Critical Lessons From the Book of Jonah

Severe storms are a reminder of God’s omnipotence and a reminder that no person can prevail against Him. Ironically, in Jonah’s case, the storm he faced while he was fleeing from the mission he was called to was a reminder that he had worshiped the right God- and yet had forsaken Him.

The Lord showed His power by calming the storm after Jonah was cast into the sea as well as by bringing it to begin with. In the Book of Exodus, He showed His power in removing the plagues from the Egyptians as well as in bringing the plagues.

Anything in the sea that squirms with a tail could fit the Hebrew word for the creature that swallowed up Jonah in the sea. This creature actually saved him from drowning. He truly repented and cast himself upon God’s mercy. This meant he had to decide to do the duty he should have done before- yet refused to (which was go to Nineveh and cry against it). There is no true repentance from sin where one does not change their mind regarding the evil course they’ve taken as far back as they can trace it and change direction so that they seek to remedy the bad consequences of their evil actions as much as possible. The Bible says repeatedly in different ways that God’s mercy is only for those who fear Him and depart from what is evil in His eyes to pursue what is right in His eyes.

Many will conceal or explain away Jonah 2:8: “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.” Yet it means what it says. It obviously means that there is no mercy for those who turn against the true God by not keeping His commandments.

The very context of the phrase in Jonah 2:9 “salvation is of the Lord” implies understanding that man has obligations in the covenant which God has set forth as the means of man obtaining His grace. Many have such a twisted view of repentance that they actually think it relieves them of their responsibilities. They think that if they say they’re sorry, that allows them to transgress again. Nothing could be further from the truth than that.

The overthrow which Jonah warned about was really going to happen if the Ninevites did not repent. There is no record of Jonah even mentioning possible mercy for the Ninevites in his preaching to them- yet they wisely turned from their evil way and sought God in hope that they might still obtain mercy. The Ninevites surely would have been destroyed and sent to the fire of hell in mass if they had not responded with the trembling, turning from their evil way, and crying mightily to God like they did.

It is seen in how diligently and deeply the Ninevites’ repented in Jonah chapter 3 that it takes labor of the heart to root out sin; to really alienate oneself from it and renounce it wherever it can be known. Sin has a momentary pleasure to it though that makes such alienation very bitter to experience. Adequately repenting from sin is no light thing and cannot just be done in a minute. Those who run people through a quick sinner’s prayer and then tell them they are saved are proven to be unfaithful and downright dangerous when placed in the context of Nineveh at its crucial hour. If a preacher’s message wouldn’t have saved Nineveh, then it surely cannot save you nor I nor anyone else on Judgment Day.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:38-41 prove that we surely ought to relate the response of the men of Nineveh to Jonah’s preaching to the way we ought to respond to Jesus Christ in order to inherit salvation through Him on Judgment Day.

The evil that God said He would do to the Ninevites is a reference to destruction or calamity; not to moral evil. He didn’t change by not bringing the calamity on the Ninevites. The Ninevites rather changed in accordance with what God required of them. Therefore, He dealt with them differently than He would have had they persisted in wickedness. He is not unstable nor a partial respecter of persons.

There are multitudes who teach in Christ’s name which say that telling people that they ought to respond like the Ninevites is opposing God’s mercy and grace. And yet, one of the most notable stories in the Bible of people obtaining His mercy and grace is that of the Ninevites.

Those who deny or minimize the fear of God might abuse a passage like 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” However, “fear” in 1 John 4:18 is a reference to dread of God. The Ninevites’ rightly understood that they ought to be in dread of God when they were unrepentant in sin. The Bible certainly teaches that we are required to both fear and love God. John would proceed to make clear in 1 John 5:3 and 2 John verse 6 that loving God means keeping His commandments. 1 John 4:18 is teaching that those who fear God in truth and walk in the terms of His covenant do not need to fear His punishment. The Lord spared Nineveh after it repented. The Ninevites who repented didn’t need to dread anymore- as long as they continued to fear Him by shunning what is evil and doing what is right in His eyes. They could thereby have a true confidence of remaining in His grace.

Sadly, in Jonah chapter 4 Jonah is going back on his repentance and returning to his evil way which he was walking in when he was fleeing to Tarshish- since he hoped for Nineveh to be destroyed even though the Lord had accepted the repentance of its inhabitants (at least very many of them) and was willing to spare the city. If the Ninevites had chased Jonah out or ignored him or simply not repented like they did, Jonah’s hope that the city would be destroyed would not be sinful if he was truly seeking God’s name to be vindicated thereby.

It is seen in the Lord’s dealing with Jonah near the Book of Jonah’s ending, and by His question to Jonah which the book closes with, that He does have immense care for His creation- particularly for people who are made in His image. However, it is obvious that He still would not have spared the city if there was not massive repentance among the grown inhabitants of Nineveh who were accountable to Him. When innocent small children and animals die in acts of God’s judgment upon a people, this is not due to Him having ill will towards them. It is rather a demonstration of the horrid nature of sin and a consequence of the persistence in sin by those who are truly guilty before Him.