The more I think about it, the more I think the book of Jonah is one of
the funniest books in the Bible!
I know what you’re thinking. Funny isn’t a word that should be used to
describe the Bible. It’s supposed to be serious, life-changing material that
determines the state of our eternal soul.
By and large I agree; but I’m also the kind of girl who often pictures God
with a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye so you’ll have to forgive me
if I don’t tow the religious line.
Plus….who do you think invented humor?
Anyway, just look at it this way. God wants a messenger, he picks Jonah.
Jonah, however, has other plans and takes off in the opposite direction.
Forgetting -of course- that God is also in the opposite direction. All of a
sudden, everyone else around him is in trouble and he knows it’s his fault. He
resorts to assisted suicide but God has other plans and he ends up spending 72
hours in the gastrointestinal tract of a big fish.
Now I don’t know much about bad accommodations, but I don’t think it comes
any worse than having your address (however temporary) be a fishes’ entrails.
He does his time, and when God checks him out, he discovers that he still
has a message to deliver. After all the trouble, he’s ready to bet his next
address that Nineveh
So there he is- pouting under the shade, only to discover that the shade
is in temporary shelter mode.
Then he loses it.
Honestly, I doubt the most amazing author could ever pen a script this
interesting. For all intents and purposes, the story starts out like it’s all
about Nineveh
Jonah’s disobedience. Jonah’s time out. Jonah’s unforgiving heart..
Jonah’s lack of mercy is where I can see God smiling, all through
the antics of his prophet. Seriously, there was an easier route…and I’m sure a
lot of religious people would have preferred it this way.
Jonah gets the message and runs. God gets rid of him, picks someone else,
sends them off, and follows up the warning with a shower of brimstone on the
Nineveians.
Tidy isn’t it? (Excuse the pun.)
Not with God.
He shows more of his heart towards us than we often care to see. A heart
of patience. A heart of humor. A heart of grace. A heart brimming with
tenderness for us. Interestingly, Jesus likened his story to that of
Jonah. The difference being, Jesus didn’t disobey and Jesus chose the
accommodations called death, so we’d side skip it, when on Judgment day, we’re
filling out the part that says “Permanent Address.”
Now who wouldn’t love a God like that?
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