Jonah
Jonah 3:10 & 4:1-11
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over
Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Who is Lazarus?
Jonah is a character that appears in three religions, his story is found in the Christian Bible, the Hebrew Bible and the Qu'ran. In the book of Matthew, Jesus uses the story of Jonah and his three days within a fish as an image of his own resurrection. He tells the Pharisees that now, ‘something greater than Jonah is here’ (Matthew 12:41)
Jonah was a prophet whom the Lord had commanded to go to the sinful city of Nineveh and ask them to repent and turn from wickedness. He tried to flee from the Lord, boarding a ship to Tarshish. When God commanded a storm to strike the seas, the sailors aboard panicked and threw Jonah into the ocean, for it was his Lord and his doing that risked their lives. God provided a large fish to swallow Jonah, wherein he stayed for three nights and prayed. After repentance, the Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn them to change their ways in 40 days or else the city will be overthrown. Expelled from the fish’s bowels he went on and proclaimed this to the people, who repented, fasted and wore sackcloth humbly before God. As the city was cleansed, God’s wrath didn’t descend onto the city. However, Jonah was angry at the Lord for his compassion and asked the Lord to ‘take away my life’ (Jonah 4:3) to which the Lord provided him shelter and challenged him over his concern over Nineveh.
What can we learn from Elijah?
Jonah admits to running from the Lord and his calling to save the sinful city of Nineveh because he knew that God was a ‘gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity,’ (Jonah 4:2). This is an encouragement to us all that God is forgiving and loving if we repent of our sins. This can also be a difficult passage for us to read as Christians. Knowing that non-Christians can be saved in spite of sin whereas many of us
try to live a life pleasing to God, honouring Christ and without sin is frustrating. Jonah’s story reminds us that all sin, regardless of severity, is viewed equally to God, and we should strive to grow God’s kingdom, modelling it in our own behaviour and not be scared to share the good news to others. At the end of the day, Christians are on earth to live harmoniously and share in the good news: how can we do this when we run from what the Lord calls us to do?