Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3 KJV)
The Lord calls Jonah to go and preach to the “great city of Nineveh.” God offers a very compelling reason: “because its wickedness has come up against Me.” Isn’t it interesting that God is offended by a nation that He did not choose (unlike His beloved Israel) and whose sin He finds personally offensive? This city doesn’t even know Him, much less care about the God of Israel. Yet He is unwilling to ignore the stench of sin that is reaching His nostrils.
Even though the people of Nineveh are not His chosen people, He still loves them. They are part of the human family.
It gets even more amazing. God decides to choose one of Israel’s prophets to go and tell Nineveh of its sin! His love for Israel is not exclusive. Even a people who do not know Him are still precious in His sight. Nineveh is Israel’s enemy, and yet He cares enough to select one of His own prophets to proclaim His message to them. He speaks to His own and to everyone else.
Jonah’s ministry prefigures Christ’s ministry. Jesus shared His message to the Jews, and his words were also heard by the Gentiles.
God’s prophets always warn of His mercy before His judgment. His people have time to change their ways before the judgment comes. God is just. He despises sin, calling His people to turn away from it. If they choose not to, His judgment will come.
God does not engage in a divine “I told you so!” when Israel falls many times before the sword of her enemies. He takes no pleasure in watching her chastisement. He carefully apprises the people of the consequences of their behavior and disobedience. The prophets are His messengers and spread His word, even if the people fail to listen.
God warns Israel’s enemies of impending judgment as well. Consequently, Jonah is directed to one of Israel’s enemies. This tells us a lot about how God sees evil: He is angered by it. Evil destroys victims, to be sure. Evil destroys perpetrators as well, for it fosters dangerous and destructive attitudes that embolden the ambitious and cruel. Ultimately, evil sows its own destruction, but the innocent are brutally harvested as well. God takes no pleasure in that, but underscores time and time again through His prophets the need for repentance, so that His arm of wrath is stayed and His mercy may prevail.
Nineveh’s sin does not go unnoticed by God. It is no small town. In Genesis 10:11, Nineveh is referred to as “the great city,”[1] and later, King Sennacherib made it the capital of the mighty empire of Assyria.[2]
It has a large population. In Jonah 4:11, it is described as having “more than 120,000 people” in it. Nineveh is extremely wealthy. Another Old Testament prophet, Nahum, describes it this way: “The supply [of silver and gold] is endless, the wealth from all its treasures” (2:9).
Let’s imagine The Official Ancient Middle East Tour Book and read Nineveh’s entry:
Nineveh is the warm, balmy capital of the Empire of the Assyrians. If you plan a visit to our lovely capital, we welcome you! If you are an enemy, perhaps you should reconsider. Our reputation for cruelty precedes us. We have wonderful stone monuments that depict our brutal conquests, and the delightful things we do to our adversaries. Our enemies are stunned by our ferocity. Once we are done conquering you, we will ship your entire population (free of charge, of course) to the furthest outreaches of the Empire. If you are the leader of a conquered city, you will be entitled to our Royal Treatment: We will torture and mutilate you. In due time, we will execute you. One of our kings, the mighty Shalmaneser III, enjoys making pyramids of his enemies’ skulls, and we do so enjoy stacking up the dead right outside the city gates of the vanquished city. Nineveh is calling! We welcome YOU!” [3]
Seriously, Nahum gives us a chilling description of Nineveh: "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses…" (3:1-3 KJV)
Is Jonah’s reaction, “Yes, Lord, sign me up!”
Are you kidding?
He was probably thinking: I gotta run away! Now! Full speed ahead!
Let’s modernize Jonah’s calling to really understand how awful this appears to Jonah, and his all-too-human reaction against God’s command. You are a Jewish person living in 1930’s Berlin. You are commanded by God to go and announce to Hitler and the Nazis that God has seen their wickedness. This is the Berlin of the Gestapo, where people are arrested, tortured and deported to concentration camps. You have heard of Dachau, and all of its horrors, and those other camps where the only escape is through the chimneys of the crematoria.
Your reaction? You’d probably be like Jonah: looking for the fastest way out of there.
That’s exactly what Jonah does. He goes down to the harbor at Joppa in Judea, and books a ship out of Israel. Where to? The farthest place he could go: Tarshish, in Spain! It is 180 degrees opposite of Nineveh.
God calls you to go to Hitler’s Berlin, and you book a flight to New York. You get the idea.
As he makes his way down to the docks, he may be thinking: How lucky could I possibly be? There’s a ship bound for Tarshish, and it’s leaving soon, and I have the right amount of money for passage…Woo-hoo! Coincidence? Nah! I am supposed to leave, because look how everything is falling into place!
Let’s look at this for a moment. Jonah is not alone trying to read God’s hand in things that are contradictory to His word and warnings. How often do people say,
- Well, I am unhappy in my marriage, and I know that I am not really all that active in trying to patch things up. Besides, I’ve met this wonderful person at work, and I am sure God wants us to be together. Why else would I have met that person? It can’t be coincidence! It is meant to be!
- I know that I am working for a dishonest person. He has encouraged me to lie as well. I can’t find another job so easily. Besides, I just got a promotion! I wouldn’t have gotten it without God’s help! There were three other candidates beside me! So it must be God’s will that I stay here!
- I know that I shouldn’t be drinking. But I am so lonely, and going to the bar makes me feel better. The church is so full of hypocrites anyway! I pray for God’s protection when I drive home, and He’s good! I haven’t been in an accident. I need to go now. Yeah, I am still buzzed, but God’s watching over me. He always forgives me!
Jonah walked with God in the past. He isn’t ignorant of what God demands of his prophets. In addition to being terrified, and seeking to read into every little thing a way out of his calling, he may have thought that if he leaves Israel, then he is leaving the spirit of prophesy. He may have seen prophecy tied to the land of Israel itself. Leave Israel, leave the calling. Right? No. How often do people think that once they no longer feel responsible for someone or something, then the rules of morality no longer apply?
- I left the church. Their rules no longer apply to me.
- I left my marriage. I am no longer required to be kind to my former spouse.
- Yeah, I hit the singles’ bars. I have been burned in my relationships, so I don’t have to be committed or careful of other people’s feelings.
- I left my job. Now I will tell you about what a loser that boss is.
A word of caution here: Man-made rules, while they might have good intentions, are not necessarily tethered to the Word of God or are a stretch at best. It is imperative that we understand the principles of God’s Word, and then see if those man-made rules line up.
Let me give you a personal example. I taught at a Christian school that advocated modesty for its girls. That is absolutely in keeping with Scripture. Modesty is a woman’s best defense against being objectified: It maintains a woman’s dignity, and helps her be focused on pleasing God, not chasing after the approval of men. But this school decided that modesty extended to the color of nail polish. Only pinks and corals could be worn.
One student I had loved blue nail polish. She had a vibrant personality, and she enjoyed fun colors. I had to advocate on her behalf: I didn’t believe that blue nail polish made her less modest. She sincerely loved the Lord, and the attacks on her wearied her spirit.
If we take man-made rules and confuse them with Scripture, some people will throw out the man-made baby with the Scriptural bath water. Having to keep a mental scorecard of do’s and don’ts diminishes our joy in the Lord. It is easy to grow weary with being good. Some people even end up walking away from the faith.
What about Jonah? Does he think that God’s rules only apply in Israel, and somehow outside of Israel, he can get away with being disobedient? God’s principles are a lot like gravity. You can say that gravity doesn’t extend to this particular building, but if you take a step off the roof, you will find out that splat! Gravity still applies!
Jonah is faced with a decision that left him opting for the easy way out. Let’s tune in on Jonah’s mind (with my paraphrasing of course!):
- I am thinking that once I am gone, I am free of this prophet thing. Let’s see. What are my choices? Can I even call them that?
- I could travel down a long unfamiliar road, arrive at Nineveh, enter this big nasty city and preach God’s anger to those who could care less. I think not.
- I could lose my life along the way or survive the hard journey, only to be killed inside Nineveh once I open my mouth. Fun.
- I could share my God with those evil undeserving pagans who probably won’t listen to me anyway. After all, who has ever heard of Jonah? Or, for that matter, God Himself? Sounds like a winner.
- I help God’s favor (because of my big mouth, I might add) shift to Nineveh and leave Israel in the dust. Once Israel finds out I am responsible for this shift, I will be doubly hated. The Ninevites won’t like me because I have to tell them they are wicked. The Israelites will rue the day I ever left with this message. They will cry, “Why couldn’t you just preach God’s sacred words to us alone? Telling pagans they are wicked (we get that) but inviting them to be with our God? Good idea, buddy boy!” Awesome.
- Last, but certainly not least, we will have to share our God with them! That will make us (shiver) some kind of kin? Oh, joy!
- The options, dearest Lord, are just not my cup of tea. I decline Your invitation. Can I put You on hold for a moment? Hello, Princess Cruise Lines? A ship to Tarshish? Today? Perfect. I’m on it!
[1] NIV Study Bible, note on Genesis 10:21.
[2] NIV Study Bible, note on Jonah 1:2.
[3] NIV Study Bible, notes on Nahum 3:1 & 3:3.
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