Introduction

This year, I decided once again to read my favorite Bible cover to cover. The book of Yonah, the fifth of the Minor Prophets, is more like the stories of the prophets found in the Historical Books in both form and content. The book gives us a brief glimpse into the life of Yonah, the “wrong-way prophet,” who ran from God and was swallowed by a fish. Throughout the book, we see evidence of God’s grace and His love for all people. So, why start with the fifth Minor Prophet? Because it was the first book I read as a child in Vacation Bible School!

The book conveys several key messages: God’s concern for Gentiles, exemplified by the sailors’ reverence for Him and Nineveh’s repentance; God’s grace, as shown in His mercy towards Nineveh; and His sovereignty over nature, illustrated through miraculous events. Yonah’s futile attempt to escape God’s calling serves as a warning against disobedience.

God Calls Yonah

1 ¹ The word of Adonai came to Yonah the son of Amitai: ² “Set out for the great city of Ninveh and proclaim to it that their wickedness has come to my attention.”

Yonah in Hebrew means “dove.” His father’s name, Amitai, means “faithful is Yahweh.” Ninveh, on the east bank of the Tigris River, became the Assyrian capital after 705 BC, well after Yonah’s day. Its ruins are found in the northern part of modern Iraq, opposite the city of Mosul, 220 miles northwest of Baghdad. For Yonah, Nineveh was an arduous journey of over 500 miles northeast of Samaria. His probable route -first traveling north and then east – would have made the trip closer to 600 miles. God’s holiness is offended by sin. He showed Himself judge of the world by holding these distant pagans accountable for their wickedness, though He also showed His mercy by commanding His prophet to warn them.

Yonah Runs Away

³ But Yonah, in order to get away from Adonai, prepared to escape to Tarshish. He went down to Yafo (Jappa), found a ship headed for Tarshish, paid the fare, and went aboard, intending to travel with them to Tarshish and get away from Adonai.

The phrase “to Tarshish” is repeated three times in this verse to underscore that Yonah is not going to Nineveh. Tarshish, an unknown locale associated with distant coastlands, was in the western Mediterranean – the opposite direction from Nineveh. The presence of the Adonai is repeated at the end of this verse to underscore Yonah’s purpose in going to Tarshish. The suggestion is that each step away from the presence of the Lord is one step closer to “going down” to death.

Yonah’s Thrown into the Sea

4 However, Adonai let loose a violent wind over the sea, which created such stormy conditions that the ship threatened to break to pieces.

Sometimes God sends storms of severity to bring His children into port safely. Such was Yonah’s case. This storm was not God’s punishment for Yonah, but it showed His patience with Yonah. You see, had Yonah listened, through the howling wind of the storm, he could have heard God’s voice saying, “I’m not going to let you go, Yonah. I love you very much. So, blow, wind, blow.”

⁵ The sailors were frightened, and each cried out to his god. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship easier for them to control. Meanwhile, Yonah had gone down below into the hold, where he lay, fast asleep. ⁶ The ship’s captain found him and said to him, “What do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Maybe the god will remember us, and we won’t die.”

Yonah’s spiritual decline is depicted in parallel with the descriptions of his response to God’s call. He was told to “set out” (v. 2) to go to Nineveh, but instead he “went down to Yafo” (v. 3), “went down” to the ship (v. 3), and finally Yonah went down below into the hold. Eventually, he will be swallowed by a fish and sink to the foundations of the mountains at the bottom of the sea (2:6). Only then did he hit bottom and begin to go back up. His deep sleep amid a storm also symbolizes his spiritual condition. It may have been a symptom of depression stemming from his willful disobedience.

⁷ Then they said to each other, “Come, let’s draw lots to find out who is to blame for this calamity.” They drew lots, and Yonah was singled out. ⁸ They said to him, “Tell us now, why has this calamity come upon us? What work do you do? Where are you from? What is your country? Which is your people?”

The sailors’ pagan worldview held that misfortune was the fault of an angry god. They asked Yonah questions to seek to pacify his angry god.

⁹ He answered them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear Adonai, the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ At this, the men grew terrified and said to him, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew he was trying to get away from Adonai, since he had told them.

Hebrew is an ethnic term used to identify Israelites in international contexts (e.g., Genesis 40:15; Exodus 1:19; 1 Samuel 4:6). Yonah claims to fear the Lord, but his actions contradict his confession. God of heaven refers to the universal and supreme God who created the sea (see Ezra 1:2; Nehemiah 2:20; Daniel 2:37). Ironically, Yonah confesses to fear the God who controls the sea, which Yonah is crossing to escape from the presence of God (Yonah 1:3). The sailors who were “afraid” (v. 5) are now terrified.

¹¹ They asked him, “What should we do to you, so that the sea will be calm for us?”- for the sea was getting rougher all the time. ¹² “Pick me up,” he told them, “and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you, because I know it’s my fault that this terrible storm has come over you.” ¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard, trying to reach the shore. But they couldn’t, because the sea kept growing wilder against them.

It would have been natural for these pagans to hurl Yonah overboard immediately, but they did not. The sea was getting rougher all the time, and God was not ready to have Yonah delivered to dry land.

¹⁴ Finally, they cried to Adonai, “Please, Adonai, please! Don’t let us perish for causing the death of this man, and don’t hold us to account for shedding innocent blood, because you, Adonai, have done what you saw fit.” ^[1]

Next, we will continue to explore Yonah (Jonah).

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^[1] Yonah 1:1-14.