This is a collection of all our Jonah Blogs so you can read them in one sitting.

JONAH CHAPTER 1: RUNNING FROM GOD BECAUSE OF FEAR 

FEAR 

Jonah 1 presents a very specific type of fear.  It is not a fear of bats or bathing or peanut butter, but of something that all of us deal with from time to time if we take our faith in God seriously and seek to have an authentic relationship with Him.  It is something that the Prophet Jonah dealt with and no… it is not a fear of whales or large fish… though at the end of his ordeal described in the Book of Jonah he might have had that fear.  I looked in all the lists of phobias that I could find and I was surprised to find that the fear that Jonah experienced and that we often experience along with him does not have a name.  Something as common as this should have a name.   

So, I scientifically made one up! 

The fear that the Prophet Jonah experienced is what I will call “theolaleophobia.”   

Theolaleophobia comes from three words.  “Theo” means “God” “laleo” is the Greek word for “tell or told”; and “phobia” means “fear.”  So basically “theolaleophobia” is the fear of doing what God tells you to do.  That is the fear that Jonah experienced in Jonah chapter 1.  It was the force that caused him to run from God.  In fact, we will see in the Book of Jonah that Jonah did not overcome his fear, but succumbed to it and it ruined his life and his relationship with God. 

So, what is Jonah’s story?  Jonah’s story, at least at the beginning, has to do with God speaking to him and giving him a task, Jonah running in fear, sailing on a ship, and ending up as a tasty treat inside a huge fish’s breadbasket.   

I would like us to look between verses 2 and 3 because what happens between verses 2 and 3 is what all of us share with Jonah the prophet.  You see verses 1-2 record for us the “word of the Lord” coming to Jonah and explaining to him what God wanted him to do.  Verse 3 records for us Jonah running away.   

Between verses 2 and 3 we find Jonah’s fear. 

Between verses 2 and 3 we find a struggle within Jonah that each of us also shares. 

Between verses 2 and 3 we find Jonah afraid to do what God tells him to do. 

There is a key question as we think about this passage: What is something that God has asked you to do that causes you fear? 

In Scripture, there are people that we should emulate and people that we should learn from.  Jonah falls in line with people like Cain, Samson, King Saul, Absalom, Judas Iscariot… whose lives are a beacon for us on what NOT to do.  They are present so we can avoid their mistakes.   

FEAR: WE JUST DON’T WANNA   

Jonah just flat didn’t wanna do what God told him to do and he willfully disobeyed God.  This is where “theolaleophobia” comes out the strongest and can be seen even by casual observers of our lives.   

Nineveh was the capital city of an empire full of wicked people.  Even the Assyrian records bear witness that these were harsh and brutal people led by kings who acted in evil ways.  King Ashurnasirpal II says about himself and his armies:  “I stormed the mountain peaks and took them… I slaughtered them; with their blood, I dyed the mountain red like wool… I carried off their spoil and possessions.  The heads of their warriors I cut off, and I formed them into a pillar over against their city; their young men and their maidens burned in the fire!… I flayed all the chief men who had revolted and I covered the pillar with their skins, some I walled up with the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes, and others I bound to stakes round about the pillar.” (J Finegan, Light from the Ancient Past, pg 170) 

You can see why perhaps Jonah had some issues and some fear when he received the instructions to minister to these wicked nasty evil horrible no-good people of Nineveh.  Perhaps he thought his skin might end up on the walls of the palace like others he had heard about.  He did not want to bring God’s message to Israel’s enemy… period.   

What did his fear lead him to? 

Stubbornness 

Hard-headedness 

Being bull-headed 

Apostasy 

Backsliding 

God calls it disobedience.   

FEAR: MOTIVATED BY THE UNKNOWN 

Jonah was perhaps afraid of the unknown.  He would or could have said something to God like, “I’m not sure I heard you right… you want me to go where… I’ve never done that before?!”  You see Jonah was a prophet who normally did his work among King Jeroboam II as we see in 2 Kings 14.  Jonah was having selective hearing when it came to what God told him to do because normally the prophets of God did not travel to foreign lands.  This was a gentile city full of wickedness… Jonah perhaps thought God had made a mistake or the Heavenly message was meant for someone else named Jonah.  Where God was asking him to go was unknown to him.   

The unknown is a powerful fear motivator in our lives.   

It has always been that way. 

The unknown should not stop us. 

FEAR: MOTIVATED BY INADEQUACY 

I also think that Jonah’s fear was motivated by a fear of being inadequate.  He would have said some things like: “Well God that is really far away and I have a real job here at home… I don’t think I can do it” “Well I don’t know their language or customs.” “I don’t have the money for that mission trip.”  I don’t know what inadequacies Jonah gave God, but he is in good company for those that offer God feelings of being inadequate when they clearly know what God wants them to do but are instead filled with fear.   

FEAR: MOTIVATED BY REJECTION 

Another possible motivator of Jonah’s fear in between verses 2 and 3 was rejection.  Rejection is a powerful motivator of fear and is perhaps even more powerful than the fear of the unknown or of inadequacy.  Just ask:  

… a prophet of the Lord who was commanded to go to Nineveh and bring a message from God. 

… any teenage boy to walk up to the girl of his dreams and tell her how he feels.   

… any employee who feels like they want to ask their boss for a promotion or a raise.   

… any business owner trying to entertain and get a new client and make new connections. 

… anyone who joins a new social club and has to meet new people. 

… any Christian who meets a new friend and wants to share the Gospel with them. 

When it comes to the Christian life and tasks that God gives us, the Bible is very clear that this potent motivator of fear… rejection… is an illusion.  You see, when people reject the faith we live out or offers of prayer on their behalf or the invitation to study the Bible with us… they are not rejecting us, but rather God.   

SUMMARY THOUGHTS 

I told you at the beginning that the fear that the Prophet Jonah experienced didn’t have a name, but we gave it one… “theolaleophobia.”  Jonah was afraid and he didn’t want to do what God had commanded him to do… in the end he disobeyed God.  Theolaleophobia in Jonah’s life was motivated by the unknown, inadequacy, and rejection. 

How did Jonah overcome this fear?  He didn’t.   

Jonah disobeyed God and ended up inside a huge fish.  Like I said before, Jonah and his story are present in Scripture for us to learn from and so that we do not repeat his mistakes and make the same damaging life choices.  If you take you relationship with God seriously, there will be things He asks us to do that will well up fear inside us.   

How do we overcome this fear? 

Keep God in sight. 

Trust that God uses our weakness and makes us strong. 

Know that they reject God and not us. 

JONAH CHAPTER 1: NOTICING OPPOSITES 

Jonah is one of those stories from the Bible that is often taught at VBS or scoffed by cynics or considered far-fetched or fictional but is a vivid true story from the Old Testament (confirmed by Jesus Christ Himself as real and historical, Matthew 12:40, 16:4).  There is much for us. 

OPPOSITES IN VERSES 1-3 

There are some things in this story that are backward and upside down and that is the point, and we are supposed to notice.  There are two phrases at the beginning of chapter one that are examples of this: “The Word of the Lord” vs. “ran away from the presence of the Lord.”  Jonah ran away from the Word which he knew to be true.  He rejected the presence of God Whom he served.  Jonah acted the opposite of the way we expect because we expect a prophet to obey and be a willing vehicle of grace.  Jonah was not willing to be a vehicle for grace.  He rejected grace. 

OPPOSITES IN VERSE 9 

Another example in this chapter of this oppositeness, Jonah is speaking to the pagan non-God-fearing sailors and declares himself a worshipper/fearer of God and yet he was purposefully disobedient… for he knew the sea storm was because of him.  In verse 9, Jonah declares himself a Hebrew and a God-fearer and yet he is running from God and not obeying.  Jonah feared the Lord, but disobeyed and this is the opposite of what we expect. 

THE KEY TO THE OPPOSITES 

The key to the conflicted nature of Jonah is that he refused to deny himself.  To put it in New Testament terms, he did not want to “deny himself and take up his cross and follow the Lord.”  He believed in the God of Heaven, but balked at this assignment which went against his human opinions. 

Here is where this passage moves from just being a whale of a story and one that sinks down below the skin and becomes very practical: 

Jonah just didn’t want to serve the way God commanded. 

Jonah wanted to serve God, but on his own terms. 

Jonah desired God to act according to human-designed parameters.   

Jonah didn’t want it to be hard or uncomfortable. 

Jonah didn’t want to serve where it cost him. 

You and I are called to give mercy and grace and it will cost us.  Obedience is required to go where God sends and speak what God directs.  Obedience shows our love for God and God commands us to be His vessels of God’s grace.  We must take up the cross and go where God sends and be obedient to Him.  It might be uncomfortable or grind against our prejudices, but we must obey the Lord. 

SUMMARY 

The strangeness of Jonah and the conflicting nature of his actions and his faith are part of what makes this book of the Bible so compelling.  The disobedient nature of the prophet is what draws us into his life and his conflicted nature.  Jonah did not understand God’s mercy and grace at the beginning (chapter 1) and by the end of the book (chapter 4) he has an intimate knowledge of God’s mercy and grace.   

AN OVERALL VIEW OF JONAH: GRACE 

Jonah’s story begins in chapter 1 with the Word of the Lord coming to him and getting an assignment.  The assignment is not to prophesy to the People of God, but rather to preach a Word of repentance to one of Israel’s enemies.  Jonah does not want to do it.  He literally and figuratively goes in the opposite direction than what God commands. 

Between verses 2 and 3 we find Jonah’s fear and anger. 

Between verses 2 and 3 we find a struggle within Jonah that each of us also shares at times. 

Between verses 2 and 3 we find Jonah flat unwilling to do what God tells him to do. 

What do we call that?   Sin.  Disobedience.  Wrongdoing. 

What do we call that? Stubbornness.  Willfulness.  Selfishness. 

GRACE 

We see grace even at the beginning of Jonah’s story because God could have just let Jonah go.  God could have allowed Jonah to board a ship and sail west to avoid his calling.  Letting Jonah sail away was what he wanted, but it was not what was best for him.  God could have said, “Jonah, you disobeyed, and I am cutting you off!”  It is an absolute act of grace that God sent a storm to grab Jonah’s attention.  It is grace when God comes after us.  It is grace when God chases us down when we run away. 

GRACE 

We see grace for Jonah in the belly of the whale.  It was not until Jonah was in the whale that he changed his mind about serving God.  He should have changed his mind during the storm, but oh no!  He had to test God to the limits!  It is absolute grace that God planned to have a large enough fish to swallow Jonah.  God could have let Jonah go.  There were other prophets.  Amos was around at the same time as Jonah (2 Kings 14 and Amos 1).  God could also just call another prophet.  God chose to give grace and give Jonah the opportunity to turn his life around.   

It was absolute grace from God that God heard Jonah’s prayers.  Remember, Jonah was in full rebellion mode.  He was running away.  Jonah even remarks in his prayer that he is thankful God heard his prayers.  In Jonah’s disobedience, God still listened and still provided and still answered… I call that grace. 

GRACE 

The people to whom Jonah is sent are terrible.  These are bad people.  These are godless people. 

These are people who deserve the judgment of Almighty God.  These are people who received the grace of God. 

It is 100% the grace of God that He did not wipe them off the face of the earth.  Grace is unmerited favor.  The Ninevites did not merit God’s favor.  Jonah was not wrong to see them as bad, wicked, or godless folks.  What Jonah knew was that the grace of God extends even to bad, wicked, and godless folks.  Grace is not just for the good.  Grace is for those who need it. 

You might think Jonah would be happy.  We might think that Jonah would be ecstatic that his preaching was successful and that his message was heard.  He should be full of joy that the moral message about God Almighty was heard by people who lived immorally.  He should be thrilled that the power of God was displayed in the lives of people, and they saw His grace.  He could have been relieved that he finally gave the message that he was supposed to give and could now go home.  He was not any of those things.  Not even close. 

GRACE 

What should have happened is that Jonah realizes the grace that he has been given and then offers that to the people around him.  He should have seen how gracious God was with him through this whole process and so when it came to someone else… he should have also given grace.  Grace is not something we should hold on to.  Grace should be given out.   

Jonah knows God.  Jonah knows exactly who God is. 

I don’t know about you, but if I were God, I would be fed up with Jonah being fed up.  Jonah has disobeyed, run away, caused problems, sulked, yelled, asked to die on multiple occasions, whined, and on and on and on.  Jonah thinks there is nothing about Nineveh worth saving and giving grace to.  I don’t think there is much about Jonah worth saving and giving grace to. 

And that’s just it… isn’t it?  God is the author of grace.  God is the one who defines grace and hands it out.  Grace does not depend on me or you.  Grace doesn’t depend on Jonah.  Grace is a characteristic of God that pours out from Him to us. 

SUMMARY 

What do we do with Jonah? What should we learn from the story of Jonah?   

Grace is given to us. Grace is given by us. 

JONAH CHAPTERS 2-3: THE SAME STANDARD 

Jonah chapter 2 finds the disobedient prophet praying to the Lord with all his heart (in retrospect).  He is in distress (verse 2) and in that very dangerous situation, he called out to God.  Jonah is not so far gone in his disobedience that he shifts his allegiance.  He is in trouble of his own making, and he prays to God Who hears him. 

Beginning in verse 7, Jonah has a ‘come to God moment’ in the belly of the huge fish and realizes that God is his only option for salvation (concluding in verse 9).   Jonah’s disobedience to God got him into the digestive tract under the sea and only God’s steadfast love and grace would get him out.  He prays.  God answers.   

Many times, we think too ‘black and white’ about faith or doubt.  Jonah had an understandable emotional reaction to having to minister to the Ninevites.  He disobeys, but he does not shift his allegiance from YHWH.  He is in the belly of chaos and he knows that is where he belongs because he disobeyed.  He knows he won’t get out.  There is no escape.  He must rely on God. 

The standard that Nineveh was under was the same standard that Jonah was under.  He understood that.  Fully.  God gave him over to chaos and Jonah called to Him in the midst of it.  He had to deny himself to receive God’s mercy.  He had to place his emotions in check (distaste for the Ninevites) to receive grace.  

Verse 10 shares with us the fish vomited Jonah up onto land.  The Hebrew word in verse 10 means what you think it means.    

Jonah chapter 3 finds Jonah trodding along to his prophetic assignment after God tells him a second time (verse 1) what to do and where to go and what to say.  Jonah’s sermon was only one sentence long.  The key verse, a surprise to be sure, is that the Ninevites “believed God” (verse 5) and they repented. 

SIDE NOTE: When Jonah speaks and thinks about God and speaks to God, the word YHWH is used (verses 1, 3).  When the king of Nineveh and the Ninevites refer to this divine being… the word Elohim is used (verses 5, 8. 9).    

What does this mean? 

How much of this has to do with YHWH is not their recognized God? 

Does this indicate the closeness of the relationship? 

Verse 10 in chapter 3 shows us the great and awesome character of God.  He responds to the repentance of the undeserving sinful Ninevites with grace and relents of the disaster He had considered.  God relented at their repentance.  God changed His direction when they changed their direction.  This is exactly what He did for Jonah! 

We see the message of Jonah being very simple, but in review and with all of Scripture in mind, the Holy Spirit was in his words.  God was flavoring the words of the prophet who had just received the grace of God.  Jonah just received what he was dealing out.  God was in the words overshadowing Jonah. 

Jonah understood the entire time about the standard of God.  God’s standard of behavior and grace and judgment and repentance was present before 1:1 and was present during Jonah’s rebelliousness and is present for the Ninevites.  God’s standard was the same for Jonah (a believer) as it was for the Ninevites (non-believers).   

JONAH CHAPTER 4: NOT WHAT IS EXPECTED 

Chapter 4 has tension.  We have God’s judgement and grace seen side-by-side in this book.  God is there ready to judge.  God is there ready to give mercy.  The tension between judgment and mercy exists.  God is fully willing to do either and it is not until a decision is made by people to accept or reject that the tension eases.  Jonah sits on a hill to see how the tension works out. 

It was the human beings’ response to God in that tension is in view here. 

In addition, the book of Jonah does not end as we expect: 

• we might expect to see lightning and thunder and people wiped out 
• we might expect a prophet praising God for grace 
• we might expect a prophet learning his lesson 
• we might expect Jonah swallowed by some other kind of beast 

The book of Jonah does not end as we might expect but ends with God being God and being true to His nature.  He is grace-filled to the sinful wretched Ninevites and the bad-attitude rebellious prophet.  Basic truths about Jonah and God are expressed in chapter 4 and the reader (me and you) are meant to take these truths to heart so that we believe them and do not repeat mistakes.  We happen to believe these lessons and truths are found elsewhere in Scripture as well. 

Another element in Jonah 4 is the wording of a few of the verses that indicate some humans in Nineveh do not know their left from their right.  This indicates, to some, that children are being discussed.  Keep in mind that mercy and grace are in full view when the ignorant and innocent.  And yet (see the tension), that sinfulness often sweeps up the innocent to destruction. 

Some other ideas in the chapter:  

God is merciful while human beings often are not 

A man who found mercy does not want to offer it to others 

God’s character is constant amidst all other changes 

Disaster is meant to turn people to God for repentance 

God disciplines those He loves.

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