Jonah and his Journey Down, Down, Down
(NIV) Jonah 1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Let’s look for a moment at some of the minor prophets. When we read about Jeremiah, we see he is referred to as the weeping prophet. Habakkuk has been called the questioning prophet. But it seems to me that Jonah could be referred to as the angry prophet.
You see, God gave Jonah a prophecy some twenty years earlier, and then He was silent. But when God finally spoke, it was a word Jonah did not want to deliver.
Why would God want Jonah to deliver a message of salvation to the Ninevites? They were a cruel people and Jonah was convinced if he carried God’s word to them, they would repent and be saved.
So Jonah ran. He ran down to Tarshish, down to Joppa, down to the hold of the ship, and ultimately he went down into the belly of the fish. The farther he ran from God, the deeper he descended into darkness. Sin does that.
But after three days Jonah was resurrected, a changed man. Or was he?
Jonah delivered God’s word, and, as expected, the Ninevites repented and God relented. But rather than rejoicing, Jonah became so angry he threw himself a pity party.
Jeremiah wept, Habakkuk questioned, and Jonah gave into his anger. Of these three men, I would rather emulate Habakkuk, who ultimately saw God for who He is and praised Him.
May each of us be delivered from the things that would separate us from the One, True and the living God, and allow Him to lift us to the pinnacle of our faith.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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