Jonah, Mercy

The story of Jonah is one of the most well known in the entire Bible. It is one of the very first stories we learn about in Sunday school. It is the story of a man who tries to run away from God, but is swallowed by a big fish! To a child, and quite a few adults, that sounds like an incredible story. It is.

The problem we have with the book of Jonah is that we never move beyond this way of looking at things. We see it as a kid's story and nothing more. Rarely would do we as adults ever open the book of Jonah outside of teaching little ones. We've already touched on this with the story of the Flood and the Battle of Jericho.

This week we are going to look at the book of Jonah and discover just how intense this book really is.

Background

We do not know who wrote the book of Jonah. It is unlike the other prophetic books in that it doesn't contain oracles and proclamations from God to Israel. The book of Jonah tells a story. This doesn't mean, however, that the book of Jonah should be read like one of the historical books. It is a kind of blend between the two. 

What this means is that the book of Jonah is relating a true story but in a very stylized way to make a point, like the book of Job. While the book of Job was an epic poem, the book of Jonah is a satire. More on that later. 

We do know when the prophet Jonah lived. In 2 Kings 14:23-28 Jonah is seen delivering a message to King Jeroboam II. This places Jonah around 750 BC. This was a time of great hostility between the nation of Israel and the empire of Assyria, often personified by the city of Nineveh.

Themes

There are two primary themes that run throughout the book; Jonah's hatred and God's mercy. These two themes are in conflict with one another throughout the book. 

Chapter one begins immediately with God sending Jonah on a mission; to go deliver a message to the city of Nineveh. Interestingly we are not told what this message is. Jonah, however, gets up and immediately heads the opposite direction. No reason why is given. He boards a ship headed for Tarshish. God then hurls a storm at the ship that is so violent the sailors fear for their lives. As they try to save the ship, Jonah is curiously in the hold asleep.

We often play this off for laughs, but it is actually quite telling. Jonah is perfectly aware of the situation; he just doesn't care. Jonah wants to die. This becomes apparent when the captain wakes him up and they cast lots (the only sort of "divination" allowed under the Law, interestingly enough) to see who is responsible. When the lot falls on Jonah his solution is to have him killed. The sailors at first refuse to throw him overboard because they don't want to be murderers!

God, of course, had different plans. Jonah expected to die, but God sent a fish to swallow him up and keep him safe. The storm ceased and the sailors made vows and sacrificed to God. 

Chapter two is Jonah's prayer. Here we see that Jonah is thankful for being saved, but that isn't all. In the last few verses we see Jonah condemn those who worship idols, all while promising to sacrifice and make vows. Interesting how we never see him do this, while the "idol worshipers" (aka the sailors) are actually seen making vows and offering sacrifices.

Chapter three then begins much the same as chapter one. God calls to Jonah, now out of the fish, and commands him to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah accepts. Once again, however, we don't know what the message actually is. Jonah then arrives in Nineveh, a city that is a three days' journey across. Jonah, meanwhile, only goes in one day's journey. All this means is that it was a huge city, but Jonah didn't go in very far. 

Once inside Jonah delivers the message, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overturned." That's it. He doesn't say who the message was from. He doesn't say what they can do to repent. He doesn't say who he is. All he says is that Nineveh is going to be destroyed and that is it. The bare minimum that God told him to do.

In spite of Jonah's efforts, the message spreads like wildfire. The citizens are afraid and word even reaches the king of Nineveh. Interesting how Jonah didn't go to the king with the message; word had to reach him. Once the king heard the message, however, he immediately called for a city wide repentance. Every man, woman, child, and even the animals had to wear sackcloth and ashes and fast. The king even says in the decree that hopefully God will relent (Jonah 3:9). He doesn't even know if repentance will work because Jonah didn't say! God, seeing their genuine change of heart, decides not to destroy Nineveh.

Chapter four opens with a furious Jonah. He is angry that Nineveh is being spared. He wants to see them destroyed. When God confronts him about this, Jonah finally gives the reason he ran away in the first place.

Jonah claims that he ran away because he KNEW God would show them mercy. He didn't want to go because he didn't want God to show love to Nineveh. He then declares that he is so angry, he would rather die than see Nineveh live. Jonah then goes up to a high place overlooking the city to watch.

Think of how arrogant Jonah is being. He would rather die than live in a world where Nineveh is shown mercy. So he then decides to watch the city, assuming God would rather destroy Nineveh than see him die! 

The book closes with God giving Jonah a taste of his own medicine. He causes a shady plant to grow up over Jonah to protect him from the searing heat. Jonah is delighted, but while he sleeps God sends a worm to destroy the plant. When Jonah wakes up he is furious. God then tells Jonah that this is exactly what he wants God to do to Nineveh. He has offered them mercy, but Jonah would have him take that away. That's where the book ends.

Theological Point

God is merciful in spite of our hatred. Jonah hated the Assyrians. God, however, decided to show them mercy by using Jonah. In our own lives there are groups or certain people that we tend to hate. We would never call it hate, but that's exactly what it is. These are the people we are scared of or just can't stand. These are the people we avoid at all costs. Still, God has decided to show them mercy through Jesus Christ and maybe he is calling you to tell them about it.

Now the book of Jonah is interesting because it is a satire of the typical prophetic story. This in itself is a point. Now we hear the word satire and we get uncomfortable, but all it is is a way of telling a story that draws comparisons to other stories. Let us briefly compare the story of Jonah with that of Elijah.

When God calls Elijah he immediately goes to wherever God sent him. When God called Jonah, he ran the other way. Elijah delivered the message and told the people who it was from, who he was, and how to respond. Jonah neglected to mention all of those things. Elijah went straight for King Ahab. Jonah barely went into the city. Elijah wanted the people to be saved. Jonah wanted to see the people die. Ready for the most ironic part? Nobody listened to Elijah, but the entire city listened to Jonah. 

The story of Jonah is real. The author of the book chose to write it in such a way to compare it to other prophetic stories to make a point; it isn't about the prophet but the one who sent him. After the Exile the Jews viewed the prophets as great men. It was a sort of hero worship. The book of Jonah reminds us that it's all about the God who sent the prophets.

Conclusion

Today we suffer from many of the same problems as they did back then. We are full of hate and fear, just like Jonah. We make decisions based on our own anger and sin rather than God's infinite mercy and love. 

We also tend to do a little hero worship now and then. Sometimes we talk more about Peter or Paul instead of the one who sent them. The focus should always be on Jesus.