by Giles Day

Created on: September 15, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

One of the most misunderstood, and perhaps most unfairly judged persons is the prophet Jonah. When God calls us to service, as His servants we should immediately respond with obedience and without any personal bias. It is obviously true that Jonah did not respond in the appropriate manner when God initially told him to carry His message to Nineveh. However, a thorough and comprehensive study of the book could prove invaluable in understanding the reasons Jonah responded negatively to the Divine commandment to service in the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

A good understanding of critical Bible study is imperative for us to realize the circumstances of why things happen the way they do. Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, was founded by Asher. Asher was the son of Shem. This makes him related to the Jews through his father. Jonah was aware of this, but he was also acutely aware of the reputation of the people of Nineveh. (Genesis 20:21) There are six kingdoms mentioned in Revelation 17:10, and Assyria was known to be one of the cruelest in relation to those in captivity. When besieging a city, they were known to skin captives alive and wall paper the outside of the city with those skins. They were also known for committing other horrible atrocities. Jonah must have been terrified out of his gourd to even think about going there. Fear is a very human impulse and strong motivator, so he reacted as many of us would have ... he ran.

God did not allow him to escape, however. As is clearly indicated in Scripture, God's people must be willing to serve any way, any place at any time. (Psalm 100:2-5) To Jonah's very evident surprise, God forgave the people and honored their outward signs of repentance. It is true that Nineveh eventually did fall, as indicated in the book of Nahum. During this time period, however, punishment was not meted out, and they turned from their evil ways.

The saddest portion of the book is chapter 4: Jonah could not understand, and refused to acknowledge, that God's mercy was extended to the Assyrian capital. This action on God's part totally dumb-founded him. He wanted to see Israel's ancient adversary go down in defeat, under the wrath of God. Even though this is extremely sad, it carries a valuable lesson for us as Christians today. Everyone, no matter how evil, is provided salvation through the grace of God, if they will just accept it. (John 14:6) As believers in Christ, we must be sure to never waver on that point.

As usual, God had the last word. (Jonah 4:10-11) No more is ever said about the life of Jonah in the Bible. Jesus did draw a parallel between his life, death and resurrection in Matthew 12.

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