to the cry of His children. We can pray anywhere and in any time of trouble.
It was in the interior of the sea creature that Jonah prayed: “In my distress I called to the Lord.” He’d been willing to be drowned, but the prospect of death by gradual digestion in the sea monster was something he’d not anticipated! It was an urgent prayer! But it was also a prayer of faith. He knew the Lord could and would hear his prayer if it was offered sincerely, penitently, with confession and with faith. Listen to Jonah’s words in his black torture chamber, pitching uncontrollably: “I called for help … I will look again towards your holy temple … When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, O Lord.” He had faith to believe that the Lord could and would save him from his trouble. All appearances were against him, and he was still in the fish, but God would get him out?
Jonah’s prayer was wonderfully answered. The inspired record simply states that “the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah on to dry land.” It’s a scientific fact that the sperm whale in its dying moments ejects the whole contents of its stomach before expiring. It may be that occurred in the case of Jonah and he was delivered from his strange prison, proving the last words of his prayer: “Salvation comes from the Lord.” He probably changed physically as well following his ordeal, his body bleached white by the gastric juices of the whale. But more importantly is that he returned with a new life and a new purpose.
God had brought about this great trial as a chastening. His only purpose was to bring His servant to his senses, to break his self-will and stubbornness. The Lord had done it in love and He was just waiting to restore Jonah to fellowship and usefulness in service. The folly of the past and the sin of disobedience to the will of God had been confessed. When he left his home town to run away from God he had money in his pocket; now he had no possessions but he had peace with God. Jonah had got his second chance. The story of the Runaway from God, his Repentance of Sin and Restoration to Fellowship ends with his:
RECOMMISSIONING FOR SERVICE
It’s wonderful to read, “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah did, with the result that “The Ninevites believed God … he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” Pray God that we are willing to be realigned to His will. Our attitudes, beliefs and character traits may have to change in the recommissioning process. Who can tell what blessing we can be if we’re humble enough to be used by God in our own sphere of service?
