Jonah Trivia

I enjoy reading familiar passages in scripture and learning new things I didn't know or didn't see before. This week I hung out for a while with Jonah and uncovered new tidbits of trivia.

Jonah was a prophet. You're probably thinking, "Duh!" Most guys that received words from the Lord in the Old Testament were prophets. However, I never saw anything in the book of Jonah that actually said he was a prophet and his behavior certainly wasn't very prophet-like. II Kings 14:25 clears up the matter: ...in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

A real fish swallowed a real man. Scholarly types have often tried to dismiss Jonah's story as just that- a fictional story meant to teach a lesson. I never held to that belief, but now I have a scripture to prove that everything about Jonah was real, not fiction. This is what Jesus had to say in Matthew 12:39-40: He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth." First of all, Jesus refers to Jonah as a prophet again. Notice how he says that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights. He doesn't refer to the "story" of Jonah or try to make it seem like anything other than absolute fact. He's very matter of fact, never casting doubt that the incident actually occurred.

Jonah was prejudiced. Jonah hated the people of Nineveh and that didn't change even after he obeyed God and preached to them. They repented, but Jonah's hatred for them didn't budge an inch. I don't know much about Nineveh except that it was an Assyrian city and the Assyrians had a serious reputation for coming in and wiping out entire nations. They were a bad brood. Perhaps, Jonah had an axe to grind with them. I also read long ago that Nineveh wasn't exactly welcoming to the prophets of God and the perimeter of the city was even decorated with the heads of prophets who had tried to preach to them. If I was in Jonah's shoes, I'm not sure I'd be thrilled to be sent to them either!

Jonah had issues. Another "Duh!" He was riddled with flaws. To name a few: selfishness, self will, mood swings, disobedience, anger, hatred, rebellious nature. Doesn't it make you wonder why God chose to use him in the first place? Is this the best prophet he could find? I guess we all have hope!

If Jonah hadn't cried out to God when he was thrown in the ocean he would have died there. Jonah 2: 7 says this: When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, O Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Jonah was walking in direct disobedience to God and he found himself sinking to the bottom of the ocean- dying. If he hadn't remembered God and cried out to Him he would have died right there, no plan B.

Did Jonah know he was in a fish and did he know he would get out alive? These are questions that came to mind. The ocean isn't light like it appears on old Jacque Costeau footage. It's dark down there. Even in the fish's belly it was dark. Surely the stench was horrid, the feel was slimy, and the digestive juices were probably doing a number on Jonah's skin, but did he actually know where he was? And if he figured it out, did he know he would be delivered or did he think he'd just be digested? Three days and nights is a long time to be in that predicament and a sure test of faith!

Jonah knew his God. This is probably the reason you and I read about Jonah in the Bible today. He could easily have been destroyed in his headstrong disobedience. Yet he lived, obeyed, and made his mark in God's word. When it came right down to it, Jonah knew God's character. Read what he says in Jonah 4:2: He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

This revelation of God, my friends, is probably what saved Jonah's life. For all of his misgivings, he knew that God was merciful and loving. He believed this about God and when it came time for Him to call out to God He had 100% faith that his Father would act in love and rescue him. If Jonah didn't have a close relationship with the Lord he would never have known God as compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, relenting from sending calamity. No, Jonah knew these things well likely because he'd experienced every one of them in his own life. He knew His God. That knowledge not only saved his life, but is probably the reason he was selected as God's prophet in the first place. At some point, Jonah had walked closely with God, close enough to hear His voice.

I think God will overlook a lot of flaws when He finds a man or woman who will build a relationship with Him and truly get to know Him as He really is.