Lessons From Jonah -

My husband and I were recently on vacation in Mystic, CT. We spent a day and a half trying to take in all that Mystic Seaport offered. We wandered into a museum that contained carved figureheads from old ships. There were also intricate wooden carvings- one of which depicted Jonah being thrown overboard by his fellow sailors. That got my mind turning about Jonah’s story. I knew there would be lessons from Jonah and his time in the belly of a whale.

Who Was Jonah?

I studied the Minor Prophets in Bible Study Fellowship, and one thing I remember is that Jonah was not “minor” in his prophetic talents or importance. His is one of twelve short (minor) books. Jonah was one of the greatest and popular prophets in his time. He was a real man, and verse one gives us a peek into his genealogy- his father’s name: Amittai.

Is the Book of Jonah Fiction?

If anyone ever doubts Jonah’s story, you can state that he is a historical figure with traceable roots. Doubters also make an argument that no man could live inside a whale for three days. I believe that the God that created our universe and makes “winds and waves obey him”(Mt 8:27) can command a whale to swallow a man and spit him back out! God uses miracles for spiritual significance and the whale was just one example in the amazing story of Jonah.

I learned a new aspect of Jonah’s story that I don’t remember hearing before that gives even more credence to its authenticity. Jesus uses Jonah’s story as a historical event to make a point to religious leaders who wanted a miraculous sign from him.

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of
Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Mt 12:40).

Jesus used Jonah’s real-life story as a metaphor for his own crucifixion and resurrection to come.

Jonah Disobeys God

There was no sugar-coating in Jonah’s story- verses one through three in the very first chapter gets us right to the meat of the matter:
• God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and “preach against it” because of the extreme wickedness of its people. Nineveh was a powerful enemy of Israel and a godless, heathen nation.

• In response to God’s command, Jonah does not obey God’s direction but runs away. Jonah wanted Nineveh destroyed, not saved.

God told Jonah to travel east several hundred miles. Jonah went west as far as possible! He boards a ship in Joppa, headed for Tarshish, thinking he could get away from God.

Running From God

Don’t judge Jonah too harshly- we do the same thing but in smaller ways:
• Hearing or reading the words of God and ignoring them and doing the opposite.
• We feel the pull of the Holy Spirit in our lives and push it away.
• The busyness of our lives leaves little time to spend in worship and his Word.
• Fear dictates our decisions.
• We stubbornly go our own way. Yes- we act just like Jonah sometimes.

Jonah Running from God

Jonah hops aboard a ship, sails away, and goes below deck, to take a good, hard nap: “he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.” v5. Apparently, his conscience wasn’t bothering him one bit! God pursues Jonah by sending a vicious storm that terrified the sailors. They threw the cargo overboard and prayed to their gods. The captain finds Jonah and awakens him with a request to “Call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” (v6)

God reveals to the sailors that Jonah caused the storm and they pepper him with questions. They become terrified with his answers and as the seas became rougher, they ask him what they should do.

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea”(v12) Jonah replies. He knows it will calm the storm, as it was his fault and was caused by his refusal to obey God. He picks drowning over obeying God’s command! Very reluctantly, the sailors do so, and the storm calmed.

What lengths do you take in running from God?

Each time we refuse to obey God, we run from him. Sometimes it may be a few steps, sometimes it’s much farther. We can run from the relationship we have with God, but he will patiently and relentlessly chase after us.

We can never run, however, from God’s presence.

He will never stop trying to bring us closer to him and his purposes. Sometimes it takes a storm in our lives to make us realize how much God loves us, cares for us, and wants us to live in his purposes. These two important lessons from Jonah really hit home for me.

Jonah and the Whale

God sends a large fish to swallow Jonah alive. While we don’t know the details (did Jonah realize he was being swallowed by a whale?!?), we read that he was there for three days and nights. It couldn’t have been a pleasant experience.

Jonah’s situation begins to look up in Chapter 2 as it records Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving when he realizes God has spared his life. No bargaining or anger; just thankfulness, repentance, hope, and trust. “I called to the Lord, and he answered me “, “I will look once more toward your holy Temple “, and “I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise.” (vv 1,4,9) The last words of his prayer are a declaration that only God brings salvation and Jonah promises to make good on his vows.

God gives Jonah a second chance: “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” v10. (Note that the fish obeyed quicker than Jonah…)