The book of the Prophet Yonah (Jonah)

When we think about the prophet Yonah, normally the first thing that comes to our minds is that he was swallowed by a big fish and stayed in its stomach for three days. Although that point in the book is indeed quite cool, this short book has so much wisdom that reducing it to the whale incident makes us miss so much!

In this point of the Old Testament, Yahuah was watching his people get astray from him and the inequity was rampant. But long before the Father decided enough was enough, He sent several prophets to warn the Israelites that they were on the wrong path. Some prophets were successful (sometimes), some were respected, but sadly many were killed for bringing unpleasant words to the people. One can understand that being chosen to be a prophet was not always a person’s ambition, for it was a life far from easy.

Yonah's story starts when he is commanded by Yahuah to go to Nineveh to prophesy and warn the people that if they don’t turn from their evil ways, they would be visited by the wrath of Yahuah. Do you think Yonah was happy? Well, the book does not give us an account of his emotion at the time of this communication, but he decides to run away from the calling and takes the first ship to Tarshish in an attempt to escape his call.

Then Yahuah sends a strong wind and the sea was rough on the sailors. They knew that the sea was behaving in a strange way until they finally realized that the sea was revolting because of Yonah. And they asked him what was happening and Yonah told them: ‘I’m an Israelite and Yahuah asked me to do so and so and the only way for you to survive is to throw me in the sea’. And they still tried not to do it, but eventually they realized that there was no negotiation possible, so they threw Yonah in the ocean, where a fish swallowed him and he stayed inside for three days, until he accepted Yahuah’s task.

Whether you choose to believe that Yonah literally stayed inside the fish for three days (as I do) or you prefer to see this as a symbol, many Bible studies point to this episode as an allusion to Yahusha’s three days before resurrection. While this point of view can be worth exploring, the point is that Yonah was there until he realized that either he obeys or he will go nowhere, so he submitted to Yahuah. He needed the time to reflect and to have his self-will broken.

Meanwhile in the ship, the sailors were of course astonished to see that the waters calmed down once Yonah was thrown into the sea and even being non-Israelites, they believed in Yahuah and worshiped.

And Yonah went to Nineveh, as Yahuah commanded and he warned the people. And to our surprise, the king and the people of the city believed Yonah! they repented and asked for Yahuah’s forgiveness. Since the Father is merciful, He did forgive them and decided not to destroy the city as he had planned. Anyone could think that a prophet would be happy to see the people saved, right? Well, not Yonah. Yonah was so frustrated with the Father's compassion that he left to the wilderness and asked Yahuah to kill him.

By this point we understand why Yonah tried to escape his mission in the first place. He knew that Yahuah would have mercy on his people and the people who did so much iniquity would escape punishment. He actually preferred to see all that city burn.

Can’t we all relate to Yonah sometimes? We see so much evil, so many people blinded by false doctrines, false gods, people turning against one another and lies everywhere. We all can be tempted into wishing Yahuah’s justice to be done with. Now, the problem is that everything that happens here, happens in Yahuah’s time. So if He wants people to repent, they will – if He does not want, well… they won’t! The prophets were Yahuah’s way to give people the chance to hearken to the Word, to wake up those who were supposed to wake up.

We know that the Father is slow to revenge himself, he gives many, many chances before bringing down his wrath. Maybe in our short lifespan, it feels that bad people and evil are always getting away with murder, but time is eternal for the Creator and before His justice, there are events that need to happen to humanity and a timeline that our human nature might not be able to comprehend.

Back to Yonah, he went to a place to watch Nineveh from a distance – sort of hoping to watch it burn. Yahuah saw that he was under the hot sun and made a plant grow over Yonah in order to provide him with shade. And he rejoiced with the shade and with the plant, but the next day, Yahuah made the plant die. And he pitied for the plant and asked to be killed as well. Yahuah then asked him (in my words) ‘do you think it right for you to be sad for this plant? You were displeased because I decided not to destroy such a big city with so many people and animals, but you are sad for a plant that you did not even grow yourself?’

WOW!

His lesson to Yonah should hit us all in the heart. In times where values and morals are so twisted, Yonah could be anyone of us who cry watching a video of a rescued puppy but don’t even grasp the meaning of the atrocities of all kinds happening to millions of people on a daily basis! And this is only one example. We suffer for the loss of things we have not created (nor destroyed) while we might ignore a homeless person who hasn’t eaten in three days.

In our wish to be righteous, we may lose perspective of what really matters and direct our sense of ‘justice’ to our self-centered values, instead of Yahuah’s. Yonah’s book is there not only to show us the sovereignty of the Father’s will, but also to tell us that being ruthless for the right reasons may not always be the right way to go.

Jonah & Whale Illustration source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/48261653/Jonah-and-the-whale