A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to Nineveh

The book of Jonah is the sixth shortest book found in the Old Testament, which makes it a quick read. The literary style of Jonah’s story is a satire. Literary satire aims to make fun of a person, idea, or institution. An author’s motive for using satire is typically deeper than mere entertainment. The book of Jonah is different from all the other Old Testament prophetic books bearing a prophet's name, because it is not by Jonah but about Jonah. The Jonah narrative uses irony to expose some deep character flaws in this reluctant prophet.

As one reads Jonah’s short fish tale, it is vital to notice the many absurdities of this reluctant prophet’s journey. Also, remember that one of the other goals of ancient Hebrew literature is for the reader and hearer to meditate upon the stories themselves. (Psalms 1) Let’s highlight a few of Jonah’s main contradictions below and conclude with this whale-of-a-tale's ultimate point!

* God tells Jonah to preach to Nineveh, but He heads in the opposite direction
* Jonah is a prideful prophet who doesn’t like anyone who is not an Israelite
* Yet when running from God, he books passage with pagan sailors
* When confronted by God for disobedience via a storm, Jonah would rather die than preach to the people at Nineveh
* The pagan sailors worship God for his gracious mercy to them, but Jonah refuses and becomes fish food
* Jonah sort of repents in the belly of the fish!
* God gives Jonah a second chance, but not without a warning
One might ask how God warned Jonah. As a dear friend once told me, Jonah wasn’t just vomited upon the land; Jonah was vomit! (Think about it.)

* After the vomit warning, Jonah finally goes to Nineveh
* Jonah reluctantly preaches possibly the shortest sermon ever, and to Jonah’s surprise and dismay, everyone in Nineveh repents (Jonah 3:4)
* Notice what is not in Jonah’s sermon: no mention of the people's sin, no call to repent, and no mention of God!
* After the people repent, Jonah gets even angrier. In his deep anger, he quotes Exodus 34:6 in contempt of the LORD, saying he knew God was merciful & gracious, which is why Jonah ran in the first place
* God asks Jonah if his anger is justified
* After God asks about Jonah's anger, Jonah, with no response, sulks off to sit on a sun-baked hillside, obviously hoping the Ninevites did not truly repent and that God would destroy them in his sight
* Even in Jonah’s disgust, God is gracious to him and provides shade, yet Jonah still hates the people of Nineveh. God has a worm kill Jonah’s shade plant, leaving him in the sun
* Jonah faints in the windless day from the hot sun, wishing in his sleep that he had died, with the gourd.
* Jonah would rather die than live with forgiven pagans.
* In a parable, God asked Jonah why he could pity the loss of a gourd that God made and not pity other people whom God created. The story ends with God‘s question to Jonah unanswered.

So, what is the point of the Jonah story?

The New Testament writer James says the Word of God is like a mirror, which professing Christians are to hold up to their lives. (see James 1:23-25) The story of the good Samaritan asks us who our neighbors are. In 1 John 4:20, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” tells us: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” In Acts 17, Paul tells the Athenians that from one man(Adam), God created all men who inhabit the earth. Therefore, we are all brothers regardless of race, nationality, or whatever sins dominate our lives.

This leads us to one greater than them all: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who, when confronted by the Pharisees, Saducees, Lawyers, Scribes, and others like-minded with Jonah, actually quoted from the Book of Jonah.

Matthew 12:38-41 KJV
Then, certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. [39] But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: [40] For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

In conclusion, the satirical story of Jonah asks us to examine ourselves. Jonah is an Antitype of Jesus Christ. Jonah had a form of godliness, but he denied the true power of God, which is to love our neighbors as ourselves. We must ask ourselves: Are we like Jonah, who hated his brothers and thought only of himself, or are we striving to be like Jesus?