Lessons From The Life Of Jonah

Lessons From The Life Of Jonah

There are some Bible stories which even people who never touch a Bible have heard about. David and Goliath is one of them. Jonah’s story is another. It’s only a few pages long, and those pages chronicle less than two months of the prophet’s life. Yet Jonah’s story is no insignificant account. The Lord Himself, when faced with the persistent skepticism of the Pharisees, referred bluntly to “the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Mt. 16:4 NKJV ), indicating that the picture there, of death and resurrection, would be enough to prove His claims if their hearts would receive it. Jonah’s story – with its combination of rough sailors, sinful Ninevites, and one wayward prophet – provides a number of helpful lessons for us.

“Arise, call on your God!”
Merchant sailors traveling from Joppa to Tarshish were the first to spend significant time with Jonah (1:4-16). When their journey was threatened by a severe storm, they cried to their gods and then attempted to save the ship by discarding its cargo. Their actions were quite exemplary.

First, the sailors knew there was a spiritual component to life. This is in contrast to many who completely ignore the spiritual realm, focusing only on what is natural and physical. The sailors asked Jonah to join them by calling on his God. Then, further demonstrating reverence for some authority beyond themselves, they cast lots to see who was responsible for the storm. Casting lots to make decisions only makes sense if one truly expects some sort of divine intervention (Prov. 16:33). At least this places them on the right path towards recognizing a spiritual sphere.

Second, the sailors were willing to work. This was no ordinary storm, and it only grew worse and worse (vv. 4, 11, 13). Casting the cargo overboard demonstrated a willingness to take action. They even strained at their oars to bring the ship to land, although this was fruitless. By contrast, others might have given up without any effort. Many are simply lazy, waiting for someone else to get involved while they refuse to act.

This is the pattern of activity from the seamen: prayer first, then work – an important combination. Someone has said, “Too many people work as if they don’t believe in prayer, and pray as if they don’t believe in work.” Often God wants to use us in the solution He has designed for a problem.

Despite the good start these sailors might have had, though, it was not enough. They were praying, but to false gods who were powerless to help. They were working, but evidently relying on their own determination, ingenuity, and strength. Jonah finally announced the solution, which seemed to mean certain death: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea” (1:12). But the mariners resisted, instead attempting unsuccessfully to reach land. Christianity, too, presents death as a vital subject – the death of Christ Himself. Many good people, like the sailors, rely on their own efforts instead of accepting Christ’s sacrificial death for their salvation. It is humbling for people to accept Christ, for it is an acknowledgment that their own efforts are not enough.

At last the seamen recognized the futility of their efforts and threw Jonah overboard; immediately “the sea ceased from its raging” (1:15). The sailors then turned wholeheartedly to Jehovah, the one true God of Jonah. What a good example! We should not wait until stormy times in our life to seek the Lord, but often that’s the only time we think to turn to Him. And every time, we find Him more than equal to the task. As we speak of Christ to others, we may have to wait for God to bring them through stormy trials before they are willing to hear His claims.

“Perhaps God will relent.”
God’s call to Jonah had been to preach in Nineveh. Judgment was to fall upon that great city, the capital of Assyria, because of their wickedness against God and Israel. When Jonah finally carried out this call, the result was startling. Unlike the sailors, who at first resisted God’s way of deliverance, the Ninevites responded at once. This is even more striking when we realize that the message, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:4), contained not even a hint that their repentance would be accepted. Yet repent they did! Beginning with the people in the street, the response to God’s declaration reached even the king, who stepped from his throne and traded his royal robes for the sackcloth and ashes of humility. He told all the people to turn from their evil ways (3:8), insightfully proclaiming that a God who was great enough to pronounce judgment would also be great enough to show mercy, if He chose.

This was a response of faith which God would not ignore. His condemnation had been based on their wickedness (1:2). Now He saw works of repentance (3:10; Acts 26:20) accompanied by an appreciation of His character. Would that His own people had hearts like those Ninevites!

So God “relented,” or “repented,” as some translations have it. This in itself is a weighty consideration. Is God capricious, changing His mind according to the circumstances? Wasn’t it declared, “God is not a man ... that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do?” (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29). There are occasions in Scripture when God’s stated plans change (Gen. 6:6; Ex. 32:14; 1 Sam. 15:11). What do these occasions reveal?

First, we know God’s ways never change because of errors on His part; His ways are perfect (Ps. 18:30). Second, He never acts at random or without understanding; He is the only wise God (1 Tim. 1:17). Third, God never purposes to deceive anyone, as if He would say one thing and do another; He is true even if all the world is not (Rom. 3:4).

But God does respond to the behavior of His creatures – not that He is controlled by them, but that He notes their works and hearts. Being just, He cannot overlook sin; but being loving, He acts in blessing. As a result of either people’s repentant hearts or His own past covenants, He sometimes seems to pass by plans for vengeance (1 Ki. 21:20-29; 2 Ki. 8:19). Here, the Ninevites’ repentance allowed Him to hold back judgment and act with mercy – a true picture of James 2:13, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Still, we can only complete the Nineveh picture when we include the book of Nahum, written about 100 years later. By that time, the wicked ways of Nineveh and Assyria had resumed, and Nahum prophesied the destruction of Nineveh in 612 bc. It is a good lesson to realize that wrongdoing never goes unnoticed. God often forbears longer than we would have thought – itself another good lesson! Yet His forbearance does not indicate tacit permission to err (Ps. 50:16-21).

“Are you right to be angry?”
Finally, let’s consider Jonah himself. His inclusion in the Bible is wonderful evidence of the everyday realities of the Bible, for his example is less than stellar. We know how, in our desire to serve the Lord, we struggle against everyday failings. Jonah’s errors suggest two main lessons for us.

First, Jonah tried to flee from the presence of the Lord (1:3). He learned that this was impossible. In the process, he grew in his understanding of God’s character. Before being swallowed by the great fish the Lord had prepared, Jonah saw His power and righteousness through His “billows and ... waves” (2:3). Then, God’s accessibility and salvation became realities as Jonah prayed from depths so remote, they seemed to be the “moorings of the mountains” (2:2-9). Jonah further recognized that God was worthy of a response from him, declaring, “I will pay what I have vowed” (2:9). God does not prefer that Christians fail in order to grow spiritually, but failures in life are profitable if we learn from them.

After being delivered from the fish, Jonah’s second error came with his anger at the Lord’s mercy. It turns out that he had been worried all along that God would have pity on Nineveh (4:2), and when this occurred his anger was so great that he wished to die (4:3). God put the same question to him twice: “Is it right for you to be angry?” (4:4, 9). After the first question, Jonah seemed to have hope that God might yet destroy Nineveh, for he constructed a shady spot to sit outside the city and see what would happen. The Lord used the occasion to drive home another lesson. By preparing a tall, leafy plant to grow overnight and shade Jonah further, God gladdened his heart. Then God prepared a worm and a strong east wind to wither the plant in a day, and Jonah’s misery was stirred once more. So God asked again about Jonah’s anger, this time in relation to the plant. Jonah felt he was justified to be angry, even though he had nothing to do with the plant’s growth. God’s final question hangs in the air as a pointed conclusion to the book: “And should I not pity Nineveh?” (4:11).

Although Jonah had learned he couldn’t flee from the Lord’s presence, he also had to learn his need for humility when he didn’t agree with God’s thoughts. God’s mercy had wounded Jonah’s nationalistic pride as well as his reputation as a prophet. But this would have been overcome if Jonah’s heart had possessed the right attitude. The Lord’s closing question demonstrates that pity must characterize His servants.

“For our admonition.”
In some ways, Jonah shows the worst character of all the people in these four chapters. Was he simply an immature prophet with much to learn? In one sense, all of us who believe God should recognize our ongoing need to learn and grow. But in another sense, Jonah already knew enough about his God so that these failings never should have happened. He had a mature understanding of the available scriptures and of God’s ways. For example, Jonah’s reference to praying toward the temple (2:4) comes directly from Solomon (1 Ki. 8:38-39). Other phrases attributed to him seem to echo thoughts from David’s psalms (Ps. 2:3; 69:2; 2:6; Ps. 30:9). And Jonah’s clear understanding of God’s gracious character (4:2) can only come from a man who has walked with his God. By contrast, consider the wicked servant of Luke 19:20-23, who knew only the severity of his master.

This is a warning to every Christian (1 Cor. 10:11), especially those who have the responsible role of mature believers. No doubt Jonah would have been welcome to teach anywhere in Israel, for he knew the Scripture and had a relationship with God. But this same Jonah, a mature follower of the Lord, presents very few good examples in the only book that details his life. We must beware lest we start to believe that we know better than God. We ought to learn all we can about God’s revealed principles and character, and then we ought also to step aside and let God be God.

By Stephen Campbell