Lessons from a Wayward Prophet (Part 1)

Most people, even non-Christians, have heard Jonah's story; perhaps the most intriguing element to the general population is the prophet's encounter with a great fish. Besides Noah and the Flood, it is the first biblical account I remember from my childhood. But surface fascination with this event in biblical history fails to comprehend its full message. Hence, we must understand the book's basic structure and how the prophet's questionable behavior points to God's soverienty in all things, including salvation.

The story of Jonah is sectioned into two halves, each beginning with the phrase, “Now the word of the Yahweh came to Jonah...” (1:1;3:1). As a result, the basic literary structure is as follows: (1) The First Commission of Jonah (1,2) and (2) The Second Commission of Jonah (3,4). Yahweh’s commands initiate a narrative in which the disobedient prophet inadvertently demonstrates Yahweh’s mercy to all people beyond Israel. Thus, the goal of Jonah’s mission to Nineveh is to (1) show Israel the future adoption of repentant heathens, and (2) show Israel the scope of divine compassion.

As the narrative begins in Chapter 1, God commands Jonah to deliver His message in Nineveh (1:2), yet the prophet disobeys and flees to Joppa, where he boards a ship bound for Tarshish. Later, in Chapter 4, Jonah states exactly why he disobeyed the Lord's command. I'll leave that for part 2!

Unmistakably, Jonah's behavior is quite shocking for a prophet of God. However, he quickly succumbs to the circumstances of his disobedience. The author’s wordplay indicates Jonah's downward spiral (geographically and theologically) through repeated use of the Hebrew word translated “to go down.” Essentially, Jonah “goes down” to Joppa (1:3), then “goes down” into the ship (1:3), and eventually “goes down” below deck.[1]

Subsequently, God hurls a great wind against the ship (1:4), and the men called upon their gods for fear of their deaths (1:5). The captain awakens Jonah from his sleep and asks him to pray to his God (1:6), and the crew questions him (1:8). The prophet states, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (1:9)

Moving forward, the reader can begin to contrast Jonah’s attitude with the attitudes of the Gentiles. After the sailors cast lots and discovered that Jonah had fled from the presence of the Lord, Jonah tells them to throw him into the sea so that it will calm (1:12). Remarkably, these heathen Gentiles wished to spare Jonah as they continued to row desperately to land and prayed to the Lord so that they could live and not take an innocent man’s life (1:13-14). Ironically, they exhibited more faith than the prophet as they cried out to God. Ultimately, they did throw Jonah overboard once the sea worsened (1:15).

Only after Jonah is swallowed by a great fish appointed by God does he express submission to Yahweh. He acknowledges that his circumstances are a judgment from the Lord (2:3). Suddenly, Jonah wants to live, vows to make a sacrifice to the Lord (2:9), and then the fish vomits him out onto dry land. God’s gracious act saves Jonah through the fish, which preserves his life. Jonah is spared from drowning in the sea, but as we will see in chapters 3-4, his declaration of thanksgiving to the Lord does not help him comprehend God’s mercy for the undeserving as he has experienced it.

Application

Like Jonah, professing Christians can behave hypocritically. The prophet of God willfully disobeyed the Lord's commands, yet he described his fear of the Lord when the crew approached him. It is certainly right to proclaim Yahweh as Lord, but we must remember that our proclamations should represent our lives. Are we wayward in heart? Do our lives appear hypocritical to non-believers? Do we love the Lord? Do we really fear the Lord?

Ultimately, Jonah not only disobeyed the Lord, but he also exhibited spiritual apathy. It is more than ironic that he slept below deck while the men of the ship contemplated the raging storm. So we must ask ourselves: How does our apathy toward the Lord affect those around us? Does it prevent us from serving others or offering them compassion? Does it prevent us from testifying of Christ's love and sacrifice?

No matter how we might run from God and His commands, we will always be captured by His soverienty. And within that soverienty, believers will find His discipline and His grace. The prophet Jonah can surely attest to this truth.

^[1] J. Daniel Hays, The Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old Testament, ed. Temper Longman III (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2010), 302.

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Job 42:2

I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

Psalm 104:4

He makes His angels the winds, His ministers flaming fire.

Proverbs 19:21

Many thoughts are in a man’s heart,

But it is the counsel of Yahweh that will stand.