JONAH-THE RELUCTANT MESSENGER
AND
THE CITY GOD WANTED TO SAVE
And he said unto them, “take me up, and cast me forth into the sea, so that the sea be calm unto you,
for I know that for my sake, this great tempest is upon you” (Jonah 1:12).
Critics of modern times tainted the biblical story of Jonah with mythical flavor. Some religious scholars
label it simply as a book of significant historical value
What they failed to see was that Jonah was one of the Minor Prophets of God. The entire account of
Jonah’s story, though short the story might be, was confirmed and authenticated by Christ himself.
“Then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered saying, “Master, we would see a sign from
thee”. But he answered and said unto them, “an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and
there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth” (Matthew 12:38-40).
Jesus told the religious leaders that the only sign that will be given them was the sign of the Prophet
Jonah. After three days and after three nights in “the belly of sheol” Jonah went and preached to
Nineveh, thereby becoming a sign to the Ninevites. Similarly, Jesus spent three days and three nights
in the grave and was resurrected becoming a sign to all generations, confirming in like manner, that
truly there is life after death.
That is exactly the reason why in the same discussion, Jesus contrasts the repentance of the Ninevites
with the hardness of heart and outright rejection He experienced from the Jews during his own ministry,
saying, “Men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; because
they repented of what Jonah preached, and behold a greater than Jonah is here”( Luke 11: 30-32). What
did Jesus mean when He said that?
Christ was calling the attention of the Jews that a time is coming when the Ninevites and the Jews will
both rise up on judgment day and the Nninevites will condemn them because the Ninevites even
repented of their sins though only a minor Prophet was sent to them, yet, here they are, preached by the
greatest Prophet of all, sent by God the Father, yet the Jews remained stubborn to the point of rejecting
Him.
The story of Jonah has few, if any has parallels in history. In a short period of time, Jonah brought the
whole people in the city of Nineveh to its knees in repentance before God. No empire in history has ever
done so and no prophet has ever tried to evade delivering a very important message from God. Hence,
no study of revival can possibly be complete without including this unprecedented story of Jonah, the
reluctant messenger who tried to flee from the presence of the Lord.
Now, the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amitai, saying. “Arise, Go to Nineveh, that
great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me”(Jonah 1:1-2). The wickedness
of Nineveh was so great that it came up before God. Thus God decided to send a messenger to warn
them of the impending destruction to come. God wanted them to be saved but their hope rest on a
Prophet named Jonah who doesn’t seem to care for them at all. The timetable has been set. Six weeks
to the day of doom and the countdown had begun.
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the most powerful heathen empire at that time. Historians even
referred to It as the greatest city of antiquity. It was located on the eastern bank of the Tigres River and
made famous because of its 100 foot high walls around the 60 miles surroundings with an imposing
1,500 towers of 200 feet high standing in between. The city with its impregnable walls is home to more
or less 600,000 Ninevites.( Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the description of the City of Nineveh
from the internet)
Jonah was the chosen vessel to deliver the warning message to Nineveh but he was not pleased with his
assignment. Instead he tried to run away and set his mind by going in the opposite direction, taking a
ship for Tar shish. Clearly, Jonah was putting up a strong resistance avoiding the way to Nineveh. In
the light of Jonah’s behavior we can only speculate on some possible reasons why he was bent in
running away from his supposed sacred spiritual responsibility.
It should be borne in mind that Assyria was the most dreaded enemy of Israel. Perhaps, it was out of his
sense of patriotism that he openly manifested his refusal to go to Nineveh or maybe it was moral
indignation that he had wished the enemies of Israel to perish on the punishment about to come, or
maybe he was motivated by racial prejudice because the Assyrians are despised and hated by the Jews.
But above all other reasons, Jonah feared that because God is a merciful God, the Assyrians will be
forgiven if they repent. Anyhow, God’s command to Jonah was specific, “Arise, go to Nineveh” yet he
disobeyed and went the other way.
The Lord then sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest so that the ship was in
danger of being wrecked right at the middle of the ocean. Then the mariners were afraid and cried every
man unto his god while Jonah was sound asleep in the ship’s hold below (Jonah 1:5).
Jonah was awakened by his companions and they cast lots among themselves to discover who is
responsible for their flight. The lot falls upon Jonah. It was then that he confessed to them that he was
a Hebrew, a worshipper of God who made the heaven, the sea and the dry land and that he was running
away from his God-given task. He told them to throw him out of the ship.
The seafarers were adamant but after exhausting all possible efforts of guiding the ship through the
turbulent sea they finally decided to do the inevitable. They cast him forth out of the ship in the midst
of the raging sea. But a miracle from out of nowhere happened that day. The storm ceased to deliver its
rampaging fury and there was calmness and serenity all over the sea. (Jonah 1:6-9).
Now the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah and for three days and three nights he was in the
whale’s belly (Jonah 1:17). From the inside of the big fish, Jonah came to realized the helplessness of
his situation and fervently prayed for help, pouring his heart out, promising to do the task God had
earlier commissioned him to carry out. He prayed as he had never prayed before and by God’s grace,
the big fish vomit Jonah on the shoreline close to the city of his appointed destination. Jonah was once
dead, buried in the whale’s belly but now he is alive, resurrected from his watery grave.
Now he knew better - that with God there is no place to hide. He realized his attitude was wrong.
Asserting self-will in clear defiance to the will of God is very wrong. Now he knew better that the storm
was not a product of mere accident neither was the great fish. They were meant to chasten and open his
eyes to the reality that when God calls us we better listen and do His biddings.
The Lord renewed his command to Jonah and this time he did not evade his assignment anymore but
went right at the very heart of the city and cried out lowed, “People of Nineveh! Hear me, because I had
come with a very important message to you”.
Jonah poured out his soul like a true messenger of the Lord. He pleaded with them and surprised even
himself because he was so eloquent and very effective. “You have been so wicked in the eyes of the
Lord” Jonah continued, “in less than forty days from today, your city will be overthrown, conquered
and destroyed. So, repent of your sins and the Lord will have mercy on you”.
Beyond Jonah’s expectation, a wave of repentance sweeps through the city of Nineveh and the people
begun to have faith in God. The king himself proclaimed that man and beast should fast and be clothed
in sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. And God saw their works that they turned from their
evil ways so that He mercifully spared the city right there and then!
The turn of event was more than what Jonah could bear. Disgruntled he opened up to the Lord that it
was exactly the reason why he tried to run away from him because he knew all along that He will just
forgive the Ninevites should they change their evil ways.
Jonah resented the successful end result of his mission and wished he could die. He went out of the city
and camped out at the eastern side and waited what God would do next. From the bottom of his heart
he was still hoping that God would destroy the city of Nineveh.
And the Lord God prepared a gourd ( a plant that thrive on trellis like a vine usually found in the middle
east) and made it to come up over Jonah that it might give comfort over his head. So Jonah was greatly
gladdened of the gourd (Jonah 4:6). But it was only short-lived.
Next morning, the Lord assigned a worm to smite the plant and expose him again to the burning heat
of the sun. Again, Jonah wished he could die. Self-righteously he justifies his anger to the Lord. It was
then that the Lord pointed out on his inconsistency. Jonah felt sorry for the gourd plant but is angry that
the Lord extended mercy to the people of Nineveh. He was more concerned of the plant than having to
save so many lives.
Jonah was a prophet of God yet he has so many obvious faults. There are several lessons we can learn
from the life of Jonah. Since the early days up to this day there are a few church members who have
been overly critical of the servants of God. Let us be reminded that they too are less than perfect and
have their own weaknesses. Rather, let us learn to pray for one another, especially for our spiritual
leaders that we might all become more and more like Christ as we grow in the knowledge of the Lord.
Such is the story of Jonah. All the way through the book we see God doing His very perfect work with
a very imperfect human instrument. It can’t be denied that Jonah was honest before God, admitting that
at times he is wrong and tries to do what is right but Jonah was also at times disobedient, easily angered,
racially oriented, putting up love for country more than his love for God, selfish and worst he give value
to plants more than the lives of his fellowmen.
A simple expression like, “the word of the Lord came unto Jonah” would seem at first glance an
insignificant passage to read but when it comes to the person whom God calls, it changes his whole life.
The word of the Lord also came unto the late Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert
W. Armstrong, but instead of running away from his mission like Jonah he delivered the message head
on. He was commissioned to preach the gospel around the world through the Plain Truth and Good
News magazines (Matthew 24:14).
God set up an open door that no man can shut and many responded to their calling. By the thousand
they came from all corners of the globe and supported the work. There were ups and downs in between
but always, along the way, God would go through any length to reach out to his people no matter what.
Lately, at the last league of God’s church journey “the word of the Lord also came unto “the Church
of God-In Truth. By the call of circumstance she found herself at the crossroad of change. Absolute truth
that has always been there in the Holy Scripture had finally found there true meaning in the
consciousness of a few who stood by the word of the Living God. They are so few and despised by the
many but it is not enough to discouraged them and flee away from their calling.
Few and scattered they maybe yet they remained strong and steadfast on the faith. They supported the
work of the Lord by their tithes and offerings and delivered the end-time warning messages through The
Prove All Things magazine and the weekly newsletter. They serve as an effective instrument to raised
up the level of God’s people spiritual aspirations and encourage them to fight their battle with the spirit
of a conquering warrior.
We still have so much work to do. There is still so much work to be done. The final finishing touches
of the building where each of the loyal members of Christ’s body have a place to fit in is underway. We
must put our hearts and minds focused on our individual responsibilities. Let us not be like Jonah, after
experiencing the miraculous deliverance from the storm and the big fish and after seeing the spiritual
revival of Nineveh Jonah went into depression and even questioned the wisdom of God. Let us not allow
the dark side of Jonah to take over us.
And the word of the Lord came unto the Church of God-In Truth, “Arise, and make your voices be
heard – deliver the warning message to the people of God who are sound asleep in the darkness of the
night and show them the way through the brightness of the moon and the sun at the dawning of each new
day. ☜
Romeo Samudio