Jonah
24/01/21 04:43
The Book of Jonah is a fairly short read - about the length of one of my journal entries at 1,082 words in the original Hebrew. The length of the book can vary depending on which translation you read, but it doesn’t take much time. It is not, however, the shortest book of the bible. In fact, you could read 3 John, 2 John and Philemon in fewer words than Jonah. Here is an interesting challenge. Place markers in your bible, set a timer for 15 minutes and read the 5 shortest books of the bible: 3 John, 2 John, Philemon, Obadiah, and Jude. Not only will you be able to do it, you then can say that you have read Obadiah, which, according to one blog post I read is the least favorite and least read book of the bible.
Unlike the epistles and prophets, however, Jonah is a narrative story. It reads easily and quickly. When I was living inside the lectionary and preaching regularly, we would encounter a reading from Jonah every three years on the third Sunday after Epiphany. I know that I commented to the congregation several times that they should go home and read the entire book. I’ve read the entire book out loud several times and it doesn’t take that much longer than the readings from scripture in a normal worship service.
The story of Jonah is fascinating, and not just because of the bit about getting swallowed by a great fish and (I like the King James translation here) vomited onto the shore. It is a classic tale of redirection. Jonah tries to run away from God’s call and God intervenes. Jonah ends up complying with the call. But the story doesn’t stop there. Today’s reading tells part of the rest of the story:
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying,"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across.Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:1-5, 10 NRSV)
It depends on your perspective. On the one hand, Jonah may be the Bible’s least successful prophet. If you shall know a prophet by his fruits, he didn’t make an accurate prediction at all. He says that Nineveh will be overthrown in 40 days. It doesn’t happen. God changed his mind. On the other hand, he might be described as the Bible’s most successful prophet. He succeeds in getting the people to change. He cries out the threat of punishment and the people believe in God, proclaim a fast, and turned from their evil ways. WOW! Imagine if someone could have that kind of impact in any American city today!
Even that is not the end of the story. Jonah is rather disappointed that after all he has gone through, he doesn’t get to see the destruction of the city. He gets depressed, sits down under a tree and proceeds to have a temper tantrum. Even the shade fails him. He tries to argue with God, but God has already made it clear by the events that have already occurred that Jonah isn’t going to win an argument with God. If you want God to change God’s mind, you have to repent like the people of Nineveh.
It is an amusing tale and one that our people have treasured for a very long time even though we often don’t know what to do with it. I don’t have much patience for those who want to explore the story as some kind of historical report. Whether or not it is possible for any fish to swallow a human being whole, whether or not someone could not only survive but find the life-sustaining resources to breathe and pray from within a huge fish, whether or not you would end up on dry land after such an adventure - these don’t seem like very interesting arguments to me. This isn’t one of the stories our people kept because they want to remember history accurately. It is closer to a kind of Paul Bunion tale that has been treasured because of its exaggeration and humor. It is a kind of morality tale about what happens when you try to ignore God’s call for your life.
Whatever the reason the ancients preserved the story and included it in our holy scriptures, it does stand out and, in my opinion, not because it is a short, quick read. It stands out for four words in the 10th verse that are truly amazing: “God changed his mind.”
Jonah invites us to think about the nature of God in a new way. It invites us to think about our own lives and our future in a new way as well. The future is not predetermined. God hasn’t set our judgment in stone, but rather allows our lives to unfold. Certainly God had the power to stop Jonah from boarding the ship headed far across the sea to Tarshish. Jonah was given quite a bit of leeway to head in the wrong direction before ending up in Nineveh. On the other hand, God is not a disinterested observer in the story of Jonah. God actively participates to get Jonah headed in the right direction and to save the people of Nineveh.
Even when we don’t know all of the reasons the story has been so long treasured and told, it does seem worth our time to give it a read now and then. You can do it in the time it took you to read my journal today.
Unlike the epistles and prophets, however, Jonah is a narrative story. It reads easily and quickly. When I was living inside the lectionary and preaching regularly, we would encounter a reading from Jonah every three years on the third Sunday after Epiphany. I know that I commented to the congregation several times that they should go home and read the entire book. I’ve read the entire book out loud several times and it doesn’t take that much longer than the readings from scripture in a normal worship service.
The story of Jonah is fascinating, and not just because of the bit about getting swallowed by a great fish and (I like the King James translation here) vomited onto the shore. It is a classic tale of redirection. Jonah tries to run away from God’s call and God intervenes. Jonah ends up complying with the call. But the story doesn’t stop there. Today’s reading tells part of the rest of the story:
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying,"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across.Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:1-5, 10 NRSV)
It depends on your perspective. On the one hand, Jonah may be the Bible’s least successful prophet. If you shall know a prophet by his fruits, he didn’t make an accurate prediction at all. He says that Nineveh will be overthrown in 40 days. It doesn’t happen. God changed his mind. On the other hand, he might be described as the Bible’s most successful prophet. He succeeds in getting the people to change. He cries out the threat of punishment and the people believe in God, proclaim a fast, and turned from their evil ways. WOW! Imagine if someone could have that kind of impact in any American city today!
Even that is not the end of the story. Jonah is rather disappointed that after all he has gone through, he doesn’t get to see the destruction of the city. He gets depressed, sits down under a tree and proceeds to have a temper tantrum. Even the shade fails him. He tries to argue with God, but God has already made it clear by the events that have already occurred that Jonah isn’t going to win an argument with God. If you want God to change God’s mind, you have to repent like the people of Nineveh.
It is an amusing tale and one that our people have treasured for a very long time even though we often don’t know what to do with it. I don’t have much patience for those who want to explore the story as some kind of historical report. Whether or not it is possible for any fish to swallow a human being whole, whether or not someone could not only survive but find the life-sustaining resources to breathe and pray from within a huge fish, whether or not you would end up on dry land after such an adventure - these don’t seem like very interesting arguments to me. This isn’t one of the stories our people kept because they want to remember history accurately. It is closer to a kind of Paul Bunion tale that has been treasured because of its exaggeration and humor. It is a kind of morality tale about what happens when you try to ignore God’s call for your life.
Whatever the reason the ancients preserved the story and included it in our holy scriptures, it does stand out and, in my opinion, not because it is a short, quick read. It stands out for four words in the 10th verse that are truly amazing: “God changed his mind.”
Jonah invites us to think about the nature of God in a new way. It invites us to think about our own lives and our future in a new way as well. The future is not predetermined. God hasn’t set our judgment in stone, but rather allows our lives to unfold. Certainly God had the power to stop Jonah from boarding the ship headed far across the sea to Tarshish. Jonah was given quite a bit of leeway to head in the wrong direction before ending up in Nineveh. On the other hand, God is not a disinterested observer in the story of Jonah. God actively participates to get Jonah headed in the right direction and to save the people of Nineveh.
Even when we don’t know all of the reasons the story has been so long treasured and told, it does seem worth our time to give it a read now and then. You can do it in the time it took you to read my journal today.
