Jonah

LeRoy Eims

It is an easy thing to see why Jonah turned and fled in the opposite direction when God sent him to Nineveh. They were in the process of destroying his people. Is it any wonder that he hesitated to preach a message that would very likely prolong their life as a nation? Jonah has been criticized for doing this, but put yourself in his boots.

Suppose there was a group of people in your city, who were set on exterminating your family and you were asked to go and help them in some way. Naturally you would think twice before you gave aid to the people who were out to burn your house and harm your loved ones. Jonah had a fear and dread of this brutal and relentless military machine that was closing in on God's people.

God's way of finally getting Jonah to Nineveh is one of the best known stories in the world. While fleeing in the opposite direction, he was cast overboard, swallowed by a great fish which took him to Joppa. From there he went to Nineveh and preached the message of God. Jonah had not come to seek their repentance, but to announce their doom. They did in fact repent, much to Jonah's chagrin (Jonah 3:10 ‑ 4:2).

In historical sequence, Jonah was the first of all the prophets. He prophesied to the northern kingdom. Nineveh was a great pagan city renowned for its magnificence and corruption. Perhaps it was the leading city of the Gentile world. It was the capitol of Assyria. Its greatness must have made quite an impression on Jonah as he viewed the palaces, public buildings and great temples.

The circumference of the city was 60 miles. It was surrounded by walls one hundred feet high, and so broad that three chariots could drive abreast upon them. The wall had 1,500 towers, each 200 feet in height. In its treatment of captives, Assyria practiced every form of cruelty. No wonder Jonah was reluctant to go to them with his message.

It seems that this miracle related in the book of Jonah is one of the most difficult to believe of all the miracles in the Bible. It seems strange to me that the same people who celebrate Easter have great difficulty with the credibility of this story of Jonah and the great fish.

The same God is at work in each case. It seems to me that the issue is settled when we discover that our Lord Jesus accepted the edibility of Jonah and his preservation in the belly of the fish.

In fact, Christ used it as a type of His own burial and resurrection in Matthew 12:38-41. In that passage our Lord made use of the story of Jonah in foretelling his glorious victory over death. As Jonah was miraculously preserved and delivered, so he would be three days in the grave and would be miraculously raised to life. “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he, answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet, Jonah; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here."

One of the great lessons of the Book of Jonah was directed to the people of the northern kingdom who were living in sin away from God. In spite of the fact that down through the years they had seen the wonderful works of God, they had continuously turned their backs on Him.

Here was a nation of pagans who knew not the Lord who repented at the preaching of Jonah. Thus, for over 150 years the overthrow of Assyria was postponed. She was to rise to power again and was to be the instrument in the hand of God for the fall and captivity of this same Israel.

God's word cannot be broken. His word is true.