What's JONAH about?

The book of Jonah was probably written about 400 years before Jesus, when the Israelites had returned from captivity in Babylon and had settled back into the land. The book is a single story set about 400 years earlier when the first invasions of Israel were happening. The book describes how a prophet who was opposed to God’s command to warn a pagan nation of impending disaster tried to avoid the command. In sailing away from Israel to get away from God, Jonah is swallowed by a “great fish”, often mis-translated as a whale. The fish is sent by God to rescue Jonah so he can be re-sent to the mission God sent him on.

God’s compassion extends to those we dispise

Jonah, being a devout religious person, finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being compelled to warn a dissolute city that does not obey God. Jonah would rather allow consequences to follow their natural course, that punishment be dealt upon people who have deliberately used their power to abuse others. This, of course, is what happened to the Jewish people when they were conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonions—as the Jews understood it, those disasters were the consequences of their unjust society. But God forgives and seventy years later the people return to Jerusalem and rebuild their lives. What the author has realized is that God’s generosity following human oppression extends even to people who aren’t religious and aren’t trying to be faithful.

Perhaps some who had returned home after their enslavement saw God’s generosity as directed only to themselves and so the author writes this story to widen their understanding of God’s care for all. Jonah, the central character, understands what is being asked—that God’s generosity be extended to all, and refuses to obey. A great storm arises as he sails away from God, and when he is about to drown God has a huge fish swallow him and carry him to the shore of the country which God wishes to forgive. Jonah reluctantly announces God’s wish to these foreigners in Ninevah and they respond with deep commitment. Jonah withdraws to a desert to see if God will punish the city. God cares for Jonah in the desert and yet subjects him to the awareness that even he, having done God’s will, remains utterly dependent upon God.

It may be that the author was objecting to what must have been a common attitude, that the Assyrians and Babylonians must have been hated by God because they had destroyed the temple. But the author saw more deeply and challenged those assumptions.

How Jonah is helpful to us

We also live in a time when there is increasing prejudice against other races and religions. It may be that we find ourselves called, even if reluctantly, to challenge the assumption that God is primarily interested in Christians. If that is so, then there are radical implications for us.