Yesssss, we’re taking our sweet time. Why? Because we can. And… because it’s good. I think it was Nietzsche who famously hated newspapers and coffee: he wanted minds that ran like the Ganges– slow, steady, deep, and strong. Perhaps nothing proves a better antidote to a harried life of the news cycle and caffeine than quietly meditating on the Word day and night. As I’m trying to prove: the book of Jonah invites us into this kind of healthy musing.

So by way of review, we’re interested in how Jonah communicates and not just what he communicates, and I have argued that Jonah the author indirectly drives his readers to ask the central question of his book: Why did Jonah the prophet react as he did to God’s Word? Why did Jonah flee from the face of his God? We won’t get a clear answer until we get the backstory in chapter 4, but once we are clued into Jonah’s authorial strategy of deliberately, though indirectly, guiding his readers with questions and puzzles, it doesn’t take much for us to see many, many questions begging to be asked.

Let’s throw out some observations and then ask some correlating questions in turn.

1. Verse one highlights Jonah’s name: “Dove, son of My truth.” Is there any significance in his name? Could be. We will at least see that Jonah later misquotes what is arguably the most important theological passage in the Pentateuch, and his misquotation will bear on his name.
2. The Word of the LORD comes to Jonah. But why exactly? What is God up to? Isn’t it obvious that God does this so that Nineveh repents? Surely. But is that all? Is that the ultimate reason? The entire book of Jonah repeats the observation that “The LORD appointed thus and so… with the result that what God appointed was invariably carried out. This is true of the great storm, the great fish, the little plant, the little worm, and last but not least, that scorching east wind. God appoints. Done. The entire created order in its own way proves obedient to God’s sovereignty: The entire “hierarchy of being” is faithful and true. Even pagan sailors come to worship. Top to bottom the wicked Ninevites repent. And yet… the one individual in the entire narrative that defies God’s “sovereignty” from beginning to end is the one to whom God’s Word comes? Why would God choose this single, recalcitrant individual to be his messenger? This man who never repents (even in the fish!). This prophet who’s heart only darkens as the story proceeds and comes to a miserable, haunting end. Is this really about Nineveh? There are three and only three verses in the book where the words “great” and “evil” come together. The first verse mentions Nineveh, “the great city” whose “evil” has risen to heaven (1:2). Ah, but who is it finally that has the true “great evil?” We’ll see that it’s as we suspect.
3. The book of Jonah neatly divides in two: The word of the LORD comes to Jonah at the beginning of chapter 1 and then at the beginning of chapter 3. In the first part God speaks but once. After that, whatever He is thinking can only be guessed at through His actions. Otherwise His inner considerations are opaque. Does He send the storm because He is angry? Is He amused at Jonah’s futile fleeing? We aren’t given much to go on, but there is no indication that God is in any way flummoxed. He simply starts appointing–then onward forward. No glitches. More importantly, why does He have the great fish vomit out Jonah? Yes, He pukes him out. Seems like a rather inglorious way of passing a test. But then again, does God view His educational agenda as successful? Did the experience do its job on Jonah? We should note that Jonah never repents in His prayer, and in fact, both in his personal assertions and in his loose quotations of key psalms in his prayer, what is highlighted instead are his personal claims of integrity! Was this “fish thing” a success or did the fish vomit (!) out Jonah because Jonah failed to learn what God wanted him to learn: Lesson over. Grade F. Instead– and in a weird way– does Jonah believe God has somehow vindicated him by saving his life? We should note that when God speaks to him a second time, He doesn’t tell Jonah what he is to say– only that He will give him a message. This means that Jonah goes to Nineveh without knowing what the message will be. When Jonah preaches, his message provides no hope– only expectation of judgement. Jonah is disappointed enough to be angry when God relents. His expectations have been bitterly and unexpectantly thwarted. But why would Jonah think that God would judge the Ninevites? Especially if the “fish lesson” did its job? Or is it the case instead that Jonah actually felt vindicated by his “supernatural” salvation? Jonah: “God finally came around to seeing my integrity; It’s time to go to Nineveh happily where I can watch Nineveh burn!”
4. Which points us finally back to Jonah in these first chapters of the book. What’s going on inside of him? If God’s inner thought is opaque in these chapters, even so is Jonah’s. Let’s lay this out: What kind of a person flees God’s face? What would allow such a person to fall freely asleep while fleeing– and in the middle of a horrible storm no less? Why is he completely unafraid and unashamed of openly admitting his flight to others? Why goad the sailors to toss him overboard? What would cause such a person in the middle of all this to boldly proclaim that he is a Hebrew, one who “fears” the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land? Is this a man who is completely convinced of his own perfect integrity, so completely convinced that death means nothing to him next to that integrity? And perhaps even his God means less to him than his integrity? If this is the case, it would make sense that Jonah misreads the whole experience with the fish and would believe that God actually came around to acknowledging his integrity. Oh, Jonah, you’re in so deep. Isn’t this fun?

For Your Own Musing

1. Can you think back to a time when you were absolutely convinced that you were in the right? What was that experience like both in terms of your circumstances and your inner perspective? Can such an experience of being right still lead to a poisoning of the heart? If not, why not? If so, how? Again, if so, how do you guard your heart while not lying to yourself about your being right?
2. Can you think back to a time when you were absolutely convinced that you were right only to discover later that you were wrong? How is it that we can experience such a contradictory spiritual condition? Or is it the case that we tend to have some misgivings internally that nag at us about how great our integrity is or isn’t? Does it seem strange that we can be like Jonah in finding tremendous inner peace and strength while falling so far short of God’s best for us?
3. Is there a substantive difference between standing firm on our integrity and being proud? In this regard, should we place a high value on pursuing integrity in our lives? Should we ever expect to be people of great integrity and to recognize it? Is this merely a dangerous distraction that should be avoided?
4. Consider rereading the first two chapters of Jonah with the thought that Jonah is absolutely convinced of his perfect integrity. Does anything ring false or contrary to this view of Jonah? Is there a better explanation?