9 Lessons from Jonah

The story of Jonah is one of the more well known Bible stories, up with Noah’s ark, David and Goliath, and the birth of Christ. Unfortunately, that knowledge barely goes beyond the fact that he ran from God and was swallowed by a fish…Yet, there are several valuable lessons to be learned from this short book.

 

Jonah gets a pretty bad rap right off because God tells him to do something and he goes the other direction. While this is obviously wrong, most people judge without understanding the situation. God had told Jonah to go to Ninevah and warn the people that He would destroy them if they didn’t repent. Jonah didn’t want them to repent and be saved so he went to Tarshish instead. Again, God gave a clear command and Jonah disobeyed. That is wrong, but given the situation we may have been tempted to do the same.

 

Ninevah was a very wicked, evil city. They were the ones who perfected the “art” of skinning people alive…and they were Israel’s enemies. I am not condoning Jonah’s actions thus far, but I really can’t blame him for wanting to see them punished for their wickedness. Jonah knew that God is gracious and merciful, and He forgives those who repent, even horrible people like the Ninevites so he put himself in the place of God and thought he could prevent their destruction by refusing to go. He didn’t think about the fact that God could have just gotten someone else, so he could not delay or prevent the inevitable. He also did not consider the fact that his disobedience was just as wrong (though not as bad) as their wickedness, and he deserved to be punished just like them…and he was.

 

After they set sail a great storm arose so that the sailors were afraid and eventually realized the storm was caused by someone on the ship who had offended a god. When the truth came out, they were appalled that Jonah could act like that (remember these were not Jewish people who believed in the one true God.) He told them that throwing him into the sea would stop the storm, but they delayed until they had no other choice. Instantly, the storm abated and they praised God. God caused a fish to swallow Jonah, he repented and was carried to shore where he heard again from God and this time did as commanded. The people fasted, prayed and changed their ways so God relented.

 

Lesson 1: we should not judge those we do not understand. There is a difference between judging and calling something sin. Jonah’s disobedience was sin, but we have no right to judge him, especially if we don’t understand the full situation.

 

Lesson 2: God is to be obeyed, no matter what we think. His ways are better than ours, He knows more than we do, and has much greater wisdom and knowledge than we do. It is not a debate or a suggestion.

 

Lesson 3: disobedience meets with consequences. All disobedience is sin, and all sin has consequences. For believers, this comes in the form of loving discipline, designed to help us learn from our mistakes and follow God. We do not always receive the consequences our actions deserve, but there is always a result to our actions.

 

Lesson 4: along with not judging what we don’t understand, we should not count others’ sins as worse than ours. God does not compare us to others, but to His own perfection. That is the standard by which He measures us. If we want God to punish others for their sin then we should expect Him to punish us for ours.

 

Lesson 5: following that, we should desire the salvation of all, regardless of what they have done, because we have received it. No one deserves it, so we should not begrudge any what we ourselves have received. No matter what anyone has done, we are no better than they.

 

Lesson 6: God is gracious, merciful, compassionate and faithful. The Ninevites repented so He relented true to His word. He had mercy on them because they turned from their wickedness and pleaded for Him to relent. This same mercy and compassion is available to all who repent. No one is past the point of salvation until they die.

 

Lesson 7: However, God does punish wickedness. While Ninevah did repent, destruction was only delayed. Years later, they went back to their wickedness and were utterly destroyed. God is just as well and merciful, and we cannot think that because He forgives He lets people get away with sin. Only He knows how to do both in perfect balance and justice.

 

Lesson 8: we can get second chances. Not always, but sometimes if we disobey, God gives us a chance to make good. He gave Jonah a chance to repent just like Ninevah, and I believe that Jonah may have had a little more compassion on them as a result. God’s commands have as much to do with our hearts as the act itself.

 

Lesson 9: we need to be aware of God’s work. Not all storms are the result of someone’s sin, but we need to be sensitive to the Spirit so that we are aware of the times when they are. I think a lot of people do not realize the discipline they receive was the result of their actions because they were numb to the Spirit. The more sensitive we are, the more we will learn and the better we will become.

 

Which lesson spoke to you the most? Which one do you need to implement? What is one way this story can impact the way you live this week?