God told a prophet to go to a great city and warned it. The prophet ran away and got on a boat going from that city in the opposite direction as hard as he could. What happened next was stormy seas, a group of people trying to save him, and then being swallowed by a great fish and spending 3 days in its stomach. This story has one of the most shocking endings in all of bible history.
While this story is well known for the part about the great fish that swallowed Jonah, that part is more of an accent to the true message of the story, which is about a prophet who ran away from God, and then being chased down, and the mercy God showed that ran away from Him.
Getting Away From God
God told the Prophet Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh and prophesize against it, for He had taken notice of their great wickedness. However, Jonah did not want to do this, for Assyria was Nineveh's kingdom, and the Assyrians were Jonah's bitter enemies. So, instead of going towards Nineveh, Jonah went the opposite direction and boarded a ship going to Tarshish, the farthest place from Nineveh possible. He was running away from God and the task He had given him.
Jonah's reasoning for not wanting to prophesize against Nineveh would not be revealed until much later; all that is known is that he was strongly against it. Jonah had hoped that maybe if he got far enough away from the city, he could just forget about it and never have to prophesize against it. But what he did not know was that no one can ever outrun God.
Stormy Seas
As the boat was sailing the sea, God sent a great storm upon the sea. The winds blew furiously and the waves crashed loudly against the ship, in which the sailors on board were terrified. They cried out to their gods and threw off the cargo to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah, the prophesizing runaway, was sleeping soundly in the lower parts of the ship. The captain woke him up and asked why he was sleeping, saying that he should have been praying to his God for it was he that had caused this storm, and they were in great danger.
The sailors then began to cast lots and found that it was Jonah that caused the storm. When asked by the sailors what they should do to him, Jonah told them that he was a Hebrew and that he feared the God that made the sea and the dry land that the storm had come upon. The sailors were now afraid of him as well. What should we do to you, they asked, so that the sea will calm down? Jonah told them to throw him overboard for he knew that the storm had been caused by him and that the sea would calm once he was gone.
The sailors tried everything to save themselves before finally throwing Jonah into the sea, crying out to God not to hold them accountable. The moment he left the ship, the storm stopped.
The Depths of the Sea
The sailors were not very happy about it, but they eventually threw Jonah overboard and into the raging sea. They then cried out to Jonah's God to not make them guilty of throwing him overboard, and he eventually made the sea calm so that they could get back to dry land. The sailors then worshipped Jonah's God. However, what the sailors did not know was that God had prepared a great fish that swallowed Jonah whole. Jonah was then inside the great fish for 3 days and 3 nights living in the darkness deep under the sea. But, God never left Jonah to be there forever inside the great fish, instead, He made it so that the fish vomited Jonah out onto dry land.
While in the depths of the sea, Jonah prayed to God, which is one of the most beautiful Psalms in all of scripture. He described how he cried out to God from out of the depths of the sea, from the belly of the beast. He said that the water had flowed over him and the seaweed wrapped around his head, as he had sunk down to the lowest parts of the mountains. There he turned to God and gave Him thanks, showing that even in the darkest times, God is worthy of worship. Jonah had fled away as far as he possibly could, and had been brought down to the lowest point in his life, but God heard his prayer.
Three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, in the deepest darkness under the sea. And there, from the lowest point he had ever reached, Jonah prayed — and God heard him.
A Great City That Listened
God then sent a second message to Jonah telling him to go to the great city of Nineveh and tell them of the message He had for them. This time Jonah listened, and went to the great city where he prophesized that it would be overthrown in 40 days. What Jonah did not know was that he had made one of the most influential sermons of all time.
The people of Nineveh actually listened to Jonah's message. They turned in repentance to God and began fasting and wearing sackcloth made for them in grief over their sins, from the most important people in the city to the least important. Even the king himself wore sackcloth and fasted. He even told all of his people to fast and turn away from their evil ways and violent thoughts so that perhaps God would hear their prayers and take mercy on them and not destroy the city. When God saw the repentance of the people of Nineveh, He had mercy on them and spared the city from being destroyed. An entire great city had been spared destruction due to Jonah's message and the mercy that God had shown to them.
The entire city of Nineveh — from the king on his throne to the poorest person in the street — put on sackcloth and fasted. God saw their repentance and spared the city. Jonah was furious.
The Prophet That Didn't Want Mercy
You would think that Jonah would have been happy about the fact that the people of the great city had repented and listened to his message, but the prophet Jonah was angry! He had run away from God and been chased down by him, and then had been saved from the raging seas and the deep depths of the world by his mercy. But, when God had shown mercy on his enemies that Jonah hated, he was angry. He even told God that He should have destroyed them, and that this was why Jonah had run away in the first place. He told God that he knew that he was gracious and merciful and ready to forgive, and slow to become angry, and that He would show mercy and not destroy them. He just could not stand that God had shown mercy to his enemies.
Sulking, Jonah went outside of the city and waited for it to be destroyed, perhaps still having some small hope that it would happen. But, God had some more teachings for Jonah. God caused a leafy plant to grow up and provide shade for him that made him happy, but the next day He caused a worm to devour the leaves of the plant, causing it to wither and die. Jonah became angry enough at the loss of the plant to want to die, and this is where God taught the next great lesson. Do you care about the plant that I made grow and die for you? But, should I not also care for the people of Nineveh and the animals in the city? God cared for the people of Nineveh that had no sense of right and wrong, and had shown them mercy, and He wanted Jonah to do the same. The book of Jonah closes with this great question.
Why the Prophet Jonah's Message is Greatly Needed
This story about the prophet Jonah is one of great meaning, containing several powerful lessons. The first is that you cannot outrun God and what he wants you to do, and that it is always better to do what He tells you to do than to run away from Him. Jonah ran away to the farthest parts of the world, but God caught up to him and brought him back, showing him mercy to give him a second chance. But, the bigger lesson is that God's mercy is greater than the sins of all people on Earth, even if those people are ones you do not want to show mercy to. The question that God asked Jonah about the plant and the mercy is one that God asks every person that He loves that wants to show that same mercy to others as well. It is a powerful question that reveals the heart of Jonah, and asks the heart of the reader as well.
