Getting to Know Jonah
Road to Ninevah
Jonah was a Hebrew Prophet who lived around 800 B.C. Jonah is known for being a rebellious prophet who was afraid to speak the word of the Lord to the people of Ninevah. Ninevah was located near the modern day city of Mosul, Iraq. Jonah learned a hard lesson and ran all the way to Ninevah!
Understanding Jonah is not difficult when you think of him in terms comparable to our lives. He was afraid. He did not want to be controversial. He did not want to be killed for saying controversial things. Jonah did not want to make himself look foolish. He did not want to offer salvation to the Ninevites because he thought they were pagans and deserved to die! Jonah was an Israelite who suffered from extreme prejudice similar to that of many modern day people!
To get a true understanding of Jonah’s fear and motivation it is important to get a little history of the people who lived in the city of Ninevah. These people were warriors and bloodthirsty. They were pagans. The road leading into their great city was lined with the sculls of the dead on both sides of the road. Jonah knew that if they did not like his message he would soon join the dead leading into this great city!
Jonah Thrown Overboard
Jonah is an interesting and well traveled character. Tradition has it that he was born in Gath Hepher which is located near the modern town of Mashdad in Galilee, although his mother is believed to be the woman from Zarephath whose son was raised from the dead by the prophet Elijah. Some people believe that Jonah was this boy. Zarephath is known today as Sarafand in Lebanon. Quite a lot is known or passed down as tradition about Jonah and his story is important in the tradition of repentance and forgiveness of sin in Judaism.
Jonah in the Old Testamen
If you are not familiar with Jonah’s story you should read about it in the book of Jonah in the Old Testament of the Bible. The book of Jonah only has 4 chapters but makes interesting reading. Everyone knows about Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish, but not a lot is mentioned about what happened after Jonah made it to Ninevah. Imagine the scene, Jonah probably smelled like fish and still had the seaweed from the fish all over him. He must have looked insane but he warned the people that God meant to destroy them for their wickedness if they refused to repent.
Much to Jonah’s chagrin they did repent after fasting. Everyone repented, even the king. When God saw that the people of Ninevah were sorry for their evil ways and wanted to change, He changed his mind and forgave them. He did not destroy them and in so doing made Jonah really angry!
Remember that Jonah thought that these pagan Gentiles (people who are not Jews) deserved to die for
Jonah Angry and Sitting Under the Vine
their evil ways and he wanted to see them punished. After all, look what God put him through to make him go and warn them. Like a little child, Jonah went out to a hill overlooking the city. He was ticked off and sat staring at the evil ones waiting in anger for the Lord to destroy them. Basically, in my words he said, “This is just what I knew was going to happen! You are a merciful God and I knew you would forgive them and let them get away with their wickedness…that is why I did not want to come here.”
God understood Jonah’s dilemma, but He has a sense of humor. The sun was hot and beating down on Jonah in his lonely vigil on the side of the hill. You might say God was nudging Jonah, trying to coax him into a better temper. He caused a vine with a little gourd to grow up beside Jonah and give him some shade to block the sun. Jonah was thankful for the vine as he stared down on Ninevah. In spite of the shade from the vine, Jonah did not relent in his judgement of Ninevah. When this did not work God lost his patience and decided to teach Jonah a lesson about mercy. Now, God caused a worm to eat the roots of the vine and soon Jonah had no shade and was angry at the worm.
Here is where we learn about God’s way of thinking. God said to Jonah (paraphrased) “You loved the gourd that you did not grow or plant and you hate the worm that destroyed it. Even so, you have no pity for that great city Ninevah who has many thousands of people so ignorant they do not know their left hand from their right and and have a lot of cattle.”
That is the end of the story and as far as I can find in the Old Testament, God did not talk about it to Jonah again. Jonah did not get the message God was trying to send. Sin and evil are terrible and God can not stand it. However, when people repent and change their ways God forgives.
