Jonah 1

“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.” (Jonah 1:1–3a, NKJV)

The book of Jonah is one of the most marvelous stories in the Bible. It is a story of irony. Everyone and everything in the entire book obey the LORD, except the prophet of God. Also, although Jonah was a prophet to Israel, the only record of his prophesies is this account that shows his weaknesses. Yet, despite these things, God still used Jonah. This should encourage us that God can use anyone. It isn’t how we start, but how we finish that matters most.

Some Bible skeptics doubt the account. “How could a person survive inside the belly of a ‘great fish’ for three days and three nights?” they ask. But if God could create the heavens, the earth, and everything in it in six days, then how hard would it be for Him to prepare a living submarine? Moreover, Jesus sites Jonah being in the belly of a great fish and even calls him “a prophet” (Matthew 12:39-40). That is all the endorsement I need to believe!

When God spoke to Jonah and told him to go and preach against Nineveh, Jonah went the opposite direction to flee from the presence of the LORD. Ninevah was the capital city of the Assyrians, the empire that would eventually conquer the northern kingdom of Israel. Nobody in Israel liked the Ninevites. They were violent and brutal; they would do unspeakably cruel things to the people they conquered. Let’s just say that as one of Israel’s premiere prophets, “Nineveh preacher” would not look good on Jonah’s resume.

But God has His ways and resources we don’t know anything about to get His people to do His will. As stubborn as Jonah was, God was able to change his attitude and motivate him to preach in Nineveh.

One more interesting fact is that Jonah is a type of Christ. God so loved the Ninevites that He sent Jonah to save them. But Jonah could not (or would not) do this apart from being three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish. Likewise, God so love the world that He sent His only Son to save us, but He could not do this apart from being three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

As you read the first chapter today, ask yourself, “Is there a point in which I have been unwilling to obey God?”