By Todd Paetznick, October 10, 2024
Jonah is mainly known for his experience being swallowed by a sea creature. But his entire story about why he became fish food tells us a great deal about God and how we should think about people we consider our enemies.
Jonah ran away from what God had asked him to do. God told him to go and tell the people of the city of Nineveh that they needed to change their evil ways, or God was going to wipe out their town with them in it. It seemed like a simple task, but Jonah’s bias got in the way. Jonah caught a boat and headed in the opposite direction God wanted, away from Nineveh.
The Backstory
Nineveh was the capital city of ancient Assyria, one of the great and powerful empires of the day. The Assyrians were well-known, feared, and hated by the people living in neighboring nations. Their reputation for cruelty and brutality significantly contributed to how outsiders thought of them. Outsiders, including Jonah, would have celebrated the death of all Assyrians. Perhaps, in Jonah’s mind, Nineveh would have been destroyed if he had not done as God asked. They would never have changed if they had never heard that they needed to change their ways and repent. This was the outcome that Jonah and the other enemies of the Assyrian people would have preferred. They wanted to finally feel safe and live in relative peace without the Assyrian threat hanging over their heads.
Jonah’s Story
Jonah’s attempt to escape from fulfilling the mission God had sent him on was met with the corrective actions of a storm and a fish. Jonah’s preaching to the people of Nineveh was successful; the city’s people repented. But Jonah was not happy with their repentance; he wanted to witness their destruction (Jonah 4:1). He found a place outside the city where he could watch (4:5). When God did not destroy the city, Jonah became angry. But God was not done with Jonah; He wanted to teach him a lesson in compassion.
At the end of the biblical account, God said to Jonah, “Should I not also have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not know [the difference] between their right hand and their left [young children], [as well as] many animals?” (Jonah 4:11 NASB20).
God was not exclusively on the side of the Israelites or the people oppressed by the Assyrians. God’s love and compassion extended beyond His chosen people despite the brutality of the Assyrians. This is not what we would expect, but it tells us much about God’s attitude toward people we consider enemies and outsiders. As Christ-followers, our mission is to tell other people about God’s love, peace, and forgiveness. In our pride, we should not presume to be better than anyone or choose who those “other people” are. God desires that all people willingly become His followers (1 Timothy 2:4). His mercy is extended even to those we might not consider worthy.
The After Story
Historically, the ancient city of Nineveh is located in modern Iraq. On July 24, 2014, ISIS blew up the tomb of Jonah, situated in the remains of the ancient city of Nineveh, in an attempt to erase reminders of anything not associated with Islam. Extra-biblical stories pick up Jonah’s story where the biblical account leaves off. They say Jonah gained compassion for his former enemies, the Assyrian people. According to the accounts, he spent the remainder of his life ministering to the people of Nineveh. A tomb was erected to commemorate Jonah’s life and the memory of what he had done for the people, his former enemies. Jonah’s tomb stood at the site for thousands of years before ISIS blew it up.
NPR Story, “Video Shows Islamic State Blowing up Iraq’s Tomb of Jonah”
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