Reflections on Jonah

Yesterday I was asked by one of my youth and friends from Kansas City what my take on the prophet Jonah and his story as told in sacred Scripture. I went back and reread the story and looked to what I felt were some of the main points that the author, presumably Jonah but may be not, was trying to make. After some reflection, I think that the story of Jonah shows: 1.) The character of God, first seen in Exodus 33:19; 34:6-7; 2.) God’s promise to Abraham was to redeem all creation, not just Abraham’s posterity, and Abraham was to be the vessel through which this redemption comes; 3.) Israel had become blinded by her position as Yahweh’s elect people and ignored her function as the channel through which God’s promise to redeem creation, not just Israel, comes into the world; 4.) Only in Jesus the Messiah was/is/will God’s plan to redeem his creation through Israel to be carried out and accomplished.

Before getting into any of the points that have been made in the above paragraph, I want to get into the history-vs-parable debate just a little bit. As I was reading this story it suddenly came to me that I’m not certain the power of the story and its message lies in whether or not this story happened in history. The power of the story and its message comes from the narrative itself, from the story that is told. I do lean towards this story being actual history, that these events really did happen in history. But I’m not certain that the debate over whether this is history or not is entirely what the author wanted people to argue over. The message remains the same whether or not it happened in history. The truths this story tells remain timeless regardless if the events are rooted, grounded, and anchored in history or not.

Now on to the points that I listed above.

1.) The story of Jonah shows the character of God, first seen in Exodus 33:19; 34:6-7. Follow along with me in Jonah 4:2 (NET) after Jonah saw that Yahweh did not destroy Nineveh upon the city’s repentance when Jonah preached that God would destroy her for her wickedness.

[Jonah] prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! – because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

Take note of the highlighted section of Jonah’s prayer. This is the heart of God. This is who God is at his very core: gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, greatly merciful, and relenting concerning threatened judgment. This has been part of the Torah, Israel’s Law and Instruction for life in the land God promised to Abraham before the Egyptian enslavement. It is articulated in Exodus 34:6-7,

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.

This became an important part of Israel’s belief structure as it is often cited throughout her history aside from here in Jonah 4:2. It is cited often in the Psalms (86:3-8, 15; 103:2-13; 116:5; 145:8) as well as in Numbers 14:18-19; 2 Chronicles 30:9; Joel 2:13; and Nehemiah 9:17, 31-32. It was because Jonah knew this to be true that he fled from Israel, Nineveh, and God (or so he thought). He knew that if the Assyrians, Israel’s hated enemy in the Eighth Century BCE, repented of their wickedness, God would have mercy upon them and turn back his wrath and thus spare the city. Jonah wanted the city destroyed. But because God is gracious and compassionate, Jonah knew this enemy would be saved and that just wasn’t acceptable to him.

But I think this is really what the author of Jonah wants to communicate to his readers about their covenant God, Yahweh. They worship a merciful, gracious, and loving God. In Exodus 34 it meant that even though Israel had sinned in the golden calf incident of Exodus 32, God would be merciful to Israel and answer Moses prayer to lead the people into the promised land in the very midst of the people instead of sending someone in Yahweh’s place. Here in Jonah 4, it means that God will relent from judgment against anyone who sincerely repents of their sin and truly seeks out Yahweh, the true Creator of the world–even for a short time as Scripture illustrates to be true of Nineveh and the Assyrians.

The God of Jonah is a God that is willing and ready to forgive. He stands ready to show his love and mercy to those who repentantly approach him. It’s a message that the world desperately needs to hear. It is a message that my heart needs to hear every day. It’s a message the grounds the very gospel that Jesus revealed in his life, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ work and ministry most clearly illustrates to the world the very character and heart of God. As the Psalmist (Psalm 34:8) says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”