Jonah: Going Down, In, To And Against

Feature 2 – October 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Jonah: Going Down, In, To And Against

Going Down
“Now the word of the L ORD 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” (Jon. 1:1-2 NKJV ). “The word of the L ORD ” is found three times in Jonah (1:1, 3:1,3). Three speaks in Scripture of divine completeness. “The word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Pet. 1:25), and it is to be received and obeyed.

Jonah was no stranger to the word of the LORD. He was a “servant” and a “prophet” of God (2 Ki. 14:25). The LORD gave Jonah His word – a great privilege with great responsibilities. Amittai, the name of Jonah’s father, means “the truth of God” or “my faithfulness,” and it reminds us that God has given us the truth. Jesus, as He prayed to His Father, declared, “Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). We are to receive the truth and be faithful to it. John wrote: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 Jn. 4).

The prophet Jonah was told to arise and go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. It was great in size and in wickedness. Then as now, God took account of the sins of individuals, cities and countries. The wickedness of this people was such that God was about to bring judgment upon them. But before doing so, He sent Jonah to “cry out against” the city (1:2).

Disobeying, “Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish” (v.3). Nineveh was toward the east; Jonah went west, fleeing as far as he thought possible from the presence of the LORD. There is no joy for anyone who despises His presence. David wrote: “In Your presence is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). Even though Jonah was on a downward path, he could not escape the eye of God, for He sees and knows everything (see Heb. 4:13; Ps. 139:7-12).

Jonah went his own way, but Jesus was different. Sent by His Father, He said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (Jn. 6:38) and, “Behold I have come to do Your will, O God” (Heb. 10:9). In Gethsemane, with the cross before Him, Jesus prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Lk. 22:42).

Walking in his own will, Jonah “paid the fare” (Jon. 1:3). Fleeing from the presence of the Lord will cost us dearly. The greatest loss will be communion with Christ, but we will also lose communion with fellow believers. On the boat as he fled, Jonah enjoyed no real fellowship. We find him alone, as Paul wrote: “What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).

“The LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up” (Jon. 1:4). Four great things – “great city,” “great wind,” “great tempest” and “great fish” (vv.2,4,12,17) – are found in Jonah 1. The LORD sent Jonah to that great city, but the prophet disobeyed. However, the great wind the LORD sent obeyed and caused a great tempest. The great fish obeyed the command of the LORD as well.

The sea described in Jonah 1 is a picture of our world today. People without God, without the Shepherd, are tossed to and fro, having no peace (Mt. 9:36; Isa. 57:20-21). Likewise, “the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god” (Jon. 1:5). It is as if every man had a different god! They did not know the true and living God who alone could change their circumstances, for the wind and the sea obey Him. In a world where there is chaos and confusion, the believer on the Lord Jesus can enjoy “the peace of God” because he or she has “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 4:7; Rom. 5:1).

Jonah was quite indifferent to his surroundings – He “was fast asleep” (Jon. 1:5) because of disobedience to the LORD. Many believers today are sleeping like Jonah and certainly look like they are dead. Unbelievers are dead (Eph. 2:1), but we who are believers should look more and more like the Lord Jesus. Paul wrote: “Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (5:14).

“The captain came to [Jonah], and said to him, ‘What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish’” (Jon. 1:6, see 1 Ki. 18:26,29). Our God hears and answers prayer. He said, ”Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jer. 33:3). So great is our God that He declared, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear” (Isa. 65:24). Sadly, we do not see Jonah praying yet, for he was really out of communion with God.

Wanting to save their lives, the mariners said, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us. So, they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah” (Jon. 1:7). Undoubtedly, God’s sovereignty caused the lot to fall on His servant, and then the mariners asked him five questions (v.8):

1. “For whose cause is this trouble upon us?” Jonah was the guilty one.
2. “What is your occupation?”Jonah, a servant and prophet of the Lord, now said, “I fear the Lord” (v.9). The Lord Jesus wants us to be occupied with Him until He comes (consider Lk. 10:38-42). What is your occupation?
3. “Where do you come from?” We are all from Adam, the first man, and by his disobedience we were made sinners (Rom. 5:12). Thank God for the Second Man, the Lord Jesus, for by His obedience “many will be made righteous” (v.19)! Jonah said, “I am a Hebrew” (Jon. 1:9).
4. “What is your country?” Dear Christian friend, do you know that there is a much better country than the one in which you are living today? It is a “heavenly country” (Heb. 11:16). “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).
5. “Of what people are you?” We are “His own special people,” “chosen by God and precious” (1 Pet. 2:9,4). Jonah pointed to his Hebrew background (Jon. 1:9). It seems Jonah took great pride in being a Hebrew. About this, Bible teacher Harry A. Ironside said, “It was pride and bigotry that was at the bottom of all his willfulness and waywardness. He knew that God was longsuffering and that He delighted in mercy. Jonah, therefore, feared for his own reputation.”

Then there were more questions, including, “Why have you done this?” (v.10). There can be no good reason to flee from the Lord’s presence. When others left Him, the Lord “Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Jn. 6:67-69).

There was another question for Jonah: “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?” (Jon. 1:11). The mariners were convinced that Jonah was the reason for their situation. It is sad how one person’s disobedience can affect so many. Jonah said to the mariners, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me” (Jon. 1:12). I am sure he thought when he paid his fare that he would disembark at Tarshish, having no idea what would happen instead. “Tarshish” means “she will cause poverty,” and Jonah was impoverished. Truly, whenever we choose our own path, it leads to leanness of soul.

Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, but the LORD would not flee from Jonah! The LORD would search Jonah’s heart and bring him back to Himself, although the means would be painful for His prophet. Wandering from the Lord, there is only turbulence. By contrast, the disciples in obedience to the Lord and in His presence experienced a great calm (Mk. 4:35-39, 6:45-51).

Rather than throwing Jonah overboard, the mariners “rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them” (Jon. 1:13). They did not want to do what Jonah instructed, but in their own efforts they were rowing against the LORD. In imminent danger, “they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You’” (v.14). This is the first mention of prayer in the book of Jonah. Sadly, Jonah was still out of fellowship with God and at this time not interested in prayer.

Clearly, by this point the mariners who prayed knew something about the LORD. Jonah had said to them that it was the LORD who made the sea and the dry land. They acknowledged it and His power, “so they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging” (v.15). This was a great miracle! Yes, the wind and the sea must obey the One who created them. Great indeed is our God (consider Ex. 15:11; Ps. 107:25-29).

Seeing the raging sea now calm, the mariners “feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows” (v.16). What they did we must leave with the Lord, for He alone can value it. One thing is certain: they were brought to realize that their gods could not be compared with “the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (v.9).

“Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (v.17).

Going In
Before Jonah tried to flee from the presence of the LORD, he could make a choice about where to go. Once in the belly of the great fish, he could not chart any course of travel. There, Jonah was completely left to the mercy of God and in a place where God sought to teach him lessons.

In the boat, the captain had told Jonah, “Call on your God,” but the first time we find Jonah praying is “from the fish’s belly” (v.6, 2:1). The perfect Man, the Lord Jesus, was on the cross when He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Lk. 23:34). No matter where we are, our Father is ready to hear our prayers and answer them according to His will.

Jonah said, “You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me” (Jon. 2:3). Such was the experience of the Lord Jesus, for the prophecy of Psalm 42:7 says, “All Your waves and billows have gone over Me.” The typical experience of Jonah in the fish points directly to the Lord Jesus. He said Himself, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth … a greater than Jonah is here” (Mt. 12:40–41).

While on the cross all God’s waves and billows passed over the Lord Jesus, and by faith we hear Him pray, “Save Me, O God! For the waters have come up to My neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow Me” (Ps. 69:1-2). Which one of us can measure the sufferings the Lord Jesus received from the holy God during the three hours of darkness? Such suffering to us is unfathomable.

As Jonah prayed in the belly of the great fish, he said, “I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple” (Jon. 2:4). Jonah, having fled from the presence of the LORD, acknowledged the distance that existed that he was not in communion with his God.

Jonah continued, “The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head” (v.5). The psalmist wrote: “Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves … Your fierce wrath has gone over me” (Ps. 88:7,16). For the Lord Jesus, a crown of thorns was around the top of His head (Mt. 27:29). “I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God” (Jon. 2:6). “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths” (Ps. 88:6). Jonah, having been disobedient, had no choice as to entering the belly of the great fish. The Lord Jesus, perfectly obedient, willingly, in love went into death for sinners.

There, in the fish’s belly, things changed for Jonah. God worked in his soul, and Jonah “remembered the LORD” (Jon. 2:7) in prayer, praise and thanksgiving. He said, “I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD” (v.9). Although in the belly of the great fish, Jonah’s life was spared, and he therefore offered thanksgiving as a sacrifice to God. May we, too, “continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15; see Ps. 116:16-17). When Jonah reached that point in his soul, “the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (Jon. 2:10).

“Salvation is of the LORD” (v.9, see Acts 4:12; Mt. 1:21; 2 Cor. 6:2). This is a wonderful truth! Have you by faith received this great salvation, which is freely extended to all? There can be no escape from the wrath of God if you refuse His salvation.

Going To
“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you” (3:1-2). God is a God of restoration (Ps. 23:3, Gen. 35:9). He restored Jonah, who was now ready to obey His word and go to Nineveh. The Lord Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (Jn. 15:14).

The LORD sent Jonah with His message. The prophet was not at liberty to change the message; it had to be the Lord’s message (consider Ezek. 3:4; Jer. 1:7). It is a great privilege to receive a message from the Lord, and it is paramount that it be delivered faithfully.

Jonah arose and went to the right city in the right country, in accord with the word of the LORD. “Nineveh was an exceeding great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” (Jon. 3:3-4). In grace, God gave the Ninevites 40 days to repent. He has no delight in judgment; it is His strange work, “His unusual act” (Isa. 28:21). Peter said, “The Lord … is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance … The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Pet. 3:9,15).

Jonah went only one day’s journey. Why didn’t he continue on? There was no need. A work of God began in one end of the city and soon spread to the other end. “The people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them” (Jon. 3:5). They “believed God” and repented. Repentance is the divine movement in the soul that follows in the footsteps of faith. Faith is believing God – taking Him at His word. In other words, faith is the soul’s reception of a divine testimony (Jn. 3:33). Jesus said, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (Jn. 5:24). The people of Nineveh repented; have you?

“God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jon. 3:10). This great city, whose wickedness had come up before the LORD, had changed (vv.7-8). Upon hearing the word of the LORD, they turned from their evil ways and violence. Actually, God changed the city by changing the people in it. “If … people … will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr. 7:14).

As we look around our world today, violence and wickedness are increasing. Men are without self-control and are brutal. Let us pray for those who are preaching the gospel, which is “the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

Going Against
Sadly, in Jonah 4 we find the prophet going against the will of God again. The people of Nineveh repented. They believed God through the preaching of His servant Jonah. This should have been cause for much rejoicing and thanksgiving, but it was not so with Jonah. He was angry that God withheld judgment on the city (v.1).

Ten times in the chapter we find Jonah using personal pronouns – “I,” “me” and “my.” The root of Jonah’s anger was self. He was occupied with himself rather than the grace, mercy and love of God. As His servants we must all confess that the One we serve is “gracious and merciful … slow to anger and abundant in loving- kindness” (v.2). How wonderful it is to know that this is our God. Sadly, Jonah was not in the enjoyment of what he knew about Him, so he asked the LORD to take his life (v.3).

Ironside wrote: “Probably few of us realize what a strong place self has in our affections until something arises that touches our own personal dignity. It is then that we manifest what spirit we are of. There is more of the Jonah disposition about us than we like even to admit to ourselves. Yet to own failure is one of the first steps to deliverance from it.” Jonah said, “It is better for me to die than to live” (v.3), but Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). The apostle had a purpose and had Christ before him (see 3:7-9).

We do not read that the LORD was angry with Jonah. Rather, He simply asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (Jon. 4:4). Jonah did not reply to the question, but be assured it had an effect on his heart, “for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

“Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city” (Jon. 4:5). In going out, he was going against God’s will. He “made himself a shelter”; Jonah was not told to do this. What he did brought him misery. The works of the flesh, one of which is “selfish ambitions” (Gal. 5:20), will surely produce misery in our lives. Again, Jonah was not acting in the current thoughts of God.

The LORD saw that what Jonah made for himself only brought him to trouble. In grace, He prepared for His servant something far better – a plant – for which Jonah was exceedingly glad. But the LORD still had lessons for Jonah to learn: “But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered” (Jon. 4:7). Why would God remove the plant so quickly? It is said that Jonah was glad for it, but we do not read where he gave thanks to the LORD for it. God expects His children to be thankful for what He gives to them (Eph. 5:20). Jonah took the covering for granted, so the LORD took it away.

The fourth thing the LORD prepared was “a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live’” (Jon. 4:8). This is the second time Jonah said he desired to die. Therefore, God asked, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death” (v.9). Jonah was angry with God!

By contrast, after Job lost his servants, animals and children, “he fell to the ground and worshiped ... ‘The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:20-22). Jonah, still occupied with himself, was not yet prepared to let go of what he considered to be his right.

Dear Christian friend, we do not have any rights in this world, which has rejected the Lord Jesus. He, however, has all the rights in heaven and on earth, as He declared, “All authority has been given to Me” (Mt. 28:18). “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

Today we know that the very atmosphere in the world is full of clamor in every direction for human rights. How much more shocking it is to see the same thing reflected strongly in the professing Church! This was seen in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14), a name meaning “the people’s rights.” The character of that church is typical today.

The book of Jonah ends with the LORD having the last word with His servant. “But the LORD said, ‘You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left – and much livestock?” (vv.10-11). Jonah should have had more compassion on the 120,000 children in the city than on the plant. Our God is the God of compassion (Lam. 3:22-23). “Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies, for He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men” (vv.32-33).

Jonah’s lips were sealed. The truth had reached his heart. God’s grace, mercy and love broke his stubborn will. Jonah had reached a point that Job had gotten to hundreds of years earlier: “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; yes, twice, but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:4-5). God in His mercy searched the heart of His servant and brought him to the point where he was speechless and delivered from himself. This is the desire of all who seek to enjoy the presence of the Lord: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24).

May the mind of Christ my Savior Live in me from day to day, By His love and power controlling All I do and say.
May the love of Jesus fill me, As the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self abasing, This is victory. —Kate Barclay Wilkinson (1859–1928)

By Paul Palmer