God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh to and preach against their wickedness. Jonah chose not to obey, but to take a boat in the opposite direction of Nineveh. On the boat, he went below deck and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, a huge storm came over the area and everyone on board became afraid for their lives. They called upon their various gods, to no avail. In verse 7 of chapter 1 it says that they cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity and that the lot fell on Jonah. He then explained that in order to stop the storm and save themselves, they would need to throw him in the sea. They did not want to do this, but ultimately realized that they must to save themselves. Prior to throwing him in, they asked forgiveness from God. Immediately after they threw him in, the sea grew calm. This caused the people to fear the Lord and offer him sacrifices.
God caused a large fish to come and swallow Jonah. Jonah spent 3 day and 3 nights there and prayed to the Lord. The Lord then commanded the fist to spit Jonah onto dry land. At this time Jonah followed God's request for him to go to Nineveh. On his first day in Nineveh, he proclaimed, " Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." Amazingly, the people headed his words, and fasted, and changed their ways. As a result of their changes, God had compassion on them and did not destroy them. Jonah became angry that God spared their lives.
There are a few things that I found particularly interesting. One being that the act of casting lots allowed them to determine that Jonah was the cause of the storm. I am not a Bible scholar, nor am I a history buff, so if you are aware of a more in depth explanation of this act, I welcome your input in the comments section. Basically, this seems to be a game of chance, a something that would be similar in today's world is flipping a coin. I found it interesting that God intervened and used something of chance to reveal the person responsible for the storm.
The second thing that stood out to me was that as a result of the immediate calming of the storm upon throwing Jonah in the men began to make sacrifices and vows to God. I saw this as pretty amazing that by witnessing one act these men, who had worshiped other gods turned to God because he had control of the wind and waves. I also saw this as a reminder that God can use us in the most unlikely ways and situations to bring others to know Him and His power.
The final thing that stood out to me was Jonah's reaction to the people of Nineveh's change in behavior. Initially when I read this, I expected him to be happy that he followed God and as a result had a part in the preservation of an entire city. I put myself in his place, I felt that I would have been relieved to know that I had done what was right and that I had received a visual confirmation of this in their conversion. Again, I think if I had a better understanding of the history relating to this story, I would be able to explain this better, again, I am unable. However, from the study section of my Bible, it explains that "The Jews did not want to share God's message with the Gentile nations in Jonah's day." (NIV Life Application Bible) Jonah believed that these people were evil and deserved to be destroyed for their choices. I have to be honest here, I am not proud to admit, but there have been times in my life when I have been like Jonah. There have been a few individuals in my life who hurt me so deeply that I wished condemnation on them. I have been guilty of saying that I wish they would die and go to Hell. I said that I refused to pray for them and their salvation, because I believed that they did not deserve God's grace and salvation. I am happy to admit that at this time, I have forgiven these people and I no longer wish such things upon them. Feel free to read my post on forgiveness for help learning how to forgive those who have wronged you here: http://www.followaprilsjourney.blogspot.com/2012/11/forgiveness.html
I also wonder what happened to Jonah after this. It seems that he became bitter as a result of this experience as he says that he is angry enough to die. In a quick internet search, I learned that we don't know more about Jonah's story from the Bible, as this is the last reference to him while he was alive. It makes me wonder if he gave up his ministry because of this one incident. If so, how sad.
I had something else that I was wondering about, but as I sit here writing, while trying to manage a toddler and keep him off of the computer, my last thing that I was pondering is gone. I'm sure it will come to me at some point.
I hope to never forget the important lesson I learned from Jonah and I hope to never be a Jonah again.
