The Runaway Prophet (1)
／Andrew T. Wu
One biblical story that is well-known to all is the story of Jonah and the Whale. In reality, the whale story is only one quarter of a very humorous story from a very human book.
The story is recorded in the Book of Jonah in the Holy Bible.
The Prophet
The main character of the story is Jonah, a prophet of God. To our modern mind, a prophet is a fortune-teller, but according to the job description in the Bible, that is only half true. A prophet not only foretells events that will happen, but he also forth-tells the message of God. When God's directives came upon them, they had to reveal them to the people. That is why prophets were not welcomed by the people, for they did not make small talk, or mince words, but spoke as God had directed them - lock, stock and barrel.
Jonah is a prophet, and the meaning of his name is very suitable for a prophet. Jonah means "dove" - a symbol of peace. A prophet was to bring peace between man and God. Jonah, the dove, had been given the responsibility to reveal God's word in order to bring peace between God and those people who were willing to listen.
The Stage
As we read this story, we find that Jonah wants to run away from reality. He does not want to reveal God's word to the people in Nineveh. Nineveh is the oldest city in this world, and it was built by the great grandson of Noah, Nimrod. (Gen. 10) The city did not disappear until 621 BC. It served as the capital city of the super-power of the time, the Assyrian Empire. History tells us that the Assyrian Empire existed from 900-600 BC. It was built in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, in the middle of the Euphrates and the Tigris, the two most important rivers of the Middle East. Today this area is occupied by Iraq.
In 900BC many of the Assyrian kings got together to unite and expand the empire. This is how Assyria became the superpower of the day. The empire expanded from the Persian Gulf to Egypt. All the nations were very fearful of the Assyrian soldiers, because they were notorious for their cruelty. When they conquered a land, the soldiers would rob the city, and they would slaughter all its residence. Before killing the people, the soldiers would torture them in a most gruesome fashion: some were tied up and had their tongues pulled put and others were skinned alive. It is this cruel empire and its evil deeds that form the backdrop to the story of Jonah and the great fish.
The Interpretation
The story of Jonah is like a well-written novel: on the surface, it is a most interesting story, but on a deeper level, it proclaims profound things about life. Many people take the book as a record of historical fact. Others think of the book of Jonah as a parable for the society of that day: Jonah did not obey God, so God sent a fish to swallow him; this paralleled Israel which did not obey God and was attacked by the Assyrian empire.
How should we look at this book? The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, a language good for story telling. So Jonah is a story; it is not just facts and parables, but a story with a purpose. Through the unraveling of this story, we are to understand clearly the relationship between God and man. Throughout this story, we are shown that men are corrupt and God is merciful, just as Jonah declared: "I know that you are a gracious compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." (4:2) We will keep this declaration in our hearts as we walk with Jonah on his adventure; that way, we will have an understanding beyond the story line - an understanding of God's unfailing love towards mankind. As we study this book, we can learn to further appreciate the relationship between man and God - a majestic God showing His mercy and compassion to corrupt man.
The Story: Jonah, The Runaway Prophet
The story begins when the word of the Lord came upon Jonah, son of Amitai. How did the word came upon Him? It was not really that important to the prophets of the Old Testament. It was only important to know that God had spoken. Jonah clearly understood what God was saying and wanted him to do. The Lord came to him to say that he should go to the great city of Nineveh, the largest city of his day. The direction was very clear, and it left no questions or doubt in the mind of the prophet.
God also told Jonah what to do - he was to preach to its inhabitants. Why? Because there was so much sin in that city that it reached right up to heaven. This is quite an interesting thing for God to do. We solve the crimes around us by locking away the criminals, to incarcerate them for a long period of time, or by terminating their life by capital punishment. But here we see how much God cares for people, even for the evildoers. He gives them a second chance to turn from their evil ways. He could have sent a great fire or a quick flood to eradicate these evildoers from this world. But God didn't do that because He cared for humankind. He wanted to send them his prophet to warn the people about their wrongs, hoping that man would recognize his sins and repent and turn back to God. God was to send a dove as a peace offering to the City of Nineveh.
But instead of being a messenger of peace, Jonah ran from God's direction. Instead of traveling east by land to Nineveh, he headed west by sea to Tashish. In those days, Tashish was the most remote area in the known world. The world in those days revolved around the Mediterranean Sea, and Tashish was located just passed today's Gibralter Strait. Jonah went the opposite direction and to the farthest point. He was running away from God. Why?
Maybe Jonah was embarrassed. He was a Jew from a small unknown town of the colony; now he had to go to the metropolis of Nineveh and walk from street to street to preach aloud from the corners. This practice might not be kosher to the big city folks. He was embarrassed because he thought he would be the laughing stock of the people of Nineveh.
Maybe Jonah was fearful. He knew that these Assyrians were extremely cruel people, and now he was given the task to preach against them. He had to tell them right to their face that they had sinned. What would the result be? What would their reaction be? Would they be angry? Would he be tortured? Skinned alive? Would they pull out his tongue? Who would dare to preach against the Ninevites?
Maybe Jonah just didn't want to go. The Assyrians ruled Israel and the Israelites were very fearful of them. In the mind of Jonah, they were the Enemy Number One of his nation. If anyone deserved punishment, it would be them, and yet God asked him to warn them so that they may repent, and escape the just consequences of their sin. If Jonah never reached Nineveh, they would not be warned and they would receive their just discipline.
These are real possibilities, but there is another reason: Jonah had always been a prophet in the kingdom of Israel. In 2 Kings 23-25 we learn that Jonah spoke against the people during the time that Jereboam was King. Even though Jonah warned them over and over again, the people did not listen. God now instructed Him to leave Israel and go to the Gentiles. Maybe Jonah was wondering in his heart about the sudden change of task. Is god so angry with the Israelites that he is leaving them? Has God given up on them because they refused to obey Him? I think that Jonah was afraid that the nation of Israel was being abandoned by God. Therefore he went to the nearest seaport to go West. Instead of going to Nineveh by land, he went by sea. God wanted him to go to one end of the world, he choose to go to the other end. But God is super-national.
Jonah went to Joppa, bought a ticket, and got on a boat. He went to the bottom of the boat. He did not want to be on deck where God could see him. He went sleep below deck to avoid God. However God had a mission for Jonah and so he pursued Jonah.
(The author is the Pastor of Chinese Baptist Church in Coquitlam, Canada)
