Jonah – A Fishy Tale

In 48 verses, the Book of Jonah is a high speed read. A couple of pages that’s all. A small book maybe but a big message definitely.

The overall drift of the narrative explores the character of God in His determination to bless the nations and involve His sometimes reluctant people in that process.

Of course it contains the account of the big storm and the big fish . I nearly suggested “A Whale of a tale” as the title for the series. But I didn’t want us to get hooked on what is actually a bit of a red Herring!

What I really think we need to grasp, through this story of one man’s futile attempt to outrun God, is that the Lord is more concerned to rescue people than we can appear to be.

The racial and theological prejudice that infects Jonah’s world view , as well as God’s invincible grace to this man, who at the end of the book gets the prophetic hump , combine to produce a dramatic tale of twists and turns.

In the account, Jonah always seems to wish he is somewhere else other than where God wants him to be. On a boat as far away from his calling as possible. In the deep, overwhelmed by God’s strange rescue; back on land with a second chance and then sitting under a big tree while revival breaks out in Nineveh.

Jonah had promised the Assyrians judgement. But when in the unfathomable mercy of His Sovereignty the Lord changes His mind, Jonah bemoans what he had always suspected about God- He’s far too loving and kind!

This becomes the perverse reason for Jonah to offer his resignation as a prophet. We don’t know if God accepts Jonah’s notice. The book ends with the tantalising question that the lord puts to Jonah, “you are more concerned about the environment than about the moral and eternal welfare of 120,000 people?” We never find out what Jonah does next.

But what we do know is that Jesus quotes the story and makes it an allegorical sign of his own resurrection after three days in the depths of the earth.

For ultimately God sent His Son not a storm or a sea monster to bring us back to Him and bless the nations through him.

Join us in person or online for this new sermon series from Sunday morning August 14.

Peter Baker