Daily Bread for Sep 26, Jon 1-4

Today’s readings are Jon 1-4.

Despite the opinion of some, Jonah is a historical figure, not a myth or a metaphor. He is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 and, by Christ Himself, in Mt 12:39-41.

Jonah is a prophet of God albeit somewhat narrow-minded and somewhat sinful as well. His story is that of a man who is a constant witness and recipient of God’s sovereign grace but is rendered blind to it because of his self-centered and petulant behavior. He is certainly a nationalist of the highest order, getting angry when God shows mercy on Israel's enemy. Jonah is angry at the beginning of the book and remains angry at the end. The events in Jonah occur in the early 8th century BC after Assyria has captured Samaria and deported its people.

Jonah, in Jon 1, flees when God commands him to go to Nineveh (the capital of Assyria). Reluctant to go and thinking he could escape from God, Jonah takes a ship to Tarshish, about as far from Nineveh as he can get. A storm comes, Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by a "great fish." In the process, the sailors on the boat seem to come to God and worship Him (Jon 1:16). We see God’s grace in Jonah’s call to be a prophet and in God’s revealing Himself in such a spectacular way to the sailors. Jonah doesn’t seem to appreciate either.

But he certainly appears to be grateful for being spared a drowning in a raging sea, even if that rescue comes via the belly of a great fish. Jon 2 shows him repenting, praising God, then being "vomited up on dry land." Again, we see God’s grace. Jonah seems neither injured nor hindered by being in the stomach of a giant fish for three days. From what we know about the digestive process, even in fish, Jonah should have died in there. Yet, he is delivered, apparently healthy and well, on a dry seashore.

In Jon 3, God tells him again to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah goes. If Jonah had acknowledged more about the character and nature of God, he would have known that God is omnipresent (everywhere) and impossible to escape from. His efforts to avoid God’s will and plan were futile.

Jonah walks, nearly four hundred miles, into the middle of a fierce enemy's largest, most powerful city and faithfully prophesies against them. Amazingly, they repent and turn toward God (Jon 3:6-8). In their repentance, they are delivered from God’s wrath (Jon 3:10). Jonah sees all this happen. He is not only the bearer of God’s word, but He is a first-hand witness to its transformational power. God’s grace pours out on Nineveh as God spares them just as He spared Jonah.

However, instead of praising God, Jonah is angry over their repentance in Jon 4:1. A petulant man, he shows more concern for a plant than he does for the people of Nineveh (Jon 4:9). The book ends there.

While the ending may seem unresolved, it is far from it. God has allowed all these incredible events into his life to show Jonah something about himself. Jonah was oblivious to the fact that, in being swallowed by the whale and managing to survive, he was the recipient of an incredible grace. His disobedience and attempt to escape God should have ended in his demise. Instead, God gave him another chance at redemption. Jonah had far less compassion on the Ninevites than God had for him.

We do not hear of Jonah's ultimate fate. But we can learn much from his anger and self-interest. While Nineveh's repentant attitude was short-lived, Jonah seems to carry on unchanged. A bitter man sat on that hill overlooking the city, one that missed a great work of God because things did not turn out the way he expected them to.  Jonah had been blessed to hear from God, blessed to be spared by Him and blessed to have been used by Him. Apparently, none of that made him happy.  He missed incredible joy and blessing because he didn't get his way.

One of the main lessons of the book is that God moves in ways that may surprise us at times. We should be in awe of how He works His ways. If what He wants is truly for our good and His glory, when things don't go the way we expect them to go, we should question our expectations not, as Jonah did, the works of His hand.