What Christians need to learn about love from Jonah

Jnh 1:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

Jonah gets his task from God. He’s supposed to go to Ninevah and preach God to them. Why? Because the people there are wicked. Remember, this is Old Testament times, so this kind of behavior will eventually result in the destruction of the city and its people if they don’t repent and turn to God.

Also remember, we are in New Testament times. We don’t preach immediate death and destruction. We are supposed to preach the Good News. God’s love. Eternal salvation through Jesus.

Either way though, there is a task. And God wants Jonah to perform it.

Jonah runs from the task. And from God.

Jnh 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish . He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

You probably want to know, why did Jonah run away? But first, does it matter why Jonah ran away? The reality is, no matter the reason, Jonah was given a task by God, and Jonah refused to do it. Jonah figuratively and literally ran away from God. As I asked earlier, which of us hasn’t done that?

When I teach a class, I always say that there is one dumb question. It’s the one that isn’t asked. Why is that unasked question the one dumb question? Because when we don’t ask something, our mind keeps thinking about that unasked question. We get more and more dialed in on it. We focus all our attention and mind on that one thing. And miss everything else that’s going on in the class!

Why did Jonah run away? Does it matter why Jonah ran away? The reality is, no matter the reason, Jonah was given a task by God, and Jonah refused to do it. Jonah figuratively and literally ran away from God. And which of us hasn’t done that?

So let’s answer the question. Why did Jonah run away? And then we’ll find out why, in one respect, it really doesn’t matter what Jonah’s reason was. At the same time, we’ll see why Jonah’s reason did matter, and what that means for us.

Why did Jonah run away from God?

Here’s one account, with some important background, on why Jonah ran away. Pay close attention, because there are things in it that we definitely can relate to. And that we resemble.

Running from the Lord

Having been told to get up, Jonah gets up. But instead of going north and east, he chooses west. To use a British analogy, directed to the John O’Groats of his known world, he opts for Land’s End instead. He does not argue with God about the mission; he simply runs from it. It is an in-your-face act of disobedience. Why? It was not because he was frightened, even though he had good reason to be. Neither did he fear ridicule, although a lone figure shouting out that Nineveh, with its massive walls and military might, was about to be overthrown would certainly invite it.

Jonah went west. Pretty much the opposite direction from where he was supposed to go. He must’ve figured he could somehow go someplace and hide from God.

Of course, we know better. Don’t we? Some of us, probably not. For us, it doesn’t matter what direction we go. Or if we don’t go anywhere, but just try to ignore God. He knows where we are.

But we have an additional impediment to running away or hiding from God. The Holy Spirit. Do you remember when you were baptized? And promised to follow Jesus? Hopefully, you did that and truly meant it. But then, that also means the Holy Spirit’s going to keep trying to get your attention. Maybe not like Jonah and the big fish. But still, we all said He cab and should do that when we became Christians. So He will be there.

There’s a somewhat lengthy section in John’s Gospel about when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. Part of it has always been one of my favorite passages, ever since I was a kid. All these years later, it’s still one of my favorites. But I have come to learn so much more about what it means.

Jesus Promises The Holy Spirit

Jn 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Jn 14:22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jn 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jn 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jn 14:28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.”

There’s stuff in there about following Jesus’ commands if we love Him. And about the Holy Spirit teaching and reminding us. And about peace. And not being afraid.

Remember, one of Jesus’ commands was what we know as The Great Commission. You know, go out and spread the Gospel to everyone? In case you don’t remember, or don’t know, here it is.

The Great Commission

Mt 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I used to love the part about peace. Now I’m also aware of the rest of it. And have learned, through experience, that the peace is even greater than I imagined when I actually trust God to do things I’d rather not do. One of those things is to stop running away from God.

So here’s Jonah as an excellent example of why even New Testament Christians can and should learn something from an Old Testament figure that did good things in his home area, but didn’t want to step out and do something he really didn’t want to do.

No, Jonah’s problem was the message itself. God told him to say, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned’ (3:4). He was perfectly comfortable with prophesying judgement and destruction. In fact he warmed to it. But he choked on the forty days. It meant that there was just a possibility that God could be persuaded to relent. As we will see his fears would be realized.

We see now what Jonah’s problem was with God’s command. It meant that there was just a possibility that God could be persuaded to relent. Jonah would be perfectly happy if God just destroyed Nineveh. They were the enemy of his people. So having God tell him to go and possibly/probably save those hated people from certain destruction, well, it didn’t sit right with Jonah. So he tried to get out of doing it.

Does that sound familiar? God wants us to do something loving for people we love to hate. And so we ignore God. We twist His word to make it sound, to us, like God hates them as well.

But here’s where God’s love, and the Christian love we should have, come in. Even if God dislikes the things that people do, abhors them even, God still loves the people. Jesus came to save those people. They are, after all, the ones He dies for. Oh yeah, just like He died for us.

Just because we use the words “hate the sin, love the sinner” doesn’t mean anything. When we hate both the sin and the sinner, we aren’t following Jesus’ commands. Lip service doesn’t count. Ignoring them doesn’t count. Going to court to legislate away their actions doesn’t count. Performing the Great Commission, that’s what counts.

So he buys his one-way ticket and runs from the Lord—or at least tries to. You would have thought Jonah ought to have known that nobody can ever escape from God. Indeed he did know it. Not only would he have been familiar with Psalm 139, but telling the sailors about fearing the Lord, the God of heaven who has made the sea and the dry land in verse 9 shows that at one level he believed it. But sin warps the thinking. What he knew in his head was distorted by a mind set on disobedience. He was also running from before the face of the Lord—the place of service. It was a case of resigning his calling. ¹Mackrell, P. (2007). Opening up Jonah (pp. 21–22). Day One Publications.

Wow. Jonah really was just like us. Head knowledge. But with the ability to block out that head knowledge when we also block out our heart knowledge because of hatred, jealousy, greed, or whatever issue we have with the people God wants us to love.

What he knew in his head was distorted by a mind set on disobedience. He was also running from before the face of the Lord—the place of service. It was a case of resigning his calling. I ask you, is resigning from God’s calling anything like quenching the Holy Spirit. I believe it is.

Here’s Psalm 139, referenced above. If you’d like to read something about it, please check out What does God think of us? Do we care?. It goes through the entire Psalm. Really, it’s something every Christian should pray on a regular basis.

In fact, if Jonah had prayed anything like Psalm 139, he could have avoided all that he went through. And in the same way, if we pray it, our own experiences following Jesus’ path can be much straighter, to use the Biblical term.

God gets Jonah’s attention

Jnh 1:4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

Actually, God got the attention of the sailors first. No choice really. Jonah was asleep. Or should we say, Jonah was busy ignoring and running from God? But God had a mission for Jonah. Don’t forget, as Christians, God has things for us to do for Him as well. Hopefully, we catch on before things get this bad. Although, I must say, I didn’t always do that.

Even after the captain went to talk to Jonah, more likely yell at him, Jonah apparently still did nothing. At least, that seems like a safe conclusion when we read the next verse.

Jnh 1:7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

Here’s a question for you. Was casting lots a pagan thing? Or did the Old Testament Israelites/Hebrew/Jewish people really use casting lots to speak with God? In this case, it’s an important question. If it’s entirely a pagan thing, then did a pagan God point the finger at Jonah for these fishermen? Did God intervene in a normally pagan ritual? Or did God use this method to speak to people?

The short answer is yes, God’s chosen people did cast lots to speak with God. It was a way for them to ask questions of God, and for God to respond by controlling the dice. For more on that, please read Was casting lots really used to determine God’s will?

Jonah is the reason for the storm

Jnh 1:8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

Jnh 1:9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Since Jonah was insistent on ignoring God, others were brought into Jonah’s attempted escape. And they went through the same events as Jonah.

Now, this seems like something that’s not going to happen anymore. I disagree. I know from personal experience, others can and will suffer, right along with us. In fact, as Jonah showed, they may suffer even more than us.

The sailors are terrified. And Jonah’s asleep.

How does this relate to today? We run away from God. Or ignore God. And so He does something to get our attention. No matter how much we try to ignore Him though, if we truly do want to follow Jesus, He will keep trying to get our attention.

Why? Because of the difference between what we want in our head and what we want in our heart. The head can be very temporary. As in, like Jonah, we want to avoid something in particular. But the heart is where our love for God is present. And that, hopefully, is permanent. Remember the parable of the sower.

The thing is, God looks at our heart. And if our heart says we love Him, that we want to obey Jesus’ commands, that we do want to be reminded, taught, led by the Holy Spirit, then that’s what’s going to happen.

If you’re a regular reader here, you may remember this. One time when I was having a really hard time with God, I prayed something along the lines of – God, You’re going to have to hit me up side of my head with a two-by-four, because I’m just not getting what you’re trying to tell me. He did. And then I got it. And life hasn’t been the same ever since.

We have evidence that Jonah really did love God and wanted to follow Him, right there in that verse.

Jnh 1:9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Those aren’t the words of someone who wants to leave God forever behind him. Just the words of someone who doesn’t want to do this one thing. But when He’s our Lord and Savior, He does have the right, and our permission, to call us to action for His kingdom.

The sailors get to the bottom of what’s going on between Jonah and God

Jnh 1:10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)

Jnh 1:11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

Jnh 1:12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

It seems the sailors knew enough about Jonah’s God, for Christians our God, to be afraid. Jonah offers himself up as the solution. Throw him overboard. But, will the sailors go along with it?

The sailors try to save Jonah’s life

Jnh 1:13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

Even after all the trouble Jonah caused the sailors, they still tried to save his life by rowing back to land. I wonder. How many of us, as Christians, would do the same? Not even to save someone’s life, but to just make their situation better. Would we go to any trouble at all? Remember something Jesus said.

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us

9:38-40 pp — Lk 9:49, 50

Mk 9:38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

Mk 9:39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”

Jesus uses something as small as even a cup of water for his example. But really, how often do we fail to even do that much when someone’s situation caused trouble for us? And how often do we just get mad and do whatever we can to get away from them, no matter the cost to them?

So what happened to Jonah?

Jnh 1:17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah was swallowed up by a big fish. Notice, it doesn’t say whale. Was it a whale? Maybe. But then again, maybe not.

Conclusion – What Christians need to learn about love from Jonah?

But then, yet again, let’s not get lost in the weeds here. The kind of fish isn’t the issue. It’s not the thing to learn from what we just read.

The sailors and Jonah

One thing to learn is about the love from the sailors directed to Jonah. Even after what Jonah put them through, they still tried to save his life.

Jonah and the sailors

Another is the love, although at first the lack of love, from Jonah towards the sailors.

If Jonah didn’t try to run away from God, then these men wouldn’t have to go through everything that happened. Not the storm. Not the act of throwing Jonah overboard to what they assumed was certain death.

We don’t know whether or not they saw Jonah get swallowed by the fish. But even if they did, they probably figured it was fatal, just as we would today. That’s why the whole incident with Jonah and the fish is a miracle.

So we, as Christians, have two lessons to learn here. Today, that kind of thing is just casually called collateral damage. It’s just stuff that happens. But in all honesty, those things happened to the sailors because of Jonah’s actions while trying to run away from God.

And we put other people in our path when we try to run from God as well. They’re not just collateral damage. They’re real people. When we do that, not if, we should also remember them, and try to do something for them.

Jonah and God

Let’s face it, we are going to run away from God sometimes. And even if not entirely run away from God, we will at least run away from some of the things He asks us to do.

However, we really need to remember our promise to obey God and to follow Jesus. The things he asks for are a small price for the salvation He already gave us. No, we don’t earn our salvation by doing things. However, we should want to do things for God’s kingdom after we’ve been saved.

Why? Because that’s how strong our love for God should be. We don’t hear it much these days. But that is what Jesus actually said. Not in English. In His language, His culture, and in the full context of the Gospels that recorded His words.

For a much deeper look into this important concept, I urge you to read Are we supposed to Believe God, Believe in God or Follow God?

Final thoughts

My plan was to do this in one article. But, as you can tell, this is already getting up there in length. And there’s three more chapters to go in Jonah. Lots more activity. And lot’s more to learn about ourselves from what Jonah did, and didn’t, do.

Part 2 of this series, Jonah’s prayer while he was in the great fish, is at What Christians need to learn about prayer from Jonah.

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Jonah Image by CCXpistiavos from Pixabay
Heart Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Combined by me

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