“At the end of Jonah was an important message — it was bigger than the big fish.”
Ever wished people got what they deserved? For bad things to happen to bad people, or that they would drown in the consequences of their actions. That friend who betrayed your trust to have no friends; that ex who had cheated on you to be cheated on; that shrewd colleague to be found out and fired; and the list goes on. To give mercy simply means to withhold the punishment that is deserved. To practice mercy in these situations requires strength as it is only human to want what is fair.
The entire story of Jonah spoke of God’s mercy, from start to end. It began the moment God asked Jonah to send a warning to the people of Nineveh, to turn from their sins.
Where is Nineveh?
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria that laid on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. It was known as The Great City — highly populated and filled with riches, and The City of Sin — brimming with violence.
A merciless God would’ve destroyed the city without a word. Instead, God commissioned the prophet Jonah to warn Nineveh about the consequences of their sins. More than a warning, he sent an invitation to repent and to be spared of the disaster that was to come. God’s mercy was at work right from the beginning, but Jonah (who had the privilege of channelling God’s mercy) ran away.
Why did Jonah run away?
If he feared persecution, it was a reasonable excuse. God would’ve dealt with him similar to how he dealt with Joshua, Gideon, and many others. He would’ve told him, “Do not fear for I am with you.”
Fear wasn’t the reason.
Jonah knew that if the people of Nineveh repented, God wouldn’t have struck them down. He knew God’s character but he could not come to terms with it.
It was ignorance, pride, and shame that made him run away.
When God did not destroy Nineveh, Jonah said this:
“O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
— Jonah 4:2
There are a number of possible reasons as to why Jonah said the above:
- He didn’t think Nineveh deserved mercy.
- He felt ashamed that what he prophesied had not come to pass. As a result, his reputation and pride were scarred.
It’s like a soldier with his gun in position, ready to shoot the enemy, then the general commands to spare the victim.
“That’s our enemy, sir. They killed our comrades, destroyed our land. Why should we spare him?”
And the general replied,
“His hands are up and unarmed. His troop has been annihilated. Above these is the fact that he still belongs to someone. A son to a mother. At the end of the day, he is a fellow human being. The war is over, for what reason do we shoot him?”
Sometimes, we’re blinded by having sides — us versus them. When we have such narrow thinking, we are unable to see the bigger picture: that we’re all humans and God’s children. Imago Dei — made in the image of God.
“He knew God’s character but he could not come to terms with it.”
Jonah ran away but God’s mercy still remained, for both Nineveh and Jonah.
Firstly, God made sure that the message reached Nineveh.
Secondly, God did not give up on Jonah. He could’ve easily rebuked Jonah, sentenced him to his doom, and passed the mission on to another prophet, but God didn’t. He didn’t because he wanted Jonah to learn a meaningful lesson.
As the story goes, God caused a storm when Jonah was at sea. Jonah knew that he was the cause and asked the sailors to throw him off the boat. Instead of drowning to his death, God made a big fish swallow him and that was where Jonah lived for three days. Once again, God’s mercy at work.
Jonah repented and told God that he would go to Nineveh. He delivered the message and the king ordered everyone in Nineveh to repent. God saw that they had repented and spared them from being wiped out. Jonah became angry. The heat made it worse, so Jonah sat beneath a tree, overlooking the city; waiting to see what would happen to it.
God let a vine grow over his head to shade him and Jonah became happy, but God sent a worm to eat it up. Jonah was furious about what happened to the vine. (He seemed rather short-fused.)
God said,
“You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
— Jonah 4:10–11
Jonah was angry about the vine because his source of comfort from the heat had been taken away from him. It is likely that Jonah was a prophet who took pride in his relationship with God and in being a messenger for God. He may be God’s messenger but he did not share God’s heart.
Despite being at a higher spiritual place, there was still a lesson for him to learn. The fact that God was willing to teach him (through a real-life metaphor) was in itself God’s mercy for him. If God wasn’t compassionate, if God didn’t care, he would’ve left Jonah alone after the mission was completed.
God isn’t interested in the mission alone; He is interested in our personal spiritual growth. Let us never forget that. He may be a God of big things but He is also a personal God.
At the end of Jonah was an important message – it was bigger than the big fish.
“God isn’t interested in the mission alone, He is interested in our personal spiritual growth.”
The chapter ended with that. There is no further explanation on how Jonah responded to the metaphor, or if Jonah changed his perspective. It was a cliffhanger, and I’d like to think that it was purposely written that way. By leaving it open-ended, it gets the readers to ponder and think; to reflect. Truly, God is a creative God. The Bible is a literature and a work of written art on its own.
Life Application
What does mercy look like today?
It can come in the form of advice, caution, or even a warning. A warning letter given by the HR department is a chance to perform better. Mercy is not a threat. It is done out of goodwill. Neither is it a ticket to continue doing as we please. If we read on to the book of Nahum, we learn that Nineveh fell back to its evil ways. After Jonah, God had sent Nahum to cast his judgement upon the city.
Mercy can also come in the form of restrain. Let’s say a person does a terrible thing to you but if revealed publicly, it could destroy that person’s reputation. To act with mercy is to speak to the person while keeping it under wraps. If it affects more than one person, then whoever that’s involved should know. Beyond that is unnecessary and in many ways childish (especially when it comes to publishing our complaints on social media). Passive aggression, which is rampant these days, is the opposite of mercy.
Finding Jesus
A mentor once told me to see Jesus in the Old Testament. Here’s what I discovered:
- Nineveh’s first act of repentance gives a glimpse of God’s plan for the coming of Jesus.
- Mercy is in God’s nature from the very beginning. Jesus represents the fullness of mercy. All one had to do was to believe in him, repent wholeheartedly, and the sins are forgiven. It is mercy available 24/7.
