Things have a way of aligning. This evening we will be discussing Jonah at our Tuesday Bible Study. This morning, I opened my devotional guide to the same book.
When we think of Jonah, we tend to think of fish. (It is described as a fish. We tend to think of a whale - probably mostly because we get distracted when we read Jonah, wondering how he could survive for three days in the belly of the fish, and attempt to resolve the doubt by thinking of a huge whale.)
But Jonah is about much more. It is about God's insistence that His message be shared. It is about our tendency to ignore God and even run away from God. It is about the very nature of God and His attitude toward his children.
Jonah is told by God to go to Nineveh. This is not a city of the Hebrews. He is to call them to repentance. He flees by boat, a strong wind blows against the boat, Jonah acknowledges the only way to save the boat is throw him overboard, the crew does, and a fish swallows Jonah. Jonah has a change of heart, the fish spits him out, he goes to Nineveh, and the city hears the warning and repents - from the least to the greatest.
Then comes the exchange which always stops me in my tracks. Jonah becomes angry, embarrassed really. That his words of warning did not result in the destruction of Nineveh. He is so embarrassed that he asks that he might die. Then he admits that this is why he tried to flee in the first place. He said he knew God would repent (the text does speak of God repenting) and that God would not destroy the city. Jonah says, he knew God was "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to repent from punishing."
Wow.
What a powerful image of God. And what a welcome one.
And what a great correction the next time someone speaks of Jonah as a story about a fish. It is about the very nature of God - a nature which is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and ready to relent from punishment.
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