Everyone has received a request they would rather not fulfill: an inconvenient call, a task that requires facing someone we would rather keep our distance from. Few stories in the Bible capture this resistance as well as that of Jonah, a prophet who fled from his own calling.
Jonah was the son of Amittai, from Gath-Hepher in northern Israel, and had already prophesied about the restoration of the nation’s borders under King Jeroboam II. One day, however, God gave him a different command: go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and Israel’s sworn enemy, and preach against its wickedness.
Jonah set out, but in the opposite direction. He booked passage to Tarshish, at the far end of the known world, to flee from the presence of the Lord. A violent storm nearly split the ship in two, and the desperate sailors threw Jonah into the sea after discovering he was the cause of the raging wind.
A huge fish swallowed him, and for three days and three nights Jonah prayed in the depths, acknowledging that salvation comes from the Lord. Vomited onto dry land, he finally went to Nineveh and proclaimed the message he had so badly wanted to avoid. The whole city, from the king to the common people, repented.
It was exactly what Jonah feared: God forgave the Ninevites. Instead of joy, the prophet felt anger, and even asked to die because mercy had been extended to his enemies. God then used a simple plant, given and then taken away, to expose the real problem: Jonah’s heart was smaller than God’s heart.
The book ends without an answer from Jonah, only God’s question echoing: should he not have concern for such a great city? It is the same question that confronts any reader tempted to limit God’s grace to the people they like, or to the nations they consider deserving. God’s mission is greater than our prejudices.
