Jonah Rescues His Enemies . . . Eventually

© Jeannie St. John Taylor

God said, “Jonah, get up and go to the huge city of Nineveh! Tell them I have seen how wicked they are. If they don’t repent, I will punish them.”

Jonah squinted into the hot sun, toward the desert where Nineveh was located. “Nineveh is an Assyrian city and they are the cruelest people on earth,” he thought. “The Assyrians  want to destroy my people and take our houses. If I warn them, they will repent and God won’t destroy them.” He crossed his arms, pushed out his lower lip and turned his back to Nineveh. “But I want him to wipe them out. I’ll run away.”

 He started walking away from Nineveh and toward the Mediterranean Sea. At the port of Joppa he bought a ticket on a boat headed to Tarshish, a city as far away from Nineveh as he could get. He boarded the ship and climbed down to the dark hold to take a nap. He didn’t know God had been watching him the whole time and could see him in the dark bottom of the ship.

While Jonah slept, the LORD flung a powerful wind over the sea. It whipped up the water and terrified all the sailors. They pulled against the oars trying to row ashore, but they couldn’t. They threw cargo overboard. That didn’t help. Wild waves tossed the boat.

Finally, the captain woke Jonah so the sailors could cast lots to find out who had offended God and caused the storm. When the lot fell to Jonah, he hung his head in shame. “This terrible storm is my fault,” he admitted. “I am running away from the LORD. You better throw me overboard.”

“We don’t want to cause your death,” the sailors told Jonah. They tried even harder to row ashore. Rain drove against their faces. Waves crashed over the sides of the ship. “We’re going to die!” shouted the sailors.

“If you throw me overboard,” Jonah said, “the storm will stop.”  He felt hands grab his arms and legs as the sailors picked him up and pitched him into the air. Jonah flew over the side of the ship and plunged into the cold water. Immediately, the storm stopped.

Water closed over Jonah’s head. He held his breath and churned his arms and legs, but he sank down, down to the heart of the sea. His lungs felt as though they would burst. Swaying seaweed wrapped around him. He closed his eyes and tried to claw it away from his face. “I’m trapped,” he thought. “I’m going to die.”

Something bumped him. He opened his eyes to see a huge fish gliding past. The creature circled then swam back toward him, it’s mouth a gaping black cave. “Dear God, help me!” he prayed just before he passed out.

Jonah awoke coughing and choking in a cramped cave that smelled of decaying fish. The cave swayed sideways. “Is this how it feels to be dead?” he wondered. Jonah reached out to steady himself and his hand sunk into the soft wall of the cave. He was inside the fish! The fish hadn’t killed him, it had saved his life!

For now.

From his dark prison, Jonah cried out to the Lord. “Oh, LORD my God, you have snatched me from death!” Hours passed and he continued to praise the LORD and beg for mercy. He knew now that God could see him and hear him even in the dark. Even inside the fish. But would the LORD rescue him?

“Only you can help me, LORD,” Jonah begged. “Please save me.”

Three long days dragged by while Jonah called to the LORD. Not a single ray of light penetrated the darkness around him. He wondered how long it would be before his air ran out or the stomach juices of the fish started eating him alive?

Unexpected, the cave convulsed violently and the fish spit Jonah onto a beach. Jonah collapsed onto dry ground laughing and praising God.

That’s when Jonah heard God’s voice giving him a second chance. “Arise, go to Nineveh, and call out against it the message I gave you.”

“God sent a fish to save my life when I disobeyed him,” thought Jonah. “And he’s sending me to save the lives of the people of Nineveh even though they are disobeying him. Even though they may continue to be the enemies of my people.”

Jonah walked many miles across the desert to the city and warned the Assyrians of Nineveh to stop their cruelty and wickedness. All the people – even the king -- listened to Jonah and repented. Everyone in the city fasted to God, turned from violence and stopped doing evil.

Because Jonah warned his enemies of God’s wrath, God relented and spared the lives of thousands of men, women and children.