The divided kingdom · Jonah 1–4
Jonah and Nineveh
God sends Jonah to cry out against Nineveh, the great city whose wickedness has come up before him. The prophet runs the other way: at Joppa he boards a ship for Tarshish, “from the presence of the LORD.” The LORD sends out a great wind. Singled out by lot, Jonah admits he is running from his God and tells the sailors to throw him into the sea, which immediately grows calm. A great fish swallows him; for three days and three nights Jonah prays inside it: “Salvation is of the LORD.” Spat out onto dry land, he finally obeys and proclaims, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” From the king to the livestock, the whole city fasts, puts on sackcloth, and turns from evil; God relents from destroying it. Furious, Jonah settles east of the city. God makes a plant grow up and then wither to help him grasp his compassion for more than a hundred and twenty thousand people.
What happens
- Jonah flees toward Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD Jonah 1:3
- Thrown into the sea, Jonah calms the storm Jonah 1:15
- Three days and three nights in the belly of the fish Jonah 1:17
- “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4
- Nineveh repents, and God relents from the judgment Jonah 3:10
- The plant and the lesson of God’s compassion Jonah 4:10–11
Who is in this story
The lesson
We cannot run from God, and his mercy is bigger than our prejudices: he wants even our enemies to repent and live. Jesus saw in Jonah’s three days a sign of his own resurrection (Matt 12:40).
And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Quick quiz on this story
Which city does Jonah flee toward instead of going to Nineveh?
Jonah went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, to flee “from the presence of the LORD.” Jonah 1:3
How long does Jonah stay in the belly of the fish?
The LORD prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in its belly “three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17
How much time does Jonah announce before Nineveh is destroyed?
After a day’s journey into the city, Jonah cried, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4
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