When you are little growing up in church, the story of Jonah is always one of the favorites! It can also be a favorite for grown-ups when we learn the lessons from the Book of Jonah!

Grab your Bible and favorite drink, get cozy, and read Jonah. Then, let’s go on a journey together to find how much compassion and mercy God shows Jonah and us.

The background

The Book Jonah records the historical events before the city of Nineveh was destroyed. (Around 612 B.C.) This book was written by the Prophet Jonah himself. 

The Call

Jonah lived in a town called Gath Hepher near Nazareth. One day, God called Jonah and told him to travel to Nineva and give them a message that God would destroy the city.

The lesson

For many of us, when God calls us, we do not hear an actual voice. (But some do!) When God calls us, He will speak to us through His Word and others. 

Sometimes, I wish God would put up flashing neon lights with bells and whistles so that I knew when He was calling me on a mission!

For me, if I keep seeing or hearing the same thing over and over, that’s when I need to stop and pray. Because that is when God is calling me to do something for Him; when He calls us, we are to go. 

The Scenic Route

Jonah made the choice that he would go as far away from Nineva as he could. So he headed to Joppa, hopped on a boat to Tarshis, and napped. 

The lesson

Many times, we are like Jonah. We hear God call us, but maybe, like Jonah, we are afraid. 

Jonah was to go to an evil people, believing they shouldn’t be saved. But he knew God was a compassionate God and could save them. 

When God calls us, we often do not get details of what He is calling us to do, and we wonder if we even heard Him call us. He doesn’t tell us everything initially, so then we doubt Him. 

We have sins in our lives that we want to hide from God; we struggle with doubt, pain, and fear that we are not good enough. 

We run just like Jonah did when God called us. 

The Storm

Well, the scenic route was quite stormy. Once the boat was off and sailing, the most significant storm began. Experienced sailors were terrified. They were calling out to their gods for help. But nothing could calm the storm.

The lesson

When God calls us, and we run, He will send a storm to get our attention. It may not be an actual storm like Jonah was in, but the world around us is stormy. 

While the sailors were crying out to their gods and Jonah was asleep, the storm raged. Nothing the sailors did was stopping it. Only the One that created the waters, and the wind could calm them. 

A Strange Solution

The captain finds Jonah asleep as the sailors toss their gear and cargo overboard. He wakes Jonah and tells him to cry to his God; maybe He could save them. 

Jonah tells the sailors that he is a Hebrew and has disobeyed the God of heaven, who made the seas and the dry land. Then, he told them to toss him overboard.

The lesson

Jonah claims he fears the Lord. To fear the Lord is to follow His commands and to turn away from evil. (Job28:28) 

We say we fear the Lord, but our actions may show something different. Each day, we have choices, and how we respond reveals what we fear.

Fear can make everything bigger, scarier, and more terrifying than it is, and we fall into its trap very quickly. 

When we fear the Lord with awe and reverence, we obey Him. 

The Storm Grows Bigger

Now, the sailors didn’t want to toss a man overboard, so they thought they could row closer to shore and then dump Jonah off. But the more they tried, the bigger the waves got. So, the only thing they could do to save themselves was to toss Jonah over. 

The lesson

Jonah is slowly getting the message that he was wrong in running and that the only way to save the sailors was to be thrown overboard. 

He knows he has sinned against God.

The storm is raging and appears overwhelming, but this is the time God uses it to purify our sins and make us more like His Son. 

Instant Calm

As soon as the sailors tossed Jonah overboard, the storm stopped! The sailors were amazed and seized with great fear of the Lord. They offered sacrifices and made vows to follow God.

The lesson

The sailor’s gods cannot save them. They tried everything they could think of, and nothing calmed the storm. 

They realize that the only One that could save them is the God of Israel, so they cry out to Him and are saved! Can you imagine being a sailor on that boat in a storm that had the power to kill you? Then a man says he has sinned, the storm is his fault, and to throw him overboard. Then you toss him over, and the storm instantly stops… 

The cool thing about Jonah is that God called Jonah to go to Nineveh to save wicked people. The sailors repented and were saved because Jonah was on the boat running away! 

Even when we run away, God can still use us to save those around us.

The Great Fish

Now Jonah is in the middle of the waves and sinking. God appoints a great fish to come and swallow him. Jonah will spend three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish.

The lesson

Jonah has been thrown from the boat and is now sinking into the raging sea. All seems lost, but God has a plan!

God is the Creator of all things; He is the One who made the storm come up and is the One that calmed it. He will do anything and use anything to accomplish His will. 

Jonah tried but could not run away from God’s plan. God comes to Jonah’s rescue by sending a great fish to swallow Jonah. 

Like Jonah, we cannot run away and hide from God. We fall into the pit of sin, and there is no way to save ourselves. 

God will use whatever He needs to get our attention. It may be ugly and uncomfortable at the time, but God shows us kindness and mercy to rescue us.

We need Someone to save us.

Repentance

While Jonah is in the belly of the great fish, he is at his lowest point and cries out to God. When Jonah repents, God commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.

The lesson

Jonah is now in the belly of the fish, and something inside him is beginning to change. He has seen God’s wrath and escaped death with God’s mercy. 

Jonah prayed. He is remembering and giving thanks. He is thanking God for delivering him from the depths of the sea using the fish.

Jonah’s rebellion caused his situation and could have ended in death. He is remembering God because when he cried out, God answered him.

We are never too far gone that God can’t save us. We reject Him, and we disobey Him. Most often, the trouble we are in is from our own sins.

Call upon the Lord; He hears us, and He will answer.

The Recommissioning

God calls Jonah a second time and tells him to go to Nineveh and tell them God is planning to destroy the city. Jonah got up and went! He gave the message to the people of Nineva, and they repented. 

The lesson

God hasn’t given up on Jonah! Sure, He could have changed His mind and called Someone else to go to Nineveh, but God planned to bring sanctification to Jonah. 

God called Jonah a second time. Jonah’s obedience the second time is very different from the rebellion in his calling at the beginning. Jonah still has a long road ahead to transformation. 

Jonah went to Nineveh and gave them the message from God. He is hoping the Ninevites will be destroyed because they are an evil people and are Gentiles. They don’t deserve God’s grace and compassion.

God gives us second chances, too. We will doubt, try doing things our way, or outrightly disobey, but God still calls us to go.

God didn’t give up on Jonah; He won’t give up on us.

An Unhappy Jonah

After the people of Nineveh repented, Jonah got mad. He did what God told him to do, and the people did what God told them to do, and yet Jonah had other ideas of what should have happened and was mad at God.

The lesson

Nineveh was a city known for its evil ways of violence, wickedness, and harsh cruelty; it repented and was now transformed by God’s word. When the king of Nineveh hears the message from Jonah, he immediately repents and calls for the entire nation to do the same. 

The Ninevites are confronted with their sin, mourn over it, and then call upon God to forgive them. God shows mercy on them instead of the judgment He threatened.

Jonah is furious and burning with anger that God showed compassion to the people of Nineveh. He thinks it’s an injustice and would rather die than live in a world where the Ninevites receive mercy. 

Our hearts are wretched and desperately wicked. We are like Jonah and often withhold mercy from others. When we withhold compassion and forgiveness from others, we miss the great compassion and grace God lavishes on us.

No one deserves God’s mercy and compassion, but He gives it to us freely.

Unanswered Question

While Jonah sat in his anger, God appointed a plant to shade him and a worm to attack the plant, and it withered. Then God appointed an east wind to blow and the scorching sun to beat down on Jonah. Jonah was so mad he yelled back at God and told Him it would be better if he died. Then God asks Jonah a question.

The lesson

Jonah has left the city and is camping on a hill overlooking the town. He still hoped God would change His mind and destroy the city, and he wanted a good viewing location! 

While Jonah is sitting and waiting in a shelter that does not protect him from the sun and heat, God shows compassion, appoints a plant to grow over him, and offers relief. Jonah is pleased—the following day, a worm attacks the plant and withers away. 

Jonah’s anger boils again, and he cries out that he would rather die than go on living.

We often get mad at God when we think He didn’t do something we thought He should have or the answer we wanted was not what we wanted it to be.  

Our desires do not reflect the heart of God; instead, they reflect our sinful nature, and because of our evil desires, we miss the opportunity to show compassion to others.

Through God’s tender mercies, He rescues us from the pit time and time again. 

God is a compassionate God.

The Book of Jonah ends with God asking a question, and it’s left unanswered. 

Jonah and the whale have special meaning to me!

For a long time, my kids, daughter mostly! I have said I should write a book. I always laugh and tell them God hasn’t shared that with me yet. 

We began to tease, and she would let me know I was being Jonah and not doing what God was telling me to do.

Whenever we saw a whale, she would point it out and remind me that I was going to write a book. And let me tell you…whales are everywhere!!

We even did a Bible study on Jonah and learned this book is full of God’s mercy and compassion for Jonah and all of us. 

One who would be better than Jonah

The Book of Jonah points to Jesus. The Pharisees in the Book of Matthew ask Jesus to show them a sign. He tells them the only sign they will receive will be the sign of Jonah. 

A Sign

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. Jesus would spend three days and three nights in the depths of death. 

God called Jonah to leave his home and go and take His word to an evil lost people, but Jonah ran away.

God called His Son Jesus to leave His throne and go to a world lost in sin. Jesus willingly answered the call.

Obedience

Jonah believed obeying would lead to pain, so he ran as far away from God as he thought he could get.

Jesus knew what it was going to take to obey God’s call. The excruciating suffering, the rejection, the mocking, the fullness of God’s wrath poured upon Him. He answered, ” Not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42-44).

Jonah did everything to avoid taking the saving message of mercy to sinners.

Jesus did everything He could, even dying on the cross to rescue us from the depths of sin. 

Storms

Through Jonah’s sin, he caused others to be in a storm of God’s judgment.

Jesus calms the storms we are in.

Crying Out

Jonah cried out in the belly of the fish, “I am driven from Your sight.” But God never left him.

Jesus cried out while hanging on the cross, ” My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” God separated Himself from Jesus so we can draw close to Him through His sacrifice.

God’s Word

Jonah received God’s Word and finally delivered it to the sinners after he took a detour.

Jesus is The Word Made Flesh and came to give those words to save sinners.

Mercy

Jonah wanted to die rather than see the Ninevites given mercy.

Jesus died so we can have mercy.

God loves us!

When we read and study the Book of Jonah, may we find God’s compassion and mercy and not just a strange story of a whale swallowing a man who ran away. May it go deeper into us. May it change our hearts so we can show compassion and mercy to those around us. That is what He is calling us to.

What a journey!

Will I write my book?! I’m still waiting for God to tell me, but I know I’m having fun with this blog right now, and I just began! If He does ask me to write, then I’m ready!

Thank you, friend, for spending time with me and learning about Jonah. I pray you reread it, watch for God’s mercy, and let it change your heart.

Blessings!