Jonah has a very interesting story. It's only 4 chapters, but a lot can be learned from this book. In the first chapter, the Lord had told Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry out against it because its wickedness was so great. But instead of obeying God, Jonah ran away. Jonah 1:1-3. There are going to be times where God will call us to do things that are outside of our comfort zone. A lot of people are currently running away from the call God has on their lives either because of fear, shame, or rebellion.
It's in those times we must trust that God knows what He's doing. Proverbs 3:5. Jonah decided to get on a ship to Tarshish to run from God's presence. A lot of people think they can outrun His presence, but the reality is God is everywhere. Psalm 139:7-9 We can't hide from Him.
The Lord ended up sending a great wind which resulted in a severe storm that threatened to break up the ship. Jonah 1:4 This scared the other men on the ship so much that they prayed to their own gods and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the load. But while all that chaos was happening, Jonah was asleep in the lowest part of the ship. Jonah 1:5 The captain must have been surprised to see Jonah asleep while all these craziness was happening. Most people wouldn't be able to sleep in such a storm. But he woke him up so Jonah could call on God so they wouldn't die. The men decided to cast lots to find out who was at fault for the storm. When the lot fell on Jonah, they of course wanted to know everything about him. They wanted to know what Jonah had done to cause this storm to occur. Jonah 1:6-10
Something a lot of people don't understand is that their actions can not only cause problems for themselves, but others. As human beings, we are connected to one another, and we don't want to do anything that could cause them harm. The men asked Jonah what they can do to calm the sea and he told them to throw him overboard. Jonah 1:11-16
Sometimes for things to be set right, we have to throw things out of our lives that brings us more harm than good. This could be a habit, addiction, or even a relationship. It's hard, but necessary. A good thing that came out of this is the men who previously called on their own gods realized there is only one true God and feared Him. One can only imagine how transformed they were when they returned to their homes. As for Jonah, he found himself inside of a great fish for 3 days and three nights. Pretty interesting how many centuries later, Jesus Himself will be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. Matthew 12:40
While Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, he called out to God outlined in Jonah 2:1-9. Many times, when we find ourselves in a mess we have created, that's when we remember God and start praying. Jonah knew exactly why he was in the fish in the first place. He rebelled against God's instruction to go to Nineveh. One can only imagine what it was like to be inside that fish. It's dark. It stinks. Who knows what else was in there? But that's what happens when we're living in sin. We end up in a dark stinky place. If we don't repent of our sins, we ultimately end up in the belly if the earth which is hell. It's dark. It's hot. It's stinky.
The good news is while on earth, we have a chance to repent and get out of that at dark stinky place sin has placed us in. Psalm 40:2
After Jonah prayed, the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:10. You can imagine how gross Jonah looked and smelled because of him spending 3 days and nights inside a fish. Yuck! 🤢
After Jonah was freed from the fish, the Lord told him to a second time to go to Nineveh and preach the message given to him. This time, Jonah obeyed. After dealing with a major storm at sea, being thrown overboard and then spending 3 days and nights inside a stinky fish, Sometimes God will have mercy and continue to call us more than once.
Jonah was more than eager to obey God and he did just that. The first day, Jonah walked right into Nineveh and told them Nineveh will be overthrown in 40 days. Jonah 3:1-4 God must have already been working in the hearts of the people of Nineveh because they went on a fast and put on sackcloth. Even the king of Nineveh fasted and put on sackcloth. God saw their works and decided not to bring disaster upon Nineveh. Jonah 3:5-10
Some people say God doesn't change His mind, but there are other situations where God changed His mind. More than once, God wanted to destroy the Israelites because of their complaining and disobedience, but Moses intervened on their behalf.
Jonah delivered the message that God told him to deliver. The people of Nineveh repented. But something strange happened. Instead of being happy, Jonah became angry. Jonah was so sure that God was going to destroy Nineveh, but instead mercy was shown. Jonah went to the east side and built a shelter. He wanted to see what would happen to the city. Nothing happened. God had chosen to show mercy and kindness to Nineveh. God provided a plant to give shade to Jonah, but later created a worm to destroy the plant which made Jonah angry again. Jonah 4 ended on a sad note if you think about it. Jonah was very much aware of God's character. Merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness. Jonah 4:2
Essentially, Jonah was angry that God didn't go against His nature and give a wicked city what they deserved.
We're guilty of that as well. How many times have we come across someone who was just a horrible person who spends years hurting other people? There's a saying "what goes around comes around", yet God blesses them instead of destroying them. We waste years watching them in secret hoping to witness or hear of their destruction only to watch them prosper even more. As a result, we get angry. We're angry because it doesn't appear that Psalm 73 isn't happening and we're also angry at God for blessing them. We must remember that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Matthew 5:45. God isn't blessing our enemies because He isn't hearing or seeing what they've done or our doing. He's blessing them because He loves them and is showing them mercy and pity. Whether they change from the inside out is God's business. The best thing to do is to forgive them and move on.
Nineveh was spared that day, but several years later, they would be destroyed. The changes they made weren't permanent. The book of Nahum speaks of God's wrath toward Nineveh, the destruction and woe. The destruction Jonah looked for ultimately happened. He just didn't get to see it. And sometimes that's what happens with wicked people. We won't see or hear of their destruction, but it will happen if true repentance doesn't occur. Or last.
