Jonah: A Prodigal Prophet and the Persistent Pursuit of God

INTRODUCTION

We are currently in a series...

Today we will talk about one of the most famous prophets in the Bible. No, it's not because he wrote a super long book. No, it's not because he was an overly righteous man. Jonah is so famous because people have been fascinated with his story for centuries, but perhaps more fascinated with the idea that a giant fish swallowed a man. Over the years, publishers have turned out moralized Sunday School lessons after moralized Sunday School lessons with the message: "Do not sin, or God will get you!" But is that what we learn from Jonah?

One of the things that we are going to see with the book of Jonah that is unique in the Minor Prophets in that the book focuses mostly on an episode in the prophet the prophets's life, rather than the message the prophet is brining to a people. In fact, the only prophetic message in the book is found in Jonah 3:4; “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” It is literally five words in the original language.

Aside from the poem in chapter 2, it is also almost entirely narrative. Jonah is telling a story. He is inviting his reader into a glimpse of his life. He wants the reader to learn from his mistakes and his successes.

Background

I think it is important to understand a bit about the background of Jonah before we jump into the message of Jonah. There is a certain irony to what even Jonah's name means, "son of my faithfulness." You would think Jonah's life would be marked by faithfulness, but we'll soon see his life reflects very little faithfulness. Given multiple opportunities to declare the grace of God to others, he selfishly chooses solitude.

Date & Setting

Because it tells of a fish swallowing a man, many have dismissed the book of Jonah as fiction. But 2 Kings 14:25 mentions Jonah as living during the time of Jeroboam II (about 793–753 b.c.), and Jesus referred to Jonah as a historical person (Matt. 12:38–41). In 2 Kings 14:25, during the reign of one of Israel's worst kings, Jeroboam II, Jonah prophesied in favor of Jeroboam II, promising that he would win a battle and regain territory on Israel's northern border (see 2 Kings 14:23-25). So, before Jonah's story begins, there should already be some suspicion of his character.

If you are interested in when this book was written, it was most likely written around the end of the 8th century, chronologically placing Jonah as the first Minor Prophet to be written.

Structure

Jonah is structured with true beauty and symmetry! If we look at how Jonah wrote this book, while there isn't a whole lot of theological significance in terms of symmetry, it does demonstrate the beauty of writing. Chapters 1 and 2 mirror Chapters 3 and 4 in what some commentators call scene 1 and scene 2.

SLIDE

Transition

As we look at Jonah today, we are going to see some huge themes of pride, disobedience, grace, mercy, compassion, and repentance. We'll focus only on a couple of these once we walk through the chapters.

The Message of Jonah

Quote

[1] Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, [2] “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” [3] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah 1:1-3

Chapter 1

The story opens with God addressing Jonah, commissioning him to go preach against the evil and injustice in Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian empire and Israel's bitter enemy. Instead of going east to Nineveh, Jonah runs in the opposite direction and finds a ship going as far west as one could possibly go, to Tarshish. The big question is, of course, why? Why does he run? Is he afraid? Does he just hate Ninevites? We're not told yet, but it's helpful to pause real quick and understand Jonah & Ninevah.

Perhaps the most surprising element of this narrative was who it was that God chose to send. It was “Jonah the son of Amittai.” No background information is given, meaning he needed no introduction. 2 Kings 14:25 tells us Jonah ministered during the reign of Israel’s King Jeroboam II (786–746 BC). In that text, we learn that, unlike the prophets Amos and Hosea, who criticized the royal administration for its injustice and unfaithfulness, Jonah had supported Jeroboam’s aggressive military policy to extend the nation’s power and influence. The original readers of the book of Jonah would have remembered him as intensely patriotic, a highly partisan nationalist. And they would have been amazed that God would send a man like that to preach to the very people he most feared and hated.

So why did Jonah refuse? A full accounting of Jonah’s reasoning and motives must wait for Jonah’s own words later in the book. But at this point, the text invites us to make some guesses. We can certainly imagine that Jonah thought the mission made neither practical nor theological sense.

God describes Nineveh both here and later as that “great” city, and indeed it was. It was both a military and a cultural powerhouse. Why would the populace listen to someone like Jonah? How long, for example, would a Jewish rabbi have lasted in 1941 if he had stood on the streets of Berlin and called on Nazi Germany to repent? At the most practical level, the prospects of success were none, and the chances of death were high. Jonah likely saw this mission as a death sentence.

Jonah would not have been able to see any theological justification for this mission either. The prophet Nahum had some years before prophesied that God would destroy Nineveh for its evil. Jonah and Israel would have accepted Nahum’s prediction as making perfect sense. Wasn’t Israel God’s chosen, loved people through whom he was fulfilling his purposes in the world? Wasn’t Nineveh an evil society on a collision course with the Lord? Wasn’t Assyria unusually violent and oppressive, even for its time? Of course God would destroy it—that was obvious and (Jonah would have thought) settled. Why, then, this call to Jonah? Wouldn’t a successful mission to Nineveh only destroy God’s own promises to Israel and prove Nahum a false prophet? What possible justification, then, could there be for this assignment?

So Jonah had a problem with the job he was given, but he actually had a bigger problem with the One who gave him the job. Jonah concluded that because he could not see any good reasons for God's command, there couldn't be any. Jonah put himself in the place of the all knowing, omniscient God and doubted God's goodness, wisdom, and justice.

OK, back to the rest of the chapter...

So the man of God tries to run from his God; he boards a ship full of pagan sailors and promptly goes below deck and falls asleep. God has to send a huge storm just to wake up his own prophet, while, ironically, the sailors are wide awake and see exactly what's happening.

SLIDE

"Jonah 1:4–6[4] But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. [5] Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. [6] So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

They discern that a divine power is at work, so they throw dice and discover that it's Jonah's sin that's causing the problem. When asked to explain himself, Jonah spouts off a bunch of religious jargon, he says:

SLIDE

Jonah 1:9[9] And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (ESV)

Is Jonah joking? He's obviously right in saying that God made the sea and dry land. But then he's dumb enough to run from that very same God…by getting on a boat! When the sailors ask Jonah what to do, he says that they should just kill him by throwing him overboard. This seems noble at first, until you realize that this could be his most selfish move yet; what better way to avoid going to Nineveh than asking the sailors to help kill you?

He puts his blood on the innocent sailors' hands by forcing them to kill him. The sailors remain reluctant and actually repent to God as they toss the prophet over. The storm sub-sides and they come to fear the God of Israel and, unlike Jonah, actually worship him.

Chapter 2

God foils Jonah's plans to escape Nineveh by providing a strange, watery tomb for him—the stomach of a large fish. Under normal circumstances, this would mean certain death, but everything is upside down in this story. Jonah's submersive death becomes his passage back to life.

Cramped within the stomach of the beast, Jonah utters this prayer.

READ THE PRAYER

SLIDE

J. I. Packer is right.

Many people sing “Amazing Grace” and give lip service to the idea, but that grace has not profoundly changed them. God’s grace becomes wondrous, endlessly consoling, beautiful, and humbling only when we fully believe, grasp, and remind ourselves of all three of these background truths—that we deserve nothing but condemnation, that we are utterly incapable of saving ourselves, and that God has saved us, despite our sin, at infinite cost to himself.

This is where Jonah finds himself. He can't save himself, but God does.

Jonah never technically says that he's sorry, but he does thank God for not abandoning him and promises that he will obey his God from this point on, no matter what. God's response is comical; the fish vomits Jonah out back onto dry land.

Chapter 3

Once again, God commissions Jonah to go to and preach in Nineveh, and this time he complies. We're told that Nineveh was a gigantic city that took three days to walk through. Jonah only gets one day in and spreads this message, "forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” His sermon is very short—a mere five words in the original Hebrew—and it's also a bit odd. Look at what's missing: there's no mention of what the Ninevites have done wrong or what they should do to respond; no mention of who might over-turn them; and, most noticeably, there's no mention of God. What's going on here? Has Jonah intentionally given the bare minimum of information? Is he trying to sabotage his own message? It's almost like he's trying to ensure Nineveh’s destruction, as there's just no effort on Jonah’s part.

No sooner does he utter his five-word sermon than the king of Nineveh and the entire city, all repent in sorrow and ashes. For the second time, the "evil pagans" show themselves to be more responsive and humbler than God's own prophet. God forgives the Ninevites and doesn't bring destruction down on the city.

Historians have pointed out that about the time of Jonah’s mission, Assyria had experienced a series of famines, plagues, revolts, and eclipses, all of which were seen as omens of far worse things to come. Some have argued that this was God’s way of preparing the ground for Jonah. “This state of affairs would have made both rulers and subjects unusually attuned to the message of a visiting prophet.” So, there was some sociological explanation for the peoples response to such a simple message.

Now, here's a brilliant part of this story, the last word of Jonah's short sermon, "over-turned,” means just that, "turned over.” It can refer to a city being overthrown or destroyed, like Sodom was in Genesis 19:21, it can also be used to mean transformation—something being turned over and changed into its opposite (see 1 Samuel 10:6). So, ironically, Jonah's words did come true, but not in the way he intended. Nineveh gets turned over, that is transformed, alright, as Jonah's enemies repent and find God's mercy.

Chapter 4

The final chapter brings all the pieces together. Jonah is fuming mad and utters his second prayer.

SLIDE

Jonah 4:2–3[2] And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. [3] Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (ESV)

He first tells God why he ran away back in chapter one. It wasn't because he was afraid, but because he knew that God is so kind and merciful. Jonah actually quotes God's self-description from Exodus 34:6

SLIDE

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands…”

Jonah tries to throw this back in God's face as an insult. He knew that God is compassionate and would find a way to forgive those horrible Ninevites. You can almost hear the disgust in Jonah's voice before he cuts off the conversation and prays that God would just kill him on the spot. He'd rather die than live with a God who forgives his enemies.

Fortunately for Jonah, God doesn't comply but simply asks if Jonah's anger is justified. Jonah ignores the question and goes outside the city to camp on a nearby hill, waiting to see what will happen. Maybe as he sits there and waits he is thinking those Ninevites will repent of their repentance and get roasted after all.

What happens next is a interesting. God provides a plant to shade Jonah from the sun, which makes him happy. But then God sends a tiny worm to eat the plant. Jonah loses his shade and gets really angry, again. In the heat of the sun Jonah asks again that God kill him. And God asks Jonah a second time if his anger is justified. Jonah barks back, "Absolutely, just let me die!" And those are Jonah's last words in the book.

It's God who speaks the final words of the book. He says that the whole vine incident was an attempt to get through to Jonah. He got all emotional over this withered vine that he only enjoyed for a day. But, God asks, aren't humans a bit more valuable than vines? Isn't it OK if God feels the same emotional intensity and concern for the city of Nineveh, full of thousands of people who have lost their way? The book ends right there with God asking Jonah for permission to show mercy to his enemies, and their cows.

Jonah's answer? Well, the story doesn't say, because that's not really the point. The point is that this book is trying to mess with you—God's questions are actually addressed to you, the reader. Are you okay with the fact that God loves your enemy?

What Do We Learn?

Mercy

I want to summarize what we have learned so far by looking at three prominent themes in Jonah; Mercy, Grace, and Repentence.

We see mercy playout in multiple ways in the book of Jonah. As a quick refresher, mercy as we understand it from the Bible relates to forgiveness and withholding of punishment. Or as Wayne Grudem has defined it;

God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress.

The Book of Jonah contains several key examples of mercy.

1. God's Mercy toward Jonah

Jonah’s Disobedience: When Jonah initially disobeys God’s command to go to Nineveh and instead flees in the opposite direction, God does not immediately punish him. Instead, He gives Jonah a chance to reflect by sending a storm. When Jonah is thrown into the sea, God further shows mercy by sending a large fish to save him from drowning (Jonah 1:17). Inside the fish, Jonah has time to repent. Restoration: After Jonah repents, God commands the fish to spit him out onto dry land, showing mercy by giving him a second chance to fulfill his mission (Jonah 2:10).

2. God's Mercy toward the People of Nineveh

Warning Instead of Immediate Destruction: Although Nineveh’s wickedness has reached a point where God could have justly destroyed the city, He sends Jonah to warn the people. This act itself is a form of mercy, giving the inhabitants an opportunity to change their ways (Jonah 3:4). Forgiveness of Nineveh: When the people of Nineveh, from the king to the commoners, respond with genuine repentance, fasting, and prayer, God shows mercy by sparing them from the destruction He had threatened (Jonah 3:10).

3. Mercy toward Jonah Again (With the Plant)

The Plant for Shade: After Jonah expresses frustration with God's mercy toward Nineveh, God causes a plant to grow and provide Jonah with shade to comfort him (Jonah 4:6). This small act of mercy, though temporary, demonstrates God's care for Jonah even when Jonah is upset and ungrateful. God’s Teaching Moment: When the plant is destroyed, Jonah becomes angry, and God uses this to teach Jonah about His mercy. God compares Jonah's concern for the plant to His concern for the people of Nineveh, highlighting that His mercy extends even to those Jonah might consider undeserving (Jonah 4:10-11).

4. The Sailors’ Mercy toward Jonah

Hesitation to Throw Jonah Overboard: When the storm threatens to destroy the ship, Jonah tells the sailors to throw him overboard to calm the sea. However, the sailors initially refuse, trying instead to row back to shore (Jonah 1:13). Their reluctance to take Jonah’s life shows a degree of mercy, even though they were not the cause of the storm.

These examples emphasize the theme of divine mercy—God's patience and compassion not only for the repentant people of Nineveh but also for Jonah, despite his stubbornness and flaws.

Illustration

Illustrate your point.

Grace

The book of Jonah also reveals God’s grace in several ways, despite Jonah’s reluctance and disobedience. Grace is God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment. Let's consider just a couple of ways in which we can see the grace of God at work in the book of Jonah:

1. God’s Grace Toward Jonah

Calling Jonah Despite His Flaws: God chooses Jonah to be His prophet, even though Jonah is unwilling and eventually disobedient. This choice shows God’s grace, as He does not give up on Jonah but continues to work through him, even after Jonah tries to flee from God’s calling (Jonah 1:1-3). Preserving Jonah’s Life: When Jonah is thrown into the sea, God prepares a great fish to swallow him, not as a punishment, but as a means of saving him (Jonah 1:17). This act of grace gives Jonah time to reflect, repent, and turn back to God. Restoring Jonah for Service: After Jonah’s time in the fish, God gives him a second chance to fulfill his mission (Jonah 3:1-2). This shows God’s grace in not discarding Jonah despite his initial disobedience.

2. God’s Grace Toward Nineveh

Offering Nineveh a Chance to Repent: Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, was known for its wickedness. However, instead of immediately judging the city, God sends Jonah to warn them, giving them a chance to repent (Jonah 3:4). This reveals God’s grace in giving them the opportunity to avoid destruction. Forgiving Nineveh: When the people of Nineveh repent by fasting and turning from their evil ways, God relents from bringing destruction upon them (Jonah 3:10). This act of forgiveness highlights His mercy and grace toward even the most sinful people.

3. God’s Grace Toward the Sailors

Revealing Himself to Pagan Sailors: The sailors, who were initially polytheistic, experience God’s power during the storm. They pray to the Lord, offer sacrifices, and make vows to Him (Jonah 1:14-16). God’s grace reaches even those who do not initially know Him, showing His desire for all people to come to know Him.

Illustration

Repentence

The final theme we'll consider today is the theme of repentance. It really is a central theme to the book of Jonah and central to our walk with Jesus.

1. Jonah’s Personal Repentance

Fleeing from God’s Command: At the beginning of the book, Jonah disobeys God’s call and runs away (Jonah 1:1-3). After a series of events, including being caught in a storm and swallowed by a great fish, Jonah has time to reflect on his actions. While inside the fish, Jonah prays a heartfelt prayer, expressing his distress and acknowledging God’s sovereignty (Jonah 2:1-9). Turning Back to God: Though the prayer doesn’t include an explicit confession of sin, Jonah turns his heart back toward God, declaring, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9). Jonah’s decision to follow God’s command after being released from the fish (Jonah 3:1-3) suggests that he has repented of his disobedience.

2. The Sailors’ Repentance

Turning to God in the Storm: The sailors, initially unaware of Jonah’s God, show a form of repentance when they realize the severity of the storm is due to Jonah’s disobedience. After trying to save Jonah’s life by rowing back to shore, they eventually throw him into the sea as he instructs. They pray, “O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life,” and after the storm calms, they fear the Lord, offer sacrifices, and make vows (Jonah 1:14-16). Their actions signify a turning away from their former gods to acknowledge the true God.

3. Nineveh’s Corporate Repentance

Hearing Jonah’s Message: The most significant example of repentance occurs in Nineveh. After Jonah preaches a simple message of impending judgment—“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4)—the people of Nineveh respond dramatically. The People’s Repentance: The Ninevites, from the greatest to the least, immediately believe Jonah’s warning and begin to repent. They fast, put on sackcloth, and cry out mightily to God (Jonah 3:5, 8). This is a clear outward sign of their inward repentance, as they turn from their evil ways and the violence in their hands (Jonah 3:8). The King’s Proclamation: The king of Nineveh issues a decree, calling everyone to fast, wear sackcloth, and repent, even extending the fast to animals (Jonah 3:6-9). The king expresses hope that God might “turn and relent” from His anger if they truly repent (Jonah 3:9). The genuine nature of their repentance is emphasized by their earnestness in turning from their evil ways. God’s Response: In response to their repentance, God relents from the disaster He had planned for the city (Jonah 3:10). This underscores the power of repentance in averting judgment.

4. Jonah’s Lack of Repentance in the End

Jonah’s Hard Heart: At the end of the book, Jonah’s anger at God’s mercy toward Nineveh shows that while he obeyed God outwardly, his heart still needed transformation. He is more concerned with his own comfort and his nationalistic pride than with the lives of the people of Nineveh. Although God engages with Jonah and tries to lead him to compassion through the object lesson with the plant (Jonah 4:6-11), there is no explicit evidence of Jonah’s repentance or a change of heart by the end of the story. This leaves the question of Jonah’s personal repentance open, inviting the reader to reflect on their own attitude toward God’s grace and mercy.

5. The Pattern of Repentance

Turning Away from Sin and Toward God: In each instance—whether it’s Jonah, the sailors, or the Ninevites—repentance involves turning away from sin and turning toward God. Jonah runs from God and then turns back, the sailors abandon their idolatry, and the Ninevites forsake their evil ways. This pattern highlights the central theme of repentance in the book.

Illustration

Illustrate your point.

Conclusion

Are you running away from God's love like Jonah? Are you willing to love those whom God loves, like the Ninevites?

The book of Jonah holds up a mirror to whoever reads it. In Jonah, we see the worst parts of ourselves magnified which should generate humility and gratitude that God does love his enemies and puts up with the Jonah in all of us. This strange story becomes a message of good news about the wideness of God's love, which ought to challenge us to the core.

Just as God sent Jonah to Nineveh, God sent someone to you to tell you about God’s holiness, your sin, and the remedy offered only in Christ. Your salvation began with God himself. As we consider our salvation, Jonah reminds us that Jesus is the ultimate example of mercy, grace, compassion, and love. If you aren’t a Christian, let me point out that Jonah’s disobedience is only one of many accounts in the Bible that describe the reality that faces all of us: we all sin and stand under God’s judgment. Do you know what sin is? Sin is disobeying God. Sin is not doing what God calls us to do. Sin is fleeing from God and his rule as Jonah fled. The Bible teaches that everyone—from the wicked Ninevites, to Jonah the fleaing prophet, to you and me—sins, for which God will call us to account. I will give an account, and you will give an account. Like Jesus Christ, Jonah was a Galilean called to preach to the lost. Unlike Jesus, he sinned and ran away. He ran away from God—don’t be like Jonah, run to Jesus instead. Jesus can save us in the most amazing situations. If you worry that you have run for too long or too far from God to be saved, be assured by this account from Jonah that you have not. You can turn to Jesus today.