Personal Reading & Reflection on Jonah

The prophet Jonah son of Amittai predicted the expansion of the northern kingdom under

Jeroboam II around 780 BC (2 Kings 14:25). However the prophetic book that bore his

name said more about his activity in Assyria than in Israel. Unlike the other books, it was

a narrative account of how Jonah ran away from his divine commission to preach against

the wickedness of Nineveh (1:1-3). Instead, he headed off to Tarshish on a ship.The Lord

hurled a great storm so that a shipwreck seemed imminent and the pagan sailors cried out

to their gods (1:4-5). They cast lots to find out who was responsible for the calamity and

it fell on Jonah, who confessed that he was fleeing from God’s presence (1:6-10). Unable

to find an alternative solution, they threw Jonah into the sea and the storm subsided. The

Lord provided a great fish to swallow up the prophet for 3 days and 3 nights (1:11-17).

Trapped in the stomach of the fish, Jonah repented and remembered the Lord (chapter 2).

Then, the prophet was vomited out onto dry land.

A second chance was given to Jonah. This time, he obeyed and threatened the overthrow

of Ninevah in forty days (3:1-4). Unlike the rebellious Israelites, the inhabitants of

Nineveh actually obeyed and repented of their sins with fasting and mourning. “Who

knows, God may turn and relent, and withdraw His burning anger so that we do not

perish?” they said (3:9). As a result God did not bring upon them the threatened calamity.

The irony was that God’s mercy became the cause of Jonah’s great anger and displeasure

(4:1). He revealed that the motive of his earlier flight to Tarshish – the knowledge that

God would be merciful if the people repented (4:2-3). Jonah despaired of life itself and

went out of the city. The Lord caused a plant to grow and provided him shelter. But the

next day the plant withered and Jonah became exceedingly angry over it. And the Lord

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showed the contrast of Jonah’s selfish concern for a single plant, which he did not cause

to grow, and His own compassion for His numerous created beings – humans and

animals – in the great city of Nineveh (4:9-11).

The narrative highlighted some unusual theological themes. It portrayed the mercy of

God being extended even to a pagan Gentile city when the people repented. In contrast,

the prophet Jonah, a devout Jew, disobeyed God because he wanted them destroyed. He

was furious because God was loving and forgiving! Probably Jonah knew that Assyria

had been predicted to be the cause of Israel’s downfall. Blinded by nationalistic zeal, he

could not accept that God would forgive them. He could denounce them in wrath but he

could not love them in mercy. Jonah was probably the first prophet who despaired

precisely because his preaching was successful.

The book ended without telling us Jonah’s response to God’s question: “Should I not

have compassion on Nineveh?” (4:11) It seemed that it was purposely left hanging so that

readers would work out how they themselves would react to God’s compassion to those

whom we think do not deserve it. In all probability, I think Jonah’s heart was changed as

a result. Otherwise we would not have the book of Jonah written. In summary, the

message of Jonah emphasized how universal God’s love and patience towards even

pagan nations. It challenged the ethno-centricity of Israelites who may feel superior to the

Gentiles and wanted to monopolize God’s grace for their own people. It foreshadowed

the Messiah whose universal grace would embrace the nations. He would display the

‘sign of Jonah’ by undergoing death for three days before resurrecting in glory.1

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Matthew 12:39-40