Jonah

Ninevah was the capital city of a cruel, vile, powerful and idolatrous empire.  It was known for the torture and inhuman treatment of those whom it had defeated.  Its 120,000 inhabitants were morally immature, and unable to discern the truth.

God told Jonah to go to Ninevah and tell the Ninevites to clean up their act.  But Jonah didn’t go to Ninevah as God had ordered.  He knew the Ninevites would repent and God would spare them.  And he wouldn’t get the credit.

Jonah got on a ship, going in the opposite direction.  God created a mighty storm on the ocean.  Jonah was thrown overboard.  But instead of letting him drown, God arranged for a big fish to swallow Jonah.

After spending 3 days and nights in the fish’s belly, Jonah prayed to God and agreed to do God’s bidding.  Jonah was then coughed up onto dry land, and went to Ninevah.

Jonah told the Ninevites that God said their city would be overthrown in 40 days.  The people of Ninevah repented by fasting, and putting on sackcloth and ashes.  Even the animals were required to fast and wear sackcloth!

The Ninevites (presumably including the animals) prayed to God and repented for their violence and evil ways.  God forgave them and didn’t punish them.

But Jonah was angry that God had been merciful to the Ninevites.  Jonah knew this would happen, and that’s why he refused to do God’s bidding in the first place.  Jonah favored justice untempered by mercy.              

After God forgave the Ninevites, Jonah, who didn’t want to live under such an unrighteous God, asked God to kill him. 

Jonah left the city, and sat outside to watch what would become of it.  God sent a squash plant, which covered Jonah with shade and cheered him up.  But the next day, God sent a worm to destroy the squash, and it withered.  Then, God sent the wind and sun to beat down upon Jonah.  Jonah felt faint and wished for death.  Jonah thought God was inconsistent – forgiving the Ninevites who had done evil, and destroying the squash plant that had done good by shading him.

God showed Jonah that Jonah was only concerned about the squash out of self-interest; whereas God showed compassion to the Ninevites out of genuine love and concern.

Once you get past the ridiculous sight of all of those poor starving animals in sackcloths, you begin to wonder why God chose such unwilling prophets.  Moses, Isaiah, Amos, Jonah are all forced by God to deliver difficult, dangerous, thankless messages.  Deep down, they are frightened of the truth.

Perhaps if God had chosen some women, he wouldn’t have had this problem.  Actually, it was Moses’s wife Zipporah who convinced Moses to follows God’s orders and climb Mt. Sinai to get the 10 Commandments.

There is also a distinction between the evil leaders and the naïve population.  It is a real challenge to be a prophet who speaks truth to power, when the leaders – through the mainstream media – have instilled such fear in the people.   Those who dissent from the unjust war and torture perpetrated by the leaders of the empire are called unpatriotic and traitorous.

Jonah has forgotten his mission as a prophet – to bring the truth to the people.  Journalists – heirs to the prophetic mantle – are hesitant to tell it like it is, for fear of being criticized, being ostracized, being fired.

And we as citizens are also fearful.   Our government tells us we must watch what we say, watch what we do, that dissent will only help the terrorists.

But our government’s policies have actually provoked the terrorists to hate us more.  We swallowed Iraq, but Iraq is swallowing us alive.  We were told it would be a minnow, and it turns out to be a whale that is engulfing us, killing our boys and girls, ruining our economy, destroying our soul.

The outstanding thing about the Ninevites – and indeed the American people – is that their hearts are good.  They are not stubborn, smug or defiant.  They are educable, and they are spared a tragic fate.

We must be open to the truth, however frightening it may be.  We must be willing to change if necessary, and to change our government when it does not act nobly in our name.  We must all be prophets of the truth.

Marjorie Cohn
© 2004