1The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
4 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to [a]break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the [b]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.
7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm ]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”
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13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the LORD and said, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.” (Jonah 1:1-17)
15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
From a different angle, Jonah can been read as a subversive figure. Jonah is quite a spiritual man. His prayer in Chapter 2 is one of the impressive prayer. He is also a very idealistic man and he stands firm for what he believes. We can tell Jonah is a very complicated man. He is a prophet which means servants yet he failed to obey his master, God. Jonah’s disobedience is not the kind of sin we are familiar with. He did not sin deliberately against God in our general understanding of sin. And his insistence is not unreasonable for he knew full well “the LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” (Ps 145:8) Nineveh is the capital of Assyria which was the evil empire attacking Israel the Northern Kingdom at that time. As the brother of the Northern Kingdom, Judah the Southern Kingdom needs Israel to be her strong barrier separating them from the Assyrian mercenary army. If Nineveh was indeed destroyed by God, the Jewish race was saved. For his own brothers and for himself, Jonah was quite reasonable to refuse God’s commission. When Jonah found himself unable to get pass his own feeling and reason, he chose to run away and he chose to rebel. Jonah’s rebellion is a rebellion of reason and a rebellion of ideal. From the depth of his faith, he rebelled against God. He could not get pass the idea that God is partial to Jews.
Jonah is not a coward either. He would rather die than giving up his ideal. Maybe he was trying to use his own death to persuade God! When the ship was about to sink, Jonah told his shipmates, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” Jonah’s character is consistent from beginning to end. His rebellion did not change even to the end of the Book. It is rather disturbing that the Book of Jonah does not have a conclusive ending. Maybe an idealist can feel with Jonah.
Of course Jonah has his own negative image. He is not a lovable figure. All the other characters are more compassionate than Jonah. His shipmates as well as the people of Nineveh are lovers of every person’s life. Jonah just loved his own ideal. But it is also a sharp contrast with God Himself. From the beginning to the end, God did not give up Nineveh. More so, God refuse to forsake Jonah in his depth of rebellion. It is not hard to understand for “the LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” To tolerate a disobedient, utterly rebellious servant is very hard to swallow. If Jonah were an ignorant commoner who has very little understanding of God, it is reasonable to guide him to the right path gently and patiently. Somehow, the Book of Jonah did not end with a conclusive note. It ends with God kindly explained His compassion towards Nineveh but without Jonah’s accent. God did not give up on Jonah. He is always ready to talk to Jonah, explain to Jonah, and wait for Jonah’s return. God did not demand Jonah’s accent even at the end. The high note is all about God’s long suffering love towards Jonah.
He loves even me! Christians who always love God would not be able to feel with Jonah well. They read the Bible and obey. They understand the truth and practice. They are so obedient that they may not even know how not to be disobedient. They love God and God would love them is a matter of fact. But for people like many of us, we are more akin with Jonah. We are often be disobedient. Whenever we reflect upon ourselves, we feel ashamed. We are not totally ignorant about the Bible. We have been Christians for quite some time. We tend to disobey or unable to obey. We are just like “those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” (Heb 6:4-5) Even though we have not fallen away, we are just not good enough. Nevertheless, we are still a little bit better than Jonah. God can love Jonah. We are probably slightly better than Jonah. Then God can surely love even us. It really does not matter if we are sinful, ugly, and, rebellious, God will love us no matter what. He loves even me!