Out of the Whale and into God’s Call

Jonah 2: 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’”

The story of Jonah has intrigued readers for years, primarily over the fascination with the authenticity of the reported tale of him being swallowed by a whale.

The story of this prophet of God, however, holds in-depth lessons that shouldn’t be overshadowed by our logical and at times overwhelming desire to be rational when it comes to the possibility of living in a whale for several days.

For the story of Jonah is not so much about a whale, it is about the call of God, about following God, seeing the bigger picture, staying in His Will and stepping out of our comfort zone in the pursuit of His Kingdom. Matthew 6: 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The story of Jonah begins with the Lord’s call in chapter 1: 1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

It was a clear and concise instruction to Jonah. Yet sadly, we read that Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish and then to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.

Jonah decides to run away from God, and he did so not because he feared doing what was asked, but he actually feared that God will save Nineveh, which was the capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire. The same Assyrians would hundred years later take the northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity, so Jonah saw them as his sworn enemy and didn’t want to see them saved.

How Jonah demonstrated a selfish and narrow minded view of God’s heart and God’s grace, not realising that God has a love for all for all. Jonah of course could not foresee that Jesus would come to be the Saviour of the world as written in John 3: 16For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

And here we pause for a minute … just like Jonah, many Christians today are also running away from what God has called them to do, which is broadly to preach the Gospel and so reconcile a lost and broken world unto the loving embrace of a God who forgives and who has compassion. Yes, no matter the race, the culture or the ethnicity of the people. All deserved to know Christ and to hear the Good News.

Just like Jonah, we all have our reasons and excuses not to do what the Lord has called us to do, and make no mistake we all have been called by the Lord to tell the world of Him and of His love. Some of us sadly are just too busy to follow Him, while others have allowed their perceptions and past experiences to cloud their understanding of God’s heart and His bigger picture of redemption and salvation.

For Jonah also failed to realise it was never about him – it is all about God and His Kingdom and His love. And this we have to remember – it is ALWAYS about God, and not about us. It is about those who don’t know Him or who struggle to find him.

And so we read that Jonah ran away and got caught up in a storm. It became so bad that the sailors of the ship threw him overboard because he confessed to them the following: 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

So Jonah knew he was wrong … and truthfully, inside all of us who worship God, we know when we are doing what we should be doing or when we are not. In the Spirit, we know right from wrong, rebellion from obedience and following our plan instead of God.

It is true that when we are not in the will of the Lord, our life will feel like a storm, thus out of control for we are not following the Lord who calms the waters as Jesus calmed the waves in Matthew 8. It is also so that our “storms” in the end never affect only ourselves, but also those around us, like our loved ones and colleagues. The poor sailors did nothing wrong, but they were caught up in Jonah’s hardness of heart. We need to realise that if we are out of the will of God and not following Him as we should, we drag ourselves and others into uncertain “storms” because we are defiant and rebellious and hard at heart.

And so God sent a whale … controversial as it may be, the Lord brought Jonah to a standstill. In that distress we read of Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2 where he cries out to God and was saved.

Just as God had to bring Jonah to a point of realisation that he is out of the will of God, causing him to fall into terrible times of distress and discomfort, how God so often has to interrupt our lives because we are not hearing Him and we are not doing as asked. Because many times our disobedience impacts the necessity and urgency for someone else to hear the Good News, of God’s love and God’s forgiveness and His mercy and grace. God indeed does sent us our “whales”, and sadly, it is often only in times of distress that we as Christians really cry out to God.

In chapter 3 we read how Jonah preaches the message of judgement in Nineveh, and how the people repented and how God saved the city. Ah, here was Jonah running away because he didn’t want God to save hi s enemies, but because he was obedient, Assyria would only attack Israel about 90 years later. God prolonged judgement not only on Assyria, but also Israel. Talk about Jonah’s narrow point of view!

And how often can we not fall into that narrow point of view when it comes to our opinions and way of seeing and doing things. God has a plan in these days with all the nations, and it is time we step into His vision and His purpose instead of holding onto our own. Matthew 5: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In chapter 4, Jonah is angry at God for saving Nineveh and he goes to sit on a hill to see if the people truly repented. And so we read of Jonah’s anger: I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Jonah was so concerned about his own opinion, about his own comfort, his own point of view that he completely failed to realise what is important is God’s Word and truth. He forgot what is important is God and the one sheep that has gotten lost.

Jonah was angry at the city, and he was angry over the plant, and so often we get angry at God when we are taken out of our comfort zone and our beliefs and perceptions are shaken. But God has to do this … He has to shrivel up the plant now and then to bring us to a standstill for He is God and His ways are better than ours.

For it is not just about our careers and ministries … our actions and obedience has far reaching consequences beyond our understanding, just like the saving of Nineveh had a profound impact beyond Jonah’s understanding. Therefore, we are called to be faithful in our service to God, to live for Him and follow Him and so trust and have faith that what He does is in accordance with His goodness and mercy.

And indeed, God shall and does provide and shelters us, but it is time we listen to God, stop fighting Him, stop running away and rather embrace His Truth and His love by being obedient unto our mandate.

For anger will never help. We can resist, but the whales will come and the storms will rage and the plant will grow and die until we see that God wants to save us and all the cities and peoples like Nineveh and the Assyrians.